Chapter 453: I’m Probably Fine
Chen Shi sat inside the wooden cart, letting out a long sigh of relief. He thought to himself, "Feng Ruotong, is that the Celestial Way Immortal from Despair Slope who fought the Grand Sacrificial Officer to a standstill?"
Just now, while he was meditating on the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art, he had kept a single thread of consciousness on guard outside, so he was completely clear on everything that had happened outside the teahouse. The immortal confronting the Grand Sacrificial Officer was indeed Feng Ruotong, and judging from their conversation, they had once fought in the past, with neither side gaining any advantage.
Chen Shi recalled that back in the underworld, a Celestial Way Immortal from Despair Slope had once led Celestial Way Walkers in pursuit of them, but he didn't know that immortal's name, which led to this guess.
"Feng Ruotong came to Beilai City this time also for the Divine Capital. It seems Despair Slope values the Divine Capital far more than the Upper Realm."
He pondered further, "Since the Grand Sacrificial Officer didn't kill me this time, he won't make a move against me in the short term. His current top priority should be to find a gifted child, focus on cultivating them, and have them practice the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art — Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, visualization of the miniature shrine, then officiating Heaven to receive the Divine Embryo bestowed by the True God."
A smile spread across his face as he murmured, "I wonder if what the Celestial True God bestows will be a divine embryo or a demonic embryo?"
What he had handed over to the Grand Sacrificial Officer was the genuine Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art, without a single alteration.
According to this cultivation technique, by absorbing Demonic Energy and cultivating the demonic path, one's progress would be extremely fast. In just a few short years, they could reach the Divine Descent realm.
Upon reaching the Divine Descent realm, the demonic embryo would return to the Celestial True God's body.
That would be the perfect moment to pollute the Celestial True God.
"By practicing the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art step by step, it truly is possible to pollute and demonize the Celestial True God!"
Chen Shi raised his head, gazing at the low, heavy moon hanging in the sky, and muttered softly, "I'd really love to see what the True God looks like when polluted and demonized."
His demonic energy ran deep, and it took a moment before he calmed down.
This recovery of his memories was not without harm. It still caused him to inherit the violent energy and demonic nature accumulated over the past eight years.
"If the Celestial True God becomes demonized, the sun and moon would emit billowing demonic energy, corrupting the righteous energy of heaven and earth. At most ten days to half a month, at least a day or two, and the entire Western Ox New Continent would turn into a demonic world! Hmph, Grandpa thought that sealing me would prevent me from doing such things..."
Black Pot, who had been running ahead, suddenly shivered and stopped, turning his head to look back.
Chen Shi laughed, "Black Pot, why are you looking at me like that? I was just joking! Hahaha!"
Black Pot blinked, feeling that something was off about Chen Shi.
The wooden cart had flown thirty thousand li and finally grew tired, landing on its own.
Chen Shi got out, and the wooden cart immediately lit a stick of incense for itself, scampering off excitedly to find ghosts and monsters to fill its stomach.
Nearby was a small town, with cooking smoke curling upward. When Chen Shi approached and looked closer, he realized the town's inhabitants weren't humans, but the ghost clan.
The ghost clan members stared at him in surprise. Chen Shi smiled at them and said, "Gua ji gua ji?"
The ghost clan members relaxed and laughed, "Gua ji."
Chen Shi walked into the town, intending to observe the local customs of the ghosts, when suddenly a voice reached him, "I didn't expect the Child Prodigy to be fluent in ghost language."
Chen Shi followed the sound and saw Feng Ruotong sitting lazily in front of a ghost clan dwelling, covered in injuries, completely lacking the celestial bearing he'd had before. Several Heaven's Listeners surrounded him, their cultivation levels quite high, probably Venerated Kings or Venerated Lords.
That dwelling was also a stone house, as crude as the other ghost clan homes, but outside the door hung a yellow cloth banner fluttering in the wind, with a crookedly embroidered character for "medicine."
Chen Shi was slightly stunned. He saw a ghost doctor attending to Feng Ruotong's injuries.
