Chapter 534: Holding Mountains and Rivers in Hand
Little Duan Immortal was shocked beyond words, and asked, "The heaven and earth I saw just now, was that something you evolved?"
She found it hard to believe.
When had Chen Shi become so remarkably powerful? He had actually allowed her to inadvertently step into the Realm of Emptiness without her realizing it, and had even prevented her from leaving the Realm of Emptiness.
Could Chen Shi already be an immortal?
Chen Shi rose to his feet, smiling, "I only relied on the yin-yang qi within the Yin Yang Qi Bottle to achieve the evolution of heaven and earth. This is the power of the jade bottle, not my own ability."
In his hand, the mountains, rivers, sun, and moon within the Yin Yang Qi Bottle surfaced from the bottle's walls, growing clearer and clearer, as if he were cradling the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers in his palm.
"The bottle's master should be an expert from the Buddhist Sect, but the yin-yang qi is a Daoist skill. This person is not a Daoist, yet he managed to cultivate this treasure to such an astonishing level. It is truly admirable. All I did was borrow the bottle's power to imprint the yin-yang technique I have comprehended onto the bottle," Chen Shi said modestly.
Everyone has their own area of expertise.
The bottle's master's mastery over the harmonious union of yin and yang was something Chen Shi had never seen before, but his mastery over yin and yang giving birth to all things was not as brilliant, and in fact, fell short of Chen Shi's.
Little Duan Immortal smiled, "Even if it isn't your power, it is still remarkable. The fact that you can supplement the immortal's shortcomings shows that your Dao cultivation is already extremely profound. What you lack now is only cultivation base."
Chen Shi shook his head, "Without sufficient cultivation base, it will always be difficult to secure victory. Ever since I became the True King, I have found myself burdened by paperwork and troubled by trivial matters, which interfere with my cultivation progress. I once told Yang Bi that for us cultivators, all great power resides within oneself. I used this to advise Yang Bi not to be distracted. But now, I am forced to be distracted by state affairs, and find it hard to settle my mind for cultivation."
Little Duan Immortal walked to his side, examining the jade bottle, and smiled, "No wonder Magistrate Hu could not find you no matter how hard she searched. With you absent, she has been run ragged, and has already prepared a mountain of memorials waiting for your approval."
Chen Shi shook his head, "I do not wish to repeat the mistakes Yang Bi made. Until the Celestial Venerable is eliminated, I cannot settle my heart and be the True King."
He activated the Yin Yang Qi Bottle, and countless stars flowed out from the bottle, rivers of starlight streaming forth, followed by heaven and earth rising slowly, vast white clouds stretching endlessly, the sun and moon appearing together, mountains, continents, oceans, all flying out of the bottle like a dream, forming an inverted heaven and earth above them.
Chen Shi reached out, took Little Duan Immortal's hand, and flew up, landing in the world formed by the Yin Yang Qi Bottle. Little Duan Immortal did not pull her hand away from his, allowing him to hold it as they drifted gracefully into the sky.
They traversed oceans, mountains, and rivers, toured the sun, moon, and stars, and finally stood atop the clouds, where the two sat cross-legged side by side, gazing down upon the world.
They saw the white clouds shift like fleeting dogs, the sun and moon transforming above, and the seas changing into mulberry fields below.
Little Duan Immortal tilted her head, studying the young man beside her. She saw that although Chen Shi was holding her hand, his gaze was fixed on the changes of the seas and fields.
Her heart could not help but sink: "Even at a time like this, all he thinks about is the transformation of yin and yang."
Chen Shi was observing the changes in this world, his purpose being to find out whether there were still flaws in the yin-yang transformations of this heaven and earth.
If there were flaws in the workings of heaven and earth, then when facing an enemy, the enemy might detect them and use them to escape.
He and Little Duan Immortal roamed through this world, constantly examining the evolution of the sun, moon, and star rivers, searching for weaknesses.
Little Duan Immortal gradually became infected by his focus, devoting herself wholeheartedly to the search for flaws.
The two were completely absorbed, sometimes silent, sometimes exchanging their discoveries, proposing methods of improvement, and then Chen Shi would take action, repairing the imprints to be even more perfect.
"Your Majesty, I believe we should leave one flaw behind," Little Duan Immortal suddenly said.
Chen Shi was stunned, looking at her with confusion.
Little Duan Immortal hesitated for a moment, then said, "A magic treasure like the Yin Yang Qi Bottle possesses extremely formidable power. It does not seem like a treasure that should exist in the mortal world. Yet it appeared in the mortal world, and even drifted to a place of exile like the Western Ox New Continent. With the bottle master's level of cultivation and power, could he truly not sense his own magic treasure?"
