Day of Ascension

The young man wore plain cloth robes. Thick-browed and bright-eyed, he looked honest, guileless, and awkward, like someone traveling far from home for the first time, with no idea how to deal with strangers. As soon as he entered the city, he slipped into a corner to avoid the crowd.

Xu Ying approached and greeted him. “I’m Xu Ying from Lingling County. How do I address you, Brother?”

The cloth-robed youth was munching on dry rations. Hearing Xu Ying’s voice, he looked around. Realizing Xu Ying was talking to him, he hurried to his feet, wiped his hands on his clothes, and said awkwardly, “I am Xue Ying’an, from Daozhou[1].”

Seeing that his Golden Core was casting a distracting glare before them, Xue Ying’an withdrew it so it would not distract Xu Ying.

Xu Ying asked, “Brother Xue, how did you end up here alone? Have you also come for the Yunmeng Ancient Battlefield?”

Xue Ying’an replied, “My master ordered me to leave the mountains. He said there was an immortal affinity to be found here and told me to try my luck.”

Xu Ying asked, “Your master is?”

Dazhong flew forward excitedly, his divine sense rippling as he said rapidly, “Is your master’s name Li Xiaoke, a Qi Cultivator from the Han era? Does he wear black robes with a white sash and a red collar?

“Does he always carry an eight-faceted sword at his waist, with a mustache shaped like the character for eight on his upper lip and no beard on his chin?”

Xue Ying’an was stunned. “You know my master?”

Dazhong burst into ringing laughter, clanging so hard he could hardly catch his breath. Xu Ying and Yuanqi even worried he might laugh himself apart.

“Do I know him? Of course, I do! Li Xiaoke is my master. He forged me over three thousand years ago!”

Overjoyed, Dazhong flew around Xue Ying’an. “He took me everywhere to slay demons and protect the people. We visited mountain hermits and hidden masters together and experienced all kinds of dangers together. We supported one another until he suppressed the heavenly god and Fairy Qingbi, and I was separated from him! We are comrades-in-arms!”

Xue Ying’an stared in astonishment. A moment later, he said, “Zhong...”

Dazhong demanded, “Call me Master Zhong!”

Xue Ying’an said timidly, “Master Zhong, are you misremembering something? My master indeed has a bell that has experienced many events by his side, but it’s a golden bell known as the Carefree Bell. It has always stayed with him and has never left.”

Dazhong froze for a moment, then smiled. “I’m not the one remembering wrong. You are. Li Xiaoke never had some golden bell, Carefree Bell, or whatever that is. The only things that stayed by his side all this time were me and a sword!”

Xue Ying’an said, “I’ve heard my master recount his various adventures with the Carefree Bell. My senior disciples often mentioned them, too. Sometimes, the Carefree Bell itself would tell us the legends it shared with my master.”

Dazhong laughed out loud. “Impossible! How could my memories be wrong? I have your master’s mark on me!”

Immediately, various strange patterns appeared on the bell. His inner walls also manifested a scene of all creation vying for life beneath a frosty sky, thriving with profound, esoteric grandeur.

Dazhong said earnestly, “Look, isn’t this the mark of your master Li Xiaoke’s cultivation technique?”

Xue Ying’an examined it closely and exclaimed in surprise, “It is indeed my master’s mark. But he clearly said that the Carefree Bell had accompanied him for most of his lif—wait! I remember now!”

He paused for a moment and said, “He once mentioned that he forged several bronze bell replicas of the Carefree Bell in order to suppress the heavenly god wreaking havoc upon the world! He couldn’t bear to leave the real Carefree Bell there to suppress evil. You must be a replica of the Carefree Bell my master forged!”

He exclaimed in wonder, “You’re a replica, yet you’ve gained spiritual sentience. How truly extraordinary!”

Dazhong froze.

A moment later, Dazhong seemed to have aged, weathered by the passing years. He smiled shakily. “You must have heard wrong, right? Yes, your master missed me so much that he forged a golden bell to remember me! That golden bell is my replica!”

Xue Ying’an shook his head. “My seniors and juniors in the mountains spoke of my master suppressing the heavenly gods many times in the past. There shouldn’t be any mistakes.

