Chapter 104: The Mountain Lord Returns 17 |
"Granny, Uncle Blue Goat, Uncle Hu, the Mountain Lord''s Divine Manifestation hasn''t fully formed yet. It''s not suitable to move into the new temple."
Chen Shi activated the small temple, displaying the Mountain Lord''s condition for everyone to see.
To be honest, he wasn''t too willing to hand over the Mountain Lord.
He didn''t have a Divine Embryo, so the Mountain Lord essentially served as his Divine Embryo. Activating a Divine Embryo offered immense benefits.
During combat, he could summon the Yellow Tiger. Even a high-level expert like Master Zeng at the Nascent Soul stage could barely withstand a single blow.
If he were to activate the Mountain Lord, the Mountain Lord''s power would likely be even stronger!
And the benefits during cultivation were even greater.
Chen Shi could perceive that when he activated the Three Lights Righteousness Technique, his true energy, enhanced by the Yellow Tiger, became more refined, and his cultivation speed also greatly increased.
As Scholar Zhu said, a Divine Embryo was equivalent to a cultivator''s Primordial Spirit. It allowed cultivators at lower realms to experience the various benefits of a Primordial Spirit in advance, assisting their cultivation and achieving twice the results with half the effort. During combat, it was also akin to possessing a Primordial Spirit at a lower realm, greatly boosting strength.
Granny Sha carefully observed the small temple and indeed saw the Mountain Lord''s Divine Manifestation was still in the process of coalescing, though it was very close to fully solidifying. She said, "Relying on the Mountain Lord himself to coalesce the Divine Manifestation will probably take another ten to fifteen days. But leaving it with Little Ten isn''t safe either..."
She pondered for a moment, then said, "Little Ten, you stay in Qianyang Mountain these next few days, don''t run around everywhere. Old Hu, Blue Goat, let''s discuss this."
The three walked some distance away, gathering furtively together and whispering in discussion. Chen Shi strained his ears to listen but couldn''t hear what they were saying.
Chen Shi signaled Black Pot to go closer and listen. Black Pot hurriedly shook his head.
After a while, Granny Sha walked over and repeatedly instructed, "These next few days, you cannot leave Qianyang Mountain."
Chen Shi thought for a moment and asked, "Can I go to other villages?"
"Going to other villages is fine, but you absolutely must not leave Qianyang Mountain."
Granny Sha said with great seriousness, "Also, you must not use the Mountain Lord''s mount on clear days. You can only use it on overcast or rainy days, when the moon and sun are not visible. Understand?"
Chen Shi felt a chill in his heart and nodded in agreement.
He had long suspected that the Celestial True God opened his two eyes as the sun during the day and his vertical eye as the moon at night, precisely to observe all movements on the ground, taking in everything that happened in the mortal world.
That''s why when sunlight shone from the dilapidated temple in the desolate mountains, it was destroyed by the celestial meteorite.
That''s why when the Mountain Lord Temple extended a huge tiger head, it was also destroyed by the celestial meteorite.
It was precisely because of this guess that he only summoned the Yellow Tiger to slap Master Zeng to death after it rained.
And for the same reason, although he used the small temple to summon the Yellow Tiger, he wasn''t struck by a celestial meteorite.
"Granny Sha, Uncle Blue Goat, and the others must know something!"
Chen Shi whispered to Fu Leisheng and Black Pot, "They''re acting furtively, and they instructed me not to use the Mountain Lord''s mount on clear days. They must believe that if the Mountain Lord''s mount appears on a clear day, it will be immediately detected by the Celestial True God, and attacks will follow in quick succession!"
Black Pot''s expression turned serious, and he nodded heavily, saying, "Woof woof woof!"
Fu Leisheng didn''t understand, but the information Chen Shi revealed frightened him.
Chen Shi said, "Black Pot is right. Grandpa is closely connected to them. They probably joined some strange organization like Grandpa did. They likely know more than I do, much more! They might even know why the Celestial True God destroys the Divine Continent''s deity avatars the moment it discovers them."
Fu Leisheng listened, his heart pounding with terror. All the frights he had experienced in his life couldn''t compare to the horror of Chen Shi''s few sentences.
Chen Shi continued to ponder, "Over six thousand years ago, when China, the Divine Continent, lost contact with the Western Ox New Continent, when the True King died, and when the first batch of Chinese deity temples brought by people like the Three Treasures Eunuch fell into decline... was any of this related to the Celestial True God?"
While his sanity was still intact, Fu Leisheng said woodenly, "Chen Shi, Black Pot, thank you for your hospitality. I''m starting to miss my wife and children. I''ll go visit my hometown!"
