Day of Ascension

Xu Ying’s divine sense floated above the heavenly river. He had no idea how deeply sowing the Dao in his field of light had shaken Dazhong. He had simply followed his instincts and cultivated, with no intention of achieving such a result.

Sowing the Dao in the light field and absorbing the Dao seeds had rapidly accelerated his cultivation.

He looked up at the vast, majestic heavenly river winding through the mountains. Their silhouettes loomed indistinctly in the dark, towering and unreachable like an immortal mountain in a blessed land.

The mountain ranges ahead were very clear, but the ones behind gradually blurred and vanished from sight.

This was his first time entering the Tailbone Pass since reaching the Gate-Knocking Stage. He had come to explore the ethereal void beyond the pass.

These layers of heavenly mountains resembled a human’s spine. Looking upward, ridge after ridge rose into the sky. Each heavenly mountain was a separate layer of heaven, shaped like half a lotus flower. Together, they formed layers of heaven, corresponding to his spine.

The heavenly river flowed through the center of each heavenly layer. The heavenly river washed over his divine sense, tempering it at a rate far greater than before.

He comprehended many Dao principles in his ethereal state. His previous cultivation had been muddled and ignorant. Now, he felt he understood the transformations of Yin and Yang and the regulation of his internal organs.

He could clearly perceive his soul and sense that it possessed various wondrous structures just like the body. It must be what was known as connecting life and death.

An epiphany struck him. Ascending the heavens one step at a time will allow me to enter the next realm. The road to heaven depends on my accumulation. I must not advance recklessly.

The morning cultivation period was limited. Late morning, Xu Ying, Yuanqi, Dazhong, and the bull demons had stopped gathering qi at the same time.

The bull demons transformed into old oxen and wandered into the fields to graze, lazily swishing their tails to drive away horseflies.

The bull demons used to be pure-blooded Demon Kings ordained as underworld ghost gods. However, when they returned to the mortal realm, they reverted to their demonic forms, and their instinct to graze remained unchanged.

At the foot of the mountain, demons offered Great Demon King Xu and Great Demon King Niu food and drinks. The two ate their breakfast and contemplated life, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Xu Ying felt full of primordial qi, even more so than before. Even so, he still lacked a suitable martial art.

Both the True Cultivation of Ba Snake and the Dragon-Snake Spring Awakening Cultivation Method contained a corresponding martial art. They detailed the method for conjuring the avatars of a Ba snake or a dragon-snake through the Manifestation of the Great Dao. However, they were better suited to a demonic practitioner like Yuanqi.

Moreover, the manifestations recorded in the scriptures were limited to the authors’ understanding. No matter how great a cultivator’s comprehension, surpassing the creator was difficult.

Having nothing better to do, Xu Ying practiced the martial arts included in the two cultivation techniques. He mastered the Eight Techniques of Ba Snake and the Six Techniques of Dragon-Snake Spring Awakening to perfection.

Shaking his head, he remarked, “My achievement is limited.”

Yuanqi was overjoyed at the sight. So Ah Ying can suffer setbacks too! Once I master these two cultivation techniques, my cultivation and strength will surpass his!

With his back facing Yuanqi, Xu Ying projected his vital energy outward. Mist swirled behind him, forming a thick fog several mu wide. A massive white snake head slowly emerged from within it.

Yuanqi stared wide-eyed. Horns crowned the snake’s imposing head, setting it apart from ordinary snakes. It was a Ba Snake, large enough to swallow an elephant god with a single bite.

The Snake grew increasingly longer as it slithered out from the fog. It coiled around Xu Ying and circled him in the air, round after round, at a leisurely pace. It seemed so lifelike as if it had slithered straight out of the scripture.

Xu Ying spread his hand, his fingers curled like the mouth of a Ba Snake, and he unleashed a palm strike. Immediately, the Ba Snake behind him opened its mouth wide and charged with immense ferocity, making the demons at the foot of the mountain tremble in fear.

He swept his arm. The zhang-wide snake tore through the air, setting off gusts of fierce wind.

Its power far surpassed that of the Elephant-Bull Demon Fist!

The Elephant-Bull Demon Fist lacked a Manifestation of the Great Dao, rendering the divine avatar of the elephant king merely superficial, with no real foundation. However, the True Cultivation of Ba Snake contained a Ba snake’s Dao manifestation diagram, allowing one to observe and comprehend.

Only after studying and comprehending the Ba Snake Dao manifestation diagram could one unleash the Eight Techniques of Ba Snake with such power.

