After the Great Dao Died

The vital blood surged like an erupting volcano, a world-upending force that radiated an overwhelmingly terrifying presence!

Chen Lingxi had just been immersed in the heaven-altering might of the Xi Yu Talisman on the verge of firing; a moment later, this sudden burst of vital blood crushed him so hard his bones creaked.

He and Lu Baizhong turned their heads almost simultaneously, looking toward the eruption of vital blood.

At that exact moment, the pulsating blood-red light of the Xi Yu Talisman in his robes abruptly stagnated.

He had already activated the talisman to seventy or eighty percent; it only lacked a final wisp of spiritual qi to fully trigger.

But that incoming vital blood was too violent. Like a massive boulder smashing into the center of a lake, it severed the thread of spiritual qi connecting him to the talisman.

The blood-red light on the talisman flickered unwillingly twice before snuffing out with a hiss, like a candle blown out by the wind.

Lu Baizhong reacted even faster than Chen Lingxi.

The lightning mark between his brows had just been blindingly bright, crackling with fierce lightning as he prepared to meet the Xi Yu Talisman’s might head-on. Now, under the impact of that vital blood, it suddenly dimmed.

He raised an eyebrow, a faint trace of surprise flashing through his eyes, and sheathed his sword.A crisp, sharp chime of metal rang out as the sword slid into its scabbard, and the layer of pale golden lightning around him receded like the tide, vanishing without a trace.

Chen Lingxi’s heart skipped a beat. With no time to think, he forcibly suppressed the lingering spiritual qi backlash from the talisman.

The vital blood swept over them!

Like a dead leaf caught in a gale, he stumbled back several steps across the riverbank, only managing to steady himself when his back slammed against a jutting river rock.

Then, he and Lu Baizhong witnessed a scene in the far distance.

It was a small mountain, not very high, with a few gnarled old pines growing at its peak.

At this moment, a figure stood atop that summit.

The figure was tall and lean, more than half a head taller than an ordinary man. With broad shoulders and a blazing aura, he stood like a towering peak.

He bent his knees and crouched.

The entire motion was completed in an instant.

Then, he jumped.

That leap shook the heavens and the earth!

The small mountain collapsed with a deafening boom the moment his feet pushed off!

The entire mountain exploded outward like a stack of blocks. Rubble, dirt, and trees were swept up by an irresistible and overwhelming force, scattering in all directions and smashing into the surrounding peaks with muffled, thunderous thuds.

Dust and smoke billowed into the sky, dyeing half the firmament a murky yellow-gray!

Meanwhile, the man had leaped high into the air, his body tracing a flawless arc. His robes billowed and snapped in the wind. Like a giant roc spreading its wings, he crossed miles of sky and landed on another mountain peak.

That peak could not withstand the tremendous force crashing down from above. The rocks at the summit fractured inch by inch, the spiderweb cracks spreading all the way down to the mountainside.

The entire mountain sank by a third the instant he landed.

’Just who is this?’

’To think a vital blood martial artist could be this formidable!’

Chen Lingxi was utterly astounded!

Right at that moment, the powerhouse seemed to notice Chen Lingxi and Lu Baizhong.

Across an unknown distance, the man’s gaze swept over. Like two physical arrows, his sight pierced the dense forests, the churning sea of clouds, and all obstacles between heaven and earth to land squarely on the two of them.

There was no killing intent in that gaze, only a profoundly pure, undisguised indifference.

It was like a traveler hurrying through the wilderness who happened to spot a few ants by the roadside and casually flicked them away without breaking stride.

He flicked.

The motion was extremely light and thoroughly casual.

He simply raised his right hand, curled his index finger slightly, rested his thumb against the joint, and gave a light flick!

The snap of his fingers was like someone detonating a blazing sun right at his fingertip!

Boundless vital blood erupted from that single flick!

The vital blood was not the crimson, silver-white, or golden glow of ordinary martial artists. Instead, it was a lustrous jade-white hue that Chen Lingxi had never seen before.

That lustrous white vital blood shot from his fingertip, filling half the sky in the blink of an eye. Like an inverted sea of jade, it blotted out the heavens as it crashed down toward Chen Lingxi and Lu Baizhong.

Wherever it passed, the sea of clouds evaporated into nothingness, rocks were crushed to fine dust, and even the air itself wailed under the overwhelming pressure.

Before the jade-colored vital blood even reached him, Chen Lingxi felt an indescribable suppression descend from the sky. It was like an invisible mountain bearing down on his shoulders, forcing his back to bend and driving his feet more than an inch deep into the riverbank.

