Chapter 643: Chen Family Serfs

Qiao Gu and Jing Mei trembled, their faces ashen. They could no longer use their cultivation.

The external Dao was attacking them from within. If they did not fight anyone, they could still endure it, but the moment their magic power was depleted even slightly, it might break the balance inside them and give the external Dao the upper hand.

Neither of them could fight anymore. Behind them, the disciples of Cloud Sky Grotto were leading immortal soldiers and generals in pursuit, their momentum fierce.

“Y-Younger Brother, go back to Golden Turtle Island first…” Senior Sister Jing Mei said, her voice trembling.

Chen Shi grabbed their hands and rushed toward Golden Turtle Island with them.

Qiao Gu endured the agonizing pain caused by the external Dao’s assault and said, “Your cultivation is the weakest. Put us down and go back on your own. We’ll be fine.”

Chen Shi ignored him, activating the Wuji Innate Demonic Art to regulate the external Dao within the two of them.

Among the Cloud Sky Grotto disciples were quite a few Gold Immortals. They were extremely fast and rapidly closed the distance. From far away, they were already mustering their divine abilities. Boundless flames converged, forming a square sky halberd of absurd proportions.

That Gold Immortal summoned his Primordial Spirit, which towered between heaven and earth. Wielding the square sky halberd, he swung it down.

Cloud Sky Grotto was an orthodox branch of the Three Purities, and its disciples far surpassed their peers in cultivation. This single strike could split even a fairy mountain in two. Chen Shi could not withstand it either.

Qiao Gu trembled, preparing to force out a mouthful of immortal essence and meet the man head-on. But just then, he suddenly felt the external Dao’s assault inside him subside. His cultivation, which had been in turmoil, abruptly fell into perfect order. Even the Dao injury that had plagued him for so long and seemed impossible to cure had apparently eased considerably.

“I’m better!”

Qiao Gu was both shocked and delighted. He activated the Golden Spirit Doumu Mystical Art, mustering a surge of immortal essence. His Primordial Spirit transformed into the form of Golden Spirit Doumu: one head with three faces, one his original face, one an angry face, and one a pig’s face. His Primordial Spirit was about the same size as the Gold Immortal’s. He gathered his immortal essence into a Dragon-Tiger Jade Ruyi and struck, shattering the square sky halberd!

Qiao Gu’s Primordial Spirit struck again, reducing the Gold Immortal’s Primordial Spirit to dust.

“My cultivation has recovered. I’m not afraid of them anymore!”

Qiao Gu laughed heartily, wrenching his hand free from Chen Shi’s grasp. “My old injury has improved too. Today, I’ll turn the world upside down and kill as many as I can!”

He had barely finished speaking when the external Dao inside him suddenly ran wild and clashed with the immortal path. A stabbing pain seized his chest, his old injury flared up, and he fell from the sky, foaming at the mouth.

Chen Shi rushed back, picked him up, turned around, and sprinted away.

Qiao Gu immediately sensed the external Dao inside him settle down again, and his old injury ease a little. His spirits rose at once. “Younger Brother, put me down! I’m better again! In my current state, I’d even dare to fight a Tai Yi Golden Immortal!”

Chen Shi ignored him, carrying both of them as he sprinted toward Golden Turtle Island.

Qiao Gu wriggled free of his grasp. He was spirited for only a moment before collapsing again.

Chen Shi grabbed him once more. Qiao Gu felt the external Dao settle down again and his old injury ease, but this time he behaved himself much better.

Senior Sister Jing Mei was not as reckless as he was. Seeing his pitiful state, she settled down and let Chen Shi hold her hand.

The pursuers caught up. Qiao Gu and Jing Mei each used their divine abilities to repel the enemy, killing hundreds of immortal soldiers and generals. For a time, no one dared approach.

Chen Shi carried the two of them as he raced onward at great speed. Just then, a groan came from a hollow in the hills. Chen Shi had already flown hundreds of li, but he immediately turned back. The pursuers happened to reach the spot as well, and Qiao Gu and Jing Mei hurriedly used their divine abilities to hold them back.

