Above the Great Dao

Chen Shi and Yu Lingzi felt as though the hair all over their bodies was growing wildly, itching fiercely. They quickly turned to look, only to see a blood-soaked Daoist crawling out of the courtyard, using hands and feet, and heading toward Green Sheep Palace, following Uncle Wen.

"Uncle Zhuo!" Yu Lingzi was startled.

He was not a master disciple but came from under the tutelage of a Daoist named Chai. Due to his exceptional talent, he was called Daoist. Chai Daoist's status was not high, nor was his Daoist practice significant, being stuck in the God Refining Realm for years. Yu Lingzi had a vast number of uncles and senior apprentices, numbering nearly a hundred.

Uncle Zhuo, who was very old, already seventy-two, had shed his entire skin, crawling on the ground!

Behind Uncle Zhuo, over ten Daoists crawled out, also blood-soaked, without clothes or skin!

Chen Shi glanced toward the courtyard, only to see more than ten Daoists left with only their skins and clothes, standing there.

Yu Lingzi said tremblingly, "Uncle, I feel my scalp is a bit itchy, could you check for me..."

His face was ashen, his legs trembling.

Many in the courtyard were his uncles, a few were his senior and junior apprentices, unexpectedly all falling prey.

This scene made him itch all over, feeling his scalp tighten, pain at the back of his head, as though a fiery red line ran from the back of his head down his neck, spine, straight to the tailbone.

He feared he might split open at any moment.

Chen Shi came to him, saying, "Lower your head."

Yu Lingzi lowered his head, saying, "When I lower my head, it feels as though my neck might split open."

Chen Shi looked, seeing a red line on Yu Lingzi's neck, extending from the back of his head down along the spine's middle line. Upon touching it, it was fiery, quite burning.

Using his finger to touch, Chen Shi felt there were gaps among the red lines.

Yu Lingzi already showed signs of skin shedding.

Chen Shi's expression remained unchanged, his voice steady, saying, "Nothing abnormal. Relax a bit, don't be paranoid."

Yu Lingzi breathed out in relief, straightened his neck, and laughed, "I was frightened by Uncle Zhuo and uncle. Each of them has cultivation far exceeding mine, yet they fell prey. I feared I might too. Seems I'm lucky enough..."

He saw Chen Shi deploying his Primordial Spirit, checking his own neck, confused, "Uncle, what are you doing, Uncle? Are you sure I'm okay? Don't scare me!"

"It's alright, it's alright."

Chen Shi reassured him while checking his own neck, finding no red line, nor gaps upon touching. Only then did he breathe out in relief, withdrawing his Primordial Spirit, smiling, "Yu Lingzi, I'll teach you a yin-yang refining, you'll cultivate with me."

"Uncle, are you sure I'm okay?"

Yu Lingzi's voice trembled as he reached to touch his neck, "I feel I'm about to split open!"

Chen Shi imparted the Yin Yang Dang refining cultivation technique in depth, though it required first imagining the sun and moon, specifically those of the ancestral court on the Huaxia Divine Continent, which Yu Lingzi had never seen, making the practice difficult.

Chen Shi took an alternative approach, saying, "I'll lay out the Primordial Spirit Arena, stay within my field, don't stray outside... nothing's wrong, really. What you touched was an illusion, probably a hair on your neck, not a split."

In his Primordial Spirit Arena, the sun and moon appeared, revolving endlessly.

This Sun and Moon Refining was created by the Innocent Taoist, assisting him in cultivating to the Ascension Realm, though not an ultimate skill, it was highly effective in purifying evil influence. Standing within his field, Yu Lingzi quickly suppressed the evil change within himself.

The two followed those shattered Daoists, seeing them crawling like golden cicadas waiting to transform, moving toward Green Sheep Palace.

Chen Shi had witnessed the cicadas shedding their skin; they hibernate underground, living off tree root juices, emerging from the soil at dusk and night during the transition from spring to summer. They climb trees, reach a high spot, keeping still, striving to break open their shells.

Their shells crack along the back, splitting from the head down the middle of the back. The cicada's body vibrates inside the shell, struggling outward. Once its upper body is free, it pauses, allowing its tender body to gradually solidify, finally emerging, spreading its wings, ready to fly.

This is the shedding and transformation!

"Golden Cicada Shell Sheding Heavenly Immortal Diagram records this shedding and transformation."

Chen Shi's gaze flickered, thinking, "These Daoists must be influenced by Sect Leader Jing Hong. In the process of transforming into a Ghost Immortal, Jing Hong Sect Leader has likely begun to change evilly."

He had just thought of this when suddenly, he saw the number of crawling Daoists ahead increasing from a dozen to seventy or eighty!

Everyone was crawling forward on their hands and feet!

They crawled naked, on their journey, as their originally bloodied bodies gradually grew new skin!

These powerful Daoists seemed unaware, continuing to crawl forward, as though Green Sheep Palace was a towering tree, climbing it for transformation, leading to feather transformation and ascension, becoming an immortal!

Chen Shi followed them forward, feeling increasingly shocked.

Yu Lingzi was even more shocked, many crawling Daoists were his uncles, including some who had cultivated to the God Refining Realm or Returning Void Realm, now bewitched, crawling forward on their own!

"Master!"

Yu Lingzi saw an old Daoist and couldn't help but shiver.

That old Daoist, named Yan Changtian, was a peer of Chang Ying Daoist, highly cultivated, Yu Lingzi's master. He reached the Returning Void Realm at thirty-eight, known as a genius, but unfortunately didn't break through to the Mahayana Realm at forty-eight, devotedly charging for Mahayana over the century.