On the Path to the Great Dao

Nannan stood there silently. The giant toad had somehow slipped from her grasp and fallen to the ground.

The toad was stunned, too terrified to move.

Nannan’s eyes widened, and image after image flowed through her mind.

The Great Righteous Official had been supremely wise, judging cases like a god, and he had detected hostile spying from the mortal world.

A massive upheaval had occurred in the mortal realm. The True King who had been summoned from the Divine Continent to the mortal world was dead, Your Ladyship had gone missing, and the state gods of the mortal world had all vanished. Only we ghost gods remained to govern the underworld, struggling to maintain order.

At that time, some forces in the mortal world tried to seize control of the underworld, to grab power and strengthen their great clans.

The Righteous Official sensed this and warned the other Nine Halls of Yama. Yet the upheaval still happened: first the underworld marshals disappeared one by one, then the judges, vice magistrates, registrars, Tai Ao and other ghost gods were struck down.

Many unfamiliar faces were placed within the Court of the Dead — people from the Thirteen Great Clans.

Thankfully, those mortal forces, limited by their strength, dared not act openly; they could only nibble away gradually.

After a thousand years, their wings had strengthened, and they finally struck at the Ten Kings of Hell. Layer by layer, hells fell, hall by hall, the Yama Halls collapsed one after another.

The Righteous Official stood isolated and helpless. With the Thirteen Great Clans controlling the mortal world, he could judge ghost gods, but he could not judge the evils of the living. The mortal realm had become the domain of the Thirteen Great Clans.

His defeat was inevitable.

At last, the Yan Family moved against him.

He knew defeat was certain, yet he resisted desperately, preventing the Yan Family within the Thirteen Great Clans from succeeding completely. Still, he knew it was only a matter of time before he fell into their hands. The Court of the Dead falling into the Thirteen Great Clans’ control had become a fait accompli.

Then Recorder Wei came to him with news: a ghost named Chen Shi wanted to make a bargain.

…

"Slap."

The Three Lives Stone in front of Sha Qiutong exploded into powder, scattering everywhere. All the halos around Nannan rapidly contracted and vanished into her mind.

Her aura suddenly surged. Her Primordial Spirit manifested, vast and weighty. Divine power billowed—more intense than anything Chen Shi had previously seen!

Such incredible divine power surpassed the gods of the Upper Realm, and exceeded the pantheon that had been resurrected around Chen Shi.

This Yama had lived to serve the people, earning deep love from later generations, so his incense offerings had been abundant!

The worse the people suffered, the more wrongful cases arose, and the more prosperous the Righteous Official’s incense became, continuous and unbroken. Especially since the Thirteen Great Clans took power, the Righteous Official’s incense had grown stronger than before.

The accumulation of incense over thousands of years made his divine power the foremost beneath True God!

Outside, above the River of Forgetting, the underworld officers who were still fighting felt their divine power suppressed. Their divine abilities could not be used, and the Children’s Heavenly-Aperture Lamps lost their potency.

They looked up and saw a crescent moon rising slowly from the Fox Clan manor, hanging in the sky. Moonlight shone bright and oppressive, forcing them to cease striving.

At that moment, an underworld officer dropped to one knee. Seeing this, the others followed suit, kneeling in succession. The once roaring River of Forgetting finally calmed.

Zhong Kui, Tie Chi and the others were astonished and overjoyed.

The Boat Girl murmured, "The Righteous Official has finally awakened… Father, we’ve won. We can return to our duties in the Court of the Dead!"

The Boatman nodded heavily, unable to contain his happiness, "We can have official missions again, and receive incense offerings!"

Nannan lightly waved her sleeve. The River of Forgetting swept up those underworld officers and rolled them back; they soon vanished without a trace.

The sky brightened again, and the sun hung beyond the heavens.

"Wang Fu, Jia Yuan, Zhu Shun, this office has awakened."

Nannan’s expression was grave. Her voice, though still that of a little girl, carried a solemnity beyond her years. She paused, and the ground beneath the Fox Clan manor suddenly revealed layer upon layer of hellscapes, reaching down to the third layer of hell.

"No need to bicker. Return immediately!"

No sooner had Nannan spoken, three judges seized the chance, flying up from below, emerging from the hellscape and returning to the Fox Clan manor.

The Fire Judge and Earth Judge felt solemn. Sensing Nannan’s overwhelming divine power, they dared not pursue.

"The Righteous Official has finally awakened!"

The three judges hurried forward, prostrated and choked with emotion, "By the Great Official’s order, we concealed our presence to preserve ourselves and await the opportunity. At last, the Great Official has been revived!"

Nannan raised her hand, "No need for excessive ceremony. Where are the other judges?"

Jia Yuan’s eyes reddened. He shook his head, "Only the three of us remain. The others—we don’t know if they’re alive or dead."

Nannan’s face darkened. At that moment Zhong Kui, Tie Chi and the Boatman and Boat Girl entered and kowtowed to her. Nannan inclined her head slightly and said, "This office could be revived thanks to your preservation. Please rise."

Zhong Kui and the others rose.

Nannan turned to Chen Shi and the others, "I thank you, fellow Dao friends, for rescuing me."

Chen Shi and the others returned the salute in turn. Nannan smiled, "Does Chen the Demon Emperor still remember the promise made that day?"

Chen Shi smiled back, "I remember."

Nannan said, "Good that you remember."