Chen Shi's heart stirred, "You mean, the bottle's master deliberately sent the bottle to the mortal world, attempting to use others to complete his Dao techniques for him? Or perhaps, he has other intentions, and may harbor sinister motives."
Little Duan Immortal nodded gently, "You just said that this person clearly follows the Buddhist path, yet insists on using Daoist yin-yang qi to refine his treasure. His magic treasure possesses extraordinary power, yet also has great shortcomings. I find it highly likely that this person deliberately did this, placing the treasure in the mortal world to borrow the wisdom of others to perfect his own Dao techniques. He is probably using this method to steal your cultivation techniques."
Chen Shi thought for a moment, then smiled, "My wife speaks wisely. However, I will still do my utmost to fill in the missing parts of the Yin Yang Qi Bottle."
Little Duan Immortal asked, "Since you clearly know this person intends to use you, why do you still help him?"
Chen Shi smiled, "Helping others with good intentions is not necessarily a bad thing. If we cannot complete the bottle's missing parts, we may very well be unable to deal with the Celestial Venerable. If we were to fail at a critical moment because of this, would that not be a lifetime of regret?"
Little Duan Immortal thought it over, then smiled, "I was being petty."
Chen Shi held her hand and flew out of this world, and the two landed on Sky Measuring Cliff.
Chen Shi held the jade bottle in his hand, turned it upside down, and the vast heaven and earth from before immediately inverted, merging with Qianyang Mountain. He said, "When this Yin Yang Qi Bottle is overturned, it can transform into a sea of fire, trapping the enemy. Then, lifting the bottle up, one can collect the sea of fire and the enemy into the bottle together. I tested it before, and the bottle did not contain a world evolved from yin-yang qi. Therefore, when capturing someone, if the enemy's cultivation surpasses your own, it is highly likely that you will be unable to collect the enemy into the bottle, giving them a chance to escape."
He had now supplemented the bottle with yin and yang giving birth to all things, evolving the world within the bottle. When capturing someone again, as long as the opponent was drawn into the world evolved from yin-yang qi, they would find it almost impossible to escape.
Chen Shi raised his hand and lifted the jade bottle. The mountains of Qianyang rumbled violently, as if they were about to be pulled up by him!
Both Chen Shi and Little Duan Immortal were startled. Chen Shi hastily retracted the yin-yang qi, not daring to test it again.
At the same time, the Qianyang Mountain Lord, the great snake Xuan Shan, Chen Yindu, Madam Zhuang, the Lord of Wuwang City, and a host of other experts were alarmed by his actions. They flew up one after another, summoning their Primordial Spirits to scan in all directions, searching for the culprit.
Yet after searching for a full circuit, they found nothing at all.
Stone Ji Your Ladyship flew over, calling from a distance, "I sensed terrifying immortal power fluctuations from the Imperial Capital! What happened?"
The Qianyang Mountain Lord said, "Someone activated a powerful immortal artifact, nearly tearing the mountains of Qianyang out by their roots! We came to search, but found no trace of the culprit."
Stone Ji Your Ladyship was horrified, murmuring, "What kind of immortal artifact is so formidable?"
Chen Shi and Little Duan Immortal were at this moment hiding on the Purple Heaven Vine at the central small temple, concealed beneath the vine leaves, their hearts pounding wildly. They were, after all, the True King and the True King's Consort, yet they were trembling with fear, terrified of being found by their own subjects.
Little Duan Immortal stealthily peeked out, and seeing Stone Ji Your Ladyship fly past overhead without noticing them, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, Can'er's voice came from the mulberry tree: "I just saw big brother and big sister-in-law holding hands on the cliff, and they activated a white jade bottle."
Chen Shi's heart leaped: "Even Can'er saw us!"
Stone Ji Your Ladyship's voice rang out, "Where did your big brother and sister-in-law go? Those two bastards, causing trouble everywhere. When I find them, I'll give them a piece of my mind!"
She had no idea that the big brother and sister-in-law Can'er referred to were Chen Shi and Little Duan Immortal.
"They were just here a moment ago, gone in the blink of an eye."
Can'er said, "They must know they've caused trouble, so they've gone into hiding."
...
After Stone Ji Your Ladyship and the others had finished their search, Chen Shi and Little Duan Immortal exchanged a smile and emerged from beneath the vine leaves.