Chen Shi descended into the hollow. Withered grass lay in heaps, and among the piled-up vegetation, a person was sprawled on the ground, trembling all over. A dense aura of the external Dao emanated from his body.

“It’s Uncle Jiao!”

All three were startled. Jiao the Cripple was in much the same condition as Qiao Gu and Jing Mei, but his state was even worse.

Chen Shi thrust his foot beneath Jiao the Cripple and lifted him with a slight effort, tossing him onto his shoulder.

Carrying him and holding the other two by the hand, Chen Shi rushed toward Golden Turtle Island.

A little while later, Chen Shi suppressed the external Dao inside Jiao the Cripple and helped him subdue his injuries. When Jiao the Cripple woke and realized Chen Shi was carrying him on his shoulder, he could not help feeling embarrassed. He immediately floated down from Chen Shi’s shoulder and said, “I’m fine. You don’t need to carry me.”

“Uncle, don’t get down!” Qiao Gu cried out in alarm.

Jiao the Cripple did not understand what he meant. Suddenly, the external Dao inside him erupted again. He grunted and collapsed limply.

Chen Shi scooped him up with his foot and set him back on his shoulder, then continued running with him.

Jiao the Cripple behaved himself much better after that.

Even after reaching Golden Turtle Island, Chen Shi still did not put Jiao the Cripple down. “Do we have a mountain-protecting formation?”

“We do. Put me down,” Jiao the Cripple said.

Chen Shi put him down. Jiao the Cripple rested one hand on Chen Shi’s shoulder, mustered his cultivation, and activated the mountain-protecting formation, keeping the pursuers outside.

Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Chen Shi felt a little more at ease. Senior Sister Jing Mei could not help asking, “Junior Brother Chen, why doesn’t the external Dao flare up when you hold our hands?”

Chen Shi did not hide anything. “I originally came from the Dark Sea and cultivated the external Dao. The path I follow is one where the Great Dao of heaven and earth conforms to my Dao. When the external Dao inside you loses control, I use this method to harmonize with it. Naturally, you’re then freed from its backlash.”

He made it sound simple, but in truth, it was incomparably difficult. Chen Shi had only managed to master this method through sheer luck. If he had not used the Celestial True God as his Divine Embryo, he would have found it difficult to make the Great Dao of heaven and earth conform to his Dao.

But once he had succeeded in opening up this path, what came afterward was much simpler. That was why he could suppress the great Dao anomaly and open the demonic domain in the well as his third Dao Realm.

“I’ve only temporarily suppressed the external Dao inside you. To resolve it completely, I still need to find your Dao Realms and transform the external Dao within them into the Great Dao of heaven and earth.”

Chen Shi looked toward the immortals pursuing them outside. They had already formed neat ranks and surrounded Golden Turtle Island. The mountain-protecting formation kept them out, but Chen Shi and the others could not get out either.

Jiao the Cripple said, “I’m just a little exhausted, and the external Dao took advantage of that. As long as I recover my cultivation, I can suppress it. Then I’ll be back to my peak.”

Qiao Gu laughed. “We’ve long since gotten used to it.”

Senior Sister Jing Mei smiled. “Junior Brother Chen, you don’t need to worry about us.”

Hearing this, Chen Shi brought them to the Jade Clarity Dao Spring. The three of them took some of its water and drank it, then slowly refined it. A little under half a day later, Senior Sister Jing Mei was the first to recover, and she let go of Chen Shi’s hand.

Jiao the Cripple and Qiao Gu had much deeper cultivation and needed more time. However, they could already contend with the external Dao, so they no longer needed Chen Shi’s help.

“Junior Brother Chen, come this way.”

Senior Sister Jing Mei led the way, taking Chen Shi toward Biyou Palace. He followed behind her, looking at her legs. “What happened to your injury, Senior Sister?”

“Someone did it to me.”

Senior Sister Jing Mei limped as she walked. Looking back with a smile, she said, “It happened a long time ago. Not long after I first joined Golden Turtle Island, I went out once, and someone found an excuse to break my leg. It could have been healed, but that person said he would treat my injury only if I bowed my head and admitted that the Three Purities lineage was the orthodox one. I’m stubborn, so I refused to bow my head, and I’ve been lame ever since.”

