Above the Great Dao

Chapter 1216 566: Master of Settling Debts in the Earth Immortal Realm

Chen Shi turned around and left, flying through the air.

The Small Circulation Tribulation Array he had set was on the four walls of the alchemy room.

He merely comprehended the cultivation technique from the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection, unable to deduce the divine skill associated with it out of thin air. Fortunately, the Heavenly Venerate had demonstrated this divine skill before him. With a single glance, Chen Shi understood the principle of the Small Circulation Tribulation Array and deduced it.

After he departed, the female disciples, panic-stricken, rushed over. Upon seeing the lost Immortal Furnace, they became horrified and speechless.

They scurried around like headless flies until an elder female disciple shouted loudly, "Silence! Calm down everyone!"

The crowd gradually calmed down.

That female disciple said, "The Lady is at Immortal Lord Hua's Huaguang Mansion attending a banquet and is not here. We cannot be absolved of blame for such a major incident. Did any of you see the faces of those thieves just now?"

The group shook their heads individually. Lady Houtu had covered her face and used her sleeve to mask it further. Chen Shi had enveloped his face in a cloud of green mist, and it was expected that these cultivators could not discern his true appearance from their level of cultivation.

Just then, a muffled voice was heard, "I clearly saw the male thief's face just now."

The women followed the voice to see an old turtle, whose shell spanned several acres and appeared extremely ancient, with profound cultivation, stationed by Yuan Fairy to guard the Jade Court.

The old turtle's cultivation was incredibly high, yet he did not act when Chen Shi and Lady Houtu came to seize the Red Yuan Pill Furnace.

"Uncle Turtle, how about the appearance of the female?"

The old turtle hesitated and said, "I did not see clearly."

"Uncle, why did you not stop them?" asked a woman.

"I am far from being their match."

The old turtle's primordial spirit emerged as he picked up a brush and painted, soon portraying Chen Shi's appearance.

As for Lady Houtu, he hesitated briefly and only depicted her clothing.

The women breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "With the portrait, finding this person becomes much simpler, and we will not face severe punishment."

They burned incense and talismans to contact Yuan Bixia Fairy to report the incident and then waited quietly.

"Senior Sister, what about the writing in the alchemy room?" a woman asked.

The Senior Sister said, "Let the Lady decide."

After waiting for a moment, Yuan Fairy hastily returned to the Guangyuan Realm with an iron-blue face, questioning sternly, "Who did this?"

She did not come alone. A figure, shrouded in radiance and exuding extraordinary nobility, accompanied her—her husband, Immortal Lord Hua.

Yuan Fairy was ostensibly visiting as a guest but was in reality engaged in intimacy with her husband. Hence, upon hearing the news, Immortal Lord Hua followed her.

The women exchanged glances and shook their heads, saying, "We did not see the faces of the thieves. Fortunately, Uncle Turtle saw through the male's disguise and painted the thief's appearance."

Yuan Fairy took the painting, examined it, and sneered, "Post it everywhere. Search the entire Guangyuan Realm, and capture this little thief and bring him to justice!"

Her anger was unabated as she headed towards the alchemy room in the Jade Court.

Before leaving, she had placed a batch of spiritual medicine in the Red Yuan Pill Furnace to extract Dan Dew, unsure of its completion.

The thought of the loss caused her heart to ache as if cut by a knife.

Immortal Lord Hua did not follow her to the alchemy room but instead examined the two paintings, shaking his head, saying, "Anyone capable of entering the True Immortal Dao Realm to steal treasures cannot be from Guangyuan Realm. People from Guangyuan Realm lack that capability."

He shifted his gaze from Chen Shi's portrait to Lady Houtu's, scrutinizing it further.

"Old Turtle, you depicted some Incense Fire Qi in this painting."

Immortal Lord Hua glanced at the old turtle, his tone mild, "So this lady is a Divine being."

