After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi watched the spiritual qi surging deep within the river, his suspicions growing clearer.

’Using the coffin as the array core, the river as the network of meridians... Emperor Daye’s handiwork is truly this massive. Is he also a cultivator from the Greater World, here seeking truth and inquiring about the cauldrons?’

He pondered inwardly, then frowned slightly. ’But the Imperial Court has countless experts, and there are probably a handful of Entering Profound figures! With so many experts under his command, wouldn’t fighting for the Cauldron Vessel be as easy as taking something from a bag?’

’Or perhaps... he’s being controlled by Imperial Consort Chun?’

As he thought, his Method of Qi Observation fell upon the massive coffin submerged at the bottom of the river once again.

The two streams of spiritual qi inside the coffin were still flowing. Though weak, they had not ceased.

The people inside were not dead.

Chen Lingxi considered it for a moment and decided to head into the river to take a look.

’I’ll go check these two cultivators’ cultivation levels. If they are weaker than Xi Mu and me, I’ll fish them out.’

’Why did that eunuch sink cultivators to the bottom of the river? What is the purpose of this array? These questions can’t be answered by guessing alone. If I can pry something out of these two cultivators, I might catch a glimpse of the truth.’He hesitated no longer. Changing into his black clothes and Ghost Mask, he took a step forward. His toe tapped lightly against the pebble beach, and his figure swept toward the center of the river like a wisp of blue smoke. In midair, he thrust out his right hand, fingers slightly spread. The spiritual pool within his qi sea suddenly churned, and a massive suction force surged from his palm. It was the Qi Sea Whirlpool of the Qi Circulation 5th Floor.

The river water churned under this suction, crashing together to form a whirlpool.

The whirlpool grew larger and larger until the current surged wildly.

Chen Lingxi leaped into the hollow center of the whirlpool and dragged the massive submerged coffin up onto the riverbank.

The coffin was carved with complex array patterns. Now out of the water, those lines emitted an extremely faint cyan light that flickered in the darkness.

Chen Lingxi stepped forward, pressed his right palm against the lid, and sent his spiritual qi inside.

’Although this sealing array is intricate, it isn’t particularly profound. It’s far inferior to the Pure Wondrous Qi Pivot Array.’

After a brief pause, he found the array’s crux. With a pulse of spiritual qi from his palm, a crisp crack rang out. The cyan light flowing over the lid shattered inch by inch, dissipating into the night wind.

He lifted the coffin lid.

A dense medicinal aroma wafted against his face.

Chen Lingxi frowned slightly and peered down into the coffin.

Two people lay inside. A man and a woman.

The woman was in her early twenties with a slender waist that looked as if it could snap in the wind. Her complexion was jade-white with a faint cyan tint, exuding an indescribably gentle aura.

She wore a plain white dress stained with dark water spots. Her black hair spilled beneath her, making her face seem even paler in contrast.

The man was completely different.

His build was incredibly robust, his shoulders and back as broad as a wall. Even lying down, he was more than a head taller than the woman.

His features weren’t particularly handsome—thick eyebrows, large eyes, high cheekbones, and a square jaw—but they carried a distinct martial valor.

Right now, his eyes were shut tight, but his breathing was long and steady, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

Chen Lingxi’s gaze lingered on the two. Under the Art of Qi Observation, the strands of spiritual qi within their meridians were still flowing slowly—weak, but continuous.

However, the way this spiritual qi circulated was rather strange.

An ordinary cultivator’s spiritual qi would flow endlessly through their qi sea and body, forming a self-contained cycle. Yet these two could only manage a faint circulation; the moment too much gathered, it would dissipate, preventing a full cycle from taking shape.

’Two cultivators at the Qi Circulation 5th Floor. They were used as materials for the array.’

Chen Lingxi was surprised. Moving his gaze to their chests, he noticed two talismans. Barely a cun square and dark yellow, they were drawn with complex patterns in some dark red ink. They were plastered firmly over the center of their chests.

