On the Path to the Great Dao

Wen Wuyu still ran over, and Chen Shi made a move as if to pull down his pants, scaring her into hastily covering her face and turning around, only to secretly peek through the gaps between her fingers. Seeing that Chen Shi hadn't actually done it but was instead using the chance to slip away, she continued chasing him.

"Brother Chen Shi." Her voice was crisp and clear.

Wen Wuyu followed him like a shadow, full of admiration for him. Chen Shi, unable to shake her off, silently allowed her to stay by his side.

Many people had come to the county town, but what Chen Shi remembered most vividly were still a few playmates like Wen Wuyu and Zhang You.

Zhang You was about the same age as him, very talkative, always muttering to himself endlessly, regardless of whether anyone was listening.

And then there was Zhuang Wujiu, always pretending to be deep and thoughtful.

As for the Young Master, he was older than all of them, already twelve, more mature.

The person following him was Ren Xiao, his adoptive father.

Chen Shi also saw Zhong Wuwang.

Zhong Wuwang wasn't old either, always wearing a smile, but very precocious. His gaze when looking at Chen Shi was also somewhat strange, but Chen Shi was too simple-minded back then to see the dangerous information hidden in his eyes.

Beside Zhong Wuwang was his master, Wei Luo, Daoist Wei. Daoist Wei had a pale, beardless face and was also looking at Chen Shi with a smile, saying, "Child Prodigy, let me see your Dao Embryo again."

Chen Shi summoned his Innate Dao Embryo. This Divine Embryo sat firmly within the miniature shrine, its Dao resonance profound and lasting. As he summoned it, streaks of radiant light gathered from all directions toward the Dao Embryo.

Pairs of eyes fell upon this Innate Dao Embryo. Back then, Chen Shi was quite smug, like a child showing off a dazzling new toy to others, completely unaware of the greed and malice hidden in those gazes.

"What a wonderful Divine Embryo, unparalleled in the world," the people laughed.

At that time, Chen Shi wasn't tall, and these adults in his field of vision were like towering gods. They wore kind smiles, spoke in language only adults could understand, exchanged pleasantries, and hid barbs in their words, signaling for the other side to back down.

The small Xinxiang County town seethed with undercurrents. Brief clashes erupted from time to time, often lasting only an instant.

"Someone's dead, someone's dead!"

Zhang You's face was pale as he said to Chen Shi, "My grand-uncle killed someone!"

Chen Shi asked, "Where?"

Zhang You led them to see. Wen Wuyu didn't dare to go but tugged at Chen Shi's sleeve and followed anyway.

It was a small alley. The alley was empty, no corpse, and the ground was spotless, no bloodstains.

Zhang You was distraught, murmuring, "Killed someone, I really saw my grand-uncle kill someone."

"What are you doing here?" Zhang You's grand-uncle's voice came from behind. He stood at the end of the small alley, wiping his hands with a golden handkerchief, looking at them with a smile.

The children lowered their heads. Chen Shi plucked up his courage and said, "Nothing."

They walked out of the small alley, and soon, the brief sound of spell collisions came again. Chen Shi and his friends followed the noise. They saw many people gathered on the street, and peeking through the gaps between the adults' legs, they could see a corner of a corpse.

They tried to see what had happened, but by the time the crowd dispersed, there was no corpse on the ground, no bloodstains either.

Similar things happened many times.

Whenever something like this happened, an oxcart would always leave the city at dusk. They tried to follow, but the oxcart's owner was ferocious, always catching them and driving them back.

"I'll teach you a qi-concealing technique. Let's hide our auras and go see what's really going on," Chen Shi said.

A few of the children practiced the qi-concealing technique and quietly followed the oxcart, leaving the city with it.

They followed the cart to a forest outside the city, where a large pit had somehow appeared. The oxcart owner dragged long, rectangular objects from the cart and threw them into the pit.

After a while, the owner finished throwing the objects in.

The oxcart drove away.

The children cautiously approached the edge of the pit and peered down. The pit was filled with corpses, scattered everywhere, hundreds of them.

There were adults and children, piled together, their deaths hideous.

Among them were several children they had played with a few times, who had suddenly disappeared. They never expected to find their bodies here.

They were scared out of their wits and shakily returned to the county town.

A few days later, the adults and children around Chen Shi grew fewer and fewer, until only seventeen adults and seventeen children remained.

The smiles on the adults' faces became even more radiant, and they were more courteous to each other, acting like perfect gentlemen.

"The Thirteen Great Clans are united as one!"

That was the phrase Chen Shi heard most often during that time.

"Ah, people always shout about what they lack."

Daoist Wei said with a smile, "Those lacking in virtue will surely yell about morality. Those lacking in brains will insist they're smarter than anyone. Those lacking in love will have 'great love' on their lips at all times. What do the Thirteen Great Clans lack?"

"And what does Despair Slope lack?" Zhang You's grand-uncle said, wiping his hands with a handkerchief, laughing.

The other kind-faced people also took out handkerchiefs, wiping their hands, looking at Daoist Wei and the others with smiles.

