On the Avenue.

Chapter 656 Summoning the Great Celestial Venerable

"Seven people?"

Hua Wanliang was startled. "Brother, don't joke around. Isn't the character 'wan' missing at the end? Or 'qian' would also be fine."

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "They're all here."

Hua Wanliang was speechless. Seven people thought they could defend Siyuan Pass? Their Muzi Battalion of over a thousand people almost failed to hold it!

If Chen Shi and the others hadn't arrived, Siyuan Pass would probably have already been captured!

Niu Qingqing stammered, "Originally there were thirty-three of us, but twenty-six of us died as soon as we arrived here..."

Hua Wanliang remained silent for a moment, then couldn't help but say, "You've offended Heavenly King Li, haven't you? Even if you've offended Heavenly King Li, it doesn't warrant this. Heavenly King Li is really careful..."

He stopped abruptly at this point, not continuing.

It's common knowledge that Li Tianwang is petty. If he had any informants around him, these few words alone would be enough to make things difficult for him.

"Don't even mention seven people, even seven thousand people couldn't defend Siyuan Pass."

Hua Wanliang said, “According to morality, I should stay and fight alongside you to resist the demons. However, I also bear the lives of the soldiers of the Wood Battalion on my shoulders. I cannot sacrifice their lives here because of morality. Farewell, everyone.”

He turned around, rallied the remaining troops, and led them away.

Chen Shi and the other six watched them go. They saw that most of these heavenly soldiers and generals were injured, and many were missing limbs. Some even had half their heads cut off and were barely alive thanks to their strong vitality.

Their warship was also destroyed, and they could only help each other fly to the nearest camp. Once there, they could find miraculous medicine to heal their wounds, and warships would take them to the rear to recuperate.

"How can the seven of us guard this Siyuan Mountain Pass?"

Ning Daoshan surveyed Siyuan Pass, only to find the formidable pass breached. Utter despair filled him, and he murmured, "It can't be held, it can't be held, we will die here..."

He suddenly leaped into the air and chased after Hua Wanliang.

Hua Wanliang noticed him, immediately turned around, summoned his immortal artifact, and shouted, "Fellow Daoist, halt!"

Ning Daoshan pleaded, "Brother Dao, take me with you! I don't want to stay here and wait to die! Brother Dao, I have cultivated for eighteen hundred years to survive the Heavenly Tribulation and become an immortal! I have suffered so much to reach this point in my life, I cannot die here! So many heavenly soldiers and generals have died, I can just disguise myself as one and fool them. When we return to the Earthly Immortal Realm, I will serve you like a slave to repay you!"

Hua Wanliang remained calm and resolutely refused: "If you were to infiltrate our ranks and be discovered by Li Tianwang, everyone would be guilty of harboring deserters. Fellow Daoist, a true man born in this prosperous age of immortals and gods, if he cannot expand our territory and fight for more living space for my people, wouldn't he be wasting his abilities? Please wait!"

Ning Daoshan rushed forward, shouting, "Brother Dao, give me a way out!"

Before he finished speaking, the heavenly soldiers and generals around Hua Wanliang each raised their sword boxes, and sword qi flew out one after another, with a chilling killing intent. Hundreds of sword qi used the Hunyuan Sword Scripture, and the sword formation exploded. Instantly, Ning Daoshan was decapitated.

Hua Wanliang waved his hand, and the heavenly soldiers and generals sheathed their swords, standing in perfect unison with impeccable military discipline.

Hua Wanliang cupped his hands and bowed, saying loudly, "Fellow Daoist Chen, please forgive me for presumptuously killing a deserter!"

Chen Shi bowed and said, "Thank you, fellow Daoist. If you hadn't taken action to kill the deserter, he wouldn't have escaped my divine blade either."

Hua Wanliang led his troops away.

In the central command tent, a divine general bowed and said, "My lord, another heroic spirit has been summoned. Of the thirty-three heavenly gods and men, twenty-seven have now returned to their positions!"

Li Tianwang exclaimed in surprise, "Six people survived? How did these six people survive the siege of the demons?"

"I don't know. Sir, should we send troops to investigate?"

