On the Path to the Great Dao

At that moment, the area outside Gu Yunshu's fetal chamber was packed with people from Crimson Mountain Profound Hall—all the instructors and incense masters. Upon hearing that Chen Shi had helped Gu Yunshu open his Heavenly Gate, the members of the sect had rushed over to watch.

When Gu Yunshu opened his Heavenly Gate, he had been paralyzed and bedridden for over twenty years. Everything—eating, drinking, sleeping, even relieving himself—had required others to tend to him. Any other person would have been abandoned in the wilderness long ago to fend for themselves, but the Jade Profound Lord, out of loyalty to old ties, had kept him sustained all this time.

No one had ever imagined that Cripple Gu could still awaken his fetal spirit one day!

Not only had Cripple Gu awakened, but he had also opened his Heavenly Gate. His Golden Core had left his body, and his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds!

One pair of eyes after another fell upon Chen Shi—eyes filled with fervor, gratitude, and excitement.

Many others simply couldn't believe it.

There weren't many talisman masters in Crimson Mountain Profound Hall—fewer than two hundred in total. They were often impoverished scholars or failed examination candidates, living frustrating lives where they couldn't afford a wife or raise children. Only upon joining Crimson Mountain did they finally get a chance to show their talents.

Crimson Mountain had passed down the very best cultivation methods they could find to their members. The talisman masters exchanged their cultivation experiences as well. Yet when it came to the Golden Core Realm, many still perished while attempting to open their Heavenly Gates or send out their cores—struck down by heavenly lightning.

The members chalked it up to bad luck or karma from past lives. Some tried all sorts of methods to cultivate various arts, but still couldn't break through. Most were stuck at the Golden Core Realm, too afraid to attempt the next step.

No one had ever considered that they had been cultivating the wrong way from the start—straying down a crooked path. And the correct path turned out to be so simple, so straightforward!

A few years to cultivate and open the Heavenly Gate? Some even managed it in half an hour!

With this, Crimson Mountain Profound Hall was bound to produce many more experts!

"Scholar Instructor, your merits are boundless."

One instructor murmured the words.

Incense Master Lu, his voice tinged with eagerness, asked, "Can the same method be used to open the Heavenly Gate for Nascent Souls?"

Everyone wanted to crowd into the room and question Chen Shi, but they hesitated, worried about disturbing Cripple Gu who had only just awakened.

Meanwhile, inside Cripple Gu's room, Yu Tucheng was laughing and crying by turns, her behavior erratic and unstable.

She had originally cultivated Crimson Mountain's own fetal arts, absorbing far too much moonlight essence in the process, which had infused her body with golden fiend qi.

Now, she showed signs of demonization!

It wasn't surprising.

Yu Tucheng had founded Crimson Mountain Profound Hall with the goal of supporting more children from poor families to become talisman masters, safeguarding peace in the region. She aimed to pass down knowledge monopolized by great clans and aristocratic families, giving these struggling souls a proper livelihood—one that allowed them to cultivate to higher realms and achieve greater things.

She had labored tirelessly at Crimson Mountain for over twenty years, with remarkable results.

The hall now boasted many experts at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages—something unimaginable for cultivators from impoverished backgrounds.

But Chen Shi's simple words had laid bare the methods for opening the Heavenly Gate, sending out the core, and cultivating the external body—clear, straightforward, and easy to practice. There was no need for so many deaths. This realization had driven her to the brink of collapse.

In these twenty-plus years, far too many Crimson Mountain talisman masters had died horrible deaths from cultivating the wrong methods.

Far too many had been trapped at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realms, too terrified to advance.

If only they'd known it was this simple—would so many have had to die?

Would they have needed to cultivate the Blood Incarnation Great Law?

Would they have wasted so much time?

Seeing golden fiend qi gradually seeping from her body—twisted flesh beginning to sprout behind her—Chen Shi's heart jolted. He pointed abruptly, his fingertip's qi and blood coalescing in midair into the structure of a Calming Heart Talisman, which he then activated.

Just as the talisman took effect, a roar echoed in her ears:

"The Profound Lord is having another episode!"

Gu Yunshu's room lit up brightly. Dozens of Calming Heart Talismans had flown in from outside, unleashing their power in unison to suppress Yu Tucheng's golden fiend qi.

Clearly, this wasn't the first time they'd done this!

Yu Tucheng must have demonized many times before, which was why everyone was so practiced at it.

As her rationality gradually returned, the golden qi receded, and the twisted flesh behind her faded away. She hurriedly said,

"My thanks to you all for your aid."

The crisis had passed.

She turned to Cripple Gu and said,

"Brother Gu, you've only just recovered. Take some time to get familiar with your body and wander the hall. I need to go meet with the elders."

