Day of Ascension

Standing at the bow, Xu Ying gazed at the riverbanks. The mountains and rivers to both sides trembled endlessly. The underworld was still invading the mortal realm. Mountains and rivers from another world continued to surge forth, crushing the original land beneath them. It was a truly staggering sight.

The towered ship sped across the water, accelerating. Mountains and rivers flashed past in an instant, shocking Xu Ying.

This ship can cover a hundred li in no time!

The furthest place he had ever traveled was only a hundred li away. Unease rose in his heart.

What if she doesn’t send me back? Can I find my way back? I heard some people sell children...

In his mind, the great bell sneered coldly as he thought to himself, This brat wouldn’t know even if the demoness sold him! She must have some ulterior motive. Who knows what value she sees in him!

Unaware of his thoughts, Xu Ying asked the coffin girl, “What is Actualization?”

The great bell grew furious, thinking, Damn brat! You would rather ask my enemy than ask me? Wouldn’t I have answered if you asked? Umm... wait, he did ask before. I just forgot to explain. I only taught him Inner Vision. Careless. I let the demoness get ahead of me.

Standing at the bow, elegant and poised, she answered, “You don’t know that? That makes sense. By your generation, the lineage of Qi Cultivators has already faded into obscurity. Many things had already been lost even in my generation. The great evil’s influence was simply too great.”

After a short pause, she continued, “Actualization is the manifestation of an image from nothingness to stabilize your divine sense. It is using divine sense to manifest the Great Dao from nothingness and suppress the wandering mind.

“Through Actualization, one creates something from nothing and turns illusion into reality. Only by practicing your mystic arts and divine abilities through this can you attain the Dao.”

Xu Ying’s heart stirred. He remarked, “The way to practice Actualization seems similar to Radiant Vestige.”

Confused, the maiden asked, “What is Radiant Vestige?”

Xu Ying took out the Mud-Pill Radiant Vestige Cultivation Method and said, “This Exorcist cultivation technique states that Radiant Vestige is a manifestation of the Great Dao. It’s refined by harvesting the power of the Mud-Pill Secret Trove.

“Radiant Vestige also creates something from nothing and transforms the illusory into reality, allowing one to master mystic arts and divine abilities!”

As he spread open the cultivation technique, a lock of hair fell on the pages. Xu Ying looked up. At some point, the maiden had moved beside him and leaned closer to examine the Mud-Pill Radiant Vestige Cultivation Method in his hands.

Her hair cascaded over Xu Ying’s shoulder.

Her skin was snow-white, and her neck was slender. Against her black hair, her complexion appeared even fairer. She looked nothing like an ancient corpse sealed away for thousands of years.

What surprised Xu Ying even more was the absence of any corpse stench. Instead, she carried a faint, pleasant fragrance. He couldn’t resist taking a few more whiffs.

It was his first time standing this close to her. His heart began racing. He slowly turned the pages, allowing her to examine it closely.

The maiden studied it, while Xu Ying stole glances at her. She felt that she looked even prettier from the side. Her eyelashes occasionally fluttered, and her eyes sparkled like gemstones. Her nose was elegant and straight, her lips alluringly pink like a cherry.

Xu Ying’s heart beat even faster. He hurriedly averted his gaze. This ghost is polite and pretty!

He was still a teenager, after all. Despite knowing she was likely a female ghost or jianshi, his heart still raced at the sight of the beauty.

In Xu Ying’s mind, the great bell sneered silently, thinking, This damned brat knows nothing about Actualization, yet his thoughts run wild the moment he sees a pretty girl. Such weak will. He’s probably already thinking of a name for their child!

The bell still feared that the demoness would discover him. He silently shrouded over the egg of primordial chaos, thinking, If I cover over the Mud-Pill Secret Trove, she will think I’m just the egg of primordial chaos and wouldn’t notice me.

Soon, the maiden finished reading the Mud-Pill Radiant Vestige Cultivation Method. She closed the scripture, pondered for a moment, and said, “It is indeed rather crude. The Radiant Vestige described in this book is incomplete. Anyone who practices it will be led down the wrong path and needlessly drain their life force. It is extremely insidious. You should not cultivate it.”

“It drains life force?” A chill ran down Xu Ying’s spine.

The Zhou clan passed this very technique down to their disciples. There was no way they could be unaware of such a massive flaw.

The master of the Mud-Pill Palace couldn’t have left behind such a flaw. That means the Zhou clan deliberately teaches their disciples an incomplete cultivation technique.

Cold sweat broke out on Xu Ying’s forehead. The Zhou clan used their disciples to do their dirty work, yet they secretly drained their life force through the cultivation technique they taught them. How vicious.

Xu Ying thought, That way, the Zhou clan’s exorcism art would never spread, and even if it leaked, it would only be a technique that led to an early grave. They use this method to maintain their status!

