On the Avenue.

Chapter 663 Meeting a kindred spirit in a foreign land, encountering an old friend in a foreign land

Li Tianwang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Gongsun Xuanyuan was second only to the Four Emperors in the Heavenly Court. After all, he was the Yellow Emperor who ascended to heaven on a dragon in the ancestral court. He was revered for all ages, and his incense offerings were even more prosperous than those of the Four Emperors.

However, since he is not a deity who governs the Great Dao, he is slightly inferior to the Four Emperors in terms of cultivation of the Great Dao.

Unless a Great Immortal personally arrives here, he cannot possibly be his match.

If a Grand Luo Golden Immortal were to arrive in person, then the Great Heavenly Venerable and other Heavenly Court experts would surely take action themselves!
"This time, the Great Celestial Venerable must be trying to give those immortals a warning, to tell them not to go too far."

Li Tianwang thought to himself, "I was just bait, and I almost lost my life."

Gongsun Xuanyuan said, "Fellow Daoist, you still cannot let your guard down. The Mud Pagoda Divine Tree is extremely tempting to immortals, and there is no guarantee that there will be people chasing and intercepting you from behind."

The allure of the Tree of Nirvana is simply too great.

With the Nirvana Tree, one need not worry about undergoing tribulation, and can even break away from the Three Pure Ones lineage, establish one's own sect, gather those immortals who need to undergo tribulation, and form one's own great power.

Although it cannot compare to the Three Pure Ones Heaven and the Western Paradise, it is still quite remarkable!

This temptation is worth the risk of even a Great Immortal.

The two walked side by side toward the Heavenly Court.

With Xuanyuan Shi by his side, Li Tianwang felt much more at ease.

"Your Majesty, now that I have lost the Exquisite Pagoda, I fear my son will come to kill me. I beg Your Majesty's protection," said Li Tianwang.

Xuanyuan laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist, you have made great contributions this time. Do you still need to fear the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas? Rest assured, the Great Heavenly Venerable will not stand idly by and watch your son kill you."

Even so, King Li was still uneasy.

Back then, when he was a father, the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas forced him to cut off his flesh to return to his mother and remove his bones to return to his father when he was young. He committed suicide in front of Chentang Pass. Later, the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas became a deity. He never forgot this and would seek revenge whenever he saw him, so that his old father could also experience the pain of cutting off his flesh and removing his bones.

At that time, Dipankara Buddha was a Taoist priest and the mentor of Li Tianwang. He gave Li Tianwang the Exquisite Pagoda for protection. Over the years, Li Tianwang has relied on this treasure for protection and has been spared from being killed by the Great God of the Three Altars and Seas.

Now that the exquisite pagoda is gone, Li Tianwang is worried that the Three Altars Sea Gathering God will seek revenge.

Moreover, the Great Celestial Venerable ordered him to take Chen Shi's life and transform him into a Heavenly Dao God, yet he spared Chen Shi's life. This suggests that the merit he deserves will be greatly diminished, and it remains to be seen whether the Great Celestial Venerable can protect him.

While he was still feeling uneasy, Chen Shi had already arrived at the ferry crossing of the Western Heavenly White Tiger Heavenly Palace, where the Western Heavenly Golden Emperor resided, on a star raft.

The Western Heaven Golden Emperor is one of the Five Elders of the Five Directions. The Golden Emperor is also known as the White Emperor, Shaohao Emperor, and Jintian Shi. He is a god with immense divine power, commanding countless divine generals. He established the Western Heaven White Tiger Heavenly Palace and has 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals under his command, governing the myriad worlds of the Western Heaven.

When Chen Shi arrived at the Western Heavenly Palace, he saw that the palace was even more vast than the Heavenly Court, and it was open to the public, without the four gates of the east, west, south, and north, allowing immortals and gods to come and go as they pleased.

What's even more peculiar is that the Heavenly Palace also has Heavenly Streets, shops, cinnabar towers, painting towers, utensil workshops, miscellaneous goods pavilions, and treasure pavilions everywhere. There are even restaurants, teahouses, and brothels to satisfy one's appetite.

