Chapter 4 Three Lights of Righteousness

"Why do the people from Xinxiang come to seek treasure and always think about killing to silence others?" The porcelain doll transformed from Chen Shi escaped this domain of ghosts and gods, bounding and leaping through the mountains, incredibly agile. The villagers of Huangpo Village never cared about the True King's Tomb, and Chen Shi didn't care about the treasures of the True King's Tomb either. If these people came to seek treasure without murderous thoughts, he would even be happy to guide them to the real True King's Tomb. Unfortunately, every batch of treasure seekers would harbor thoughts of murder against him. He traversed through dense forests and swam across rivers, arriving at another strange place. Here, there were roads and stone steps paved with blue stones, and thick pines and cypresses planted on both sides of the road. The bark was rugged, the branches were strong, and in front of the trees stood towering stone figures and stone beasts, each two to three zhang tall. This was the True King's Tomb that the woman in purple and others had been desperately searching for but could not find. The True King's Tomb was only two to three li away from the kiln factory, yet the terrain in the mountains was bizarre, and without a guide, it was indeed difficult to find this place. However, Chen Shi was quite familiar with the area; this was Qianyang Mountain, and he had entered the mountain with his grandfather countless times. He couldn't say he knew every blade of grass, but he was clear about where each tree grew. Chen Shi jumped down from a stone, landing with a crisp sound as the top of his foot collided with the stone beneath him. The boy was startled and quickly lifted his foot to check, relieved to find that his toes or foot were not injured by the stone. After all, he was currently porcelain, very fragile; a slight misstep could lead to a shattering fate. He walked along the tomb path, and as he moved, the surrounding trees and stone statues trembled in response! The trees shook, their branches swaying like great pythons or dragons, thick and menacing. Stone dust fell from the statues, and it seemed as though the stone figures were sprouting flesh and blood, the majestic divine beasts appearing as if they were coming to life, gradually exuding a violent aura! Chen Shi pressed forward against the increasingly strong pressure; his small body was growing taller and larger, no longer porcelain but gradually transforming into flesh and blood. This True King's Tomb was enveloped in an even more powerful domain of ghosts and gods! This domain suppressed the effects brought to Chen Shi by the kiln factory's domain, allowing him to return from porcelain to his normal self! Chen Shi continued forward, the surrounding world began to warp, the mountains trembling like waves, and the enormous divine beasts each raised their claws embedded in the mountain, exuding a torrential aura of flames! Chen Shi had returned to normal, completely eliminating the side effects of the kiln factory's ghostly domain, but he still gritted his teeth and moved forward. Ahead, a stone tablet came into view, its inscribed words glowing with a dazzling gold light, barely legible. As Chen Shi strained to decipher the words, he took out the spiritual jerky he had obtained from the girl in purple, Zhao Er, and stuffed it into his mouth to chew. As the spiritual jerky slid down his throat, a vast spiritual power surged through his limbs, mobilizing his true qi to form a divine altar behind his head! Chen Shi felt his body filled with immense power, gritting his teeth and pressing forward against the growing pressure. Just as he had read over half of the content on that stone tablet, a sudden voice rang out, laughing, "Little fellow, if you go any further, the domain of ghosts and gods will be fully activated, and even if your grandfather comes himself, he cannot save you. Do not be greedy; go back!" The speaker was not human but the nearest tomb guardian beast, shaped like a human with goat horns, the horns straight, and a large nose occupying half of its face, its smile appearing very false, with fierce eyes that sent shivers down one's spine. "I have some affinity with your grandfather; I do not wish for you to die here." The goat-horned tomb guardian beast smiled, while the other guardian beasts roared in anger, their powerful blood a red cloud, foul and nauseating, as if they could attack Chen Shi at any moment! "Moreover, it is getting dark soon." The goat-horned tomb guardian beast said gently, "It will be dangerous when night falls; you won't be able to escape then." Chen Shi bowed and said sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle Goat Horn!" The goat-horned tomb guardian beast waved its hand with a smile, "Quickly go!" Chen Shi looked back reluctantly, continuously glancing at the stone tablet, then