The ghost doctor was bare-chested, gaunt and hunchbacked, half a body taller than a normal person, wearing only a tattered beast-hide short. His body was covered in some festering sores and strange, fleshy flowers. Those bizarre flowers would occasionally open their buds and spray out multicolored streams of air.
He had an eye on his forehead, and when that eye shot out divine light, it illuminated every inch of Feng Ruotong's body inside and out.
Various strange patterns emerged on his body surface, and when treating ailments, these patterns would light up accordingly.
When treating the wound at Feng Ruotong's heart, patterns also lit up at the ghost doctor's own heart. The light shining on Feng Ruotong's heart caused the wound there to gradually heal, which was quite remarkable.
Feng Ruotong smiled and said, "Child Prodigy, why don't you come closer and speak?"
Chen Shi felt a chill in his heart but maintained a smile as he walked toward him.
The Grand Sacrificial Officer and Feng Ruotong were evenly matched in strength. But this time, with the help of Chen Shi's demonic Dao field, which had smoothed out the chaotic Demonic Energy within him, the Grand Sacrificial Officer had finally gained the upper hand, severely wounding Feng Ruotong and forcing him to flee.
Now it seemed Feng Ruotong's injuries were serious, but not that serious.
What amazed Chen Shi even more was that the ghost doctor in this ghost clan town could actually heal wounds caused by the Grand Sacrificial Officer!
"The battle between the Grand Sacrificial Officer and yourself didn't end in life or death," Chen Shi said as he approached, laughing. "I had thought the immortal had met with misfortune and was lamenting over it."
Feng Ruotong laughed, "Sorry to disappoint you. Child Prodigy, please have a seat."
Chen Shi came to the stone table. A Venerated Lord of the Heaven's Listeners had already brought a stone stool. Chen Shi sat down and watched the busy ghost doctor.
Feng Ruotong said, "Child Prodigy, are you curious why a small-town ghost doctor can heal wounds left by an immortal? To tell you the truth, the ghost clan are remnants of the Great Shang people. They became the ghost clan due to a calamity. The Great Shang people divided their subjects by duty. Everyone was assigned a role at birth, passed down from generation to generation. Among them, the ghost doctors were called Bian Que during the Great Shang era."
"Bian Que?"
Chen Shi was surprised, looking at the busy ghost doctor. He saw patterns lighting up on the ghost doctor's right little finger, and Feng Ruotong's right little finger, which had been severed by the Grand Sacrificial Officer, was actually growing back at the wound!
Feng Ruotong continued, "Bian Que was a profession during the Great Shang. The great Dao patterns on their bodies were passed down through generations, from father to son, from son to grandson. So even though they became the ghost clan, they remained the most excellent physicians. If one is injured, finding the nearest ghost clan town and letting a Bian Que ghost doctor treat you generally means you won't die."
Chen Shi's expression turned serious. "I am enlightened."
Feng Ruotong's gaze fell upon him, and he asked, "Do you know why I got injured?"
Chen Shi smiled, "You saw my demonic Dao field, and your mind was shaken. You knew that once this field of mine was deployed, it would inevitably threaten Despair Slope. So your first thought was to eliminate me at all costs."
"Haha, hahaha!"
Feng Ruotong burst into loud laughter. "The Child Prodigy truly is an interesting fellow! You're so understanding!"
As he laughed, the wounds on his body split open, which enraged the ghost doctor, who picked up the medicine pot from the table and whacked him on the head three times.
Feng Ruotong's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he turned his head to glare viciously at the ghost doctor.
The ghost doctor was completely unafraid, raised the medicine pot, and struck him hard on the head once more, shouting, "Gua ji!"
"Since I still need you to treat my injuries, I won't kill you."
Feng Ruotong snorted, turned his head to look at Chen Shi, and laughed, "But the Child Prodigy won't be so lucky. You've walked right into my trap and come to die willingly. You can't blame me for being ruthless."