This place is filled with the warmth of everyday life; it doesn't feel like a celestial realm, but rather like the mortal world.

Chen Shi had been to the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court was too high and too magnificent. The people inside were often in high positions of power and seemed cold and unapproachable.

He had also visited the Great Heavenly Palace of Virtue and Light in the Xuanhuang Sea. The atmosphere there was too heavy with the scent of rouge and powder. The female immortals there were reciting poems and composing verses, writing and composing calligraphy. They were too feminine and lacked masculinity. There was not a trace of vulgarity about them.

The Western Heavenly Palace is different.

Chen Shi even saw many cultivators running around in the streets and alleys, and some flying around on swords, creating a lively scene.

This place feels closer to human life.

The Western Heaven Palace contains many temple buildings, where monks, bodhisattvas, vajras, and arhats can be seen.

Chen Shi glanced around and thought to himself, "This is the Western Heaven Palace, which is probably very close to the Western Heaven of Buddhism, so there are also Buddhist temples here. It seems that the White Emperor does not restrict monks from spreading the Tao."

This matter concerns the struggle for the continuation of the family line, and there must be some open and covert infighting involved. He is just a newcomer and cannot see the struggle within.

Chen Shi inquired along the way and arrived at the residence of Kui Mulang Xingjun. He said to the immortal guarding the gate, "Please go in and inform him that my nephew from Jin'ao Island requests an audience."

The immortal went in to announce the news, and after a while, he returned and invited Chen Shi into his residence.

Before long, a man with an elegant appearance and a dashing demeanor walked over and said with a smile, "Nephew Chen, how have you been? In the battle of the Great World of Nirvana, your command of my clone was truly spectacular."

This man was Kui Mulang Xingjun, whose surname was Li and given name was Xiong. He was a third-generation disciple of Tongtian Shengren. Chen Shi activated the Tongxingtai in the Nili Great World to summon the gods, and he was among them.

He should be an avatar. Although he is very strong, he is not ridiculously strong. His cultivation level is only equivalent to that of a Celestial Immortal.

Chen Shi greeted him and said, "I am very uneasy about asking my martial uncle for help in battle, and I have come to apologize to my martial uncle."

Kui Mulang laughed heartily, "Nephew, you're too kind! We gods, even the Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, still have to descend and be commanded if someone offers us even a stick of incense. Nephew, you've used it well, very skillfully. I've never fought alongside the Jade Emperor before, but being commanded by you is quite a fulfillment!"

He burst into laughter, clearly pleased with himself.

During the battle in the Great World of Nili, the Jade Emperor descended, and the Four Emperors and Five Elders followed suit. With all these leaders of the gods present, how could the Star Lords like Kui Mulang dare not come?
Fighting alongside the Jade Emperor, they naturally exerted even greater effort and were invincible. For Kui Mulang, this was also an experience to be proud of.

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Shi said, "Uncle-Master, I have a question for you. Do you know about the Three Realms World and the Tailai World?"

Kui Mulang was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "Why are you asking about these two worlds, my dear nephew? These two worlds were destroyed long ago and are now filled with malevolent energy. Some bad things happened there back then, and their effects are still felt today."

Chen Shi said, "I've heard that a calamity occurred there, so I'd like to go and see for myself."

Kui Mulang said, "So you know about this too. After the celestial calamity occurred back then, the Great Celestial Venerable ordered a thorough investigation. Heh, the beings of several worlds were wiped out. The Great Celestial Venerable was truly furious. I was also mobilized to go there to search for clues, hoping to find some leads."

"I have been to those destroyed worlds. When I arrived there, I found that the evil energy was condensed and the calamity had not dissipated for a long time, making them unsuitable for survival. As for traces, we could not find many. We, the gods of the Heavenly Dao, could not find anything. Later, the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak, Yama and other earth deities took action and traced the cause and effect back to find the source."

