Above the Great Dao

Suddenly, the music blared loudly, the fox was playing cheerfully, Li Kefa's body shuddered slightly, and his energy became scattered, and he was no longer able to grasp down with the Divine Embryo's large hand.

Everyone crowded around County Magistrate Li Kefa and fled in a panic; however, no matter where they ran, the sound of trumpets and suonas always came from ahead of them, and the fox performance troupe with the large red sedan was always in front of them.

Each time the sedan curtain was lifted, someone would disappear and appear inside the sedan.

The number of people around Li Kefa kept decreasing, and by the time they reached the vicinity of Yellow Mud Ridge, the piercing trumpet and suona sounds suddenly vanished, and the fox performance troupe and the big red sedan did not chase after them any longer.

They seemed to be afraid of the village ahead.

Li Kefa, having just calmed his scared soul, counted the people around him and found that only three remained!

Out of more than fifty people, they hadn't even reached Huangpo Village, and only the four of them had survived!

"The rural people's hearts are wicked, thus birthing such evil!" Li Kefa remarked profoundly.

At that moment, a deep voice came from nearby: "The appearance of evil is related to the moon above in the sky. What does that have to do with our rural people's hearts? Magistrate Li, please do not redirect your anger."

"Who is that?"

Three government officials quickly stimulated the Divine Shrine at the back of their heads, from which Divine Power shot out, shining in the direction of the voice.

Standing atop Yellow Mud Ridge was a tall elder, his cyan and white beard fluttering in the wind, his eyes under the moonlight glowing red like a hungry wolf.

Li Kefa snorted, full of authority, "Who are you? How do you know that the evil is related to the moon above?"

The tall elder's gaze was peculiar, as if he was talking to them and muttering to himself: "Because, I sense a strange power in the moonlight that makes me unable to resist the urge to eat each night..."

He stopped himself, cupped his hands, and said, "Talisman Master Chen Yindou of Huangpo Village, at your service, Magistrate Li."

"Talisman Master Chen Yindou? You are Chen Yindou?"

A gleam flashed in Li Kefa's eyes as he stepped forward and demanded, "Was it you who killed my son, Li Xiaoding?"

The tall elder shook his head: "Not me."

Li Kefa was slightly taken aback.

"It was my grandson who did it."

The tall elder continued: "I merely watched from outside the camp, guarding against any formidable opponents he couldn't handle myself. Watching him make his move, I felt quite relieved that he finally had some ability to protect himself."

Li Kefa's eyes revealed a fierce light.

That the elder considered killing his son as self-defense was, to him, an insult to his face!

The tall elder spoke calmly: "Magistrate Li, you come here full of fury, presumably to avenge your son? Since ancient times, murder is met with execution as a debt is repaid with money; it is only right and proper. If you wish to kill my grandson, it is deserved, and for me to kill you in protection of my grandson is also reasonable."

Li Kefa roared and stepped forward, the Divine Shrine at the back of his head buzzed loudly, glowing intensely, the Shrine resembled a grand temple hall, the Divine Embryo sitting at the center, its Divine Power vast like an endless sea!

However, before he was ready with a spell, suddenly, a cluster of fire the size of a finger hurtled towards his face.

While Li Kefa countered with his Protective True Qi, he also activated Li Family's unique skill, the Six Yin Jade Wheel; six streams of yin energy, like wheels, spinning toward the tall elder to slice!

The Six Yin Jade Wheel, also invisible to the naked eye, could only faintly be seen as six wheel-like forms spinning in the air, but not clearly.

His Divine Embryo's arms flew about, fingers fluttering, controlling the Six Yin Jade Wheel, its power even more formidable!

However, what seemed to be a not very powerful cluster of fire, upon hitting Li Kefa's Protective True Qi, exploded with a loud boom, instantly turning into a fireball covering a radius of about an acre. The powerful blast formed a pit three to four feet deep on the ground, melting the soil!

The other three did not even have the chance to groan before they were torn apart, their flesh evaporating in the blaze.

