Above the Great Dao

"Brother Gao Xuan, stay calm. If your Dao heart collapses, you will end up like the True King."

After a while, Gao Xuan finally steadied his Dao heart and said to everyone, "I'm alright now, don't worry. What exactly is going on with the Fairy from Qixia Temple? Why hasn't she continued her evil transformation?"

All the other ancestors were silent.

Gao Xuan's eyes flickered as he said, "Either there is something wrong with her, or there's something wrong with Chen Shi."

At Bai Lang Palace, the White-clothed Fairy woke up, found herself lying in bed covered with a quilt, and quickly quietly lifted the covers to tiptoe away. Just as she stepped out of the door, she saw a dozen men and women in Bai Lang Palace looking straight at her.

The White-clothed Fairy was startled and quickly hid in Chen Shi's small temple, sitting on the Divine Shrine, her heart pounding wildly.

Yan Shaomian, quick in words, laughed and said, "I didn't expect Scholar Chen to hide a beauty... Wait a minute!"

Her face changed dramatically as she suddenly recalled that the Cabinet Chief Minister, Yan Xianzhi, had informed the Yan Family that there was a White-clothed woman beside Chen Shi, who was the Fairy from Qixia Temple, a prehistoric great evil spirit!

"Could it be her?"

Her heart trembled. Though this Fairy bore the character for 'immortal', she was actually a remnant of the prehistoric era, tainted with evil qi. If such an Evil Immortal appeared in the present world, it would probably cause a disaster-level or calamity-level upheaval!

Even if she was heavily injured by the True King Nine Palaces, she likely still possessed disaster-level strength!

"Scholar Chen, I am injured and still need to heal!"

Yan Shaomian, deciding on the spot, tremulously laughed and said, "Then I won't disturb you! Goodbye."

Without waiting for Chen Shi's response, she immediately flew up, turning into a streak of firelight and escaping. However, her injuries were indeed severe, and the firelight plummeted from the sky with a crash into the valley below.

Chen Shi felt a twinge of guilt in his heart: "Did I strike too hard on this young woman? Instead of letting her suffer, I might as well be kind to the end and send her on her way..."

Another streak of firelight rose from the valley, as Yan Shaomian wobbled, trying her best to fly away into the distance.

"Scholar Chen, I just remembered I still have an urgent matter! Farewell!"

"Scholar Chen, I shall take my leave first!"

"Hahaha, I was just refining elixirs, if I don't check on the pill furnace soon, it might explode!"

...

Gao Shaokun, Xu She, and the others all flew up and left Bai Lang Palace; among them, some had severe injuries, with some crashing down from the sky and others crashing into the mountains.

Chen Shi watched them depart, only Zhang You remained in Bai Lang Palace, not in a hurry to leave.

Chen Shi asked with a smile, "Why aren't you leaving?"

Zhang You smiled and said, "If there was danger, it would have erupted in the Western Capital."

Chen Shi's heart skipped a beat, and he whispered, "Qixia Temple?"

Zhang You nodded lightly.

Chen Shi let out a breath, feeling a heavy stone lift from his heart.

Zhang You said in surprise, "You're not afraid?"

Chen Shi laughed and said, "If there was danger, it would have erupted in the Western Capital."

The two looked at each other and laughed heartily.

Chen Shi looked towards the incomparably magnificent landscape of the Upper Realm, feeling serene, and said leisurely, "Brother Zhang, there's something I don't understand, and I beg for your guidance. The Thirteen Families have such a beautiful place, why do they still hold onto the West Bull New Continent? Why don't the Thirteen Families move here and become a part of the Upper Realm, instead of struggling in the West Bull New Continent?"

Zhang You pondered for a moment and said, "To cultivate oneself, to regulate the family, to govern the country, to bring peace to the world, this is the ambition of a man..."

Chen Shi interrupted him: "Speak the truth."

Zhang You had no choice but to stop and said: "The Upper Realm is uninhabitable."

Chen Shi was slightly taken aback, not understanding its meaning.

"Although the Upper Realm has the sun and moon, they cannot make plants grow, and the evil transformation is severe."

Zhang You said, "The spiritual medicine grown here is all irrigated with immortal energy. Without the irrigation, it would surely die. But there is too little immortal energy to sustain many people."

Chen Shi inquired: "What is the Upper Realm lacking that causes crops to be unable to grow?"

Zhang You shook his head and said: "I don't know."

Chen Shi looked around, only to see the Heavenly Gods towering, their divine radiance pure, without signs of evil transformation.

Zhang You said: "Today, I saw you make a move, using the name of Li Tianqing, forcibly restraining your killing intent, deliberately wounding but not killing, it must have been very difficult to endure, right?"