Chen Shi lay down on the vine leaf. The leaf was already the size of a mu, and lying on it, there was no worry of falling off at all.
Little Duan Immortal had originally intended to leave, but she saw many Ginseng Grass Dolls also lying on the vine leaves, basking in the sun, looking perfectly content.
She lay down as well, right next to Chen Shi, and looked up, finding the sunlight dazzling.
This sunlight was reflected from within the temple. Although the Purple Heaven Vine was very tall, the temple appeared as vast as the heavens themselves, and the sunlight shining from the temple happened to fall precisely upon the Purple Heaven Vine.
Chen Shi turned his head to look at her. Little Duan Immortal stared at the sun in the temple, lost in thought.
"The sunlight in the temple is the sunlight of the ancestral land. We Shang people are criminal subjects, exiled far away, never to return to the Divine Continent of China."
Little Duan Immortal relaxed, a gentle smile on her face, and spoke softly, "Lying here, basking in this sunlight, it feels like I have crossed the Dark Sea and returned to the ancestral land. That is the land where my ancestors lived, where even the sun is so beautiful."
She faced the sunlight, reaching out her hand. Under the light, her five fingers looked crystal clear, glowing with a luster like red jade, each one delicate and tender.
Chen Shi had seen her attempt to return to the ancestral land before. At that time, Little Duan Immortal had passed through the sunlight of the small temple, as if she had stepped into the time and space of the Divine Continent of China, but because her bloodline bore a branded mark, forming a giant character "Qian," she was knocked back into the small temple.
Great Zhou used a technique similar to shamanic ritual markings, branding the sin represented by the character "Qian" into the bloodline of every subject of Great Shang. They, and their descendants, would carry this brand for generation after generation, forever unable to return to their homeland.
Chen Shi turned on his side, propping his cheek with his palm, looking at her, and suggested, "Once the Celestial Venerable is executed, let's go out to sea. I'll take you to find the Divine Continent of China. You are the True King's Consort, and I am the True King. I refuse to believe that when we reach the Divine Continent of China, the Jiajing Emperor would still dare to refuse us landing!"
Little Duan Immortal's face flushed slightly, feeling like she was going to meet her in-laws with him, and said, "Do you think the Jiajing Emperor is still alive?"
Chen Shi thought for a moment, then said, "He should still be alive, right? I heard from Scholar Zhu that the Jiajing Emperor is the Longevity Emperor, the Flying Origin True Lord. Judging by his titles, he is likely not inferior to an immortal sovereign. He must still be the emperor."
Little Duan Immortal turned to her side, her breath like orchid, "The Western Ox New Continent has lost contact with the Divine Continent for over six thousand years. Would the Jiajing Emperor still recognize the True King of the Western Ox New Continent?"
"It would be best if he doesn't."
Chen Shi smiled, "Then the two of us can legitimately become the emperor and empress."
Little Duan Immortal laughed out loud, then worried that her laughter was too loud and would alert Stone Ji, Xuan Shan, and the others. Chen Shi smiled, "Guess whether they've left or not? I suspect they're still wandering around outside... mmm..."
Little Duan Immortal kissed him on the lips. Chen Shi was momentarily caught off guard, staring at the fairy maiden before him.
Little Duan Immortal's eyes sparkled, and she kissed him on the lips again.
Chen Shi responded without thinking, and received an even stronger reaction from her.
Chen Shi freed a hand, wrapped it around Little Duan's waist, and pulled her close. Little Duan Immortal resisted, rolling over to press him down beneath her, cradling his head in her hands as she kissed him.
Chen Shi enjoyed it dizzily for a moment, then suddenly remembered he was the True King, and rolled over to press her beneath him.
Although the vine leaf was enormous, its center of gravity was off, and with the weight of the two of them, it tilted to one side, unable to maintain balance.
The shaking of the vine leaf was also quite pronounced, disturbing the spiritual herb dolls sunbathing on other leaves. They crawled to the edge of the leaves and looked down, only to see the two figures on the leaf tumbling and rolling off one side, crashing onto another leaf more than ten zhang below.
The spiritual herb dolls couldn't see clearly, so they hurriedly ran to the other side, only to see Chen Shi and Little Duan Immortal roll off that leaf as well, landing on yet another leaf.
These spiritual herb dolls ran back and forth across the leaves, watching as the pair seemed to have lost all control, tumbling from one leaf to another, leaving them unable to make out what the two were doing.
The Purple Heaven Vine was also being shaken back and forth. Fortunately, the vines were anchored deep into the void, keeping it stable.