On the Avenue.

Chapter 658 The body is a shell, the soul has no home

In the Siyuan Mountain Pass, Chen Shi felt that his cultivation was becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

He needed to activate the Star-Unifying Platform to maintain the indestructible power of the Lesser Heavenly Tribulation Array at all times. In addition, he needed to constantly replenish the gods who had been killed. Even though he possessed the Purple Heaven Vine, which could transform the spiritual energy between heaven and earth into Taiqing spiritual energy, he still couldn't sustain it.

With a slight thought, he took out the spring water from the Jade Purity Spring given to him by Jiao the Cripple, tilted his head back and drank a mouthful. Instantly, he felt as if his physical body and primordial spirit were soaking in spiritual energy, which was even more amazing than when he ate the immortal fruit from Fuluo Village!
Chen Shi's aura surged, and his depleted mana rapidly recovered. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "The Jade Purity Spring Water is far superior to the Taiqing Spiritual Energy. Fortunately, Senior Uncle Jiao asked me to bring some Jade Purity Spring Water, otherwise I would surely have been doomed this time!"

However, he underestimated the spiritual energy of Taiqing.

He used the water from the Jade Purity Spring, a sacred spring that is extremely rare and precious. Otherwise, the Jade Purity of the Three Pure Ones would not have chosen Penglai West as their religious sect.

His Taiqing spiritual energy was transformed from the Purple Heaven Vine. If the water of the Taiqing Dao Spring were compared with that of the Jade Pure Dao Spring, although there would be a difference, it wouldn't be that significant.

At this moment, many more demon soldiers stormed into the pass and headed straight for those star platforms.

There were also clever people among the demons who could see that these star platforms were the key to the emergence of these inexhaustible gods and demons. Therefore, the first thing they did upon entering the pass was to destroy the star platforms.

Niu Jingjing, Long Yuanling, and the others dispersed to meet the demons, and the two sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle in the small space.

As immortals, they possess great supernatural powers, which can often reach thousands of miles away. However, Siyuan Pass is too small, so they must do their best to control the power of their immortal magic to avoid destroying the layout of the pass.

As long as the Tongxingtai is there, they have a chance to survive.

If the Tongxingtai (Star Platform) dies, they will also die.

These demon warriors weren't particularly strong; their unorthodox methods were truly bizarre, turning them into mud and rendering them helpless once they were hit. Fortunately, Chen Shi's dojo suppressed their attacks, preventing them from fully utilizing their unorthodox techniques.

Without the risk of being corrupted by external forces, Niu Jingjing, Xiahou Feng, and the others immediately sensed upon their encounter with these demon soldiers that the strongest of these demons was no more than a Celestial Immortal, and the weakest was no more than a cultivator in the Tribulation Ascension stage.

The immortal techniques cultivated by Niu Jingjing and others were all passed down by the Heavenly Court. Although they were not particularly powerful immortal techniques, they were effective in both offense and defense. When they clashed with the demon warriors, the outcome of the battle was often decided in just one or two rounds.

However, the number of demons surging in was increasing, and soon the five of them were caught off guard and found themselves in danger.

They were struggling to protect themselves, let alone Chen Shi. Seeing several demon soldiers arrive at the Star-Unifying Platform, leaping up and heading straight for Chen Shi, Xiahou Feng and the others saw it but it was too late to stop them.

Just then, a flash of light appeared beside Chen Shi, and three more Chen Shi emerged from the light: one tall, one fat, and one handsome, all resembling the original Chen Shi, but each seemingly driven by their own desires. The tall Chen Shi was greedy for lust, the fat Chen Shi for gluttony, and the handsome Chen Shi for luxurious clothing.

The three Chen Shi met up with the demon soldiers and blocked their way.

Seeing this, Xiahou Feng and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, vines flew through the air, and a huge demon skeleton, wrapped in vines, descended from the sky, speeding across the ground and crashing through and killing countless demon soldiers as it rushed into the Tongxing Platform.

Peng Qiao and Peng Zhi stepped forward to block them, one activating the Blood Transformation Divine Blade and the other activating the Sword Nourishing Gourd. Upon meeting the great demon skeleton, Peng Qiao and Peng Zhi exploded one after the other.

Peng Ju charged forward, but before he could get close, the Great Demon Skeleton raised its hand and grabbed him, its five fingers writhing with vines, locking him in place and strangling him on the spot.

The great demon skeleton, entwined with vines, leaped onto the Star-Unifying Platform and pounced on Chen Shi.

Chen Shidao's heart finally began to panic. If he resisted, the Tongxing Platform would surely be destroyed, and the other twenty-seven star platforms and twenty-seven heavenly palace deities would inevitably be out of control and soon be wiped out!
Then those six men would surely die!
If he hadn't resisted, he would have been killed by the Great Demon's skeleton, and he would have certainly died as well. After his death, the Star-Unifying Platform would inevitably have fallen!
No matter what choice he makes, he will face death!
"Abandon everyone and return to the Demon Realm in the Well!"