Chen Shi glanced at him without speaking.

"You have deep prejudice against our Thirteen Families!"

Zhang You turned around, facing him, sincerely said, "Brother Chen, the Thirteen Families are not all the kind of wastrel you imagine, nor are they all the inept you think. You've been to the Western Capital, seen the thirteen ministers of the cabinet, how do they govern? Without them, the world would have fallen into chaos long ago! Without them holding power, who knows how many would declare themselves kings!"

He raised his arm, pointing at the Divine figures standing between heaven and earth, said: "Our Thirteen Families' ancestors opened the Upper Realm not to tyrannize. It is to gather strength, eradicate Despair Slope, drive out the True God, and let the true sky be seen again by the human world! Our Thirteen Families have endured from the True King Era to this day; generation after generation, fights for this goal!"

Chen Shi looked at those towering Divine figures and said: "In every generation, the Thirteen Families give birth to many experts of the Returning Void Realm and Mahayana Realm, but the Heavenly Gods in the Upper Realm are mainly sect masters; other Returning Void and Mahayana experts, after passing away, do not enter the Upper Realm, but enter the Underworld. Thus, you can control the Underworld."

Zhang You said: "Our Thirteen Families spent six thousand years to gradually control the Underworld. But mastering the Underworld is not for our Thirteen Families, but to better gather strength against Despair Slope and the Outer Heaven True God. The sincere heart of the Thirteen Families' ancestors has never changed!"

Chen Shi said leisurely: "However, what I see is your Thirteen Families monopolizing all resources, leaving the poor without any ground to stand on, the scholars with no way to progress, having talent without a place to apply it. Brother Zhang, do you see it?"

Zhang You hesitated for a moment, nodded lightly, and said: "I too see it."

Chen Shi continued: "From the exams of Scholar, to Scholar, to Advanced Scholar, to top scorer; all are controlled by families, and ordinary people without background can only choose what's leftover. Even if you work hard to become a Scholar, you still have to wait ten years or even a lifetime to be appointed to a small official position. When they exhaust their effort to become an Advanced Scholar, they're only given a Ninth Grade or below official position. Without relying on you, they wouldn't even get that petty position. Brother Zhang, do you see it?"

Zhang You was silent for a moment, and said bitterly: "I see it."

Chen Shi said: "Have you been to the countryside? Have you seen the poverty and desolation? Have you seen the rampant evil spirits wreaking havoc on the neighbors? The families control the wealth and power, view the masses as ants, as blood food, as the Elixir of Immortality. To me, you are the greatest evil spirit. If I hadn't used the name of Li Tianqing, I could not have contained my killing intent."

Zhang You exhaled a breath and said: "You also saw that earlier Li Qianyun, Xia Tianjie, Ma Zhe, they bear no malice towards you, they even admire you, worship you! They believe that even if you are stripped of your Innate Dao Embryo, you will surely become a dragon among men! They are the future sect masters of the Thirteen Families, these lovely people, should they also be exterminated?"

He looked directly at Chen Shi.

Chen Shi diverted his gaze, not meeting his eyes: "The world has already given the Thirteen Families over six thousand years, yet you remain unable to change this world, instead becoming more and more integrated with it. Twisting gradually, becoming the evil spirits above people's heads. If you cannot do it, vacate the seats, let capable people take over. Instead of blocking them and stifling them."

He paused and said: "Six thousand years ago, your intentions were good, but now, you are the obstacle. Furthermore, I did not eradicate, didn't I hold back earlier?"

Zhang You looked into the distance, sighed, and said: "You held back in the name of Li Tianqing. If you were named Chen Shi, you would kill us all. Yang Bi inviting you here was a mistake. He should know he can never change you. If I were Yang Bi, I would immediately mobilize the strongest forces to execute you!"

Chen Shi laughed and said: "That's why you are not Yang Bi. Yang Bi sees farther than you."

Zhang You nodded lightly and said: "Indeed, he sees further than me. His strength is unfathomable, you without a Divine Embryo might not be his match."

Chen Shi said: "Heavenly Phenomena and Earthly Phenomena are my semblance, I am who I am, why need a Divine Embryo?"

He paused and said: "Li Tianqing can rebel against the Li Family, Brother Zhang why not against the Zhang Family?"

Zhang You shook his head: "This method was passed down by ancestors, this body was given by parents, this soul is the soul of the Zhang family, even if shattered into pieces, I would only die."

Chen Shi looked into the distance and said: "If given a chance, I will personally send you on your way."

Zhang You came to his side, stood shoulder to shoulder: "I haven't made a move, do you dare say you will surely win?"