“Senior Sister, I examined your injury just now. The main reason it has been so slow to heal is that you achieved Dao Unification in western Penglai, so the wound was contaminated by the external Dao. Without the external Dao, it would have healed long ago.”

“That’s right.”

Senior Sister Jing Mei spoke as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her. “The person who injured me said the same thing. Western Penglai had been polluted by the external Dao, so my wound would inevitably be invaded by it, and I’d be lame for the rest of my life. I was sad about it at first, but later I thought of Uncle Jiao, who was just like me, and I came to terms with it.”

“I can heal your injury,” Chen Shi said.

Senior Sister Jing Mei was delighted. “There’s no need to rush into treating it. I’m taking you to pay your respects to Master. You passed the assessment, but you still haven’t formally become Master’s disciple. Once you’ve paid your respects, you’ll belong to Master’s lineage.”

Chen Shi followed her to the hall of Master. He had been there once before with Jiao the Cripple, but that time he had only offered incense outside the hall. This time, he was entering the hall itself.

Offering incense outside the hall meant becoming an affiliated or registered disciple. Only by entering the hall and bowing to one’s master in the main hall could one become an inner disciple.

Chen Shi followed the proper rites, offering incense and paying his respects. He performed the formal bowing ceremony, kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times.

When the ceremony was over, Chen Shi rose to his feet and gazed at the statue of Master ahead of him. “Senior Sister, I’ve read a great deal of Master’s teachings. What do you think is the essence of his philosophy?”

Senior Sister Jing Mei thought for a moment. “Education without discrimination.”

Chen Shi asked for her guidance. “What does ‘education without discrimination’ mean?”

Senior Sister Jing Mei looked embarrassed. “I’ve always been rather stupid. My knowledge certainly can’t compare to yours or the other senior and junior brothers. I only said that because I heard Uncle Jiao say it.”

She paused, then continued, “Uncle Jiao said that back then, Master held an official post in the Great Shang court, just like the Three Purities. The Three Purities were shamans of Great Shang, and their official title was Daoist Priest. Master’s official title was Confucian. At that time, the four of them and some like-minded people comprehended something extraordinary from Great Shang’s shamanic ritual markings. They found a way for ordinary people to cultivate, giving them the means to stand against Great Shang. That was what later became immortal techniques. Uncle Jiao said that Master and the Three Purities were close in those days. They discussed the mysteries of immortal techniques together, deduced one realm after another, and established cultivation realms for future generations, so that the world could cultivate. But when they began passing down the Dao, differences gradually emerged between them.”

Chen Shi listened intently and asked, “What differences?”

Senior Sister Jing Mei said, “The Three Purities taught immortal techniques to their disciples, believing they first had to examine a disciple’s background, character, family, and morals, and then pass their teachings on to the best candidates. Master believed that when teaching immortal techniques, there should be education without discrimination. Anyone should be allowed to study them, no matter their background, character, family, or morals. Their differences grew greater and greater because of this, until they finally fell out.”

She continued, “I told Uncle Jiao that the Three Purities had a point too. Immortal techniques are so powerful that of course you should choose the best disciples. If you taught them to bad people, wouldn’t you be enabling them to commit evil? Guess what Uncle Jiao said?”

“What did he say?” Chen Shi asked.

“He said, when people are born, are they good or bad? Everyone is born as a blank sheet. There is no such thing as good or bad. Teach someone to be kind, and they will be good. Teach them to do evil, and they will be bad.”

Senior Sister Jing Mei said, “Education without discrimination means that education is not only teaching immortal techniques. It also means guiding and transforming people. A coarse person born into a poor family can become a courteous and learned gentleman through guidance and instruction. A petty thief who steals chickens in the alleys can become a brave, righteous hero through guidance and instruction. Those merchants who travel from street to street, the women selling themselves in brothels, the farmers tilling the fields in the countryside, perhaps any of them could become gentlemen, or even immortals, one day. Why care about their backgrounds? Why care about their former character, family, or morals? A teacher must pass down not only the Dao, but virtue as well.”

