Chapter 640: True Immortal Dao Manifestation

Kong Daoquan was incredibly fast. Chen Shi could not catch up with him, and he did not know whether Kong had heard him say that the blade was poisoned.

“But his blood and qi are draining away. Even if he didn’t hear me, he should be able to sense it.”

Chen Shi looked up at the sky. Blood and qi surged like a tide toward the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. He couldn’t help praising it. “A True Immortal’s blood and qi are truly abundant. He’s lasted this long without dying. You’re in for a feast.”

The Blood-Transforming Divine Blade chimed as it absorbed and refined Kong Daoquan’s essence.

Chen Shi’s strength had long since surpassed what it had been before his Ascension. His understanding of the Great Dao of Yin and Yang in particular was worlds apart from what it had once been. Back when he was only at the Great Completion stage of Return to Emptiness, he had wielded a long saber and slain true immortals with it. Now, in his hands, the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade was even more powerful, and its poison was even more vicious.

This poison came from yin and yang. Anyone whose attainments in the Great Dao of Yin and Yang did not surpass Chen Shi’s could forget about dispelling it. No matter how high their cultivation was, they would only bleed to death.

Kong Daoquan had profound attainments in the Five Elements, which was why he had come here to collect the five-colored light. But his attainments in the Dao of Yin and Yang were clearly not as profound, so he could neither expel the poison nor staunch the bleeding. His blood and qi continued to drain away.

The Blood-Transforming Divine Blade vibrated with a joyful hum.

Since arriving in the immortal realm, it had feasted on immortal blood several times. Now, it was continuously absorbing Kong Daoquan’s blood and qi. It had reached a critical juncture and was about to advance on its own into a Tai Yi Golden Immortal treasure.

During the war that brought down the Shang Dynasty, it had had a chance to become a Tai Yi Golden Immortal treasure. But its side had lost, and it was suppressed beneath the feet of Erlang True Lord for hundreds of thousands of years. Its former splendor had long since faded. Yet after falling into Chen Shi’s hands, it had steadily grown stronger, as if it were a fish back in water.

“Though western Penglai is full of treasures, it’s far too dangerous.”

Chen Shi gently stroked the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade and sighed. “If I were just a little weaker, someone would have killed me. This world really isn’t safe.”

The Blood-Transforming Divine Blade trembled lightly, deeply agreeing.

Kong Daoquan’s blood and qi were so abundant that the blade could not drain him dry in a short while.

Chen Shi raised the blade and stowed it in the demonic domain in the well. But Kong Daoquan’s blood and qi kept flowing in without end, making the blood qi above Chen Shi’s head flutter like a scarlet sash. At a glance, he looked like anything but an upstanding person.

Powerful demons and monsters often appeared in western Penglai. But when some of them spotted the blood-red sash above Chen Shi’s head from afar, they steered clear, not daring to approach him.

Chen Shi traveled onward without encountering any danger.

He activated the Wuji Innate Art, transforming his Dao Field into a Wuji Dao Field and turning all his Dao techniques toward the laws of the Great Dao of Wuji.

After several days of practice, he had transformed most of his Dao techniques. In two more days, the process would be complete.

He continued searching as he cultivated.

Chen Shi had wanted to find a few demons and monsters to study the difference between them and demons. But strangely enough, despite the vastness of western Penglai, he did not find a single one.

He also came across several more ruins: palaces built by the immortals who had once lived in western Penglai. They had all been abandoned.

Some of the palaces still contained enormous furnaces, tilted to one side. Whatever pills had been refined inside had turned a greasy green and emitted a foul odor, yet they had not dried up even now.

There were also immortal artifacts corroded by the external Dao. At the slightest touch, they crumbled like dust.

“When the disaster in western Penglai struck, it must have been terrifying. Those immortals fled in such a hurry that they couldn’t take anything with them. Could it have been a great Dao anomaly erupting? But it shouldn’t have been that terrifying.”

Two days passed before Chen Shi completed the transformation of his Dao techniques. He felt his cultivation surge, and the Dao Ruins and Dao Realm seemed on the verge of breaking through a profound barrier and advancing another step.

