Day of Ascension

Xu Ying pondered as he kept up with Xu Fu. “Lord Xu, what if we fused exorcism arts into Qi cultivation techniques? On the one hand, we take up the mantle, inherit the ultimate techniques of our predecessors, and carry on their heritage. On the other hand, we could forge a new future and lay a stronger foundation for posterity. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Even now, he hadn’t fully recovered his memories of this lifetime. He was only fourteen, and there were still many principles he didn’t understand. Yet he couldn’t help thinking that perhaps the Qi Cultivators’ resurgence and the Exorcists’ pursuit of change didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.

The Exorcists could follow one path and prove whether it was the right one. The Qi Cultivators could follow another and prove whether theirs was right. In fact, there was no need to distinguish between Qi Cultivators and Exorcists at all. Everyone could choose their own path. Wouldn’t that be better?

Let everyone make the most of their talent, and let each take responsibility for their own choices. Then there would be no need to fight over orthodoxy, as there would be no orthodoxy to fight over. Perhaps that would be a better path.

Xu Fu stepped onto the riverbank, followed closely by hundreds of Qi Cultivators. “The teachings of our ancestors and the flame they passed down cannot be discarded simply because you asked, ‘Wouldn’t that be better?’ There are still Qi Cultivators who can survive their tribulations and ascend to immortality. It is difficult, not impossible.

“Exorcism arts? They merely fatten the sheep before the slaughter! Zhou Qiyun has proven that it is the wrong path. A wrong path has no right to exist in this world. It should be erased!”

Ahead, Exorcist Immortals and other Exorcists had already cleared the path to the Ancestral Dragon’s suspended coffin. Everyone followed the path forward.

Xu Fu gazed ahead. Exorcist Immortals and golden statues of the imperial mausoleum were engaged in an earth-shattering battle. His eyes flickered.

“Instead of letting them be slaughtered like cattle and devoured by others, it would be better for them to make one final contribution—to become immortal herbs that can resurrect Ancestral Dragon! That is the best ending for them!”

Suddenly, a golden statue behind them landed on the shore. Ribbons formed from incense qi wrapped around it. It wasn’t rigid, but flowed gracefully like smoke.

The phenomenon of an ethereal void materialized behind it. Five immortal mountains manifested within it—Heavenly Mountain, Heavenly River, Jasper Pool, and Divine Bridge—each one magnificent and lifelike, as though they truly floated in the heavens behind it.

Its aura was immense. As an ultimate creation designed to anchor the destiny of Qi Cultivators, it received the worship of people around the world and enjoyed their incense offerings. It had long since become a god.

It possessed Xu Ying’s appearance, yet it was a god in the form of an artifact!

Hua Xianchen and the others felt a chill run down their spines as they turned to look at Xu Fu. Xu Fu said indifferently, “You all stay here and hold off this golden statue. I’ll go resurrect Ancestral Dragon.”

He spread his arms wide. Carrying him, the Fangzhang Immortal Mountain soared higher.

Silence fell over the hundreds of Qi Cultivators as they turned around one after another. Feigning composure, Hua Xianchen shouted with a trembling voice, “You hear that?! We must block the golden statue and buy time for Old Ancestor Xu Fu! Qi Cultivators will surely rise again!”

Qi Qingzhou and the other Qi Cultivators felt their throats go dry. Staring at the golden statue closing in on them, they shouted, “Rise again!”

Xiao Fengxian also stayed behind. She said to Xu Ying, “I will have to repay your kindness in my next life, Young Master Xu.”

Xu Fu stopped in mid-air and waved his hand to break the seals, unraveling the seals that blocked the way one by one.

The Fangzhang Immortal Mountain hovered in the sky. Xu Fu looked down, seemingly waiting for Xu Ying.

Xu Ying glanced at the Qi Cultivators, then at Xu Fu. After a moment’s hesitation, he chose not to go with Xu Fu. Instead, he walked over to Feng Xian’er’s side.

Xu Fu froze for a moment. Anger welled up within him. Nothing has changed in four thousand years!

He didn’t wait for Xu Ying. Amid the rosy light of ascension, he flew straight toward the suspended coffin.

Feng Xian’er turned her head and looked at Xu Ying in surprise. She tilted her head. “Why didn’t you follow Old Ancestor Xu Fu?”

Xu Ying smiled. “I’m not like him. I don’t have the habit of abandoning my companions.”

The golden statue approached. Before it even reached them, many Qi Cultivators had already lost their minds and fallen into madness. The obsession of the masses, hidden within the incense qi, had invaded their minds and disrupted their Dao hearts!

The crazed Qi Cultivators screamed, unleashed their divine abilities, and activated their artifacts to attack indiscriminately, injuring many people.

The crowd plunged into chaos. Meanwhile, the golden statue waved its hand, sending countless flying swords slashing toward them. Sword qi cut through the air, threatening to wipe them all out in one go.

Xiao Fengxian shook her body, revealing her true phoenix form. She took to the skies and flapped her wings, setting off bursts of fierce gale to meet the sword qi, deflecting countless sword qi off course.

