Moving and circulating vital energy and blood—who would have thought it could be so wondrous and subtle!
Chen Shi's playful spirit surged. Concentrating his mind on his right palm, he watched as his right hand swelled up like it was being inflated, filled with boundless strength.
He picked up the stone he had knocked loose himself and squeezed it hard. To his surprise, the stone cracked apart with a series of pops, and after rubbing it a few times, it crumbled into dust and sand.
He grabbed another stone and smashed it down onto his hand. Under the surge of abundant vital energy and blood, there was actually no pain at all!
Wherever vital energy and blood are abundant, that part can grow larger and thicker without any pain!
Thinking of this, Chen Shi immediately used his mind to circulate vital energy and blood to various parts of his body, testing the effects brought by abundance in different places.
He discovered that if he concentrated it on the joints and fascia of his arms, his arms could actually grow four or five inches longer in the span of a mere moment!
If the vital energy and blood filled his spine and vertebral column to strengthen the fascia, the sound of interlocking bones would echo from within his body, and in an instant he could grow half a foot taller!
Chen Shi felt a sudden urge to urinate and, on a whim, circulated his vital energy and blood down to his lower parts. He saw them rapidly swell up, and Chen Shi could not help growing excited, howling, "I can pee even farther now! Nobody in the whole village can pee as far as I can!"
He circulated his vital energy and blood to his neck next, and his neck grew much thicker.
If anyone wants to choke me in the future, I'm afraid they'll have a hard time of it!
Chen Shi churned his vital energy and blood, sending them rushing toward his head. Suddenly, his vision went black, and he fell straight down, passing out cold.
He did not know how much time had passed before Chen Shi finally woke up. He stared with wide eyes, his mind a blank slate.
After a long while, he blinked his eyes and gradually remembered what he had just done with his vital energy and blood.
He never dared circulate vital energy and blood to his head again.
The head was the chief of the six yangs. Circulating vital energy and blood here would easily lead to fainting at the slightest misstep, or cause hallucinations, or even cerebral hemorrhage, making it extremely perilous.
Chen Shi was groping his way through cultivation all on his own, and furthermore the cultivation technique he practiced was incomplete. It was inevitable that he would encounter such dangers.
"Without the complete Three Lights Righteous Qi Art, it simply won't do. I'm completely unaware of the taboos of cultivation, and the slightest misstep could lead to a deviation into demonic obsession. It's just that with my current strength, I still can't finish reading the stone tablet before the True King's Tomb."
He was just about to continue practicing when he suddenly saw the sky outside turn a dark red. Miles upon miles of heavenly fire filled the sky, forming an extremely magnificent sunset.
Chen Shi's heart gave a jolt. This was the portent formed when the True God from Beyond the Heavens closed its eyes, and the flames beneath its eyelids gushed out, igniting the sky eighty miles above the earth!
The appearance of this portent indicated that night was about to fall!
After nightfall, evils roamed about the mountain wilds!
"I'm afraid I was unconscious for a very long time. I must get home early."
Chen Shi immediately got up and headed out. Just as he reached the outside of the temple, he saw the sky growing darker and darker red as the heavenly fire was about to go out.
With his current leg strength, it was utterly impossible for him to return home before dark, or even reach the foot of the mountain; night would surely fall first.
"Right now, the best choice is to stay in the temple for the night."
Chen Shi hesitated for a moment before making up his mind. "Staying in the temple still leaves a possibility of survival, but going down the mountain is a sure-fire death."
He knew all too well just how dangerous the mountain wilds under the moonlight were.
Chen Shi sealed up all the doors and windows, then hauled over a few giant boulders to shore up the portals. He had brought his book box out with him this time, and inside the book box were stored some Peachwood Talismans.
--Grandpa knew he had come to the Desolate Mountain Temple to cultivate, so he had instructed him to be sure to bring the Peachwood Talismans.
Chen Shi hung the Peachwood Talismans behind the doors and windows, then climbed up onto the temple roof, hanging talismans over the dilapidated spots as well. There were several large holes in the roof; although he had patched them with wooden boards, the wind still blew in from all directions.
Chen Shi jumped down, found some firewood, and built a fire to warm up his dry rations, swallowing them whole.
