On the Path to the Great Dao

Zhong Wuwang was truly enraged. He had barely managed to find the second piece of withered bone, only to have these two shameless bastards tail him, mask up, and snatch it away.

What infuriated him even more was that these two had actually used the Celestial Immortal Finger against him!

Their Celestial Immortal Finger was clearly learned from him, studied imperfectly, yet they had the audacity to turn it against him, and they even succeeded!

With his intelligence and talent, he naturally knew who had ambushed him, so he directly called out Chen Shi and Yang Bi’s names.

Back at the Yang family estate, these two had been skulking around, staring at his Celestial Immortal Finger the whole time—nothing good ever came of that!

“The two of you learned the Celestial Immortal Finger from me, and now you use it against me? Zhong Mou truly underestimated the thickness of your faces!”

Zhong Wuwang activated his Innate Dao Embryo, his aura surging explosively as he gave chase, intent on fighting them to the death.

Suddenly, Chen Shi burst into loud laughter, tearing off the black veil from his face as he laughed, “Er Niu, I was just joking! How could we really steal your treasure?”

Yang Bi hesitated at the sight, but since Chen Shi had removed his veil, he felt awkward keeping his on, so he took his off too.

He was still holding that piece of withered bone, feeling a bit embarrassed.—He just hadn’t done this kind of thing enough times.

Zhong Wuwang paused, hesitating for a moment before restraining himself from charging in, forcing a tight smile. “Since it was a joke, then this treasure…”

“Let’s study it together,” Chen Shi suggested.

Zhong Wuwang’s eyelid twitched, his smile not reaching his eyes. “Fine. Since that’s the case, let’s study it together.”

Chen Shi set down the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade.

The three of them gathered together, examining this piece of withered bone.

The withered bone was a forearm bone, with few shamanic ritual markings remaining; many had been worn away. But those that remained were clearly from the same lineage as the markings on the Celestial Immortal Finger, suggesting they came from the same skeleton.

Chen Shi’s heart stirred. “Er Niu, where are the finger bones you found?”

Zhong Wuwang’s smile was cryptic. “You want to learn my Celestial Immortal Finger?”

Chen Shi said, “Now that we’re working together, you’re at a disadvantage with just your own strength. If you can’t offer more benefits, how can we cooperate?”

Zhong Wuwang was silent for a moment, then took out two finger bones.

The three of them studied the shamanic ritual markings on these bones, each gaining something.

Despair Slope had long been researching the shamanic ritual markings from the Great Shang period. As the Heavenly Pool Ruler, Chen Shi was no stranger to various shamanic ritual markings. Only Yang Bi had less exposure, finding the reading somewhat difficult.

But all three chose to first memorize the shamanic ritual markings, planning to slowly ponder them later.

After all, deciphering profound shamanic ritual markings was extremely mentally draining. A single misstep could lead to losing consciousness.

If any of them passed out, their fate would likely be grim.

Chen Shi quickly memorized the markings on the forearm and finger bones, while Yang Bi and Zhong Wuwang were still engrossed in memorization.

Chen Shi thought of the worn markings on the bones of the Shang ancestors he had seen along the way. “These Shang ancestors must have found the culprit behind heaven and earth’s corruption, so they gathered the Black Bird Celestial Court’s power to fight back!”

He looked around, and the countless white bones came into view.

The ancestors of Great Shang had surrounded and suppressed the corruptive culprit here, expending all their strength, all dying in battle. The Black Bird Celestial Court had also been shattered!

His mind pieced together the entire sequence of events.

Over three hundred thousand years ago, on the Divine Continent, the Great Zhou conquered Shang, destroyed the Black Bird Celestial Court, and drove out the remaining Great Shang subjects, exiling them to the Sea of Darkness. These Great Shang subjects became condemned, forbidden from ever returning to the Divine Continent, including their descendants.

The Great Shang subjects drifted on the sea, finding the Western Ox New Continent, where they thrived for three hundred thousand years, living in peace. Back then, the sun and moon were still true sun and moon, and the sky was filled with stars. The Great Shang subjects could draw Three Lights Righteous Energy from the sun, moon, and stars to cultivate and improve themselves.

Thus, the Black Bird Celestial Court was re-established. The Great Shang civilization continued, birthing many immortals who formed a minor celestial court under the Black Bird Celestial Court, ruling the Western Ox New Continent.

It wasn’t until the end of the Great Shang era, sixteen thousand years ago, that evil suddenly descended.

The corruption began with the sun. The sun of the Western Ox New Continent was entwined by bloody flesh, its light extinguished. Then the moon was devoured, and the distant stars vanished one by one, the starry sky growing dim. When the Demonic Energy invaded the Western Ox New Continent, the immortals who had achieved Dao Unification were the first to falter, one after another falling to corruption. Those who didn’t corrupted immediately destroyed the small worlds they had merged with, sealing themselves away to prevent harm.

Back then, the Shang ancestors of the Black Bird Celestial Court hadn’t corrupted, so they searched for the enemy, finding here the culprit behind the corruption.

They expended their last strength to confront the culprit, all ultimately dying in battle.

“The enemy was too strong, impossible to defeat. So my father-in-law, Little Duan’s father, the emperor of Great Shang, used himself as a sacrifice, offering himself up to transform into the Celestial True God.”

