Day of Ascension

Suddenly, Xu Ying felt an itch and scratched it.

The flesh-colored tentacles in the sky continued to split. They stretched out in search of new victims, piercing them and draining their life force.

Due to Xu Ying’s abundant vital energy, those tentacles couldn’t come near him for now.

He felt an itch because he empathized with the plague-stricken.

He saw wisps of black qi drifting through the air and entering people as they breathed, silently eroding their vital energy.

When the wisps entered Xu Ying’s ethereal void, the flame spark from the coffin girl made them dissipate.

Xu Ying muttered, “What exactly are those blood-colored tentacles?”

The great bell heard Xu Ying’s description and answered solemnly, “The Plague God! What you’re seeing is the heavenly god who commands plagues and natural disasters!”

“Heavenly god?”

Xu Ying shuddered. He had come across many gods before and had killed a few. However, even the strongest among them, City God Xue, was nowhere near comparable to the Plague God.

The great bell explained, “Heavenly gods reside in the Heavenly Dao World. They command the Heavenly Dao and wield the principles of the world. They are ageless, undying, and indestructible. The Heavenly Dao World is lofty and inscrutable.”

“Heavenly gods don’t usually descend to the mortal realm. Why would the Plague God descend? Right, that demoness’ accomplices must have offered a blood sacrifice to the Plague God to rescue her. They caused widespread death, which made the Hell River change course and invade the mortal realm!”

He sneered coldly. “Indeed, that demoness harbors malicious intent!”

Xu Ying looked up at the sky. The main body of those thick tentacles remained in another world. Was that world the Heavenly Dao World that the great bell had mentioned?

The towered ship continued sailing forth. The one-hour promise Xu Ying made with the coffin girl was almost up. He looked at the riverbanks. Corpses of plague victims had already piled up like mountains.

Someone piled up firewood beneath the corpses and set them on fire. The flames reached five to six zhang tall, glaringly conspicuous in the darkness.

Countless ghostly flames floated beside the mountains of corpses. A chilling wind blew, and the ghosts within the flames immediately suffered the agony of being torn apart. Their faces twisted grotesquely as they wailed mournfully.

Some ghosts struggled within the flames as though they could still feel their corpses burning, as if they had not completely died.

Xu Ying also saw a silhouette carrying cartloads of corpses out and piling them by the mountains of corpses. He couldn’t tell if it was human or a ghost.

Faint chants drifted through the air from the bank of Hell River. Xu Ying followed the sound and saw several monks sitting upright and tapping on wooden fish[1], chanting the Rebirth Mantra[2] in low voices.

Festering sores covered the monks, and the Plague God’s tentacles impaled them as well.

Could this really be the work of the coffin girl’s accomplices?

Uneasy, the great bell urged, “Ah Ying, the plague qi is growing intense. At this rate, it won’t be long before it erodes your vital energy defenses and the Plague God starts draining your life force! We’d better leave this place as quickly as possible!”

Xu Ying shook his head. “No! A gentleman makes good on his word. I’ve made a promise. How could I go back on it?”

The great bell roared, “Those who summoned the Plague God are that demoness’ accomplices! They made the Hell River crash into the Little Rocky Mountain to save her! Do you think she’s a good person?”

Growing even more furious, he bellowed, “I am the good person here! That night, when you hid in my temple, I saw the Hell River was about to change course and drown all of you, so I intervened to protect you. If I hadn’t tried to save your lives, that demoness could never have injured me, much less escaped! ”

Pondering for a moment, Xu Ying said, “Master Zhong, you have shown me great favor, and I will remember it. That’s why I allowed you to siphon my vital energy to heal your injuries.

“I am but a countryside boy. I may not have much education, but we people from the countryside value honor and loyalty. The coffin girl said her purpose is to send off a god, and I don’t think she means any harm.”

The great bell shouted, “My master sealed and suppressed her beneath Little Rocky Mountain because she committed evil! Can’t you see that she’s using you? She never even told you her name. She clearly plans to discard you afterward!”

Xu Ying laughed. “I have nothing to my name and no skills worth mentioning. What use could I possibly be to her?”

He channeled his divine sense into the spark. The mass of Pure Yang Spirit Flame flew out of his ethereal void and set the pavilion on fire.

The fire gradually intensified until it burned even brighter than the flames along the riverbank.

Xu Ying withdrew the Pure Yang Spirit Flame into his ethereal void, jumped off the ship onto the shore, and untied the whip coiled around his waist.

The great bell warned anxiously, “Ah Ying, be careful not to fall for that demoness’ trap and cause a huge catastrophe!”

Channeling his primordial qi, Xu Ying raised the whip and flicked it violently toward the sky as per the coffin girl’s instructions.

Crack!