The sword qi tore through the air and carved across the ground for a hundred li.

Had those blades struck the crowd directly, few of the Qi Cultivators would have survived.

Xiao Fengxian let out a screech and spun up into the air. Balls of phoenix divine fire shot out from under her wings and struck the golden statue. They exploded in succession, turning the area into a sea of fire.

Suddenly, a massive crimson hand emerged from the flames and reached for her.

A mix of alarm and despair filled Xiao Fengxian. The golden statues were forged using Phoenix Flame. How am I supposed to fight them?

That statue had likely been forged with the flames of a mature phoenix. She had yet to reach maturity, so her flames couldn’t melt it.

Xiao Fengxian flapped her wings as she moved around. Using her wings as blades, she slashed at the large hand reaching for her.

Suddenly, the golden statue thrust out its other hand. The two massive hands slammed together, producing a loud clang. A shockwave erupted from the impact, its might nearly matching Dazhong’s strike as it swept toward Xiao Fengxian.

Just then, Dazhong moved sideways and blocked Xiao Fengxian’s path, unleashing a heavy blow. The two divine abilities collided. Violent ripples erupted from the impact, forming a disk of power that spun outward and sliced through everything in its path.

While the statue moved to block this strike, Hua Xianchen, Qi Qingzhou, and hundreds of Qi Cultivators activated their strongest artifacts or unleashed their strongest divine abilities one after another to attack it!

As the last remaining Qi Cultivators, they had inherited all kinds of exotic treasures from their predecessors. Every one of them was extraordinarily powerful, and the treasures they wielded radiated terrifying might when activated.

Their divine abilities had also grown significantly after receiving Xu Ying’s guidance.

Yet, no matter how powerful their artifacts or how exquisite their divine abilities were, profound patterns swirled across the golden statue whenever their attacks struck it, deflecting every attack without exception.

Dazhong flew around the golden statue, circling it from every direction as he moved up and down, front and back. His tolls reverberated without pause, unleashing his full might against the statue.

He even slammed into it head-on, yet could barely make it stagger.

The golden statue was like a Great Qi Cultivator at the Ascension Stage, well-versed in all kinds of mystic arts and divine abilities, and possessing an immensely robust cultivation. It withstood Dazhong’s attacks head-on.

Its fingers were the sharpest spears, its palms the most powerful seals, its elbows axes that could split the sky, and its legs the heaviest whips.

Every part of its body was an artifact!

Even its roar unleashed crushing sonic waves that sent people flying in all directions, blood spewing from their mouths.

Hua Xianchen cried out, “Use the True Fire of Samadhi and Divine Water of Samadhi!”

Many Qi Cultivators had already mastered the True Fire of Samadhi and the Divine Water of Samadhi. They immediately summoned the true fire and divine water they had refined. Yet, they couldn’t burn the golden statue or wash it away.

The golden statue trembled, and the patterns on its surface shifted into patterns of fire and rippling water. Out of nowhere, true fire and divine water flew out from the patterns and surged toward the crowd!

The water and fire coalesced, merging in perfect harmony.

Xu Ying stepped in front. He activated the Pure Yang Spirit Flame and blew, sending a blazing radiance surging toward the water and fire of Samadhi.

When the Pure Yang Spirit Flame collided with the water and fire of Samadhi, an explosion immediately erupted!

Xu Ying took a step forward to hold back the water and fire of Samadhi. Suddenly, he leaped into the air, withdrew his Pure Yang Spirit Flame, and activated his stone ax. With a loud clang, he hacked at the golden statue.

The stone ax’s power erupted, and a bloody light filled the sky. A surging sea of blood manifested behind Xu Ying, with the corpses of gods, demons, and gigantic beasts floating on it.

The destructive power behind that strike was terrifying. Yet it left only a shallow mark on the golden statue, failing to do any real damage at all.

The impact tore open the skin of Xu Ying’s palms, leaving his hands covered in blood. Fortunately, he had unlocked his Mud-Pill Secret Trove, and his injuries quickly healed.

Yuanqi flew off Xu Ying’s shoulder and opened his mouth wide, spewing blazing Celestial Fire to burn the golden statue. However, it couldn’t even make the statue glow crimson!

Yuanqi’s heart skipped a beat. He was just about to withdraw his Celestial Fire when a ray of light shot from the golden statue’s surface. His Celestial Fire went out immediately, erased from existence.

He thought in despair, Ah Ying, how are we supposed to fight this?

Xu Ying jumped up and landed on the golden statue’s incense ribbon and sprinted forward along its length.

Coiled around Xu Ying’s shoulder, Yuanqi shrieked as he saw that wherever Xu Ying stepped, the ribbon’s incense instantly transformed into various divine abilities and surged toward them like a storm.

Every one of these divine abilities carried fluctuations capable of destroying everything. If they were struck, they would surely be shattered into pieces!