Chen Shi’s eyes flickered. After that, Little Duan’s younger brother should have led the remnants of Great Shang to fight against the world’s evil, spirits, demons, calamities, and catastrophes. Until one day, they clashed with Despair Slope. Little Duan’s brother built the Bronze Great Wall to block Despair Slope’s invasion, protecting the last Shang citizens. But eventually, the Bronze Wall was breached, and they were killed by Despair Slope’s Celestial Venerable.

The Celestial Venerable built the Great Dao Wall, sealing everything behind the Bronze Great Wall, strictly prohibiting entry, trying to bury this history.

But what they didn’t expect was that their battle had torn through the void, creating the wonders of the Heavenly Cascade and Heavenly Pool.

“The Celestial True God is my father-in-law. So Despair Slope must be where he transformed into the True God, which is why the Universal Sacrificial Rite of the Black Bird Celestial Court remains there. That rite within Despair Slope can sacrifice power to the True God, strengthening his yang aura.”

Chen Shi blinked, thinking, “In other words, Despair Slope is actually the place where my father-in-law despaired. He was utterly desperate, so he gave up his life, sacrificing himself, transforming into the sun and moon to illuminate the Western Ox New Continent for his people. Then the Celestial Way Immortal left behind at Despair Slope must be the court officials of Great Shang, responsible for overseeing the True God’s operation.”

He frowned, feeling something was off.

“Despair Slope’s function has gone wrong!”

He suddenly realized it: Despair Slope’s duty in overseeing the True God’s operation should never involve sending out Heaven’s Listeners to monitor the world, or eliminating external gods protecting the commoners, or killing the True King to sacrifice him, or suppressing all dissent!

“My father-in-law’s Great Shang court officials couldn’t have killed my brother-in-law! Despair Slope isn’t just a little wrong—it’s hugely wrong! Could it be that these officials grew ambitious and wanted to rule themselves? Impossible. If so, Despair Slope would have declared itself king long ago.”

He was utterly perplexed. Why would Despair Slope do things so contrary to its own identity?

Just then, Zhong Wuwang’s voice came: “I’ve memorized it.”

A moment later, Yang Bi said, “I’ve also memorized these markings. King Chen, what about you?”

Chen Shi didn’t speak, continuing to stare at the finger bones, growing more puzzled. “The Celestial Venerable can communicate with the True God, conveying the True God’s will. Does the True God really have his own thoughts and ideas? The Celestial Venerable isn’t just problematic—he’s hugely problematic! And most importantly, where are the court officials my father-in-law left behind? Are they still at Despair Slope?”

Thinking this, he said, “I’ve memorized it too.”

Zhong Wuwang sighed in relief, forcing a smile. “Seems our gap isn’t that big. If you had the Innate Dao Embryo, you’d be faster.”

Chen Shi wasn’t bothered. “Senior Brother Wuwang, how did you find this forearm bone? Since there are two bones here, there must be other parts.”

Zhong Wuwang felt a flicker of pride at hearing Chen Shi use his name with “Senior Brother.” “It seems mysterious, but once I explain it, you’ll say it’s too simple. I just need to activate the shamanic ritual markings on the finger bones, and I can sense the other body parts.”

Chen Shi snatched one of the finger bones and activated its markings. Zhong Wuwang watched and said, “I’ve already searched this area thoroughly. There are no other bones here.”

Yang Bi took the other finger bone and did the same.

Zhong Wuwang grabbed the forearm bone, thinking, “These two bastards don’t trust anyone.”

Yang Bi concentrated on sensing. “A being this powerful—why did it die here? The Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade couldn’t even cut through the Celestial Immortal Finger, so who killed it?”

Zhong Wuwang said, “There’s always a stronger hand. Whether it’s Despair Slope’s techniques, Great Shang’s legacy, or the Ming Dynasty’s spells, none are the ultimate Dao techniques. Being broken is only normal.”

They moved on, sensing their surroundings.

The Great Shang Celestial Court was vast. They walked for a long time without reaching the end. But they did find over a dozen more bone fragments.

Then, Chen Shi suddenly sensed dozens of fragments, his heart pounding violently.

Yang Bi and Zhong Wuwang also sensed these fragments, their eyes widening in shock before they raced toward them.

When they reached the vicinity of those bone fragments, they were stunned by the sight before them.

What lay before them was a mass of shattered bloody flesh, radiating outward in all directions, splattered across countless fragments of the Great Shang Celestial Court.

All around, immortal radiant light filled the air, sacred beyond words, giving an ethereal sense of stepping into a celestial realm.

At the same time, waves of intense Demonic Energy surged, mixing with the immortal aura, creating a deep unease.

This was a battle between immortals and evil—a being of unimaginable power, an immortal, fighting here to the death against the culprit behind heaven and earth’s corruption!

Chen Shi looked up and saw cracks in the sky everywhere, torn open by immortal and evil forces. Beyond the rift, a moon hung in the air.

It wasn’t the moon of the Celestial True God’s eye, but a moon covered in bloody flesh.

From here to the moon, a faint trail of bloody flesh connected the two points, though now it had been shattered by immortal attacks!

From their angle, they could also see a massive crater in the center of the moon.

The crater was countless li deep, and at its bottom, they could see a radiating burst of bloody flesh, roughly showing that someone had slammed into the moon, causing the explosion!

Yang Bi was utterly shaken, muttering to himself, “The strongest immortal of Great Shang fought here, sacrificing himself and every deity of the Great Shang Celestial Court to kill the being that invaded the Western Ox New Continent.”