Chapter 566: The Accounting Master of the Earthly Immortal Realm

Chen Shi turned and left, flying through the air.

What he had left on the four walls of the alchemy chamber was none other than the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation.

He had only managed to comprehend the cultivation technique of the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection, and he could not derive the divine ability paired with this technique purely from the method itself. Fortunately, the Celestial Venerable had demonstrated this divine ability right in front of him. Chen Shi only needed to see it once to understand the principle of the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation and deduce it himself.

By the time he departed, those female disciples came running over in a panic. When they saw that the immortal furnace was gone, they were stricken with terror.

They ran around like headless flies until an older female disciple shouted, "Silence! Everyone, calm down!"

The group gradually settled.

That female disciple said, "Her Ladyship has gone to the Immortal Lord Hua's Radiance Manor for a banquet and is not here. With such a great incident happening on our watch, we cannot escape blame. Did any of you see the faces of those two thieves?"

Everyone shook their heads in turn. The Empress of Earth had her face covered with a veil and further concealed it with her sleeve, while Chen Shi had a mass of cyan energy shrouding his face. Given the cultivation levels of these cultivators, they would not have been able to see his true appearance.

Just then, a deep, rumbling voice came over: "I saw the face of the male thief clearly."

The women turned to look and saw that the speaker was an ancient turtle. Its shell spanned several acres in circumference, and it was extremely old with profound cultivation. Fairy Maiden Yuan had stationed it here to guard the Jade Court.

The ancient turtle's cultivation was exceedingly high, but when Chen Shi and the Empress of Earth came to seize the Crimson Origin Furnace, it had not made a move.

"Uncle Turtle, what about the woman's appearance?"

The ancient turtle hesitated for a moment, then said, "I did not see it clearly."

"Why didn't you stop them, Uncle?" another woman asked.

"I am far outmatched."

The ancient turtle sent out its Primordial Spirit, picked up a brush, and began to paint. Before long, it had produced a portrait of Chen Shi's appearance.

As for the Empress of Earth, after hesitating for a moment, it only painted her clothing.

The women breathed a sigh of relief and said, "With this portrait, finding this man will be much easier. We won't be punished too severely."

They burned incense and talismans to contact Fairy Maiden Yuan Bixia, informed her of the matter, and then waited quietly.

"Senior Sister, what about the line of words in the alchemy chamber?" one woman asked.

The Senior Sister said, "Let Her Ladyship decide."

After waiting for a while, Fairy Maiden Yuan hurried back to the Guangyuan Realm, her face ashen. She demanded, "Who did this?"

She had not come alone. Beside her was another person, radiant with brilliant light and exuding extraordinary nobility. It was none other than her husband, Immortal Lord Hua.

Nominally, Fairy Maiden Yuan had gone there as a guest, but in truth, the two had been enjoying each other's company. So upon hearing this news, Immortal Lord Hua had come along with her.

The women exchanged glances and shook their heads in turn, saying, "We did not see the thieves' faces. Fortunately, Uncle Turtle saw through that person's disguise and painted the villain's appearance."

Fairy Maiden Yuan took the portrait, examined it, and sneered, "Post this everywhere! Search the entire Guangyuan Realm if you must, but capture this petty thief and bring him to justice!"

Her anger still not subsided, she strode toward the alchemy chamber in the Jade Court.

Before leaving, she had placed a batch of medicinal pills in the Crimson Origin Furnace to extract pill dew. She wondered whether the pill dew had been refined.

Just thinking about the loss made her heart ache.

Immortal Lord Hua did not follow her. Instead, he examined the two paintings and shook his head. "Someone who can enter a True Immortal's Dao Realm to steal treasures is definitely not from the Guangyuan Realm. The people here do not have such skill."

His gaze moved away from Chen Shi's portrait and fell upon the portrait of the Empress of Earth. He studied it a few more times.

"Old Turtle, you have painted the energy of incense offerings in this picture."

Immortal Lord Hua glanced at the ancient turtle and said flatly, "So this woman is a deity."

