Above the Great Dao

Chen Shi suddenly had a thought and said, "We of the Skull Ghost Clan are cultivators whose primordial spirits attach to skeletons. So, could it be that the little Yakshas, Bull Head imps, and Horse Face imps are also cultivators from other worlds, attaching themselves to these little things?"

Sang Xixi paused and laughed, "The way you put it, there could be such a possibility. However, the little Yakshas are born from ghost mothers, unlike us, whose primordial spirits come from the Mortal World, and whose skeletons are transformed from the corpses of the dead. Therefore, it should be impossible."

Chen Shi didn't quite understand and asked, "If they're the skeletons of dead people from the Mortal World, why do they appear in the underworld?"

Sang Xixi wasn't very clear on this either and said, "I once heard from my elders that the dead from the Mortal World, when buried underground, their bodies decay into bones, and the bones keep sinking. Once they reach the depth of the Nine Springs, they might fall into the underworld. Some elders disagree, saying the Yin Yang Two Realms are actually in the same place, and after death, if one is too filled with yin energy, they would appear in the underworld. When alive, they're filled with yang energy, hence in the Mortal World. And it's said some people can see ghosts because of their excessive yin energy. I don't know whose words make sense."

Chen Shi saw a few skeletons scantily dressed, presumably Skull Cultivators, with two sticks of incense inserted in their ear holes, one in each.

But more prevalent in the city were those little creatures like the little Yakshas and Bull Head imps, always running around busily.

"Heaven Listeners!"

Chen Shi suddenly spotted a few Heaven Listeners with big ears flying in the sky heading towards a grand building, and he was astonished, "These Heaven Listeners are truly everywhere!"

At that moment, he saw more Heaven Listeners coming from all directions, probably two or three hundred, all flying towards that towering structure.

Sang Xixi observed the direction those Heaven Listeners were flying and said, "They seem to be heading to the State Master Palace... How strange, what's happening there?"

She was quite excited, wanting to go see what was going on.

Wherever a large number of Heaven Listeners appeared, something was usually happening.

Before long, they arrived in front of a stone courtyard, and Sang Xixi opened the door to find two skeletons dressed in clothing inside; they seemed to be disciples of the Medicine King Sect.

Sang Xixi went to find some clothes and asked, "Do you want long sleeves or short sleeves?"

Chen Shi replied, "Can I not wear them? It's inconvenient for movement. In the Mortal World, I thought about not wearing clothes, but it might be too shocking."

Sang Xixi sneered, "Not wearing clothes, you let everyone see your ribs and pelvis? There are benefits to wearing clothes—you can hide talismanic weapons or treasures in your chest cavity, and also in your pelvis, unseen by others. My Qiankun Bag is hidden in the pelvis, and when I need it, I just reach into the pelvis."

Her Qiankun Bag was indeed a remarkable treasure, and Chen Shi was quite envious.

This treasure was refined by reverting the Qian and Kun trigrams from the Innate Eight Trigram back into talismans, boasting an immense internal space, known to contain a world within a bag.

However, this treasure was long lost; no one knew where Sang Xixi's Qiankun Bag came from, but it even accommodated Chen Shi's firearms and still wasn't full.

"We could study this treasure and have the Lu Ban Sect try to produce more, and sell them to the Juxian Building," Chen Shi thought to himself.

Sang Xixi found him a green robe typically worn by physicians, though they only had one piece, and when Chen Shi wore it, it fit fine, but while walking, his white thigh bones were exposed.

Sang Xixi also found him a black hat with a crossbar fan blade, which wobbled and shook when he walked.

Chen Shi wasn't planning to wear it, but Sang Xixi said, "With it on, you can also hide things in your skull."

Chen Shi thought for a moment and put on the hat.

His small temple indeed needed hiding, perhaps it could be concealed in the skull.

Sang Xixi said, "I'm going out to gather information, you all stay here."

Chen Shi said, "Don't linger too long, Bei Chi's death won't stay hidden for long. If Eastern Palace finds out, it will be hard to rescue anyone."

Sang Xixi headed out, "I'll be back soon!"

Chen Shi and Peng Yan'er stayed here to cultivate the Blood Lake Scripture.

Peng Yan'er had killed many Ghost Gods, but hadn't yet entered the Blood Lake Realm, while Chen Shi had just stepped into the Blood Lake Realm and needed time to become familiar with this realm.

In his small temple were some Divine Blood and rosy clouds; Chen Shi handed the rosy clouds to Peng Yan'er for cultivation, while he tried using Divine Blood for cultivation.

