On the Avenue.

Chapter 679 Dark Sea Heaven Path

Chen Shi gazed at the Qing Palace across the lake and compared it with the Qing Palace in the painting left by Confucius. The Qing Palace across the lake was significantly different.

The Green Palace in the painting is built on a mountain, and only a corner of it can be seen, hidden by the mountain and trees.

The Qing Palace on the opposite side of the lake is unobstructed and can be viewed in its entirety.

However, the Qing Palace across the lake appeared to be much smaller than the Qing Palace in the Dark Sea, as if it were merely a section of the Qing Palace.

Chen Shi hesitated for a moment, and was about to walk over the underground lake when a skeleton came into view under the collapsed rocks.

The skeleton was embedded in the stone wall, as if it had grown together with the stone, which was very strange.

Its flesh and blood have been petrified and turned into stone, but its bones remain intact.

It was still in the raised-hand position in the stone wall. Chen Shi carefully observed its arm and found traces of rope wrapped around its wrist.

"The bell that Senior Brother Bian found should have been hanging on the wrist of the skeleton," Chen Shi speculated.

He carefully examined the petrified skeleton. The skeleton's owner was likely a man, a humanoid or humanoid.

"It's as if something unexpected happened while it was rushing out, causing its body to petrify and be buried in this immortal gold mine, where it died."

Chen Shi tried to find more clues from the petrified clothing of the skeleton, but the person's clothing had also turned to stone, and only the texture could be barely discerned.

With a slight thought, the excess stones turned into dust and peeled away, and soon the clothes and garments of the skeleton emerged.

This clothing is not in the style of ancient China, but it still has the beauty of traditional Chinese clothing, with textured pleats that give it a high-quality feel.

It was woven from natural silk, and some bird-head-like patterns could be vaguely seen on the garment, but the stitches were extremely dense. Chen Shi stared at it and saw that the silk was imprinted with strange patterns, similar to the Daoist patterns of immortals, but with great differences.

"The laws of heresy!"

Chen Shi was greatly intrigued and tried to look more closely.

However, these heretical laws were carved on threads finer than silkworm silk, and these threads degraded during the petrification process. Although some heretical laws can be seen on them, most of them are not coherent, and the coherent parts are only seemingly coherent, with most of the content missing.

"What a pity."

Chen Shi sighed. His first Dao principle was just a Dao principle, which could form a divine power, but could not form a Dao field, nor could it refine a magic weapon.

If he could obtain the external laws on the clothing, the improvement he would receive would be unimaginable.

Chen Shi placed the petrified garment aside, thought for a moment, then put it away, thinking, "I'll give it to the outer disciples of Jin'ao Island to study; they might be able to find something out. Two hundred thousand people can't just sit idle; we need to find them some work to do."

He examined the skeleton closely, hoping to find some external laws imprinted on it. After all, some cultivation techniques imprint Dao patterns and Dao principles on one's bones to enhance one's strength.

To his disappointment, however, there were no external laws on the skeleton.

"This person doesn't resemble the Great Demon. The Great Demon is strangely shaped, but this skeleton looks like a human skeleton. Could he be a cultivator from the Dark Sea?"

Chen Shi buried the remains and built a tomb for them. He even wanted to erect a monument, but since he didn't know the person's name, he had to give up.

He walked towards the underground lake, but as soon as he arrived at the lakeside, he saw that the lake water under his feet seemed to come alive. The lake water seemed to grow countless tentacles, dancing and surging towards him!

"The Dark Sea".

Startled, he quickly retreated, dodging the attacks from the lake water!
The lake water was extremely peculiar. Even before getting close, it distorted and deformed the laws of his own Dao, causing his physical body and primordial spirit to change as well, seemingly transforming him into a non-human state!
Chen Shi was no stranger to this situation.

He had encountered a similar attack from the heretics when he was in Xiniu New Continent, but that was the pollution caused by the Yuan Worms, which was different from this direct invasion from the Dark Sea and was much more domineering!
"This lake has gathered the heretical forces of the Dark Sea!"

He spread out his Wuji Daoist temple, which expanded outwards with a hum, but was immediately suppressed by the lake water and could only expand to a size of about an acre.

The lake water, like countless tentacles, invaded his Dao field, and the scene was exactly the same as when he summoned the Dao Realm and the Xiniu New Continent appeared in the sky above the Earth Immortal Realm!
Chen Shi fully activated the Wuji Dao Field. The lake water eroded his Dao Field, transforming his Wuji Dao Principles into external Dao, while at the same time being assimilated by his Wuji Dao Field.

They were like two snakes, each eating the other's tail.

Chen Shi kept retreating, while actively shrinking the size of the dojo, quickly creating a delicate balance between the dojo and the outsiders.

After retreating several dozen feet, the lake water seemed to be quite wary of his dojo. Sensing the shift in power, it abandoned Chen Shi and the lake water receded.

Chen Shi took a few steps forward, but didn't get too close.

"Strange, how come there's a dark sea here? This dark sea seems to be guarding this Green Palace."

