After the demonic transformation incident, Chen Shi was hesitant to approach the True King’s Tomb.
The kiln factory, which only made porcelain for the tomb, was already terrifying. The True King’s Tomb itself must be even more dangerous. If he accidentally triggered something inside the tomb, causing a disaster, wouldn’t he be blamed for eternity?
However, this time, he had no choice but to take the risk and enter the True King’s Tomb.
He had been practicing the Three Lights True Qi Technique, but only the incomplete version. He could handle the rat demons, and with an iron hat, it would be even easier.
But with his current strength, facing Black Mountain Granny’s revenge would be a dead end.
“I can’t beat the little Daoist from Deer Tail Town, and he was nearly beaten to death by Black Mountain Granny. That means I’m no match for her. Practicing the Three Lights True Qi Technique might be my only chance.”
Late at night, Chen Shi returned to Yellow Slope Village and went to sleep with his dog.
The next morning, when the sun was bright, Chen Shi went to see his godmother and bowed, saying, “Godmother, please bless me and help me succeed in entering the True King’s Tomb to obtain the complete Three Lights True Qi Technique.”
He offered incense.
Scholar Zhu reminded him, “Little Shi, praying to your godmother might not help, but taking that jade seal near the True King’s Tomb might do something.”
That jade seal? The Heavenly Mandate Seal?
Chen Shi was surprised. Could the Heavenly Mandate Seal protect him as he entered the ghostly realm of the True King’s Tomb?
Scholar Zhu said, “Just take it with you. It’s not heavy.”
Chen Shi returned to the village, took out the Heavenly Mandate Seal, and examined it. His heart suddenly raced. “Could this Heavenly Mandate Seal be the Western King Imperial Seal that Prince Xiao picked up from the Divine Mechanism Battalion?”
The reason Jin Hongying was chasing Prince Xiao was because of the Western King Imperial Seal.
Li Tianqing had also said that Prince Xiao stole this treasure to open the True King’s Tomb.
“Hahaha, that’s ridiculous!”
Chen Shi couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. The Western King Imperial Seal was so valuable, how could Prince Xiao casually hang it on an old willow tree?
“Besides, Scholar Zhu said the Heavenly Mandate Seal was a broken seal from his family’s downfall. If it were the Western King Imperial Seal, then what is Scholar Zhu?”
Chen Shi couldn’t help but laugh out loud, shaking his head. “Could Scholar Zhu really be a descendant of the True King? That’s absurd.”
“How could a descendant of the Western King hang themselves outside our village?”
He casually stuffed the Heavenly Mandate Seal into his sleeve pocket and headed towards the True King’s Tomb.
For countless people who dream of finding the True King’s Tomb and spend endless time searching, for Chen Shi, it was just a grave next to the village.
After eating and taking a walk, he could easily find himself in front of the True King’s Tomb.
Outside the True King’s Tomb, majestic tomb guardian beasts stood tall and solemn.
Chen Shi checked the Armored Horse Talisman on his legs, then stirred his blood and energy, making himself grow half a foot taller, almost as tall as an adult.
Once he was ready, he stepped into the spirit realm.
The surrounding trees swayed, branches danced, undergoing terrifying changes.
It seemed as if they were evil spirits with twisted, coiling tentacles.
At this moment, the tomb guardian beasts began to transform from stone to flesh, gradually awakening and releasing an overwhelming aura.
Chen Shi quickened his pace, reaching into his sleeve to take out the Heavenly Mandate Seal.
As soon as the seal appeared, it seemed to resonate with the spirit realm, and light shone from the seal, accelerating the awakening of the True King’s Tomb’s spirit realm.
“The Heavenly Mandate Seal isn’t protecting me; it’s awakening the spirit realm. Scholar Zhu misled me!”
Chen Shi realized something was wrong and immediately ran forward under pressure.
A stone tablet blocked his way in front of the True King’s Tomb, catching his eye. It was the tablet inscribed with the Three Lights True Qi Technique.
The pressure around him grew heavier, but Chen Shi pressed on, memorizing the words and images on the tablet.
As he expected, the tablet detailed the Northern Dipper Seven Refinements, but in more detail than what Prince Xiao had taught him.