This time, as he was already in the Blood Lake Realm, refining the Blood Lake Hell, it wasn't as dangerous as before to refine Divine Blood.

However, his body remained on the verge of breaking, constantly repairing and then filling with cracks again.

This dry bone's foundation was too poor, already a set of decaying bones, but Chen Shi used the Blood Lake Scripture to transform decay into wonder. Now, as Chen Shi activated the Blood Lake Scripture, countless never-before-seen patterns appeared on the bones, likely as a result of killing Bei Chi and other ghost gods, and the Blood Lake Scripture absorbing their Bloodline Power!

As his cultivation improved, the Blood Lake behind his head grew larger, gradually transforming into a lake spanning several miles, resembling the scene of Blood Lake Hell.

In the lake, the Divine Souls of Bei Chi and other Ghost Gods struggled, undergoing salvation.

Chen Shi felt that as these Ghost Gods were saved, his own soul also grew stronger!

"The more Divine Souls are saved, the quicker my soul strengthens. This Blood Lake still requires more Ghost Gods to be saved, to help cleanse their sins."

He refined three drops of Divine Blood, expanding the lake to span five or six miles, yet it was still far from reaching the Blood Sea Realm.

"The Blood Sea Realm is the final stage of the Blood Lake Scripture, the Blood Sea Realm at its peak, becoming immortal through thousands of degrees. Achieving this step is no easy feat. But it doesn't seem too difficult either," Chen Shi contemplated.

Countless Divine Corpses hung above the Infinite Cliff, with their Divine Blood merging into streams below. Chen Shi estimated that refining a short segment of the stream would be enough for her to cultivate to the peak of the Blood Sea Realm.

"The true challenge of this Cultivation Technique is needing to save ten thousand Ghost Gods."

Chen Shi pondered, amazed at how many evil Ghost Gods must be killed to become immortal.

Having ascended to the Blood Lake Realm of the Blood Lake Scripture this time, he felt his Divine Power grow stronger, even faintly sensing the Ghost God Domain.

This sensation was incredibly mystical. He even thought that if this Blood Lake behind his head were spread out, it would form a Ghost God Domain spanning five or six miles!

He would be the ruler of this Blood Lake Hell!

He would be the Judge and King Yan of Blood Lake Hell!

"How could such a simple and terrifying Cultivation Technique be created by a race that ended up destroying some civilizations?"

Chen Shi felt a shudder; what kind of power reduced these terrifying Ghost Clans to their current state?

At this moment, the door opened, and Sang Xixi walked in, her tone heavy: "Something major has happened. The Heavenly Pond Country's king has passed away. The Heaven Listeners that just left went to witness the Heavenly Pool Country Master's death. Now the Heavenly Pond Crown Prince has already left the Eastern Palace and is heading towards the King's Palace!"

Chen Shi got up, speaking quickly: "Now is the perfect time for us to make a move to save him!"

Sang Xixi shook her head, saying: "The Eastern Palace is already under strict lockdown, sealed by Ghost Gods. We don't stand a chance of disguising ourselves as physicians to enter the Eastern Palace!"

Chen Shi walked outside, saying flatly: "Why not just kill our way in? Yan'er, follow me!"

Peng Yan'er responded and quickly followed Chen Shi.

Sang Xixi also quickly followed and smiled, saying: "Don't rush, let me first arrange for the Medicine King Sect disciples to return to the Mortal World."

Chen Shi was surprised: "You're going too?"

"Of course!"

Sang Xixi declared with conviction, "You are a great benefactor to our Medicine King Sect. Naturally, our sect knows how to repay kindness! Don't worry, I won't misuse these big explosives!"

She went to instruct the disciples of the Medicine King Sect, but Chen Shi always suspected that she followed just to set off some fireworks.

Sang Xixi finished her instructions and exited excitedly, saying: "Follow me!"

Chen Shi and Peng Yan'er swiftly followed her, heading towards the Eastern Palace.

Suddenly, Chen Shi stopped in his tracks, looked back, puzzled: "How could they appear here? Did I see it wrong?"

He turned back around and caught up with Sang Xixi.

At the street corner, Monk Wu Chen stopped and looked back, asking: "Uncle-Master, why aren't you leaving?"

A young girl in black attire turned around, revealing a delicate and fair face, with a look of confusion: "Just now, I seemed to see an old acquaintance... Strange, how did he die so quickly? Could it be that he did too much evil and faced divine retribution? Heaven has eyes."

Monk Wu Chen asked: "Old acquaintance?"

Ying Ruming walked over, saying: "Let's go and find a place heavily laden with Demon Qi, I'm about to mature."