"The way to move blood and energy is truly amazing!" Chen Shi was intrigued. He focused his thoughts on his hand, and his right hand swelled up like it was inflated, becoming incredibly strong.
He picked up a stone he had knocked off earlier and squeezed it hard. The stone cracked and crumbled into dust after just a few rubs.
He grabbed another stone and smashed it against his hand, and there was no pain as his blood and energy filled him.
"As long as the blood and energy are full, it can grow bigger and thicker, and there's no pain!" Chen Shi thought about this and immediately moved his blood and energy around his body, testing the effects of fullness in different places.
He found that if he focused on the joints and membranes of his arm, it could extend by four or five inches in an instant!
If he filled his spine with blood and energy, strengthening the membranes, he heard the sound of bones shifting, and he could grow half a foot taller in no time!
Feeling the urge to pee, Chen Shi playfully moved the blood and energy there, and it quickly swelled. Excited, he shouted, "I can pee farther now! No one in the village can pee as far as I can!"
He moved the blood and energy to his neck, making it much thicker. "If someone tries to choke me now, they'll have a hard time!"
Chen Shi directed the energy to his head, but suddenly everything went black, and he fell down unconscious.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Shi woke up, eyes wide open, with a blank mind. It took him a while to remember moving his blood and energy earlier.
He dared not move the energy to his head again. The head is the top of the six yang, and moving energy there is risky, leading to fainting, hallucinations, or even brain hemorrhage.
Chen Shi was exploring cultivation on his own, and without a complete technique, he was bound to encounter such dangers.
"Without the full Three Lights True Qi Technique, it's too risky. I don't know the taboos of cultivation, and a slight mistake could lead to disaster. But with my current strength, I still can't fully read the stone tablet in front of the True King’s Tomb."
He was about to continue cultivating when he noticed the sky outside turning dark red. The sky was filled with a magnificent sunset, formed by the flames under the closed eyes of the Heavenly True God.
This phenomenon indicated that night was coming. After dark, evil spirits would roam the mountains.
"I must have been unconscious for a long time. I need to get home quickly." Chen Shi got up and went outside. The sky was getting darker, and the heavenly fire was about to go out.
With his current speed, he couldn't make it home before dark, or even reach the foot of the mountain.
"The best choice now is to stay in the temple overnight." Chen Shi hesitated, then decided, "Staying in the temple gives me a chance to survive, but going down the mountain is certain death."
He knew how dangerous the mountains could be under the moonlight.
Chen Shi sealed all the doors and windows and moved some large stones to block the entrance. He had brought a box with him, which contained some Peachwood Talismans.
His grandfather had insisted he bring the talismans while cultivating in the desolate mountain temple.
Chen Shi hung the talismans behind the doors and windows and climbed to the temple roof to hang more talismans over the damaged areas. The roof had several large holes, which he had patched with wooden boards, but it was still drafty.
He jumped down, gathered some firewood, and lit a fire to warm up his food, eating it quickly.
Before he finished, thunder rumbled in the sky, and rain began to fall, extinguishing the fire.
Chen Shi quickly moved to avoid the rain, but it poured harder, soon flooding the temple with water, leaving only a few dry spots.
Sleeping was out of the question.
"When the rain stops tomorrow, I'll find a mason to repair this temple. It'll be more convenient for cultivation here," Chen Shi thought.
The moon was hidden by clouds, and the sky grew darker. Without the moon, even the evil spirits wouldn't come out.
Since he couldn't sleep, Chen Shi continued cultivating. He activated the Three Lights True Qi Technique, and starlight, sunlight, and moonlight gathered around him, merging into seven stars, forming the shape of the Big Dipper, refining his body.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Shi noticed the temple gradually brightening. He looked around for the light source and was stunned.
In the pitch-black night, with heavy rain and occasional lightning, a beam of sunlight shone through the temple roof!
Chen Shi rubbed his eyes and looked up. Indeed, a beam of sunlight was shining down!
He looked outside the temple. It was pitch-black, with pouring rain and the sound of water everywhere. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and visibility was limited to a few steps outside the temple.
Chen Shi looked back inside the temple. It was bright as day, with sunlight streaming in, though the roof was still leaking rainwater.
This was unbelievable!
But for him, ghosts and gods were common, seen everywhere.
Yet this scene was something he had never witnessed before!
"The inside and outside of the temple are truly different spaces!" Chen Shi suppressed his excitement. He had suspected this, and the appearance of the sunlight confirmed his theory.
He followed the sunlight and saw another blue sky.
That sky was clearly not the same as the one over the Western New Bull Continent!
He also saw another sun in that sky. It was golden-yellow, not large, like a golden plate.
But the sunlight it emitted could be used for cultivation!
With this beam of sunlight, his Three Lights True Qi Technique ran more smoothly, and the efficiency of the Big Dipper refinement increased!
He could feel the speed of the Big Dipper refinement increase by thirty to forty percent!