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: the Demon Realm in the Well was formed from an anomaly of the Great Dao. Apart from a demon tree, there were no other living beings inside. Even if it were invaded by heretics, there was no need to worry about causing much damage.

Simply sealing the well will ensure that the pollution does not leak out.

Moreover, the heretics in the Demon Realm of the Well are still growing, and may not be inferior to the heretics in the Great World of Nirvana. It is still uncertain who will corrupt whom.

Just as he was about to abandon Niu Jingjing and the others, the giant demon skeleton was suddenly swept by a halo of reincarnation light, and it was involuntarily thrown into the air, its burly body rapidly weakening.

The strange, otherworldly patterns on its skeleton lit up, seemingly resisting the invasion of reincarnation, but the vines entwined around the skeleton were rapidly turning yellow and withering.

Two sword lights, one light and one heavy, swept over and struck the skeleton, shattering the great demon's skeleton into pieces!

This turn of events happened extremely quickly. Before Chen Shi could even summon the Demon Realm in the Well, the great demon skeleton, along with the vines controlling the skeleton, was pulverized by the Xuanhuang Sword!
Chen Shi followed the sword light and saw the halo of reincarnation spinning rapidly, engulfing the demon warriors and drawing them into the cycle of reincarnation, causing them to rapidly age from youth to old age. Houtu Niangniang brandished her sword and danced, her two swords crisscrossing, slaying the demon warriors one by one within the halo of reincarnation!

The skeletal remains of the great demons that rushed towards them were severed from their vines and sent to their deaths in the blink of an eye.

"The Empress's magic seems to be much more agile than before!"

Just as Chen Shi was thinking this, he saw on another star platform, Doumu Yuanjun shattered the skeletons of two great demons in succession, stepped down from the star platform with a graceful demeanor, and did not even glance at him, the summoner, before leading the avatars of the Doubu gods to break out of Siyuan Pass!
Chen Shi repeatedly made hand seals, a method of controlling spirits that his grandfather Chen Yin had taught him. Some deities obey commands but not summons; once summoned, they do not follow the control of the talisman master, so the talisman master needs to use incantations to command the deities.

However, the methods that had always worked in the past were now completely ineffective for some reason!

Doumu Yuanjun paused slightly, glanced back at him, and continued walking towards the border.

"Why did Grandpa's magic fail? That shouldn't be the case."

Just as Chen Shi was thinking this, he saw that the Antarctic Longevity Emperor had also defeated his opponent, stepped down from the star platform, and led the gods of the Antarctic Heavenly Palace to break out of Siyuan Pass.

Chen Shi made a hand seal towards the Antarctic Longevity Emperor, but the emperor remained unmoved.

On the other side, the avatars of the Heavenly Emperors Gouchen, Beiji Ziwei, Qinghua, Taiyi, Puhua, Leizu, and Chaofang Zhenjun, each leading their subordinate deities, descended from the Star Platform and arrived outside Siyuan Pass.

Seeing this, Chen Shi dared not make any more hand seals. He was still in shock when a tall and imposing deity stepped forward and walked past him.

That was an avatar of the Jade Emperor, who had also broken free from his control and stepped out of Siyuan Pass.

Chen Shi stared intently and saw that the fighting postures of these Great Emperors, Heavenly Venerables, True Monarchs, and Emperors were completely different from before. Although their cultivation levels were still the same, their fighting awareness, methods, and aura were far superior to before!
Houtu Niangniang also went out and came to the front of the pass. She turned back and smiled at him, which made Chen Shi feel dazed. He couldn't help but have a bold guess in his mind.

"Could it be that these Great Emperors and Celestial Venerables themselves are now in control of these clones?"

He immediately dismissed his guess. That was too illogical.

Niu Jingjing, Long Yuanling, and the others, having narrowly escaped death, were also filled with astonishment and uncertainty, looking towards the area beyond the pass.

The avatars of the twenty-eight giants of the Heavenly Court led thousands of gods out of Siyuan Pass and slaughtered all the demon soldiers who came in. It was a crushing victory!
Not only that, they even saw Doumu Yuanjun lead the charge first, this empress cutting down heads and carving a bloody path, heading straight for the vines in the air, determined to wipe them out completely!
She led the gods of the Doubu tribe through the chaos, and the next moment, divine light surged in the sky. A vine was cut down, along with the giant demon corpse it was rooted in!

Xiahou Feng was stunned, muttering, "Is Fellow Daoist Chen's cultivation level really that terrifying?"

Before he finished speaking, Houtu Niangniang, the Antarctic Longevity Emperor, and other powerful figures rushed out to wipe out all the demons, stormed into the sky, and killed the vines.

In an instant, divine light surged everywhere in the sky, like colorful clouds, which swept away the surrounding vines!
Near Siyuan Mountain, the sky is clear and blue, so clear and serene that you can even see the stars in the sky.

The Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, continued his march without stopping. Twenty-seven Great Emperors and Heavenly Venerables surrounded him as he charged towards the distant vine forest. Wherever he went, all heretics and heretical creatures were reduced to ashes!

Li Tianwang had already returned to the central army camp when he suddenly sensed something and turned around to see streaks of divine light shining in the sky near Siyuan Pass.