’Flee!’

Chen Lingxi’s heart pounded wildly!

He didn’t even have time to glance at Lu Baizhong’s reaction before he took off running.

He pushed his Golden Fluid Vital Blood to the absolute limit. Golden light surged from deep within his bones, and the energy circulation method of the Mountain-Shattering Force reinforced his legs. Every step he took gouged a crater several inches deep into the riverbank. Like a golden shadow flying low across the ground, he sprinted madly in the opposite direction of the jade-colored vital blood.

Lu Baizhong’s reaction was equally astonishing.

Although the lightning mark between his brows had dimmed, a trace of lightning still lingered.

His figure blurred, transforming into a streak of pale golden lightning that darted off in another direction.

As for killing Chen Lingxi?

Escaping with his life came first!

His speed was unfathomable. In an instant, he had already crossed hundreds of feet, leaving only a faint, hair-thin scorch mark in the air.

At the same time, Xi Mu channeled his spiritual qi, condensing mist into a highly refined slide of ice crystals.

The ice slide unfurled across the riverbank like a winding ice dragon, catching Chen Lingxi’s feet and letting him glide across the shore at breakneck speed.

Mist freezing into ice, the ice carrying the man—Chen Lingxi’s speed instantly multiplied several times over.

Another figure appeared in a nearby valley. It was actually the old eunuch who had come to see Chen Lingxi. He had been tailing him the entire time, concealing his vital blood so perfectly that even Xi Mu hadn’t noticed him.

The only reason Lu Baizhong had been able to pinpoint Chen Lingxi’s location was because of him!

This old eunuch ran faster than anyone else. Circulating his vital blood, he turned into a streak of radiant light and bolted away!

The man who had landed on the other mountain peak seemed to have no interest in Chen Lingxi, Lu Baizhong, Xi Mu, or the old eunuch—or perhaps he was heading toward someone he cared about far more.

He merely cast a faint glance at the figures fleeing in panic before turning his head to look in another direction.

Then, he bent his knees slightly and leaped again.

This time, he jumped even higher and further. Like a jade meteor tearing through the sky, he sped away into the extreme distance.

That speed, that imposing aura, that terrifying strength to shatter mountains and crack the earth with every casual movement—it was truly peerless!

Chen Lingxi had slid miles along Xi Mu’s ice crystal path before that jade-colored vital blood finally scraped past overhead, crashing into the dense mountain forest behind him.

An earth-shaking boom echoed from the woods. Countless trees were uprooted, and untold boulders were pulverized to dust.

He didn’t dare stop. He slid for several more miles, only letting Xi Mu withdraw the spell once the residual might of the jade vital blood completely dissipated. They landed in a hidden valley.

Before he could even catch his breath, Chen Lingxi abruptly whirled around to look in the direction the man had gone.

In the far distance, another terrifying ripple of spiritual qi bloomed!

It was like a dormant volcano suddenly awakened from deep underground. Even before the magma erupted, the world-destroying pressure caused the sky to change color.

Chen Lingxi immediately found the ripple familiar; he had seen this kind of fluctuation in the sea of clouds before!

’It’s Imperial Consort Chun.’

Wherever the spiritual qi ripple passed, the sea of clouds boiled, the mountains trembled faintly, and even the flowing waters of the Yuanjiang River paused for a brief second.

At the same time, a voice resonant as a grand bell echoed through heaven and earth!

”Assassins!”

Those words exploded like claps of thunder across the world.

The terrifying power of vital blood laced the voice, making it reverberate across the mountains and rivers, echoing endlessly without fading.

”Protect the Imperial Consort!”

The voice exploded once more.

This time, it was more urgent and violent, and the vital blood carried within it was even more terrifying.

Even across the vast distance, Chen Lingxi could feel the fury and killing intent saturating the shout.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three successive earth-shattering booms erupted from the direction of the voice.

Every blast made the earth tremble slightly and sent loose gravel tumbling down the walls of the valley Chen Lingxi stood in.

Someone else shouted loudly.

”It’s Xiao Changlv!”

”To think this scoundrel dared to enter Jingji Province alone!”

Xiao Changlv!

Hearing that name sent turbulent waves crashing through Chen Lingxi’s mind!

Of course he knew that name.

Of the nineteen rebel kings across the Great Li empire, the one with the greatest momentum was Xiao Changlv, who styled himself the Evil-Severing Heavenly King!