"That place was originally the work of a Great Golden Immortal who shifted his own calamity onto others, destroying these worlds. You might as well go there and take a look. In recent years, many Buddhist disciples have gone there to try to resolve the resentment there."

He told Chen Shi the locations of Sanyuan and Tailai, saying, "Besides these, there are also the Wufang and Liuli worlds. The Wufang world is the closest to here, and many Buddhist disciples often go there to try to remove evil spirits and miasma and improve their Taoist cultivation. If you want to go there, you can board a boat at the ferry of Xiaoyaochi." Chen Shi remembered this and thanked Kui Mulang.

Having a master or sect makes things much easier.

After bidding farewell to Kui Mulang, he immediately went to Xiaoyaochi Ferry.

The Little Jade Pool was built in imitation of the Jade Pool in the Heavenly Court. Although the name contains the word "little", it is actually a vast expanse of celestial sea formed by the confluence of the Milky Way.

Chen Shi arrived at the ferry and inquired whether there was a boat going to Wufang. He searched for many boatmen and finally found a boat. The fare was very high, ten times that of other places.

Chen Shi paid the fare, but the boatman did not set sail immediately. Instead, he said, "We have to wait and pick up a few more passengers."

Chen Shi sat down on the Star Chariot and waited quietly.

Not long after, several more monks and arhats came and boarded the star raft.

The monks must have come from different temples and didn't know each other. They bargained with the boatman for a while, and the boatman lowered the fare. He then secretly glanced at Chen Shi, afraid that Chen Shi would notice and also make a fuss about lowering the price.

Chen Shi saw this but remained silent.

Just then, two more monks arrived and called out from afar, "Benefactor, please wait for us!"

The boatman, who was about to set sail, paused upon hearing this and laughed, "Business is not bad today."

Two monks arrived and jumped onto the star raft. The younger monk came to ask the price and then bargained with the boatman. After a long while, the boatman reluctantly gave him a discount.

The young monk was quite pleased and took out money to pay the fare. The monk next to him said in a somewhat shrill voice, "The fare is just a trivial matter, why argue with him? Just give it to him."

The young monk was somewhat indignant: "Master, who told you not to have a position on Mount Ling? The Buddha's uncle is renowned, but he doesn't give me any money for donations. I can only rely on my own abilities to beg for alms everywhere to accumulate some wealth. Why are you nagging me about prices? If you're so capable, then Master should pay for it!"

The monk was somewhat embarrassed by what he said and said, "Since I am the Buddha's uncle, how can I ask for incense money again? If word gets out, wouldn't that be a disgrace to the Buddha and me? But then again, what's so fun about becoming a Buddha on Mount Ling? It's far less enjoyable than when I was a demon in the Lion Camel Kingdom! I could eat people whenever I wanted, and whoever I wanted. Why were there so many rules?"

The other monks and arhats on the boat all looked at the two of them, clearly displeased with their words and actions.

Chen Shi looked at the young monk and found him increasingly familiar. Suddenly, he said, "Young monk, you look somewhat like an old friend of mine... Erniu! You are Zhong Erniu, aren't you?"

He was both surprised and delighted, jumping up excitedly and laughing loudly, "Zhong Wuwang! Zhong Erniu! It really is you!"

Upon seeing his face, the young monk hurriedly covered his face with his sleeve and cried out, "It's not me! You've mistaken me for someone else!"

Chen Shi stepped forward, ripped off his sleeve, and said, "You are Zhong Wuwang! Although you shaved your head, which made me not recognize you at first, you are indeed Zhong Wuwang!"

The young monk forcefully broke free from his grasp, angrily shouting, "It really wasn't me! You surnamed Chen, let go of me! If you don't let go, I'll get rough! Let go..."

Chen Shi released his grip, looked him up and down, and confirmed that it was indeed Zhong Wuwang.

Zhong Wuwang snorted, then suddenly realized something. He was both surprised and delighted, and smiled at the monk, "Master, do you remember when you took me as your disciple, I told you that you had arrested the wrong person? The person who replaced your Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle really wasn't me! It was him!"