Chen Shi's eyes flickered, and his Dao field spread out with a swoosh. At the same time, the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade in the small temple behind his head vibrated slightly, ready to fly out and kill at any moment!
Little Duan Immortal, Scholar Zhu, and Jue Yangzi each prepared themselves, ready to act at any time!
Feng Ruotong laughed, "I am a Celestial Way Immortal. There's no need for you to display such petty tricks... Hmm?"
He let out a soft exclamation and looked around.
He saw that all the ghost clan members in this small town were gradually undergoing a transformation! Their ghostly features were visibly dissolving, replaced by human characteristics!
They were rapidly transforming from ghost clan to humans, each one looking bewildered and at a loss.
The ghost doctor beside Feng Ruotong had also changed. His previously hunchbacked figure had returned to normal, his body was no longer tall, thin, and deformed, and the festering sores and strange flowers had disappeared, replaced by normal skin.
The ghost doctor's expression was dazed as he murmured, "What's happened to me?"
The words coming from his mouth were no longer ghostly "gua ji gua ji" but human language, spoken fluently.
The third eye on his forehead had also disappeared, but when he tried to activate the Bian Que Dao patterns, the third eye on his forehead reappeared.
This eye was the physician's eye, capable of seeing through a patient's five viscera and six organs, and locating the source of disease.
The ghost doctor was both fearful and somewhat pleased. When he used his racial talent to treat others, a portion of the illness would often remain inside his own body, manifesting as stubborn ailments like strange flowers and festering sores. He could heal others but couldn't heal himself. Unexpectedly, this change had caused his chronic ailments to heal without treatment.
Feng Ruotong stood up and looked around, murmuring, "What kind of Dao field is this?"
Suddenly, there was another "dong" sound on his head. The ghost doctor had struck him hard on the head with the medicine pot again, signaling him to sit down and calmly receive treatment.
Feng Ruotong had no time to argue with him. All the ghost clan members in this small town, including the ghost gods they worshipped, had actually turned into humans under the influence of Chen Shi's Dao field!
His heart shook with indescribable shock. He felt that under the shroud of this Dao field, the yin and yang energies were incredibly harmonious.
"What kind of Dao field is this?" He steadied himself and asked again.
Chen Shi sat across from him without making any further move and said, "The Yin-Yang Dao Field."
Feng Ruotong stared directly at him and said in a deep voice, "I've seen many Yin-Yang Dao Fields before, but none of them have reached your level."
Chen Shi smiled, "That's because they aren't me."
Feng Ruotong stared at him intensely. Chen Shi remained expressionless.
"Dong!"
"Dong! Dong!"
The stubborn ghost doctor raised his medicine pot and struck Feng Ruotong on the head, again and again.
Feng Ruotong was angered by his beating and finally couldn't hold back his temper. He turned his head and shouted, "You told me to sit down and speak, so why do you keep hitting me?"
The ghost doctor was about to strike again, but Feng Ruotong had been worn down by the ghost doctor's strange temperament and sat down as if nothing had happened.
The ghost doctor hit him twice more on the head before finally stopping.
Feng Ruotong's eye muscles twitched as he suppressed his anger and said to Chen Shi, "Your Yin-Yang Dao Field — did you comprehend it yourself?"
Chen Shi nodded.
"The demonic Dao field — did you also comprehend it?" he asked again.
Chen Shi nodded again.
Feng Ruotong was silent for a moment, then said, "Show me."
Chen Shi immediately dispersed the Yin-Yang Dao Field and activated the demonic Dao field.
The moment the Yin-Yang Dao Field dissipated, the ghost doctor and the ghost clan members in the town began to revert to their original forms. However, as Chen Shi's demonic Dao field spread out and enveloped the town, they didn't turn back into ghost clan members. They remained in their human forms.
Moreover, the yin energy and Demonic Energy that had been affecting them now circulated smoothly within their bodies, becoming peaceful and orderly, rather than the chaotic state they had been in before.
Feng Ruotong took in the entire scene, his face expressionless.