After the Northern Dipper Seven Refinements, there was no method for the Spirit Shrine or Divine Fetus stages; it went straight to refining blood and energy, leading to the Golden Core stage.
Chen Shi was stunned.
“Where are the Spirit Shrine and Divine Fetus stages? Where are those techniques?”
His mind went blank. He came here for the techniques after those stages, but the Three Lights True Qi Technique on the tablet skipped the Spirit Shrine and Divine Fetus stages, jumping straight to the Golden Core stage. It was clearly an incomplete technique.
He was disheartened. How could he achieve the Golden Core without those two stages?
“No wonder this technique was inscribed outside the tomb. The True King had ill intentions, wanting to harm people with this technique. The True King misled me.”
As Chen Shi thought this, more stone tablets came into view.
He then noticed that the area outside the True King’s Tomb was filled with stone tablets, each inscribed with various techniques.
The Three Lights True Qi Technique was just one of them.
Chen Shi quickly scanned them.
“Heavenly Demon-Subduing Technique, no Spirit Shrine or Divine Fetus…”
“Thunder Crystal Hidden Scripture! No Spirit Shrine or Divine Fetus…”
“Pure Yang Unity Technique, no Spirit Shrine or Divine Fetus…”
“Divine Essence Transformation Technique, also no Spirit Shrine or Divine Fetus…”
Chen Shi’s scalp tingled. All the techniques inscribed outside the True King’s Tomb lacked the Spirit Shrine and Divine Fetus stages.
“Luckily, these techniques weren’t spread, or they would have been disastrous.”
Retreat quickly!
Chen Shi retreated swiftly. The world around him twisted, mountains swayed like waves, and the tomb guardian beasts had come to life, towering and blocking the sky, exuding an overwhelming aura.
In the past, he didn’t understand, but now, having seen much of the world, he felt that each tomb guardian beast’s aura was no less than that of an Evil Bodhisattva.
“Did Grandpa really pass through here, enter the tomb, and obtain the Water and Fire Refinement Technique?”
Chen Shi ran with all his might, finding it unbelievable.
In a flash, before the spirit realm of the True King’s Tomb fully activated, he managed to escape outside.
Looking back, he saw the strange phenomena disappear, and the spirit realm of the True King’s Tomb did not explode into a demon domain or disaster.
He breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back to Yellow Slope Village.
Meanwhile, in front of the True King’s Tomb, the tomb guardian beasts revealed their true forms, watching Chen Shi leave in a hurry, each puzzled.
“Big brother, the holy envoy came with the Western King Imperial Seal to awaken us, so why did he leave without a word?”
A dragon-headed, horse-bodied divine beast covered in blue scales was confused and asked.
The sheep-headed, human-bodied tomb guardian beast also looked puzzled. Chen Shi came with the Western King Imperial Seal, representing the True King’s supreme authority. As the guards of the True King’s Tomb, they were supposed to awaken and pay respects.
But before they could fully awaken, Chen Shi had already run out. Maybe the holy envoy had urgent matters?
The sheep-headed, human-bodied tomb guardian beast wasn’t sure.
“I’ve heard people say that humans have three urgent needs. He left in such a hurry; it must be urgent!”
“What should we do now?”
Another tomb guardian beast asked, “If the holy envoy comes again, should we welcome him?”
The sheep-headed, human-bodied tomb guardian beast hesitated and said, “We should welcome him. After all, he holds the Western King Imperial Seal.”
“Can we get rid of him?”
A tomb guardian beast suggested, “His grandfather is no longer alive. If we get rid of him, no one will come after us. We can take the Western King Imperial Seal for ourselves. Wouldn’t that be perfect?”
The sheep-headed, human-bodied tomb guardian beast shook its head. “Holding the Western King Imperial Seal makes him a holy envoy. How can we kill the True King’s envoy?”
The powerful tomb guardian beasts sighed and turned back into stone statues, guarding the tomb.
“That kid was mischievous before. Now that he has the Western King Imperial Seal, who knows how he’ll mess with us.”
Chen Shi returned home, tossed the Western King Imperial Seal among his books, and threw it in with a stone box, grumbling, “The broken seal is useless; it almost got me killed!”
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the village. Chen Shi went out to see what was happening and found many villagers gathered, with dead chickens all over the ground.
