Chapter 516: Qingyuan Daoist
The willow-leaf boat turned, quickly arriving near that wooden vessel. The wind was high and the waves rough, as countless sea monsters in the Dark Sea had already set their sights on the Daoist on the wooden boat, lunging toward it.
The Daoist was bound to the mast, unable to move. To the sea monsters, he was a delivered delicacy, something to be thoroughly enjoyed. However, the Daoist still retained a portion of his magical power. He had refined the boat's iron anchor into a weapon; under the guidance of chains, it shuttled back and forth with tremendous force, piercing through any sea monster daring to attack.
The anchor was forged from black iron, weighing a thousand catties. Its shape resembled a shovel with a hook at the bottom. When he activated it, many strange patterns surfaced on the anchor's exterior, somewhat similar to talismans and ritual markings, yet also slightly different.
Chen Shi spread out his Dao Field from afar, stabilizing the wind and waves. The sea surface for dozens of miles around immediately calmed.
The sea monsters, startled, dove into the water one after another. Peering toward the boat and seeing only two women, one older and one younger, along with a young man, they grew much bolder and lunged toward the willow-leaf boat.
Chen Shi moved with a thought. Within the Dao Field, Yin and Yang reversed, water and fire flowed backward, and heaven and earth were thrown into chaos. Those sea monsters appeared one by one in midair, their bodies bursting into raging flames. The fire burned from the inside out, and within moments, they were utterly incinerated.
The other monsters, seeing this, dared not approach.
Chen Shi did not rush to rescue the man. Instead, he addressed the Daoist, "Daoist, what crime have you committed? Why were you suppressed and exiled?"
The Daoist was utterly exhausted, his magical power nearly depleted, held up only by sheer willpower.
Hearing Chen Shi's voice, the Daoist looked over. Noticing his face, he was both startled and overjoyed, quickly calling out, "Benefactor, please save me!"
Chen Shi still did not rescue him, saying, "You haven't answered my question yet."
The Daoist replied, "This mountain man's Dao name is Qingyuan, from the Eastern Divine Continent. I committed no crime; I only offended the Celestial Venerable of Despair Slope, and was exiled for it! Please, save me!"
Chen Shi inquired, "How did you offend the Celestial Venerable of Despair Slope?"
Qingyuan Daoist said, "He asked me the locations of the Eastern Divine Continent, the Southern Continent, the Northern Continent, and the Western Continent. I refused to tell him unto death, so he bound me up and exiled me twice."
"The Celestial Venerable wants to know the whereabouts of these places?"
Chen Shi was slightly startled. Could he be planning to corrupt other worlds?
He stepped onto the boat and carefully examined the wooden vessel.
The wooden boat was also a magic treasure, one with the chains binding Qingyuan Daoist. No wonder the Daoist couldn't escape.
"This treasure can withstand monster attacks, and its anchor can kill sea monsters. It's a rare artifact. To rescue the Daoist, I'd probably need an immortal sword to cut the chains. I only have the Taiyi Demon-Repelling Shuttle on me. I wonder if it can sever them."
Chen Shi moved with a thought, activating the Taiyi Demon-Repelling Shuttle. This shuttle was composed of ninety-nine immortal swords, usable as a flying carriage or as an immortal weapon in battle.
He channeled his magical power into the ninety-nine immortal swords. The sword light fell like quicksilver from the sky, forming a single line as they struck the chains one after another. On the eighth strike, the chains were severed.
Qingyuan Daoist, already utterly exhausted, went limp and collapsed.
Chen Shi silently circulated his magical power, lifting the Daoist and placing him on the willow-leaf boat. Then, from the small patch of land before the small temple behind his head, he took some spiritual medicine and had the Daoist consume it.
Qingyuan Daoist regained some strength and quickly expressed his thanks.
"This boat must be the Celestial Venerable's treasure. Better destroy it now!"
Chen Shi's eyes flickered as he activated the Demon-Repelling Shuttle, about to shatter the boat. Qingyuan Daoist quickly called out, "Stop! Stop! This boat isn't the Celestial Venerable's—it's the treasure I used to cross the sea! I obtained it on the Eastern Divine Continent and relied on it entirely to survive at sea when I entered the ocean."
Chen Shi asked, "Daoist, how exactly did you offend the Celestial Venerable?"
"I never offended him."
Qingyuan Daoist shook his head. "Back when I came from the Western Continent to this place, it was the end of the Great Shang dynasty. The Shang King saw I was from elsewhere and valued me greatly, holding a banquet in my honor. Later, the cataclysm erupted, and I participated in building Despair Slope."
Chen Shi's heart trembled violently. This Daoist had experienced the complete cataclysm of the Great Shang era!
Chen Shi had encountered many Shang people, but they all had only a partial understanding of that history. The ghost clan of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom were also descendants of Shang people, left with only some garbled legends. The Little Duan Immortal was an immortal from the Great Shang era, but having sealed herself early, she knew nothing of the outside changes.
Qingyuan Daoist gasped for breath, then retrieved the chains and tied the wooden boat to the stern of the willow-leaf boat.