Daoist Wei was completely unafraid and said with a smile, "My Despair Slope lacks an Innate Dao Embryo. Do any of you have objections?"

No one died after that, but soon Zhang You's grand-uncle was injured. He held a handkerchief to his mouth, coughing continuously, coughing up blood.

The other kind-faced people were also injured, coughing repeatedly, covering their mouths with handkerchiefs.

Daoist Wei and two other experts from Despair Slope were also injured. Wen Wuyu's master was a beautiful woman, who seemed to have been hurt in the heart, always clutching her chest.

Daoist Wei crouched down, looking at Chen Shi, and said with a smile, "Child Prodigy, are you willing to swear loyalty to the True God, uphold the True God's orthodoxy, unwavering in this resolve, unchanging for this life?"

Chen Shi shook his head. "Grandpa taught me that wherever the sun and moon shine, that is China. We revere our ancestors as gods. Those who heal the sick and save lives, after death they are honored with incense offerings, revered as Medicine Gods. Those skilled in machinery, who create mechanisms for the people's livelihood, after death they are honored with incense offerings, revered as Master Craftsman Gods. Those who build dams and dikes, who open up waterways, are Water Gods. Those who die resisting invasion on the battlefield are War Gods. Those who write classics and teach to educate the masses are Master Gods. Those who bring favorable weather are Dragon Gods. Those who serve as officials and manage the people's livelihoods are City God Gods. The children of China take their ancestors as gods, so why must we bow to foreign gods?"

Daoist Wei's smile froze on his face.

His features gradually sank into darkness, and Chen Shi also woke from his meditative state, slowly standing up.

He looked around. He was still in the teahouse, with those strange people keeping watch outside, silent and still.

The memories that had just surged up had made him unconsciously immersed in the scenes of the past, completely forgetting himself, and only now, waking up, did he remember reality.

"The Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art is too bizarre. Cultivating it triggers the awakening of memories."

His expression was normal, but a storm raged in his mind.

His memories had been sealed by his grandfather Chen Yindu. Although he didn't know why his grandfather had sealed his memories, his grandfather must have had his reasons.

The seal had always been stable before, so why, just from cultivating the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art, was it starting to break?

Chen Shi glanced at the Grand Sacrificial Officer not far away, then sat down again.

"This cultivation technique is strange. Scholar Zhu said I might have once reached the Spirit Refining Realm, which is why I could break through to an eighteen-zhang Primordial Spirit while still in the Three Corpses realm. Because the realm barrier had been broken by the me from back then, it no longer existed, so the Primordial Spirit could grow freely."

"In other words, during the time I died, I cultivated to the Spirit Refining Realm. And this technique, could it be the one I practiced back then?"

His eyes flickered. If it was the technique he had practiced back then, with his Spirit Refining Realm cultivation, he wouldn't have been able to resist his grandfather's seal. But when his grandfather applied the seal, he could have used this demonic technique to tamper with it a little.

After all, this might be the world's first demonic technique. No one had ever seen it before, and of course his grandfather couldn't have seen it either.

"When my grandfather applied the seal, it's not impossible that he tampered with it using this technique. That would mean that when I practice this technique, I would trigger the seal my grandfather left behind, gradually releasing the sealed memories."

Chen Shi's heart stirred. If this guess was correct, then who were these strange people?

Why did they have the demonic technique he had created? Why did they come here to give him the demonic technique, asking him to complete it?

There was definitely something wrong here!

"Then, should I continue cultivating and unlock more memories?"

Chen Shi hesitated. His reason told him he should stop immediately, not touch the remaining memories. But a surging emotion deep inside drove him to unlock more of the seal.

Only by unlocking those seals and obtaining those wounds could he become the complete him!

Chen Shi sat quietly, organizing the fragments of memory from just now. The memories of his childhood flowed like a murmuring stream through his mind.

He had been precocious. He had memories from after he was born, remembering his parents leaning over to look at him with doting eyes and the smiles that bloomed on their faces.

He remembered the wild joy on Chen Tang's and Wu Qingyu's faces when he first spoke, and Chen Yindu's ecstatic look when he returned from out of town, scruffy and unkempt, and saw him.

He remembered Chen Tang and Chen Yindu arguing, and when they saw him nearby, they immediately shut up. Chen Yindu picked him up, using his stubbly beard to tickle him.

He remembered sitting on his grandpa's lap, his parents standing behind them, with Creation Little Five painting in front.

He remembered Chen Tang going out for the imperial examinations, Wu Qingyu standing in front of him, arranging his luggage.

He remembered Creation Little Five taking him to the yellow earth slope, pointing at the old willow tree and saying a scholar ghost was hanging there.

...

His childhood was spent under the care of Chen Tang and Wu Qingyu. He often looked forward to his grandpa returning from outside, bringing him all kinds of strange toys, and to his Uncle Little Five returning, bringing him all kinds of delicious food.

Chen Shi exhaled a breath of turbid air and made up his mind.

In the seal, there were more memories of his childhood, both bad and good. Good or bad, they were all his memories. He liked these good memories and also had enough resilience to accept the bad ones.