“The Carefree Bell has no trace of rust, while you’re covered in rust. Moreover, the Carefree Bell’s patterns are much deeper and clearer, while your patterns and marks seem somewhat sloppy.”

Dazhong flew into a rage. “Clearly, my marks and patterns are more expressive! Expressive, you understand? Master Qi, Master Qi, you’re well-read. Tell him what expressive means and what rigid craftsmanship means!”

Yuanqi hesitated for a moment and remained silent.

Xue Ying’an said, “I don’t know what artistic expression or rigid craftsmanship is, but we live in seclusion on Jiucailing Ridge of Mount Jiulong in Daozhou. My master folded heaven and earth to live with us in seclusion outside this world, amidst the myriad heavens. If you don’t believe me, we can go there together and ask him face-to-face!”

Dazhong quickly said, “Very well! Let’s go right away!”

Xue Ying’an said awkwardly, “I left the mountains in search of immortal affinity, so I can’t return yet. I’ll return to the mountain with you once I obtain it.”

Dazhong kept urging him, leaving Xue Ying’an in a difficult position.

Xu Ying coughed dryly and said, “Calm down, Master Zhong. You’ve waited three thousand years. What’s the harm in waiting just a few more days?”

Dazhong stared blankly into space as waves of bitterness rose in his heart. “Ah Ying, I’m not a substitute for the Carefree Bell. I remember going through so many things with my master. He really likes me.”

Xu Ying nodded lightly. “You’re my good friend. How could you be a substitute for the Carefree Bell?”

Yuanqi chimed in, “Master Zhong, I think artistic expression is better than rigid craftsmanship. Your patterns are very expressive. They have the bearing of a grandmaster. Even if Li Xiaoke forged Carefree Bell with meticulous precision, it cannot match the spiritual charm of the artistic expression on you.”

Dazhong barked, “It wasn’t forged with precision. It was forged carelessly! I’m the true treasure my master forged with everything he had!”

In the past, when he got angry, he would have pinned Yuanqi down and beaten him long ago. Now, even though he was furious, he only seethed in uncharacteristic silence and did not resort to violence.

Yuanqi whispered to Xu Ying, “Master Zhong once mentioned that his memories from three thousand years ago have always been hazy. His spiritual sentience was on the verge of awakening but never fully did, so he can’t remember many things.”

Xu Ying had also heard Dazhong mention this before. He could not even clearly remember the great upheaval caused by Heaven-Man Resonance three thousand years ago.

He could barely remember mountains and rivers gradually vanishing, and others becoming smaller. As for what exactly had happened back then, he had no idea.

If Dazhong really was a powerful treasure forged by Li Xiaoke and had accompanied him through a very large part of his life, then Dazhong’s spiritual sentience should have awakened earlier. He wouldn’t have such a shallow memory of the sealing of heaven and earth.

Yuanqi said, “I suspect he is indeed a substitute for the Carefree Bell. Some of his memories are actually the Carefree Bell’s, not his own experiences. When Li Xiaoke used him to suppress evil, he still hadn’t awakened his spiritual sentience.

“Only after enduring the vicissitudes of time and absorbing the sun and moon’s essences did he gradually gain sentience, believing himself to be Li Xiaoke’s most cherished artifact.”

Xu Ying whispered, “Don’t say any more, Master Qi. Let’s not jump to conclusions when we haven’t been to Daozhou to verify things.”

Yuanqi replied, “But Master Zhong is indeed covered in rust...”

Xu Ying glared at him, so Yuanqi had no choice but to shut up. The rust on Master Zhong proves that Li Xiaoke didn’t use high-quality materials to forge him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have rusted.

Devastated, Dazhong retreated into a corner and refused to come out.

Xu Ying smiled. “Master Zhong, come into my ethereal void. I still have some Origin Dao Essence that hasn’t been refined yet. Don’t you want to have a taste?”

Dazhong didn’t answer him. He shrank into a corner of the stone city wall and ignored them.

Yuan Qi opened his mouth to speak; after a moment’s thought, he stopped himself from asking for a taste. Ah Ying was only inviting him to have a taste to cheer him up. If I said anything, I’d probably get beaten up.