Still, Xu Ying was far from satisfied.

The Eight Techniques of Ba Snake were not a qualitative improvement over the Elephant-Bull Demon Fist. They could not compare to the Zhou clan’s Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirit Radiant Vestige Cultivation Method.

Yuanqi was green with envy. He quickly flipped through the scripture to check which level of the True Cultivation of Ba Snake Xu Yinghad reached.

Lazily basking in the sunlight, Dazhong said, “Stop flipping. He’s already reached the ninth level. To progress any further, he would have to observe a real Ba Snake to amplify its power.”

Yuanqi was astonished. Dazhong meant that Xu Ying had already mastered the Manifestation of the Great Dao of a Ba Snake, reaching the pinnacle achievable through the True Cultivation of Ba Snake.

To go a step further, Xu Ying would need to observe a real Ba Snake and grasp its true essence to attain its Manifestation of the Great Dao!

Yuanqi was puzzled. “But Ah Ying hasn’t practiced it that many times. How could he have mastered this martial art already?”

Dazhong comforted, “Don’t feel discouraged. He has a brain, but you don’t. But you have your own advantage: you are a real snake. As long as you practice the True Cultivation of Ba Snake to the ninth level, the power you can unleash will definitely surpass his!”

Encouraged, Yuanqi immediately focused on practicing.

Dazhong looked at Yuanqi’s massive body, which stretched over ten zhang, and thought, Siphoning only Ah Ying’s vital energy is still too slow. If I siphon energy from this stinking snake as well, it should speed things up a lot. This snake keeps getting bigger. His vital energy must be astonishingly abundant!

Meanwhile, Xu Ying went on to practice the martial art within the Dragon-Snake Spring Awakening Cultivation Method. He rose and fell as a dragon-snake danced, unleashing terrifying might. Every movement sent the dragon-snake soaring left and right, kicking up sand and stones.

He channeled the Six Techniques of Dragon-Snake Spring Awakening, but altered the snake form into a Ba Snake. By fusing the arts, he unleashed even greater power.

However, Xu Ying couldn’t help but frown at the thought of Zhou Zheng’s transformation art. Even his modified Six Techniques of Dragon-Snake was much inferior to the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirit Radiant Vestige Cultivation Method.

The white-robed Exorcist Immortal, Chen Mianzhu, was clearly an Exorcist. Why does he have cultivation techniques for Qi Cultivators?

Xu Ying was puzzled. The five viscera immortal mountains in the temple world clearly corresponded to the Qi Cultivators’ ethereal void. That meant Chen Mianzhu had also cultivated Qi Cultivator techniques.

There’s also the Zhou clan and the Underworld Court. Why are they so obsessed with me?

Xu Ying felt even more puzzled. To pursue him, the Zhou clan and the Underworld Court had poured in a lot of resources without regard for the cost. Since he had slain the god of Jiangjiatian Village, at least six or seven hundred Zhou clan experts and Underworld Court gods had been killed or injured.

I’m as ordinary as can be. Is it really worth suffering such heavy losses just for me?

Thinking of this, Xu Ying paused for a moment before finding a definitive answer. It’s worth it! Otherwise, they wouldn’t have continued sending people, even mobilizing a prefect and a controller general to capture me for sure. That means I possess something they consider valuable. So what is it?

The youth pondered. The only thing he had worth presenting was his “demonic arts.”

In other words, they are interested in my Qi cultivation techniques.

Xu Ying’s eyes flickered as he murmured, “Both the Underworld Court and the Zhou clan want me because they’re interested in my ability to comprehend Qi cultivation techniques. But why are they interested in an abandoned cultivation system? Could it be...”

His eyes still flickering, he called out, “Master Zhong! Master Zhong!”

Dazhong quickly flew over. Xu Ying said, “Master Zhong, I would like to see your aim. Can you shatter this rock?”

He picked up a rock from the ground and threw it hard.

Dazhong flew into the air and tolled. The rock remained fine. Instead, Yuanqi, who was not far away, tumbled down the mountain.

Yuanqi shouted angrily, “Damned bell, you sneak-attacked me again!”

Blushing, Dazhong said, “My aim hasn’t been very good ever since I was injured. Ah Ying, did you call me over just to hit a rock? Is there anything else?”

Xu Ying shook his head profusely. “No, that’s all.”

Dazhong flew away.

Xu Ying thought, Master Zhong is unreliable. If I let him unlock my Mud-Pill Secret Trove and he misses...

