Chapter 568: A Good Deed a Day

"Summoning you to the Earth Immortal Realm?"

The Empress of Earth pondered for a moment, then said, "It might be because of your last Dao Unification. You registered your immortal status in the Earth Immortal Realm."

"Registered immortal status?" Chen Shi was slightly taken aback, not understanding what she meant.

"The so-called registering immortal status means that when cultivators undergo Tribulation Crossing or Dao Unification, some outstanding ones are detected by the Heavenly Mechanism Register of the Earth Immortal Realm and recorded within it."

The Empress of Earth said, "The Heavenly Mechanism Register is a magic treasure formed by the Celestial Way of the Earth Immortal Realm. When cultivators cross tribulation, the register senses the Celestial Way, discerns your name and origin, and records them in its pages. However, the Heavenly Mechanism Register does not proactively summon immortals into the Earth Immortal Realm. The immortal must sense it themselves, attracting the attention of another Celestial Way treasure, the Jade Measure Gate."

She narrated the matter of Ascension in detail: "The Jade Measure Gate and the Yaoguang Pool are also Celestial Way treasures. When cultivators cross tribulation, the Yaoguang Pool releases a wisp of immortal qi, which, together with the immortal light shot from the Jade Measure Gate, descends along with the final heavenly tribulation to aid the tribulation-crossing cultivator in their metamorphosis, refining their physical body and Primordial Spirit into an immortal body. When the cultivator achieves Dao Unification in the mortal world and senses heaven and earth, the Jade Measure Gate will then summon the immortal to the Earth Immortal Realm."

Chen Shi knew nothing of Ascension and listened with rapt attention.

The Empress of Earth said, "But the Heavenly Mechanism Register and Jade Measure Gate rarely take the initiative to summon cultivators to ascend to the Earth Immortal Realm. Unless the register discovers that an immortal hiding in the mortal world has grown too powerful and is interfering with the operations of the mortal realm's Celestial Way, only then will it proactively summon them."

She speculated, "There are many scattered immortals who don't want to ascend and be governed by the Earth Immortal Realm, so they hide in the mortal world. When they expose their power, the Heavenly Mechanism Register captures their aura, and they have no choice but to ascend. Most likely, when you achieved Dao Unification by borrowing the power of the Celestial True God, your power was too great, drawing the attention of the register. It probably thought you were some old monster hiding in the mortal world. There's also another possibility."

The Empress paused, then continued, "The Celestial True God sacrificed himself to the Celestial Way, becoming the Celestial Way of Western Ox New Continent, governing the operation of the sun and moon, and the harmony of yin and yang. When you unified with the Dao together with him, you were tainted by the aura of the Celestial Way, drawing the attention of the Celestial Way treasures. The Heavenly Mechanism Register might have mistaken you for part of the Celestial Way treasure itself."

She reached this point and couldn't help but laugh, saying with a smile, "That possibility is the most impossible one! This palace believes the first possibility is most likely. You are now a runaway immortal recorded in the Heavenly Mechanism Register. If the summons fail to bring you in, they will dispatch experts to capture you and bring you back to the Earth Immortal Realm for trial."

Chen Shi said, "But the Celestial True God is already deceased. I haven't unified with the Dao. I don't even have my Realm of Emptiness anymore. Why does the Heavenly Mechanism Register still want me to ascend?"

The Empress laughed, "Who told you to be so powerful and expose your strength?"

Chen Shi asked, "The Celestial Venerable is also very powerful and exposed his strength. Why wasn't he summoned back to the Earth Immortal Realm?"

"The Celestial Venerable's master is very formidable. He might have taught him secret arts to deceive the Celestial Way."

The Empress of Earth said, "The Celestial Way treasures of the Hao Tian Celestial Court are extremely powerful. They are the most formidable and most miraculous divine artifacts among deities. Since the Heavenly Mechanism Register has its eye on you, I'm afraid you won't be able to stay in the mortal world much longer. You need to prepare early. Don't return to the mortal world these next few days. Let's, mother and son, settle a few more accounts, lest the accounts remain unsettled before you're summoned to the Earth Immortal Realm by the Celestial Way treasure."

Chen Shi acknowledged, then inquired, "How powerful are the Celestial Way treasures?"

The Empress of Earth shook her head and said, "I can't say either. But even the most powerful immortals hold the Celestial Way treasures of the Celestial Court in awe. If not for those treasures, they would likely have made their move against the Celestial Court long ago."

