On the Avenue.

Chapter 678 The Source of the Calamity

Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, "If the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth of the Ancestral Court is also part of the Dark Overseas Path, then learning from other paths is not a big deal. Why must we fight to the death?"

Doumu Yuanjun sneered, "If that's what you think, not only will the Three Pure Ones lineage kill you, but our lineage will also kill you!"

Chen Shi was taken aback, unsure of what he had said wrong.

Doumu Yuanjun said, "If the name is not correct, the words will not be proper. What the Three Pure Ones and Tongtian Shengren were fighting for was the name. At that time, the orthodox path in the world was neither the Immortal Path nor the heretical path, but the Great Shang Xuan Bird Heavenly Court with its shamanistic and sacrificial Dao patterns. When the Great Shang was the orthodox one, everyone was a rebel. If the Great Shang were to disappear, everyone would have to determine who was the true orthodox one. The Three Pure Ones and Tongtian Shengren both saw this clearly and knew that a war between the two sides was inevitable."

Chen Shi understood: "At that time, both the Three Pure Ones and Tongtian were traitors to the shamans. What the Three Pure Ones wanted to do was to overthrow the Shang Dynasty and establish a new golden age of immortals, while what Tongtian wanted to do was to attach himself to the Shang Dynasty, change the Shang Dynasty's shamanistic traditions, and lead the Shang Dynasty onto the path of immortals. Whoever succeeded would be the rightful heir."

Doumu Yuanjun said, "That is indeed the case. We lost this battle, and after King Zhou died, we became the gods of the Heavenly Court. The struggle for legitimacy is not child's play; it must be a bloody battle. If the opponents are not wiped out, the legitimacy of the throne is illegitimate!"

Her words were filled with murderous intent, sending chills down one's spine.

“The current struggle between immortals and gods is also a struggle for legitimacy. It must be a bloody battle. If the opponents are not wiped out, then the position is not rightfully ours,” Chen Shixin said.

He gained a new understanding of the upcoming battle between immortals and gods.

"So, are heretical paths good or bad?" Chen Shi asked.

Doumu Yuanjun said, "Whether it's good or bad, I am now a deity and cannot judge. Junior brother, this is something you will need to investigate. I have found the Yang Bi you mentioned. Farewell."

Her body suddenly transformed into divine light and vanished without a trace.

Chen Shi was lost in thought.

The information revealed by Doumu Yuanjun is truly astonishing.

"In that case, the path of immortality is also a kind of unorthodox path. The Three Pure Ones and Tongtian comprehended it and transformed it into the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."

He fell into deep thought. The Sage of Tongtian attempted to merge the heretical and immortal paths, which led to a conflict with the Three Pure Ones. Taking advantage of the war to overthrow the Shang dynasty, the two sides clashed, and the lineage of the Sage of Tongtian was defeated and never recovered.

Afterwards, the Sage of Tongtian attempted to turn the tide, reincarnating as Confucius to pass on Confucianism and reclaim the orthodox tradition.

At the same time, the Three Pure Ones opened up the Earthly Immortal Realm, moved the Heavenly Court to the Earthly Immortal Realm, and forged thirty-three Heavenly Dao Treasures to control the Earthly Immortal Realm. All cultivators, including those who practiced Confucianism, had to ascend to the Earthly Immortal Realm after becoming immortals to become heavenly soldiers and generals of the Heavenly Court.

In this round, the Sage of Heaven won in the mortal realm of the ancestral court.

The defeat occurred in a much larger area.

The Three Pure Ones' creation of the Immortal Realm instantly rendered the ancestral court's struggle for lineage insignificant, and the idea of ​​a sage reincarnating as a teacher to spread the Dao became quite laughable.

"That's why Master moved Jin'ao Island to the Immortal Realm. He lost this battle even more thoroughly than he did in the war against Shang and Zhou. But he had to come; otherwise, he wouldn't even have the chance to compete on the same stage."

Chen Shi said in a low voice, "Before the Three Pure Ones left the Earthly Immortal Realm, they left behind a map of the Dark Sea Azure Palace. Master also rushed there immediately, precisely because he was worried about repeating the mistakes of the Earthly Immortal Realm. But has Master forgotten his original intention when he argued with the Three Pure Ones back then?"

These are heretical paths, not the true path.

This is the source of their argument.

The Three Pure Ones rejected other paths because they believed that they were not the true path. The Sage of Heaven believed that the Immortal Path was also an outside path and could be combined with other paths, hence this debate.

However, Chen Shi felt that after the Sage of Heaven transformed into the Master, he was more concerned about whether he could defeat the Three Pure Ones in one battle.

The debate over whether something is a heretical or non-righteous path, and who is right and who is wrong, becomes no longer important.

"But it's clearly very important!"

Chen Shi's eyes flashed. The Three Pure Ones opened up the Dark Sea, refined the darkness, and transformed it into the Immortal Realm, making the Immortal Path incomparably vast, with countless worlds belonging to it. In this duel, Master lost completely.

