Day of Ascension

“That wasn’t me!”

Xu Ying steadied himself and shouted at the corpse on the ground, “That was the version of me they imagined right before they died! I’m not that evil, and I’m not that powerful! Anyone who knows me knows I actually have a good temper and I’m easy to talk to...”

The corpse had no chance to refute him.

“Hahahahaha!”

In the distance, an Exorcist had gone mad. Waving his arms and kicking wildly, he ran over and cried, “The Ageless Immortal is a murderous demon king!”

Xu Ying flew into a rage. He flung the corpse aside and stood up. “I’m not! Don’t slander me!”

When the Exorcist saw his face, he screamed in terror, spun around, and fled. Deranged and frantic, he stumbled straight into a patch of residual divine abilities!

Xu Ying rushed to save him, but the Exorcist ran even faster when he saw Xu Ying chasing after him. He had only just reached out when the Exorcist was torn to pieces!

Those fragments of divine abilities could easily erase a Great Exorcist, so Xu Ying retreated to avoid the eruption.

However, his movement technique was strange. In just a few steps, he passed through the residual divine abilities as effortlessly as a fish slipping into water.

Xu Ying froze.

He had never learned this kind of movement technique either; for some reason, he could perform it!

Once again, he mobilized the six Secret Troves of the human body and discovered that, at some point, their power had fused into a seamless whole.

That should have been almost impossible!

Not long ago, he had only just opened the Gushing-Spring Secret Trove, one of the six Secret Troves, and perfected its orthodox method. Even then, he could barely mobilize the energy contained within all six Secret Troves.

The orthodox methods for the six secrets had been in circulation for only two years. Across the prefectures of the Divine Land, Exorcists from the great noble clans had tirelessly searched for the orthodox methods and deduced them.

Xu Ying was among the first to complete the methods. Even he, however, could not systematically mobilize the power of all six Secret Troves, much less merge their power into one.

Accomplishing that required deducing the orthodox methods of the six Secret Troves to their utmost limit, so that the immortal herbs within the six Secret Troves could be transformed into surging power at will.

Yet somehow, he had done it by accident!

The cause of all this was the eruption of the obsession in Taiyi Little Profound Heaven. It had placed Xu Ying within that obsession, reenacting the bloody battle from back then!

Although the obsession came from the perspectives of the strongest Qi Cultivators of the myriad realms, it did its utmost to recreate the divine abilities and Dao arts used by Xu Ying of the Heavenly Path back then.

That reenactment had awakened certain combat instincts within Xu Ying.

His clothes snapped in the wind. Surging power poured in from six places: Mud Pill, Jade Capital, Jade Pool, Yellow Court, Crimson Palace, and Gushing Spring, converging like raging rivers, quickly multiplying his cultivation and strength severalfold!

“I’m not a murderous demon king!” he shouted at the crazed Exorcists.

The poor wretches, already driven mad with fear, scattered in terror. They were like the madmen the villagers of Yunmeng Marsh had spoken of, having been drawn into the reenactment of that battle.

Only, they had not become Xu Ying.

They had taken the place of the powerful beings from the myriad realms whom Xu Ying had killed. Swept along by forces beyond their control, they charged at him, helpless to resist, only to watch as Xu Ying, like a god of slaughter, hacked them to pieces.

Worse still, they had experienced death after death, each time dying as one of the powerful beings Xu Ying had cut down. They learned what slaughter and despair truly meant!

Their Dao hearts were destroyed, their sanity shattered, and even their divine senses fell into disorder. They had gone insane.

“Master Qi!” Xu Ying called loudly.

Yuanqi had been hiding on his shoulder or inside his collar; when that great terror descended, the snake had vanished without a trace.

Most likely, Little Profound Heaven’s obsession had also invaded Yuanqi and, like the others, he became one of those powerful beings.

Xu Ying walked through the desert, calling out for Yuanqi. After traveling hundreds or even thousands of li, a timid voice finally answered him. “A-Ah Ying, is that you?”

He looked toward the voice, both startled and delighted. A huge head poked cautiously out from behind a dune. He hurried over, but the huge head immediately shrank back behind the dune.

