Above the Great Dao

This left them deeply shocked.

Du Yiran and the others went to comprehend the Star Map exhibited by the "Chen Shi" calamity, leaving only Chen Tang and Granny Sha to summon the soul of Chen Shi.

Granny Sha and Chen Tang immediately deduced that the Star Map shown by the "Chen Shi" calamity might very well be the starlit sky blocked by the Outer Heaven True God!

Because when they visualized and contemplated this Star Map, they felt the star power from beyond the heavens.

Those stars flickered in their minds, gradually determining their positions!

Chen Tang murmured, "The question is, why is this calamity showing us a sky full of stars? It doesn't seem like it's flaunting power, but rather as if it's deliberately showing us the entire starlit sky."

Granny Sha couldn't guess the reason either.

A gust of dark wind blew, and Chen Shi and Black Pot appeared on the Yellow Earth Slope. Chen Shi greeted Scholar Zhu, lit several sticks of incense for him and his foster mother, then returned home to inform his mother Wu Qingyu of his safety.

Everything seemed to return to peace.

Chen Shi lay under a crooked willow tree, looking up at the sky with a strand of foxtail grass in his mouth.

Black Pot sat by his side, with its neck stretched out, its chin resting on its front paws.

"You, my dad, and Granny are hiding something from me." Chen Shi spoke up suddenly, breaking the silence while biting the foxtail grass.

Black Pot's ears perked up immediately, though it still lay on the ground, its eyes rolling. After the incident of the "Chen Shi" calamity, Chen Tang indeed told it not to inform Chen Shi, to prevent him from worrying.

Chen Shi continued, "Black Pot, I thought we were tight buddies. We grew up together, went through everything together, yet you treat me as an outsider."

Black Pot raised its neck, looking troubled, hesitating to speak.

"Forget it, we're estranged after all." Chen Shi said dejectedly.

Black Pot stood up, pacing around the willow tree with its front paws on its back, sighing repeatedly, looking entangled.

Chen Shi said sadly, "So it turns out you and Chen Tang are the true buddies, I was wrong after all..."

Black Pot finally made up its mind, placed its front paw on his shoulder, sighed, and barked, "Woof! Woof woof! Woof woof woof!"

Chen Shi listened in shock, sometimes nodding repeatedly, sometimes frowning, sometimes showing a horrified expression, sometimes extremely nervous, and finally looking up at the sky in confusion.

"You mean to say that you suspect Chen Tang and the others suspect that the Star Map shown by the calamity is the starlit sky covered by the True God?"

Black Pot nodded solemnly, "Woof! Woof woof?"

Chen Shi laughed, "I'm not worried about whether I have a calamity inside me. Didn't I have one before as well, and life went on as usual? I'm more interested in whether the Star Map of the calamity is truly the starlit sky covered by the True God? If it is, why does the True God want to cover the real starlit sky? Why does the calamity know the real starry sky's layout? Also, why show it to Chen Tang and them?"

Black Pot propped one paw on its elbow, another on its chin, lost in thought.

Chen Shi, invigorated, laughed, "Good brother, your experiences these days are indeed peculiar, but my experiences are no less exciting, perhaps even more extraordinary! Do you know, I became the King of the Heavenly Pond Country in the underworld."

He pulled Black Pot to sit down and slowly recounted his experiences on Yin Mountain, mentioning his search for the master of the Heaven Listeners, Wen Wuyu, the battle with Wen Wuyu, the exploration of the truth about Immortals, entering the Immortal Palace to find the Innocent Taoist, and the commission of the Innocent Taoist. He also mentioned the strange Immortal Fire...

"Woof woof!"

Black Pot sat up, barking with a serious face, "Woof! Woof!"

Chen Shi said, "I know, that Immortal Fire definitely has issues. An Immortal Fire couldn't appear for no reason on the mountain where the Innocent Taoist sealed himself, nor would it fall on the key talisman to unseal it. Someone must have known the Innocent Taoist died there and deliberately left the Immortal Fire to break the Taoist's seal."

Black Pot looked solemn, barked once.

"You're right! He just wants the body of the Innocent Taoist to transform into a calamity!"

Chen Shi said gravely, "You and I thought of the same thing. Something very peculiar, when the True King ordered the execution of the Innocent Taoist, they used the True Martial Evil Extermination Sword of the Taihua Qing Palace. The Taoist died from the sword on Yin Mountain; he was kind-hearted, worried that even after death he would become a calamity harming the underworld, so he self-sealed. Those who knew this should all be dead by now..."

