After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi called out three words, his tone flat.

At this moment, spiritual qi circulated faintly in his throat as he silently activated the Dragon Roar Technique.

The sound did not spread through the hall. Instead, it condensed into a single line, landing precisely an inch from Wu Mohe’s ear.

The scholar and Wang Chu in the hall couldn’t hear a single thing.

They only saw Chen Lingxi’s lips moving slightly, completely unaware of what he was saying.

Wu Mohe’s eyes flickered as he stared at Chen Lingxi.

Then, a voice rang out in Chen Lingxi’s mind.

It did not come from the outside; it exploded directly within his skull.

Deep, resonant, its echoes lingering endlessly.

”Though this is but a spell’s incarnation.””To withstand a cold needle of divine sense from it proves you possess a cultivation base at or above the fifth floor of Qi Circulation.”

The voice echoed in Chen Lingxi’s mind, sending a faint tremor through his heart.

His face remained impassive, but his heart surged like a tidal wave.

’Wu Mohe thinks I have a cultivation base at the fifth floor of Qi Circulation or higher?’

’Why would he make such a judgment?’

As he wondered this, Wu Mohe shifted his gaze away, glancing at the bearded man lying dead on the ground.

That glance was still calm.

But his voice rang out in Chen Lingxi’s mind once again.

”There are too many mediocrities in this world. Finding decent martial arts seedlings is no easy task.”

”Propping him up to Silver Bone Consummation with pills, while requiring flesh and blood to constantly nourish him... calling him trash wouldn’t be an overstatement. But regardless, this piece of trash was ultimately still my cultivation resource.”

”By killing him, you have ultimately cost me.”

As he spoke, his tone held no emotion whatsoever.

Chen Lingxi grinned.

Driving the Dragon Roar Technique, his voice condensed into a line and fell into Wu Mohe’s ear.

”A mere mortal. Dead is dead. Does that count as a loss?”

His tone was completely dismissive, as if he didn’t care for mortal lives in the slightest.

As if in his eyes, a martial artist at Silver Bone Consummation was no different from an ant on the roadside.

Wu Mohe remained sitting cross-legged by the bonfire. ”Thinking on it carefully, it indeed isn’t much of a loss.”

”This grotto-heaven is not a Qi-bearing realm. Now that it is exposed to heaven and earth, you should know the fate of this grotto-heaven and the living beings within it.”

”Since they are going to die eventually, what does it matter if it happens a bit earlier?”

’Not a Qi-bearing realm.’

’Exposed to heaven and earth.’

’Going to die eventually.’

These words caused a tempest in Chen Lingxi’s mind, leaving him to ponder them carefully.

He had too many questions in his heart, but he knew now was not the time to ask them.

He nodded slightly, looking as though he was listening to something he already knew. His expression remained placid, showing not a single ripple.

”Since he was your subordinate, consider him a free bonus to our transaction.”

He spoke easily, like a man haggling over drinks at a tavern, asking for an extra plate of peanuts.

Wu Mohe didn’t answer immediately.

He looked at Chen Lingxi for a moment, then suddenly shook his head.

”When did I agree to make a deal with you?”

Chen Lingxi reached out and brushed the dust off his knee, his movements casual. ”Many things in this world have a price.”

He raised his eyes, meeting Wu Mohe’s gaze.

”I need spiritual qi to replenish my pills.”

”And I have something here that you might be interested in.”

Wu Mohe narrowed his eyes. ”What can you give me?”

He asked directly.

Chen Lingxi’s expression didn’t change. ”What did that junior from Daoxia Academy give you?”

He asked casually.

Wu Mohe’s gaze remained steady, but a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Hearing Chen Lingxi’s question, he didn’t hide a thing. ”He came from the academy’s Chipuo Courtyard. His master is Jinque True Person, Jing Shijue.”

”And in Jing Shijue’s hands is a Jinque cauldron artifact—the Tribulation-Viewing Pool.”

His voice echoed in Chen Lingxi’s mind.

”Lin Suri promised me that if I help him today, should we both return to the Greater Heaven and Earth in the future, he will beg the True Person to... view my tribulation.”

’View a tribulation?’

Chen Lingxi’s mind raced, but on the surface, he merely shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of disapproval.

”Coming here to seek the truth, one can never achieve Great Freedom without obtaining a cauldron artifact.”

”As for the matters of the Greater Heaven and Earth, who knows if they aren’t just an illusion?”

He paused, his eyes falling on Wu Mohe’s face, his tone growing meaningful.

”I didn’t expect a fellow Daoist like you to actually believe Lin Suri’s empty promise—a mere scrap of paper.”

Wu Mohe couldn’t have cared less about Chen Lingxi’s words.

”The Tribulation-Viewing Pool can illuminate a cultivator’s future great tribulation. Such a destined encounter can be found but not sought.”

”Even if it’s just an empty promise, I am willing to believe it.”

He paused, his deep eyes studying Chen Lingxi. ”If it were you, fellow Daoist... would you believe it or not?”

Chen Lingxi fell silent for a few breaths. Then, he suddenly looked up and laughed. ”The future matters of the Greater Heaven and Earth are, in the end, nothing but illusions.”

He changed the subject, his tone resolute and brimming with confidence. ”Fellow Daoist, a great destined encounter is about to appear in Yuanjiang Prefecture, and it concerns spiritual apertures.”

”Are you interested?”

’A spiritual aperture!’

