On the Path to the Great Dao

The blue-robed scholar immediately went on guard.

He was deeply wary of Chen Shi asking his name. The last time Chen Shi had asked, just as he was about to answer, Chen Shi's leg had chopped right into his neck.

That battle hadn't unfolded as he'd imagined, with a grand clash between northern and southern talisman masters. It had ended with both his legs severed, forcing him to flee in panic.

He had been recuperating ever since, and only now had he barely recovered. But his body had become a Wire-Pulling Worm, unable to revert to human form.

Reverting to human form would mean losing his legs and becoming a cripple.

And becoming a cripple would mean death.

Now, half his body was an evil spirit, half was human—neither fully one nor the other—all because Chen Shi had asked his name!

Now Chen Shi was asking his name again, trying the same trick. How could he fall for it?

Chen Shi saw he wouldn't answer and asked once more.

The blue-robed scholar still didn't reply. Looking down from above, he sneered, "Chen Shi, this isn't a contest between northern and southern talisman masters today. This is revenge! I've healed my wounds to settle the score for my severed legs!" Strapped to his back was a vermilion gourd over a man's height. Blood plasma sprayed upward from its mouth, forming a complex talisman structure about an acre in diameter above his head.

Chen Shi had never seen this talisman structure before, but he understood its contents at a glance.

The opening strokes of the talisman were no longer the usual Three Pure Ones script of ordinary talismans. Instead, they used Yama script, symbolizing the Ten Kings of Hell.

Below the Yama script was a shape like a ghost face. Beneath the ghost face was a simple outline of the River of Forgetfulness, and below that the North冥 Sea. The annotations on the left and right were the True Form Map of Mount Tai and the True Form Map of Fengdu.

For a normal talisman structure, that would mark completion.

But this blood-drawn talisman had countless textures in its upper, middle, and lower sections that even Chen Shi couldn't decipher—like tadpole script, twisting and turning, as if myriad tadpoles of varying shapes swam within the talisman.

Their positions weren't fixed: those above might swim below, those below might rise up. Their forms shifted too, profoundly mysterious, as if harboring some unique principle.

Chen Shi's heart chilled. "Grandpa's Southern School talismans truly surpass the Northern School by a vast margin—they're not even the same thing anymore!"

Grandpa had never taught him this talisman structure.

The eastern wing of the old Chen family home held many books, though. Chen Shi flipped through them whenever he had time. They were mostly Grandpa's collection, and there might be something on this inside.

Many in the town noticed the anomaly in the sky and looked up.

More people, as if infected by them, stopped what they were doing and gazed skyward.

The place they lived was called Soapberry Town, famous for its eight ancient soapberry trees.

Each tree was ten arm-spans thick—a dozen adults stretching out couldn't encircle one. Each had its own spirit, condensed into divine forms: eight Daoists of varying appearances, clad in gray robes, gaunt and spry, sitting motionless atop the tree crowns.

These eight Daoists normally guarded Soapberry Town. Everywhere within a li radius fell under their power, warding off all evil spirits.

But now, even they looked grave. They lifted their heads to the sky and rose to their feet.

Above the blue-robed scholar's head, within that acre-sized blood talisman, a massive figure gradually emerged from the script.

It was a head with a green face and fangs, a full zhang across. It thrust out from the talisman, hideous and terrifying, with faces on all four sides, black smoke billowing from eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

Chen Shi realized that as it grew from the blood talisman, the script seemed to shift from flat plane to three-dimensional form!

Like stretching a flat talisman into a立体 ghost face.

Blood plasma poured endlessly from the vermilion gourd into the blood talisman. After this four-faced ghost head formed, new ones sprouted: second, third, fourth, fifth!

One after another, zhang-sized four-faced ghost heads burrowed out of the blood talisman, flying down toward Soapberry Town below—a dense, pitch-black swarm.

The divine forms atop the eight soapberry trees looked grave. With a twitch of their branches, massive bubbles floated out, shimmering with rainbow hues in the sunlight, intercepting the four-faced ghost heads.

The bubbles were also zhang-sized. Once they enveloped a ghost head, they carried it high into the sky.

The ghost heads spewed smoke and fire, bursting the bubbles. But new bubbles rose immediately, trapping the ghost heads again.

The Godmother Daoists of Soapberry Town were no pushovers!