Xu Ying rushed over and saw the great snake coiled into a ball, trembling. His head was pressed to the ground as it looked at Xu Ying in terror, not daring to meet his eyes.

Xu Ying reached out, his expression gentle. “Master Qi, it’s me, Ah Ying.”

Yuanqi curled even tighter, drawing his head back. His gaze darted away as he said timidly, “Are you Ah Ying, or are you Master Ying?”

Xu Ying carefully inched forward and smiled. “Of course I’m Ah Ying. You know we’ve been through life and death together. I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“You killed me more than a hundred times.” Yuanqi still recoiled slightly, unable to bring himself to approach.

Xu Ying slowly edged closer and reached out to touch his head. Yuanqi struggled against the fear gripping his heart and finally let him do so; when he felt that familiar touch, his terror gradually subsided.

The snake whispered, “When time flowed backward, I somehow got separated from you. Then I saw myself become a valiant Qi Cultivator.”

The first artifact that had attacked Xu Ying, that great ax, had been thrown by “Yuanqi Number One.” Burning with fighting spirit, he had wanted to cleave Xu Ying to death with a single strike. Yet, Xu Ying had crushed that giant ax with his bare hand.

The Qi Cultivator—Yuanqi Number One—had died a miserable death. He had charged in with matchless ferocity, only for Xu Ying’s divine ability to light him up like a heavenly lantern, setting his Primordial Spirit aflame and burning him alive!

After “Yuanqi Number One” died, Yuanqi saw another Qi Cultivator’s perspective, essentially becoming “Yuanqi Number Two.”

“Yuanqi Number Two” was a female Qi Cultivator with an alluring figure and graceful bearing. Along with a group of Qi Cultivators, she secretly raised an immortal palace and used it to suppress Xu Ying. Their goal was to completely suppress both his physical body and Primordial Spirit and crush him to death.

However, Xu Ying had smashed half the immortal palace apart. “Yuanqi Number Two” was inside that section when it crumbled, so she was annihilated with it.

Xu Ying had broken “Yuanqi Number Three” in half at the waist and thrown him into the well of the immortal palace. Xu Ying then punched into that well, turning him into pulp on the spot.

A single roar from Xu Ying had shattered the primordial spirit of “Yuanqi Number Four.”

The Yin-Yang Vine had ground “Yuanqi Number Five,” “Yuanqi Number Six,” and “Yuanqi Number Seven” to pieces.

“Yuanqi Number Eight” died because of the immortal Dao spiritual root he had just swallowed. Xu Ying activated the spiritual root and smashed him to pieces with one sweep.

“And that’s how the cycle went. You killed me more than a hundred times.” Yuanqi honestly recounted every one of his deaths to Xu Ying. When he saw Xu Ying reach out, he still could not resist curling into a ball.

Xu Ying smiled. “I’m really not the great evil. The truth is, the obsession of the powerhouses who died at my hands turned me into the evil they imagined me to be.”

“Ah Ying, don’t you think that sounds contradictory?” Yuanqi asked.

Xu Ying laughed happily. “Master Qi, you can now spot the contradiction in my words. That means you’ve regained your reason. Did you see Master Zhong?”

Yuanqi shook his head. “Last I saw him in the sky, resisting the invasion of the Heavenly Dao’s aura from beyond the heavens. He probably wasn’t affected by the obsessions in Little Profound Heaven.”

Xu Ying lifted his head and looked up. After the obsession’s eruption, the sky had become utterly calm. Beyond the heavens, the battle between the Dragon Abyss heavenly god and the immortal in the painting also seemed to have ceased and had not spread into Little Profound Heaven.

But Dazhong was nowhere to be seen either.

Xu Ying and Yuanqi searched through the great desert. Xu Ying repeatedly called for Master Zhong but received no response. After searching for a while, they finally found Dazhong in a desert valley, more than half buried in the sand, like other crippled artifacts.

Yuanqi cautiously crawled over and poked Dazhong with the tip of his tail. Dazhong trembled all over and burrowed deeper into the desert.