During the Thorough Awakening evolution, when he had mentioned those words to Ying Chi, Ying Chi’s eyes had instantly lit up.

The same went for Lin Suri and the cultivator surnamed Chao.

’But...’

’Wu Mohe’s reaction is completely different from theirs!’

He merely narrowed his eyes slightly. A hint of regret seemed to flash through them before he shook his head.

”I have no interest in the destined encounter in Yuanjiang Prefecture.”

Beneath the mask, Chen Lingxi’s brow furrowed instantly.

He didn’t understand.

Ying Chi had flocked to this spiritual aperture encounter, and Lin Suri yearned for it day and night. That cultivator surnamed Chao didn’t even hesitate to use a fragment of the Time Candle as bait just to join forces with Lin Suri and fight for it.

This proved just how precious the spiritual aperture encounter was.

Yet Wu Mohe claimed he had no interest.

’Why?’

He was just about to ask.

But Wu Mohe beat him to it, raising his head.

Those deep eyes looked at Chen Lingxi, a bit more solemnity settling into his gaze.

”Fellow Daoist, since you have a cultivation base at the fifth floor of Qi Circulation, I am willing to trade three Qi-Gathering Pills.”

His voice echoed in Chen Lingxi’s mind, every word crisp and clear.

”In exchange for you... taking action for me once in the future.”

”Help me once!”

’Qi-Gathering Pills.’

’Three of them.’

Chen Lingxi’s heart stirred.

He didn’t know what grade the Qi-Gathering Pills were, but he knew that anything Wu Mohe brought out would definitely be extraordinary.

But he cared more about the condition Wu Mohe had set.

’A promise to help him once is enough?’

’Does Wu Mohe just love empty promises?’

Chen Lingxi was greatly astonished.

Wu Mohe’s transaction with Lin Suri was an empty promise, and his transaction with him seemed to be the exact same thing.

’Isn’t he afraid I’ll pretend to agree and then turn my back on him the moment I get the pills?’

He kept these thoughts to himself.

Because Wu Mohe’s voice rang out again.

”A month from now, I will have this Mohe Envoy bring the pills and wait here.”

”At that time, I will need to sign a Jade Precept Book with you.”

’Jade Precept Book...’

Chen Lingxi silently repeated those three words in his mind.

’The reason Wu Mohe trusts empty promises so much probably lies with this Jade Precept Book.’

’However...’

’Cultivation resources are absolutely indispensable.’

’My Dragon-Drawing Powder is used up. If I want to continue climbing the floors, I must find new cultivation resources.’

’Wu Mohe’s Qi-Gathering Pills are the best choice right now.’

He pondered for a few breaths, then gave a slight nod.

Seeing him nod, Wu Mohe said no more.

The figure stood up from the bonfire. His blue-grey robes fluttered in the firelight, as if a gust of wind had just blown past.

Then, the foggy figure began to dissipate.

Starting from his feet, he broke down into fine motes of light inch by inch, scattering into the air like dandelions blown by the wind.

Once the fog completely vanished, the golden-red light on the jade slip gradually dimmed. The three words faded from blinding golden-red to pale gold, and from pale gold to a lustrous white, returning to their original color.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

The hall returned to silence.

The scholar remained kneeling on the floor, completely motionless.

’General Zhiling is truly an immortal!’

He had watched his Lord sit face-to-face with this general. Neither had opened their mouths, yet they were clearly communicating.

He had seen his Lord’s expression shift from calm to solemn with his own eyes.

To be able to sit and converse with his Lord, who else could he be but an immortal?

By now, Chen Lingxi had already stood up and was walking out of the hall with his saber at his waist.

The scholar quickly took a deep breath, stood up from the ground, straightened his clothes, and respectfully bowed deeply.

”Respectfully sending off the General.”

His voice echoed in the empty hall, carrying a heartfelt reverence.

Chen Lingxi didn’t look at him, striding out of the hall.

His black robes snapped in the night wind, and his ghost mask gleamed with a cold, eerie cyan in the firelight.

His footsteps echoed in the vast hall before disappearing into the darkness outside the doors.

The scholar straightened up and stared out into the heavy night, unmoving for a long time.

Wang Chu still sat by the bonfire, motionless.

From the moment Chen Lingxi stepped into the hall, she hadn’t said a single word.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to speak; she simply didn’t know what to say.

Everything she had seen and heard tonight was far beyond her understanding.

The purple light that black-clad man had spat from his mouth, the foggy figure the scholar had summoned with his blood...

She had never seen such things in the Marquis’s estate, nor had she ever heard of them in Yuanjiang Prefecture.

She only knew one thing—that man in black was an immortal, and the figure who had arrived as an incarnation of fog was definitely an immortal too.

’Immortals meeting...’

Wang Chu stood up, cupped her fists in a salute to the scholar, and turned to walk out of the hall.

Her steps were much faster than when she had arrived.

She stepped out of the palace, stood outside the side gate, and looked around.

The night was vast, as were the mountains.

That tall, straight figure with a saber at his waist and a ghost mask on his face—the one who could kill by spitting purple light—was nowhere to be seen.

It was as if everything that had happened in the hall was nothing but a dream.

At the foot of the mountain, the surface of Yuanjiang was left with only a heavy, inky blackness, facing the cold moon in the sky from afar.

Cuojin Mountain returned to its usual nightly silence.

’General Zhiling... an immortal...’

Thinking of that ghost mask, Wang Chu was suddenly filled with curiosity.

’Just what kind of face is under that mask?’