novelraw Chapter 137: Simple — I'll Just Become a Dao Lord
Chapter 137: Simple — I'll Just Become a Dao Lord
The celestial being turned evil spirit was already nearing the end of its life.
But even in death.
It wouldn't die that quickly.
It still needed some time.
Chen Huangpi didn't know how long — the celestial being had only said it had a few days left.
But regardless of how many days — even if it was just one.
As long as it remained in this temple, Chen Huangpi couldn't take the robe.
Because the moment he did, the celestial being would know.
And if it flew into a rage, he and the Brass Oil Lamp combined wouldn't stand a chance.
"If all else fails, just call Second Guanzhu for help.""Absolutely not."
"Why?"
"I've grown up."
Chen Huangpi said with displeasure. "Master can't leave the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Once I go out into the world, am I supposed to cry for Master every time I run into trouble?"
"The Evil Daoist is detestable — always 'your master this' and 'Huangpi dear' that."
"But one thing it said was right: a child who never leaves the crib will never grow up."
"It's not the Guanzhu. Its words can't be trusted."
The Brass Oil Lamp tried earnestly to talk sense into him. "You're still a child. You're only thirteen. Calling the Second Guanzhu for help isn't embarrassing. Besides, you're already shameless — since when do you care what people think?"
"Huang Er, what do you take me for?"
Chen Huangpi erupted in fury. "I'm not A Gui — some insider who got the job through connections."
"You're not a connections kid?"
The Brass Oil Lamp said with disdain. "The Emperor of the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty is your uncle. The sun and moon over the Hundred Thousand Mountains are the Guanzhu's Yang and Yin Gods. The Yin Emperor of the Underworld Yellow Spring is the Guanzhu's old friend."
"The Vast-Sight God watched you grow up."
"Yi Qingzhou was a Daoist of the Pure Immortal Temple."
"The Fox Mountain God was sculpted by Xu Qingshan. Golden Horn guarded the Scripture Pavilion."
"Even I, Huang Er, was created by the Guanzhu."
Hearing this.
Chen Huangpi took a deep breath and moved to activate the Dog Rearing Scripture.
The Brass Oil Lamp saw this and immediately backtracked. "I'm sorry, Chen Huangpi. I was wrong about you. Everything you've achieved today was through your own hard work and talent. No connections whatsoever."
"No — I did rely on connections a tiny bit."
Chen Huangpi said without a hint of shame. "But only a little. Master did teach me a great deal, after all. I'm not someone who forgets his roots."
The Brass Oil Lamp praised, "Chen Huangpi, you truly are the Guanzhu's finest disciple!"
"So how are you going to deal with this celestial being turned evil spirit?"
"I've already thought of a plan."
Chen Huangpi pointed at the celestial evil spirit below. "It's been coming here to pay homage to Master for who knows how many ages, calling itself a condemned citizen. Yet Master never once acknowledged it. So I'll simply grant its wish."
The Brass Oil Lamp was confused. "The Guanzhu is a Dao Lord. You may be his disciple, but this creature doesn't know you. And besides — you're not going to give it the Ascension Token, are you?"
"Of course not."
"Then what's your plan?"
"Simple. I'll just become a Dao Lord."
With that, Chen Huangpi — taking the Brass Oil Lamp with him — climbed straight into his master's dark cyan Daoist robe.
The instant he moved.
The Brass Oil Lamp shrieked in horror.
"Chen Huangpi, what are you doing?!"
"This is the Guanzhu's sacred robe! Fine — you climb in. But why are you dragging me along? Let me out! Let me out!"
It was just a robe.
But in a certain sense, this robe represented the Guanzhu himself.
Why else would the celestial evil spirit worship it?
The Brass Oil Lamp felt this was breaking a taboo — an enormous taboo.
Most critically.
The moment Chen Huangpi climbed inside, the robe puffed up with his shape.
The celestial evil spirit, which had been kneeling before the altar table waiting to die, could hardly fail to notice. It rose at once, its breast-eyes staring in bewildered confusion at what was happening.
"Chen Huangpi, stop — it's going to see us!"
"So what?!"
Chen Huangpi thrust his arms into the robe's sleeves, cleared his throat, and addressed the celestial evil spirit below: "You stand before this poor Daoist — why do you not bow?"
The celestial evil spirit's eyes went wide.
Its navel-mouth gaped open.
"Dao Lord! Is it truly you?"
"Naturally, it is this poor Daoist."
"But, Dao Lord."
The celestial evil spirit looked suspicious. "Why does your voice sound like a boy's?"