On Li Kefa's body, the Supreme Eight Diagrams Protection Talisman, the Taishang River Map Life-saving Talisman, and the Taishang Life Extending Talisman, among other talismans, were all activated.

These three types of talismans, etched onto iron scrolls, created by the elders of the Li family by invoking the Nascent Soul, were vital protective treasures for the more important members of the Li family.

Every talisman could withstand a strike from a Nascent Soul expert.

Three talismans were activated together, but in the blaze, they lasted only for a moment before shattering!

The fire blazed fiercely, and Li Kefa screamed in the flames; in an instant, he turned to ashes, the Divine Shrine and Divine Embryo both melted, leaving no trace behind!

His spell, the Six Yin Jade Wheel, without anyone to control it, dispersed on its own.

"I'm so hungry. I must destroy the body to stop my intensifying cannibalistic urge!"

The tall elder looked up at the moon outside, showing a wary expression, then suddenly, his figure flashed, and he disappeared from beneath the tree.

"This moon is getting stranger and stranger..."

In the dilapidated temple on the desolate mountain, Chen Shi stood in the courtyard, his knees neither bent nor straight, looking like he was crouching while standing, his shoulders sunk, and elbows dropped. He breathed slowly and rhythmically.

Around him, starlight, sunlight, and moonlight fluttered down like fireflies swirling around him, gradually fusing into his body, strengthening his physique.

After the Moon Festival, whenever Chen Shi had spare time, he would come to the desolate mountain temple to cultivate. Here, practicing the Three Light Righteous Qi Technique attracted the light from both the sun and the moon, enabling him to progress rapidly.

Suddenly, Chen Shi seemed to have crossed some mystical threshold, as he saw the three types of light pouring from the sky increase significantly!

The starlight and the light from the sun and the moon began to condense around him, forming seven stars in the arrangement of the Big Dipper!

"Is this the Big Dipper mentioned in the Three Light Righteous Qi Technique?"

Chen Shi was greatly surprised, observing the seven stars.

He had never seen the Big Dipper, let alone any stars in the sky!

Since his memory began, besides the moon, there had been nothing in the night sky!

Following Zhu Xiucai as he read ancient texts, he pondered upon reading "after being drunk, one doesn't know the heavens are in the water, a boat full of clear dreams suppresses the Star River": What exactly is this Star River?

And upon reading "these stars are not those of last night, for whom do the wind and dew stand in the dead of night," he also looked at the empty sky, wondering what stars were.

Reading the Thousand Character Classic, he also didn't understand what "Chen sleeps spread out" meant.

And now, the Big Dipper clearly appeared around him!

These were not actual stars but were formed from Star Power, which was enough to excite Chen Shi immensely!

"So the books didn't deceive me, there really are stars beyond the sky, there really is a Big Dipper!"

He suppressed his excitement, gently moved his feet, and noticed that the positions of the Big Dipper changed with his movements!

As the constellations shifted, Chen Shi felt streams of air—warm or cool, hot or cold—sweep across his body, refining every part of his flesh.

"Hu—"

Chen Shi exhaled a breath of turbid air, like pulling the bellows used for smelting steel, and a gust of wind arose before him, causing the dry leaves to scatter.

He took a deep breath, like those bellows drawing air, actually forming a small vortex of air around his body.

Between breathing, there was even a foul smell, which was the impurities from the flesh and bones in his body being refined!

"Eh, this is..."

Chen Shi felt as though his body had entered a whole new realm; with each breath, a mass of Qi-Blood moved within him according to his thoughts. If he concentrated, the Qi-Blood would concentrate as well.

His mind stirred, and guided by his thoughts, the Qi-Blood moved to his arm; his right arm visibly thickened at a visible rate, tendons bulged, and the veins under his thickening and hardening skin disappeared, his skin becoming as tough as iron.

He swung his arm and hit the massive stone blocking the gate with a bang, causing the stone to crumble at the corner.

Chen Shi was startled; his strike could split stones and inscriptions!