Chen Shi shook his head.
The Divine Embryo represented the degree to which a True God recognized a cultivator’s natural talent, the lower the grade of the Divine Embryo, the lower the cultivator’s natural talent.
The lowest Illusion Embryo, reflected just how poor the talent was, just a tiny bit higher than that of an ordinary person.
Xiao Wangsun said, "This person is as stubborn as an ox, very stubborn, very persistent, believing that he will not waste his life. His classmates and colleagues have already cultivated to the Divinity Transformation Stage, achieved Golden Core Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, but he was still in the Divine Embryo Realm. Yet, he didn’t give up. He continuously honed his Divine Embryo, tirelessly practiced his foundations. Ten years later, he entered the Divinity Transformation Stage, achieved a Golden Core. By then, his old friends had become powerful beings in the God Refining Stage, and the distance between them grew ever larger. But in the next ten years, this dull person finally caught up with his old friends. Another ten years passed, and with accumulated might bursting forth, he became almost invincibly powerful, his name shook the world and he astonished everyone."
He paused, then continued, "His Illusion Embryo was almost equal to none, yet it was his perseverance, his relentless determination, that led him to great achievements. If he could do it, so could you."
Chen Shi was invigorated, his face lit up with hope as he looked up to Xiao Wangsun with admiration, "The person senior speaks of, could it be senior yourself?"
Xiao Wangsun shook his head, his demeanor proud, "I practiced from a young age, formed an embryo at nine and obtained one of the strongest Divine Embryos. I was renowned throughout the world in my youth, how could I be as foolish?"
Chen Shi was stunned, stammering, "Then who is this person..."
"This fool’s surname is Chen, given name Yindu, your grandfather," Xiao Wangsun said calmly.
Chen Shi was incredibly surprised. Was his grandfather really that formidable?
He didn’t have many interactions with Xiao Wangsun, but he could tell Xiao Wangsun was proud and conceited. To win his praise, one must be exceptionally outstanding.
To be praised by someone like Xiao Wangsun as having nearly invincible mana meant that person’s mana was truly invincible!
Yet, how could his grandfather, who seemed to be an old man on his last legs, whose greatest skill was talisman painting, supporting the family by it, possess nearly invincible mana?
What else was his grandfather hiding from him?
"Regardless of the past, grandfather is old now."
Chen Shi felt melancholic, thinking to himself, "He’s aged. No matter how strong he once was, now he’s just a frail old man. His appetite is even abnormal lately. He needs someone to take care of him."
The carriage entered the foothills, and as the road ahead became increasingly rugged, the four spirited horses continued as if on flat ground.
After an unknown amount of time, the carriage arrived at the foot of a mountain where, astonishingly, there was a city brightly lit at night.
Chen Shi was utterly amazed. He was the local snake of Qianyang Mountain, traveling all around with his grandfather. Was there a place on Qianyang Mountain they hadn’t been to?
Since when had there been a city in the mountains?
The carriage entered this curious city. Its walls were high, the surfaces smooth, the watchtowers taller, and the city gate bore the characters for Wuwang.
Chen Shi sat in the carriage, looking around, only to see ghastly ghosts with green faces and fierce fangs lining the streets, their faces terrifying, wielding weapons like axes and pitchforks.
His heart throbbed as he observed the citizens coming and going within the city—many were maimed or decapitated, obviously dead.
Occasionally, there were those who appeared intact, but whether they were alive or dead was indiscernible.
"Is this an underworld city?"
He felt a chill inside.
He looked around; the place was ablaze with lights and laughter, which didn’t match the underworld he had previously visited.
Chen Shi had died once and had been to the underworld, a place shrouded in gloom, where people shuffled like zombies through the fog, preyed on by unseen entities hidden in the mist.
Yet here, it was like a city of joy, free from the troubles of the mortal world and the malice of the underworld, where the ghosts seemed to be having a grand time.