Chen Shi asked, puzzled, "Master Fu, don''t you want to know what grievances and entanglements exist between our ancestral gods and the Celestial True God?"
"I do not!"
Fu Leisheng fled in a panic, his heart filled with terror.
Only after he had put some distance between himself and Huangpo Village did he gradually begin to sense something off about Black Pot and that blue goat.
"That dog can stand up to cook, make soup, even tend the fire and brew medicine! It can also change my thoughts! That blue goat is absolutely not normal either; it''s definitely an evil spirit!"
His mind was in a muddle, but when he thought of Chen Shi''s words, the dog and the two-legged walking blue goat didn''t seem so evil anymore.
Chen, the great scholar, was the real evil spirit!
He actually doubted the Celestial True God!
He actually thought the True King''s death and the loss of contact between China and the New Continent were related to the True God!
He was truly treasonous and heretical!
If he stayed with him, even his own thoughts would likely become twisted, and he''d probably turn into an evil spirit too!
Chen Shi felt quite regretful about Fu Leisheng''s departure. The house felt empty, with only him and the dog. No matter which room he went to, he felt a hollow loneliness inside.
During these days when Grandpa wasn''t home, he realized just how important family was.
"I have a bit of filthy money now. I wonder if Little Jin would be willing to marry me?"
Chen Shi thought of Jin Hongying. Once he passed the county-level imperial examination, he''d be twelve years old and could take a wife. —Of course, not counting those eight dead years.
"But if I were to marry Little Jin, Tianqing definitely wouldn''t be happy. Tianqing and I are good friends, and he''s also outstanding, just not as rich as me. Little Jin would probably have a hard time choosing between us two outstanding youths, right?"
Chen Shi, after all, had a youthful heart. He soon put the dilemma of Little Jin out of his mind, letting her worry about it herself. He took the dog to practice the accuracy of the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword outside the village.
This time, his practice wasn''t just about simply activating the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword. He activated the Three Lights Righteousness Technique, executing the Big Dipper Seven Stars Step while simultaneously unleashing sword energy.
When he activated the Three Lights Righteousness Technique, he circulated his true energy, passing it through the Yellow Tiger, letting it flow for a cycle within the temple, treating the Yellow Tiger as his own Divine Embryo. Sure enough, it achieved twice the results with half the effort, and his cultivation continuously improved!
His Golden Core also rose up and, at some point, entered the temple, where it was tempered, improving at an extremely rapid pace!
Chen Shi was both shocked and delighted, "No wonder the better the Divine Embryo, the faster the cultivation speed and the greater the abilities. So this is how beneficial a Divine Embryo is!"
He couldn''t help but wonder, what would an Innate Dao Embryo, which surpassed first-grade Divine Embryos, be like? How powerful would it be?
Could it reach the level of the Yellow Tiger?
"Even without an Innate Dao Embryo, I am far stronger than before!"
Chen Shi calmed his mind and focused on cultivation.
His accuracy with the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword was already quite good, and the range was sufficient. But what Chen Shi wanted to explore was whether the sword energy could undergo changes, whether it could flow according to his will.
His footsteps didn''t stop; his footwork was ghostly. Sometimes he moved parallel to the ground, sometimes he moved inverted in the sky. Formless sword energy continuously emitted sharp whistles as it shot through the air.
This time, he wasn''t aiming for the sword energy to go far, but to be close enough.
Chen Shi had clashed with cultivators who practiced the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword countless times and was deeply aware of its drawbacks. If someone got close, maneuvering became difficult. Once the sword energy was unleashed, it was hard to change its course, often easily injuring one''s own allies.
Therefore, he was trying to make the sword energy agile and versatile enough.
After experimenting for a long time, Chen Shi discovered a problem: the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword''s power was too great, making it very difficult to control its trajectory during close-quarters combat. To control its trajectory, he had to reduce the sword''s power.
Rather than doing that, it would be better to learn a new spell altogether.
Chen Shi practiced for a long time before stopping. He could unleash sword energy from various angles, and the sword energy could even curve around trees. But he still couldn''t truly make the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword as soft as if wrapped around a finger.
"I still need to learn other spells. I wonder if the True King''s Tomb has such spells?"
At that moment, he suddenly froze, sensing sunlight and moonlight emanating from the Divine Continent.
Chen Shi hurriedly ran home, took out a mirror, and looked into it. Indeed, within the small temple behind his head, a beam of sunlight was spilling out from inside the temple!
He was extremely excited and examined it repeatedly. There was indeed sunlight streaming down from the roof inside the temple!
That small, delicate Yellow Tiger was currently lying in the sunlight, looking very content.
