Above the Great Dao-Chapter 1494 - 694: Raising Demons (Part 2)

True Master Wen Shi said with a faint smile, "He has been in the Ancestral Court for over eight hundred years."

Daoist Wu said, "Over the years, some immortals have grown weary of life in the Earth Immortal Realm and have secluded themselves in the Lower Realm. Immortal Wencheng may have returned to the Ancestral Court to hide..."

True Master Wen Shi said, "He also went to the Ancestral Court under the order of Emperor Wenchang."

Daoist Wu was stunned and checked the documents; indeed, this Immortal Wencheng had come with the decree from Emperor Wenchang. He frowned and asked, "Teacher, should this document be destroyed?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

True Master Wen Shi sighed, "Keep it. If the Ancestral Court is destroyed, I cannot escape blame. But someone has to take the fall."

He did not want to take the fall.

Daoist Wu agreed, organized the documents, and said, "These documents, I shall keep them. If the Heavenly Court investigates in the future, Teacher can claim ignorance, and disciple will present these documents to clear Teacher of any suspicion."

True Master Wen Shi nodded slightly, watching him leave.

"The Great Heavenly Venerate sent Immortal Master Erlang back likely to have Erlang in the shadows while Chen Shi is in the open. The one in the open draws the firepower, while the one in the shadows acts conveniently."

True Master Wen Shi whispered, "The older, the wiser. The Great Heavenly Venerate's arrangements are thorough, likely intending to draw out and eliminate the person behind Wencheng Immortal."

In the Hangu Pass of the Ancestral Court, over two hundred immortals have recently mastered the Reincarnation Life and Death Technique, significantly speeding up the magical treasure refining process. But it seems it will still take another two or three months for the treasures to be fully refined to satisfaction.

Chen Shi said to Little Dun Fairy, "It'll still take some time to finish refining the treasures; let's first go to Qiongshi and also determine the source of the Demon Qi and the Outer Dao."

Little Dun Fairy said, "If there is an invasion from the Outer Dao..."

Chen Shi said, "The treasures being refined now are enough to fend off the Outer Dao. This place, leveraging the danger, can also retreat to the Earth Immortal Realm, no problem."

He made arrangements, ordered the soldiers to continue tightly defending Hangu Pass, and to cultivate the Reincarnation Life and Death Technique thoroughly. Once everything was properly arranged, he left with Little Dun Fairy.

Little Dun Fairy had been to the Ancestral Court once before, and even then, it was already in ruins, full of scars, snow accumulated everywhere, life difficult for the people, with constant bandit troubles, comparable to Gongzhou.

On returning to the Ancestral Court, it was now even more chaotic.

Little Dun Fairy took out the geographical map of the Ancestral Court, observed for a moment, and said, "We are currently in Spirit Treasure County, the Daoist Field of Daoist Spirit Treasure. There are many disciples of Daoist Spirit Treasure in this mountain, let's find a Daoist temple to ask where Qiongshi is."

Chen Shi agreed, the two walked in the air, looking down, seeing that the entire Spirit Treasure County was deserted, the countless villages and cities entirely empty, with bones everywhere, a shocking sight.

There were also some fallen Immortal Mountains on the ground. When Chen Shi and Little Dun Fairy went down to look, they saw these mountains had their Spiritual Springs dry up, and the Immortal Dao was ruined.

Originally, these Immortal Mountains should have sects, with Daoist temples, Immortal Palaces, and Immortal Palaces, quite sizeable, yet now they were deserted, leaving behind only some white bones.

The more Chen Shi and Little Dun Fairy saw, the more shocked they became.

The erosion by the Outer Dao was worse than they had imagined!

Had Chen Shi and Little Dun not cultivated the Reincarnation Life and Death Technique, they might have also been affected by the roaming Outer Dao.

As they almost left Spirit Treasure County, they finally encountered some people, all of whom were old, weak, sick, and disabled, without any cultivators.

Leaving Spirit Treasure County, they finally found a Daoist temple called Chaoyuan Temple, with a Daoist inside, yellow-faced and thin, looking at them with some surprise and a defensive expression.

Chen Shi entered the temple, first offered incense to The Three Pure Ones, and then asked the few Daoists, "Do you know where Qiongshi is?"

The Daoists exchanged glances, each shaking their heads.

Just as Chen Shi was about to leave, a Daoist in blue said, "My uncle is an immortal, perhaps he knows."

Chen Shi asked, "Where is your uncle?"

"Lying in the backyard."

Chen Shi and Little Dun Fairy followed them to the temple's backyard, where they saw an old Daoist lying on a sickbed, coughing continuously, spewing dust from his mouth with each cough.

Chen Shi and Little Dun Fairy were greatly surprised; this immortal looked like he was on his deathbed, hardly like an immortal.

"My uncle was polluted by the Outer Dao."