Meanwhile, Dazhong was clashing with the golden statue head-on. He fell into a passive state, receiving a one-sided beating, and couldn’t pay any attention to Xu Ying’s side at all.

Xiao Fengxian was also in a similar situation and couldn’t help them.

As for the other Qi Cultivators, they were either dead or injured. They couldn’t withstand any of the golden statue’s divine abilities, let alone save them.

Feeling a chill, Yuanqi shouted, “Ah Ying! Run faster!”

Xu Ying ran as fast as he could, sprinting along the arc of the incense ribbon. Suddenly, the incense ahead transformed into a divine ability and shot out.

Yuanqi screamed, “Ah Yiiiing!”

Xu Ying somersaulted into the air. Sword qi enveloped him as he turned into a stream of sword light and dove into the massive shrine behind the golden statue.

The shrine was the source of the incense qi and stood six to seven zhang tall. The incense qi within was even denser.

Once they arrived here, Yuanqi could no longer withstand the people’s chanting within the incense qi and fainted.

Xu Ying channeled the Grand Unity Guiding Method. He focused his divine sense on a single spot and removed all distracting thoughts, so that not even the sky collapsing would faze him. He landed right in the center of the shrine and activated the Pure Yang Spirit Flame!

The blazing flames set the shrine on fire. Meanwhile, the barrage of divine abilities pursuing Xu Ying blasted into the shrine, tearing it apart with the golden statue’s own divine abilities. Fragments rained down through the air, still ablaze with spirit flame.

Xu Ying had leaped out the instant the divine abilities blasted into the shrine, but the shockwaves from the shrine’s explosion struck him. His ethereal void suffered heavy damage, and he bled from his seven orifices.

As he plummeted through the air, he looked up and saw that despite the shrine’s destruction and the scattering of its incense qi, every move of the golden statue still contained immense might.

Dazhong was full of dents from the fight. Feng Xian’er had also lost many of her feathers and was drenched in blood.

As for the other Qi Cultivators, more than half were either dead or injured, leaving them in complete disarray.

This is a crushing defeat...

Just as that thought crossed Xu Ying’s mind, a young girl leaped through the air and landed on the golden statue’s shoulder. With a loud thud, she smashed her fist into the golden statue’s neck.

“It’s Old Ancestor Chanchan!”

Xu Ying strained to channel his vital energy to make primordial qi flow through him again. With a leap, he used the Cloud-Ladder Heavenly Bound and ran upward.

The young girl was obviously Zhu Chanchan. She circled the golden statue’s neck and unleashed a flurry of punches. Its hands froze in midair, its legs locked in place, and even the patterns flickering across its surface dimmed!

Hovering mid-air, Zhu Chanchan dusted off her hands smugly and smiled. “Let’s see how tough you are now that I’ve cut off the flow of mystical power through your neck!”

Just then, Xu Ying lunged forward, swept the young girl into his arms, and raced away!

Bzzt!

Two thick rays of fiery light shot out from the golden statue’s eyes, slicing horizontally across the air and nearly cutting the two of them into four pieces.

Zhu Chanchan paled in horror. She hid in Xu Ying’s arms and quickly shouted an incantation with all her mystical power.

“Flying Peak! Cooome!”

Boom!

An incredibly terrifying shockwave erupted behind Xu Ying, sending the two flying. Looking back in a frantic hurry, the youth saw a bronze mountain peak descend from the sky and crush down onto the golden statue’s head, forcing it into its abdomen!

The golden statue’s eyes were still radiating fiery light. Gradually, its chest glowed red and melted.

Seeing this, Xu Ying quickly dodged. With two sharp hissing sounds, two thick beams of fiery light, each six to seven zhang across, shot past their heads.

Xu Ying landed, and Zhu Chanchan quickly pulled away from his arms, her face flushing slightly with embarrassment.

Xu Ying didn’t think anything about it and asked, “Chanchan, is the golden statue dead?”

“Not yet.” Zhu Chanchan quickly composed herself and said, “It’s half artifact and half god. How could it die? An attack like that wouldn’t even kill Dazhong, let alone the statue.”

Xu Ying looked over and saw that half of the golden statue’s body was planted into the ground by the Flying Peak. Its head had sunk into its chest, which had been melted through, revealing two fiery red eyes.

Indeed, the golden statue was still alive!

Xu Ying smiled. “Chanchan, hit it hard one more time!”

Zhu Chanchan said nothing.

Taken aback, Xu Ying turned to look at the girl. She said sheepishly, “This artifact of mine is too big. It’s already my limit to activate it once with all my strength...”

Xu Ying nodded. “You skimmed too many materials when forging treasure for the emperor of Zhou?”

Zhu Chanchan tucked her hands behind her back and kicked a stone on the ground. Shifting uncomfortably, she said, “How could that be? Not even the warden could make me confess. Don’t slander me.”

Dazhong flew over, wobbling unsteadily. He cried out, “Ah Ying, I’m injured again... Old Ancestor Chanchan, hurry, hit me twice! I’m going to fight it to the end!”