Xu Ying thought, Master Zhong has likely shut himself off from the world.

He drew Dazhong into his ethereal void and hung him before the Pure Yang Spirit Flame, hoping its radiance would light up his inner heart. But before long, Dazhong vanished. Xu Ying searched for a moment before finding Dazhong at his Gushing-Spring Secret Trove.

He stuffed himself into the sea of the netherworld and sank to the bottom, motionless.

Dazhong said, “I might be a fake. I want to be left alone for a bit.”

Xu Ying had no choice but to let him be.

Xu Ying asked, “Ying’an, what kind of place is the Jiucailing Ridge? Why have I never heard of this place before?”

Xue Ying’an hesitated momentarily before replying, “The sky above Jiucailing Ridge on Mount Jiulong is different from this sky. There are two suns there, so it’s only natural that you haven’t heard of it.”

“A different sky?” Xu Ying was taken aback. Daozhou was clearly just south of Lingling County. Before the emergence of the new lands, the two places weren’t very far apart. How could they be under a different sky?

Could it be that Master Zhong’s master had folded Mount Jiulong into another space?

Xue Ying’an said, “Originally, we were living perfectly fine. We sibling disciples knew that there was another world outside, one that our master used to live in, but none of us had been there. Then one day, a man standing on a stone came and found Master.”

Xu Ying’s eyes lit up. “Was the stone perfectly square, perfectly floating in the air? An immortal mountain? The person standing on that stone was a young man with a scar at the corner of his eye?”

Xue Ying’an exclaimed in surprise, “Brother Xu, you were there too?!”

Xu Ying shook his head. “Of course, I couldn’t have been there, but I’ve seen that person before. His name is Xu Fu. When did he find your master?”

Xue Ying’an answered, “It’s been almost four years.”

Xu Ying froze.

Xu Fu found Li Xiaoke living in seclusion in another world before the Hell River changed course. Back then, the underworld hadn’t invaded yet, and new lands hadn’t emerged. Zhou Qiyun was still searching for a way to overcome his tribulation, and the Exorcists’ reforms to exorcism arts were only just beginning to sprout.

Xue Ying’an said, “After Xu Fu paid a visit to my master, my master was very angry and left, bringing the eight-faceted sword and the Carefree Bell with him. When he returned, he was injured and in a terrible mood.

“He kept saying he was wrong and that this path was not right. In the past, he deeply cared for our youngest junior sister, yet he lost his temper with her, unlike him, and he even beat me.

“During those days, our master became very gloomy. The divine dragons of Mount Jiulong were also terrified. They told us that our master had changed the seal and that we might return to the world of our ancestors.”

He stared blankly into space and continued, “Later, the heavens and earth indeed underwent great changes. Roars echoed from the sky and deep underground, like countless bulls and elephants bellowing together. I even saw massive limbs moving in the sky and underground. Then heaven and earth gradually tilted to one side.”

Heaven and earth tilted at a very slow pace. It took two to three years for the world to turn completely upside down. Yet to this day, the Jiucailing Ridge of Mount Jiulong remained in another world; it never fully returned.

Li Xiaoke had told Xue Ying’an and the others that he had to keep a path of retreat open, and Jiucailing Ridge was that path.

“Master was very happy after returning to this world, but also very cautious. He forbade us from descending the mountain. He was constantly paranoid, pacing back and forth and murmuring to himself.

“He kept saying that he was forced into this, and he didn’t wish for that either. Other times, he would suddenly snap fiercely, saying, ‘You know too much!’ This was the first time he allowed me to gather my own immortal affinity.”

Xue Ying’an suddenly came to his senses and said embarrassedly, “Brother Xu, I don’t know why I told you all this. I’m usually not this talkative.”

He had a worried look on his face, clearly concerned for his master, Li Xiaoke.

Xu Ying smiled. “Maybe it’s because I consumed the Origin Dao Essence within the immortal herb, causing you to speak your true thoughts unconsciously. Rest assured. I’m almost done refining the Origin Dao Essence.”

What Xue Ying’an had revealed caused Xu Ying to fall into deep thought. He couldn’t shake the feeling that hidden within Xue Ying’an’s words were clues others were not meant to discover.

