Merit Achievement and the Grand Ritual

Chen Qishan belonged to his grandfather's generation and had never had much to do with his household. He had studied for a few years in his youth and held some standing within the Chen Family.

Back when Chen Tie Mao had brought Chen Yuan to plead at his door, the third elder had sat in the ancestral hall holding a cup of tea, without so much as lifting his eyelids.

Now that Chen Yuan had attained the Dao, Chen Qishan had sprung forward to pull rank as an elder, as though the glory surrounding Chen Yuan owed something to the bowl of cold rice he had once grudgingly handed out.

But this was a common failing of lineages: when one person attained the Dao, even the chickens and dogs rose to heaven, and those chickens and dogs often crowed louder than their master.

Chen Yuan stood on a slab of bluestone before the Abyss Pool, his expression calm.

"It seems the third elder is getting on in years. It's time he enjoyed a peaceful retirement."

The words had scarcely left his mouth.

Above the West Sea, the dying glow of the Mad Sun gave a faint tremor.

A thousand miles away, in Linhai Prefecture City, Chen Qishan was scolding a younger relative when heat suddenly flared between his brows. It was as though a Great Sun hung three inches above his head. His Sea of Consciousness surged, and his three souls and seven spirits nearly steamed out of him.

The purple-clay teapot in his hand shattered with a crack, spilling boiling water down his front. He stood rigid, his face white as paper.

But it lasted only an instant.

Daylight remained unchanged, and the candle flames flickered as though nothing had happened. Yet Chen Qishan slumped into his armchair, the