Chapter 647: All Heavenly Way Treasures Destroyed

Behind Changchun Emperor, dark energy writhed ceaselessly, as if trying to invade the space of Golden Turtle Island. Mingfei Pavilion shook violently, and its doors and windows rattled.

Changchun Emperor’s figure wavered, and his body began to twist.

Something kept pressing outward beneath the skin of his face, chest, head, and back, as if other creatures were living inside him and trying to burst out!

The two immortal boys, Youyu and Taotang, stood behind him. Suddenly, each pulled a golden hairpin from the top of his head. With a light swipe, each hairpin extended to about a foot long, then stabbed into the top of Changchun Emperor’s head. The hairpins sank almost entirely into his brain!

Changchun Emperor wore a smile, apparently quite at ease. White vapor hissed out from the spots where the hairpins had been driven into his crown, shrouding Mingfei Pavilion in mist and making everything indistinct.

Great Immortal Chijing was even more astonished by the sight.

He was not afraid of Changchun Emperor, but he was afraid of being polluted by the external Dao.

During the cataclysm in western Penglai, he had seen just how terrifying external Dao pollution could be!

Under its influence, even Great Luo Gold Immortals could not escape disaster. They would be controlled and devoured by the external Dao, losing themselves.

Changchun Emperor had clearly been taken over by the external Dao and was about to become an external Dao monster, a demon!

If he were polluted during a fight, it would hardly be worth it.

Changchun Emperor gradually stabilized, and his breathing settled. “I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you, fellow daoist.”

Great Immortal Chijing said, “Fellow Daoist Changchun, your old injuries are so severe. You should stop going out. You can at least protect yourself for the time being in the Dao Ruins, but out here, I worry you’ll cause a great calamity and ruin your lifelong reputation.”

Changchun Emperor said, “Thank you for your advice, fellow daoist. As for western Penglai, this is a struggle over doctrines. I ask you to think carefully, and not become a laughingstock to all under heaven.”

Great Immortal Chijing hesitated, about to refuse, when the space behind Mingfei Pavilion suddenly rippled. A palace appeared faintly in the distance. Its doors stood wide open, and countless strands of dark energy writhed like hair, filling the palace and spreading beyond it.

Great Immortal Chijing’s heart jolted. Looking closely, he saw a woman seated on the ground inside the palace. Dark energy poured from her body and spread in every direction.

“Another expert!”

Great Immortal Chijing was shaken. The woman was clearly another ancient being polluted by the external Dao, but her head was lowered, concealing her face.

“She appeared at this moment to warn me not to attack and seize the spring by force.”

With that thought, Great Immortal Chijing smiled and said, “Western Penglai is already a desolate place. Even if Golden Turtle Island won this round and obtained the Jade Clarity Dao Spring, it’s nothing extraordinary. But Golden Turtle Island is holding my disciples and followers prisoner. That’s going too far.”

Changchun Emperor looked toward Chen Shi and the others. “What do you all think?”

Jiao the Cripple had already crawled to the entrance of Biyou Palace. Only then did Senior Sister Jing Mei notice him, and she hurried to help him up. Once he had caught his breath, Jiao the Cripple bowed and said, “We are willing to release the invaders and turn hostility into friendship.”

Changchun Emperor looked at Great Immortal Chijing. “Are you willing to turn hostility into friendship, fellow daoist?”

Great Immortal Chijing said solemnly, “Of course.”

Changchun Emperor nodded and said to Jiao the Cripple, “Great Immortal Chijing is a Great Luo Gold Immortal. He wouldn’t break his word. Release these people, and I’ll serve as your guarantor. If Great Immortal Chijing breaks his promise today, I will help Golden Turtle Island.”

Jiao the Cripple agreed and looked at Chen Shi.

Chen Shi nodded to Shang Dugong and the others.

Shang Dugong and the others released Fu Gucheng and the rest. Great Immortal Chijing noticed that Shang Dugong and the others were waiting for Chen Shi’s approval. His gaze flickered, and he looked at Chen Shi a few more times before looking away. “Fellow daoists, we’ll take our leave.”

