Above the Great Dao

"Is this the Demon Emperor?"

Immortal Xi, Immortal Ping, and the others couldn't help but burst into laughter. Immortal Ping shouted, "Chen Shi, only eighteen years old and not yet harmonized, how could he possibly be the Demon Emperor whom even the Heavenly Venerate fears? Feng, you've truly lost your mind!"

Immortal Xi said, "You've been evil-transformed! Come with us back to Despair Slope, there's still hope for you!"

Chen Shi looked at these people in confusion. He was not unfamiliar with Feng Ruotong; they had met several times, and Chen Shi admired Feng Ruotong greatly. However, Feng Ruotong coming with so many people seeking an audience with him puzzled him.

Although they were not enemies, their relationship had never been this close.

Feng Ruotong said, "Does Your Majesty know that the Heavenly Venerate killed Immortal Kou and Zhong Wuwang?"

Chen Shi nodded and said, "Zhong Wuwang came to see me and informed me of this. The Heavenly Venerate is indeed the culprit behind the evil transformation of heaven and earth."

The four Immortals were stunned, and then Immortal Ping shouted, "Utter nonsense!"

Immortal Xi shouted, "Senior Feng, he is the Demon Emperor, slandering the Heavenly Venerate, don't believe him!"

Feng Ruotong turned a deaf ear and said, "The Heavenly Venerate has been wounded by us and is healing in Despair Slope. Now is the best time to rid the world of him. If we can join forces and strike into Despair Slope, we can surely eliminate him!"

Chen Shi smirked and said, "Relying on you Immortals who harmonized in the True God Dojo? Or on me, just a cultivator in the God Refining Realm? Immortal Feng, your idea is indeed good, but as soon as you reveal that you know the Heavenly Venerate's identity, the next moment you will no longer be Immortals."

He shook his head and said, "The Heavenly Venerate can easily eliminate the small world you harmonized with. Let me take you to see someone who can tell you how dangerous your idea is."

Feng Ruotong was slightly stunned and followed Chen Shi.

The Heavenly Dao Practitioner beside him picked up Immortal Xi and the others and quickly followed them.

After a while, they arrived at a residence in the Imperial City. Chen Shi knocked on the door, and a voice came from inside: "Who is it? Just a moment."

The door opened, and Feng Ruotong looked at the Daoist who opened the door and was taken aback, suddenly exclaiming, "Daoist Qing Yang, haven't you already left this world?"

Seeing Feng Ruotong, the Daoist Qing Yang showed a look of confusion and said, "Who are you?"

"I am Feng Ruotong!"

Feng Ruotong said joyfully, "You don't remember me? Right, I was still young then, only in my teens! I'm now fourteen thousand years old! You even taught me how to cultivate!"

The Daoist Qing Yang remembered him, with both surprise and joy, and said with a smile, "You that Shang citizen! I remember you, when I was building Heavenly Dao City, you came to work for me. You almost turned into the Ghost Clan! Later, I took you to Despair Slope, and have you been staying in Despair Slope since then?"

Seeing an old friend, especially one who was his elder, Feng Ruotong couldn't help but be overjoyed, feeling like he had returned to his childhood, and said, "Yes, me, that Shang citizen! After you left, I stayed at Despair Slope and later became an Immortal of Despair Slope! Daoist Qing Yang, where have you been all these years?"

The Daoist Qing Yang sighed and said, "I was imprisoned by the Heavenly Venerate and forced to hand over the whereabouts of the Four Divine Continents: West Ox, East Victory, South Jambu, and Beiju. I knew if I told, I would surely die, so I refused no matter what. He had no choice but to tie me up and throw me out to the Outer Heaven. Later, I was fortunate to be rescued by His Majesty the True King, and thus I escaped."

