Chapter 564: Another Side of Her Ladyship

"Who exactly raised a terrifying creature like the primordial insect?"

Chen Shi walked toward Western Ox New Continent, his mind still churning over this question.

Unconsciously, he slowed his pace, thinking to himself: "From the Celestial Venerable's remarks, this person must be a big shot in the Earth Immortal Realm. But would a big shot cultivate both immortal and demonic paths? What's even stranger is that his primordial insect is filled with sinister demonic energy and devours stars. Isn't the Earth Immortal Realm supposed to be an immortal realm led by immortals? How could someone like that establish a foothold there?"

The Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection was indeed extraordinarily powerful, far surpassing the Immortal Art of Immortality, and even exceeding the techniques recorded in the Blood Lake Sutra and the Heaven-Measuring Iron Ruler.

Chen Shi had cultivated all of these techniques, yet only the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection was all-encompassing, cultivating the immortal path while also cultivating the demonic path, excelling at both.

"From now on, my path shall also be one of cultivating both immortal and demonic ways..."

Just as he thought this, he casually glanced back and saw the Celestial True God following behind him, radiant light spreading for miles.

The Celestial True God's body continuously emitted radiant light, which refracted into a kaleidoscope of colors when struck by sunlight.

Chen Shi froze for a moment, then suddenly understood. The radiant light emanating from the Celestial True God was not a miraculous phenomenon—it was him disintegrating.

The Celestial True God had endured the battle against the Celestial Venerable, then the battle to expel the primordial insect, and the long-distance pursuit. The power brought by the Innate Dao Embryo had finally been exhausted!

"Father-in-law! True King! Don't disintegrate yet!"

Chen Shi accelerated, rushing toward Western Ox New Continent. The Celestial True God also picked up speed, rushing toward Western Ox New Continent.

As his speed increased, so did the rate of his disintegration. The trail of radiant light dragging behind him grew longer and more dazzling.

"Father-in-law, you haven't seen your daughter yet! You haven't seen the people of Great Shang! They survived!"

Chen Shi sprinted with all his might, pushing his speed to the absolute limit.

"True King, the Ming Dynasty people you protected, they survived too! Although the journey was arduous and life has been hard, they still made it!"

Chen Shi ran faster and faster, transforming into a streak of immortal light, flying toward Western Ox New Continent.

Behind him, the Celestial True God continued to disintegrate, the scattered radiant light growing denser and more resplendent, while the deity's form grew fainter and fainter.

"Don't let your obsessions scatter! Hold on! I'll bring you back to the land you protected! There will be commoners, there will be billions of living beings, there will be gods and ghosts, offering incense to you, extending your lives!"

Western Ox New Continent grew closer and closer.

Chen Shi charged into the skies of Western Ox New Continent, bringing the Celestial True God with him.

"And there's the Empress of Earth! The Empress of Earth will surely have a way to prolong your lives!"

Suddenly, a surge of magnificent radiant light rushed up from behind him, engulfing him completely. In the instant the Celestial True God rushed into Western Ox New Continent, his body disintegrated, transforming into a brilliant blaze of radiant light that spread across the upper atmosphere, forming an evening glow that enveloped the entire world.

"There will be a way..." Chen Shi murmured, his voice growing lower and lower.

He stood within the radiant light, watching the clouds roll and flow.

Both the True King and the True God had disintegrated, their Primordial Spirits merging into the earth, becoming the evening glow of Western Ox New Continent.

When the people of Western Ox New Continent looked up to admire this radiant light, they would never know that the glow was the Celestial True God.

They would only regard it as a beautiful scenery, warming their hearts.

Chen Shi raised his hand, gently touching the radiant light.

He lay down in mid-air, drifting within the glow.

His eyes dimmed. Both seniors were completely gone. Perhaps becoming the evening glow of Western Ox New Continent was their final wish.

This world was not peaceful.

There would always be countless instances of the strong preying on the weak.

When it fell upon an individual, it was the Child Prodigy whose Innate Dao Embryo was harvested, reduced to a cold corpse.

When it fell upon a temple, it was a celestial star plummeting from beyond the heavens, destroying the ancient shrine.

When it fell upon Gongzhou, it was a demonic transformation, millions of lives hanging by a thread in the demons' hands.

When it fell upon Western Ox New Continent, it was an apocalyptic disaster, requiring tens of generations and hundreds of generations to shed blood and sacrifice before this unwarranted calamity could be stopped.

And whether it was the Child Prodigy, or the ancient temple, or Gongzhou, or Western Ox New Continent—none of them had done anything wrong.

When exalted beings above sent down calamities, they did not withdraw the disaster just because you were a good person or because you were innocent.

In their eyes, all were but ants.

"This matter demands that someone pay the price!"

Chen Shi sat up within the radiant light and said in a low voice, "The Celestial Venerable must die, and the Celestial Venerable's master must die too!"

He stood up, clenching his fists: "The one herding spirits must be beaten to death, and the master of the primordial insect deserves a death a thousand times over!"

Palace of Virtue.

The Empress of Earth collected dew from the leaves of the Purple Heaven Vine, filled a water pot, drifted down from the sky, and arrived beside the old willow stump, watering it.

The stump had already sprouted new buds. Scholar Zhu stood guard nearby, staring eagerly at the branch, as if waiting for the willow to quickly grow into a large tree so he could hang his noose rope on it.

He was rather nostalgic.

Chen Shi arrived at the Palace of Virtue, stepped forward to take the water pot from Her Ladyship's hands, and sprinkled water for her, asking, "Godmother, will Daoist Willow come back to life?"

"He will."

Chen Shi asked, "Will the Daoist Willow that comes back to life still be the same Daoist Willow?"