The red lines on the talismans still glowed faintly. With every pulse, they shattered the spiritual qi that had just begun to gather inside their bodies.

’Some kind of talisman meant to seal and steal spiritual qi,’ Chen Lingxi thought.

His eyes shifted away from the two talismans and suddenly landed on the bottom of the coffin.

A compass lay there.

It was about the size of a palm, cast from a strange metal. The complex patterns carved across its surface were glowing softly.

Chen Lingxi immediately recognized it. It was identical to the compass the eunuch had used to set up the array earlier.

He reached out, picked up the compass, and examined it in his palm for a few moments.

Probing it with his spiritual qi, he sensed dozens of highly intricate arrays and hand seals carved within. It was remarkably refined and profound.

While it couldn’t compare to the profundity of the Pure Wondrous Qi Pivot Array recorded on his bamboo slip, it was still a rather excellent array artifact.

’Not bad.’ He turned the compass over in his hands. Being well-versed in arrays, he knew this was a node core, so he casually stored it in his Vast Void Pouch before turning his attention back to the two in the coffin.

He reached out and hoisted them from the coffin, one in each hand. Walking a fair distance away, he finally set them down on the pebble beach. The stones were slick with night dew, and the wind sweeping off the river carried the scent of waterweeds and mud.

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged beside them. Without rushing, he waited quietly.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the robust man’s fingers twitched.

His eyelids fluttered before slowly opening.

Like a fierce tiger breaking free from a long captivity to finally see the sun again, the man opened his eyes with an incredibly sharp gaze.

Though a trace of lingering confusion remained deep in his eyes, he was already on alert.

He spotted Chen Lingxi sitting cross-legged beside him. Instinctively, his body tensed, his muscles bulging like blocks of iron.

But a moment later, the talisman on his chest flashed. An invisible force surged from it, instantly shattering the strength he had just gathered.

With a muffled groan, his massive frame collapsed back onto the pebbles, panting heavily.

Just then, the woman also awoke.

She opened her eyes, blinking as a faint mist clouded her clear gaze. She turned her head, seeing the robust man beside her, the Ghost Mask on Chen Lingxi sitting nearby, and the massive, open coffin resting on the beach.

Chen Lingxi observed their reactions without pressing them. Instead, he pulled a waterskin from his Vast Void Pouch and tossed it toward the man. The man froze for a moment before reaching out to catch it.

Rather than drinking it himself, he struggled to sit up and brought the waterskin to the woman’s lips, feeding her a few mouthfuls.

Chen Lingxi watched all of this. His expression remained unchanged as he waited in silence.

After about a quarter of an hour, their breathing finally steadied a bit.

The robust man forced himself into a sitting position while the woman gathered her messy black hair. They exchanged a look before struggling to their feet and bowing deeply toward Chen Lingxi.

”I am Jiang Xing, and this is Xu Qingru,” the robust man said in a deep, resonant voice. ”We were harmed by a wicked scoundrel and sealed in that coffin. If you hadn’t saved us, we likely would have been trapped there until we died.

Words cannot express our gratitude. May I ask your esteemed name?”

Accepting the bow, Chen Lingxi gave a slight nod. ”I was just passing by. I saw something strange about the coffin, so I fished it out to take a look.”

Xu Qingru looked up, her gaze lingering on Chen Lingxi’s Ghost Mask for a moment before she bowed gracefully. ”I will never forget your life-saving grace,” she said softly.

Chen Lingxi waved his hand, his eyes shifting to the two talismans on their chests. ”Your spiritual qi is sealed?”

Jiang Xing and Xu Qingru’s expressions shifted slightly, and they looked Chen Lingxi up and down.

A rather unnatural smile appeared on Jiang Xing’s face. ”So you are a fellow Daoist!” He immediately let out a bitter laugh and looked down at the dark yellow talisman on his chest, a flash of hatred passing through his eyes. ”A scoundrel’s trick! This talisman seals our qi seas. With our spiritual qi unable to flow, our qi seas are like dead water. We can’t circulate a single trace of it.”

