Wu Wang

The Master Chen in Prince Xiao's mouth was precisely Chen Shi's grandpa.

Back outside Mirror Lake Villa, Chen Shi had heard him call Grandpa Master Chen.

Chen Shi hurriedly bowed in gratitude to Prince Xiao and asked doubtfully, "Grandpa understands these things too?"

Prince Xiao said indifferently, "Though his scholarship cannot compare to mine, it is not far behind. Naturally he understands."

Confusion filled Chen Shi's heart. He used to think Grandpa was an ordinary talisman master, but the appearances of Granny Sha and Prince Xiao made him feel that Grandpa was not so simple.

Yet, if Grandpa understood these things, why hadn't he taught him?

"Why were you out at night, and how did you come to such a pass?" Prince Xiao asked.

Chen Shi recounted how the Zhao Family had sent men to assassinate him, how he had counter-killed them, and how he had barged into Huangyang Village to root out the trouble completely. He said with a sheepish expression, "I'm rather foolish, and felt that since Sanwang had died, I had to kill this person to avenge him. As a result, I chased and chased right up until now, causing myself to fall into danger."

"The guest from Zhao wears fine silk tassels, Wu hooks shine like frost and snow... Three cups spit out promises, the Five Sacred Mountains fall as light. You possess quite a chivalrous spirit."

Prince Xiao revealed an appreciative expression, saying, "This cultivation technique of yours transcends the vulgar crowd, far surpassing the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art taught in private schools. The Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art is merely a low, shallow technique imparted to scholars. The greatest function of this technique is nurturing qi, foundation establishment, forging the divine shrine, condensing the heavenly heart, and obtaining the blessing and descent of the divine embryo from the True God from Beyond the Heavens. But this technique of yours is different: it refines qi, refines the body, and refines the spirit, strengthening oneself. Even I have rarely seen any cultivation techniques that can compare to it. This technique of yours... was it obtained from the True King's Tomb, hmm?"

His gaze was sharp, falling upon Chen Shi's face and staring straight into Chen Shi's eyes. It seemed he could pierce through Chen Shi's eyes straight to his mind, seeing whether Chen Shi's words were true or false.

Chen Shi answered calmly, "I obtained this cultivation technique in the True King's Tomb, but Elder Yang Jiao stopped me and wouldn't let me go any further to obtain the complete technique. If Senior thinks it's good, I can write it down and give Senior a copy."

Prince Xiao was startled. "Write a copy for me? What do you want to exchange for it from me?"

Chen Shi shook his head. "You're Grandpa's friend, and just now you guided me without seeking anything in return. I don't have any good things to give you, but since you like it, I'll just give it to you. I don't want to exchange it for anything."

Prince Xiao gazed into his dual pupils, seemingly wanting to see whether he was sincere or hypocritical.

After a moment, Prince Xiao shook his head and said, "I don't want your cultivation technique. Though your technique is good, I have seen several techniques of a similar grade. Besides, my cultivation realm is already high now; turning back to study another person's technique would gain less than it loses. However..."

He paused and broke into a smile. "You are very interesting. The nighttime roads are hard to discern, and evil spirits roam abroad. With your strength, you wouldn't live to reach the village. I still have matters to attend to tonight, and temporarily cannot send you back. Only after I finish this matter will I have the time. If you can wait, I will send you back. Can you wait?"

Chen Shi climbed onto the carriage and smiled. "I can wait."

He gazed around. Everywhere in the darkness were greenish patches of light and reddish lanterns—those were the eyes of various evils and sui, all waiting for him to become isolated.

If he returned alone, even if he knew the way, he feared he wouldn't walk far before being devoured by these evil spirits!

Curiosity filled his heart. Late at night with danger everywhere, why was Prince Xiao going out on business at this time?

The driver swung his long whip. The long whip coiled and lashed through the air, producing a crisp sound that shook the valley.

The four horses roused their spirits and pulled the carriage. The wheels burst forth with clouds of vapor, actually lifting the carriage up by a few inches to let the wheels avoid the mountain rocks.

The four horses started off, the soles of their feet generating wind, treading on the breath of the wind as they traveled quite briskly.

Chen Shi observed that the horses' four legs were not bound with Jia Ma Talismans, yet they could tread upon clear winds. It was quite bizarre, and he imagined they were not pure-blooded horses, but rather exotic beasts.

That's right, the Jia Ma Talisman originally imitates horses running, supplemented by the wind scripts and cloud scripts of the Six Ding Six Jia. They are horses possessing divine beast bloodlines, so of course they run fast, Chen Shi thought to himself.

There was silence in the carriage, save for the rumbling sound of the wheels and the clatter of horse hooves.

After a moment, Prince Xiao said, "Your cultivation technique is good, your disposition is also good, and what is even rarer is that your natural talent is high. Even if someone cut away your divine embryo, you will surely achieve greatness in the future."

"Really?" Chen Shi's eyes lit up.

Prince Xiao said indifferently, "Why would I lie to you?"