Li Tianwang shook his head and said, "No need. They are guarding Siyuan Mountain Pass, and they won't be able to hold out for long. They will soon perish under the siege of the demons. If we send troops to help them, wouldn't that tarnish my reputation as Li Tianwang?"

He smiled slightly and said leisurely, "There's no need to worry about them escaping. Their names are already on the Investiture of the Gods; they are destined to be celestial beings. From now on, they will govern the Heavenly Way, awe all the immortals, and become the most powerful weapon of our Heavenly Court! Shake, continue shaking the Soul-Summoning Banner until their heroic spirits are summoned!"

Only six people remained inside Siyuan Mountain Pass.

Chen Shi looked around, his eyes lit up, and he walked towards the Tongxing Platform.

The other five people looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground, some of them immortals and others of demon soldiers, and felt their scalps tingle and their minds go blank.

"There are only five people left."

Long Yuanling said in a hoarse voice, "We can't hold it, we simply can't hold it... Can't we escape back to the Dao Realm?"

Her Dao heart was also somewhat broken, but suddenly her eyes lit up, and her breathing became rapid: "That's it, let's escape back to our respective Dao realms! So what if we go back to the mortal world? We might as well give up being immortals! At least we can save our lives if we go back to the mortal world! We can change our appearance and hide our identities, and the Heavenly Court will definitely not be able to find us! They will definitely think that we have already died here!"

With a hint of madness in her voice, she chuckled, "That's it! All the Heavenly Dao treasures are destroyed! The Heavenly Secret Strategy is on Fellow Daoist Chen, and the Heavenly Court has no idea whether we're dead or alive! We have a chance to survive!"

Xiahou Feng said coldly, "Fellow Daoist Long, we cannot return to the Dao Realm."

Long Yuanling was somewhat angry: "Why can't we return to the Dao Realm? Our Dao Realm is in the mortal world, on the Xuanhuang Sea. If we go back, no one will know..."

"There's no going back, Fellow Daoist Long. This is the Dark Sea, which will bring back heretics."

Xiahou Feng walked past her, saying sadly, "It will kill everyone in our hometown."

Long Yuanling's body stiffened.

This is the Great World of the Dark Sea, a world filled with heretics. Even immortals like them cannot withstand the heretics here; staying here for too long will corrupt them.

Opening the Dao Realm will allow external paths to invade their world. This pollution of the Great Dao will become stronger and stronger after it infects the heavens and earth of their world, until it turns all life in the world into soil!
Chen Shi arrived at the Tongxing Platform, raised his primordial spirit, and his primordial spirit measured the Tongxing Platform, sometimes large and sometimes small.

Niu Jingjing came to his side and shook her head, saying, "The Tongxing Platform is useless. I just checked it. The Tongxing Platform is not fully constructed and has no markings, so it cannot form a protective array."

Chen Shi said, "We'll build it ourselves. I used to be a talisman master in our area, and I'm best at this."

Niu Jingjing asked curiously, "What is a talisman master?"

Chen Shi thought for a moment, then decided it wasn't appropriate to explain to her directly. So he said, "It's the Grand Master. He's skilled at handling complex issues related to heretics. Our place isn't safe either; it's polluted everywhere by heretics. My grandfather and I developed this skill over time."

Another ruler of the Heavenly Dao stepped forward, named Guo Liang, and shook his head, saying, "We cannot cultivate the Star-Unifying Platform. The Star-Unifying Platform requires understanding the layout of the celestial constellations. The celestial constellations are divided into five major star regions: the Azure Dragon constellation in the east, the White Tiger constellation in the west, the Black Tortoise constellation in the north, the Vermilion Bird constellation in the south, and the Purple Star constellation in the center. Different constellations represent different deities, and different deities contain different Daoist methods, with different Daoist patterns."

Chen Shi summoned the sword-nurturing gourd, from which streaks of mysterious yellow sword energy flew out, cutting through the stone and carving different deities to create the Star-Unifying Platform.

Xiahou Feng stepped forward to help him build the Star-Unifying Platform, saying, "Instead of talking about these things, we should prepare the fortifications first. Maybe we'll still have a chance to survive."

The crowd rushed forward to help.