Chen Shi laughed, "A Celestial Way treasure that can be deceived must have its limits, no matter how strong."

The Empress shook her head, "When you ascend to the Earth Immortal Realm, you will feel the power of the Celestial Way treasures. That is when you will understand how formidable they are."

The two returned to the Palace of Virtue. The Empress took out the immortal herbs and medicinal plants she had gathered, saying, "The herbs we gathered this time are enough to refine the Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pill. Has Your Majesty stepped out of the Five Elements?"

Chen Shi sought guidance, "How does one step out of the Five Elements?"

"The heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, the five viscera, each correspond to one of the Five Elements. Thus the physical body resides within the Five Elements. The five viscera generate the five qi, and when the five qi converge toward the origin, they transform into primordial qi, elevating one's cultivation. But because the five viscera belong to the Five Elements, cultivators often find it difficult to withstand attacks based on the Five Elements. To step out of the Five Elements means that the physical body is no longer within the Five Elements, and the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys are no longer bound by the principles of the Five Elements."

The Empress of Earth picked up a brush and wrote out the formula for the Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pill, saying, "The Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pill is an immortal pill that helps people step out of the Five Elements. Your Majesty, although you are already an immortal, you know very little about immortal cultivation. You must study more."

Chen Shi said, "I have comprehended the union of yin and yang, generation, and mutual reinforcement. Does that count as stepping out of the Five Elements?"

The Empress of Earth handed him the formula, saying, "The Great Dao of yin and yang is above the Great Dao of the Five Elements, so naturally, you have stepped out of the Five Elements."

Chen Shi laughed, "Godmother, then do I still need to study?"

The Empress of Earth shot him a glance, "If you don't understand these things, how will you teach others?"

Chen Shi laughed, "So that's why I choose my disciples to be smart enough."

The Empress of Earth's face darkened, "The immortal herbs are all gathered. Your Majesty can now refine the Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pill."

Chen Shi shook his head, "I don't know how."

The Empress of Earth said with heartfelt pain, "That's exactly why you need to learn! If you don't learn, how could you possibly know how?"

Chen Shi asked, "Does Your Ladyship know how to refine the Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pill?"

"No. But I'm different. I'm a deity. Learning this is useless to me."

Chen Shi laughed, "I'm not within the Five Elements either. Learning to refine this pill is equally useless to me."

The Empress was so angry she blew at the hair on her forehead, making every strand stand on end.

Seeing her anger, Chen Shi quickly walked outward, laughing, "Although I don't know how to refine pills, there are people who do. I'll go find them."

Before long, Jue Yangzi, Daocheng, and dozens of other Daoists followed Chen Shi to the Palace of Virtue to pay respects to the Empress of Earth. Chen Shi said, "Jue Yangzi, you Daoists must be well-versed in the art of pill refining. Here is a furnace of Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pills. Refine them."

Jue Yangzi was deeply moved, his voice trembling as he said, "The Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pill is a top-grade immortal pill! A single medicinal pill is enough to allow an immortal to break free from the shackles of the Five Elements! But I've heard that it can only be refined with immortal herbs and medicinal plants. Where did Your Majesty obtain these immortal herbs? Does our Western Ox New Continent even have immortal herbs and medicinal plants?"

He was extraordinarily excited.

The Western Ox New Continent had always been barren. Back then, when he had planned to refine immortal pills, he had searched for many formulas, but because he could never find the immortal herbs and plants, the matter had fizzled out.

The Empress of Earth laughed, "The Five Elements Calamity-Transcending Pill is just an ordinary immortal formula. It's not a top-grade immortal pill."

Jue Yangzi and the others remained extraordinarily excited.

Chen Shi said, "Jue Yangzi, you don't need to ask about the origins of these immortal herbs and plants. Each of you should pick the useful parts of the herbs, but leave the roots behind. Plant the herbs near the Sky Measuring Cliff on Qianyang Mountain. From now on, our Western Ox New Continent will have immortal herbs of its own."

Jue Yangzi and the others acknowledged. When they saw the Crimson Origin Furnace, they were even more shocked.

Danchengzi had always been renowned in the world for his skill in pill refining. Seeing this furnace, he flew over, threw himself onto it, caressing it with unreserved affection, murmuring, "Such a treasure exists in this world? Even just laying eyes on it once would be worth dying for!"

Chen Shi gave further instructions, then entered the Palace of Virtue, where he saw the Empress of Earth leafing through account books.

"This time, we will visit Immortal Lord Wu Banshan."