The Brass Oil Lamp had no idea what the celestial evil spirit was saying.
Its throat bone had been removed.
All it could do was let Chen Huangpi do his thing.
Chen Huangpi said in displeasure. "Are you calling this poor Daoist a child?"
"This condemned citizen would never dare..."
The celestial evil spirit's expression shifted. It had a feeling the being inside the robe might not be the Dao Lord.
But it was the Dao Lord's robe.
Setting aside whether it had the ability — even if it did, it wouldn't dare verify the truth.
"Dao Lord!"
The celestial evil spirit tested cautiously. "This condemned citizen has worshipped you here for seventeen thousand four hundred years. Now that you have descended — will you grant this condemned citizen an Ascension Token?"
Chen Huangpi replied, "You may worship this poor Daoist, but countless others worship this poor Daoist too. If everyone received an Ascension Token, wouldn't everyone be able to waltz into the Celestial Realm?"
"Dao Lord, this condemned citizen overstepped."
The celestial evil spirit lowered itself, a flash of anger in its eyes.
If it had been about sixty percent certain the Dao Lord inside the robe was a fraud before — now it was at eighty percent.
With this thought.
The celestial evil spirit said mournfully, "I inform the Dao Lord: this condemned citizen has only days left to live. If I cannot return to the Celestial Realm, then I beseech the Dao Lord to kill me instead."
"I have heard that the Dao Lord wields a sword named True Void. Might you show mercy beyond the law and use that sword to end me?"
"Very well. This poor Daoist grants your wish."
Chen Huangpi had naturally noticed the celestial evil spirit's wavering.
So with a thought, the Void-Piercing Sword materialized from thin air.
Its light flared.
And the entire temple was bathed in blinding, alabaster radiance.
The celestial evil spirit's expression changed subtly.
It had never seen the actual sword. But outside the Scripture Pavilion within this Old Temple, it had felt that sword qi before — that peerless, razor-sharp edge. And the divine sword this possibly false Dao Lord had summoned carried an aura identical to that.
Nothing it could not cut. All things would be severed.
Could the Dao Lord truly be here in person?
If so, then every word of its probing had been heard.
Chen Huangpi gave a half-smile. "What's the matter? Changed your mind about dying, condemned citizen?"
The celestial evil spirit said in terror, "Dao Lord, forgive me! Forgive me!"
"Oh? And what crime have you committed?"
"A grave crime. A great crime."
The celestial evil spirit prostrated itself on the ground and pleaded. "During the Heaven and Earth Mutation, the Dao Lord issued a decree commanding us — a million condemned citizens — to build the altar at this site. You explained the consequences clearly. As long as we did not leave, you would shelter us."
"But the Lord of the Small Scarlet Heaven descended during the changing of the sun and moon — during the Dao Lord's Dao Slashing."
"We were deceived. We believed he had come to take us back to the Celestial Realm — so we opened a path for him."
"Who could have known he had actually come for the stillborn?"
"Though the Dao Lord severed his head, the altar fell through the path we opened."
At this, the celestial evil spirit couldn't help but weep. "Now, seventeen thousand four hundred years have passed. Of all the condemned citizens who maintained the Old Temple, only I still live. I implore the Dao Lord to show mercy — let me return to my homeland before I die."
It said all this.
But Chen Huangpi was never going to let it go back to the Celestial Realm.
Besides, no matter how pitiable this celestial evil spirit was, it had committed a grave offense. Master had spelled out the stakes plainly, and these creatures had wanted to return to the Celestial Realm? Then they should have found their own way back.
Instead, they'd opened a path for the Lord of the Small Scarlet Heaven.
No matter how you spun it, that was collaboration from the inside.
Stupid and treacherous.
After all, even the gods that Master had brought from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty — the ones who had broken their oaths and made mistakes — had at least just packed up and left. Not a single one had sabotaged anything on the way out.
Their own people and these outsiders from the Celestial Realm really were different.
Chen Huangpi said coldly, "The Celestial Realm is gone. You can't go back."
"What?"
The celestial evil spirit exclaimed in shock. "How can the Celestial Realm be gone?"
Chen Huangpi said flatly. "This poor Daoist destroyed it."
Yi Qingzhou had once said that back in the day, the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty's resources had all been consumed by Chen Huangpi himself. Afterward, Chen Huang — his uncle — had gone to war with the Celestial Realm to seize enough resources to seal the Great Qian away.
The Great Qian's self-sealing had succeeded.
So the Celestial Realm couldn't have come out unscathed. Stripped of vast resources, it had likely already disintegrated during the Heaven and Earth Mutation.