The maiden continued, “Although the Radiant Vestige in this book contains enormous hidden dangers, the underlying concept is brilliant. It’s not inferior to the principles of Qi Cultivators’ cultivation techniques. Judging by this crude technique, Radiant Vestige is likely not merely used to fuel mystic arts. It is probably a method of internal sublimation.”

Puzzled, she furrowed her brow slightly. “Have the cultivation techniques of Qi Cultivators already become obsolete? But I don’t think the internal sublimation of Radiant Vestige could surpass the techniques of Qi Cultivators. What caused the extinction of Qi Cultivators?”

She had been sealed for thousands of years and knew nothing about the current era.

Xu Ying asked, “Miss, what does internal sublimation of Radiant Vestige mean?”

She answered, “Judging by this cultivation technique, the goal of Exorcists refining Radiant Vestige is to forge a miniature immortal realm within themselves. In the end, they achieve internal sublimation and conceal themselves within it, thereby attaining immortality. However, this cultivation technique is too shallow and doesn’t explain how to sublimate the Radiant Vestige.”

Xu Ying’s eyes sparkled. Forge a miniature immortal realm within, achieve sublimation, and conceal myself within it?Wouldn’t that make me an immortal?

The legacy of the master of Mud-Pill Palace didn’t sound so bad after all.

Xu Ying suppressed his excitement and asked, “Then, how do I refine Radiant Vestige?”

The maiden appeared somewhat displeased. She said indifferently, “We are fellow travelers on the same path. Your legacy isn’t weaker than mine. Why do you need to learn the sublimation of Radiant Vestige?”

Xu Ying was dumbfounded. He finally came back to his senses after a while. “Is my legacy that powerful? Wait, what legacy do I have? Is it the Grand-Unity Guiding Method?”

He was confused. The Grand-Unity Guiding Method included only the cultivation technique for the Qi-Gathering Stage, with no subsequent techniques.

Suddenly, the towered ship turned west. As it sailed deep into the night, the ship gradually slowed down. Xu Ying had no idea how far the ship had sailed along the Hell River. It must have covered at least two to three thousand li.

Is this Huaihua or Tongren? That’s not it. Huaihua is just west of Yongzhou, while Tongren is only a few hundred li away.

He didn’t know where the ship had taken him. He was only a boy from the countryside. The furthest places he knew were Yongzhou’s surrounding prefectures and counties.

Xu Ying looked ahead. The Hell River branched here into countless tributaries, spreading through the darkness like leaf veins.

Ghostly flames flickered along the banks of these tributaries. From afar, they stretched across a hundred li like scattered stars, making it seem as though he had entered a realm of ghosts.

Legend had it that the Hell River guided ghosts to the underworld, sparing them from the torment of the wind and the sun.

After death, a person’s soul would leave their mortal frame and become a ghost. The slightest breeze could tear a soul, and the slightest sunlight can scatter it. Even the Yang energy radiating from the living could harm ghosts.

Ghosts were truly safe only in the underworld.

Xu Ying looked around. Unfortunately, it was deep into the night. He couldn’t see far beyond the endless sea of ghostly flames.

He whispered, “Why are there so many ghostly flames here?”

The ship had slowed down and entered the main channel among the hundreds of tributaries of the Hell River. Ghostly flames flickered on both banks, faintly illuminating the outlines of villages and walled cities.

There was no sign of human activity, perhaps because it was nighttime.

The maiden opened the upright black coffin and lifted the outer casket’s lid. After rummaging inside for a moment, she pulled out a whip around two or three zhang long.

She handed it to Xu Ying and said, “You stay on the ship. Once it stops, light the ship on fire. After it starts burning, raise this whip and lash the sky until you are out of strength.”

Xu Ying examined the whip. It looked ordinary, woven from fine hemp rope. A golden-yellow tail hair hung on from its tip, though he didn’t know what animal it came from.

Puzzled, Xu Ying asked, “This is all it takes to send off a god?”

The maiden smiled. Her eyes curved into captivating crescents. “Of course.”

Xu Ying let out a long sigh of relief. He smiled. “Leave it to me. You have nothing to worry about.”

She remained uneasy, however. “I had forged this ship personally three thousand years ago. Ordinary flames cannot ignite it. I’ll give you a spark.”

Behind her, her Primordial Spirit extended her right hand, with the tips of her thumb and ring finger touching. A tiny spark flickered between the fingertips before she offered it to Xu Ying.

He didn’t know how to accept the spark of flame. The Primordial Spirit’s right hand reached into his ethereal void. Her thumb and ring finger parted, and the spark of flame quietly hovered in the air.

“This flame is a Pure Yang Spirit Flame I discovered by chance. It’s born from heaven and earth, and it can aid you in your cultivation.”