He sighed again, with a look of helplessness and amusement, and said, "Upon returning here, before I could restore much cultivation, the evil transformation of heaven and earth happened, and the Yin Yang Two Realms merged. The Heavenly Venerate found me again, captured me, and seeing that I still refused, he exiled me overseas. By chance, I was once again saved by His Majesty the True King and therefore followed him here to recuperate."

Feng Ruotong was also shocked by his strange experiences. Such coincidences were surprising; the Daoist Qing Yang was exiled twice by the Heavenly Venerate, and both times was saved by Chen Shi.

To meet in the vast territories of Outer Heaven and overseas was indeed a curious thing.

Chen Shi said, "Daoist Qing Yang participated in the construction of Despair Slope back then and is very familiar with it. After King Shang sacrificed himself, did he leave ministers to guard Despair Slope?"

The Daoist Qing Yang said, "King Shang left eighteen ministers. Despair Slope is extremely important. There, one can monitor the world, discover various demon transformations, disasters, and calamities in the shortest time, and deal with them promptly. Secondly, it's crucial to observe the condition of King Shang's Primordial Spirit and conduct timely sacrifices to avoid mishaps."

Immortal Xi, Immortal Ping, and others frowned.

The functions of Despair Slope described by Daoist Qing Yang differed from what the Heavenly Venerate taught them.

In the Heavenly Venerate's teachings, Despair Slope also monitored the world, primarily to monitor whether people posed any threats to the Outer Heaven True God, and if so, to eliminate them immediately. As for various demon transformations, disasters, and calamities, Despair Slope rarely intervened, leaving most to be handled by the people themselves. If they could not handle it, after one hundred days, Despair Slope would deploy the True God's sight to eliminate demons, disasters, and calamities.

As for those ancient temples of the Huaxia Gods, they were to be destroyed upon discovery, never waiting until the next day!

Although they were puzzled, these were the rules of Despair Slope.

Now it seemed the rules described by Daoist Qing Yang were more reasonable.

Chen Shi continued to ask, "Later, when Prince Ziyu of Shang built the Bronze Great Wall to surround Despair Slope, and was killed by the Heavenly Venerate, did you see those eighteen ministers of the Shang Dynasty when you entered Despair Slope?"

The Daoist Qing Yang shook his head and said, "I did not see them. Upon entering Despair Slope, I only saw the Heavenly Venerate."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "I initially thought Prince Ziyu intended to remove the eighteen ministers to seize Despair Slope. I intended to mediate, not knowing the eighteen ministers were already dead."

Feng Ruotong asked, "How do you know they are dead?"

The Daoist of Qing Yang said, "When I rescued the Heavenly Venerate, I discovered that in the True God Dojo, their Harmonization micro-worlds were all shattered, and I also saw the corpses of several individuals among them. I personally buried these Shang Ministers, right in Despair Slope. When I saw those corpses, I realized that I had saved the wrong person. I originally planned to leave Despair Slope quietly, but I was recognized by the Heavenly Venerate. He told me he was Xun Jiangmu, who killed the Shang Ministers that maintained order in the world and wiped out the Shang Dynasty Court. If I tried to escape, he would kill me too."

Feng Ruotong asked in confusion, "Xun Jiangmu?"

The Daoist of Qing Yang replied, "The ringleader behind the evil transformation of heaven and earth, the one who destroyed the Great Shang Era."

Immortal Xi opened his mouth, wanting to speak but hesitated.

He still refused to believe that the Heavenly Venerate was the culprit, Xun Jiangmu, but a voice inside him told him that what this Daoist of Qing Yang said might just be true.

The Daoist of Qing Yang continued, "At that time, he was dressed as a commoner of Shang, with Witch Sacrificial Dao Patterns on his skin, looking every bit the commoner. It seems that he relied on this appearance to infiltrate Despair Slope and, catching them by surprise, killed those eighteen Shang Ministers. Those eighteen Shang Ministers were extremely powerful, Heavenly Immortals, but unfortunately, the Heavenly Venerate destroyed their Harmonization micro-worlds, lowered their realms, and then killing them was a piece of cake."