Chen Shi was immensely excited. He needed encouragement far too much.

Ever since he woke from his deep sleep, he had been groping his way alone—how to cultivate, how to retain true qi, how to rid himself of being a cripple, and how to rebuild the divine shrine. Yet he had no friends. The black pot could not speak, Grandpa would not encourage him, Godmother was a lump of stone, and Scholar Zhu only knew his classical "zi, hu, zhe, ye."

He could only ponder alone and try alone.

If his trial and error failed, he would die alone in the wilderness and no one would know.

Yet Chen Shi was willing to take this risk!

He wanted to grow strong. He didn't want to be a cripple for the rest of his life, and he wanted to give Grandpa a stable and affluent old-age life!

Previously, no one recognized him; now that he obtained Prince Xiao's recognition, the joy in his heart could be imagined.

Amidst the night scenery, the carriage traveled along the quiet post road. On both sides were ancient trees illuminated by moonlight, casting mottled shadows like the claws and teeth of monsters.

Looking at the moonlight outside, Prince Xiao said unhurriedly, "Once there was a person whose natural talent was not very high. He only achieved foundation establishment at the age of twelve, and completed his foundation establishment at fifteen. The so-called hundred-day foundation establishment—cultivators establishing their foundation require only a hundred days to step into the next realm, yet he required three or four years, which shows how poor his aptitude was. Later, through all sorts of hardships, he passed the xiucai examinations, obtained divine bestowal, and managed to cultivate a divine embryo. But divine embryos are also divided into three, six, and nine grades, and his divine embryo happened to be the lowest grade of divine embryo, called an illusory embryo, meaning a dreamlike illusion or foam. Do you think a person this stupid could achieve great things?"

Chen Shi shook his head.

The divine embryo represented the degree of true gods' recognition of a cultivator's natural talent. The lower the divine embryo, the lower it showed the cultivator's natural talent to be.

The lowest grade of illusory embryo showed just how poor his natural talent was, being only a tiny fraction higher than an ordinary person.

Prince Xiao said, "This person had a stubborn temper—very obstinate, very persistent. He felt he wouldn't waste his life away. His schoolmates and colleagues had already cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage, attained the Golden Core Realm, and the Nascent Soul Realm, while he was still in the Divine Embryo Realm. Yet he still did not give up. He repeatedly polished his divine embryo and repeatedly practiced the basics. Ten years later, he entered the Nascent Soul stage and attained the Golden Core. At this time, his old acquaintances were already mighty figures of the Spirit Refining Realm, and the distance between him and the other party grew larger and larger. But the next decade, this foolish person finally caught up to his old acquaintances. Another decade later, he accumulated thick and stored thin, rising later to surpass the rest, moving the world with his nearly invincible magical power and amazing the public."

He paused and continued, "His illusory embryo was almost the equivalent of having none, yet relying on his own perseverance and unremitting persistence, he possessed great achievements. If he could accomplish it, you can too."

Chen Shi's spirit was roused, and he revealed a hopeful expression, looking at Prince Xiao with adoration. "The person Senior speaks of... could it be Senior himself?"

Prince Xiao shook his head, his bearing proud. "I practiced cultivation since childhood, condensing my embryo at age nine to obtain one of the most powerful divine embryos. When I was a youth I shocked the world; how could I be as foolish as this?"

Chen Shi was dumbfounded, stammering, "Then this person is..."

"This foolish man has the surname Chen and the given name Yindu; he is precisely your grandpa." Prince Xiao spoke indifferently.

Chen Shi was filled with inexplicable astonishment. Grandpa was truly this formidable?

He had little contact with Prince Xiao, but he could tell that Prince Xiao possessed arrogance and a proud backbone. To win his praise, one had to be exceptionally outstanding.

To be praised by a figure like Prince Xiao as having nearly invincible magical power meant that person's magical power was truly invincible!

Yet, no matter how he looked at it, Grandpa was an old man on the verge of the grave. His greatest skill was drawing talismans, relying on drawing talismans to support this household.

How could he possess nearly invincible magical power?

Just how many things was Grandpa still hiding from him?

No matter how things were back then, today's Grandpa is still old.

Chen Shi felt a desolate ache, thinking silently in his heart, He is getting on in years. No matter how powerful he was when he was young, today he is merely an old man facing the wind like a flickering candle. Lately his eating hasn't even been normal. He needs someone to take care of him.

The carriage drove into the foot of the mountains. Gradually the road ahead became rugged and difficult to traverse, yet those four fine horses still moved as if walking on flat ground.

After knowing how long, the carriage arrived at the base of a mountain. Here, unexpectedly, there was a city that was brilliantly illuminated with lights in the night.

Chen Shi was filled with inexplicable astonishment. He was the local tyrant of Ganyang Mountain, having run far and wide across the south and north with Grandpa. Where in Ganyang Mountain had he not been?

When had an extra city appeared in the mountains?

The carriage drove into this strange city. The city walls were very tall, the wall surfaces exceptionally smooth, and the city tower even loftier. Written on the city gates were the two characters Wuwang.