left with reluctance. He exited the domain of ghosts and gods, and the medicinal effect of the spiritual jerky was exhausted, causing the divine altar behind his head to dissipate. Chen Shi sighed, his expression dim. He did not want to become a useless person. He also wanted to read, cultivate, and participate in the county and township exams, becoming a scholar and a successful candidate. He wanted his grandfather to feel proud of him, not to have his grandfather take care of him for a lifetime! "It is getting dark soon!" Chen Shi gathered his spirits, looking up at the sky; his expression changed slightly, and he hurried his pace. In the sky, two great suns hung, one on the left and one on the right, suspended in the middle of the sky. The scorching sun was still blazing, but oddly, the two suns were gradually elongating, resembling a pair of eyes slowly closing their eyelids. If one had sharp enough vision, they could see a giant face floating behind the two suns in the sky, and the two suns were the eyes of this face. At this moment, those eyes slowly closed, and endless flames surged out from beneath the eyelids, pouring into the atmosphere, creating a vast sea of fire eighty miles above the ground, radiant like the evening glow! Behind this face, there seemed to be an incomprehensibly massive body, seated in a lotus position, hidden in immense darkness. This supreme existence was the only true deity of Xiniu Xinjou! The true deity sat in space, vast and boundless; when he opened his eyes, it was daytime, and his fiery gaze illuminated nature. When he closed his eyes, it was night, and the vertical eye on his forehead would slowly open at that moment, illuminating all directions and seeing everything under the night. As the heavens and earth gradually dimmed, strange things would awaken under the moonlight, making it dangerous to go outside. At this time, those outside needed to find a safe place to hide before dark; otherwise, they would be in danger of losing their lives. The sky gradually became redder, signaling the 'setting sun'! True King's Tomb, domain of ghosts and gods. The goat-horned tomb guardian beast looked up at the increasingly red sky, squinting and seemingly lost in thought. "Big Brother, why did you let that human boy go?" A massive guardian beast awakened, roaring in anger. It stood over two zhang tall, wrapped in flames, resembling a lion, with a single horn on its head and two wings on its back, extremely ferocious. The other guardian beasts also voiced their dissatisfaction. The goat-horned tomb guardian beast let them vent for a while before coldly laughing, "Do you think I do not want to crush him? That little thing, after causing trouble, keeps running here, using the authority of the True King to shield him from disaster. In the past, he would have died a hundred times over! However, he has a formidable grandfather." It sighed, changing the subject, "His grandfather is indeed impressive; you have all seen him. Back in the day, he barged into the True King's Tomb, and we trapped him for nine days and nights, but what happened? He still managed to seize a scroll of burial scriptures and left calmly." The other guardian beasts fell silent. The goat-horned tomb guardian beast expressed some confusion, "What he took was the Water and Fire Purification Secret Method, a technique for cultivating the Corpse Transformation Immortal; I wonder what he intends to do with it." Someone muttered, "But that old guy should be close to death, right?" The goat-horned tomb guardian beast looked in the direction Chen Shi had left, saying lightly, "Perhaps he is already dead. The last time I saw him from afar, he did not look like a living person. Did he take the Water and Fire Purification to try and become a Corpse Transformation Immortal?" A guardian beast remarked, "That little fellow just now did not seem human either. He had no human aura..." It had not finished speaking when a strange force surged in, causing the guardian beasts to involuntarily petrify. Meanwhile, Chen Shi hurriedly dashed out of the forest, heading straight for Huangpo Village. The two blazing suns in the sky gradually sank into darkness, and the true deity beyond the sky had closed its eyes; the flames in the sky slowly extinguished. Gradually, a cold and radiant moonlight shone out from the true deity's forehead. The moonlight, like silver, poured down to the earth. At the same time, mysterious powers rapidly revived under the moonlight throughout Xiniu Xinjou, and every household tightly shut their doors, hanging up peach talismans. Strange sounds echoed in the forest, resembling ghostly wails. In the woods, a massive head floated up slowly like a deflated balloon, its features distorted. This head was nearly half an acre in size, slowly inflating like a balloon, its features becoming three-dimensional, gazing at Chen Shi under the moonlight. That