It was incredible!
"Could this sun be the real sun? And the moonlight drawn by the Three Lights True Qi Technique also comes from that space. Could it be that the moon in that space is the real moon?"
He couldn't help but wonder if the sun and moon in the Three Lights True Qi Technique referred to the sun and moon of this space.
The ancestors of the Western New Bull Continent faced the sun and moon of this space, which is why they created words like sunrise, sunset, and phases of the moon.
Then, what happened later that caused the sun and moon to disappear?
What happened that the Heavenly True God replaced the sun and moon?
Where did the sun and moon go?
Why can this broken temple connect with the sun and moon, letting sunlight in?
Who was worshipped in this temple before?
Why did it rise from the ground at this time?
Is it related to the early nightfall a few days ago?
"Too bad Grandpa isn't here. He knows a lot and would surely... surely not know! He'd just say, 'Double the medicine at night!'"
Chen Shi continued cultivating, not dwelling on these strange questions, as there were no answers.
Gradually, he entered a wonderful state, neither fully asleep nor awake, breathing deeply. The Three Lights True Qi Technique continued to run smoothly, and the Big Dipper refinement persisted, with seven stars slowly rotating around him.
The rain continued until morning, and Chen Shi cultivated all night. Instead of feeling tired, he was full of energy, feeling that one night of cultivation surpassed ten times his previous efforts.
"I didn't come home all night. Grandpa must be worried sick!" Chen Shi finished his practice, moved the stones blocking the entrance, and walked out of the temple. Outside, it was foggy, and the air was filled with moisture.
"Woof woof!" A big black dog stood outside the temple, barking affectionately at him. It was Heiguo.
Chen Shi quickly approached, smiling, "Heiguo, did Grandpa send you to find me? He must be worried about me, right? How long have you been here?"
Heiguo wagged its tail, smiling as it circled around him.
The man and dog quickly headed down the mountain. Despite the slippery path after the rain, Chen Shi felt light and agile, moving as if on flat ground.
"When I get home, I need to ask Grandpa for some money. I plan to hire some workers to fix up the temple. I want to go there often to cultivate."
As they walked, Chen Shi chatted with Heiguo, "I've saved a lot of silver with Grandpa. Do you think if I ask, he'll give it to me?"
Heiguo wagged its tail like a windmill, barking, "Woof!"
Chen Shi laughed, "You're wrong, Heiguo! Grandpa said that money is for my future wife. If I ask, he'll definitely give it to me."
"Woof woof!"
"You think Grandpa spent it all? Impossible!"
"Woof, woof woof!"
"Don't talk nonsense. Grandpa wouldn't cheat a kid out of his money!"
...
The man and dog chatted as they left the desolate mountain, heading towards Yellow Slope Village.
Suddenly, the sky became unusually bright. Chen Shi and Heiguo looked up, stunned.
A blinding light streaked across the sky, a burning rock from the heavens, tearing through the sky and heading straight for them!
The celestial star passed overhead, trailing a long plume of smoke, and the next moment, it struck the desolate mountain a few miles away, directly hitting the broken temple!
Flames shot into the sky, accompanied by massive stones flying in all directions.
In Chen Shi's view, the mountain that had risen from the ground was suddenly cut down by dozens of feet!
Heiguo quickly pounced on Chen Shi, knocking him into a ditch by the road.
"Whoosh—"
A fierce wind like a knife, carrying rolling heat, swept over the ditch, igniting the trees on both sides like giant torches.
Fortunately, it had rained all night, and the ditch was filled with water. The man and dog submerged, avoiding being burned to ashes by the hot wind.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion sounded, the ground shook continuously, and the shockwaves in the river nearly made Chen Shi and Heiguo cough up blood.
Then, stones rained down from the sky, like a shower of rocks.
Luckily, they were hidden in the water, and the stones lost much of their power upon entering the water.
After the stone rain stopped, the shaken Chen Shi and Heiguo emerged from the water, waited a moment, and climbed back onto the road when there were no more disturbances.
Chen Shi stood up shakily, soaking wet, while Heiguo shook vigorously, spraying water everywhere.
Chen Shi looked around. The trees were leaning in all directions, some still burning, others charred by the hot wind, standing like blackened poles, emitting gray smoke.
The fields were a mess, with crops flattened in different directions, and large stones had plowed through the fields, leaving a trail before stopping.
Where the stones slid, the crops were flattened, as if a giant had used a brush to scribble clumsy marks on the farmland.
Chen Shi looked at the distant desolate mountain. The hundred-foot mountain was now halved, the break jagged like it had been bitten by Heiguo.
The mysterious small temple was reduced to dust!
The mountain that had emerged from the ground was almost leveled!
"Why, why?" Chen Shi murmured.
He looked up at the sky, where the sun was shining brightly.
Two suns, the eyes of the Heavenly True God, gazed down, seeing everything clearly.