Immortal Ping was bound tightly, face down, yet he still shouted, "The Heavenly Venerate never said his name, you lie!"

The Daoist of Qing Yang said, "That, I do not know. I was coerced by him to build Heavenly Dao City, and upon encountering Feng Ruotong, I brought him to Despair Slope. The Heavenly Venerate was very pleased to see Feng Ruotong and asked Feng Ruotong to call him Heavenly Venerate. Afterward, he never used the name Xun Jiangmu again."

Immortal Ping yelled, "I don't believe a word you say!"

The Daoist of Qing Yang said, "Believe it or not, what is it to me? Once I recover my cultivation, I will leave this realm and roam freely."

Immortal Ping gave a muffled groan, his eyes rolling, he said, "Chen Shi, you've deliberately found such a crazy Daoist to concoct nonsense and deceive us, but we won't fall for it!"

"Stubborn and incorrigible!"

A woman under Feng Ruotong commanded fiercely, "Feng Immortal, kill them to prevent any leaks!"

Immortal Ping stiffened his neck, shouting, "Kill or flay me, it's up to you! I will never believe your nonsense!"

Immortal Xi hesitated, "Friend Ping, I think there is some truth to their words..."

Immortal Ping strained to turn his head, glaring angrily at him, "You believe them? Just from this stranger's words, you believe them? If they sold you, you'd still count the money for them! This Chen is a Demon Emperor, best at deceiving people!"

Immortal Xi suddenly realized, "I shouldn't have believed rumors and doubted the Heavenly Venerate."

"It's better to kill these uncles and teachers!" suggested a nearby Heavenly Dao Practitioner.

Immortal Xi laughed, "Killing us proves even further that you are controlled by the Demon Emperor, steeped deeply in demonic nature!"

Immortal Ping cried, "Exactly! Feng old dog, if you kill me today, in the future when the Heavenly Venerate removes your demonic nature, you will regret it!"

Feng Ruotong said to Chen Shi, "Your Majesty, why not use the Daoist Field to quell their clamor?"

Chen Shi's mind moved slightly, summoning the Yin Yang Dojo.

Immortal Xi was about to shout again, but seeing this Daoist Field, he suddenly froze.

Immortal Ping and the other two immortals were still cursing when Immortal Xi regained his senses, lying on the ground, kicking Immortal Ping several times, and shouted, "Look, look at the Yin Yang changes of this Daoist Field! This isn't a Demon Path Dojo!"

Hearing this, Immortal Ping and the others stopped cursing and closely examined Chen Shi's Yin Yang Dojo.

After a moment, Immortal Ping trembled, "West Bull New Continent, is it saved?"

Immortal Xi wanted to nod but feared the Immortal Sword binding his neck would slice his head off, so he stifled the urge, saying, "It is saved!"

The other two immortals suddenly lost control of their Dao Hearts, tears welling up.

Immortal Ping's tears fell, muttering, "When will Harmonization happen?"

Immortal Xi also had reddened eyes, "On the day he achieves Harmonization, the evil aura will completely dissipate."

Feng Ruotong's mind moved slightly, retrieving the Binding Immortal Rope and Immortal Sword, asking, "Is Chen Zhenwang still a Demon Emperor?"

The four immortals looked at each other and shook their heads.

Feng Ruotong sneered, "Am I, Feng Ruotong, still Feng old dog?"

Immortal Ping had a look of guilt, "It was just banter, Brother Feng, do not take offense."

Even so, he still found it hard to believe, "Could the Heavenly Venerate really be the infamous Xun Jiangmu?"

Just then, the eunuch Xiaocheng reported, "Outside are three Daoists with peculiar appearances, the leader calling himself Wen Shan, here to request an audience with Feng Immortal."

Upon hearing this, Feng Ruotong looked towards Chen Shi, who just looked back, and they understood each other, "Wen Daoist has come to pledge allegiance too."