Chen Shi's eyes lit up. He'd planned to lure the blue-robed scholar out of town, but the man hadn't given him the chance—instead starting the fight right in town.

From the looks of it, though, the eight Daoists should hold him off.

Suddenly, the airborne ghost heads spewed fire from all four faces, incinerating the swarm of bubbles.

"They can't hold them!"

Chen Shi hesitated no longer. He leaped up onto a nearby rooftop and dashed toward the town outskirts.

Whoosh!

A massive, smoking ghost head plummeted from the sky, jaws agape.

It spewed thick smoke and poisonous fire straight at him!

Chen Shi twisted midair to evade. The smoke and fire hit the house, shattering the green tiles in explosions.

While airborne, Chen Shi's small temple materialized. Sword qi flashed, flipping the giant ghost head's skull clean off!

Seeing this, the blue-robed scholar's heart skipped. "Such fast sword qi—no wonder it severed my legs!"

This talisman wasn't ordinary. It was a third-grade creation talisman from the *Talisman Creation Treasure Mirror*, called Ghost Chariot.

Creation talismans ranged from nine grades, corresponding to the nine grades of divine embryos. The Wire-Pulling Worm was merely sixth-grade.

Ghost Chariot ranked third, far superior.

These talisman monsters were incredibly tough, and their ink required exquisite blood: yang substances like black dog blood to write yin talismans, blended with centipedes, sulfur, cinnabar, and more.

Once prepared, it had to be refined in a volcano's earthfire to purge impurities.

Out of ten parts material, only one part precious blood remained.

Only then could it be used to draw third-grade talismans.

Yet this precious Ghost Chariot had its head cleaved by Chen Shi's sword, dissolving on the spot into foul, decaying blood plasma.

With a thought from the blue-robed scholar, massive ghost heads dove from the sky, trailing thick smoke, straight for Chen Shi.

Chen Shi bounded swiftly across rooftops, dodging the flames they spewed.

Ghost Chariots seemed weak but were overwhelmingly fierce.

Their flames weren't ordinary fire—they were netherworld ghostfire.

The eight Daoists far outclassed typical godmothers. Even spirits faltered before them.

Their bubbles could trap ordinary spirits, holding them fast.

But Ghost Chariot ghostfire burst them easily—proof of its might.

A massive ghost head spun rapidly from behind, closing in fast. Each face rotated forward to spew netherworld ghostfire at Chen Shi, tongues of flame stretching several zhang.

It had just completed its third rotation when it burst apart—pierced through the skull by invisible sword qi.

Chen Shi appeared to flee in disarray, but the pursuing ghost heads exploded one after another. Decaying blood rained from the sky, splattering everywhere.

Chen Shi finally burst out of Soapberry Town. He circulated his true qi, manifesting his divine embryo, and shouted, "Little Jujube!"

His true qi surged through the small temple, where righteous qi endured eternally. It poured into the fat doll in the divine shrine.

In the next instant, a lush jujube tree sprouted behind him, thick trunk coiling like a dragon, branches twisting skyward!

Chen Shi leaped onto the tree, racing along the stout canopy toward the heavens.

The tree was laden with head-sized red jujubes, painted in garish opera-face colors.

Rustle—the leaves danced, and the head-sized jujubes swayed.

The people of Soapberry Town stared in awe at the colossal tree that had sprung up outside town. Suddenly, the big jujubes opened eyes and mouths—they were human heads, men, women, old, young!

Stunned, the townsfolk watched as the head-jujubes flew up, meeting the descending ghost heads. They latched on and bit; the ghost heads bit back or spewed smoke and fire to burn them.

In the sky outside town, the slaughter raged fierce.

But more four-faced ghost heads dove for Chen Shi, charging up the jujube tree toward the ascending figure, intent on devouring him.

Ding Ding clutched her pipa, hurrying through Soapberry Town's streets toward the outskirts.

Reaching the tree base, she looked up to see Chen Shi bounding nimbly, already high in the sky along the towering trunk!

She craned her neck. Chen Shi dashed along the branches, climbing ever higher, seemingly to the clouds.

The attacking ghost heads were often blocked by swarming head-jujubes before reaching him. Only tongues of black-smoke flame lashed out.

Suddenly, one four-faced ghost head breached the branches, jaws wide.

It swallowed Chen Shi whole.

