128. Golden-Black Qi

Chen Huangpi is thirteen years old in nominal age this year, and over thirty thousand in actual age.
He has been practicing cultivation for a little over half a month.
Possessing immense strength and a decisive, ruthless demeanor.
One could truly call him a heroic youth.
Yet, he is terrified of caterpillars......
Inside the side hall of the Pure Immortal Temple.
Chen Huangpi lay on the bed, looking rather disgruntled as he said to the purple-robed old Daoist sitting at the head of the bed: "Great Master, I am already this old, yet I am still as afraid of caterpillars as a little child. You are not allowed to tell anyone, otherwise it would be too embarrassing for me."
"Not embarrassing at one bit, not embarrassing at all."
The purple-robed old Daoist said with a hearty chuckle: "One only reaches adulthood at eighteen; since you are only thirteen, you are still a child. There are those much older than you who still wet the bed."
"Are there really such people?"
Chen Huangpi found it somewhat hard to believe.
He had never wet the bed since he was little. If there were people even older than him who still wet the bed.
Wouldn't that be even more shameful than being afraid of caterpillars?
The purple-robed old Daoist looked toward the brass oil lamp hanging on the wall.
The latter forced a smile and said: "Chen Huangpi, the Temple Master is right. I used to wet the bed ever since I was little, and it didn't stop until I was over two hundred years old."
"Really or falsely?"
"Naturally it's true, otherwise why would the Temple Master hang me on the wall?"
"Alright, I believe you."
Chen Huangpi beamed with joy and could not help letting out a yawn.
Ever since he entered the God-Burying Grave until now, he had not rested once.
Now that he was lying in bed, drowsiness naturally took hold.
"Great Master, I'm going to sleep now."
With that, Chen Huangpi dropped his head and fell fast asleep.
Only, as he slept, he began to kick off the quilt.
Seeing this, the brass oil lamp subconsciously reached out to tuck the quilt back over Chen Huangpi, but suddenly felt a chill run down its nonexistent spine.
It looked at the Temple Master again.
And saw that the Temple Master's purple Daoist robe had somehow transformed into a cyan one without warning.
"Hush..."
The cyan-robed old Daoist cast a cold glance at the brass oil lamp and made a silencing gesture.
The latter instantly clamped its mouth shut.
Although the purple-robed Grand Temple Master was mad, he was at least capable of reasoning.
The white-robed Second Temple Master was unreasonable and extremely ferocious.
Yet neither could compare to the terrifying nature of the cyan-robed Third Temple Master.
Because the Third Temple Master was not only fiercely insane, but also loved to reason.
The crucial part was that he only reasoned with Chen Huangpi.
He wouldn't even give anyone else a chance to listen to reason.
The cyan-robed old Daoist looked down at Chen Huangpi, a trace of deep tenderness flashing through his turbid eyes.
He tucked the kicked-off quilt back into place.
Then, the cyan-robed old Daoist undid the gauze wrapped around Chen Huangpi's eyes.
Following that, amidst the horrified gaze of the brass oil lamp, he extended two lean, bony fingers and dug them straight into Chen Huangpi's eyes.
And then......
From deep within Chen Huangpi's eye sockets, he drew out two thin black threads.
Those threads were writhing.
Just like living worms.
The next second.
Those two thin black threads dissolved into flying ash.
At this, the brass oil lamp could finally hold back no longer, and whispered, "Temple Master, why were there foreign objects in Chen Huangpi's eyes?"
"It is that sun targeting Huangpi-er."
The cyan-robed old Daoist said through gritted teeth, "They deserve to be killed! They all deserve to be killed!"
The brass oil lamp ventured, "Temple Master, if that is the case, wouldn't that mean Chen Huangpi can never leave the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains in his lifetime?"
"He can leave."
The cyan-robed old Daoist said with eyes brimming with killing intent, "The Hundred Thousand Great Mountains are Huangpi-er's home, his haven from the wind and rain, not a cage imprisoning him. Across this broad earth and vast sky, he can go wherever he pleases. Who dares stop him? Who could stop him?"
"This poor Daoist is neither the First nor the Second."
"If everything were truly ordained by the heavens, then Huangpi-er was destined by heaven to be a stillborn fetus."