How did Xu Fu know about Li Xiaoke, who was hidden in another world? How did he find Li Xiaoke? Li Xiaoke left with his eight-faceted sword and Carefree Bell. Did he go and try to kill Xu Fu?

Xu Ying thought, Li Xiaoke had returned in failure and was injured. Was Xu Fu the one who injured him? He lost to Xu Fu, so he said he was wrong. Which path was he referring to when he said that this path was wrong?

Aside from that, another mystery remained.

With a name as imposing as Mount Jiulong[2], why was one of its peaks called Jiucailing Ridge[3]?

Xu Ying suddenly asked, “Ying’an, do you recognize this sword technique?”

With a shift of his shoulder, a surge of majestic sword qi slashed down from the sky behind him like a long rainbow from beyond the heavens. It was the Realm Breaker sword qi that Xu Ying had comprehended at the Water Entrance Temple!

Xue Ying’an exclaimed in surprise, “That’s one of the techniques from my master’s Carefree Sword Art. Where did you learn it from?”

Xu Ying’s expression flickered between light and dark as he briefly recounted his encounter at the Water Entrance Temple in Lingling County.

He said, “Brother Xue, I came across Chen Mianzhu, a white-robed Exorcist Immortal, at the Water Entrance Temple. He ruled the Southern Dian Kingdom, possessed extremely high cultivation, and had also dabbled in Qi cultivation techniques.

“In his later years, he sealed himself away, concealing his Radiant Vestige land of sublimation between the mortal realm and the underworld. However, he was eventually found, and what split open his Radiant Vestige land was this realm-shattering sword qi.”

Xue Ying’an’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “This Exorcist Immortal must have committed countless evils, and my master eradicated him to protect the people!”

Xu Ying added, “Exorcist Immortal Chen Mianzhu’s glabella had a sword wound caused by an eight-faceted sword. It pierced through his forehead. After his death, the sword qi formed rays of immortal light around him, spinning like swords.

Xue Ying’an said excitedly, “My master is the Dual Paragon of Bell and Sword. The sword qi he left behind wouldn’t dissipate even after a thousand or two thousand years!”

Xu Ying said, “Exorcist Immortal Chen Mianzhu was devoured.”

Xue Ying’an was about to continue but froze upon hearing this.

Xu Ying continued, “Chen Mianzhu was left with only a layer of human skin and harbored deep resentment. He turned into a ghost Exorcist Immortal and terrorized the land.

“He gathered ghosts to refine Myriad Spirit Pills and even captured living people, intending to possess them to be reborn. However, let alone his physical body, even his soul was devoured clean. So how could he possess another and be reborn?”

Xue Ying’an widened his eyes, and his face flushed red.

Xu Ying added, “The person who devoured Chen Mianzhu is the one who used that sword technique to break through his Radiant Vestige land of sublimation. That person used an eight-faceted sword and killed him with a single strike.

“Chen Mianzhu was powerless to resist because his exorcism arts and techniques were taught to him by the same person who wielded that sword.”

Xue Ying’an stammered, “Brother Xu, wh-what are you trying to say? There is no enmity between us. Why are you defaming my master?”

Xu Ying said, “The Southern Dian Kingdom is near Lingling County. Daozhou is also nearby, and Fairy Qingbi, whom your master suppressed, is nearby. Your master must be active in this area as well.

“He could have easily arranged several backup plans. He imparted exorcism arts to Chen Mianzhu and left a trap within. Once Chen Mianzhu went into seclusion, he found him and devoured him...”

“Silence!” Xue Ying’an flew into a rage. A flying sword suddenly flew out of his ethereal void, surging with overwhelming sword qi and pointing straight toward Xu Ying.

The sword qi was so pure and dense that Xu Ying’s clothes fluttered violently. The invisible sword qi sliced off a piece of the hem, which was torn to shreds in midair and fluttered like cloth butterflies.

Xu Ying’s heart shook slightly. This sword qi was too domineering; it was stronger than the Realm Breaker sword qi he had comprehended. He had only deciphered the sword intent and sword Dao from the sword marks Li Xiaoke left behind, while Xue Ying’an had received Li Xiaoke’s true teachings.