Ding Ding cried out—only to see the ghost head's skull fly off. Chen Shi burst from within, leaping branch to branch like a fly, evading attacks and closing fast on the blue-robed scholar high above!

"Young Master is ferocious!"

Ding Ding exhaled in relief. Then a grief-stricken voice echoed from the sky.

"You can't leave! You still owe me twenty taels of silver!"

Ding Ding couldn't help smiling to herself. "Young Master still hasn't forgotten those twenty taels."

Chen Shi reached the jujube tree's crown. Below, Soapberry Town was just clusters of dark-tiled roofs; streets had shrunk to threads, people to ants.

From such heights, a fall would smash him to pulp!

Chen Shi ignored it. He leaped up, lunging at the airborne blue-robed scholar.

The scholar's body was half Wire-Pulling Worm. Wingless, he moved freely in the air, dozens of arms "stepping" as he surged forward, dodging Chen Shi's strike. His upper body reared like a serpent.

Arms whipped out, claws like barbed hooks slashing at Chen Shi.

Each arm stretched nearly two zhang, bones protruding, harder than iron. They swung like a giant's scythe harvesting lives!

And each arm's five claws equaled five massive scythes.

Though a sixth-grade creation talisman, the Wire-Pulling Worm was formidable up close. Ordinary cultivators would be shredded in moments.

Especially airborne: the scholar treaded air like ground, while Chen Shi couldn't fly like that.

No Galloping Horse Talisman or god-speed talisman could hover.

But next instant, starlight erupted at Chen Shi's feet. The Tianxuan Star talisman blazed. Radiance swirled around him. He halted midair, fists whistling like wind to meet the onslaught!

Crack!

One of the blue-robed scholar's arms shattered under Chen Shi's punch. The massive limb broke off, whistling downward.

Green blood oozed from the wound. The scholar wailed—but by then, Chen Shi had landed on his back, sprinting upward!

Dozens of Ghost Chariots spiraled up to strike the rider. Too late.

Boom!

The blood gourd exploded, spilling the scholar's hard-won precious blood into a crimson curtain.

Chen Shi burst through, fist slamming the scholar's nape. Fist turned palm, clapping both ears. Then he sank low, hands like blades stabbing into the scholar's kidneys!

Behind him, the charging Ghost Chariot monsters burst into foul blood-rain plummeting earthward—like crimson fireworks from below, dazzlingly brilliant.

"Don't die yet!"

In midair, Chen Shi shook the blue-robed scholar's head. "You haven't paid for Three Harmony Village! Wake up—wake up!"

The scholar's head lolled sideways. His Wire-Pulling Worm body began disintegrating, dissolving into green liquid.

The pair plummeted. Chen Shi twisted onto the jujube tree.

The sky-shrouding tree began contracting, its sky-piercing branches shrinking thinner, shorter.

The head-jujubes dwindled to ordinary red jujubes, dangling from the limbs.

In the divine shrine of the small temple behind Chen Shi's head, the fat doll Little Jujube watched the scene outside. Tears streamed from its eyes.

It hadn't protected Three Harmony Village's villagers. It wasn't a good godmother.

But today, through Chen Shi's hand, it had finally avenged those wrongful deaths.

Chen Shi stepped forward, drifting lightly down from the jujube tree. He gazed at the blue-robed scholar's crashed body and sighed quietly.

"He still owes me twenty taels."

Ding Ding saw a money pouch tumble from the scholar's body. She hurriedly hooked it with a branch, peeked inside, and exclaimed in shock and delight, "Young Master, there are several thousand taels in silver notes here!"

Chen Shi's heart stirred. "Probably the bounty for killing me. Blood money."

He hesitated.

Grandpa had said not to take money from the dead.

Chen Shi gritted his teeth. "Give it to the townsfolk."

The fight had damaged many houses.

Repairs would cost plenty.

Ding Ding gazed at him, heart swelling with emotion. "Young Master is so kind-hearted."

Chen Shi thought silently, "Blue-robed scholar—I still don't know his name."

Ding Ding took the pouch into town to handle repairs. Chen Shi waited outside, blood-soaked and unfit to enter.

Then a middle-aged man approached, calling from afar with a laugh, "Chen Shi? Chen Shi from Huangpo Village?"

Chen Shi turned to face him, puzzled. "That's me."

The middle-aged man smiled. "Provincial Inspector Li Xiaozheng, newly posted here."

End of chapter.