After successfully calming the emotions of the Martial King's Manor, Shi Yi made his way alone to the manor's ancestral shrine.
The shrine was modest yet solemn and dignified.
At the top were enshrined the ancestors of the Stone Clan. Below them were the tablets of Shi Yi's grandfather's generation—originally ten, now joined by five new ones. Further down were the tablets of his father's generation, numerous and freshly carved, filling the shrine with the names of fallen Stone Clan men.
These new tablets represented the departed sons of the Stone Clan.
They may not have been the wisest, but not one was a coward.
Why was it called the Martial King's Manor and not the Stone King's Manor?
The reason was simple.
The men of the Stone Clan were bold and fearless, their courage unmatched, capable of uprooting mountains with world-shaking valor. They were men of blood and iron. Even knowing death awaited, they charged forward with the fearless resolve of though thousands stand against me, I shall go.
Such reckless courage—did it sound foolish?
Knowing Bi'an and Yazi were lying in wait, ready to pick them off one by one, they still went.
But could you stand by and watch your parents, your kin, die without trying to save them?
Thus, the Martial King's Manor was all but ruined.
Aside from Shi Yi, the direct heir, Shi Hao was the next in line. Nearly all the clan's fighting men had perished in the jaws of Bi'an and Yazi.
In truth, the Manor was now a shell of widows, orphans, and the elderly. Without Shi Yi's return, Yu Yuexian alone could never have propped up the sprawling estate.
Her status and legitimacy were lacking.
Her surname alone disqualified her from securely holding the role of acting head.
Were it not for Shi Yi, her son, granting her prestige by association, the Rain Clan's remnants would never have allowed her to temporarily wield such authority.
Now, with Shi Yi's return as the direct heir, he had seamlessly assumed control, stabilizing the near-shattered Manor with his identity and presence.
One final note: don't ask why the Stone Kingdom's imperial family or the Human Emperor didn't intervene, watching as the Manor suffered this catastrophe.
Hearts of humans were far more treacherous and venomous than those of beasts. The deadliest threat to humans was their own infighting.
In the Human Emperor's eyes, with the Stone Clan's patriarchs gone, Shi Yi, the double-pupil prodigy, would have no choice but to rely on him. A marriage to the Sixteenth Princess would bind Shi Yi firmly to the imperial family.
But what he didn't anticipate was that Shi Yi was no naive calf, nor someone he could easily manipulate. Nor could the mere Stone Kingdom's imperial family shackle him.
"Eighth Grandpa, Ninth Grandpa, Eleventh Grandpa, Thirteenth Grandpa, Fifteenth Grandpa—rest in peace. Yi'er will avenge you," Shi Yi vowed, kneeling on the shrine's central cushion, his figure radiating loneliness and vulnerability.
Draped in mourning robes, he kowtowed heavily five times, once for each of his grandfathers' tablets.
He knew those five kind, familiar faces would never return. Though they had been strict, it was only to push him to soar higher, to walk further.
A few minutes later, he turned to another tablet.
"Father, though your presence in my memories is faint, rest assured, I'll care for Mother and ensure she suffers no grievance," Shi Yi said solemnly, kowtowing three times before Shi Ziteng's tablet. It was a promise to his father—he refused to lose another loved one.
What did tears taste like?
What did heartbreak feel like?
Shi Yi didn't know. He only felt salty water tracing his cheeks, unbidden.
True sorrow wasn't hysterical wailing but a quiet, solitary ache.
He lingered there, lost in time.
In his soul's consciousness sea, among the thirteen ancient scriptures radiating the charm of the Dao, one sensed his grief and began to glow.
This was a supreme scripture, known by three names, each a true name:
Lingbao Wuliang Du Ren Shangpin Miao Jing, Yuanshi Wuliang Du Ren Shangpin Miao Jing, and Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Wuliang Du Ren Shangpin Miao Jing.
In short: The Book of Salvation.
"I don't know if this world has reincarnation or past and future lives. If it doesn't, then let the future me forge an underworld and a cycle of six paths for rebirth!"
Shi Yi's mind sank fully into his soul's consciousness sea, gazing at the radiant The Book of Salvation, setting a goal for his future self—a goal he wasn't sure he could achieve.
In the physical world, he shifted from kneeling to sitting cross-legged, his lips beginning to chant the Book of Salvation.
The way of humanity is faint, the way of immortality, vast.
The way of ghosts brings joy, standing at the gate of life.
The way of immortality cherishes life, the way of ghosts cherishes endings.
The way of immortality is ever auspicious, the way of ghosts ever ominous.
High above, the clear and numinous beauty, a mournful song resounds through the void.
May the way of immortality be achieved, not the way of humanity exhausted.
In the northern capital's fountain-curved palace, myriad ghosts gather.
Seeking only to thwart human destinies, severing the gate of life.
Chanting the cavernous verses, restraining the northern Luo Feng.
Binding and reciting the spirits of demons, slaying the six ghostly vanguards.
The myriad qi of the heavens surges, my Dao flourishes day by day.
Fall.
Fall.
Fall.
His voice caught, as if something jammed his throat. No matter how he tried, he couldn't recite the second chapter of the The Book of Salvation. An unseen force seemed to block him from chanting the full text.
Yet even this third of the scripture triggered an unimaginable phenomenon.
The Martial King's Manor—no, the entire Stone Kingdom—was bathed in golden auspicious light. A colossal golden lotus bloomed in the sky, its size beyond comprehension.
Shi Yi, still immersed in his consciousness sea, was unaware of the external spectacle. Unable to recite the second and third chapters, he didn't force it, instead devoutly chanting the first chapter in silence.
Each time he recited it, a golden lotus blossomed for him.
The first recitation: The deaf hear anew. Across the Stone Kingdom, billions of citizens with hearing loss regained their senses as the lotus bloomed.
The second recitation: The blind see clearly. Those blinded among the billions recovered their sight.
The third recitation: The mute speak freely. Those unable to speak found their voices.
The fourth recitation—
There was no fourth.
Shi Yi collapsed, fainting into Liu Shen's embrace.
"You foolish disciple. If I hadn't stopped you, by the time you finished, you'd have perished, your Dao extinguished.
Book of Salvation is a true supreme Daoist scripture, imbued with ultimate Daoist charm. Even the immortal clans and undying lineages of the Immortal Domain would descend to seize it," Liu Shen chided.
"Fortunately, the golden lotus born of its charm bloomed only in the Stone Kingdom. Some lineages in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands may take interest, but they won't descend for an incomplete scripture. At most, they'll send agents from the Lower Realm's Eight Domains to probe the Stone Kingdom for this fragmented text."
Moments ago, within Shi Yi's tenth Heavenly Passage—a realm of earth, water, fire, wind, yin-yang, chaos, and the five elements—Liu Shen rested in her self-created microcosm.
Hearing Shi Yi's chants, her vast cultivation and insight instantly recognized the supreme scripture. She swiftly masked and obscured most of its content.
As a result, of the Book of Salvation's words Shi Yi chanted, nine out of ten were inaudible, blurred, with only a few discernible.
This was just the first chapter. Had Shi Yi recited all three, completing the Book of Salvation in full, even Liu Shen couldn't have concealed it.
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