The Empress of Earth closed a volume of accounts and said, "Great Immortal Lord Wu did every kind of good deed back in the day. His good deeds were so numerous they overflowed, filling volumes upon volumes beyond counting. But he had connections in the Earth Immortal Realm, and when he crossed his tribulation, they shielded him from it. After his Ascension, the evil he had done in the past was simply swept under the rug. He possesses a Jambu Treasure Tree, a treasure he uses to deal with Opening the Calamity. It's extremely formidable. The Jambu Treasure Tree is also an immortal herb, countless times superior to the ones we stole before! Immortal Lord Wu relied on it to survive an Opening the Calamity."

Chen Shi inquired, "Is Immortal Lord Wu in his own Dao Realm?"

The Empress of Earth shook her head, "No. He's gone to the mysterious yellow sea seeking fortune. He said a Flame Spirit Pearl is emerging there, and he's going to try his luck. Many Gold Immortals and Immortal Lords have gone to the mysterious yellow sea, trying to find the Flame Spirit Pearl. However, his Dao Realm should have a Dao Body guarding it. We must not alert the Dao Body."

An Immortal Lord's Dao Body was extremely powerful. Now that the Empress of Earth's incense offerings had not yet recovered, and Chen Shi no longer had the Celestial True God, neither of them was a match for Immortal Lord Wu's Dao Body.

Chen Shi thought for a moment, then said, "Your Ladyship, this time I must bring my brother along. Your Ladyship, wait for me!"

He hurried away. Before long, he arrived at the demonic domain in the underworld.

Although the yin energy of the Western Ox New Continent had been refined away, there were still some places where residual yin energy remained, and the demonic domain was one of them.

But the heaviest presence in the demonic domain was still the demonic miasma.

Many demonic beasts inhabited this place, strange creatures formed by pollution from the demonic miasma.

Black Pot was the king of these demonic creatures, ruling over this territory.

"Black Pot, I need you!"

Black Pot heard Chen Shi's voice from afar, stood up, and sprinted over.

It was not yet fully grown, but its body was even larger than before, almost the size of an adult Huo Dog. As it ran, it shrank its form, quickly becoming the same size as it was in the mortal world, and bounded over to Chen Shi's side.

"Woof woof woof!" Black Pot barked.

Chen Shi said helplessly, "Grandpa came to you too? I know he entrusted me to your care."

The man and the dog walked toward the Palace of Virtue. Black Pot glanced at him and said, "Woof?"

"We're really not doing anything bad, we're doing good deeds! How could the Empress of Earth and I possibly do anything bad?"

"Woof woof!"

"If you can't trust me, can't you at least trust the Empress of Earth? Did you see the name of the Empress's palace? The Hall of Great Virtue and Brightness! What does great virtue mean? Great virtue carries all things! Her Ladyship's tolerance is immense, she can bear all things like the earth itself. Brightness means her Ladyship is open and upright. It's not what you're thinking!"

"Woof?"

"Well, this time, we are indeed going to acquire some things, not rob... Black Pot, my grandpa said, just do good deeds, don't worry about the future. Stop asking so many questions!"

...

Black Pot followed Chen Shi to the Palace of Virtue. After hearing the Empress explain the objective of this trip, it realized it wasn't robbery after all, it was theft. It cast a resentful look at Chen Shi.

"To steal an Immortal Lord's treasure, Your Ladyship should not go."

Chen Shi thought for a moment, then said, "The Immortal Lord's strength is unfathomable, and there's no telling if his Dao Body is in his Dao Realm. Your Ladyship, you guard the radiant light and prepare to provide support. Black Pot and I will go in to steal the treasure."

The Empress of Earth also knew that they were more experienced in such matters than she was, so she agreed.

The two of them walked along the radiant light with Black Pot. After who knows how long, they finally arrived outside a Dao Realm.

The Empress of Earth waited outside, while Black Pot stepped into the Dao Realm first.

Immortal Lord Wu had already cultivated to the tenth level of Dao Realm, the Xuanming Gonghua Heaven. This Dao Realm was vast and boundless, stretching without end. Heavenly sounds echoed through the realm, and on the land below, countless heavenly demons had been born. On one side were yellow demons, on the other great demons, locked in mutual battle, slaughtering each other.

"Yellow demons and great demons, both are manifestations of the Dao's images."

Chen Shi could see clearly that these yellow demons and great demons were all constructed from Dao patterns, with incomparably formidable strength.

Their mutual warfare and conflict also served as a form of tempering for Immortal Lord Wu, helping him deepen his comprehension of Dao techniques.