If he crossed that threshold, he would enter the True Immortal Realm. His Dao Realm would then form its first Dao manifestation, the Tai Huang Huang Zeng Heaven manifestation.

At that point, his Dao Realm would span a hundred thousand li. Combined with the power of the Dao manifestation, his strength would be immeasurably greater than it was now!

“Kong Daoquan still hasn’t died!”

Chen Shi looked up. The blood-red sash still fluttered in the air, and it was clear that Kong Daoquan’s blood and qi remained vigorous. Chen Shi was astonished.

“The Cloud Sky Grotto’s legacy really is extraordinary. It lives up to its place in the lineage of the Three Purities!”

He was deeply impressed and murmured, “I’m afraid I’ll have to become a True Immortal and make a major breakthrough before the poison takes effect and kills him.”

In the distance, inside a black iron immortal city floating in the air, Kong Daoquan sat cross-legged, his face as pale as gold paper.

His severed leg had been carefully bandaged. He had taken and applied all kinds of immortal pills, but they could not stop his blood and qi from draining away.

Around him stood a group of immortal generals who guarded western Penglai. Each was sending their own blood and qi into his body to keep his supply from running dry.

But the blood and qi they poured into Kong Daoquan’s body quickly decayed and flowed out as blood qi.

They had tried every spiritual medicine, but none had worked. They were frantic and utterly at a loss.

Kong Daoquan was a disciple of Cloud Sky Grotto and held a very high position. Others struggled to survive in western Penglai, but he alone could come and go freely, so he was highly valued. If anything happened to him, these immortal soldiers and generals guarding western Penglai would surely face severe punishment!

“Don’t worry.”

Kong Daoquan gazed at the tip of his nose, then inward, his voice somewhat feeble. “This is the blade poison of the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. My sect has long had a way to deal with it. I’ve already informed them. My senior and junior fellow disciples will be here soon to help me dispel the poison.”

The commanding general guarding the city was a Golden Immortal. He hurriedly said, “Fellow Daoist, I’ve already sent men to hunt down the person who wounded you!”

Kong Daoquan replied, “Stay here and keep me alive. The others are all mediocrities. Sending more people would just be sending them to their deaths. That man is a disciple of Golden Turtle Island. Even if he gets away, Golden Turtle Island won’t. Have them come back.”

The general agreed and summoned an immortal to give the order.

Just then, a voice came from outside, teasing him. “Junior Brother Kong, aren’t you a native of western Penglai? How did you end up capsizing in a gutter?”

Kong Daoquan’s face brightened at the sound. “Senior Brother Gu, your words leave me utterly ashamed. To be honest, if I hadn’t run into a disciple of Golden Turtle Island this time, Daoquan wouldn’t have dared trouble you.”

A young man walked in. He looked only seventeen or eighteen, much younger than the black-robed, elderly Kong Daoquan. Wearing a purple-sashed immortal robe, he was handsome and graceful, with an otherworldly air.

His name was Gu Daoling, and he too was a disciple of Cloud Mist Grotto. Seeing that Kong Daoquan had only one leg left, his expression darkened. “A disciple of Golden Turtle Island did this?”

Kong Daoquan lowered his head in shame and said sadly, “Your junior brother’s skills are inadequate…”

Gu Daoling snorted and swept his sleeve, forcing everyone back. He took out a green jade bottle and tossed it to Kong Daoquan. “This medicine treats wounds inflicted by the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. Take it, and you’ll recover immediately. Golden Turtle Island has some nerve, daring to inflict such a vicious wound on someone from our lineage of the Three Purities!”

Kong Daoquan opened the bottle and poured out a pill. It was black and white, like a mass of drifting qi with no solid form.

He held it in his palm. The black and white qi continued to drift slowly, its movements profoundly mysterious.

Gu Daoling said, “The Blood-Transforming Divine Blade of One-Qi Immortal Yu Yuan was forged from yin and yang qi. That man had a corrupt mind, and the blade he refined was steeped in demonic nature. Its poison is the poison of yin and yang qi. This pill was made specifically to counter the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. It comes from the orthodox lineage of yin and yang and is its perfect bane.”

Kong Daoquan swallowed the pill. The yin and yang qi gradually dissolved inside him and flowed toward the wound on his severed leg. The blood qi that had been continuously draining away began to diminish.