Yuanqi said softly, “Master Zhong, it’s all right now. Ah Ying and I came to see you.”

Dazhong trembled even more violently, making the surrounding yellow sand jump. He was clearly terrified.

“Ah Ying, touch him,” Yuanqi suggested.

Clang!

Dazhong seemed to faint instantly and stopped trembling.

Xu Ying dragged Dazhong out of the desert and roused his divine sense. Only then did Dazhong slowly awaken. “It was as if I had a dream. At the beginning of that nightmare, I became an axe that someone activated and sent whistling toward Ah Ying.”

He had been very excited, feeling power erupt through him to the fullest. Yet, Xu Ying raised his hand and caught the axe. Dazhong felt as though he had been imprisoned, unable to even struggle.

He had felt Xu Ying’s hand grip him tightly as he slowly suffocated. Xu Ying’s mark branded itself into him, while cracks spread across his surface.

Boom!

Xu Ying had crushed him apart with brute force.

Dazhong was then drawn into another artifact’s obsession. He was a great cauldron now. When he attacked Xu Ying, he realized that he, in turn, had fallen under Xu Ying’s control.

He suppressed his own master beneath the cauldron and refined him alive until he died. Then his own body twisted out of shape, as Xu Ying beat him into a lump of scrap copper.

After his second death, the lingering obsession of a divine furnace drew in Dazhong. He saw himself turning into that furnace. Xu Ying had stuffed his master into his body and activated it. His master burned within the furnace, screaming in agony, while Dazhong experienced the torment of having his heart cut and twisted by knives.

Dazhong also experienced death repeatedly, and his Dao heart collapsed with each death. He understood that this was likely Little Profound Heaven’s lingering obsession replaying past events. He also knew that the Xu Ying before him was not the Xu Ying he knew in reality, his dearest friend. Yet the experiences were far too real.

He had truly died more than a hundred times, each death different from the last and each one a terrible torment. Dazhong was no ordinary artifact. He had awakened spiritual sentience, but enduring death more than a hundred times had nearly driven him to the brink of collapse.

Xu Ying reached out and said softly, “Master Zhong, you know that was not the current me. I would never truly treat you that way.”

“I know. You’re Ah Ying, not Master Ying.”

Still, when Dazhong felt his touch, he still could not help trembling.

Two more days passed before Dazhong and Yuanqi finally managed to accept Xu Ying again and stopped resisting him so strongly. They searched for the other survivors, only to discover those people had already gone mad. They had stumbled into forbidden zones and died there.

“Ah Ying, how can we get back to Yunmeng Marsh?” Yuanqi asked, restless and anxious.

Xu Ying raised his head and looked into the sky. Beyond the heavens, the massive spiritual root of Little Profound Heaven was rooted in half an immortal palace. It seemed mysterious and powerful, like a vast celestial body looming nearby.

“We can only wait for Stone City to come again,” Xu Ying said.

Dazhong said, “But that immortal in the painting has the Heavenly Dao Divine Artifact. Without the artifact to guide Stone City, will it still return? The lingering obsession of those village ancestors probably won’t be enough to drive it all the way here, right?”

Xu Ying was slightly startled. Then realization struck him, and he cried out, “Master Zhong is right! Stone City won’t appear again!”

Yuanqi was utterly confused and hurriedly asked, “Why won’t it appear again?”

Xu Ying paced back and forth, then stopped.

“From Yunmeng Marsh’s appearance in the world, to the manifestation of the dragon-headed, human-bodied figure there, to the gathering of the immortal Dao spiritual root, the revival of Little Profound Heaven’s spiritual root, and the rebuilding of the Heavenly Path, this chain of events may not have been a coincidence!”

Xu Ying’s eyes flickered. “It’s very possible that someone has been orchestrating everything from behind the scenes! Just like when the Hell River changed course, and the underworld invaded.

“That also seemed like a series of coincidences, but Xu Fu was pushing everything forward from the shadows. This time, someone else is plotting behind the scenes. The goal was to seize the Heavenly Dao Divine Artifact, reassemble the Yin-Yang Vine spiritual root, and reconnect the Heavenly Path.”

