True God's Gaze

"Moving Blood Essence, it's actually this miraculous!"

Chen Shi's playful nature surged, and he focused his intent on his palm. His right hand swelled as if inflated, becoming immensely powerful.

He picked up the stone he had knocked off earlier and squeezed it with all his might. The stone cracked with a snap. After a few more rubs, it crumbled into dust.

He grabbed another stone and smashed it onto his hand. Under the surge of Blood Essence, he felt no pain!

"Wherever Blood Essence is abundant, it can become larger and thicker, and there will be no pain!"

Upon realizing this, Chen Shi immediately willed his Blood Essence to circulate throughout his body, experimenting with the effects of abundant Blood Essence in different areas.

He discovered that if he concentrated it in the joints and fascia of his arms, his arms could lengthen by four to five inches in a very short time!

If he filled his spine and vertebrae with Blood Essence, strengthening the fascia, the sound of bones shifting echoed within him, and he could instantly grow half a foot taller!

Chen Shi felt an urge to urinate. On a whim, he channeled his Blood Essence to his "little brother." It rapidly swelled. Chen Shi couldn't help but get excited and yelled, "I can pee farther now! No one in the whole village can pee as far as I can!"

He then moved his Blood Essence to his neck, which thickened considerably.

"If someone tries to strangle me in the future, they'll probably have a lot of trouble!"

Chen Shi urged his Blood Essence to surge towards his head. Suddenly, his vision went black, and he collapsed straight down, losing consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Shi finally woke up, his eyes wide open, his mind a complete blank.

A long while later, he blinked his eyes, gradually recalling his recent experience of moving Blood Essence.

He never dared to move Blood Essence to his head again.

The mind is the head of the six yang energies. Moving Blood Essence there, with the slightest carelessness, could lead to unconsciousness, hallucinations, or cerebral hemorrhage—extremely perilous.

Chen Shi was exploring cultivation on his own, and with an incomplete cultivation technique, it was inevitable that he would encounter such dangers.

"Without the complete Three Lights Righteous Qi Art, it's still not enough. I have no idea about the taboos of cultivation; the slightest mistake could lead to qi deviation. But with my current strength, I still can't fully read the stone tablet in front of the True King's Tomb."

Just as he was about to continue cultivating, he suddenly noticed the sky outside turning a dark crimson. Ten thousand miles of sky fire filled the heavens, forming an extremely magnificent sunset.

Chen Shi's heart skipped a beat. This was an anomaly caused by the True God beyond the heavens closing its eyes, the flames from its eyelids igniting the sky eighty li above the earth!

This phenomenon indicated that night was about to fall!

After dark, evil spirits would emerge from the mountains and wilderness!

"I'm afraid I've been unconscious for a long time. I need to get home quickly."

Chen Shi immediately got up and went outside. As soon as he reached the temple's exterior, he saw the sky growing darker and redder, the sky fire about to extinguish.

With his current speed, he couldn't possibly return home before dark, nor even reach the foot of the mountain. He feared the sky would turn dark before he got there.

"The best option now is to stay in the temple for the night."

Chen Shi hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind. "Staying in the temple offers a chance of survival, but descending the mountain is certain death."

He knew all too well how dangerous the mountains and wilderness were under the moonlight.

Chen Shi sealed all the doors and windows, then moved several large rocks to barricade the entrance. He had brought his book chest with him, and inside were some peach charms.

--Grandpa knew he was coming to this desolate temple to cultivate, so he insisted he bring peach charms.

Chen Shi hung the peach charms behind the doors and windows, then climbed onto the temple roof and hung peach charms in the dilapidated sections as well. There were several large holes in the roof. Although he had patched them with wooden boards, they still let in drafts.

Chen Shi jumped down, found some firewood, and started a fire to warm up his dry rations, eating them hastily.

Before he could finish, thunder rumbled from the sky, and a drizzling rain began, extinguishing the campfire.

Chen Shi quickly moved to avoid the rain.

