Above the Great Dao
Chapter 63 - 40 Rescue

Chapter 63: Chapter 40 Rescue

Chen Shi really wanted to jump down, carry away one of the heavy Hongyi cannons, and place it at the entrance of the village. It would be magnificent, and wouldn’t the village children kneel and worship King Chen?

"I could ascend the throne once I return to the village!"

Unfortunately, the carriage did not stop.

Chen Shi swept his gaze toward the bodies on the ground, all dressed in Divine Mechanism Camp uniforms. However, each of these men had a small hole in their forehead, no bigger than a finger wide, very delicate.

The carriage sped him away.

Not much farther, another great Hongyi cannon came into view, its barrel cut off, surrounded by several more bodies of Divine Mechanism Camp soldiers.

In the same location on their brows, they all had a wound, as if marks left by fingernails pinching.

But, fingernails couldn’t penetrate a person’s skull.

As he went forward, the bodies increased in number, as did the Hongyi cannons.

Chen Shi’s heart pounded; last night he only saw a lone figure standing on the mountain peak, surrounded by a cold glow, and he hadn’t seen anything flying down the mountain to kill!

"What kind of weapon caused these wounds?"

Along the way, Chen Shi saw two to three hundred bodies, dozens of damaged Hongyi cannons.

Taoist Sun Simiao was revered as the Medicine King and Saint, the inventor of gunpowder, which contains the ultimate Yang and rigidity of thunder.

Cultivators and demonic spirits feared thunder the most, with heavenly tribulation primarily comprising Heavenly Thunder.

From that time, mortals possessed the power to slay gods and exterminate immortals.

To date, with gunpowder as the base, has been developed firearms like hand cannons, bird guns, thunder crash bombs, and cannons, with added cultivator’s talismans engraved on them, resulting in formidable power.

Divine Mechanism Camp was the Emperor’s directly-controlled imperial guard. Any new type of firearm would be found within the Divine Mechanism Camp.

But the most commonly used weapons in the Divine Mechanism Camp were still bird guns and Hongyi cannons, used against any master who disrespected the Emperor’s command, executed by cannon.

Even if one had achieved Nascent Soul, cultivated the Primordial Spirit, a cannon blast followed by the burst of Five Thunders would completely obliterate them!

This time, the Divine Mechanism Camp had mobilized so many Hongyi cannons and soldiers, determined to win, yet had suffered heavy casualties.

The carriage sped forward, and all the way past, he encountered no living person!

Ahead, the mountains where the cannons struck last night reappeared, the mountaintop still smoldering, with molten lava yet to solidify.

This was the horrific destructive power caused by pairing Hongyi cannons with the great Five Thunder Talisman!

However, now there were no sounds of thunder or cannon fire.

Chen Shi looked up to see that the mountaintop had been blasted away, with only a massive stone pillar about ten zhang thick left standing.

The stone pillar was over twenty zhang high, marked everywhere with traces of cannon and thunder strikes, molten lava below emitting steam.

The coachman cracked his whip, urging the four vigorous horses, speeding straight towards that pillar.

There came a tinkling sound from the pillar, like metal striking stone.

At this moment, it wasn’t fully light yet, the moon in the sky had just closed, the sun just starting to open its eyelids, the sky reddish-dark. If one looked into the distance, it was not very clear.

Suddenly, from above the stone pillar came waves of strange sounds, unclear and indistinct, as if divine beings were whispering. To divine beings, they were whispers, but to Chen Shi, they were deafening sounds that even penetrated his mind, buzzing!

Brilliant divine lights surged from the ground, rushing towards the sky!

In the sky sat a supreme divine entity, enveloped in golden light, enormously vast. Chen Shi didn’t know whose Primordial Spirit it was. Brilliance shone from behind its head, forming a halo; it leaned forward, hand reaching towards the pillar!

Suddenly, a cold light soared, moving swiftly with a whoosh, and the supreme divine entity’s neck spot glowed as its head slowly slid off.

A scream echoed from the pillar, followed by a body falling down, landing right in front of the carriage.

The headless divine entity in the sky collapsed, disintegrating, turning into Spiritual Energy, forming auspicious clouds that uplifted the spirits, and the grass and trees on the other mountains seemed much lusher.

"Xiao Wangsun is indeed extraordinary; experienced it now!"