Sitting in the carriage, Chen Shi looked to both sides and saw standing along both sides of the road fierce ghosts with green faces and tusks, their expressions ferocious, holding weapons like axes and forks.

His heart gave a jolt. Looking again at the residents coming and going in this city, most of them had their intestines pierced and bellies ripped open, or lacked heads and limbs; mostly they were already dead.

Occasionally there were complete people, but one couldn't tell if they were dead or alive.

This is an underworld city?

His heart crawled with goosebumps.

He looked around. This place was filled with song, dance, and revelry. Sounds of joyous laughter constantly drifted over, completely unlike the underworld he had visited.

Chen Shi had once died and been to the underworld. There, gloomy haze was everywhere, and people were like walking corpses, walking amidst the fog and being relished as fine delicacies by unknown entities hiding within the fog.

Yet here, it was like a city of joy, undisturbed by the Yang World and without the malevolence of the underworld. Ghosts and spirits were extremely joyful in this place.

"This place is called Wuwang. In Wuwang, the evil Dao does not prevail, and no one dares to be deceitful or false. In this city, everyone is forbidden to lie."

Prince Xiao said, "The reason I meet people in this place is precisely because of this point. The person coming is adept at lying; not being in this place, I wouldn't believe a single word of what she says. That's right, no false words can be spoken here. If one lies, their tongue will be pulled out."

Chen Shi blinked. Once you reach this place you cannot speak false words?

"People in the village all call me Little Chen Shi, and I never lie. When I arrive in this Wuwang City, I will surely be like a fish in water."

Though he spoke thusly in his mind, Chen Shi still didn't dare to speak it aloud, at most thinking it over in his heart.

Because the moment he thought of this, he felt a strange force tugging at his tongue!

Fortunately he was only thinking about it; if he had spoken it aloud, he feared his tongue wouldn't be preserved.

"I definitely haven't fallen for that young lady!" someone shouted from the roadside.

Chen Shi followed the sound and saw a couple quarreling. The husband had just spoken those words when he involuntarily opened his mouth, and with a pop, his tongue flew out from his mouth and fell to the ground.

A dog darted out and snatched away the twitching tongue on the ground.

Chen Shi shivered, only to see the people watching all around opening their mouths and laughing.

He noticed that many of their mouths also lacked tongues.

"Because they lied, their tongues were all pulled out."

Chen Shi shuddered. This city truly did not allow lying!

This city is specifically meant to deal with honest people like me! he thought to himself.

The carriage carried them to a tavern and stopped. A waiter hurriedly came out to help park the carriage in the back courtyard.

Prince Xiao walked upstairs and, guided by the shop waiter, arrived at a private second-floor booth beside a window sill.

Chen Shi looked closely. The waiter was not an ordinary person either, actually growing four arms, each holding a tray while warmly entertaining the guests.

"What good tea is there to warm and nurture the mind? I have a guest to entertain," Prince Xiao asked.

"Replying to Master Xiao, recently we've brought in some fresh Pu'er from Lingnan. Our humble shop killed a merchant from Lingnan and snatched it, and the flavor is peerless. Would you like to taste it?"

Prince Xiao nodded lightly and waved his hand.

The shop assistant immediately went off to brew tea.

When the tea was served, Prince Xiao took out a ten-tael silver ingot and placed it on the table. Chen Shi looked at the silver and found it somewhat familiar.

Prince Xiao said, "I picked it up on the road. I don't know who left it in the middle of the post road."

Grievance filled Chen Shi's heart, but he didn't speak.

The shop assistant collected the silver and entertained them even more warmly, offering a plate of dried fruit and a plate of dried meat.

Prince Xiao sipped his tea, put down the teacup, and said softly, "They're here."

Chen Shi looked down and saw a ghost, thin and tall, carrying a cyan lantern as it walked toward the teahouse in the city. The ghost was roughly seventeen or eighteen feet tall, skin and bones, hunchbacked, with a starved appearance.

Beneath the lantern, a woman dressed in red, wearing a rain hat and an eye-veil, walked amidst the illumination of the light.

That lantern was carried very high. The lantern was hollow, precisely casting a beam of light from the hole underneath to land on the ground, forming a patch of light a zhang in diameter.

The woman in red with the black rain hat walked within that patch of light, strictly and properly.

Her figure was graceful and willowy, charming and varied, especially her fine waist which was slender enough to span with one's grip.

Chen Shi couldn't help taking a few extra glances.

The woman entered the teahouse. The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs drifted over from the stairwell, and then the woman in red came into view. The gaze beneath her eye-veil swept lightly before she walked toward Chen Shi's side.

Her waist was slender and pliable, her buttocks full. She inclined slightly to one side, gracefully took her seat, removed her rain hat and eye-veil, and revealed a pretty face.

She glanced at Chen Shi and giggled, full of romantic charm.

"Little brother, is big sister good-looking? Do you want to sleep with big sister?"