Old Lady Wuzhu stomped her foot and said, “What kind of creature killed them? It didn’t even eat them. What a waste!”
At that moment, a voice from the fields shouted, “Killing Black Mountain Granny’s obedient grandson deserves punishment. Today, I’ll kill your chickens, tomorrow your ducks, and the day after, your whole family. Everyone in your village, just wait to die.”
Chen Shi chased after the voice and saw a grey-clad rat running fast in the fields.
Chen Shi gathered his strength and closed in on the grey-clad rat.
Suddenly, the grey-clad rat stopped, turned around, and formed a sword gesture with its hands. It placed its left hand under its right hand, stomped heavily, and shouted, “Grandmother, grandmother, possess me and show your divine power.”
As soon as it finished speaking, its aura surged, surrounded by green smoke. Its sleeves shook, and the green smoke formed a large handprint, striking towards Chen Shi.
Chen Shi gathered his blood and energy, stepped on the Seven Stars, and punched with all his might.
“Boom…”
His body shook as the green smoke’s power countered his attack, sending him flying backward.
Chen Shi flew three or four yards before crashing to the ground.
The grey-clad rat sneered, “Now you know how powerful grandmother is? How dare you kill her grandson.”
It turned around, and suddenly a black shadow darted out from the side, biting the grey-clad rat’s neck. It was Heiguo.
The dog and the rat tumbled and rolled together.
Chen Shi got up quickly, worried about Heiguo getting hurt, and rushed over.
He saw that the grey-clad rat’s neck had been bitten through, and it was dead.
“Heiguo, good job!”
Chen Shi felt relieved and praised Heiguo, still a bit shaken.
The grey-clad rat had somehow allowed Black Mountain Granny to possess it, borrowing some of her power to knock him away.
If he hadn’t been constantly refining his body, he would have been injured.
Heiguo was excited, dragging the grey-clad rat back to the village, ready to feast.
“Even just a possession, the power is so strong. Black Mountain Granny’s true form must be something else.”
Chen Shi cut off the tip of the grey-clad rat’s tail and thought, “Since I didn’t find the best technique, I might as well start with the Heavenly Heart True Qi Technique and first practice the Midnight Demon Slaying Sword.”
Before Li Tianqing left, he gave him a few books, one of which contained the Heavenly Heart True Qi Technique, and the Midnight Demon Slaying Sword was a spell within it.
Chen Shi now had a steady flow of True Qi, and his Spirit Shrine could last for half an hour. With the Spirit Shrine active, he could use spells.
The Midnight Demon Slaying Sword was the most powerful and easiest to master.
So he decided to practice this spell for self-defense.
He went to the Yellow Earth Slope outside the village and focused on understanding the Midnight Demon Slaying Sword.
The Midnight Demon Slaying Sword had six moves: stab, slash, wipe, lift, cloud, and chop, all very simple.
In just a moment, Chen Shi got the hang of it and began using the Spirit Shrine to gather True Qi.
With a slight thought, his mind refined, and an invisible sword qi slowly formed in the empty Spirit Shrine.
Chen Shi pointed his finger like a sword.
“Whoosh…”
The air in front of him vibrated, and the invisible sword qi whistled out, cutting through the wind and grass, reaching the Jade Belt River a hundred steps away.
The river surface exploded.
Chen Shi practiced the six moves repeatedly, becoming more and more proficient. When his blood and energy surged, he gradually stopped.
His blood and energy settled into his Dantian, and he suddenly remembered the Three Lights True Qi Technique’s alchemy method he saw on the stone tablet.
His internal blood, energy, and spirit began to rotate and converge in the Dantian.
Inside him, there was a grinding sound like millstones.
His vast blood, True Qi, and spirit flowed and converged at this moment.
At this moment, it matched what the Three Lights True Qi Technique said: using nothingness as medicine, righteous qi as fire, refining in the three fields, True Qi undispersed, like holding an egg, this is the first turn of the Nine Turns of the Golden Core.
“No, no.”
Chen Shi suddenly came to his senses.
“Something’s very wrong. Without achieving the Spirit Shrine and Divine Fetus stages, how can I form a Golden Core?”
End of Chapter.