Above the Great Dao

The day after Chen Shi's mother woke up, she could already walk around. The family of three left their home to visit the elders in the village. Chen Shi also arranged a reunion feast, treating the villagers with fish and meat. Everyone in the village came to the feast, making it a lively event.

On the third day, they went to pay respects to their grandfather, godmother, and Zhu the Scholar. They entered the mountains to pay homage to Xuan Shan, Granny Zhuang, and the spirits of Qianyang Mountain.

On the fourth day, they went to visit Granny Sha, Hu Xiaoliang, and other elders.

On the fifth day, the Heavenly Court Token of Red Mountain Hall was delivered to Hu Feifei. Hu Feifei performed the ritual of the Heavenly Court Token, opening the passage between Xinxiang and the Little Heavenly Realms. She then distributed the other Heavenly Court Tokens to Granny Sha, Qing Yang, and Hu Xiaoliang, among others, and Chen Tang also received one as a gift.

Top scorer Chen Shi returned to his usual routine, getting up every morning to practice his morning lessons, cultivating for a while, before going to Huangpo to worship his godmother and Zhu the Scholar, listening to Zhu the Scholar's teachings, then returning home to eat.

Besides this, he had an additional task, which was to give lectures in the Little Heavenly Realms, explaining the cultivation techniques from the Monument Forest outside the True King's Tomb.

During these times, many people would gather in the Little Heavenly Realms. They were scholars and advanced scholars from the same cohort as Chen Shi, holding official positions across the Fifty Provinces of the West Bull New Continent, with the highest-ranking official being Hu Feifei, the County Magistrate. Though their positions were not high, they were all young and promising.

Some others were like Sun Yisheng and other minor clerks dismissed by the Ministry of Revenue, who were now Talisman Masters of Red Mountain Hall and also came to the Little Heavenly Realms to listen to his lectures.

These minor clerks had extraordinary cultivation, often at the Divine Descent Realm or Void Refinement Realm, with three-zhang Primordial Spirits, and many had established Daoist Fields!

While they were minor clerks in the Ministry of Revenue, they didn't even have an official rank, let alone subsequent cultivation techniques. With just a little guidance, they could immediately break through to the next realm.

Chen Tang said to Chen Shi, "They are talents selected by the whole nation, much faster than if you went to visit and select them."

Chen Shi, deep in thought, replied, "In the future, I also want to hold imperial exams to select more talents. Why not start trying from inside Red Mountain Hall and have Zhuge Jian devise a selection plan?"

He set off to do it enthusiastically.

Watching his departing back, Chen Tang said to his wife Wu Qingyu, "Our son has ambitions of rebellion."

Wu Qingyu's eyes flickered, and she smiled, "Don't talk nonsense about unfounded things."

Chen Tang gave her a sidelong glance, always feeling that this mother and son were hiding something from him.

...

As night fell, the Black Pot pricked up its ears, quietly jumped out of the courtyard, and quickly headed outside the village.

In the dense forest outside Qianyang Mountain, in a place untouched by moonlight, a pair of eyes opened eerily in the darkness, and the sound of whispers could be heard.

Following those eyes, the Black Pot ventured into the darkness, entering the underworld, where two creatures, large and small, sprinted across the wilderness of the underworld. The larger creature taught the Black Pot how to cultivate, how to fight, imparting it with cultivation techniques, and then took it into the perilous and unknown regions of the underworld, pushing it into a frenzied battleground to fight and battle.

Before dawn, the larger creature brought the battered Black Pot back, and the Black Pot crawled back home, exhausted, lying motionless on the ground.

When Chen Tang and Wu Qingyu finished cooking, they would call it to eat, but the couple did not ask about its injuries. They had witnessed its nightly excursions.

In recent days, Wu Qingyu had also reached the Nascent Soul Realm, progressing rapidly. She was cultivating the Supreme Sun and Moon Mixed Yuan Scripture, selected by Chen Shi from the Ten Books of Cultivation. However, this technique was dangerous because it involved moonlight cultivation. If one absorbed the moonlight of the West Bull New Continent, it often led to an evil transformation, becoming an Evil Spirit.

Chen Shi first let his mother enter his small temple to practice. Wu Qingyu already had a foundation in cultivation, and during her period of soul detachment, Chen Shi and Chen Tang assisted her cultivation, laying an excellent foundation for her, so her cultivation speed was rapid.

"I wonder how Tianqing is doing?"

Chen Shi thought of Li Tianqing, pondering, "I asked him to hide in Qianyang Mountain to avoid the Li Family's pursuit. If he's still at Qianyang Mountain, he should have come long ago. Could something have happened?"

He went to ask the Great Snake Xuan Shan, and the Great Snake Xuan Shan told him that Li Tianqing was still in Qianyang Mountain two months ago, placing his grandfather Li Jindou and mother with a family in the countryside. Many of the Li Family experts came to chase him, so worried about implicating his family, he left.

Chen Shi couldn't help but feel concerned. He took out the West King Jade Seal and searched using the Mountain and River Map. However, within the Jade Seal's Mountain and River Map, only a few places like Xinxiang and Gongzhou were lit, so the places he could search were limited, and he couldn't find Li Tianqing's whereabouts.

"Tianqing, where exactly are you?"

Constitution State, Wuhuai Mountain.

At night, the sounds of spells and talismanic weapons breaking through the air resonated from the mountain, with countless branches flitting up and down in the darkness, occasionally ensnaring strong members of the Li Family. The top fighters from the Li Family each summoned their Primordial Spirits, wielding spells and talismanic weapons to sever the branches.

They were chasing Li Tianqing, but ended up being lured by him into the territory of an extremely powerful Evil Spirit, where they were attacked.

This Evil Spirit seemed to be the locust tree in the mountain. Its roots connected the Yin Yang Two Realms, heavy with yin energy. Over time, it became an Evil Spirit, its branches and roots appearing mysteriously, capable of reaching from the underworld to the mortal world, giving these Li Family experts a hard time.

In the darkness, a pair of eyes coldly watched every spell, technique, and talismanic weapon used by the Li Family members.

"Li Tianzheng cultivates the Azure Sea Waves Technique. His cultivation is profound, and he's adept at unleashing the 'Boundless Waves,' creating a wave-crashing force with a wide attack range and immense power. But this spell takes time to perform, requiring two finger snaps. Within those two snaps, if you pierce his Primordial Spirit Field, you can defeat him."