Before he had even finished eating, the sound of thunder rolled across the sky, and a pattering rain began to fall, extinguishing the campfire.
Chen Shi hurriedly shifted his position to avoid the rain.
Unexpectedly, the rain grew heavier and heavier, coming down in sheets. Soon the dilapidated temple was filled with water everywhere, leaving only a few places to stand.
Sleeping was practically out of the question.
Tomorrow when the rain stops, I'll find a mason to fix up this broken temple so it'll be convenient for me to cultivate here in the future, Chen Shi thought to himself.
The bright moon beyond the heavens had already been blocked by dark clouds, and the sky outside grew darker and darker.
Since there was no moon, even evil spirits would not come out to wander.
Since he could not sleep, Chen Shi simply continued his cultivation.
He activated the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art. Starlight, sunlight, and moonlight poured over him one after another, and dots of light surrounded him. The three lights converged, fusing into one to transform into seven stars, forming the shape of the Big Dipper Seven Stars to temper his physique.
After buzhidao how long had passed, Chen Shi suddenly noticed that the dilapidated temple was gradually growing bright. He looked around to search for the light source and could not help freezing in place.
He saw that in this pitch-black night, outside came torrential rain accompanied by frequent flashes of thunder and lightning, yet inside the dilapidated temple, a streak of sunlight was shining down from the roof!
Chen Shi rubbed his eyes and looked up. Indeed, a ray of sunlight was shining down!
He looked toward the outside of the temple.
Outside the temple was pitch black, with torrential rain falling and pitch darkness where one couldn't see their own fingers. The sound of the rain roared, and the distant thunder sounded somewhat muffled. His vision could only reach a distance of one or two steps outside the temple at most.
Chen Shi looked back toward the inside of the temple again.
Inside the temple, it was bright with sunlight, just like daytime, even though the roof was still leaking.
The rainwater passed through the sunlight and landed on the ground.
This really was running into a ghost!
No, to him, ghosts and gods were far too commonplace and could be seen everywhere.
Yet this scene before his eyes was something he had never witnessed before!
Inside and outside the temple, there really are two different spacetime realms!
Chen Shi suppressed his churning emotions. He had long suspected this, and now the appearance of this ray of sunlight verified his guess.
He followed the sunlight upward and saw another piece of azure sky.
That piece of sky was clearly not the same sky as that of the Western Ox Continent!
He also saw the sun of that other sky.
Golden-yellow and not very large, it looked like a golden platter.
Yet the sunlight emitted by this sun could actually be used for cultivation!
Accompanied by this ray of sunlight, his Three Lights Righteous Qi Art ran even more smoothly, and the efficiency of the Big Dipper Tempering was higher!
He could feel that the speed of the Big Dipper Tempering had increased by thirty or forty percent!
How miraculous!
Could this sun be the true sun? The moonlight drawn by the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art also comes from that spacetime realm. Could it be that the moon in that spacetime realm is also the true moon?
He could not help generating a few stray musings: did the sun and moon in the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art refer to the sun and moon of this spacetime?
Did the ancient ancestors of the Western Ox Continent face the sun and moon of this spacetime? That must be why they created words such as sunrise, sunset, and the waxing, waning, overcast, and clear phases of the moon.
Then, what happened later that caused the sun and moon to disappear?
What else happened that caused the True God from Beyond the Heavens to replace the sun and moon?
Where did the sun and moon go?
Why could this dilapidated temple connect with the sun and moon, allowing the sunlight to shine in?
Whom had this dilapidated temple been dedicated to in the past?
Why had it risen up from beneath the earth at this particular time?
Did it have anything to do with the sky turning dark a quarter of an hour early over the past few days?
It's a pity Grandpa isn't here. Grandpa is knowledgeable and experienced, but he definitely... definitely wouldn't know! He'd only say: double the medicine dosage tonight!
Chen Shi continued his cultivation, no longer dwelling on these bizarre questions since thinking about them yielded no answers anyway.
Gradually, he entered a wondrous state, neither quite asleep nor quite awake. His breathing was long and even, the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art continued to operate methodically, the Big Dipper Tempering kept up without cessation, and the seven stars slowly revolved around his body.
The heavy rain lasted all night, only stopping come morning. Chen Shi had also cultivated for the entire night, and far from feeling any exhaustion, he was instead full of spirit, feeling that this single night of practice surpassed more than tenfold what came before.