This man commanded an army of three hundred thousand, had broken through twelve provinces in succession, and had beaten the Imperial Court’s official forces into steady retreat.

The manifesto Liu Changle had recited back in the reverse-facing room had been issued by this very man.

Every word in that text was like a knife, vividly exposing Emperor Daye’s incompetence and tyranny!

”The Emperor is devoid of the Dao, imposing tyrannical levies and cruel taxes. They tax the chickens and pigs, extorting every last fraction of silver. He forces the common folk to sell their sons and pawn their wives; corpses of the starved litter the wilds. Every household’s room is as bare as a suspended chime stone, and the wails of sorrowful geese echo along the roads.”

But Chen Lingxi never imagined that this rebel king, commanding three hundred thousand troops, would dare to plunge deep into Jingji Province and march straight into Yuanjiang Prefecture entirely alone!

The void quaked.

The horrifying clashes of vital blood and spiritual qi continued. Every collision sparked blinding light and deafening explosions.

Standing in the valley, Chen Lingxi relied on an ice mirror Xi Mu had condensed from the mist to barely make out the distant horizon.

The sea of clouds had been churned into a chaotic mess. The intertwined collisions of spiritual qi and vital blood dyed half the sky a magnificent yet terrifying crimson-gold.

Right amidst that crimson-gold, a young voice rang out.

The voice was calm yet arrogant, like a fierce tiger standing atop a peak to declare its territory. It pierced through the thunderous explosions and the roiling sea of clouds, reaching everyone’s ears with absolute clarity.

”Rong Chun! I, Xiao Changlv, keep my promises. I have come to kill you!”

Rong Chun was Imperial Consort Chun.

The voice was like a tiger’s roar, echoing through heaven and earth.

Chen Lingxi’s breath hitched slightly.

Xiao Changlv had come to kill Imperial Consort Chun.

To enter Jingji alone as a rebel king just to take an Imperial Consort’s head.

What incredible audacity, what arrogance, and what absolute—confidence?

The instant Xiao Changlv’s words fell, the stretch of sky reflected in Xi Mu’s ice mirror suddenly changed.

Chen Lingxi watched a vortex rapidly form in the distant clouds.

At first, the vortex was only a few dozen feet wide, but it expanded to hundreds of feet across in the blink of an eye.

Swept up by the vortex, the clouds spun wildly, as if a massive invisible hand were stirring the sea of clouds and making the mist boil.

Spiritual light welled up in the center of the vortex.

The light was only a faint, microscopic speck at first, but it quickly grew blinding, erupting from the center of the vortex and soaring into the firmament.

An indescribable pressure lay within the spiritual light, like a true sun had been trapped deep inside the vortex and was now slowly rising.

”The Imperial Consort is injured! Come to her rescue!”

Someone shouted using vital blood, the voice booming like thunder.

Chen Lingxi’s gaze narrowed.

Imperial Consort Chun was injured.

’If Xiao Changlv manages to kill Imperial Consort Chun—’

Chen Lingxi’s thoughts raced.

Just then, another anomaly occurred in the distant void.

Above that mangled sea of clouds, churned by spiritual light and vital blood, another person suddenly appeared.

The man walked right out of the void, stepping through thin air as easily as if he were walking on flat ground!

With his hands clasped behind his back, every step he took sent a faint, delicate ripple through the void. The ripples spread outward, pushing the surrounding clouds back several dozen feet.

He wore a long, black robe patterned with gold. The fabric was woven from unknown materials, shimmering with a profound luster even amid the overlapping glares of spiritual light and vital blood.

The cuffs were embroidered with complex gold thread, and a white jade belt was tied at his waist, clasped with a thumb-sized, pitch-black pearl.

But the most heart-stopping detail was the Golden Mask covering his face.

The mask completely hid his features, leaving only his eyes visible through the eyeholes.

His pupils were unfathomably dark and bottomless. Deep within them, two impossibly faint clusters of golden fire danced slowly.

Hands behind his back, he approached through the air at an unhurried pace, as relaxed as if strolling through his own courtyard.

Yet this very leisure gave Chen Lingxi a far more oppressive feeling than the jade vital blood or Xiao Changlv’s tiger-like roar.

Then, he heard Xiao Changlv’s voice again.

”Yuan Yuan!”

Xiao Changlv spat out only those two words.

Yuan Yuan.

Chen Lingxi had never heard the name before, but the gravity with which Xiao Changlv spoke it made his chest tighten.