He turned around, and the blazing sun behind him immediately blotted out the entire sky. When the sun vanished, Fu Gucheng and the others had all disappeared as well. Great Immortal Chijing had evidently taken them away.

Everyone on Golden Turtle Island breathed a sigh of relief. Chen Shi sent Shang Dugong and the others back to the Dao Ruins. Changchun Emperor and Lady Niangpo returned to the Dao Ruins on their own before he could go and see them off.

Jiao the Cripple and the others came forward, seeming to want to speak, but Chen Shi had no time to talk with them. He hurried into his Dao Realm and rushed toward the immortal mountain where Changchun Emperor was.

Jiao the Cripple, Qiao Gu, and the others looked at one another. The chain of events had unfolded so quickly that they still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

“Was that duck really a duck?” Senior Sister Jing Mei murmured.

Qiao Gu’s eyes widened. “Who were those villagers? And that dog, has it also cultivated the Three Flowers at its Crown?”

Jiao the Cripple said, “How did Chen Shi get to know so many experts? And who on earth was that Emperor just now?”

Everyone turned to look at Jiang Guo. Jiang Guo shook his head. “I don’t know either. Maybe Black Pot knows.”

Everyone turned to Black Pot. He looked completely bewildered.

Although he was quite close to Chen Shi, lately he had been carousing with the warriors from the heavenly soldier camps. He knew little about what was in Chen Shi’s Dao Realm.

“Senior Brother Chen is a truly strange person,” Senior Sister Jing Mei said. “But having him join Golden Turtle Island may be our greatest stroke of luck.”

The others nodded one after another.

Since Chen Shi had arrived on Golden Turtle Island, he had first passed the test at Dao-Contemplation Cliff, then revived the Dao Spring, and finally saved Golden Turtle Island from disaster. This series of deeds had truly been astonishing.

At Cloud Sky Grotto, Great Immortal Chijing landed lightly. Fu Gucheng, Chun Daoming, and the others landed behind him and bowed, their faces filled with shame. “We have brought shame upon Cloud Sky Grotto, Master. Please punish us!”

Great Immortal Chijing waved a hand. “It was only a minor matter. Don’t dwell on it and let it cloud your Dao Heart. Golden Turtle Island lacks the strength to protect itself. Even if it obtains the Jade Clarity Dao Spring, it won’t be able to hold on to it. What intrigues me is why all those experts obeyed that Golden Turtle Island disciple. What is his background?”

Yong Guike said, “His surname is Chen, and his given name is Shi. He is a heavenly soldier from the heavenly soldier camps, a bandit leader on the Immortal Slaying List, and is known as the Earthly Treasure Bandit. He stole earthly treasures and spiritual roots from more than five hundred true immortals. Some time ago, near the mysterious yellow sea, he killed more than two hundred aggrieved parties and made a great name for himself. When he went to Golden Turtle Island, Senior Brother Yin Hong even went to hunt him down, but other deities of the Tongtian lineage in the Celestial Court stopped him. Senior Brother Yin Hong has already reported the matter.”

Great Immortal Chijing had been in seclusion at the time and knew nothing about it. Hearing this, he said, “Someone who has committed so many misdeeds was accepted as a disciple by Golden Turtle Island? Absurd. Truly absurd!”

There was no trace of amusement on his face. He said coldly, “When Tongtian parted ways with my master, he said that he would teach and transmit the Dao according to the principle of education without discrimination. My master advised him that a disciple’s character should be tested. Otherwise, if he accepted monsters and demons as disciples, the more capable they became, the greater the harm they would cause. But Sage Tongtian refused to listen! And sure enough, his disciples included hairy and horned creatures, as well as beings born from moisture and eggs!”

The angrier he grew, the more he sneered. “After Sage Tongtian reincarnated as the Master, this lineage became even more disgraceful! This Chen Shi has the speech of a man but the conduct of a beast, commits all manner of evil, and was still accepted into their ranks! Looking at his words and deeds, where is the dignity of a cultivator?”

