Day of Ascension

Xu Ying came to his senses and hurriedly leaped out of Wutong Palace. Stepping on a cloud ladder, he caught the petite girl.

Forcibly using the Cloud-Ladder Heavenly Bound drained his heart energy. He felt a twisting pain in his heart, as if it was about to burst open.

He gathered his primordial qi, and sword qi enveloped him. Switching from the cloud ladder to the Sword Kinesis Mantra, he carried Xiao Fengxian on a streak of sword light toward the parasol tree and into Wutong Palace.

Xiao Fengxian remained unconscious. Xu Ying found a room and lay her down. He examined her and used his Mud-Pill Secret Trove’s vigor to aid her recovery. Only then did her aura gradually stabilize.

When Xiao Fengxian woke up, a bitter, metallic taste filled her throat. Recalling how she had fallen unconscious, she quickly sat up and found herself covered with a blanket. Somehow, she had already returned to Wutong Palace.

She got off the bed and discovered that her injuries weren’t very severe.

Stepping out of the room, she saw Xu Ying sitting on a scented daybed with a book covering his face. His head tilted to one side as he slept.

Only then did she realize that Xu Ying had healed her. Seeing him sleeping so innocently, she smiled to herself and approached, intending to play a prank on him. However, Xu Ying woke up before she could get to him. He moved the book covering his face and smiled.

“I fell asleep after reading only a few pages. How long have you been awake?”

“I just woke up too.”

Xiao Fengxian dropped all thoughts of teasing him and said apologetically, “Young Master, I thought I could help you break your seal, but it was unexpectedly different from mine. My reckless attempt caused a backlash. I injured myself and also alerted the person who placed the seal.

“This place isn’t safe. They would surely notice that someone tampered with the seal and send people to investigate.” With light steps, she went to pack her belongings. “Young Master, although I failed to help break your seal, it had loosened significantly. I suppose that counts for something. If fate allows, I’ll repay your grace for saving my life twice. If not, I’ll repay you in the next life!”

Xu Ying asked seriously, “Miss Fengxian, you really met me three thousand years ago?”

Xiao Fengxian flew around Wutong Palace like a little bird while packing. “Of course. Three thousand years ago, I had just hatched when I met you here on Mount Jiuyi. You looked the same as you do now, though you seemed a little younger.”

Xu Ying went into a daze. She did not need to lie to him. However, if she had seen him three thousand years ago, didn’t that mean he was at least three thousand years old?

How could a person live that long?

What about Xujiaping Village and his parents? Were his happy childhood memories and the painful memory of the village fire nothing but fabrications?

Xiao Fengxian finished packing her belongings, pushed the window open, and was about to fly away.

Xu Ying hurriedly called out to her. Standing on the windowsill, she turned her head back and smiled brightly.

“Young Master, if I stay any longer, I’ll probably be caught. I’m still weak, and this matter concerns life and death. Please don’t try to keep me here.”

Xu Ying asked, “You mentioned before that you were sealed as well. What happened? Who sealed you?”

Xiao Fengqian’s expression grew increasingly anxious. “I was born with sharp senses. Soon after hatching, I sensed that heaven and earth were about to undergo great changes, so I decided to escape.

“That day, I prepared everything and planned to fly beyond the myriad mountains. Then the world suddenly twisted around me. My vision went dark, and I remember nothing after that. I seemed to have fallen into vast darkness, or returned to the hazy state before I was born.”

Xu Ying pressed on, “What happened after that?”

“One day, I suddenly woke up and opened my eyes. Three thousand years had already passed. When I flew through the sky, everything was unfamiliar. Everything I knew was gone.”

Her expression dimmed with sorrow. Everything had vanished, including her family and friends.

That was why she had been so happy to see Xu Ying and asked for his help. He was the only familiar face.

Xu Ying asked, “You don’t know who sealed you away?”

Shaking her head, Xiao Fengxian said, “I’m different from you. My guess is that I was sealed together with the entire world, while your situation is unique. You seem to have been specifically targeted and sealed away. I need to go!”

She said urgently, “I can sense that danger is getting close. There’s no time to lose! My instincts are never wrong!”

Xu Ying called out in a hurry, “Wait! Who sealed this world? And who broke the seal?”

Xiao Fengxian had already transformed into a colorful phoenix. She flapped her wings and shot into the distance, leaving a streak of rainbow light across the sky.

Her clear voice came from afar. “Quickly leave this place, Young Master Xu! That person has noticed the seal’s movement and will surely come find you!”

Watching her leave, Xu Ying felt a deep sense of loss inside. Am I really someone from three thousand years ago? Could she have mistaken me for someone else? Isn’t my home in Xujiaping Village?