He shuddered involuntarily.

He had called Dazhong over to have him unlock his Mud-Pill Secret Trove. Xu Ying wanted to verify whether Qi Cultivators’ techniques complemented Exorcist arts.

Although Dazhong was unreliable, he didn’t drop this idea of unlocking the secret trove. On the contrary, it grew stronger.

“It’s better to rely on myself than to rely on heaven and earth. Since Master Zhong is unreliable, I’ll unlock my Mud-Pill Secret Trove on my own!”

Xu Ying’s eyes flickered as he entered his ethereal void. His divine sense soared and came before the streak of sword qi. From a distance, it appeared to be nothing more than a streak of sword qi floating in the heavens. Up close, however, it resembled a vast rainbow stretching across the sky.

This was the sword technique’s Manifestation of the Great Dao Xu Ying had comprehended.

Xu Ying soared through his five viscera with the streak of sword qi, passed the twelve-layered pagoda, crossed the Jasper Pool and the divine bridge, swept past the sun and the moon, and finally arrived at the ocean of chaotic qi in his brain.

He hovered before the egg of primordial chaos, the Mud Pill, and slowly focused himself.

He hesitated. “Once I unlock the Mud Pill, it can never be closed again. If the two cultivation systems are not complementary, it will become a major obstacle in my cultivation path!”

There would be no room for regret once he took this step!

Xu Ying hesitated. He was only a snake catcher, struggling to secure his next meal. Both the mortal realm and the underworld hunted him, and even the Heavenly Dao World had no place for him. He could lose his life at any moment.

Was there really any point in worrying so much?

He laughed out loud, and a bold spirit rose in his chest. He channeled the sword technique Manifestation of the Great Dao with all his might and thrust it toward the chaotic Mud Pill!

It perfectly struck the Mud Pill within the chaos. As he penetrated it, he sensed resistance. The sword qi surged violently, growing stronger against the resistance and tearing through any obstacle. A streak of vast rainbow sword qi pierced through the chaotic Mud Pill in one strike!

Along with the sword qi, a grotto heaven descended into the chaotic sea, stirring the primordial chaos qi. Boundless vitality surged forth from the grotto heaven and flowed through Xu Ying.

He felt as if streams of icy qi were flowing through him. He had awakened the vigor of his physique!

He had unlocked his Mud-Pill Secret Trove!

Xu Ying laughed out loud, exhilarated.

The old oxen were grazing in the distance. When they grew tired of eating, they lay down to rest, tilted to the side. They swung their tails, watching leisurely as Yuanqi and Dazhong fought.

“Damned bell, you sneak-attacked me. Is this something a good bell would do?”

“I told you it was an accident!”

“You even stole my vital energy. Don’t think that I didn’t notice it!”

“I haven’t even stolen your vital energy, and you’re already slandering me! I’ll beat you to death, you stinking snake!”

“Mercy!”

......

Odd as it might seem, after opening the grotto heaven, Xu Ying felt like it was his own limb. He could sense it clearly and control it at will. He could even move the grotto heaven around as easily as moving an arm or leg.

If I had asked someone for help to unlock my Mud-Pill Secret Trove, I probably wouldn’t be able to control it so easily.

Xu Ying felt somewhat relieved. If he had let Dazhong help him, this grotto heaven might not have been under his control now.

Suddenly, he thought of something. The ancient record in the Mud-Pill Palace’s stone chamber states that one needed someone to help them unlock their Secret Trove. If I had let others help me, wouldn’t that mean my Mud-Pill grotto heaven would fall under their control?

The more he thought about it, the more something felt off.

But it makes sense that Exorcists need the help of others to unlock their Secret Trove, as they were ordinary humans before unlocking it. They naturally can’t unlock their own Secret Troves the way I did and would need help from another expert.

Xu Ying watched as Dazhong struck Yuanqi until his head was covered in lumps. Yuanqi slithered inside Qin Yan Cave and used its mysterious energy to heal his wounds. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, leaving him frozen on the spot.

“Yes, that’s it!” He suddenly exclaimed, “I used Dragon Tracking to track the energy within Qin Yan Cave, and that helped me locate my Mud-Pill Secret Trove. This means that the mysterious energy only triggered the vigor of my Mud-Pill Secret Trove. But if that’s the case, why can the mysterious energy heal Yuanqi as well? Could it be...”

His heart pounded wildly. Could it be that the Six Secrets of the Human Body weren’t exclusive to humans, and that the six Secret Troves also existed within demons?