Fu Gucheng and the others hurriedly agreed.

Great Immortal Chijing said, “And yet, the revival of the Jade Clarity Dao Spring in western Penglai was most likely connected to this man.”

Fu Gucheng and the others were all taken aback. “Why do you say that, Master?”

Great Immortal Chijing said, “Chen Shi is a cunning rabbit with three burrows. He has many experts from the Dao Ruins hidden within him. I also sensed that his Dao Realm contains more than the Dao Ruins. One part is a demonic domain, deep and vast, concealing danger. His third Dao Realm, meanwhile, is in the Dark Sea, where an external Dao lies in wait. His origins are suspect.”

Fu Gucheng said, “Do you mean he came from the Dark Sea, Master?”

Great Immortal Chijing nodded slightly. “Very likely. Before he arrived at Golden Turtle Island, it had been entrenched in western Penglai for two hundred thousand years, yet no one had revived the Jade Clarity Dao Spring. He came, and the spring revived. Clearly, he has the ability to refine and absorb the external Dao.”

Fu Gucheng and the others were deeply shaken. The external Dao had long been an intractable scourge in the Earth Immortal Realm. In some places, great demons would suddenly appear, seize control of the external Dao, and go on a killing spree. In other places, great Dao anomalies would emerge and give rise to terror.

Ever since the Earth Immortal Realm was established, this scourge had never ceased!

Moreover, any place tainted by the external Dao could no longer achieve Dao Unification, nor could anyone cultivate there. If the corruption spread at this rate, sooner or later the entire Earth Immortal Realm would be tainted by the external Dao, leaving immortals nowhere to stand!

If Chen Shi could refine and absorb the external Dao, that meant he could purge sacred grounds like western Penglai that had been polluted by it, restoring those places to the immortal realm!

Great Immortal Chijing continued, “Changchun Emperor is a Great Luo Gold Immortal. It was said that he had died long ago, but who would have thought his Great Dao had been injured and he was lying low in the Dao Ruins? The main reason Changchun Emperor helped Chen Shi was that he wanted to make use of Chen Shi’s ability to refine and absorb the external Dao. He wanted Chen Shi to help him rid himself of this scourge! That explains it.”

Yong Guike hesitated, then said, “Master, I heard that King Li gave the Dao Ruins to Chen Shi. Chen Shi is now the owner of the Dao Ruins. Could Changchun Emperor have helped Chen Shi because he was staying in the Dao Ruins and had to show the owner some respect?”

Great Immortal Chijing was slightly taken aback. “King Li gave the Dao Ruins to Chen Shi? King Li doesn’t have that much authority. Besides, the Dao Ruins don’t belong to King Li. What right does he have to give them to someone else? Strange, very strange. The person who gave the Dao Ruins to Chen Shi has far more authority than King Li.”

Fu Gucheng was shaken. “Are you saying King Li is just a scapegoat put forward by that person? That person didn’t want to reveal himself, so he used King Li to give Chen Shi this benefit?”

Great Immortal Chijing smiled. “King Li has long been bristling with arrows, like a scapegoat. When the Earth Immortal Realm was first opened, there were many places unfit for habitation. Even the Three Purities couldn’t refine them. With no other choice, they piled those places together, and that formed the Dao Ruins. The Celestial Court was tasked with guarding that place to prevent anything from going wrong inside. In the Celestial Court, there are countless people with higher rank and greater authority than King Li. Of course someone put him forward.”

He said with interest, “So, who could have put King Li forward?”

As they were speculating, a messenger from the Celestial Court arrived and bowed. “Exalted Immortal Chijing, the Celestial Court has ordered me to bring you a letter.”

“Hand it over.”

The messenger presented the letter. Great Immortal Chijing opened it and read, then exclaimed in shock, “Could this really have happened?”

He handed the letter to Fu Gucheng. Fu Gucheng read it, his expression changing abruptly. He cried out, “The Celestial Court’s Heavenly Way treasures guarding the Earth Immortal Realm have been destroyed? Who did this?”

Yong Guike, Chun Daoming, and the others crowded around and quickly read the letter. They were all horrified.