Unexpectedly, the rain grew heavier and heavier, pouring down relentlessly. Soon, the dilapidated temple was filled with water, leaving only a few dry spots to stand.

Sleeping was out of the question.

"When the rain stops tomorrow, I'll find a mason to repair this broken temple. It'll be more convenient to cultivate here in the future," Chen Shi thought.

The bright moon outside was obscured by dark clouds, and the sky grew progressively darker.

Since there was no moon, even malevolent spirits wouldn't come out to roam.

Since he couldn't sleep, Chen Shi decided to continue cultivating.

He activated the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art. Starlight, sunlight, and moonlight surged towards him. The surroundings lit up with specks of light. The three lights converged, merging into seven stars, forming the shape of the Big Dipper, tempering his body.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Shi suddenly noticed that the dilapidated temple was gradually becoming brighter. He looked around for the light source and was stunned.

In the pitch-black night, with torrential rain outside, punctuated by occasional lightning and thunder, a beam of sunlight shone down into the dilapidated temple from the roof!

Chen Shi rubbed his eyes and looked up. Indeed, a ray of sunlight was shining down!

He looked outside the temple.

It was pitch black outside, with rain pouring down, making it impossible to see even an arm's length away. The sound of the rain was a constant whoosh, and the distant thunder sounded muffled. His vision could only extend about one or two steps outside the temple.

Chen Shi turned back to look inside the temple.

The interior was as bright as day, bathed in sunlight, though the roof was still leaking.

Rainwater filtered through the sunlight, falling onto the ground.

This was truly bizarre!

No, for him, ghosts and spirits were too common, seen everywhere.

But this scene before him, he had never witnessed!

"Inside and outside the temple, there are indeed different spaces and times!"

Chen Shi suppressed his excitement. He had long harbored this suspicion, and the appearance of this ray of sunlight now confirmed his guess.

He followed the sunlight and saw another expanse of azure sky.

That sky was clearly not the same sky as the Western Ox Continent's!

He also saw the sun in that other sky.

It was golden yellow, not very large, appearing like a golden plate.

But the sunlight emitted by this sun could be used for cultivation!

Along with this ray of sunlight, his Three Lights Righteous Qi Art ran smoother, and the efficiency of the Big Dipper tempering increased!

He could feel the speed of the Big Dipper tempering improving by thirty to forty percent!

It was too miraculous!

"Could it be that this sun is the true sun? The Three Lights Righteous Qi Art also draws in moonlight, which also comes from that space. Could it be that the moon in that space is also the true moon?"

He couldn't help but indulge in some speculation. Did the sun and moon mentioned in the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art refer to the sun and moon of this space? The ancestors of the Western Ox Continent, did they face this space's sun and moon? Is that why they created terms like sunrise, sunset, cloudy, and full moon?

Then, what happened to cause the sun and moon to disappear?

And what happened that a True God from beyond the heavens replaced the sun and moon?

Where did the sun and moon go?

Why can this dilapidated temple connect to the sun and moon, allowing sunlight to shine in?

Who was worshipped in this dilapidated temple in the past?

Why did it emerge from the ground at this time?

Is it related to the sky darkening a quarter of an hour earlier a few days ago?

"It's a pity Grandpa isn't here. Grandpa is knowledgeable and experienced, he definitely... definitely wouldn't know! He'd just say to double the medicine dose at night!"

Chen Shi continued to cultivate, no longer dwelling on these strange questions, as there were no answers anyway.

Gradually, he entered a wondrous state, neither sleeping nor awake, his breathing long and steady. The Three Lights Righteous Qi Art continued to operate methodically, and the Big Dipper tempering persisted, with the seven stars slowly revolving around him.

The heavy rain that night finally stopped in the morning. Chen Shi had also cultivated throughout the night. Not only was he not tired, but he felt invigorated, as if this night's practice was more than ten times better than any previous one.

"I haven't returned all night, Grandpa must be worried sick!"