Six thousand years at the very least have passed since the era of the True King.

The True King Era ended in destruction, the True King fell, and from then on, even the strongest cultivators had no more than a hundred years of life. Despite all efforts to extend their lives, they could only reach two or three hundred years. It was impossible for anyone to know this secret and still be alive today.

Moreover, this person could wield Immortal Fire, indicating a truly extraordinary background!

Knowing this secret and using Immortal Fire at the same time, could it be that one of the witnesses from those years still lives?

Did the True King Sealing Immortal fail to seal all the immortals of the world?

"No matter who this person is, he will soon take action again."

Chen Shi's eyes flickered as he said, "This person could never have anticipated that the Innocent Taoist created Yin Yang Refining. Even after death, he could still suppress the evil transformation. His plans are doomed to fail, so he will surely cause a second catastrophe! The first time he acted, no one noticed him; the second time, he will reveal his flaws..."

He steadied his spirit and recounted to Black Pot the phenomena of the Fog Month, the resurrection of the dead, the evil transformation of the Innocent Taoist, and the story of how they were hunted down. He spoke of escorting everyone back to the Heavenly Pond Capital, but was forcibly summoned by Granny Sha, leaving a fragment of his spirit to protect them...

Black Pot, tense and serious, said, "Woof!"

Chen Shi sprang up and laughed, "I also want to rescue them, but I can't afford to die again. If I die, my father and the others definitely won't be able to suppress the Heavenly Disaster within me."

"Woof woof!"

Chen Shi laughed, "Good brother, it's settled. Let's go to Yin Mountain together to find them! I must take you to sit on my throne, and wear the crown. Palace maids will wash you with a magma pool, so there'll be no corpse insects on your bones... Oh, and I have a crown prince... surely not my son because I'm a skeleton, how could I have a son..."

Chen Shi said goodbye to his mother Wu Qingyu at home and immediately returned with Black Pot to the Yellow Earth Slope, where one man and one dog sank into the underworld.

Black Pot revealed its true form, transforming into the massive Huo Dou, stepping on hellfire, standing like a silent Black Mountain on the high ridge.

Chen Shi stood on its head, gazed around, raised his hand pointing to the distant majestic mountains, and said, "It should be over there!"

Black Pot leapt up, treading on demon fire in midair, heading towards the mountains.

They delved into the underworld projection of Qianyang Mountain, amidst enormous mystical peaks, the eerily cold Yin Spring Sea, the immense trees hanging upside down from the sky, towering coffins, and the Tongue-pulling Hell and Wuwang City hidden within the mountains.

Giant serpent eyes, like eerie torches suspended between heaven and earth, watched them.

The mighty Qing Yang, as majestic as a mountain, glanced at them with its all-seeing eyes, revealing a hint of surprise.

There was also Granny Zhuang, with her nearly endless roots as thick as Jiao Longs, snaking down from the sky, her image in the tree hollow becoming incomparably majestic...

But none of these was the Yin Mountain that Chen Shi sought.

He and Black Pot searched, roamed for over ten days, yet could not find the location of Yin Mountain.

"I wonder if they are safe..." Chen Shi thought silently.

On this day, Black Pot was running through the mountains when suddenly a mountain became unfamiliar, leaving Chen Shi stunned as he surveyed the surroundings.

Black Pot continued running on its own, and towering locust trees came into their view.

"Black Pot! Go there!"

Chen Shi became excited, reaching out and pointing towards Infinite Cliff, "Go there!"

Black Pot raced madly through the mountains, gaining speed until it reached Infinite Cliff. It stepped on demon fire, flipped up the cliff, and the endless Heavenly Ponds appeared before them.

Black Pot rushed towards the Heavenly Pond Capital.

In the capital, Xiang Kun, the Right Consort, and others remained guarding over the shattered bones of Skeleton Chen Shi, protecting their king.

Suddenly, the fragments began to tremble.

They were both startled and overjoyed; they then heard the sounds of people's commotion. Following the sound, they saw a Huo Dou, as massive as a mountain, stepping on hellfire as it entered the Heavenly Pond Capital, heading in their direction.

Standing on Huo Dou's head was a young human teenager, facing them with a radiant, sunny smile, his robes fluttering in the wind.