A figure capable of drawing such solemnity from a rebel king who dared enter Jingji alone to murder an imperial consort was absolutely no ordinary person.

The next moment, Yuan Yuan struck!

He unclasped his hands, raised his right hand with fingers slightly spread, and pressed down lightly on the void.

The press seemed effortless, but the instant his palm fell, the sea of clouds for hundreds of feet around violently exploded. It was as if an invisible, colossal hand had slapped down from the sky, carving a massive palm print dozens of feet deep into the clouds.

Inside the palm print, the air compressed to its absolute limit and shrieked under the strain, detonating with the force of a thousand simultaneous thunderbolts.

Xiao Changlv’s figure was revealed directly beneath that palm.

He drew his saber from the void!

He pulled out a pitch-black great saber as tall as a man!

And he slashed!

That strike changed the colors of heaven and earth.

Saber light blotted out the sky in a flash!

Saber met palm.

In that instant, Chen Lingxi felt a heavy, invisible force smash into his ears.

All sound vanished. All things between heaven and earth fell completely silent, as if sucked into an invisible vacuum.

There was only an indescribable ball of light at the point of impact, silently expanding, contracting, and expanding again.

Then, the sound rushed back.

A terrifying shockwave of sound, capable of tearing the world apart, blasted out from the collision, spreading madly in all directions.

The shockwave obliterated the clouds, shattered the rocks, triggered landslides, and threw the Yuanjiang River’s waters surging upward into a monstrous wave dozens of feet high.

Though the valley beneath Chen Lingxi’s feet was incredibly far from the battlefield, the shockwave’s residual might still struck it.

Pebbles rained down the valley walls, and the gravel on the ground shuddered inches into the air, dancing crazily.

His internal vital blood roiled from the sonic impact. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he nearly vomited blood.

Suppressing the turmoil in his chest, he kept his eyes glued to the sky reflected in the ice mirror.

There, Xiao Changlv and Yuan Yuan were locked in a frantic melee.

Xiao Changlv’s saber arts followed a path of peerless ferocity, carrying apocalyptic might with every swing.

The long saber in his hands was like a blazing jade sun, at times fanning out into an impenetrable screen of blades, at others focusing into a single streak that pierced the heavens.

His saber momentum was bold and expansive, opening wide and closing wide. He had abandoned all defense in favor of pure offense.

Every slash held an indomitable will of ”I shall break myriad dharmas with a single blade,” perfectly mirroring the man himself!

Entering Jingji alone, challenging an Imperial Consort with a solitary blade—what joy is there in life, and what fear is there in death?

Yuan Yuan, on the other hand, was entirely different.

His methods were more mystical, more restrained, and far more unfathomable.

Clasping his hands behind his back, he merely walked slowly through the air. Every unhurried step perfectly evaded Xiao Changlv’s world-shattering slashes.

Each time he sidestepped a blade, he raised his right hand, slightly bent his index finger, and flicked.

A burst of golden finger force shot out with every flick. Thin as a hair, the energy drifted through the void like a weightless gold thread, yet whenever it struck Xiao Changlv’s saber light, it shattered his momentum and sent shards of jade light flying.

Thus, the two battled fiercely in the void.

The interweaving collisions of saber light and finger force erupted in rays that blotted out the sun.

The glow was so intense that even through the ice mirror, Chen Lingxi could only make out two blurry figures frantically trading blows within the light.

Every impact rattled the earth, shook the rivers, and changed the color of the sky. It was like two true deities engaged in a life-or-death struggle above the ninth heaven.

Having survived the jade vital blood, weathered the sonic shockwave, and avoided the fallout of the battlefield, Chen Lingxi simply stood in the valley, staring blankly at the sky through the ice mirror.

’Such mighty vital blood must belong to the Entering Profound realm!’

Chen Lingxi finally grasped the sheer power of an Entering Profound existence—

Truly worthy of being the strongest in this world.

’Xiao Changlv and Yuan Yuan... even if Xi Yu came here personally at the Qi Circulation 8th Floor, she couldn’t match them at all! Even the Heaven-Facing Three Floors must be nothing more than this!’

’No wonder... no wonder these cultivators of the Greater World all hide their identities, silently seizing opportunities and cultivating in secret!’

Chen Lingxi drew a deep breath and looked away, lest his luck run out and a stray beam of vital blood saber light fly over and chop him to pieces.

He and Xi Mu resumed their desperate flight.