"But where does this calamity come from?"

Chen Shi said in a low voice, "Why did many worlds not experience a calamity after returning to the Dark Sea? Why aren't the immortals of the Ancestral Court worried about the calamity? Is this calamity targeting immortals because this place was originally the Dark Sea, and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth is different from the Dao of Immortality?"

His heart pounded wildly, and he realized that the source of the calamity had been discovered.

"To become an immortal, a cultivator must unite with the Dao, ensuring that the Dao they comprehend is perfectly aligned with the Dao of Heaven and Earth! But what if the Dao of Heaven and Earth of the Earthly Immortal Realm and its countless sub-worlds is not the Dao of Immortality?"

He blinked and muttered to himself, "At first, the imperfections of immortals merging with the Dao were minor, but as time goes on, the incompatibility between the Dao of immortals and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth becomes increasingly significant. When the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth can no longer bear it, a great calamity will erupt that will sweep away all immortals."

Is this how the calamity began?

Each calamity begins with a new one, and twelve assemblies form one cycle. The great calamity of the cycle is even more violent and domineering. Is this a great purge of heretics by the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?

"After the world of Xuanhuang Sea returned to the Dark Sea, no calamity occurred. Does this mean that after returning to the Dark Sea, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth in these worlds returned to a state of coexistence with the external Dao, and therefore no calamity occurred?"

His guesses became increasingly outrageous, and he whispered, "There are earth-treasure spiritual roots in the Dark Sea. Earth-treasure spiritual roots are the essence of heaven and earth in the Dark Sea. They can be used to pass through the tribulation, that is, to use the aura of earth-treasure spiritual roots to avoid the cleansing of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth!"

Chen Shi became excited. Earthly Treasure Spiritual Roots can help immortals avoid several cleanses, but they will wither. Is it because the Dark Sea of ​​Heaven and Earth's spiritual essence in the Earthly Treasure Spiritual Roots is exhausted, which is why they wither?
He thinks about things more deeply.

"Immortals of lower realms who can overcome the tribulation through their own strength probably haven't yet deeply integrated with the Dao. When one cultivates to the True Immortal realm, each additional level of the Dao realm deepens the understanding; the higher the Dao realm, the deeper the integration with the Dao, and the more severe the tribulation!"

"In other words, the Dao Realm caused the Tribulation Initiation Power!"

"So, it seems I might not be without calamity after all."

Chen Shi suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. The more he altered the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, the heavier the tribulation he would face. If this conjecture was true, then his path of Heaven and Earth coming to align with my Dao would be...

"Isn't that the heaviest?"

Chen Shi felt a chill.

He always felt that he was in harmony with the Dao in Xiniu New Continent, which is in the Dark Sea, and therefore he was free from calamity.

However, the essence of the tribulation is that the Immortal Path and the Great Dao of the Dark Sea are not completely compatible!
When Chen Shi merged with the Dao, he changed the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, making it perfectly suited to himself. This change was the most significant!

The original Great Dao of Heaven and Earth in the Earthly Immortal Realm would likely have a stronger backlash against him than that against other immortals of the same realm!
"Calm down, calm down."

Chen Shi said self-deprecatingly, "With so many treasures and spiritual roots in my Qianyang Mountain, what do I have to fear about the tribulation? But then again, if the higher one's Dao realm, the heavier the tribulation, wouldn't that mean the Three Pure Ones' tribulation is the heaviest? Why are the Three Pure Ones still able to leave behind their Dao realms to protect their disciples?" Besides the Three Pure Ones, there are also two Buddhas from the Western Paradise who left behind their Dao realms to protect Buddhism.

"There is no other explanation than that they are too strong and have overwhelmed the backlash of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."

Chen Shixin said, "The Three Pure Ones have a strong belief in the supremacy of the immortal path. Their own strength is so great that even the Great Dao of the Earthly Immortal Realm cannot destroy their Dao realm. In that sense, the Three Pure Ones' philosophy is not wrong. As long as we are strong enough, no matter how fierce the backlash from the Great Dao of the Dark Sea is, we will remain unmoved."

That is why the Three Pure Ones dared to say that the Way is not the Way, right?
He was filled with awe and reverence for the abilities of the three sages.

"When will I have the courage to say such a thing?" he thought to himself.

Just then, screams rang out, followed by a commotion. Then, the sage Zhong Lin rushed over, shouting, "Senior Brother Chen! Senior Brother Chen! We've dug something out of the Demon-Suppressing Cave!"

Chen Shi quickly stepped forward and asked, "Zhonglin, what did you dig up?"

"I don't know. All I know is that an aura of heretics suddenly surged out. Senior Brother Hu Quan didn't smell it, and Senior Brother Bian stood in front to cover our retreat. He couldn't get out of the Demon Suppression Cave and we don't know if he's alive or dead."