Chen Shi finished his practice, moved the stone blocking the entrance, and walked out of the dilapidated temple. Outside, it was still misty, and the air was filled with moisture.

"Woof woof!"

A large black dog stood outside the temple, barking affectionately at him. It was Black Pot.

Chen Shi quickly walked over, smiling and asking, "Black Pot, did Grandpa send you to find me? Grandpa must be very worried about me, right? How long have you been here?"

Black Pot wagged its tail, a smile on its face, and nudged forward, circling him twice.

The man and dog hurried down the mountain. Despite the slippery mountain path after the rain, Chen Shi felt light and agile, as if walking on level ground everywhere.

"When I go home this time, I have to ask Grandpa for some money. I plan to hire some masons to renovate the dilapidated temple. I want to cultivate there often."

Chen Shi said to Black Pot as he walked, "I've saved a lot of silver with Grandpa. Do you think he'll give it to me if I ask?"

Black Pot's tail wagged like a windmill, and it barked, "Woof!"

Chen Shi chuckled, "Black Pot, you're wrong! Grandpa said that money is for me to get married. He'll definitely give it to me if I ask."

"Woof woof!"

"You mean Grandpa spent it all? Impossible!"

"Woof, woof woof!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Grandpa wouldn't lie to a child's money!"

The man and dog chatted as they moved away from the desolate mountain, heading towards Huangpo Village.

Just then, the sky suddenly became exceptionally bright. Chen Shi and Black Pot looked up and were stunned.

A blindingly bright beam of light tore through the sky. It appeared to be a burning stone from beyond the heavens, breaking through the firmament and heading straight for them!

The celestial body from outside the heavens flashed past above them, trailing smoke for a mile. In the next moment, it struck the desolate mountain several miles away, landing precisely on the dilapidated temple!

Flames erupted into the sky, accompanied by huge chunks of rock that scattered in all directions.

In Chen Shi's vision, the peak that had grown from the ground was instantly broken by dozens of feet!

Black Pot quickly pounced on Chen Shi, knocking him down. The man and dog rolled into a deep ditch beside the road.

"Hoo—"

The wind howled like knives, sweeping over the deep ravine with rolling waves of heat. The trees on both sides of the ravine were instantly ignited by the hot wind, like giant torches.

Fortunately, it had rained all night, and the ravine was filled with water. The man and the dog dove into the water, managing to avoid being burned to ashes by the hot wind.

"Boom!"

A violent explosion echoed, and the ground shook incessantly. The vibrations reached the river, nearly making Chen Shi and Black Dog vomit blood.

Then, shards of rock rained down, like another stone shower.

Fortunately, they were hidden in the water, and the stones lost most of their power upon impact.

After the stone shower passed, Chen Shi and Black Dog, still shaken, emerged from the water. They waited for a moment, finding no further disturbance, before climbing back onto the road.

Chen Shi staggered to his feet, dripping wet. Beside him, Black Dog vigorously shook its body, spraying water everywhere.

Chen Shi looked around. As far as his eyes could see, trees lay toppled in all directions. Some still bore flames, while others were scorched black by the hot wind, standing like bare, black wooden pillars emitting grayish-blue smoke.

The crops in the fields were also flattened, some here, some there. Giant rocks had smashed into the fields, skidding for some distance before stopping.

Where the giant rocks had passed, the crops were plowed flat, as if a giant had used the farmland as a canvas, drawing clumsy, crooked lines with ink.

Chen Shi looked at the desolate mountain in the distance. The hundred-zhang desolate mountain was now only half its original size. The broken edge was jagged and uneven, as if bitten by Black Dog.

The mysterious small temple had been smashed into dust!

The desolate mountain that had emerged from the ground was also almost leveled!

"Wh-why?"

Chen Shi murmured.

He looked up at the sky, where the sun shone brightly.

The two suns were the two giant eyes of the True God from beyond the heavens, gazing down upon the earth. Everything was laid bare, clear and distinct.