He stood in silence for a long time. Instead of leaving, he waited. He wanted to see whether Xiao Fengxian was right, whether the person who had sealed him would come to investigate.

Xiao Fengxian soared through the sky at incredible speed, passing by like a shadow, leaving a trail of seven-colored clouds in her wake.

Suddenly, a wall of green light appeared ahead, blocking the path. It resembled a celestial barrier, stretching so high and wide that she could not see its limits.

Xiao Fengxian’s heart jolted. She shot upward, trying to fly over it, only to discover countless straight lines crisscrossing its surface like a giant chessboard.

A chill ran down Xiao Fengxian’s spine. It is a chessboard!Could it be a grand divine ability of the “so close, yet worlds apart” variety?

Alarmed, she accelerated to her top speed. Beyond the heavens, she suddenly saw enormous fingertips descending through the atmosphere while pinching a white chess piece.

That chess piece was like a mountain. It and the fingertips ignited from friction as they tore through the air. With a sharp crack, they brushed past her and slammed onto the green chessboard, scattering celestial fire in every direction.

Flapping her wings, Xiao Fengxian dodged the chess piece, only to see another white jade-like hand reaching down from beyond the heavens, pinching a black chess piece, and descending!

She raised her speed to the limit, weaving left and right to dodge the hand and black chess piece. Then a third delicate hand descended, holding a white piece.

Like an ant on a chessboard, she darted left and right, desperately avoiding the mountain-sized pieces falling from the sky.

The attacks grew faster and faster. As more pieces landed on the board, the available space shrank. Each piece stood as large as a mountain, making evasion increasingly difficult.

She could only weave through the towering chess pieces while enduring the relentless attacks descending from above.

Just as Xiao Fengxian was on the verge of despair, she suddenly heard a chuckle.

“This game is over.”

The green light and the chess game immediately dissipated. Her heart still pounding with fear, Xiao Fengxian looked down toward the source of the voice. On a mountain peak ahead sat an elder and a woman playing chess. The board between them happened to be made of green jade.

Xiao Fengxian flew to that mountain and landed some distance away from the two. She transformed into a little girl in colorful clothes and bowed deeply.

“I beg for mercy!”

Without even raising his head, the white-robed elder waved his hand. “Go. Don’t be so meddlesome next time.”

Feeling as if she had received an amnesty, Xiao Fengxian hurriedly took a few steps back. She then turned around, transformed into a phoenix, and fled far away.

The woman playing against the elder was dressed in red. Her face was round, and a red mole rested between her brows. She smiled. “That old mister ran off to deliver tea again?”

The elder sighed. “Yes. He’s rather pitiful, running back and forth every day like an errand boy. I heard he prepared ten big bowls of Meng Po Soup this time. Even Meng Po has grown tired of seeing him and has been talking behind his back.”

The woman with a red mole couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ten bowls of Meng Po Soup? Is he feeding them to an ox?”

The elder burst out laughing. “Even an immortal would fall from ten bowls of tea. In that case, we can rest easy, too.”

The red-robed woman sighed. “Hopefully. Otherwise, living in panic like this every day, even someone healthy would fall sick.”

***

On Mount Jiuyi.

Xu Ying stood before a window in Wutong Palace, gazing outside. His emotions surged like the waves, unable to calm down.

I’ll go to Xujiaping after Old Ancestor Zhou’s matter is settled! he thought. Only by finding that place can I solve the mystery of my origins!

He remembered the path to Xujiaping Village. Suddenly, knocks rang from outside Wutong Palace.

Xu Ying walked through the courtyards and arrived at the main gate. As soon as he opened it, he smelled the scent of incense. A frowning old man stood on a tree branch outside, looking at him with a sorrowful expression.

Xu Ying seemed unsurprised. He smiled. “Old Sir, we meet again.”

The old man sighed. “We could have met on Mount Wu Wang, but we missed each other. Luckily, we meet again, Young Master Xu.”

His eyes flickering, Xu Ying asked, “Old Sir, surely you didn’t come this time to treat me to tea again, did you?”

“You’re exceptionally smart, Young Master Xu. You’ve guessed it at once. I’ve brought some good tea to let you have a taste.”

Xu Ying gave a vague smile. “What if I refuse to drink it?”

The old man sighed. “Then, I’ll have no choice but to force it down your throat. Men!”

The sky shook violently as golden light beams shone down, illuminating the skies above Mount Jiuyi. Several golden-armored giants stood atop the layers of cloud, bending down to look below.

Xu Ying side-stepped and invited him in. “I cannot resist you, so I might as well not try. Bring the tea, Old Sir. I’ll just drink it.”

He quickly calculated his chances. If Dazhong were here, then with the Pure Yang Spirit Flame in his ethereal void, he should be able to exchange a few blows with this elder. As long as he caused a huge commotion, Zhou Qiyun would surely appear.