Niu Jingjing muttered, "The Star-Unifying Platform needs to coordinate the stellar power of all the constellations in the heavens. The Heavenly Army Camp needs at least 3,600 Heavenly Soldiers. Three camps of soldiers, each learning the Daoist arts of different constellations, and even traveling to different star systems to observe the forms of these star lords, are needed to set up a complete Star-Unifying Platform. No one can be proficient in so many Daoist arts at the same time..."

Although she was muttering to herself, she still worked together with the others to cut stones and build the Tongxing Platform.

The Tongxingtai (Star Platform) was laid out according to the principles of one emperor, four rulers, five elders, nine deities, three officials, six ministries, all the celestial stars, and twenty-eight celestial palaces, making it a massive undertaking. Previously, more than ten palace-shaped star platforms had already been laid out here; they only needed to follow the specifications of these platforms in their layout.

Chen Shi summoned his primordial spirit to help them with the construction. The primordial spirit was tall and strong, making it extremely easy for him to move and stack the stones, saving them a lot of trouble.

Strangely enough, after the demon soldiers retreated, they did not continue to attack, but gathered under the ancient vine in the distance.

"The vines are like their Dao realm."

Niu Jingjing summoned her primordial spirit to survey the distance and said, "The demons are stronger where the vines protect them, and weaker when they are not. Therefore, to deal with the demons, we must first deal with these vines."

That being said, she still lacked confidence in how to deal with it.

The demons' cultivation is weak only when they are not protected by vines. With the protection of vines, it only takes one move to kill these immortals!
“There are powerful beings among the demons.”

Xiahou Feng said, "That huge skeleton in the air is definitely a powerful member of the demon race."

Niu Jingjing remained calm and composed. Just now, when Chen Shi tried to cut the vine, the giant skeleton controlled by the vine forced Chen Shi back in one move.

If even the remains possess such formidable strength, one can only imagine how powerful the person was in life!

"That should be the remains of a great demon," Xiahou Feng guessed, gazing at the distant vine.

Soon, darkness fell, the sun set, and two moons hung in the sky, their light bright and clear.

The holy moonlight was filled with heretical power, which unknowingly seeped into their bodies. The six were still busy building the Star-Unifying Platform when Long Yuanling felt an itch on her face. She raised her hand to scratch it, but her hand was wet. Looking down, she couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

Her hands were covered in mud and water!

Muddy water was seeping from her skin pores!

"Don't worry, you're infected."

Xiahou Feng glanced at it and said, "You need to frequently practice your magic power to remove the external forces that have invaded your body."

Long Yuanling hurriedly circulated her magical power to expel the external forces within her body, but suddenly her face turned pale as she exclaimed, "I can't get rid of them! What should I do?"

Xiahou Feng was about to offer his assistance when he felt an itch on his neck. He raised his hand to touch it, and found his hand covered in mud and water. He had also failed to refine the external path within his body.

"How did the heavenly soldiers and generals who previously guarded this place drive away the heretics?" he wondered.

Chen Shi's voice came: "I have a friend named Chu Xiangxiu. He entered the Dark Sea alone, found the Great World of Nili, survived here, and became the first immortal in this place. He is currently in Li Tianwang's tent. It is likely that he has created some kind of method to prevent the invasion of heretics."

Everyone looked hopeful: "Fellow Daoist Chen, do you understand?"

Chen Shi shook his head: "I don't understand."

The crowd looked somber as they continued building the Star-Unifying Platform.

When the two moons set in the east and west, respectively, the Tongxing Platform was finally completed. Everyone stood on the platform, feeling quite happy.

As they looked around, their hearts turned cold again. In the sky around Siyuan Mountain Pass, vines had appeared out of nowhere, hanging down and growing for dozens of miles.

These vines surrounded them, only a mile or two away!
Where the vines hung, demon warriors hid behind them, their figures appearing and disappearing, watching them intently.

“We’re finished,” Niu Jingjing laughed, her voice filled with sorrow.

Facing imminent death, Long Yuanling calmed down and said, "There is no such thing as a ruler of the Heavenly Dao. We are just pitiful creatures being manipulated."