"The Dao Realm is truly marvelous."

Chen Shi couldn't help but marvel, and he also noticed other Dao images. On the ground were towering forests, in the air were red writings, vermilion cinnabar-like characters. There were also celestial roads, the Eight Calamities Court, the Seven Treasures Forest, and other Dao images. The heavenly sounds in the air were probably also a kind of Dao image.

But the most eye-catching sight was an immortal tree.

That treasure tree hung upside down from the firmament of Immortal Lord Wu's Dao Realm, its roots plunged into a patch of scorched earth. On the firmament of Immortal Lord Wu's Dao Realm, there was a stretch of land that looked like it had been burned by fire, tinged with a scarlet color, covering about a dozen acres.

The treasure tree grew downward, its crown spreading open like a blue umbrella.

Streams of cyan light cascaded down from this treasure tree, extremely resplendent. The cyan radiance spread open in the air, forming the crown, branches, trunk, and a series of incomparably thick root systems of a towering giant tree!

The roots plunged into the earth of the Dao Realm, like colossal horned dragons, twisting and intertwining!

The Jambu Treasure Tree itself was not large, at most a few zhang, but the treasure tree formed by the cyan radiance it emitted was unimaginably enormous, guarding the entire Xuanming Gonghua Heaven Dao Realm!

The scene was absolutely breathtaking.

Jambu is a Sanskrit word, meaning an incomparably vast tree.

The true body of the Jambu Treasure Tree was extremely small, but its projection was so impossibly vast that it could even shelter the Dao Realm of a peak Gold Immortal!

"If this treasure tree could be refined into a magic treasure, wouldn't activating it mean your body could instantly become incomparably vast? Its use goes far beyond being just an immortal herb!"

Chen Shi immediately flew toward the Jambu Treasure Tree with Black Pot, one behind the other.

Black Pot's eyes glowed eerily, forming an invisible domain that enveloped a thousand li radius.

There were many disciples in Immortal Lord Wu's Dao Realm. There was no guarantee that someone wouldn't discover them and awaken the Immortal Lord's Dao Body. That was why Black Pot's role was crucial.

Along the way, Chen Shi saw that many palaces and halls had been built on the projection of the Jambu Treasure Tree. They were probably homes for Immortal Lord Wu's disciples, who lived on the treasure tree's projection.

Chen Shi looked at Black Pot, and Black Pot immediately understood. It stayed near these palaces.

Chen Shi continued forward, heading toward the scorched earth at the dome of the firmament.

"Strange, where is Immortal Lord Wu's Dao Body hiding? Could it have gone to compete for the Flame Spirit Pearl as well? If I'd known, I would have let Godmother come along for the fun too."

He continued to observe his surroundings, confirming there was no Dao Body of Immortal Lord Wu, and gradually ascended to the firmament.

The place where the Jambu Treasure Tree was rooted was a stretch of scorched earth that had been baptized by the flames of war and baptized in blood, radiating a terrifying aura that made one's heart shudder. Just by approaching it, Chen Shi's vision was flooded with illusions.

He urgently activated the Purple Heaven Vine, borrowing its might to resist the scorched earth's influence on him.

"This Jambu Treasure Tree is suppressing this scorched earth! Why is it suppressing it?"

He didn't have time to think it through. He immediately activated the Purple Heaven Vine. The vine flew out from the small temple behind his head and wrapped around the Jambu Treasure Tree.

Chen Shi gradually exerted his strength, slowly pulling the Jambu Treasure Tree, rooted in the scorched earth, out of the ground!

Suddenly, the roots of the Jambu Treasure Tree were wrenched free from the scorched earth. The roots intertwined around each other, forming a sphere.

The moment the Jambu Treasure Tree disappeared, the projection of the tree that had enveloped the entire Dao Realm vanished instantly!

The immortal palaces and immortal halls built upon the tree lost their support and began to fall, but at that very same moment, Black Pot's magical power erupted, holding up all the palaces and halls. The immortal palaces and halls didn't budge an inch, and none of the disciples of Immortal Lord Wu living there noticed anything amiss.

Regardless of their cultivation level, they had all fallen into Black Pot's illusion, unaware that everything before their eyes was false.

And before Chen Shi's eyes, that dozen-acre patch of scorched earth suddenly erupted, sending surging calamity's fate rushing outward in all directions!

Chen Shi suddenly understood: "This scorched earth is the calamity's fate of Immortal Lord Wu's Opening the Calamity!"