Chen Shi listened and pondered for a long time.

Senior Sister Jing Mei interrupted his thoughts with a smile. “Since you’ve already paid your respects to your master, come with me.”

She led Chen Shi toward Dao-Contemplation Cliff. “Golden Turtle Island is surrounded this time, and I’m afraid there will be danger at every turn. You and Junior Brother Jiang Guo are still young, so you shouldn’t take part in the battle. We’re enough to handle this fight. Go hide inside Dao-Contemplation Cliff for a while.”

“Senior Sister…”

“You don’t need to say anything. Uncle Jiao and Senior Brother Qiao think the same. Even if you joined the battle, you wouldn’t be much help.”

Senior Sister Jing Mei said, “Don’t worry. There may not be many of us on Golden Turtle Island, but we have plenty of senior and junior uncles in the Celestial Court. They wouldn’t dare act recklessly.”

“Will our senior and junior uncles come?” Chen Shi asked.

Senior Sister Jing Mei smiled. “Of course they will. You and Jiang Guo just stay inside Dao-Contemplation Cliff and behave yourselves. Come out again after things have settled down.”

Chen Shi looked outside Golden Turtle Island. One black iron immortal city after another was heading their way. The iron cities were vast and gloomy, their cold presence making it hard to breathe.

More and more immortals were surrounding Golden Turtle Island. For some reason, they still had not attacked the mountain-protecting formation, as if they were waiting for something.

“The Three Purities lineage is very united. If they decide to come, they’ll all come, young and old alike.”

Senior Sister Jing Mei urged him, “Stop looking and get inside.”

Chen Shi entered Dao-Contemplation Cliff and walked onward. Before he had gone far, he saw Jiang Guo. Beside Jiang Guo lay several Daoists from Cloud Sky Grotto. Their pipa bones had been pierced, and Immortal-Binding Ropes bound their bodies.

Jiang Guo was not worried about the battle outside at all. Seeing Chen Shi looking anxious, he reassured him, “Uncle Jiao is a Tai Yi Golden Immortal, and one of the strongest among them. It won’t matter how many people the Three Purities lineage sends.”

Chen Shi grew even more worried.

The stronger Jiao the Cripple was, the stronger the people the Three Purities lineage would send.

Golden Turtle Island might not survive this.

He passed by Jiang Guo and the others, entered the place where Master had attained enlightenment, and came to the Brush-Washing Pool.

The ink stains in the pool were exactly as they had been when he left, without the slightest change. Time seemed frozen here.

Chen Shi sat down and concentrated on his thoughts. After a while, his eyes lit up, and the scene of Dao Ruins appeared above his head.

Chen Shi sprang up and plunged into the Dao Realm of Dao Ruins.

“My Dao Realm covers a wider area now.”

He stood in the sky above his Dao Realm and looked down. When he spotted Fulong Village, he immediately sprang into the air and flew toward it.

The next moment, Chen Shi landed at the entrance to Fulong Village. He looked up at the village gate, then stepped inside.

“The Master is back!”

The villagers greeted him warmly. Village girl Qu Lihua smiled as she hid a kitchen knife behind her back. “Has the Master come to collect rent today?”

“No.”

Chen Shi said amiably, “Tend your fields without worry. I won’t collect rent from you.”

Village girl Qu Lihua hurriedly tossed her kitchen knife aside. The other villagers also put down their pitchforks and hooks, revealing honest, simple smiles.

The village elder, Shang Dugong, said in a quavering voice, “Does the Master mean we’re still tenant farmers, not serfs? You have to keep your word!”

“I will, I will.”

Chen Shi came over to Shang Dugong and sat on a stone stool. Resting his hands on his knees, he watched a duck pass by. “But I do have one favor to ask.”

Shang Dugong beamed. “As long as you don’t collect rent, just say the word, Master.”

Chen Shi looked away from the duck and smiled. “Everyone in the village, from top to bottom, come out and help me fight someone.”

“Quack?” The duck turned around and said.

Chen Shi nodded gently. “That’s right. You have to come help too.”