Xue Ying’an’s mastery of the sword Dao far surpassed Xu Ying’s.

Just then, a chilling wind blew, causing the two to shiver. They watched as a burly man clad in battle armor strode toward them, then passed right through them!

Xue Ying’an’s surging sword qi had actually failed to harm that burly man in the slightest!

Yuanqi cried out in shock. Xu Ying looked over and saw that Yuanqi was far too big and long. That burly man walked into him and hadn’t emerged after a long moment.

It felt extremely strange and made one very uncomfortable, even for a snake.

Xu Ying suddenly called out, “Master Qi, shrink yourself!”

Yuanqi hurriedly shrank and turned into a tiny snake, only about a chi long, then jumped onto Xu Ying’s shoulder.

Xu Ying whispered, “The fallen ghosts of the city have appeared. The village elder told me these are their ancestors’ heroic spirits, still fighting even after death.”

Extremely furious, Xue Ying’an pointed his sword at Xu Ying and shouted, “What are your intentions in defaming my master?!”

A fierce, chilling wind blew through the city as ghosts appeared one after another, all clad in battle armor. They ran through the city, shouting non-stop as if battling their enemies.

“Chaaaarge!” The ghosts roared furiously. Their auras were extremely powerful. Shattered ethereal voids floated behind each of them, stretching from the Tailbone Pass to the Divine Bridge!

However, their ethereal voids were shattered. Many of the ghosts’ Divine Bridges were broken, their Jasper Pools burned dry, and their Twelve-Story Pagodas lay in ruins!

Some ghosts’ Heavenly Rivers stopped flowing, and their Thirty-Three Heavenly Mountains had collapsed!

Xu Ying looked around and noticed that the ghosts appearing in the stone city were all Qi Cultivators. Moreover, they had all broken through the final mystic gateway. They were Qi Cultivators whose Primordial Spirits stood on the Divine Bridge, waiting to ascend!

These were the warriors the Heavenly Dao Divine Artifact had selected from the myriad heavens!

Oh no! The Yunmeng Ancient Battlefield, this stone city, could be more dangerous than we thought!

At the thought, Xu Ying called out, “Xiaodie, tell everyone from the Guo clan to leave this stone city!”

Just as his voice fell, the warrior ghosts who had been fighting fiercely suddenly shattered one after another!

It was as if they had encountered an invisible enemy and were slaughtered by it!

“Kill!”

Killing intent boiled over inside the stone city. Countless ghosts charged forward, wave after wave, without fear of death. However, Xu Ying saw they were fighting only one person!

The strongest warriors selected from the myriad heavens faced just one enemy!

That person slaughtered the strongest Qi Cultivators one by one, shattering their physical bodies, smashing through their ethereal voids, then pulling out their Primordial Spirits and crushing them!

This person who stormed into the stone city trampled their artifacts, their divine abilities, their flesh and blood, and even their beliefs underfoot!

Xue Ying’an seemed infected by the killing intent of the ghosts within the stone city. He activated his eight-faceted sword and charged fiercely toward Xu Ying. Simultaneously, the Exorcists from the Guo, Gao, Zhu, and other noble clans inside the stone city also started fighting, disregarding whether they were friends or enemies!

“Kill!” They roared, driven completely by overwhelming killing intent, and fell into a frenzy.

No one noticed that the stone city had already risen into the air at some point, tilted, and soared toward the vast unknown land!

Meanwhile, before the stone city, a magnificent divine light surged. Thunder and lightning intertwined within the divine light, forming an incomparably majestic divine being with a dragon’s head!

Within that divine being, an object radiated waves of the Heavenly Dao’s might, guiding the stone city to retrace the Heavenly Path of the past!

It was on this Heavenly Path that the strongest warriors from the myriad heavens gathered to intercept and kill that fiend.

1. An ancient administrative region in China, centered in modern-day Dao County (Daoxian), Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. ☜

2. Nine Dragons Mountain. ☜

3. Ridge of Chinese Chives, a real location, by the way. But Mount Jiulong is a neighboring, separate peak within the same Dupang mountain range. ☜