Xu Qingru bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.

She was already a gentle beauty, and now, on the verge of weeping, she looked exceptionally pitiful.

She looked up at Chen Lingxi, her voice pleading. ”Brother Daoist, we have been trapped for a long time. With our spiritual qi sealed, it is truly agonizing. I wonder... could you use your spiritual qi to remove these talismans for us?”

Fearing he might refuse, she quickly added, ”If you can help us, we are willing to offer a spirit stone as thanks.”

A spirit stone.

Hearing those words made Chen Lingxi’s heart skip a beat.

He kept his face completely blank as his gaze wandered over them.

Jiang Xing cupped his fists. ”We truly have nothing on us right now, but we still have some savings in our cave dwelling in Lunan Province. We are willing to use that to ask for your help.”

Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes slightly.

Now that the coffin was no longer shielding them, his Method of Qi Observation could clearly see through to their qi seas.

’Both are at the Qi Circulation 5th Floor...’ Not far away, Xi Mu was lying in wait.

’They can’t make any waves. And if they harbor ill intentions, I can test the strength I’ve built up over these past few days...’

Chen Lingxi scoffed inwardly and gave a slight nod. ”I can do that.”

He stood up and approached Jiang Xing, extending his right hand. His index and middle fingers were pressed together like a sword, cyan light flickering at the tips.

Using the Cyan Edge Method, he condensed that peerlessly sharp strand of spiritual qi until it was impossibly fine, like an invisible needle, and carefully pierced the center of the talisman on Jiang Xing’s chest.

The dark red lines on the talisman suddenly flared up, emitting a faint fizzing sound as if making a final, stubborn stand.

But the Cyan Edge Method’s sharpness was absolute. Within a few breaths, the red light was slashed apart inch by inch by the cyan glow. The talisman paper turned into a pinch of fine ash, scattering without a trace in the night wind.

As soon as the talisman was gone, Jiang Xing’s body trembled violently.

The severed spiritual qi within him rushed through his qi sea like a burst dam.

His aura surged at a visible rate. In the blink of an eye, he went from a severely injured man who had struggled just to sit up, to radiating the true bearing of a cultivator.

Chen Lingxi repeated the process, removing the talisman on Xu Qingru’s chest.

Color finally returned to Xu Qingru’s face. Spiritual qi flowed around her, making her gentle face look as lustrous as jade under the moonlight. The pair’s spiritual qi grew steadily as they recovered.

Jiang Xing stretched his limbs, his bones popping and cracking.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingru pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and delicately wiped the water and grime from her face, acting every bit the wealthy young miss.

The two bowed toward Chen Lingxi once more, this time with even greater solemnity.

Xu Qingru’s beautiful eyes flashed. Her gaze swept over Chen Lingxi before she suddenly asked, ”Brother Daoist, where do you hail from?”

Chen Lingxi’s eyes shifted. Relaxing his Hidden Edge Method, he revealed his cultivation base and said, ”I merely come from a small clan. It’s nothing worth mentioning—certainly no great immortal sect.”

He deliberately loosened the spiritual qi around him, leaking out just a trace of the aura from the spiritual pool in his qi sea.

A faint glimmer flashed in Xu Qingru’s eyes. She broke into a smile, making her gentle face look even more radiant.

She had clearly sensed Chen Lingxi’s spiritual qi fluctuation and figured out his cultivation level.

A sharp glint also passed through Jiang Xing’s eyes.

The three of them sat quietly while Jiang Xing and Xu Qingru circulated their spiritual qi until they were fully recovered.

Suddenly, tears began streaming down Xu Qingru’s face. Chen Lingxi remained unmoving like a mountain, only frowning slightly as he asked, ”Why are you crying, Fellow Daoist Xu?”

Covering her face as she wept, Xu Qingru sobbed between broken breaths, ”Brother Daoist... you don’t understand... Senior Brother Jiang Xing and I... we truly have our bitter struggles.”