"That's it, Your Majesties have noticed this."

His face was ashen as he racked his brains trying to figure out how to answer the questions from the various emperors. But then he saw the outer path surging and churning in the distance, colliding with the divine light. The two clashed, neither giving way.

Li Tianwang watched this scene from afar, his expression solemn.

"It's happened again."

Siyuan Guanzhong, Xiahou Feng and the others looked at Chen Shi with admiration. Chen Shi was still standing on the Tongxing Platform, somewhat bewildered by everything that was happening before him, completely unaware that he had become mysterious and unpredictable in the eyes of the other five.

"Is it because the Goddess Houtu and the others died too many times that they were truly enraged?"

He was filled with unease. After all, he was the one who summoned these ancient deities' avatars. If these beings were to take notice of them, it would be extremely bad.

At that moment, a voice came from behind him: "Fellow Daoist Chen, come with me."

Chen Shi turned around and saw that Li Tianwang and Chu Xiangxiu had arrived at Siyuan Pass at some point and were walking towards him.

Chen Shi quickly jumped off the Tongxing Platform and walked alongside Li Tianwang.

Li Tianwang glanced at him sideways, and Chen Shi took half a step back, standing on either side of Chu Xiangxiu.

Xiahou Feng, Niu Jingjing, and others also followed, falling a few steps behind Chen Shi and Chu Xiangxiu.

Li Tianwang looked at the turbulent outer path and the glowing clouds in the distance and asked, "Governor Chu, is your judgment wrong?"

Chu Xiangxiu also looked at the turbulent outsider path and the rosy light, her eyes flashing, and said, "There can be no mistake."

Chen Shi asked, "Heavenly King, Xiangxiu, what have you discovered?"

Li Tianwang looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Fellow Daoist Chen is truly skilled. Siyuan Pass is in your hands; may it prosper greatly."

Chen Shi laughed and said, "The Heavenly King's abilities are not bad either. The Heavenly King made us thirty-three people guard Siyuan Mountain Pass, which is nothing more than using a borrowed knife to kill, using the hands of the demon race to take our lives. The other twenty-seven fellow Daoists must be gods of the Heavenly Court by now, right? The Heavenly Court has gone to great lengths to completely control the Heavenly Dao Treasures."

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Feng and the others were startled, and cold sweat poured down their foreheads and backs.

They received the mark of the Heavenly Dao treasure and believed that they were the rulers of the Heavenly Dao and would surely rise to prominence.

Now, judging from Chen Shi's words, they were destined to die long ago, and only by becoming gods after death could the giants of the Heavenly Court be at ease.

Li Tianwang laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist Chen, even if you see this, what use is it? It's just that you die knowing something. After death, you will be enshrined as gods and become deities in the Heavenly Court. You will possess the Heavenly Dao treasures and become Heavenly Dao gods in the future. You will inevitably become powerful figures who dominate a region in the Heavenly Court! Isn't that a hundred times better than being an immortal?"

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "I'm quite content being an immortal. Why bother becoming a god after death and being at the beck and call of the Heavenly Court?"

Li Tianwang laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist, you have no choice."

He stopped mentioning the matter and changed the subject, saying, "Back then, I led 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals across the ocean and deep into the Dark Sea. When we arrived at the Great World of Nirvana, I realized that this Great World was extraordinary. The demons here are powerful, but they give me the feeling that their bodies are just shells and their souls have no place to belong."

Chen Shi was slightly taken aback, and murmured, "The body is just a shell, the soul has no place to rest? What does that mean?"

Chu Xiangxiu said, "What King Li means is that all the demons here are just empty shells, without souls, and are at the mercy of others."

Chen Shi was puzzled and said, "I saw the corpses of great demons hanging in the sky, from which vines sprouted. Some of these great demons were extremely powerful, far beyond my ability to defeat. These demons knew how to cultivate, so how could their souls be without a home?"

Li Tianwang said, "I wasn't sure about this guess before, but after fighting the demons here for a long time, I became more and more certain of it. The demons here don't have real souls; they are all controlled by people. There is an extremely powerful being hiding in the Great World of Nirvana, who has become the heretical ruler of this place."

He looked ahead and said, "This world looks extremely lively, with sky forests and demons everywhere, and a multitude of life forms, but in reality, only he is truly alive."

Chu Xiangxiu added, "Everyone here is his puppet."

Chen Shi gazed at the boundless and vast world of Nili before him and murmured, "Is all the demons in this world him?"

"It's all his fault."

Li Tianwang laughed, "It's just that he's been hiding very well, using the Great Demon's remains to fight us, preventing me from finding his true form. Now, he's been forced to come out by the Great Celestial Venerable and the others. As long as he makes a move, it will give me the opportunity to find him!"

As he said this, his eyes lit up, and he flew away. The exquisite golden pagoda in his hand had already taken off, growing taller and taller, like a colossal creature with thirty-three levels of Dao Realm, passing over the Jade Emperor and the others, and pressing down diagonally!

"Got you!"

(End of this chapter)