He grabbed Chen Shi's sleeve, overjoyed, and exclaimed, "It was him who patched the hole in the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle! Master, he's the disciple you're going to take in! Quickly take him in, shave his head, and burn some ordination scars on him!"

His heart was filled with great joy, and he spoke eloquently, exclaiming, "You take him to eat vegetarian food every day, eat tofu stir-fried with tofu, and drink rice porridge stewed with rice porridge! You take him to Mount Ling, to live a life of austere cultivation, to help him renounce the four elements, and become a Buddha and a Patriarch! Your disciple is just an ordinary person and is not worthy to be your disciple!"

Chen Shi looked at the monk and saw that the monk had a hooked nose and extremely sharp eyes with a hint of demonic nature. Although he was surrounded by Buddhist light and had an extraordinary temperament, he gave people a strong sense of unease, as if he were being stared at by an extremely ferocious and violent beast.

Chen Shi felt a chill run down his spine, but he said politely, "Could this fellow Daoist be the owner of the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle? I am Chen Shi, the Crown Prince of the Xuanhuang Sea Houde Guangda Heavenly Palace. I greet you, fellow Daoist."

Upon hearing this, the monk was slightly startled and returned the greeting, saying, "So it is Crown Prince Chen. I was shocked to learn that Your Highness is the top of the Immortal Execution List, plundering the treasures of more than five hundred immortals, stealing their earthly treasures and spiritual roots, and in the battle of the Xuanhuang Sea, you slaughtered these immortals without leaving a single one alive. Some of my people from Mount Ling also suffered at your hands. Your Highness's methods are truly admirable!"

He laughed heartily, his voice sharp and high-pitched, like an eagle's cry in the sky, clear and bright, and said: "To tell you the truth, this old monk was also a guest on the Zhuxian List back then, and once held the top spot for decades! Later, my nephew persuaded me to go to Mount Ling to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures to reduce my sins."

Chen Shi was filled with respect and said, "Brother Dao, you are my senior! To tell you the truth, I have been misunderstood!"

He complained, "No one has ever seen my true face before putting me on the Execution List. This is an act of utterly disregarding human life! Fortunately, most of the victims have died, otherwise I don't know how long I would have been wronged!"

The old monk said, "If you put in more effort and send more victims away, or wait until this calamity is over and all the victims are dead, then no one will have wronged you."

Chen Shi immediately felt as if he had met a kindred spirit in a foreign land, and laughed, "Brother, what you said has touched my heart!"

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Zhong Wuwang blinked and reminded him, "Master, it was he who made up for the deficiencies in your Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle."

The old monk said, "Your Highness is my confidant, and naturally knows that my Taoist magic is inadequate. You have helped me to complete my Taoist magic. Your Highness, this old monk Yuncheng thanks Your Highness for your guidance."

He clasped his hands together and bowed to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi quickly returned the greeting, smiling, "Brother Dao, you're too kind! I've also benefited greatly from your Yin-Yang Qi Bottle, so I dare not accept your generous gift. I'll return it to you now!"

The old monk grew increasingly fond of him, saying, "Although you have benefited from me, I have gained even more. Back then, I was trapped at the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, unable to break through. My old rivals all broke through, but I alone could not advance. So I came up with this method: I threw my bottle into the ancestral temple, letting it drift and sink as it pleased. But if it encounters someone destined, it can help me complete my Daoist techniques and enable me to break through my realm!"

He laughed with no small amount of pride, "I have good natural talent, but my knowledge is shallow. After you help me make up for it, my knowledge will improve. Given time, breaking through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm and becoming a Daluo will be a piece of cake!"

Zhong Wuwang couldn't help but say, "Great Roc, the disciple you should take is him! Hurry up and take him on!"

"Shut up, you unfilial disciple!"

The old monk's eyebrows furrowed, and he roared, "Have you forgotten the pain of being subdued by your master? Do you want to experience it again?"

Zhong Wuwang was so angry he was half-dead, and wished he could vomit three liters of blood.

(End of this chapter)