The ancient turtle said, "In response to the Immortal Lord, this old servant did not see clearly."

Immortal Lord Hua pondered for a moment and thought to himself, "The number of deities in this world who can enter an immortal's Dao Realm is not great..."

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a furious cry suddenly came from the alchemy chamber: "This infuriates me to death!"

Immortal Lord Hua was about to rush over when his expression changed drastically. He blurred in motion and flew toward the alchemy chamber, arriving outside its door in an instant!

When Fairy Maiden Yuan Bixia saw the line of poetry on the wall, she flew into a rage. She immediately stepped into the alchemy chamber. At that very moment, the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation on the four walls erupted!

In an instant, the power of the Ancient Star Sea exploded forth. Three hundred and sixty-five stars, three hundred and sixty-five Star Lords, formed into an array. The ground where Fairy Maiden Yuan Bixia stood was instantly transformed into a vast ocean surging with starlight. Her physical body and Primordial Spirit immediately came under the crushing weight of countless stars!

Caught completely off guard, Fairy Maiden Yuan Bixia's body crackled and popped as she was crushed down to rapidly shrinking size.

She looked around and found herself trapped in a boundless sea of the Ancient Star Sea. Towering, ferocious star deities swung their divine artifacts at her from every direction!

The calamity waves that could annihilate stars surged toward her, about to swallow her whole.

Even though her realm was several Dao Realms above Chen Shi's, she had no way to withstand this killing technique from the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection.

The Dao techniques and divine abilities of the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection were simply too profound. She could find no flaw to exploit and could only endure the full force of the tribulation formation!

"How utterly foolish!"

Immortal Lord Hua's voice suddenly came from outside. The sea of stars around Fairy Maiden Yuan violently churned, and one towering Star Lord after another annihilated into nothingness. Then the star sea collapsed, the calamity waves vanished, and everything around returned to clarity.

Fairy Maiden Yuan's body was restored as well. Still shaken, she looked up and saw that Immortal Lord Hua had appeared before her at some point, having blocked the force of the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation for her and broken the formation.

She looked back at the line of poetry on the wall, feeling both humiliated and furious. She strode forward and scraped the two lines completely clean.

Immortal Lord Hua also caught a glimpse of the two lines of poetry Chen Shi had left behind but did not say a word.

Fairy Maiden Yuan's anger had not yet subsided. She turned to look at Immortal Lord Hua, her heart trembling slightly. She gracefully knelt and said, "Not only did that thief steal the opportunity bestowed by my Lord, he also left words to humiliate me and even intended to kill me. His crime is unforgivable. I beg my Lord to seek justice for me!"

Immortal Lord Hua counted on his fingers to perform a divination, and his expression shifted slightly. He could not calculate the origins of Chen Shi and the Empress of Earth, and he could not help but frown.

He looked around once more, and his frown deepened.

"This divine ability comes from the Earth Immortal Realm. It is an extremely superior Dao technique. The one who left this divine ability is a disciple of some great figure in the Earth Immortal Realm, and that great figure is someone even I cannot afford to offend."

Immortal Lord Hua shook his head and said, "You can only swallow this loss for now. If an opportunity arises in the future, perhaps I will be able to avenge you."

Fairy Maiden Yuan was obedient. She acknowledged with a soft "yes," stood up, and said, "Thank you, my Lord."

Immortal Lord Hua wrapped his arm around her waist but was still somewhat puzzled.

"I have only seen such a divine ability once before. But why would a disciple of that existence come to a backwater place like the Guangyuan Realm to steal the treasure of my concubine?"

Chen Shi caught up with the Empress of Earth. She was carrying the Crimson Origin Furnace on her shoulder, eagerly hurrying back.

Chen Shi quickly said, "Godmother, let me carry it."

"No need!"

The Empress of Earth waved her hand and said, "This little task is nothing! This palace can handle it!"

In the past, it had always been her directing Chen Shi and the others to steal from their enemies' homes. This was the first time she had personally gone out into the field, and she could not help but be excited.

Chen Shi had no choice but to follow her. The two hurried along for half a day before finally returning to the Palace of Virtue.