He hesitated for a moment, then transformed the Primordial Chaos Limitless Innate Skill into an Innate Demonic Skill, and walked towards the lake again.

His Hunyuan Wuji Xiantian Gong was half self-taught and half passed down from his master, and he also had extraordinary attainments in the demonic path.

As he approached, the lake water seemed to come alive, rippled slightly, and dense waves spread across its surface, as if warning him.

Chen Shi tried to get closer little by little, and the turbulence of the lake water became more and more intense.

Chen Shi eventually stopped.

Even the demonic path couldn't make this dark sea water lower its guard.

"This lake seems to operate under a peculiar set of rules. As long as one is within these rules, one will not be attacked by the lake water. But if one is outside these rules, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal might not be able to withstand the lake water's attack."

Thinking of this, he tentatively summoned the Heavenly Net Blood Transformation Divine Blade.

The Blood-Transforming Divine Blade had just flown to the lake's surface when it was caught by a gust of seawater and dragged into the lake.

"My knife!"

Chen Shi exclaimed in surprise. Although the Heavenly Net Blood Transformation Divine Blade was forged using the demonic path, it evolved from the immortal path and was essentially still governed by the laws of the immortal path.

"This demonic blade belongs to Yu Hua, and I obtained it from my disciple Chu Feng. I will return it to him in the future, so I cannot lose it."

He hesitated for a moment, then dispersed the Wuji Dao Field, transforming all the Wuji Dao techniques within into the First Dao Principle.

The first principle was an external principle he comprehended from the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth in Xiniu New Continent. It was extremely brief and unsystematic. Chen Shi did not comprehend any more principles. He used the first principle to form a Dao field, which was extremely rudimentary.

However, the first path to the Daoist practice did not offend the lake, which was clearly within the lake's rules.

Chen Shi walked forward and came to the lakeside, where the lake water seeped into his meditation space and flowed around him.

"The first method is too rudimentary; it cannot form a complete ritual and cannot protect me."

Chen Shi stood on the lake, keeping the Taoist temple in constant motion and change, thus preventing his body from sinking into the lake.

His first training ground was too simple; if it couldn't support his body, he would fall into the lake, and his fate would be absolutely miserable.

He looked towards the distant Green Palace, and heard the clear sound of bells again, as if someone lived in the Green Palace on the other side of the lake, shaking the copper bells in an attempt to contact the outside world. He immediately mustered his courage and walked forward.

He walked on the lake, causing the water below to ripple slightly.

The Heavenly Blood-Transforming Divine Blade sank to the bottom of the water. Chen Shi stared down, unable to see where the blade had fallen.

With a slight thought, he attempted to recall the sword. The Heavenly Net Blood-Transforming Divine Sword, emitting a faint red light at the bottom of the lake, slowly rose to the surface. Using this faint light, Chen Shi saw countless piles of white bones.

The bottom of this underground lake was filled with white skeletons!
Chen Shi was startled. He grabbed the Heavenly Net Blood Transformation Divine Blade that had surfaced and used its light to examine the scene at the bottom of the lake. He saw that the skeletons at the bottom of the lake, like the stone figures, were also humanoid races, but he didn't know why they had died here.

He composed himself and looked at the rest of the lake, where he saw countless white skeletons.

Chen Shi stood on the lake, surrounded by piles of bones at an unknown depth, making him appear extremely small.

"This underground lake and the Azure Palace likely existed even before the Immortal Realm. Therefore, the remains in the lake certainly weren't from immortals or mortals of the Immortal Realm. Who were they?"

He suppressed his doubts and continued forward, getting closer and closer to the Green Palace.

Suddenly, Chen Shi sensed a familiar power and was taken aback: "This power..."

He continued forward, and the closer he got to the Green Palace, the clearer the power became.

He was even more surprised.

He sensed the aura of the Heavenly Secrets Strategy from the Green Palace!

Not only that, he also sensed the power of other Heavenly Dao!
He possessed the Heavenly Secrets Strategy, and it even condensed in the sky above Xiniu New Continent, its Dao patterns shifting and changing, open to interpretation. Chen Shi could also occasionally capture a glimpse of heavenly secrets; he was no stranger to this power.

But why does this underground Green Palace exude the aura of the Heavenly Dao?

As he drew closer, the aura of the Heavenly Dao became more and more pronounced. He also sensed auras similar to those of the Jade Balance Sect, auras similar to those of the Jade Light Pool, and various other unfamiliar and vague auras—all sorts of things!
When he reached the other side, the aura was so strong that he even suspected that the Green Palace was hiding many Heavenly Dao treasures!

However, besides these familiar auras of the Heavenly Dao, there was another aura that made him uneasy. This aura was strange and powerful, and somewhat similar to that of the heretical paths.

"An alien Heavenly Dao!"

Chen Shi arrived at the gate of the Qing Palace, gazed at the deep and secluded palace, composed himself, and was about to enter when he suddenly heard the tinkling of copper bells, which startled him so much that he almost jumped up.