Cripple Gu nodded lightly.

Yu Tucheng hurried off.

Chen Shi watched her go, surprise in his heart. "The Jade Profound Lord's condition seems off."

Even those Calming Heart Talismans hadn't fully suppressed her golden nature.

Still, with Crimson Mountain's members there, they could surely keep her demonization in check.

The crowd surged forward at once, begging Chen Shi to teach them how to lock the Heavenly Gate. Seeing this, Chen Shi simply explained the key points right there on the spot.

Before long, the crowd dispersed.

Cripple Gu struggled to rise, trying to get out of bed.

Once he had accustomed himself to his body, he shuffled unsteadily to the front courtyard, where Chen Shi was also hobbling about.

The two exchanged smiles. Cripple Gu immediately dropped to his knees to perform a grand salute, but Chen Shi hurriedly supported him.

Both men's bodies were still inconvenient. Chen Shi's wounds hadn't fully healed, and his qi and blood were somewhat depleted. Cripple Gu, having lain abed for over twenty years, was skin and bones—like a bundle of firewood wrapped in a layer of hide.

They sat down. Chen Shi kept glancing toward the back courtyard before suddenly asking,

"Incense Master Gu, what does the Profound Lord become when she demonizes?"

Cripple Gu shook his head. "I don't know."

"I've been lying there for over twenty years. I only heard that she demonizes from time to time, and everyone in the hall shouts that the Profound Lord is turning into a Golden Core fiend. But I've never seen what she becomes."

"These years, with the elders around, nothing has ever gone wrong."

Chen Shi laughed.

"She's gone to see Crimson Mountain's elders and hasn't come out yet. She must be asking them to suppress her golden demonization."

"Do you want to go take a look?"

Cripple Gu shook his head. "No."

"By the way, I still haven't asked your benefactor's name."

"I'm Chen Shi."

Chen Shi helped him stretch his muscles and clear his meridians. After a moment, Cripple Gu said, "Look at my memory—I still haven't asked your benefactor's name."

"Chen Shi."

"Look at my memory, I still haven't asked..."

"You can just call me Scholar."

Chen Shi left him behind and stalked over to Blackie Pot with a dark expression, grabbing the dog's ears.

"Blackie Pot, stop messing around! We're in Crimson Mountain Profound Hall—no need to affect these people. Later, what’s my name?"

He shuddered, a chill running down his spine. He grabbed Blackie Pot by the neck and shook him back and forth. "Blackie Pot, give me back my name!"

Blackie Pot was terrified too.

It had only awakened this ability in a moment of desperation, but it didn't know how to use it, how to stop it, or how to undo it.

Just now, in its anxiety, it had affected Chen Shi's memory as well.

Cripple Gu watched as Chen Shi, leaning on his crutch, chased the black dog around the courtyard. He couldn't help shaking his head to himself. "The Scholar still has a child's temperament."

"Strange—why does someone feel like they're called Scholar?"

Chen Shi and the dog tussled together. Sometimes he pinned the mutt down and choked its neck; other times the dog pinned him and choked him back.

After fighting for a good while, Chen Shi still couldn't remember his own name. He stared blankly at the letter Li Qing had sent him, fixated on the characters "Chen Shi."

The two characters felt so familiar, yet he just couldn't recognize them.

After Yu Tucheng went to the back courtyard, she stayed there for two hours without emerging. Many instructors in Crimson Mountain were cultivating to open their Heavenly Gates. Several had already succeeded, their Golden Cores leaving their bodies. The hall buzzed with excitement.

Incense Master Lu came to find Chen Shi and asked deferentially,

"Scholar, can this method be used for Nascent Soul core projection as well?"

Chen Shi replied, "Nascent Soul projection uses the same technique, but it takes even longer to cultivate. You need to refine until the crown fontanelle is boneless before you can project it.

That said, Nascent Soul projection carries many risks. If someone gets close and strikes the head, it's easy to damage the brain."

Incense Master Lu laughed. "If we can achieve Nascent Soul projection, what's a little weakness like that?"

Several more talisman masters came to visit Chen Shi, asking how to cultivate their Golden Cores. Patiently, he shared all the key insights he knew.

He discovered they didn't even know the Seven Returns, Eight Transformations, and Nine Restorations—they just instinctively used their Golden Cores to temper and nourish the flesh. So he taught them those as well.

A few days later, two people in Crimson Mountain actually broke past the Golden Core Realm to form Nascent Souls, officially becoming Nascent Soul experts!

Over a dozen others had made major breakthroughs as well!

Chen Shi's wounds had fully healed too, the scabs falling away to reveal fresh new skin.