Chen Shi felt deeply uneasy. Feng Ruotong was an existence capable of single-handedly toppling the Upper Realm, able to retreat intact even against a terrifying being like the Grand Sacrificial Officer. Even injured now, his methods were those of a celestial immortal, far beyond what Chen Shi, Little Duan Immortal, and the others could contend with.
If Feng Ruotong insisted on killing them all, the outcome of this battle would be uncertain.
Chen Shi could only place his hopes on the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade!
He only had one chance to strike.
If he couldn't kill Feng Ruotong with a single slash, then death would be theirs!
"Why did Wei Luo kill you instead of guiding you to Despair Slope?"
Feng Ruotong suddenly asked, "If he had guided you to Despair Slope, there wouldn't have been so many problems. You would have obtained Despair Slope's ultimate techniques, and your cultivation and strength would probably already be beyond my reach."
Chen Shi said, "He said I was a heretic who doesn't revere the True God."
Feng Ruotong frowned. "So, are you?"
Chen Shi thought for a moment, then nodded. "I am."
Feng Ruotong fell silent. After a long moment, he spoke, "I am not a true immortal."
Chen Shi was taken aback, looking at him in confusion, not understanding why he would suddenly say such a thing.
"Just like the false immortals in the small temple behind your head, I too am parasitic, merging my Dao into a limited space. The difference is that they merged their Dao within your temple, while I merged my Dao within the True God's Celestial Way Dao Field."
Feng Ruotong seemed to see through everything inside the small temple, having complete knowledge of every move by Little Duan Immortal and the others, causing the three inside the temple to feel a chill.
"I am not a true immortal. I merely entrusted my Dao to the True God. It's not true Dao Unification."
Feng Ruotong sighed, stood up, and said, "If one day the True God is destroyed, I too will vanish along with it. The Celestial Way Immortal is no more than this. I also want to know what a true immortal is, what true freedom means... Stop hitting me! I won't treat the remaining injuries!"
The ghost doctor was still stubbornly hitting his head. Feng Ruotong cursed, took out some incense offering money, and shoved it into the ghost doctor's hand.
"So, no matter what, I must protect the Celestial True God and never betray him. The Celestial Way Immortal is like this, and so are the Celestial Way Walkers. Wei Luo did nothing wrong."
He left with several Venerated Kings and Venerated Lords of the Heaven's Listeners, waving his hand as he said, "From now on, other Celestial Way Walkers and Celestial Way Immortals will also try to kill you for the same reason."
Chen Shi called out loudly, "And you? Why didn't you kill me?"
Feng Ruotong turned back and smiled, "I'm injured. I can't beat you. You've prepared three false immortals and four immortal artifacts. With my injuries being this severe, of course I have to run away."
He waved his hand and walked off into the distance.
Chen Shi was stunned.
Just then, he was struck on the head with a medicine pot. The ghost doctor was holding the pot and hitting him. Chen Shi covered his head and shouted angrily, "Gua ji?"
The ghost doctor laughed and said, "You're a human, and you also speak ghost language? Do you need treatment?"
Chen Shi shook his head.
"If you don't, get out!" The ghost doctor began to shoo him, chasing him out.
Chen Shi walked out of the ghost clan town. Feng Ruotong was nowhere to be seen.
The wooden cart had eaten its fill and came running toward him.
Chen Shi retracted his Dao field, turned back to look at the small town, and murmured softly, "Should I silence them..."
Black Pot turned his head and stared at him in terror.
Chen Shi laughed heartily and said, "Black Pot, I'm joking! Did you actually take me seriously? Since Feng Ruotong didn't silence them, why would I? I am, after all, the top scholar and a righteous person!"
He climbed onto the wooden cart, and it soared into the air, breaking through the sky and flying away.
Inside the wooden cart, Chen Shi turned back once more to look at the ghost clan town.
"Woof!" The dog's voice came.
"Haha!"
Chen Shi turned around and laughed, "Hahaha! I'm really fine, Black Pot!"
In the small town, the people reverted to their ghost clan appearances, and the town returned to its usual tranquility.