The letter said that at the hai hour two nights ago, the Celestial Court’s Yu Heng Gate, Yaoguang Pool, the Nine-Thunder Heavenly Sphere at the Jade Purity True King’s residence in the Thunder Ministry, the Mirror of Ten Thousand Ages at the Radiant Virtue Grand Celestial Palace, the Xun Wind Eight-Treasure Furnace at Great Emperor Dongyuan’s residence, the Celestial Scales Seal at the Purple Micro Emperor’s residence in the northern pole, the Myriad Things Azure Radiance Treasure Tree at the Eastern Heaven Green Emperor’s residence, and other Heavenly Way treasures scattered throughout the Earth Immortal Realm had all been attacked at once and destroyed in the assaults.

After the Three Purities moved the Celestial Court from the mortal world to the Earth Immortal Realm, they had forged thirty-three Heavenly Way treasures to preserve the Celestial Court’s legitimacy, then bestowed them upon it. The Celestial Court used these treasures to guard the Earth Immortal Realm and the myriad worlds, maintaining order among heaven, earth, humanity, deities, and ghosts.

Who would have thought they would all be destroyed in a single night!

“Who could have done this?” everyone exclaimed.

Great Immortal Chijing steadied himself and said to the messenger, “Please rest assured, Exalted Envoy. Return and inform the Great Celestial Venerable that I will do everything in my power to maintain order in the Earth Immortal Realm and prevent chaos.”

The Celestial Court messenger acknowledged this and took his leave.

Fu Gucheng said, “Master, who could destroy thirty-two Heavenly Way treasures at the same time?”

“Of course, thirty-two Great Luo Gold Immortals,” Great Immortal Chijing said. “They made a pact and each lay in wait in the Celestial Court, the Thunder Ministry, the Dipper Ministry, the Plague Ministry, the northern pole, the southern pole, the mysterious yellow sea, the Green Emperor’s palace, and other places. They would also need accomplices inside each celestial palace to locate the Heavenly Way treasures. Thirty-two Great Luo Gold Immortals striking at the same time could shatter all thirty-two treasures at once.”

He explained it in detail, leaving everyone stunned as they looked at him.

Yong Guike stammered, “Grandmaster, was one of those thirty-two Great Luo Gold Immortals… you?”

He trailed off, not daring to finish.

Great Immortal Chijing smiled. “Everyone knows I was in seclusion at the time. How could I possibly have concealed my presence, infiltrated the Southern Pole Celestial Palace, and struck at the hai hour to destroy the Li Fire Heavenly Book?”

Everyone was deeply shaken and dared not speak.

Great Immortal Chijing smiled. “Don’t be so suspicious. The thirty-three Heavenly Way treasures were forged by the Three Purities to uphold the Celestial Court’s legitimacy. Now that all thirty-three have been destroyed, it’s hard to say whether the Celestial Court is still so legitimate.”

Chen Shi returned to his Dao Ruins Dao Realm and went to Fulong Village. He thanked the villagers, the duck, and the dog. With the Righteous Official’s approval, the tenant farmers were all deeply grateful.

Chen Shi said goodbye to them and went to Changchun Emperor’s Palace of Knowing the Vessel, entering Mingfei Pavilion.

“Thank you, Emperor, for saving me. I am deeply grateful.”

Changchun Emperor raised a hand slightly. “My old injuries remain, so I cannot return the courtesy. Please, Master of the house, sit.”

Chen Shi took a seat.

Changchun Emperor smiled. “Great Immortal Chijing is exceptionally capable. If he hadn’t been injured, it would have been difficult for me to force him to retreat.”

Chen Shi was surprised. “Great Immortal Chijing was injured?”

Changchun Emperor said, “His injuries are severe, but his cultivation is so pure and profound that they’re difficult to detect. If we hadn’t collided head-on, I wouldn’t have noticed his injuries. The person who wounded him has extremely high cultivation and strength, greater than mine. However, that person must be a deity. The wounds on Great Immortal Chijing are permeated with the aura of incense offerings.”