Xiahou Feng said, "Killing a Heavenly Dao Master would allow one to control their power. I so wish this guess was true. Unfortunately, it isn't."

Chen Shi said earnestly, "If that were true, you would all be dead by now."

At that moment, a ray of morning light shone through the thick vines and leaves and fell on Siyuan Mountain Pass.

All around came earth-shattering shouts, the shouts of the demon soldiers charging forward, deafeningly loud!
Everyone looked around and saw that the demon soldiers were surging towards Siyuan Mountain Pass from all directions, from the sky and the ground, like a tide!

Their faces were pale, and they each summoned their magical artifacts, but they didn't know how to fight.

The demon soldiers were like towering waves surging from all sides, about to engulf them along with the Siyuan Mountain Pass!
Just then, on the Star-Unifying Platform, three thousand six hundred talismans flew out and imprinted themselves on the star-platforms and celestial palaces, forming a grand universal ritual.

Chen Shi swallowed a Fuluo Village Elixir, which boosted his wisdom to its peak. He chuckled and said, "Gentlemen of the Heavenly Court, let's conquer the world together!"

He stood on the Star-Unifying Platform, activating the Primordial Limitless Innate Skill, spreading out the Daoist field, and mobilizing the celestial power of the Primordial Star Domain.

The divine powers gathered in the Great Wilderness Mingdao Concentration were activated, and the Small Heavenly Tribulation Array was launched. The star power of the Primordial Star Domain surged in, and the talismans transformed from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, forming deities under the surging star power.

The twenty-eight heavenly palaces gradually brightened, and one by one, the main gods began to appear under Chen Shi's supernatural powers.

The first to appear was an avatar of Houtu, the Earth Goddess, who appeared in a celestial palace on a star platform, surrounded by other gods.

The Earth Goddess Houtu's avatar had no independent thought, possessing only a single thought. With a shout, the Wheel of Reincarnation revolved around her, and the power of the Reincarnation Divine Path distorted space and time, reversing life and death.

The goddess's avatar wields two swords, Xuan and Huang, one heavy and one light, both possessing immense power.

Then came the avatars of the main gods of the Heavenly Court, such as the Antarctic Longevity Emperor, the Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable, the Northern Pole Purple Star Emperor, the Gouchen Upper Palace Heavenly Emperor, and so on.

When the twenty-seven main gods descended, accompanied by a great chant, a wisp of the Jade Emperor's avatar finally descended upon the Star-Unifying Platform.

In an instant, divine power surged and raged both inside and outside Siyuan Mountain Pass, and rays of light shot into the sky, stirring up the clouds and reaching beyond the heavens!

Niu Jingjing, Xiahou Feng, and the others stared blankly at this scene.

"Li Tianwang's Star-Commanding Platform is actually this powerful?"

Long Yuanling murmured, "I heard early on that he was devoured by a demon with 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals. I thought his formation was not very powerful. I underestimated him."

In the distance, Li Tianwang, commanding the various armies of the Heavenly Army, set up layers of formidable passes and fortifications. As he was strategizing the battle, he suddenly sensed something and looked up. He saw that amidst the heavy demonic energy and the overlapping vines, a tremendous divine power surged forth, breaking through the outer barrier and soaring into the sky, reflecting a colorful glow across the heavens!
Li Tianwang was stunned, then realized what was happening.

"Quickly! Send troops to check what's happening over there!"

He dispatched an elite force to head straight for Siyuan Mountain Pass, where Chen Shi and the others were located. The elite force hurried as fast as it could and finally arrived near Siyuan Mountain Pass. After inspecting the area, a scout immediately returned by the same route and reported to Li Tianwang, saying, "The six immortals at Siyuan Mountain Pass have summoned a wisp of the Four Emperors, Five Elders, Nine Emperors, Three Officials, and Six Departments, along with the Heavenly Venerables, to guard Siyuan Mountain Pass."

Li Tianwang was stunned, then suddenly realized what had happened and roared, "Who did this? Who dares to do this? This is outrageous!"

The scout hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "I saw that the Great Celestial Venerable has also summoned a wisp of his avatar, and is fighting the demons outside the pass..."

(End of this chapter)