Above the Great Dao
Chapter 622 - 284: Convincing People with Reason

Chapter 622: Chapter 284: Convincing People with Reason

Qixia Temple wasn’t vast, its patron deities were two bronze statues. The towering divine images that Chen Shi had just seen were the result of the extraordinary power that had accumulated within these bronze statues due to the long-term worship and the ever-increasing incense fire, forming divine presences.

Chen Shi proceeded to the main hall, offered incense to the two bronze deities, bowed, and felt relieved only after seeing his incense fire accepted by the statues.

Being a country boy, he held great respect for the opinions of his godmothers.

Of course, if these two godmothers showed ungratefulness, Chen Shi wouldn’t mind bringing them into his modest temple and asking Stone Rock Lady to discipline them.

There was an odd aura within Qixia Temple, ancient and profound, and the same aura emanated from the bronze statues.

Yu Lingzi said, "The old site of Qixia Temple was originally a ruin. Many of the palaces were built on the foundations of these ruins. It’s possible that the statues are remnants from the True King Era or even artifacts from prehistoric times."

Chen Shi inquired, "As a Daoist of the Taoist sect, do you recognize these statues?"

In the countryside too, there were many similar relics, with unknown origins and ages.

Some were stone statues, others bronze, even wooden carvings of gods and demons, stone towers, bronze bell towers, ancient wells, or steles. Many of the godmothers worshipped by the villages were these kinds of objects, not necessarily just trees.

These items, either remnants or left from the True King Era, after being worshipped by locals over time, gradually acquired spirituality. They could gather the Incense Fire Qi into extraordinary power, thus becoming godmothers that protect a place.

Yu Lingzi said, "In my Taoist sect, most records about the various Taoist gods have been lost, with only a few incomplete scriptures remaining. I’ve heard from the elders in my sect that the first group of Taoists who landed on the West Bull New Continent brought many soldiers and warhorses, which later disappeared without trace."

Chen Shi, puzzled, asked, "Soldiers and warhorses?"

Yu Lingzi replied, "They are the warhorses raised by our Taoist ancestors, long supported by incense fire, handed down to the present, and possessing divine might."

Chen Shi suddenly understood, much like Granny Sha’s Five Ghost Kings.

The Five Ghost Kings might not be that powerful, but if Granny Sha passed away and left them to her descendants, with non-stop worship through generations, after a few thousand years of consecration, the Five Ghost Kings’ strength could probably rise to the level of gods and demons.

This was the origin of the ancestral warhorses.

Taihua Qing Palace indeed must have brought many ancestral warhorses from the Huaxia Divine Continent to protect Taihua Qing Palace and suppress the Evil Spirits and demons on the West Bull New Continent.

But, why did these ancestral warhorses disappear?

Why was there also no record in Taihua Qing Palace regarding the reason for their disappearance?

Yu Lingzi led him to meet Fan Kongliu and others, and said, "Yesterday, I talked to the three senior uncles about this. They said that when your grandfather came to Taihua Qing Palace, he had perused these scriptures, intending to find those vanished divine beings and reassemble the Luotian Dajiao, Circulation Heaven Great Jiao, and Universal Jiao. Later, it’s unknown whether he succeeded."

Chen Shi, recalling the Luotian Dajiao that his grandfather passed down to him, said, "Grandfather was halfway successful, but then got held up by my matters."

Yu Lingzi, puzzled, asked, "Your matters?"

"I died," Chen Shi said.

Yu Lingzi then remembered that Chen Shi was the Child Scholar, who had his Innate Dao Embryo severed and tragically died after the county examination.

At that time, Chen Yindou had been exploring the secrets of the decline of the gods at the end of the True King Era. Hearing the news, he rushed over, went into a frenzy, and after a massacre in the Western Capital, he had been trying to revive Chen Shi. In the end, his lifespan was drained, and he died of old age in Huangpo Village.

The two arrived at the back courtyard of Qixia Temple. Chen Shi looked up and saw a White Jade Path rising from the ground, leading up into the sky.

The White Jade Path was barely thirty feet long and only about a foot and a half wide, suspended in midair with no apparent support.

Yet this diminutive White Jade Path astonishingly bore a palace, which stood firm and motionless.

The White Jade Path gave off an incredibly ancient feeling.

When Chen Shi stepped onto the path, it felt to him not like he was approaching a palace, but entering another mysterious space.

"This White Jade Path should be a relic from prehistoric times. It’s said that when the Western Capital was being founded, a white-robed female immortal would appear at the other end of the path every night, extending her hand to the mortal realm as if to take someone to ascend to immortality," Yu Lingzi said.

"Many in the Western Capital were enticed by this female immortal, stepping onto the path, standing at the end of the path, and grabbing the hand of the white-robed immortal. Then they disappeared. There are rumors that this woman isn’t a true Immortal but a Ghost Immortal, and those she took didn’t become immortals but were eaten by her, turning into ghosts," Yu Lingzi continued.

Chen Shi was captivated and asked, "And then?"

Before Yu Lingzi could reply, a resonant voice came from above, "Afterward, too many people disappeared, and the Prime Minister of the Cabinet ordered that Lanyue Palace be built to suppress the White Jade Path. Since then, no more occurrences involving the white-robed Ghost Immortal happened. This monk chose to live in Lanyue Palace also wishing to see this female immortal when night falls. Unfortunately, I have never gotten my wish."

Chen Shi looked up and saw a white-robed monk standing in front of Lanyue Palace, smiling and gazing down at them.

He was Fan Kongliu from the Water Moon Sacred Realm, known for his romantic charm. Rumor had it that he had involved himself with many women from the Western Capital, yet paradoxically, his Buddhist Law was profound, and his cultivation powerful.

Fan Kongliu, in his white-black robe, was bald, with fair skin, a prominent nose, well-proportioned features, exhibiting both masculine firmness and a hint of seductiveness. He approached them barefoot, greeting with a single hand and said, "Fan Kongliu has seen Mr. Chen."