The celestial evil spirit said in panic, "Dao Lord, please grant me an Ascension Token! Even if I must die, I want to die in the Celestial Realm!"
Hearing this.
Chen Huangpi felt nothing but disgust.
This celestial evil spirit was an ungrateful wretch — a wolf that would never be tamed. Master was simply too kind. If it had been up to Chen Huangpi, he would have slaughtered every last one of them the moment the altar was built.
But for now, all he needed was to get it out of the way.
So he let out a deliberate sigh. "This poor Daoist is no heartless ingrate, either. How about this — do one thing for this poor Daoist, and if you complete it within three days, this poor Daoist shall bestow an Ascension Token upon you."
As he spoke, he summoned Yi Qingzhou's Ascension Token with a thought.
The celestial evil spirit trembled all over with excitement.
But the token only flashed before its eyes for an instant before Chen Huangpi stowed it away again.
"Dao Lord, what task would you have me do?"
"This poor Daoist has a beloved disciple named Chen Huangpi. Do you know of him?"
"He slept within the altar for all those years. This condemned citizen is naturally aware of him."
Chen Huangpi said casually, "This poor Daoist's disciple is clever, obedient, supremely talented, and of the highest moral character. You shall write a chronicle of one million words praising his virtues."
The celestial evil spirit said, "This is simple. It need not take three days — give me one hour and the manuscript shall be complete. If the Dao Lord would wait just a moment."
"..."
Chen Huangpi continued, "This poor Daoist wasn't finished. The million words are only for praising him. You must also write ten million words describing how he surpassed this poor Daoist. And build a temple in his honor."
"Even so, that requires but a single day."
The celestial evil spirit said this, then rose to its feet and strode out of the temple.
Chen Huangpi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The Brass Oil Lamp said, "Chen Huangpi — now's our chance. Let's go."
"Wait a bit longer. The celestial evil spirit might not have left yet."
After another short while.
Chen Huangpi sent a thought into the Soul-Hooking Manual and stowed his master's robe inside.
Then, using the Brass Oil Lamp's concealment art, he moved to leave this accursed temple.
But the moment he reached the doorway.
A shield bearing a ghastly fanged face and a massive, sharp axe blocked his path.
The celestial evil spirit's enormous body filled the entrance. Cracks spiderwebbed across its skin, and wisps of pale-white mist seeped from every fissure.
"Dao Lord, there is one thing this condemned citizen forgot to mention. This condemned citizen is, in fact, the Lord of the Small Scarlet Heaven."
"However, since this condemned citizen is now an evil spirit, you may call me Chi Xie."
Chi Xie grinned savagely. "Had you not entered this temple, the crimson moon outside would have seen you, and I would have had no choice but to pretend you weren't there. Had you not taken the robe, I would not have dared act against you."
"But you did everything. And so — you are mine."
"Dao Lord, Dao Lord — what kind of Dao Lord are you? Huangpi the Dao Lord?"
"Ha ha ha — once I devour you, Huangpi Dao Lord, and take that Ascension Token, I can return to the Celestial Realm and feast on every immortal there."
In this moment.
Chen Huangpi knew — he'd been played by Chi Xie.
He was about to summon his master's robe again.
But Chi Xie merely slammed the axe against the shield with all its might.
BOOM.
The entire temple erupted in a blaze of iridescent light.
The mud-built walls transformed into writhing masses of living flesh. A strange force disrupted the connection between Chen Huangpi and the Soul-Hooking Manual, making it impossible to retrieve the robe.
Even Chi Xie's body melted into the flesh.
In the blink of an eye, the temple had become a monstrous, living entity.
There was no exit in sight.
And from amid the flesh, scarlet flames — red as blood — erupted.
It looked as though it intended to refine Chen Huangpi alive.
"This is my natal immortal fire!"
Chi Xie's hideous voice boomed from within the flesh. "I was born a fire essence who attained the Dao. When I became the Lord of the Small Scarlet Heaven, my natal immortal fire grew even more extraordinary. Though the Dao Lord killed me and I became an evil spirit, my fire seed never died. I used those celestial beings as kindling."
"I thought it was all for nothing. But as they say — one drink, one peck, all is predestined. Who would have thought fate would deliver you to me?"
"Today, I shall use this fire to refine and devour you."
Hearing Chi Xie's words.
Chen Huangpi said with a peculiar expression, "Huang Er, did it just say it's a fire-element being?"
The Brass Oil Lamp nodded and let out a long sigh. "The Liver Temple corresponds to wood. Wood feeds fire. Indeed — one drink, one peck, all is predestined."