"Heaven's decree is nothing but bullshit!"
"They all deserve to die, they all deserve to be killed!"
The cyan-robed old Daoist wore a manic expression, his eyes blazing with heaven-shaking murderous intent, yet his voice was barely audible, for fear of waking Chen Huangpi.
He lowered his head and gave a sinister smile, "After the upheaval of heaven and earth, the entire world has been targeting Huangpi-er. Since this poor Daoist will not kill Huangpi-er, I have no choice but to kill this world."
"The heavens deserve death, the earth deserves death!"
"Whoever bullies Huangpi-er, this poor Daoist will kill whoever it is."
The cyan-robed old Daoist sneered, "That sun burned and blinded Huangpi-er's eyes. Although he would have recovered on his own even without this poor Daoist, blind is blind. This poor Daoist cares for no reasoning; that sun shall go blind as well."
"Huang Er, this poor Daoist has a task for you to do."
"You may give your orders, Temple Master!"
The brass oil lamp said with great excitement, "As long as it is something I, Huang Er, can accomplish, I will definitely get it done."
"Rest assured, you certainly can do it."
The cyan-robed old Daoist said with a sinister grin, "Huangpi-er will likely go to see the Old Temple Master tomorrow. When the time comes, take him by the other path. A Daoist robe of mine hangs along that road."
"Make sure Huangpi-er takes it with him when he leaves."
"And after taking it?"
"Yes, what about after taking it?"
The cyan-robed old Daoist's gaze suddenly turned dazed, completely unable to remember what was supposed to be done after taking it.
For a moment, the brass oil lamp and the cyan-robed old Daoist stared at each other with wide eyes.
"Huang Er, your lamp light is too bright; it will shine on Huangpi-er and prevent him from sleeping well. Dim it more, dim it even more."
"Yes, Temple Master."
The brass oil lamp hastily dimmed its light.
Then, it saw the face of the cyan-robed old Daoist abruptly appear right before it, followed by a hand that clamped tightly around its throat.
"The sun! It deserves to be killed!!"
"Ah, Temple Master, I am Huang Er..."
......
Past the hour of Zi, the night deepened like ink.
Chen Huangpi had a nightmare.
Perhaps the caterpillar form assumed by Song Tiangang had truly terrified him.
He dreamed of numerous caterpillars.
And within the dream, he found himself back inside the egg once more.
Only, the egg he dreamed of this time seemed even earlier than the one he had envisioned previously.
Because the eggshell was soft.
And thin as a cicada's wing.
Crack, crack......
All around the outside of the eggshell came the crunching sounds of insects chewing.
Through the translucent eggshell, Chen Huangpi saw countless caterpillars outside.
Every single one of those caterpillars bore Song Tiangang's head.
As they ate, the Song Tiangangs laughed triumphantly, "Chen Huangpi, without this eggshell, what do you have to kill me?"
More Song Tiangangs said with malicious glee, "Once we eat your eggshell, we'll eat you next."
"You smashed my head to pieces with a mattock." "I'll return the favor in kind and gnaw open your skull!"
"No, don't, no......"
Shivering with fright, Chen Huangpi said with a pale face, "My skull is very hard; even my master couldn't bite through it, you'll break your teeth! Don't eat me, please don't eat me."
"At such a tender age, you babble 'master' with every breath."
"If you are still like this when you grow up, what woman could possibly fancy you? Rather than living like that, you might as well become a caterpillar."
"Being a worm is also quite good, much better than being a piece of trash."
"No, I don't want to be a worm."
Consumed by ultimate terror, his entire body trembling, Chen Huangpi pleaded helplessly and pitifully, "Don't force me, please don't force me."
"And what if we do force you?"
"We are all worms, we are your nemesis, your inner demon."
"Ah! I want you all to die!"
Chen Huangpi could finally hold it in no longer, and let out a furious, long roar.
Frightened of worms though he was.
He was even more terrified of being eaten by them.
"Demonic Tree!!"
With a loud shout, Chen Huangpi tried to summon the Demonic Tree residing within his kidney temple.
Yet there was no response whatsoever.
"Divine Sword, aid me!"
The Void Divine Sword likewise gave no reply.
"Bring me the mattock!"