"If I could enter the temple..."
He had just thought this when suddenly everything before his eyes turned dark. When light returned, he found himself standing outside the small temple.
This temple wasn''t much different from what he had seen before, just that the sandy texture felt a bit finer, and the surrounding space seemed more stable, not as fragile as before, as if a gust of wind might scatter it into flying sand.
Presumably, his diligent cultivation during this period had made the small temple much sturdier.
Chen Shi didn''t have time to examine it in detail. In two or three steps, he entered the temple.
The Yellow Tiger looked very small from outside the temple, but when Chen Shi approached it, he was startled by its actual size.
The Yellow Tiger slowly stood up, appearing somewhat lean. Its shoulder bones protruded high, stretching the tiger skin. Its shoulders were one or two heads taller than Chen Shi himself!
Its head hung slightly low, still able to look down on Chen Shi from above. It let out a short, uneasy roar, as if warning Chen Shi not to act recklessly.
However, Chen Shi didn''t sense any malice or killing intent from it. On the contrary, it seemed to have a sense of dependence on Chen Shi.
Chen Shi was slightly taken aback. The Yellow Tiger was clearly the Mountain Lord''s mount. Why would it feel dependent on him?
"Could it be because it''s coalescing its Divine Manifestation in my temple, that''s why it''s developed a trace of dependence on me?"
Thinking this, he boldly reached out his hand to touch the Yellow Tiger''s head.
The Yellow Tiger bared its teeth, revealing tiger fangs much longer than his palm, as if threatening him.
Chen Shi boldly moved closer. The Yellow Tiger threatened for a while, but seeing it couldn''t scare him, it stopped threatening and allowed his hand to touch its tiger head.
Finding it comfortable, it simply lay down again, continuing to doze in the sunlight.
Chen Shi tried to stroke the back of the Yellow Tiger''s head like petting a cat, but its head was too big; he couldn''t stroke it all.
Chen Shi walked around to the back of the Yellow Tiger and saw its thick hind legs clutching two furry, large... bells. So he reached out to touch them.
The Yellow Tiger seemed somewhat displeased but patiently used its tail to push this curious temple owner away.
—Living under someone else''s roof always requires paying some price, but the tiger felt its last shred of dignity couldn''t be lost.
Chen Shi had no choice but to give up. He turned to look at the Mountain Lord''s Divine Manifestation with its ox horns and human body. Currently, a continuous stream of energy from incense offerings was drifting in from outside the temple. The Divine Manifestation should still need a few more days to fully form.
"I wonder, after the Mountain Lord leaves my small temple, whether my temple will still be able to connect to the Divine Continent and receive its sunlight?"
He was feeling apprehensive about potential gains and losses when suddenly, the stream of energy from incense offerings flowing into the small temple intensified dramatically. What was just a trickle moments ago now became like a flood. Rolling green energy poured into the temple, rapidly transforming into extraordinary power!
The coalescence speed of the Mountain Lord''s Divine Manifestation immediately increased greatly!
Chen Shi was both shocked and puzzled. At this rate of coalescence, it probably wouldn''t take a few days; it might succeed today!
"What exactly happened?"
At that moment, the Godmothers of Qianyang Mountain''s sixty-three villages and five towns each held up a stick of incense, burning it and silently reciting prayers.
Deep in the mountains, within the hollow of a giant tree, Madam Zhuang lit three sticks of incense, silently reciting the Mountain Lord''s true name.
Before the great snake Xuan Shan, an incense burner floated, with fragrant smoke curling upward.
In the mountain forests, before the spirits of Qianyang Mountain, before those ginseng dolls with tiger-like heads, there were also glows of incense offerings. Wisps of energy from incense offerings rose, flying toward the same direction.
And at the edge of the mountains, countless fox spirits covered the mountains and fields. Each stood on its hind legs, holding three sticks of incense, bowing reverently from afar!
Within the small temple behind Chen Shi''s head, the energy from incense offerings reached its peak for a moment. Chen Shi felt a vast, benevolent energy that nurtured all living beings rise from the miniature shrine, instantly flowing throughout his entire body, bringing an indescribable comfort.
Before his eyes, the divine figure within the miniature shrine was slowly rising, taking steps, and descending from the shrine.
From the Divine Continent, the ancestral land, the Great Sage Heavenly Physician, the Three Realms'' Medicine King who governed the Nine Yang Thunder Fire, the inventor of gunpowder, the Great Perfected Being, Sun Simiao, Sun the Great Perfected Being... after over six thousand years, his avatar, as the Lord of Qianyang Mountain, had finally descended upon this continent once more, finally descended upon the Western Ox New Continent again!