I didn't return all night; Grandpa must be worried sick!
Chen Shi withdrew his technique, moved the boulders shoring up the door, and walked out of the dilapidated temple. Outside was still misty, and the air was filled with moisture.
"Woof woof!"
A large black dog stood outside the temple, affectionately barking a couple of times at him—it was Black Pot.
Chen Shi hurriedly stepped forward and asked with a smile, "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, approaching with an ingratiating smile as it circled around him twice.
Man and dog walked swiftly down the mountain. Although the mountain path was slippery after the rain, Chen Shi only felt his body light and vigorous, every step as smooth as flat ground.
"On this trip home, I have to ask Grandpa for some money. I plan to hire some masons to renovate the dilapidated temple. I want to go cultivate at the temple often."
As he walked, Chen Shi spoke to Black Pot, "I have a lot of silver saved up with Grandpa. Do you think if I go ask for it, Grandpa will give it to me?"
Black Pot's tail wagged like a windmill as it barked, "Woof!"
Chen Shi laughed. "You're wrong, Black Pot! Grandpa said that money is kept for me to take a wife. If I go ask, Grandpa will definitely give it."
"Woof woof!"
"You're saying Grandpa spent it all? Impossible!"
"Woof, woof woof!"
"Don't talk nonsense, Grandpa wouldn't cheat a child out of his money!"
Man and dog chatted as they moved away from the desolate mountain and headed toward Huangpo Village.
Right at that moment, the sky suddenly grew abnormally bright. Chen Shi and Black Pot raised their heads to look, freezing in place.
They saw an incomparably bright beam of light tear across the sky—it must have been a burning stone that broke through the firmament from beyond the heavens, heading straight for this place!
That stellar body from beyond the heavens flashed past right above them, dragging a trail of thick smoke a mile long, and the next moment it struck the desolate mountain several miles away, smashing squarely onto the dilapidated temple!
Blazing flames soared into the sky, accompanied by massive boulders flying out to smash in all directions.
In Chen Shi's field of vision, that mountain peak which had grown out from beneath the earth was instantly smashed off by several dozen yards!
Black Pot hurriedly lunged at Chen Shi, knocking him down, and man and dog rolled into a deep ditch beside the road.
Whoosh—
A gale like a blade swept across the upper part of the deep ditch with rolling heat waves. The trees on both sides of the ditch were instantly ignited by the hot wind, turning into torches one after another.
Fortunately, it had rained all night, so the deep ditch was full of water. Man and dog plunged into the water, and only then escaped being burned to ashes by the hot wind.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion arrived, and the earth itself shook endlessly. The vibrations carried into the river water, almost causing Chen Shi and Black Pot to vomit blood.
Then shattered stones came clattering down from the sky like another rain of rocks.
Fortunately, they were hiding in the water, and by the time the stones hit the water, they had lost most of their force.
When the stone rain finally ceased, the shaken Chen Shi and Black Pot poked their heads out from beneath the water. After waiting a moment and finding no further movement, they crawled back up to the road.
Chen Shi stood up unsteadily, soaking wet. Beside him, Black Pot vigorously shook its body, spraying water everywhere.
Chen Shi cast his gaze outward. As far as the eye could see, trees were toppled sideways, some still trailing flames, while others had been scorched black by the hot wind, standing bare like charred black wooden pillars emitting grayish-green smoke.
The crops in the fields were likewise flattened this way and that, with giant boulders having smashed into the fields and skidded a distance before stopping.
Wherever the giant boulders had plowed past, the crops were flattened, as if a giant had wielded a brush with the farmland as paper, forcefully drawing clumsy, crooked brushstrokes.
Chen Shi looked toward the distant desolate mountain. The hundred-foot desolate mountain now possessed only half its height, the broken edge looking as though it had been bitten by Black Pot, jagged and uneven.
That mysterious little temple had been smashed into powder!
The desolate mountain that had emerged from the earth was also virtually leveled!
"W-Why?"
Chen Shi muttered.
He looked up at the sky. The blazing sun hung high.
The two suns were the two enormous eyes of the True God from Beyond the Heavens, gazing down upon the earth, making everything plain to see and clearly distinct.
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