Chen Shi put down a large stone and said to Chen Yindu, "Grandpa, with the Righteous Official revived and his self restored, once he returns to the Court of the Dead he will surely rally thousands at a call. No matter how many ghost gods the Thirteen Great Clans have, they cannot withstand the many underworld officers. Once the underworld officers are subdued, we can seize the Yama Halls in one fell swoop!"

Chen Yindu kept his gaze fixed on Nannan, worry etched on his face, "It may not go as smoothly as you think."

Chen Shi followed his gaze and saw Nannan stooping to grab the toad by its spine, hoisting it up and holding it to her chest.

The toad lay on the little girl’s shoulder, its front claws drooping behind her, utterly forlorn.

The smile on Chen Shi’s face froze.

Chen Yindu said, "It is not the Righteous Official who has revived. It is that Nannan has awakened the memories of her past life. The Great Official of past life will not return. The living being before you is only Nannan."

Chen Shi’s heart jolted; he understood the implication.

Sha Qiutong had also used the Three Lives Stone and awakened memories of a past life, yet she remained Sha Qiutong—not the person she had been before. Awakening past-life memories is equivalent to recalling what was once forgotten, not becoming another person.

The Three Lives Stone, however, functions to connect the three lives, consolidating past-life cultivation into one body.

Now Nannan had recalled the Righteous Official’s memories and possessed his cultivation, but in essence she was still a little girl who treated a toad as a pet.

Sending her to subdue all the underworld officers was clearly improbable.

The three judges and Zhong Kui also sensed that something was off, though they dared not voice that suspicion.

The Boatman and Boat Girl, however, were jubilant, believing this to be an opportunity to become Meritorious Supporters of the True Dragon.

Chen Shi thought, "Nannan’s cultivation is extremely high and her fortune training is fine, but her personality may lack the necessary gravitas. If she grows a few more years, she might improve. But we don’t have that much time!"

Now that the Yin and Yang realms were separated and the Thirteen Great Clans were recovering their strength, information would inevitably be exchanged. They would re-form alliances, appoint officials across the lands, consolidate local forces, and build a martial army. The Western Ox New Continent had suffered a catastrophe and returned under the Thirteen Great Clans’ rule; this world would only fall back into its old ways with no improvement at all!

If the world is to be changed, it must be with thunderous force—quickly expose and eradicate the Thirteen Great Clans’ roots, uprooting them completely!

The first step is to help Yama reclaim divine authority over the underworld!

Even if that Yama is a little Yama!

Chen Shi took his leave of the little Yama and the others, and returned to Huangpo Village. Little Duan Immortal sat on the yellow earth slope, guarding the unfinished temple alongside Scholar Zhu, Daoist Willow, and Jue Yangzi.

The temple was still forming, not yet fully solidified.

Once the temple took shape under the influence of extraordinary power, the Empress of Earth’s avatar would descend along the Divine Bridge and appear upon the Lotus Shrine.

Chen Shi approached Little Duan Immortal and looked at her. She blinked her sparkling eyelashes and tilted her head up to stare at the sky.

Chen Shi lay down beside her, also looking up.

After a while he broke the silence, "You have something on your mind."

Little Duan Immortal withdrew her gaze and shook her head, "No."

Chen Shi sat up and met her eyes, "You do. Ever since the Universal Sacrificial Rite began, you’ve seemed absent-minded. Even though I’ve been talking to Grandpa, my eyes kept drifting to you. You have a worry; you keep staring at the sky. I wanted to give you time—maybe you’d tell me first—but you never did."

He looked at her with absolute sincerity, "You won’t say it, so I must ask. After all, we are already married by ceremony; we are not strangers. What is on your mind? You can confide in me."

Little Duan Immortal’s eyes reddened; she almost began to cry.

"When the Universal Sacrificial Rite began, I saw the face of the Celestial True God. It was exactly the same as my father’s face."

She leaned on Chen Shi’s shoulder, wrapped her arms around his neck, and tears instantly soaked his garment.

"My younger brother died, and Father became the Celestial True God. I’m so afraid. I don’t understand what happened. I don’t know why I woke up to find things like this…"

Chen Shi held her and gently patted the back of her heart, "Don’t be afraid. We are a family. I will help you uncover the truth behind this. If there is injustice, we will redress it. If there is an enemy, I will help you take revenge!"

Little Duan Immortal’s defenses collapsed and she burst into tears.

Before long she fell asleep deeply in Chen Shi’s arms.

When Little Duan woke, she lay in Chen Shi’s embrace and secretly opened her eyes, blinking as she looked up.

"Husband!"

"Mm?"

"Kiss me!"

"Okay."

Chen Shi leaned down and kissed her on her rosy lips. Little Duan met him upward, taking his lower lip into her mouth, responding with passionate intensity.

Chen Shi felt her clumsy tongue trying to pry his teeth apart. This woman seemed to possess a fierce, demanding desire, wanting a stronger reaction from him.

His teeth were parted; a momentary rush of pleasure hit his brain, intimate and overwhelming.

Their awkward mutual seeking and reciprocation continued, their teeth clinking together from time to time, making clattering sounds, yet not affecting them in the slightest.

Scholar Zhu and Black Pot watched, momentarily stunned.

"Never experienced it?" Jue Yangzi glanced at Scholar Zhu and sneered, "Descendants of the True King haven’t experienced carnal pleasure either."

Scholar Zhu snorted, "You’re a Daoist. Have you experienced it?"