- Chen Shi felt that the signboard of the Palace of Virtue was looking increasingly brand new today. The two characters for "Virtue" actually seemed a bit glaring.

"There is a batch of immortal pills being refined in this furnace."

The Empress of Earth said with a smile, "Perfect timing. We can test whether the pill dew is useful. Your Majesty, fish out Wu Qi."

Chen Shi walked over to the copper basin and fished out the two finger bones from the bottom.

The Empress of Earth tossed over a small jade bottle, which appeared to be a container for medicinal pills, and said, "Put Wu Qi into the bottle."

Chen Shi did as instructed and placed the two finger bones into the bottle.

The Empress of Earth said, "When I open the furnace, you raise the jade bottle and collect the pill dew."

She opened the Crimson Origin Furnace, and a mist of white vapor immediately rose from within. The medicinal pills inside buzzed as if they had grown wings, flying out in a swarm. They circled the Palace of Virtue once before beginning to fly away.

Chen Shi had already raised the jade bottle and collected the white vapor into it.

The moment the white vapor touched the bottle, it condensed into droplets of pill dew.

Chen Shi looked into the bottle and saw that the pill dew barely covered the bottom.

The Empress of Earth waved her sleeves, blocking those immortal pills and collecting them. She laughed, "This Crimson Origin Furnace is no ordinary treasure. The immortal pills it refines are actually less potent than the pill dew. The pill dew extracts the very essence of the immortal pills. Even a single drop is enough to greatly enhance a True Immortal's cultivation."

She leaned in to look, and the pill dew was being absorbed by the two finger bones, gradually diminishing.

On the finger bones, Dao patterns lit up. They were the shamanic ritual markings of the Immortal Art of Immortality!

The Empress of Earth smiled and said, "I have succeeded in my mission."

Chen Shi looked at the pill dew in the bottle, then at the Crimson Origin Furnace, and murmured, "How many medicinal pills need to be refined before Wu Qi can be resurrected?"

Her Ladyship said with a beaming smile, "This is the price of doing good deeds. Your Majesty, the medicinal pills in this furnace are not bad. Would you like a taste?"

She tossed the bottle of immortal pills over.

Chen Shi caught it and tasted one. The immortal pill was indeed excellent. The moment it entered his stomach, he felt his Primordial Spirit as if it were bathing in furnace fire, continuously tempered and elevated!

"These medicinal pills really are not bad!"

Chen Shi ate two more and felt his Primordial Spirit as if it were inside a great crucible, undergoing unprecedented refinement!

"This is truly good stuff!"

He looked again at the jade bottle containing the pill dew, a look of envy on his face. "If the dregs are this good, how magnificent must the pill dew be? Friend Wu Qi, you get to eat much better than I do!"

He frowned slightly. Wu Qi needed this much pill dew, but where would they find the immortal herbs needed to refine the immortal pills?

The Empress of Earth sat on her lotus throne. With slender hands, she made a stroke in an account book, crossing out the name of Yuan Bixia. Catching sight of him still hesitating, she gave a light cough, wore a face full of smiles, and gently stroked her thick account book.

"Godmother!"

Chen Shi came forward with a face full of smiles and said, "Do any of Godmother's good friends grow immortal herbs? This child seeks nothing else, but mainly wishes to share Godmother's burdens and worries!"

The Empress of Earth was overjoyed and laughed, "Your Majesty's filial piety moves the heavens. This palace does indeed have some bad debts and rotten accounts that have yet to be settled. If Your Majesty is willing, would you care to bring this palace along?"

Chen Shi hesitated. To be honest, he felt that the Empress of Earth was still a novice when it came to the business of stealing and robbing. She was too green, and he did not really want to bring her along.

Moreover, if their schemes were ever exposed, where would the Empress of Earth's reputation go?

The Empress of Earth's expression darkened slightly.

Seeing this, Chen Shi quickly smiled and said, "Whatever Godmother says, that's what it'll be! Mother and son working together can cut through metal! These accounts, we'll settle them together, mother and son!"