“Senior Brother Gu, I feel a little better.”

Kong Daoquan had barely finished speaking when his expression suddenly changed. The blood qi pouring from his wound began to increase again!

Gu Daoling’s expression changed too. He hurriedly said, “Take two more pills!”

Kong Daoquan quickly swallowed two more pills. Their medicinal power could only barely suppress the blade poison in his wound for a moment. Then the poison flared up again, and his blood and qi continued to drain away!

“Are you certain it was the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade?” Gu Daoling asked.

Kong Daoquan nodded.

Gu Daoling frowned and thought it over. “If it were the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, one pill should have been enough to dispel the poison. Since the pills can’t do that, the Dao techniques of the one who wielded the blade must surpass those of One-Qi Immortal Yu Yuan. His understanding of the Dao of Yin and Yang has already surpassed Yu Yuan’s during the war that brought down the Shang Dynasty!”

He acted at once, burning incense and offering a prayer. “Junior Brother, I can’t save you. I can only ask the great experts of our sect to come!”

Everyone remained there, continuing to sustain Kong Daoquan’s life with their own blood and qi.

After another two days, even Kong Daoquan, who had attained the Dao as a black peacock, had become emaciated and weak. He drifted in and out of consciousness.

“Daoquan, you’ve suffered.”

At the sound of a voice, Kong Daoquan opened his eyes. Seeing who had arrived, he burst into tears and choked out, “Master, I’ve brought shame upon you! I was beaten by people from Golden Turtle Island and wounded like this. I’m too ashamed to face you!”

The newcomer was a middle-aged Daoist with a kindly face. As he approached, a refreshing breeze filled the room. He was none other than Kong Daoquan’s master, Daoist Kuang.

More than ten immortals followed behind Daoist Kuang. They were powerful cultivators, either Golden Immortals or True Immortals. Seeing Kong Daoquan’s dreadful condition, they were all indignant. They were his disciples.

Besides those immortals, several other Daoists had come as well. They were Daoist Kuang’s fellow disciples.

Daoist Kuang stepped forward to examine Kong Daoquan’s blade wound and frowned slightly. “Tricky. Very tricky!”

Another Daoist came forward and examined it closely. “This wound is extraordinary. Its mysteries of yin and yang surpass my understanding.”

A female Daoist stepped closer to look and was startled. “Few have cultivated the art of yin and yang to this level. This person’s attainments in the Dao of Yin and Yang far surpass those of One-Qi Immortal Yu Yuan back in the day.”

These were all Kong Daoquan’s uncles and aunts in the sect. Their cultivation was unfathomably profound, yet none of them had any way to deal with his blade wound.

“Junior Brother Kuang, I have a treasure.”

A cloth-robed old Daoist took a scroll of Taiji Diagram from the cloth bag on his back. “I copied this diagram after seeing the Righteous Official’s Taiji Diagram. I’ve never used it before. I never thought I’d have to put it to use today.”

He unfurled the Taiji Diagram and pressed it against Kong Daoquan’s wound. The wound stopped bleeding at once.

The medicinal power of the pills Kong Daoquan had taken and applied to the wound immediately took effect. It began to scab over and heal.

Seeing this, everyone laughed. “His Dao techniques may be wondrous, but they still can’t surpass yin and yang Taiji.”

Just then, Kong Daoquan’s expression changed. He suddenly cried out as the blade wound at the top of his thigh reopened. In an instant, blood poured from his entire body. His cultivation turned into blood qi and crashed to the ground like a heavy flood of blood, then flowed outward.

Kong Daoquan’s flesh dried up at once. He turned into a corpse and fell over!

The sudden turn of events caught everyone completely off guard. Even Daoist Kuang had no time to save him before Kong Daoquan breathed his last!

Silence.

A deathly silence.

The uncles and aunts of the Cloud Sky Grotto disciples all looked livid. Though the Taiji Diagram was only a copy, its power was no small matter. Yet it had failed to suppress the blade poison!

Daoist Kuang’s face was dark with anger. He picked up the Taiji Diagram, which had been knocked away by the blood qi. The yin-yang fish in the diagram had been scattered by the impact and were blurred beyond recognition. Only the outer circle of Wuji remained intact.