With him here, this frowning old man wouldn’t be able to do much!

He thought, With the huge commotion Xiao Fengxian just caused, it won’t be hard for Master Zhong to find this place.

The old man laid out the tea set. Then, a ball of flame appeared in his palm. He boiled a pot of water and rinsed the cups before pouring tea for Xu Ying. The tea was crystal clear and looked refreshing enough to quench one’s thirst at a glance.

Xu Ying was startled to see the flame used to boil the water, and dropped any thoughts of summoning the Pure Yang Spirit Flame. The old man was using the Pure Yang Spirit Flame itself to boil water.

Clearly, using it against him would be useless!

He thought, With the ruckus caused here just now, Zhou Qiyun should arrive any moment.

The old man raised his hand, used a stalk of emerald bamboo to push the cup over, and said, “Please have some tea, Young Master.”

Xu Ying picked up the teacup and smiled. “The last time you treated me to tea, it seemed to have no effect. It doesn’t seem like the tea this time is any different. Aren’t you worried it would fail again?”

The old man’s heart jolted. He had this suspicion long ago, worried that the Meng Po Soup had lost its effectiveness against him.

Maintaining his expression, he insisted, “Please have it while it’s hot, Young Master Xu.”

Xu Ying stared at the teacup. Light and shadow flickered across his face as his thoughts churned. He held the cup without drinking.

The old man asked, “Young Master Xu, could you be waiting for Zhou Qiyun? His injuries have not yet healed; he wouldn’t dare to show himself before me. There’s another expert on this mountain—Emperor Shengshen Wuzhang Xiao—but he’s also injured. An emperor does not put himself in danger. Would he dare come so lightly?”

Xu Ying kept staring at the teacup, his mind in turmoil. He gritted his teeth, tilted his head back, and emptied the cup!

When Xu Ying set the teacup down, the frowning old man’s brows relaxed slightly. He picked up the teapot and refilled the cups. “I brought several golden-armored warriors with me. If you refused to drink, they would have pinned you down, pried open your mouth, and poured the tea down your throat. Since you cooperated, you saved me some trouble.”

Xu Ying burst out laughing. “It’s just a few cups of tea. There’s no need for you to act personally, Old Sir. I happened to be a little thirsty.”

He snatched the teapot, took off the lid, and gulped it down.

The old man’s gloomy look cleared up, revealing a joyful expression.

Xu Ying emptied the teapot and smiled. “The last time you treated me to tea, you told me an interesting story about King Chen Mianzhu of the Southern Dian Kingdom turning into the white-robed Exorcist Immortal and being devoured completely. Why isn’t there a story this time?”

The old man grinned from ear to ear, his wrinkles visibly smoothing out. “Then, while waiting for the effect to kick in, I shall tell you another interesting story.”

Beaming with smiles, he said, “This spiritual sanctuary is called the Truth-Seeking Supreme Void Grotto Heaven. During the ancient era, some Qi Cultivators gathered qi here to cultivate, believing it to be a spiritual sanctuary.

“There are even traces of an immortal’s ascension in this grotto heaven, and everyone thought ascension was possible here. They hoped to use those traces to borrow the power of heavenly tribulations and open a path to the immortal realm. Haha!”

He opened his mouth wide exaggeratedly, spread his ten fingers, each thin and long, wide, and laughed. “But do you know that they all died?”

He laughed until he was tearing up. He reached up with his slender fingers to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, chuckling. “They all died. Not even one survived. Later, someone with refined immortal pupils arrived. He had a keen eye.

“He examined the rosy glow of ascension and discovered it wasn’t the glow of ascension at all. It came from the first unlucky bastard who attempted a tribulation here and was blasted to pieces. That rosy light was formed from the fragments of his corpse and Primordial Spirit.”

His laughter vanished. His expression became terrifyingly calm. “Young Master, don’t you think it’s laughable?”

Xu Ying had already slumped over the table, snoring as he slept soundly like a baby.

“It is, isn’t it?”

With a profound gaze, the old man packed up the tea wares. He rose to his feet, stepped out of Wutong Palace, turned around, and closed the palace gates.

At that moment, a great bell flew toward the palace. Seeing it, the old man raised his sleeve to obscure his face.

Dazhong crashed into Wutong Palace through the window on the tree, clanging wildly along the way, and cried out, “Ah Ying, Ah Ying, are you all right?”

The old man smiled and was just about to jump off the parasol tree when he heard Xu Ying wake up with a yawn.

Xu Ying said, “You are... Master Zhong, how did I fall asleep?”

The corner of the old man’s eye twitched. His smile froze and gradually turned into a frown.

This is a disaster, he thought.