The Empress of Earth thought for a moment, then said, "Perhaps he'll look a bit younger. Oh, right, I have something for you."

She produced a cyan whip, over a hundred zhang long, flowing down along the broken high mound like smooth silk, and said, "This is from the Celestial Venerable's Dao Realm. It should be an immortal magic treasure. The Dao patterns imprinted within it are extremely profound, not something the Celestial Venerable could have forged."

Chen Shi took the cyan whip and examined it. The handle appeared to be made of copper, wrapped in a coil of cyan hemp rope that felt comfortable in the hand. At the end of the handle was a jade buckle shaped like a circular dragon biting its own tail.

The whip seemed to grow out of the copper handle, with countless strands of thread intertwining with each other, incredibly fine, woven into the whip.

Looking closely, one could see that every strand, as thin as silkworm silk, was imprinted with dense immortal Dao patterns!

Chen Shi's scalp tingled. This was indeed not something the Celestial Venerable could have forged!

If the Celestial Venerable possessed such skill and knowledge, he could have long since leveled Western Ox New Continent.

"This cyan whip should be for driving away the primordial insect," the Empress of Earth speculated. "Most likely, the master of the primordial insect gave it to the Celestial Venerable as a protective treasure, so the insect wouldn't eat him."

Chen Shi stored away the cyan whip, finished pouring the dew from the water pot, and said, "I heard you found Wu Qi's two finger bones, Godmother."

"Follow me."

The Empress of Earth walked into the Palace of Virtue and nodded toward a water basin on an Offering Altar. It was a copper basin filled with dew from the Purple Heaven Vine.

Wu Qi's two finger bones were soaking inside.

"Can the Immortal Art of Immortality bring him back to life?" Chen Shi looked up and asked.

"Very difficult."

The Empress of Earth smiled. "Wu Qi's Immortal Art of Immortality is merely a shell without substance. During the time of the Black Bird Celestial Court, shamanic arts had already reached their peak. The gods of Great Shang transformed Dao techniques into shamanic ritual markings, which could be passed down through generations as long as they were imprinted on the bloodline. Once shamanic arts reached their zenith, everything forward was downhill. That's why they were replaced by immortal techniques."

She glanced at the two bones in the basin and said with a smile, "Great Shang lost the war, shamanic arts were destroyed, and the shamanic arts that Wu Qi and his group brought to Western Ox New Continent were mostly incomplete. Their research into immortal techniques was also half-baked. Wu Qi studied shamanic arts—the arts failed him; he studied immortal techniques—the techniques failed him. For him to come back to life will be extremely difficult."

She shot Chen Shi a glance and added, "But it's not entirely impossible."

Chen Shi humbly sought guidance: "Godmother, how can we make his bones and flesh grow back?"

The Empress of Earth walked into the main hall and said with a laugh, "Your Majesty, please be patient."

She hauled over a thick stack of ledgers and said, "I've spent these past days flipping through the virtue records of our enemies... ahem, of the immortals, and I've found some methods that might revive Wu Qi. Your Majesty, why are you so determined to save Wu Qi? Even if you revive him, he might not be grateful to you. He might even spend every day plotting to kill you and restore Great Shang's legitimacy."

Chen Shi said, "Wu Qi died for me more than forty times. Without him, the Celestial Venerable would not have died. His contributions are monumental. Therefore, no matter what price must be paid, as long as there is even a glimmer of hope, I must revive him!"

The Empress of Earth shook her head and said, "Even if he truly revives, he may not be the same Wu Qi. Too many of his shamanic ritual markings have been damaged."

"Godmother, I'm willing to try."

The Empress of Earth's spirits lifted, and she smiled, "Your Majesty knows how to distinguish gratitude from grievance. You deeply embody my own principles. Because I am exactly the same kind of person! Then let's start by settling accounts with these virtuous people!"

Chen Shi blinked, a flicker of suspicion in his heart: "Settling accounts? What does that mean? What accounts are there to settle with virtuous people?"

The Empress of Earth opened the first ledger, cross-referenced the entries, and said, "The fairy maiden Yuan Bixia was a great benefactor who accumulated virtue before attaining immortality. She once offended someone in the Guangyuan Realm... I mean, she was on good terms with me. She possesses a rare treasure called the Crimson Origin Furnace. According to legend, when this treasure was forged, some strange substance from the darkness was added to it. When refining immortal pills, it produces dew. That dew might be able to grow Wu Qi's finger bones, far surpassing the morning dew of the Purple Heaven Vine."

Chen Shi caught on and asked for guidance: "Then how should we go about borrowing the Crimson Origin Furnace from this fairy maiden?"

The Empress of Earth laughed. "Yuan Bixia spends most of her time in her own Dao Realm refining pills, using the dew to curry favor with other powerhouses. For you to enter her Dao Realm and steal... borrow the Crimson Origin Furnace, there would be no opportunity at all. But isn't it convenient? She happens to be out attending a banquet right now, leaving her Dao Realm empty."

Chen Shi said, "Godmother must know how to enter her Dao Realm, right?"

The Empress of Earth could barely contain her excitement and smiled, "I know a thing or two. Your Majesty, please look."

She elegantly flicked her finger, and a beam of radiant light spread out from her lotus seat, plunging deep into the Sea of Darkness, leading to who knows where.

"Godmother, have you done this kind of thing often before?" Chen Shi asked suspiciously.

She was far too well-versed and familiar with the road.

The Empress of Earth laughed. "How could that be? What status do I hold? How could I ever do something so base? This time, I'll go with you! Your Majesty, wait a moment. I need to change into some practical clothes, so we can run faster if we get discovered!"