As the whip swung, it rapidly grew longer and thicker in the wind.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary whip. Yet as it expanded, details that had previously gone unnoticed gradually emerged.

What had looked like braided hemp rope was actually covered in countless scales, as though innumerable headless, tailless dragons or pythons were twisting together.

In an instant, the whip stretched three to four li long. Holding the handle, Xu Ying felt it throbbing, as if he was holding onto the tendons of countless dragons. At the far end of the whip, the divine dragons writhed furiously.

Crack!

The whip lashed across the Plague God in the sky and tore his flesh apart.

The sky exploded. Flesh and blood flew everywhere. Large chunks of the Plague God’s flesh fell.

Xu Ying was stunned.

The great bell also gave a dull, hollow toll as it twitched once.

Xu Ying’s heart stopped beating for a moment. When the coffin girl had told him to lash at the sky, he thought the act merely carried symbolic meaning, perhaps part of some ritual for sending off a god.

After all, similar customs existed among the people. During plague outbreaks, people would beat gongs and drums and set boats on fire in hopes of scaring the Plague God away.

He didn’t expect the force behind the lashing to surge violently and actually strike at the vast and boundless Plague God!

Violent winds surged out with the cracking of the whip, fanning the flames across the ship. The fire intensified and spread onto the deck.

As the fierce wind blew, the burning ship drifted into the air.

Xu Ying had been keeping an eye on the ship, but only now did he notice the finer details.

The towered ship had vermillion sides, a golden hull, and ancient divine murals covered its walls.

The murals along the sides depicted a phoenix carrying wood in its beak, building a nest, igniting it, and rising from the ashes.

Facing the front was a Vermillion Bird surrounded by towering flames.

At the back was Zhurong[3], a hideous and ferocious god standing amid a sea of fire.

Braving the fierce wind, the towered ship soared into the sky. It grew increasingly larger as the fire on board turned into a raging inferno.

Riding the wind, it climbed higher into the heavens while its flames dyed the sky crimson.

Suddenly, the phoenix on the ship’s wall took flight, the Vermilion Bird beat its wings, and Zhurong wielded the flames. Fire swept outward from the ship and engulfed the sky.

In the sky, the Plague God’s tentacles sizzled and glistened with oil as they burned. The massive writhing tentacles twisted violently in pain.

The corner of Xu Ying’s eyes twitched. He had not only whipped the Plague God, but he had also set him on fire.

The coffin girl told me to keep lashing until I am out of strength. Should I continue?

Xu Ying steeled his heart and pulled the whip back. The gods say that I have violated the laws of heaven, and the officials said that I’ve broken the laws of the land. There’s no place left for me in either the mortal realm or the underworld! Since Heaven has already left me no path to survive, what is there to fear from whipping a heavenly god?

As he withdrew the whip, a surge of heroic spirit swelled in his chest. He lashed out at the Plague God in the sky. If I can resolve this epidemic, then what harm is there in lashing the Plague God? I shall send you on your way!

He pulled the whip back with all his might. The lengthened whip rapidly shrank to only three or four zhang by the time it reached him. The moment he lashed out again, however, it expanded once more into an immense dragon whip. Countless dragon tendons throbbed, causing his arm to go numb from the shock.

Crack!

Thunder and lightning clashed in the sky as the whip grew even thicker and longer than before. The dragon tendons throbbed with unimaginable power as the whip slammed into the Plague God’s tentacles, blasting flesh and blood across the heavens.

Hill-size chunks of flesh fell from the sky. The heavenly god’s blood poured like a waterfall, turning into a torrential downpour of blood that dyed heaven and earth crimson.

This nation was known as Zhudu[4]. Ever since the plague erupted, nine out of ten homes had been abandoned. Corpses lay everywhere, with no one to bury them.

At that moment, thousands of Exorcists scattered throughout the nation looked up at the sky in horror.

They saw a burning ship sailing through the sky amid violent winds and blazing fire. Avatars of demons and gods, such as Vermillion Bird, Zhurong, and phoenix, manifested around the vessel, fanning the fire!

The sky itself was set ablaze by the strange flames on the ship, sizzling and crackling as the air burned.

Suddenly, a fiery whip ten li long lashed out. It resembled countless dragons and snakes linked head to tail as it slammed into the sky. The blow cracked it, sending huge fragments falling.

Thick, bloody gore cascaded from the crack in the sky like a waterfall.

A wave of unease swept through the Exorcists of Zhudu. Though tales of a bleeding sky existed in legends, ancient records, and folklore, this was the first time they had witnessed such a scene themselves.

They couldn’t see the Plague God in the sky. All they saw was the blazing ship and the fire whip. To them, it looked as though the sky itself had ignited, shattered apart, and begun to bleed.