The Daoist in blue said, "His Harmonization Land was polluted, and it affected him too, turning him into this state."

Little Dun Fairy said, "Why didn't you sever the Dao Realm and break the connection?"

When the Primordial Worm invaded the West Bull New Continent back then, her father, who was the King Shang at the time, quickly ordered all immortals to sever the Dao Realm and self-seal to avoid pollution by the Outer Dao.

The situation in the Ancestral Court was somewhat similar to then.

The old Daoist struggled to get up to greet them but couldn't, panting heavily, "The mountain man cannot greet you. I didn't have time to sever the Dao Realm, resulting in Outer Dao erosion. Many of my comrades didn't make it in time and died from Outer Dao erosion. Consider myself lucky."

Chen Shi pressed him down, asking, "Do you know where Qiongshi is, Daoist?"

Being held down by Chen Shi on the shoulder, the old Daoist only felt the Outer Dao within him diminishing, his body growing lighter, feeling immensely grateful, and hastily said, "Qiongshi? Is it the garrison site from the Great Xia Era? I heard my sect mention the place, it's in Dezhou."

Chen Shi asked, "Dezhou? Which Dezhou?"

As there's a Dezhou in the West Bull New Continent too, hearing the name Dezhou astonished him.

"Shandong Dezhou."

The old Daoist was pleased and spirited, smiling, "It's the hometown of the Teacher. What are you inquiring about that place for, Daoist?"

Chen Shi smiled, "I'm looking for an old friend."

The old Daoist shook his head, "I heard it's an infamous treacherous place. Long ago, in ancient times, Da Yi shot the Sun at Qiongshi. Later in the Great Xia Era, the Heavenly Emperor of Great Xia stationed troops there, very ferocious, quite sinister."

After getting the direction, Chen Shi thanked the Daoist, asking, "Do you know why the world changed to this state?"

"I'm not sure. Originally, it was just bad weather, getting extremely cold, always snowing, even in June, the sky still snowed. Although life was hard, cultivators could still survive."

The Daoist sighed, "Just a few years ago, a sudden change happened, not sure where the Outer Dao came from, eroding my Dao Realm. Nowadays, I'm afraid the entire world of immortals is suffering, not sure how many immortals can survive."

Hearing this, Chen Shi was slightly moved, "Harmonization of Heaven and Earth is very dangerous. Though the cultivation strength is powerful, if heaven and earth are polluted by the Outer Dao, the immortals will also lose considerable power, even die. Therefore, Zhong Wuwang is crucial."

The two left the Daoist temple, heading east.

After leaving Spirit Treasure County, people became more numerous, probably because it was further from Hangu Pass, thus less affected.

But in the sky, there were no longer Immortal Mountains, and the Holy Lands of China had also dimmed, being eroded by the Outer Dao, with immortals affected the most due to harmonization, while ordinary folks were less affected.

Chen Shi and Little Dun Fairy progressed, arriving in Luoyang, where they finally encountered villages, towns, and bustling markets.

Yet between heaven and earth, there was always a lingering aura of the Outer Dao and the Demon Dao, persisting relentlessly.

Upon reaching Jiyuan, the Outer Dao aura weakened slightly, but the Demon Dao aura grew more intense.

A major battle was ongoing here. Tens of thousands of cultivators on both sides, with innumerable magical treasures soaring through the sky, battled fiercely, causing the world to collapse, blood flowing like rivers. One side's soldiers practiced Demon Dao Divine Skills, very powerful, often able to take several lives with a single distant strike.

Chen Shi and Little Dun did not intervene, continued eastwards, witnessing Demon Clan cultivators massacring villages, cutting off heads for rewards.

The Demon Qi in the atmosphere grew stronger.

As they continued eastwards, people became scarcer, encountering villages and towns left slaughtered to emptiness, with hills of heads piled up.

"Someone is using this great conflict to cultivate Demon Seeds, growing Great Demons," said Chen Shi.

They didn't linger and, at sunset, arrived in Dezhou, which indeed had a fierce energy. Chen Shi and Little Dun followed the ominous air and finally reached Qiongshi.

"So-called Qiongshi is actually the Ancestral Land of the Youqiong Clan. Over time, the Youqiong Clan disappeared, and Youqiong was misheard as Qiongshi, becoming a place name."

There is a White Stone Ancient City here, which was once the site where troops of the Great Xia were stationed.

Little Dun Fairy sensed the surroundings and suddenly said, "Our Nine Emperors of Great Shang should be suppressed nearby!"

Just as Chen Shi was about to speak, voices came from afar; some Demon Clan cultivators were heading towards the White Stone Ancient City, and among them were a few Demon Dao immortals, in the middle was a young man in a leather cloak, with very sharp eyes.

The young man's voice was sharp and high-pitched, very piercing.

"Here the fierce and demonic energy is ultimately where The Three Pure Ones suppressed the Nine Emperors of Great Xia back then!"