The old turtle replied, "Reporting to the Immortal Lord, this old servant did not see clearly."

Immortal Lord Hua pondered momentarily, thinking, "There are few Divine beings in the world that can enter the Immortal Dao Realm..."

As he thought this, suddenly a furious shout from Yuan Bixia Fairy came from the alchemy room, "How infuriating!"

Immortal Lord Hua was about to rush over when his expression changed. In a flash, he moved towards the alchemy room and arrived outside in an instant!

In her rage, Yuan Bixia Fairy saw a line of poetry on the wall and stepped into the alchemy room. At that moment, the Small Circulation Tribulation Array on the walls erupted!

In an instant, the power of the Ancient Star Sea burst forth. Three hundred and sixty-five stars, three hundred and sixty-five Star Lords, formed a formation. The place where Yuan Bixia Fairy stood turned into a vast ocean of Star Power, with her physical body and primordial spirit under intense pressure from the stars!

Yuan Bixia Fairy was caught off guard. Her body crackled as it was rapidly compressed.

She looked around, as if trapped in the vast ocean of the Ancient Star Sea, where each awe-inspiring star wielded a Divine Artifact, hurtling towards her!

The destruction of stars' tribulation waves surged to engulf her.

Even though her realm exceeded Chen Shi's by several Dao Realms, she could not withstand the killing divine power from such a high-level cultivation technique as the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection.

The Daoist Divine Powers in the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection were of such high caliber that she could find no flaws and had to endure the power of the tribulation array!

"Overestimating oneself!"

Suddenly, Immortal Lord Hua's voice came from outside. The star sea around Yuan Fairy swirled violently as one towering Star Lord after another disintegrated, vaporizing into nothing. Then the star sea collapsed, the tribulation wave vanished, and the surroundings returned to clarity.

Yuan Fairy's body also recovered, still apprehentious. As she looked up, she saw Immortal Lord Hua at her side, mitigating the power of the Small Circulation Tribulation Array and breaking the array.

She glanced at the poem on the wall again, feeling both ashamed and angry, moving forward to scrape the writing clean.

Immortal Lord Hua also glanced at the two lines of poetry left by Chen Shi and did not comment.

Yuan Fairy, still fuming with anger, turned to see Immortal Lord Hua. Her heart shook slightly as she gracefully bowed, saying, "That thief not only stole the opportunity bestowed by you, my lord, but also left words to humiliate me and had the intention to kill me. This crime is unforgivable. I beg you, my lord, to seek justice for me!"

Immortal Lord Hua calculated with his fingers, and his expression changed slightly. He couldn't discern the origins of Chen Shi and Lady Houtu, causing him to frown slightly.

He surveyed the surroundings again, his brows furrowing even tighter.

"This kind of divine skill comes from the Earth Immortal Realm; it's a supreme Daoist Divine Power. The person who left the divine skill is a disciple of a significant figure in the Earth Immortal Realm, and I can't afford to offend that figure."

Immortal Lord Hua shook his head and said, "You'll have to endure this grievance for now. If there's a chance in the future, perhaps you can have your revenge."

Yuan Fairy, being obedient, assented and stood up, saying, "Thank you, my lord."

Immortal Lord Hua held her waist, still somewhat puzzled.

"I've only seen such divine skills once before, but how could a disciple of that being come to a remote place like the Guangyuan Realm to steal my concubine's treasure?"

Chen Shi caught up with Lady Houtu, who was cheerfully carrying the Red Yuan Pill Furnace on her shoulder, briskly making her way back.

Chen Shi hurriedly said, "Godmother, let me do it."

"No need for you!"

Lady Houtu waved her hand and said, "I can manage this small task!"

In the past, it was always her directing Chen Shi and others to steal from enemies, but this was her first time personally stepping out, and she couldn't contain her excitement.

Chen Shi could only follow her. The two of them pushed on diligently, taking half a day to return to Houde Palace.