Dazhong said, “Our arrival, seeing through his impersonation of the Heavenly Dao, and taking the Origin Dao Essence he had collected were all mere coincidences.”

Xu Ying said, “The immortal in the painting obtained the Heavenly Dao Divine Artifact and restored the Yin-Yang Vine. Naturally, he no longer needs to go to such lengths to draw Stone City here.”

Yuanqi finally understood. “In other words, Stone City won’t come back, and we’re trapped here forever.”

“There should still be a variable!”

Xu Ying paced back and forth. The only thing the painting immortal failed to obtain was the gourd with Origin Dao Essence. Another purpose behind everything he did was likely to obtain this essence! He’s a Qi Cultivator, so why did he need the essence?

He stopped and slowly lifted his gaze, meeting the confused great snake’s eyes.

Yuanqi mustered his courage and was just about to ask the question in his heart when Xu Ying said, “Master Qi is right! He wants the Origin Dao Essence because there are large quantities of immortal herbs in him that he has yet to refine!”

Yuanqi hurriedly nodded. “That was exactly what I was thinking.”

Dazhong sneered. “Like hell you were!”

Yuanqi flew into a rage. “If I wasn’t, then were you?”

Dazhong was just about to argue with him when Xu Ying said, “Master Zhong’s question is correct! Refining those immortal herbs shouldn’t require this much Origin Dao Essence, so why does he need so much of it?”

The bell froze. That question does hit the key point, but... when did I ask it?

Xu Ying asked and answered his own question. “Why? Naturally, because there are others beside him who are just like him. They also need vast amounts of Origin Dao Essence to refine the immortal herbs within them. But who are they?”

His eyes shone as he looked at Yuanqi and Dazhong, his expression encouraging.

Yuanqi gathered his nerve, coughed, and said, “Then, who are these people?”

“Excellent question, Master Qi!”

Xu Ying said excitedly, “They can’t be those Qi Cultivators who preyed on weaker cultivators, as they have the orthodox cultivation methods of the Six Secrets and could refine the immortal herbs gradually.

“They won’t need this much Origin Dao Essence. The essence of a few roots should be enough. That’s why they send their disciples like Xue Ying’an to search for it on their behalf.

“But the painting immortal is bold enough to defy Heaven and perceptive enough to see through its workings. He subdued a Heavenly Dao Divine Artifact, impersonated the Heavenly Dao to infiltrate this place, reassembled the immortal Dao spiritual root, and collected so much essence. There is only one possibility!”

He paused, then said with a smile, “He has returned from the Other Shore! And many people like him are at his side. They all returned from the Other Shore, so they contain vast amounts of immortal herbs!”

Yuanqi and Dazhong were stunned. Just then, the sound of applause came from the distance. Xu Ying looked over and saw the painting immortal treading across the desert, his back to the setting sun as he walked toward them. His shadow stretched long beneath the sunset.

“No wonder Master Craftsman Zhu is always praising you, saying you are extremely clever. Seeing you today, I find you truly extraordinary.”

Though he seemed to be strolling, he covered the distance at astonishing speed. Before long, he arrived in front of Xu Ying, bowed, and smiled. “Jiang Qi, Grand Preceptor of the Great Zhou, greets the Ageless Immortal. On behalf of the Emperor of Zhou, I extend my regards to the Ageless Immortal.”

Xu Ying hurriedly returned the courtesy. “You are too kind. Grand Preceptor Jiang, you are ruthless and vicious. For the sake of Little Profound Heaven’s spiritual root, you destroyed an entire heavenly domain. That was rather cruel.”

Jiang Qi said calmly, “Mortals are ants. What is there to regret about their deaths?”

Yuanqi came to his senses and hurriedly asked, “Two years ago, Old Ancestor Chanchan parted ways with us. We haven’t heard anything from her since. Did she go looking for you?”

Jiang Qi smiled. “She committed a grave offense by tricking the emperor regarding the Other Shore Divine Vessel. Now she is atoning for her crimes.”