"This place is called Wuwang. Wuwang means that evil and deceit cannot prevail here, and no one dares to lie. In this city, no one is allowed to lie."
Xiao Wangsun said, "I chose to meet here for this very reason. The person coming is skilled in lying, and I would not believe a word she said outside this city. Here one cannot tell lies, for if you do, you’ll have your tongue pulled out."
Chen Shi blinked, so speaking untruths was forbidden here?
"Everyone in the village calls me ’Honest Cheng Shi’; I never lie. Coming to this Wuwang City, I should fit right in."
Despite saying this, Chen Shi still dared not voice it aloud, preferring to keep the thought to himself.
Just as he had this thought, he felt a strange force tugging at his tongue!
Thankfully, he had only thought it, for if he spoke it out loud, his tongue would likely not be spared.
"I absolutely have no desire for that young lady!" someone shouted from the side of the road.
Chen Shi looked over at the source of the voice, a couple arguing; the husband had just uttered these words when involuntarily he opened his mouth and, with a puff, his tongue flew out of his mouth and dropped to the ground.
A dog darted out and snatched the bouncing tongue from the ground.
Chen Shi shivered, but around him, onlookers began to laugh with their mouths wide open.
He noticed that many of them had no tongues in their mouths either.
"They had their tongues pulled out for lying."
Chen Shi shuddered; truly, one could not lie in this city!
"This city is specifically designed to deal with honest folks like me!" he thought to himself.
The carriage brought them to an inn and stopped; a waiter hurried out to help park the carriage in the backyard.
Xiao Wangsun descended the stairs and was led by the waiter to a private room on the second floor by the windowsill.
Chen Shi carefully observed that the attendant was no ordinary person, as he had four arms, each carrying a plate, attentively serving the guests.
"Do you have any good tea that nourishes the spirit? I have guests to entertain," asked Xiao Wangsun.
"Sir Xiao, we have some fresh puerh tea from the southern mountains, which we ’acquired’ by slaying some merchants from there; it has an excellent taste. Would you like to try it?"
Xiao Wangsun nodded gently and waved his hand.
The waiter immediately went to brew the tea.
Once the tea was served, Xiao Wangsun took out a ten-silver piece and placed it on the table; Chen Shi thought the silver looked familiar.
Xiao Wangsun said, "Found it on the road. Someone must have left it in the middle of the pathway."
Chen Shi felt aggrieved but did not speak.
The waiter, having collected the silver, became even more attentive, offering up platters of fruit preserves and meat jerky.
As Xiao Wangsun drank tea, he set down his cup and whispered softly, "They’re here."
Chen Shi looked down to see a thin, tall ghost carrying a cyan-colored lantern, walking towards the city’s teahouses. The ghost was about one zhang and seven or eight chi tall, with a skinny, emaciated frame, hunched back, and an appearance of starvation.
Beneath the lantern, a woman dressed in red, wearing a rain hat and veiled hat, moved through the illuminated area.
The lantern was held high, and with the space inside it empty, the light shone precisely from the hole below, creating a circular patch of light about a zhang in diameter on the ground.
The woman in the red dress and black rain hat walked precisely within the circle of light, prim and proper.
Her figure was graceful, with a strikingly beautiful and alluring posture, especially her slender waist, which was just the right size to be encircled with one’s hand.
Chen Shi couldn’t help but take a few extra glances.
The woman entered the teahouse, and from the staircase, the sound of someone climbing up could be heard. Then, the woman in red came into view, her glance from beneath the veiled hat swept lightly over, and she walked towards where Chen Shi was seated.
With a subtle and supple sway of her waist, her full hips gently tilting to one side, she gracefully took a seat, removing her rain hat and veil to reveal a stunning face.
She caught Chen Shi’s eye, let out a chuckle, and exuded an allure of flirtation.
"Little brother, do you find me beautiful? Would you like to sleep with me?"
— Thanks to the support of Alliance Hierarch Muggle1, a generous boss!
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