Overjoyed, he practiced the Big Dipper Seven Refinements in the courtyard, condensing his skin until the scar tissue gradually matched his normal flesh tone.

After cultivating for a bit, he returned to his room and secluded himself to open his Heavenly Gate.

Half an hour later, Chen Shi opened his Heavenly Gate as well. His Golden Core rose slowly from his dantian, passed through his throat, came up from under his tongue to the roof of his mouth, entered the nasal abyss, and from there into his brain.

The Golden Core traveled along the central meridian until it reached the Heavenly Gate, leaping out from it!

Chen Shi's eyes were half-closed, half-open, his vision reduced to a thin slit. But as the Golden Core emerged, it became like his very eyes. His viewpoint now hovered above his head, looking down. He could even see his own crown fontanelle pulsing.

Having cultivated to the fourth turn of Golden Core, his core was pitch-black, and the light it emitted was black as well.

With a thought, Chen Shi sent his Golden Core through the wall to the outside. Night had already fallen, and the moon was rising.

Startled, he shone his Golden Core toward the moon. Moonlight could influence it, allowing golden fiend qi to invade.

He quickly maneuvered the core to avoid the moonlight, flying onward silently.

Viewing the world through his Golden Core revealed scenes different from what his fleshly eyes saw—a unique thrill.

Before long, the Golden Core reached the wooden cart. Old Honest was sleeping soundly there, but the dog was nowhere nearby.

Chen Shi wondered, "Where did Blackie Pot go?"

Guiding the core in flight, he searched everywhere until he found Blackie Pot at the stove.

This was Crimson Mountain's kitchen. The cooks had long since retired for the night. An oil lamp burned by the stove, flames crackling below.

Blackie Pot sat in front of the stove. One paw added firewood to the pot's base; the other held an open book, reading by the lamp's glow.

Its brows furrowed in deep thought.

Blackie Pot could read?

Chen Shi was stunned. He'd never seen the dog read a book before!

Observing through the Golden Core, he watched Blackie Pot set the book down and grab a handful of salt from a nearby bowl, tossing it into the fire.

The flames under the stove instantly turned eerie green.

Blackie Pot plunged its head into the fire and scrambled downward into the stove. In the blink of an eye, it vanished inside.

The stove couldn't possibly fit a big dog like that—yet in it went.

Chen Shi's black Golden Core flew to the stove and peered inside. Green flames filled it. Amid the green fire, a black dog a thousand times smaller dashed wildly through. The surroundings didn't resemble the mountain hall at all!

The fire seemed like a gateway to another world, where massive golden fiends appeared, ambushing the dog. The little black dog dodged left and right, slaying several fiends as it ran, eventually reaching a grand palace and burrowing inside.

At that moment, the green fire began to shift colors, reverting toward normal.

Chen Shi wanted to grab more salt and toss it in, only to remember he was just a Golden Core—no hands.

Inside the fire, Blackie Pot burst from the palace. Sensing the flames changing, it raced madly toward this side!

Chen Shi grew anxious, thinking of adding salt. Suddenly, the salt bowl lifted into the air on its own.

He paused. "The qi and blood in my Golden Core are under my control—they can manipulate objects!"

Urging his qi and blood, he splashed the salt from the bowl into the fire.

The stove flames turned green once more.

Relieved, Chen Shi directed his Golden Core out of the kitchen.

As he left, he sneaked a glance at the book on the table. Its script was like ghostly scribbles—the characters wriggled like earthworms when he looked at them.

"Ghost script?"

Chen Shi froze. He'd heard his grandfather mention this writing before—it was used by ghost cultivators in the underworld. Ordinary people couldn't read it; only those versed in ghost tongue could.

"Where did Blackie Pot get a ghost book? And how does it understand ghost script?"

He was utterly baffled.

Blackie Pot looked ahead. The portal to the yang world was growing blurrier, filling it with anxiety. It was about to be trapped—when suddenly the portal sharpened again. It froze.

Whew.

The dog leaped from under the stove, pot ash sparks flying, the flames on its body slowly extinguishing.

It glanced around—no signs anyone had been there. Puzzled, it spotted the empty salt bowl nearby, devoid of grains.

Blackie Pot didn't dwell on who had saved it. Instead, it spat out the ghost book and resumed its late-night study by lamplight.

Chen Shi's Golden Core watched from outside the window for a moment. Even from afar, the book's characters crawled about like scribbles—unreadable. He quietly withdrew.

Blackie Pot was studying so diligently, surely seeking a way to control its ability.

Chen Shi's curiosity deepened. "But how did Blackie Pot know to pass through the stove to another world? How did it know there was a palace there with books inside? Who told it? Wait—could Grandpa have picked up Blackie Pot near that palace back in the day?"