“Master…” Gu Daoling began.

Daoist Kuang’s eye twitched. He slowly rose and said with a smile that was not quite a smile, “What wonderful Dao techniques. Truly wonderful. Daoquan didn’t die in vain, to fall to a method like this.”

He headed outside, sweeping his sleeve. “The people of Golden Turtle Island are nothing but beasts and brutes. Back then, after the fall of the Shang Dynasty, we spared them out of regard for our past ties and didn’t wipe them out. Who would have thought they’d take the life of my beloved disciple today? Come with me. We’ll eliminate this arrogant fool!”

Everyone filed out.

At Gu Daoling’s command, the immortal soldiers and generals in the various immortal cities immediately mobilized, searching everywhere for Chen Shi.

In an ancient temple, the final stream of blood qi surged in like a roaring tide. Chen Shi reached out and seized the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade by its hilt. He gave it a shake, and blood-red light instantly filled the ancient temple, bathing the entire room in crimson.

“Kong Daoquan is finally dead.”

Chen Shi breathed out a mouthful of stale air. Just moments ago, he had finally broken through the Celestial Immortal Realm and become a True Immortal.

At the moment his cultivation broke through, the Taiji Diagram had been covering Kong Daoquan’s wound. The Dao techniques in the wound erupted, blasting the diagram away.

“Kong Daoquan really was a Demon Seed. His True Immortal cultivation was already so formidable that he held on until now.”

Though Kong Daoquan was dead, Chen Shi still admired his cultivation.

Chen Shi tightened his grip on the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. After absorbing and refining Kong Daoquan’s blood and qi, the divine blade had advanced to the level of a Tai Yi Golden Immortal treasure. Its power had surged, and the demonic nature inside it had grown even more fierce. The instant Chen Shi took hold of it, that demonic nature burrowed into his mind!

Chen Shi guarded rootlessness within himself and remained unmoved. Then he activated the Wuji Dao techniques, transforming the Wuji Innate Art into the Wuji Innate Demonic Art. The demonic nature surged, immediately bringing the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade under his control.

The Blood-Transforming Divine Blade was thoroughly subdued by him and settled down obediently.

Chen Shi laid the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade across his knees, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes to focus.

He had just broken through to the True Immortal Realm and had not yet had a chance to stabilize his cultivation. Now, as the Innate Art circulated, both the demonic domain in the well and the Dao Ruins and Dao Realm slowly expanded outward.

The villagers of Fulong Village looked up. Chen Shi’s Dao Realm continued edging closer to their village, and they couldn’t help growing anxious.

They wanted to flee at once, but the cyan stele still stood in the center of the village. They could not move it at all.

But they were reluctant to abandon the cyan stele and run.

“Vmmm!”

Space trembled slightly, and the Dao Realm swallowed Fulong Village.

Shang Dugong sighed and comforted everyone. “We used to be tenant farmers. Now we’re just slaves. We’re all oxen and horses; there’s no difference. Eat when it’s time to eat, drink when it’s time to drink, and sleep when it’s time to sleep!”

The villagers had no choice but to accept becoming subjects of Chen Shi’s Dao Realm.

Meanwhile, another wondrous change took place in the Western Ox New Continent.

The deity guarding Yudu gazed at the Great Dao Phenomena taking shape. Sanskrit Chants vibrated in the air, and Sanskrit characters danced about, joining together into a Great Dao Phenomenon shaped like a feathered crown. Elsewhere, Pure Wind, the Gate of Calamities, and other Great Dao Phenomena were gradually taking form.

In the underworld, under the gaze of the Empress of Earth and the little Yama, the laws of the Great Dao themselves gathered to form a new Eighteen Hells.

Meanwhile, in Xinxiang Imperial Capital, a strange rhythm suddenly sounded from above. The people in the capital looked up and saw unusual characters gradually descending from the sky. They resembled bamboo slips, but the writing was like bird-seal and insect script, obscure and difficult to understand.

Chen Tang hurried to Qianyang Mountain to ask True Man Zhang for guidance. True Man Zhang examined the scroll of heavenly writing in the sky. His expression suddenly changed. “This Great Dao Phenomenon looks like the Celestial Strategy!”