Chen Shi looked in the direction of the sound and saw a skeletal hand emerging from inside the gate of the Green Palace, with a copper bell hanging from its wrist.

"It scared me to death, I thought it was haunted."

Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief, walked into the Green Palace, and came to the corpse.

The clothes of the skeleton had long since decomposed. Leaning against the door, it was likely the skeleton of a woman. Before her death, she raised her wrist and shook the bell on it.

It is conceivable that the bell on the wrist of the stone figure would also ring on the other side.

She could tell whether the man had escaped by the sound of the bell.

Severely injured, she leaned against the door of the Green Palace, shaking the bell on her wrist. The bell rang, and the sound of bells could be heard from afar, which saddened her heart.

He did not escape.

The two were separated by a lake; one died on one side of the underground lake, and the other died on the other side.

Chen Shi removed the bell from the woman's wrist and carefully examined the patterns on it. Unlike the patterns of immortals or gods, the patterns were similar to the external laws on the clothes of the stone figure, but the structure was more complex and mysterious.

Chen Shi shook the bell, and the sound was clear and crisp. At the same time the bell rang, he could clearly sense another bell in another place.

"Indeed, they are two inextricably linked treasures."

Chen Shi was quite surprised. This was the first time he had ever encountered magical artifacts made using unorthodox methods, and there was even a pair of them!

That garment could also be considered a magical artifact, but unfortunately it has been destroyed.

"I wonder how powerful these bells are?"

Chen Shi examined the bells. The power of a single bell might not be great, but the power of two bells activated together would be extremely astonishing!

Especially the unorthodox path, which has a great offensive power against the immortal path, is extremely suitable for dealing with some immortal path masters!
"The other bell is with Senior Brother Bian. After we left, I asked him for it. I gave one to Xiao Duan and hung the other on my waist."

Chen Shi was about to bury the woman's remains when he thought for a moment. He picked up the woman's remains, returned the way he came, came to the other side of the lake, dug up the tomb of the stone man, and buried the woman's remains there as well.

"My two fellow Daoists, you cannot live together, but you can be buried together in death. May you have a safe journey."

After burying the two men, he crossed the underground lake again and arrived at the Green Palace.

As he stepped into the Azure Palace, the profound and vast aura of the Heavenly Dao overwhelmed him, giving him a sense of pilgrimage. But strangely, the aura of the Heavenly Dao was only part of it; the aura of external paths was far more prominent!

This Green Palace is just a large hall, divided into front and back. In front are stone pillars with stone dragons coiled around them, and the walls on both sides are covered with all kinds of strange heretical laws.

The aura of Heavenly Dao and the aura of the heretical path that Chen Shi sensed came from the heretical laws on the wall.

Further ahead is the courtyard, which is somewhat similar to the layout of "four waters returning to the hall".

Chen Shi looked up and saw a stone sculpture of a strange beast sitting in each of the four corners of the courtyard. They were somewhat similar to Qilin, but their appearances were different. They were most likely strange beasts from the Dark Sea.

Beyond the courtyard lies the rear hall.

In the very center is an incense burner, filled with petrified incense ash.

Several skeletons lay nearby, their bones turned to stone, suggesting they were of the same origin as the couple outside.

They collapsed and died suddenly while fleeing.

Chen Shi stood in front of the incense burner and looked behind it. What came into view was a shrine.

The altar was empty, without any sculptures of deities.

However, the aura of the Heavenly Dao and the heretical Dao emanating from the divine position is the most intense!
Chen Shi couldn't hold out for long either, and hurriedly left the Green Palace to avoid being corrupted by heretics.

"Strange, what exactly is this Green Palace used for?"

He arrived outside the palace and looked back at the green palace. In fact, he had seen similar layouts before; many temples dedicated to deities had similar layouts.

"In other words, this is actually a place where the cultivators of the Dark Sea worship their deities. But how can there be such a strong aura of the Heavenly Dao? Could this be a place where the Heavenly Dao is worshipped?"

He suddenly realized that the cultivators of the Dark Sea had personified the Heavenly Dao of the Dark Sea as a deity, and thus built the Azure Palace to worship him!

The one on this divine throne is actually a divine being transformed from the Heavenly Dao!

"The heretical laws on the walls are actually the principles of the Dao that cultivators of the Dark Sea comprehended by observing the Heavenly Dao Gods and Humans!"

He returned to the front hall of the Green Palace and carefully examined these heretical doctrines, becoming quite excited.

He obtained the Heavenly Secrets Strategy, but the Heavenly Secrets Strategy is only one-thirty-third of the Heavenly Dao of the Earthly Immortal Realm.

The Heavenly Dao of the Earthly Immortal Realm is only a part of the Heavenly Dao of the Dark Sea!

If he could comprehend the heretical laws on the walls of the front hall, his cultivation level would surely be greatly enhanced!
Chen Shi was stunned, and turned to look at the skeletons inside the Azure Palace: "Wait a minute, why are all these Dark Sea cultivators fleeing outwards?"

(End of this chapter)