Empress of Earth urged the willow-leaf boat forward, and the two vessels sailed unhurriedly toward the Western Ox New Continent.
"Benefactor, where are we headed?" Qingyuan Daoist asked.
"Back to the Western Ox New Continent."
Qingyuan Daoist's face changed slightly. He seemed hesitant, clearly not wanting to return.
But with his cultivation nearly exhausted, staying alone in this Sea of Darkness would likely mean death from the claws and fangs of the sea monsters before long. For safety, returning to the Western Ox New Continent was his only option.
Chen Shi inquired, "Daoist, what exactly happened during the Great Shang cataclysm back then?"
Qingyuan Daoist channeled his Dao techniques, drying his soaked clothes. His robes had been soaked in seawater, and after drying, they were covered in fine white salt crystals.
The silkworm, not knowing what this was, pinched some and licked it. Its face contorted in bitterness. "Salty! Bitter!"
Qingyuan Daoist said, "When I first arrived at the Western Ox New Continent, I was stunned by its prosperity. This place was truly a land of spiritual abundance and outstanding talent. Floating fairy mountains drifted in the sky, with immortals dwelling on them. Boundless circular rings hung above the fairy mountains, within which were small worlds formed by immortals through Dao Unification. The immortals here did not ascend; they remained in the mortal world, making the mortal realm as beautiful as the immortal realm. High above, there was also a divine realm—the Black Bird Celestial Court of Great Shang—inhabited by all kinds of gods, all ancestors of the Shang people."
He narrated in detail, describing an extremely prosperous era of cultivation.
In this era, there were gods above, immortals and mortals mingling below, and the Great Shang court governing the realm. Within the court were various divine beings who had inherited shamanic ritual markings.
The people who had settled here all performed their respective duties, with everything in perfect order.
"The Shang King heard I was from elsewhere, so he held a banquet for me and asked where I came from. I told him truthfully. When the Shang King heard I had visited his homeland, he was very excited. He asked about the customs and people of his homeland and cursed the Zhou people for their betrayal. The Shang King said they were a people of sin. I was about to ask the reason when the incident occurred."
Qingyuan Daoist continued, "The sun turned red—crimson red, like a lump of flesh hanging in the sky—causing great chaos. The Shang King said they had already noticed the celestial anomalies. First, the stars in the night sky vanished one by one. At that time, he sent many immortals to fly out of this place into space to investigate, but none returned. Three days later, the sun disappeared. Seven days later, the moon vanished as well. Then came the corruption of the immortals, the disasters and catastrophes."
He had lived through that cataclysm.
With his immensely powerful cultivation, the Shang King suppressed his own corruption and transmitted his voice across the land, commanding all immortals to shatter their small worlds and seal themselves, awaiting his deliverance.
He then immediately performed sacrifices to the Great Shang's Black Bird Celestial Court, summoning numerous ancestral gods from the divine realm to hunt down the corrupted immortals everywhere.
Since Qingyuan Daoist was not yet an immortal, he was not assimilated by the demonic energy.
Disasters and catastrophes erupted in endless succession. Countless Shang people died. The sky was frequently swept by flesh, with countless fleshy tentacles dropping down from the void, greedily caressing the earth, sweeping away everything on the ground.
The Shang King led the ancestral gods to suppress the chaos everywhere, only to see many surviving Shang people gradually assimilated by the demonic energy.
Moreover, from the day the sun and moon disappeared, the boundary between the Yin and Yang realms grew increasingly blurred. The underworld and the mortal world merged into one, and the Shang people gradually transformed into the ghost clan.
"The Great Shang realm descended into chaos. To survive, I had no choice but to follow the Shang King, rushing east and west."
Qingyuan Daoist said, "The Shang King was a supreme expert himself, and he had many experts around him. Among them, the strongest was one called Wu Qi. But faced with this cataclysm, even they were at a loss, not knowing what to do."
As more and more of the experts beside the Shang King became corrupted, the remaining experts, feeling hopeless for survival yet wishing to leave behind a legacy, sealed immortal artifacts one by one and left them scattered throughout the world, hoping that one day these artifacts could pass on their teachings.
"The Shang King campaigned in all directions, pacifying the disasters and catastrophes of the world, but the people beside him dwindled to nearly nothing."
Qingyuan Daoist sighed. "He pondered deeply, trying to think of a solution, and his hair quickly turned white. I originally planned to ask Wu Qi to escort me to the coast, to leave this realm, perhaps taking some Shang people to another world to thrive. On the day we were to depart, the Shang King suddenly laughed heartily and said he had figured it out. He had thought of a way to save this realm."
Chen Shi's heart trembled. He knew what method the Shang King had thought of.
"I did not leave. Together with the surviving Great Shang people, I began constructing Despair Slope. On the day Despair Slope was completed, the Shang King ascended the altar. In the past, he had used others as sacrifices. That day, he made himself the offering, offering up his Primordial Spirit."
Qingyuan Daoist said, "His Primordial Spirit rose higher and higher, growing larger and larger, transforming into a supreme deity who went beyond the heavens and gazed down upon the mortal world."