The maiden stepped off the ship and drifted away. Her clear, melodious voice echoed through the darkness. “Channel your divine sense into the flame and refine it to control it freely. After setting the ship on fire, refine and absorb this flame, use the True Yang within to temper your physique and soul. It will help you forge a Pure Yang physique.”

Soon, she vanished into the darkness, and her voice gradually faded. “Wait an hour before setting the fire and lashing the whip. You may leave on your own after that. This place is perilous, so don’t stay here for long. Once I finish my task, I will find you and send you back to Mount Wu Wang!”

As Xu Ying sent her off with his gaze, he felt a warmth within. The spark of Pure Yang Spirit Flame radiated waves of Yang energy inside his ethereal void. It produced an effect similar to Thunderous-Rumble Tempering and Great-Sun Tempering, tempering his physique.

What surprised him even more was the fact that as his primordial qi passed through the flames, it became increasingly pure!

Even my primordial qi can be tempered!

Xu Ying was astonished. He tried tempering his divine sense and was surprised to find it actually worked. His divine sense became purer and more resilient.

Standing at the bow, facing the Hell River’s ghostly winds, Xu Ying’s heart swelled with ambition. I’ll definitely become much stronger if I can use this flame to give my physique, divine sense, and primordial qi a full round of tempering!

The great bell flew out of the back of his head and asked in a low, eerie voice, “Ah Ying, what did you name your child?”

Puzzled, Xu Ying asked, “Child? What child?”

The great bell sneered coldly, “You were acting all intimate with that demoness. Don’t tell me you never dreamt about having a child with her.”

Xu Ying flushed red in embarrassment. He denied, “H-how could that be? And how are children born?”

“It’s by using your... Hold it!” The great bell came to his senses and quickly shut up.

Just then, Xu Ying spotted a sallow-looking man in the dark on the left bank of the Hell River. Clad in rags and leaning heavily on a wooden stick, he walked out of the bushes with difficulty.

Behind him, the bushes shuddered. Several more elders and women in tattered clothing emerged, also struggling forward with wooden sticks.

Then more people appeared. Men, women, children, and the elderly supported one another in silence as they dragged their exhausted bodies forward.

Using the light from the ghostly flames on the Hell River, he saw horrific, festering sores through the tears in their clothing. Flies swarmed around the wounds with incessant buzzing.

Xu Ying looked farther into the distance. A massive line of refugees stretched several li behind them like a black dragon.

He muttered under his breath, “They are...”

With a grave voice, the great bell said, “They are plague victims.”

Xu Ying looked even further into the distance. That was where ghostly flames littered across a hundred li. The infected had likely come from there.

The great bell said in a deep voice, “Those places were probably devastated by flood, war, or famine. I’ve hung alone on the rocky mountain for three thousand years and witnessed such things countless times.”

While suspended in the abandoned temple, the bell had witnessed countless floods, wars, and famines over thousands of years. Corpses strewn everywhere, with no one to bury them. Whenever such disasters struck, plagues followed.

The towered ship continued sailing forward at a leisurely pace. More and more plague victims appeared along the riverbanks. They came from mountain villages and walled cities alike.

They struggled forward, following the riverbank toward an unknown destination.

People kept collapsing. They convulsed a few times before losing all signs of life.

The others paid no heed, however. They continued forward with vacant gazes like walking corpses.

The great bell said in a deep voice, “Ah Ying, this is most likely the cause of the Hell River changing its course. To rescue the demoness, someone went on a killing spree and brought about a plague. She must be plotting something if she asked you to help her!”

Xu Ying still stood at the bow, staring at the plague-stricken blankly.

He had mastered his Third Eye. When he used his Third Eye to view the world, everything appeared different.

Thick, flesh-red tentacles floated in the sky, hanging down silently.

These flesh-colored tentacles were extremely nimble. They seemed to be extending from the depths of another space beyond sight.

They arrived behind those plague victims, split into countless thin tentacles, and burrowed into their pus-filled sores, slowly writhing as they sucked.

Xu Ying looked into the distance. Ghostly flames were everywhere. Above those regions, countless tentacles also stretched out from another space, descending from the sky before disappearing into the darkness below.

Flesh-red tentacles from another world intertwined across the sky. They filled the dim sky and obscured the stars. They split into even more tentacles, constantly swelling and shrinking as they sucked the life force of the plague victims.

The image felt both horrifyingly real and strangely unreal.

That was what he saw with his Third Eye!

Xu Ying struggled to move his gaze. His Adam’s apple rolled as he swallowed dryly.

“Heavens...”

Everywhere he looked, endlessly writhing flesh that stretched beyond sight covered the dim sky.

An unimaginable creature had enveloped the sky. Countless flesh-colored tentacles hung down, reaching toward the people in the west.