Chen Shi looked solemn. Bian Liuer was his senior brother, someone who had been mining in the Yama Well, a celestial mine, for over four hundred years without dying. It was known that celestial mines were filled with all sorts of strange and dangerous things; sometimes you'd unearth dangerous prehistoric relics, sometimes poisonous insects and creatures, and sometimes even the remains of a great demon.

A celestial mine slave who lives for ten years is one in ten. To live for a hundred years is one in ten thousand.

Bian Liuer has been mining in Yanwangjing for over four hundred years, making him an absolute grandmaster-level mining slave!

He fell into the Demon-Suppressing Cave, and I'm afraid what he dug out there is something extraordinary.

Chen Shi hurriedly followed Zhong Lin over, and Jiao the Cripple, Qiao Gu and others also followed. They were much stronger than the others and were preparing to enter the Demon Suppression Cave to rescue Bian Liuer.

Demon Suppression Cave is a mine near Jin'ao Island. After Chen Shilian went to the heretical sect, a demon moved into the mine. When the heavenly soldiers and generals were cleaning the mine, they encountered this demon, hence the name Demon Suppression Cave.

When the mine was opened, rays of light shot straight into the sky, a truly astonishing sight.

They entered the mine and discovered that it was deep enough to reach the main vein of immortal gold, producing immortal gold of extremely high quality. Therefore, they planned to mine more to refine magical artifacts, but unexpectedly, this incident occurred.

When Chen Shi arrived outside the Demon Suppression Cave, he saw that an evil aura was emanating from the entrance of the mine, making it difficult for anyone to approach.

Without hesitation, Chen Shi rushed in and headed towards the main vein of the Immortal Gold Mine along the mine shaft.

Jiao the Cripple followed and said in a deep voice, "Jiang Guo, guard the cave entrance and don't let anyone in."

Chen Shi walked ahead, refining the heretical energy along the way, leading the group deeper and deeper.

The heretical aura here is getting stronger and stronger. Even Chen Shi has to slow down and gradually refine the heretical aura.

Fortunately, they hadn't gone far when they saw Bian Liuer lying on the ground.

The crowd rushed forward and hurriedly helped Bian Liuer up. Chen Shi then activated the Daoist altar to refine his heretical energy.

At that moment, he noticed that Bian Liuer was holding something in his hand.

Chen Shi took the item from Bian Liuer's hand. It was a bronze bell with unusually thick walls and a dark blue luster, like patina, which was deeply embedded in the bell and looked very old.

Some textures appear on it, which look a bit messy, but upon closer inspection, they seem to have a unique pattern.

Chen Shi's heart stirred slightly: "Heretical patterns!"

His understanding of heterodox teachings was not deep, but looking at the Earthly Immortal Realm, there were not many who were more proficient in heterodox teachings than him.

He gently shook the bell, and a loud, clear, and melodious tinkling sound immediately shook everyone except him, who hurriedly grabbed onto the mine shaft and looked over in astonishment and uncertainty.

"This heretical path seems to specifically target the soul!"

Chen Shi was greatly surprised; the copper bell was clearly a magical artifact or treasure.

But how could there be heretical magical artifacts in the immortal mine?

At that moment, a tinkling sound came from deep within the mine, seemingly some distance away.

Chen Shi looked puzzled, then shook the copper bell again. After a moment, the sound of the bell also came from deep within the mine.

"It's weird!"

He tried to ring the bell again, but Jingmei rushed over and grabbed his hand. The two rings of the bell made everyone dizzy and unable to continue. They only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Jingmei intervene.

Chen Shi looked into the depths of the mine in surprise, and suddenly said, "Uncle Jiao, Senior Brother Bian, you are both knowledgeable, have you ever seen or heard of a living person being dug out of a mine?"

Everyone shook their heads, indicating they had never heard of it.

Bian Liuer slowly woke up, and the moment she did, she hurriedly searched around and asked, "Where is the copper bell I found?"

Chen Shi returned the bronze bell to Bian Liuer, who held it with a sigh of relief. He said, "I found this treasure by chance on the mine wall while mining immortal gold. I wanted to take it down, but just as I did, the mine collapsed ahead. I sensed the evil energy and told everyone to leave quickly. I stayed behind to cover the retreat, and it was thanks to this bell that I survived."

Chen Shi asked, "Did you hear any other bells coming from the mine?"

Bian Liuer shook his head.

Chen Shi said, "I'll go in and take a look. You all evacuate from the mine first."

He walked alone into the depths of the mine, while Uncle Jiao and the others led the still weak Bian Liuer out.

Chen Shi ventured deeper into the winding mine, the tunnels extremely complex, and walked for more than ten miles before finally arriving at the place where the incident had occurred.

The first thing that caught Chen Shi's eye was a collapsed mountain of rocks. Beyond the rocks, he saw an underground lake, and on the opposite side of the lake stood a blue palace.

Chen Shi's heart pounded: "The Azure Palace of the Dark Sea! No, this isn't the Dark Sea, so what is the origin of this Azure Palace?"

(End of this chapter)