From that day on, the Western Ox New Continent had a new sun and moon.
Day and night alternated, and all things grew.
But though the Shang King was powerful, he was not powerful enough. He could not completely resist the demonic energy. At night, when the moon formed from his brow's vertical eye shone, strands of demonic energy still leaked out in its moonlight. This demonic energy would cause dead things to become corrupted.
Fortunately, the demonic energy was not too strong, and the surviving Shang people could still handle the corrupted creatures.
The next Shang King was the Shang King's son, Ziyu. He led the remaining Shang people to live in the new world, while those Shang people who had already turned into the ghost clan lived in the underworld.
Fortunately, Wu Qi was still alive. As long as Wu Qi, the great shaman who passed down the Dao techniques, lived, the civilization of Great Shang would not be lost, and the Dao techniques of Great Shang would not be forgotten.
"Until one day, a guest arrived from beyond the heavens."
Qingyuan Daoist said, "The guest called himself Xun Jiangmu and came to assimilate the entire world. Wu Qi, knowing he was outmatched, joined forces with the Black Bird Celestial Court. The Celestial Court was shattered, and Wu Qi died, perishing together with Xun Jiangmu. But the strange thing was, even though Xun Jiangmu died, the demonic energy remained. The sun, moon, and stars were still covered by flesh. The Shang Prince Ziyu said that Xun Jiangmu might not have actually died. But I had decided to leave."
The Great Shang dynasty, from its peak to the brink of extinction—it had all happened too fast, too suddenly. He had witnessed this entire process, and it filled his heart with emotion. This experience deepened his understanding of the Dao, and he decided to return to the Eastern Divine Continent and achieve Dao Unification to become an immortal.
But just before his departure, another major event occurred.
War broke out between the Shang Prince Ziyu and Despair Slope.
The Shang Prince Ziyu sealed Despair Slope away from the world, building the Bronze Great Wall to block Despair Slope from entering the Western Ox New Continent!
After receiving the news, Qingyuan Daoist went to mediate, but unexpectedly, the Shang Prince Ziyu and his entire court died behind the Bronze Great Wall.
Later, Qingyuan Daoist made his way to Despair Slope. But the people behind Despair Slope were no longer the faces he had seen back then.
He met the Celestial Venerable, who claimed to be a descendant of Great Shang. They talked happily together.
The Celestial Venerable urged him to stay, keeping him in Despair Slope. He helped the Celestial Venerable control the various arrangements within Despair Slope, designing Tiandao City to connect Despair Slope with the mortal world.
"Qingyuan Daoist, have you never wondered what happened to the Great Shang civil and military officials who stayed in Despair Slope?" Chen Shi suddenly asked.
Qingyuan Daoist said, "I have wondered. But what could I do?"
Chen Shi stared deeply at him. "You knew long ago that the Celestial Venerable was Xun Jiangmu."
Qingyuan Daoist remained silent.
Chen Shi continued, "You helped the Celestial Venerable take control of Despair Slope. The Celestial Venerable was originally sealed within Despair Slope by the Shang Prince Ziyu and could not leave. After defeating the Shang Prince, he discovered that behind the Bronze Great Wall, there was nothing—he couldn't find the mortal world. It was you who helped him build Tiandao City, connecting Despair Slope to the mortal world."
Qingyuan Daoist's lips twitched, a wry smile on his face. "I was helpless as well."
Chen Shi said, "With your help, the Celestial Venerable finally left Despair Slope. Since then, he began recruiting talented cultivators, bringing them into Despair Slope to become his confidants. By then, there should have been very few Shang people left, right?"
Qingyuan Daoist said, "After the Shang Prince Ziyu died, the Great Shang dynasty's fortunes were exhausted, and its lineage was severed. Only a few Shang people cultivated, turning themselves into beings that were neither human nor ghost, nearly becoming evil spirits. The remaining Shang people had no one to teach them cultivation methods. In a world filled with evil spirits everywhere, they gradually found it difficult to survive. After a thousand or hundreds of years, they became extinct."
Chen Shi pressed on, "And then?"
"Later, the Ming Dynasty arrived, and the True King came as well."
Qingyuan Daoist let out a long sigh. "I originally planned to warn the True King, to tell him not to trust the Celestial Venerable. But before I could say a word, the Celestial Venerable exiled me beyond the heavens."
Empress of Earth's voice came from the front. "The Celestial Venerable didn't kill you because you never revealed the locations of the other continents."
Qingyuan Daoist nodded softly. "He's almost recovered to his peak state from his previous life. The arrival of the True King and the Ming Dynasty's people thwarted his plan to assimilate this world. He can only wait for the perfect opportunity."
Chen Shi said, "That opportunity is the death of the Shang King's Primordial Spirit."
The death of the Celestial True God from beyond the heavens would merge the Yin and Yang realms, plunging the people into misery. Corruption would break out everywhere, countless would die, and most critically, the world's corruption would fuel the Celestial Venerable's cultivation!
Qingyuan Daoist said, "I don't know what happened afterward. But when I was rescued last time and returned to the mortal world, I knew that the True King had not defeated the Celestial Venerable. He was still dead."