A female figure rapidly disappeared into the sky, likely the Jin Hongying Chen Shi had seen last night.

The stone pillar was almost vertical, and the carriage could not climb it, Chen Shi seeing this, jumped down from the carriage.

The coachman said, "Thank you, Young Master Chen."

Chen Shi listened carefully; all around the only sounds were those of cooling, cracking molten lava, and nothing else.

He steadied his spirit, climbed the rocks, using both hands and feet, quickly reaching the top of the stone pillar, just a few steps away from the summit.

"Crash—"

Some rocks were kicked down by him into the molten lava below.

Chen Shi nearly missed his step, but fortunately, his hand caught a crack in the rock. He looked down; the carriage seemed palm-size, whereas the pool of lava nearby was not, about half an acre in size.

"If I fall, even Grandfather’s Water and Fire Refining might not save me."

Chen Shi steadied his spirit again and continued climbing until he reached the top of the stone pillar.

There, laying haphazardly, were several bodies, each emanating immense dignity and an overwhelming force that made it hard for Chen Shi to breathe.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Chen Shi shouted a few times to embolden himself, moved forward, and began searching around. Behind a rock, he found Xiao Wangsun.

Xiao Wangsun lay face-up on the ground, blood pooling beneath him.

In front of him, in the rock, was stuck a brilliantly shining thin sword, with eight sides, a slender waist in the middle, and the hilt inlaid with tortoiseshell, turquoise, and other treasures.

A gentleman among swords, modest and gentle. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

That was the impression the sword gave to Chen Shi.

As Chen Shi approached, suddenly a shrill, piercing sound rang by his ear; a cold glimmer brushed past his eyes.

Chen Shi immediately halted.

Strands of hair gently floated down.

Behind him came a cracking sound, followed by the sound of stone grinding; the rock was invisibly sliced by Sword Qi and slowly slid away.

Chen Shi dared not move, and shouted loudly, "Senior Xiao, it’s Chen Shi speaking! Can you hear me?"

There was no response from Xiao Wangsun for a long time.

Chen Shi tentatively lifted his foot, and no Sword Qi attacked.

He sighed with relief, but just as he was about to step down, his foot suddenly paused in midair and did not fall.

A tiny sword appeared between his brows, only three or four inches long, but the hilt and blade were distinctly visible; the sword even had eight facets.

This delicate little sword floated in the air, pointing directly at his forehead, preventing Chen Shi from making any rash movements.

Now he finally understood how the Divine Machine Camp soldiers at the foot of the mountain had died.

Xiao Wangsun had two swords, one long and one short.

The long sword split the cannonballs that roared towards him, while the short one flew down the mountain to slay enemies and sever the red barbarian cannons!

The cooperation between the two swords, long and short, was what allowed him to overcome his adversaries!

"Senior Xiao, I am Chen Shi!"

Chen Shi shouted loudly, but Xiao Wangsun still did not respond.

Chen Shi’s forehead was covered with cold sweat, and the foot he had raised did not dare touch the ground; these two swords clearly possessed consciousness and protected their master autonomously.

The long sword emitted Sword Qi, while the short sword flew up to kill.

If he made the slightest move, he feared the swords would strike him down on the spot!

Chen Shi’s eyes fixed on the small sword in front of his brow, he slowly moved his hand at an incredibly slow pace, gradually reaching into his chest.

After a moment, he finally pulled his hand out of his chest.

He held several sticks of incense!

Chen Shi’s other hand moved sluggishly to fetch a lighter.

After a long time, he managed to light those sticks of incense.

"Two seniors, I am Senior Xiao’s friend, Chen Shi. I have come to rescue Senior Xiao. If I am late, I fear it might be detrimental to Senior Xiao’s life."

The smoke from the incense drifted towards the two swords. The long sword suddenly flew up and, with a ting sound, lodged itself into a sheath beside it, while the small sword hesitated, swaying indecisively.

Chen Shi, holding the incense, said, "If we don’t save him now, it might be too late."

The small sword hesitated for a moment, then flew to Chen Shi’s ear. As Chen Shi moved, it moved with him, as if ready to sever his head the moment he threatened Xiao Wangsun.

Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief, guessing that the two swords were sentient, which is why he had thought of using incense to communicate.

"Granny Sha was right, ’Maintain reverence and every path is open; lack reverence, and even the path of life might turn into a path of death.’"