Zhudu was still a great nation with many hidden experts. Some of them could perceive the phenomenon unfolding in the sky. Yet, the more they saw, the more horrified they were.

Lash after lash, the long whip struck the Plague God. Lightning scattered wildly in the sky as the Plague God convulsed continuously from the blows.

The Pure Yang Spirit Flame covered the sky, burning the Plague God. He twisted in agony and oozed oil. Along with the lashes, his tentacles contracted continuously, retracting back into the Heavenly Dao World.

In the sky, the Plague God’s boundless form slowly shrank.

The burning ship and the fiery whip had actually driven back the domineering heavenly god into the Heavenly Dao World!

Not far from the Hell River, the coffin maiden stood quietly atop a mountain. Her dress fluttered gently in the wind, like a fairy soaring through the air.

She appeared gentle and serene, though she occasionally gazed toward the sky, her inner state far from calm.

Finally, the burning ship had soared into the air, setting the sky ablaze. Then, a long whip rose into the air like a dragon in flight, lashing toward the Plague God in the sky.

The maiden revealed a faint smile.

However, nothing happened after the first lash. A second never came.

The light in her eyes dimmed. She murmured, “I can’t blame him. Anyone who saw such a terrifying sight would struggle to continue.”

Just then, a second lash shot skyward. The divine whip, carrying the blazing Pure Yang Spirit Flame, struck the Plague God violently, tearing his tentacles open and sending blood and flesh flying.

The divine whip set off a fierce gale, blowing the towered ship and fanning its flames. The Plague God’s countless tentacles sizzled from the heat.

She smiled faintly and murmured, “One who dares to defy the world’s greatest taboo and become a Qi Cultivator in an age where the path has already faded into obscurity is indeed just like me. Your audacity knows no bounds!”

Her eyes sparkling, she gazed into the sky, murmuring, “The price to summon the Plague God is immense. If I were in their shoes, I would never allow anyone to send the god back to the Heavenly Dao World. I would personally intervene and eliminate them instead! Now, let’s see who you are!”

Her gaze flickered. These people orchestrated the Plague God’s killing spree to force the Hell River into changing course and crash into the Little Rocky Mountain to rescue her from the bottom of the well. Yet after doing that, they vanished without a trace afterward.

She knew there must be a hidden conspiracy.

“We Qi Cultivators go against the natural order to cultivate. We dared to defy Heaven itself, so how could we be exploited by you insignificant villains?”

As she gazed at the sky, her eyes suddenly lit up. She saw a silhouette flying at breakneck speed in the direction of the fiery whip.

That was where Xu Ying was swinging the whip!

“I’ve found you!”

Behind her, the black coffin soared through the air as its chains whipped wildly toward the approaching silhouette.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

Beneath the sea of flames, a radiant glow even more blinding than the sun erupted.

Xu Ying was still swinging the whip. It grew increasingly longer and more powerful. With every strike, blood fell like rain from the sky. As for the towered ship, it had already transformed into a blazing inferno that ignited the Plague God’s tentacles everywhere it touched.

The tentacles were withdrawing into the Heavenly Dao World and were on the verge of fully retreating.

Then, the sky split open. An incomparably massive tentacle descended from above and flew toward the source of the whip strikes: Xu Ying’s location.

That tentacle was like a massive finger. It seemed the Plague God had grown truly furious and intended to crush the person who dared whip and burn him to death on the spot.

The long whip had been on fire and was about to reach the handle. Xu Ying had been trembling with fear all this time. Using his Third Eye, he saw the tentacle descending and immediately dropped the fiery whip without hesitation and took off running.

He cried out, “Master Zhong, run!”

The great bell was wounded and couldn’t move as swiftly. Xu Ying immediately turned back, grabbed the bell’s loop, and ran with all his might.

The space above them kept fracturing. The crushing weight behind the Plague God’s tentacle caused the fractured space to roar with thunder and fire to surge down.

Boom!

An incredibly terrifying shockwave swept out, whipping up a hurricane that uprooted everything on the ground, be it trees, houses, or boulders, sending them flying into the air!

Within the hurricane, a large bronze bell tumbled, knocking left and right. At times, it smashed into trees, while at others it slammed into boulders before spinning off again toward some unknown direction.

A youth hid underneath that bronze bell. His limbs were pressed tightly against its inner walls to prevent him from falling out.

1. A type of woodblock that is used as a percussion instrument by monks and lay people in Buddhist ceremonies, usually involving the recitation of sutras, mantras, or other Buddhist texts. ☜

2. The incantation is meant to help ”uproot the roots of all karmic obstacles” and ”attaining rebirth in the Pure Land”. ☜

3. The ancient Chinese God of Fire. ☜

4. An archaic or historical reference to India, or specifically the Indian subcontinent. ☜