He activated the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art again.

Darkness rushed in.

A humble room. The lamplight was as small as a bean, flickering unsteadily.

"Brother Wuwang, save me."

Chen Shi stood rigidly under the lamplight, wanting to move but unable to.

Daoist Wei walked toward him with a smile, circling from in front of him to behind.

Zhong Wuwang followed behind Daoist Wei, his expression complicated, mixed with a trace of terror as he looked at Chen Shi.

"Wuwang, the Innate Dao Embryo is a gift from the True God. It can't be given to bad people." Daoist Wei's voice came from behind Chen Shi's head.

Chen Shi felt a tearing pain at the back of his head. His skull was opened, warm blood flowing down his neck, running down his back and chest, growing cold.

"The miniature shrine is hidden in the Jade Pillow. Only by opening the Jade Pillow can the Divine Embryo be removed without damage... Beautiful, too beautiful, a perfect Divine Embryo, just like the True God..."

After a moment, Chen Shi fell, his body growing colder and colder.

"Brother Wuwang, save me." He was breathing his last.

Zhong Wuwang stared in terror at his corpse.

Daoist Wei patted Zhong Wuwang's clean, fair face with his bloodstained hand and said with a smile, "Be good. Summon the miniature shrine. Your master will transplant the Innate Dao Embryo for you... Wuwang, don't disappoint your master's efforts!"

Chen Shi's ghost hid beneath the bean-sized lamplight, shrouded in darkness there, watching this scene in terror.

Daoist Wei, after transplanting the Innate Dao Embryo into the dazed Zhong Wuwang, walked toward this oil lamp and said with a smile, "Don't dwell on it. Some people are born lowly. Pfft!"

He blew out a breath. The lamplight was extinguished with a single puff. This breath turned into a fierce wind, blowing Chen Shi's ghost tumbling and rolling, crashing into the underworld.

"Dad! Mom! Where are you?"

"Save me!"

"Dad, Mom, I'm dying! Save me!"

...

In the dim underworld, a small, terrified ghost looked around in panic. The shadows were full of darkness, as if hiding hideous and terrifying monsters.

"Grandpa! Uncle Little Five! Where are you?"

"Who will save me? Who will save me!"

He shouted loudly, but around him came giggling sounds, the laughter of specters.

He was afraid, terrified, hiding everywhere.

A few days later, Chen Shi accepted the reality that he had died.

He attached himself to a recently dead little yaksha, using this body to resist the call of hell.

"Why... why?!"

A strong rage surged from the depths of his heart, transforming into demonic nature, filling his heart.

As the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art circulated, the demonic nature in Chen Shi's heart gradually surged, growing stronger and stronger, causing this demonic technique to spin faster and faster!

At the Xia residence.

Minister of Rites Xia Canghai came to the study and told Xia Xuanming about Chen Shi entering Beilai City, saying, "Chen Shi has come this time under the pretense of buying shoes. I'm afraid he harbors ill intentions and is provoking our Xia family. I have ordered that within Beilai City, we do not touch him at all. As soon as he leaves Beilai, we will strike him down. Please instruct, Sect Leader."

Xia Xuanming was the Sect Leader of the Xia family. The Xia family was divided into internal and external branches. Xia Canghai was the person in charge of external affairs, essentially a mouthpiece, while Xia Xuanming was the one who truly wielded power over this ancient great clan.

Xia Xuanming was currently writing calligraphy, composing "The Later Memorial to the Throne on the Northern Expedition," having just written: "What is difficult to level, is events."

Xia Xuanming put down his brush and said, "Is Chen Shi still in the city?"

"Still there."

Xia Canghai said, "Sect Leader, there are some people around him, behaving strangely. The leader is an old man, looks like a traveling merchant, unknown background, very complimentary and flattering toward Chen Shi."

"People from Red Mountain Hall?" Xia Xuanming asked, tilting his head.

Xia Canghai laughed. "Possibly."

Xia Xuanming extended his hands, and a maidservant quickly stepped forward to wipe them. Xia Xuanming said, "Chen Shi established Red Mountain Hall. In just a few years, Red Mountain Hall has spread across the land, teaching the people petty benefits to buy their hearts, using the elimination of evil spirits to manipulate public opinion, organizing militias, plotting rebellion, harboring disloyal intentions. But it's all just small-scale troublemaking. A bunch of muddle-footed peasants, can they turn the world upside down? Our Xia family doesn't move against him in Beilai City because we know propriety. But Red Mountain Hall has slapped our Xia family's face. We cannot fail to punish them, to serve as a warning to others."

Xia Canghai acknowledged, saying, "I will go at once to punish these muddle-footed peasants."

The Grand Sacrificial Officer sat outside the teahouse, waiting quietly. Suddenly, he sensed the demonic nature within the teahouse growing heavier. Startled, he immediately walked toward the teahouse.

Xia Canghai led a group of people as he approached, sneering from afar, "A bunch of muddle-footed peasants, what audacious dog guts you have!"

The Grand Sacrificial Officer stopped in his tracks.