Chen Shi stepped forward, checked Xiao Wangsun’s breathing, and found it still there. Upon examining the injuries, he saw that Xiao Wangsun was severely wounded, not just with scars from lightning and cannon shots, but also from various spells and weapons, with his life hanging by a thread.

"If it were me, I would have probably died long ago."

Chen Shi picked him up and moved to the edge of the stone pillar. By now, the dawn had fully broken, and the sun was slowly transitioning from flat to round.

Chen Shi hesitated. Even alone, he dared not jump from such a height, let alone carrying the heavily injured, unconscious Xiao Wangsun.

But how to get down was indeed a problem.

At that moment, Xiao Wangsun, groggy, opened his eyes, saw him, and rasped, "Go quickly... Hongying will be back..."

"We can’t get down the mountain! We can’t escape!" Chen Shi’s forehead broke out in cold sweat.

Xiao Wangsun’s hand dropped, his finger pointing towards the long sword, he slightly moved it.

The long sword, along with its sheath, flew up, appearing in the air right in front of Chen Shi, motionless.

Chen Shi, sensing an opportunity, tried stepping onto the sheath and as he did, it sank slightly under his weight, bearing him slowly downward.

Before long, Chen Shi’s feet touched solid ground, and he rejoiced, "Senior Xiao, we’ve come down! Senior Xiao?"

Xiao Wangsun did not make a sound, having passed out again.

Chen Shi immediately picked up Xiao Wangsun and put him on a cart, shouting, "Quick! To see Granny Zhuang!"

The coachman, puzzled, did not know where Granny Zhuang was.

"Follow me!"

Chen Shi jumped off the cart and sped away.

Seeing this, the coachman cracked the whip, and the horses pulled the cart, racing after Chen Shi.

Chen Shi ran for dozens of miles, reaching the outskirts of Gangzi Village, then entered the large mountains. After another ten miles of mountain roads, they finally arrived at Granny Zhuang’s residence.

"Wait here for me! Granny Zhuang, please help this man prolong his life first!"

Chen Shi, unable to say more, put down Xiao Wangsun, and immediately continued running toward the mountain streams and forests.

Half an hour later, Granny Zhuang’s tree hollow was crowded with "people," several chubby babies with tiger-like heads and tearful faces, holding their heads, as their ginseng grass fruits were picked yet again, a few given to the man lying in bed.

"He’s taken the ginseng grass fruit and is out of mortal danger, but his other injuries are too severe for the fruits to heal," Granny Zhuang apologized.

Xiao Wangsun remained unconscious. Although the external wounds had healed, the most serious injuries were from the lightning strikes and the Divine Machine Camp’s mighty spells.

These injuries could not be cured by medicinal stones.

"Thank you, Granny, thank you, fruit!"

Chen Shi hastily thanked them, and the chubby babies crowded around him, looking up, their plump hands gesturing non-stop, asking for more toys.

Chen Shi agreed, picked up Xiao Wangsun again, and placed him back into the cart, saying, "We’re heading to Mirror Lake Villa."

The coachman set off again, and the cart sped away.

The midday scene at Mirror Lake Villa was still as gloomy and quiet as before, with no sound of cicadas or birds.

The pool water was ice-cold to the bone, and the tall trees blocked all sunlight; the cart rumbled slowly, stopping outside the villa.

Chen Shi picked up Xiao Wangsun, walked into the villa, and began lifting the layers of Xiao Wangsun’s coffin, placing him inside.

Just as Chen Shi was about to close the layers of the coffin, the long sword suddenly flew in and fell into the coffin.

The small sword, unhurried, circled around the coffin, apparently guarding from outside.

Chen Shi closed the five layers of the coffin, breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered, "Mirror Lake Villa can naturally save lives; Senior Xiao was previously injured and came here to recuperate. Besides, outsiders can’t enter this villa, so even if Hongying finds this place, she won’t be able to enter."

Mirror Lake Villa was built by Grandpa and people like King Xiao, and several coffins already housed people, each one’s abilities no less than King Xiao’s.

If Hongying could track them here, she would face several fighters like King Xiao!

"The safety of Senior Xiao is not a major concern now, so about the red barbarian cannon and the coronation..." Chen Shi’s heart was aflame, looking towards the carriage outside the villa.

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