——Today, Chen Shi felt that the signboard of Houde Palace looked even newer, and the words "Houde" seemed a bit glaring.

The furnace inside had a batch of Immortal Pills being refined.

Lady Houtu smiled and said, "It's just the right time to test the usefulness of the Dan Dew. Your Majesty, retrieve the Wu Qi."

Chen Shi went to the side of a copper basin and retrieved two finger bones from the bottom of the basin.

Lady Houtu tossed over a small jade bottle, presumably for storing Spirit Pills, and said, "Put the Wu Qi in the bottle."

Following her instructions, Chen Shi placed the two finger bones into the bottle.

Lady Houtu said, "When I open the Pill Furnace, you'll have to raise the jade bottle to collect the Dan Dew."

She opened the Red Yuan Pill Furnace, and immediately, a white mist surged up from the furnace. The Spirit Pills inside buzzed around as if they had wings, flying out in a horde, circling around Houde Palace, and were about to fly outward.

Chen Shi had already raised the jade bottle and collected the white mist into it.

The white mist met the bottle and instantly condensed into drops of Dan Dew.

Chen Shi looked into the bottle and saw that the Dan Dew barely covered the bottom.

Lady Houtu's sleeves flew, blocking and collecting the Immortal Pills, and she laughed, "This Red Yuan Pill Furnace is no ordinary object. The Immortal Pills it refines don't work as well as the Dan Dew. Dan Dew extracts the essence from the Immortal Pills; even a common drop could greatly enhance a True Immortal's cultivation."

She leaned over to look; the Dan Dew was being absorbed by the two finger bones, gradually decreasing.

On the finger bones, Dao Patterns lit up, showcasing the Witch Sacrificial Dao Pattern of the Undying Immortal Method!

Lady Houtu laughed and said, "Mission accomplished."

Chen Shi glanced at the Dan Dew in the bottle, then at the Red Yuan Pill Furnace, mumbling, "How many Spirit Pills need to be refined to resurrect the Wu Qi?"

The Lady chuckled, "That's the price of doing good deeds. Your Majesty, the Spirit Pills from this furnace are quite decent. Why don't you try some?"

She tossed over that bottle of Immortal Pills.

Chen Shi caught it, tasted one, and the Immortal Pill was indeed excellent. As soon as it entered his stomach, he felt as if his Primordial Spirit was being refined in the furnace fire, continually being enhanced!

"This Spirit Pill is indeed impressive!"

Chen Shi ate two more, feeling as though his Primordial Spirit was undergoing unprecedented refinement in a great furnace!

"Truly a fine item!"

He looked at the jade bottle containing Dan Dew with envy, saying, "Even the residue is so good; how wonderful the Dan Dew must be? Fellow Daoist Wu Qi, you're enjoying far better than I am!"

He frowned slightly, thinking about the immense amount of Dan Dew needed for Wu Qi, and where to find the Immortal Elixirs required to refine the Immortal Pills?

Lady Houtu sat on the lotus platform, with her delicate hands gently marking an entry in a ledger, striking off Yuan Bixia's name. Seeing him hesitating, she lightly coughed, smiling warmly as she caressed her thick ledger.

"Godmother!"

Chen Shi beamed, leaning closer, and said, "Do any of your good friends grow Immortal Elixirs? I'm not asking for myself but to help ease godmother's troubles!"

Lady Houtu was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Your Majesty's filial piety touches the heavens. Indeed, there are some bad debts here that I can't settle. If you're interested, would you take me along?"

Chen Shi hesitated. To be frank, he thought Lady Houtu was still a novice in the business of stealing, too naive. He didn't really want to bring her along.

Besides, if this gets exposed, where would Lady Houtu's reputation go?

Lady Houtu's face darkened slightly.

Seeing this, Chen Shi quickly smiled and said, "Godmother, whatever you say goes! Mother and son are of one heart, undefeatable together! Let's settle these accounts together!"