enormous face revealed a peculiar smile and floated toward the boy. This large head was referred to by his grandfather as 'Xie'. Xie are not all large heads, but rather strange beings that come out at night, wandering around and disappearing before dawn. Encountering one meant death. Quite sinister. At the brink of life and death, Chen Shi consumed the last piece of spiritual jerky, activating his technique. Stars twinkled in the sky, flowing toward him, gathering in his mind to form a small divine altar. The divine power surrounding the altar greatly enhanced his speed, bringing him closer to Huangpo Village! The technique he activated was not the one taught in the private school. The technique from the private school was called the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Method. After having his divine embryo severed, Chen Shi also attempted to cultivate the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Method but found that without the divine embryo, the true qi he cultivated dissipated like a rootless tree, unable to be preserved. The technique he activated was the one inscribed on the stone tablet in the True King's Tomb, called the Three Lights Righteous Qi! The so-called Three Lights refer to sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. It was said on the stone tablet that one should gather the three lights of the sun, moon, and stars to cultivate one's own righteous qi. Among these three lights, sunlight and moonlight were the most intense, while starlight was the faintest. However, Chen Shi was always unable to gather sunlight and moonlight, only managing to refine starlight righteous qi. Chen Shi had visited the True King's Tomb multiple times, not only to borrow the power of the True King's Tomb to break the influence of the kiln factory's ghostly domain but also to obtain the complete Three Lights Righteous Qi Method! Although he failed again this time, he had memorized more than half of the Three Lights Righteous Qi Method and could now smoothly activate this technique! "The techniques of the True King's Tomb are indeed remarkable, far beyond what the private school's Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Method can compare to!" Chen Shi activated the starlight righteous qi, leaping forward and covering a distance of about a zhang in an instant, his pace incredibly swift, with Huangpo Village now in sight. This village had one to two hundred households, and at the center of the village stood an ancient tree, towering and lush, as tall as a small mountain. The villagers of Huangpo built their houses around the ancient tree, arranged in concentric circles with as many as five layers. At this moment, moonlight poured down to the ground, and the branches and leaves of the ancient tree swayed, absorbing the moonlight, its branches dancing like spiritual serpents, remarkably enchanting. At the village entrance stood a tall figure, its face shrouded in darkness, seemingly waiting for Chen Shi's return. "Grandfather!" Chen Shi's heart leaped with joy, and he quickened his pace. As he approached the tall elder, he suddenly felt a sharp drop in the temperature of the surrounding air, a chill rushing in. Then, as the last piece of spiritual jerky's power was exhausted, the divine altar behind his head became unsteady; even activating the Three Lights Righteous Qi could not prevent the altar from collapsing. In the end, the altar crumbled, and his true qi dissipated into nothingness. Chen Shi felt his strength rapidly fading, unable to help but feel despondent. Even the techniques from the True King's Tomb could not allow him to cultivate normally. "It's time to go home for medicine," the grandfather said, looking at the giant head floating in. "Got it," Chen Shi looked up, wanting to see his grandfather's face, but the moonlight cast shadows on the elder's face, making it unclear. He hadn't clearly seen his grandfather's face for quite a while. Strangely, he caught a faint foul smell near his grandfather, a peculiar scent that resembled the stench of meat, yet different from the rotten meat smell Chen Shi was used to. He wanted to find the source of this smell, but his grandfather also had a medicinal scent that masked it considerably. The grandfather and grandson walked into Huangpo Village, and along the way, as they saw the two of them, every household pulled the children playing outside back into their homes, closing their doors tightly. Chen Shi observed the houses on either side, noticing that oil lamps were lit in every household, and the figures of the homeowners were cast onto the windows, clearly peering at them stealthily. "Good people do not live long, and the disaster has returned," someone whispered in the darkness. "Did they notice grandfather's abnormality?" Chen Shi felt a bit uneasy upon hearing the villagers' discussions, "They wouldn’t harm grandfather, would they?"