The mattock possessed extreme hardness, but lacked the slightest bit of spirituality; how could it possibly materialize out of thin air?
The worms mocked him, "You have no Demonic Tree, no sword, nor that mattock, and you don't even have a human form. What do you have to kill us?"
Hearing these words, Chen Huangpi realized that he indeed lacked even a human form within the eggshell.
Not only did he lack a human form.
He wasn't even egg fluid.
He was merely a breath of energy.
A breath intertwined with gold and black colors.
"Heaven is destroying me."
In despair, Chen Huangpi burrowed blindly about inside the egg, but as he moved, the egg moved along with him.
The Song Tiangangs shouted, "Don't move, let us eat you."
"I certainly won't!"
Realizing that he could control his own egg, Chen Huangpi had no intention of lingering there.
So, he charged headfirst in a certain direction.
He had no idea where he was.
Yet he could sense that there was neither up nor down here, nor any division between heaven and earth.
His speed was astonishing.
Moreover, he flew while spinning, and since those bugs were not fast enough, they were quickly shaken off him.
Gradually......
Through the eggshell, Chen Huangpi caught sight of a beam of light.
"I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming."
Chen Huangpi thought, "That light might be the exit of the dream, if I drill into it, I will wake up."
With that thought, he plunged recklessly toward the direction of the light.
Whoosh......
Chen Huangpi plunged straight into the light.
Then, he beheld a sight that filled him with even greater terror.
He saw a colossal outline.
That outline was boundlessly vast; the moment he looked away, his mind could no longer retain anything regarding it.
Indescribable, unspeakable.
Thus, he took another look.
With this look, he saw that outline hovering above a world, and within that outline were massive eyes—eyes that stared wide open, uninhibited and brimming with malice, looking down upon that world.
No......
To be precise, they were looking at him.
Because Chen Huangpi was flying upward; after passing through the light, he had reached the edge of the world and encountered this silhouette.
The silhouette suddenly quivered, and countless insects flew out from it.
Upon spotting Chen Huangpi, those insects let out excited shrieks and immediately pounced upon him.
The next second.
A tear was bitten open in Chen Huangpi's eggshell.
Then, bug after bug burrowed inside.
"How are these bugs' jaws even sharper than Song Tiangang's?"
Desperate, Chen Huangpi flew back toward the light.
The bugs chased him inside the egg, attempting to devour the interwoven gold and black energy that was him.
Pain, pain, pain!
Failing to dodge in time, Chen Huangpi was bitten.
The pain drove him to the verge of madness.
The gold and black energy trembled violently, and characters resembling birds, fish, and insects emerged from within that dual-colored breath.
"Freeze!"
A flash of spiritual insight struck Chen Huangpi, and he spat out a single word.
Those insects were instantly frozen in place.
But immediately afterward, the very insect that had taken a bite out of him suddenly transformed into a pale cyan moth.
On the back of that moth was a single eye.
It looked just like the Eye of the Azure Heavens.
Unfazed, the pale cyan moth lunged forward and tore into Chen Huangpi once more.
The rest of the insects followed suit.
Chen Huangpi was bitten miserably.
Even the gold and black breath grew noticeably thinner.
And right at that moment.
Chen Huangpi tumbled into a world, one exceptionally rich in spiritual energy.
The moment he appeared, spiritual energy rushed in through the gaps torn open by the insects, merging into the gold and black breath, which instantly invigorated Chen Huangpi and caused him to resume his desperate flight.
Then, he abruptly spotted numerous men and women draped in feathered robes, brandishing various glowing magical treasures as they pursued him.
Their expressions were fervent, their eyes filled with greed as they gazed upon him.
Chen Huangpi was terrified.
He knew that if these people caught him, they might just devour him just like those insects did.
Fortunately......
Out of nowhere, Chen Huangpi caught sight of a familiar figure.
That figure was tall and lean, clad in a cyan-black Daoist robe, sitting peacefully by a stream and angling for fish.
"Master, save me!!!"
Chen Huangpi flew toward him in agitation.
Yet how could mere gold and black breath manage to speak?
And yet, his master seemed able to hear him all the same. He smiled at him and said, "Fear not, with your master here, even if the sky falls I will hold it up. Be it insects or anything else, your master will carve out a path to the heavens for you!"
(End of this chapter)