She lifted her tear-filled eyes toward Chen Lingxi, a look of utter shame in them. ”In this realm without qi, fortuitous encounters are hard to find.

Senior Brother Jiang Xing of the Jiang Family from Chutian Star and I have wasted many long years in this grotto-heaven, yet we have never found a chance to ascend to the next floor.”

”Eventually, we were forced to sacrifice to the Cauldron Vessel Fragment, the Taotie Urn. We acquired the Life Devouring Divine Ability to consume the qi of other cultivators and fuel our own cultivation.”

The Life Devouring Divine Ability, consuming a cultivator’s qi.

Hearing those words, Chen Lingxi remained seated in silence.

Xu Qingru kept talking, her voice thick with tears.

”Brother Daoist, you are our savior. We were sealed in that coffin by that scoundrel Yun Jiao for months. Without you, we would undoubtedly be dead.

But... the Great Dao is a path of contention! In this grotto-heaven, if we do not fight, we will never have a chance to seize a Cauldron Vessel.”

”Brother Daoist... because of this, we have no choice but to take your life and devour your qi.

I... I weep out of shame for this.” Chen Lingxi looked somewhat curious. ”Fellow Daoist Xu, you really do seem like a young miss from a wealthy family,” he said.

”However, you layered a spell into your weeping. You deliberately combined horrific words with a mind-stealing technique in an attempt to throw my state of mind into chaos. I don’t see much shame in that.”

Xu Qingru froze. She likely never expected Chen Lingxi to see right through her spell, nor did she anticipate that the Mind-Disrupting Method would fail to control him at all.

But right at that moment!

Jiang Xing struck in a flash!

Jiang Xing’s massive frame suddenly swelled.

He was already more than a head taller than an ordinary man, but now his body ballooned until he was a full zhang tall. His muscles bulged high like cast iron, shredding his soaked clothes inch by inch.

A faint, stony luster surfaced on his skin, almost like an invisible set of rock armor enveloping his body.

He took a step forward, crushing the pebbles beneath his foot and leaving a crater several cun deep in the riverbank.

He looked like a stone giant walking straight out of a mountain. Carrying the terrifying momentum capable of destroying cities and pulling down strongholds, he charged right at Chen Lingxi!

Xu Qingru remained kneeling on the ground, covering her face and weeping, yet a strand of her hair fell away, transforming into a sharp needle that shot straight toward the center of Chen Lingxi’s brow!

Chen Lingxi’s expression didn’t change. Almost the exact moment Jiang Xing moved, he bent his knees and leaped!

Pebbles scattered like rain beneath his feet as he shot diagonally into the air like an arrow leaving the bowstring. The Qi Sea Whirlpool erupted all at once, sending a thick current of air surging from his feet. It carried his body off the ground, propelling him over a dozen zhang into the air before he landed weightlessly on a small dune nearby.

With his saber at his waist, he stood atop the dune and gazed down at the stone giant rampaging wildly across the path, a faint smile touching the corners of his mouth.

”It seems the cultivation world is quite cruel. You really can’t trust anyone.”

As he spoke, his right hand gripped the hilt of the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber at his hip.

The instant the blade left its sheath, heaven and earth suddenly brightened.

The pale gold patterns on the blade seemed to ignite. Hair-thin arcs of lightning burst from the lines, sizzling as they coiled around the edge.

Following the lightning was the Cyan Edge Method.

After stepping into the Qi Circulation 5th Floor, the power of his Cyan Edge Method was completely incomparable to what it once was. The cyan light had transformed into a solid edge extending several chi from the blade, identical to a real sword!

After the cyan edge came the Purple True Precious Qi.

Purple light spilled from his mouth, clinging to the blade. It intertwined with the lightning and the cyan glow, condensing into an almost tangible three-colored edge.

He raised his other hand. Jade-colored vitality erupted from deep within his bones. He pushed the power-channeling method of the Mountain-Shattering Force to its absolute limit, rapidly alternating between the vitality-moving techniques of the Sea-Stabilizing Stance and the Jade-Breaking Stance.

Simultaneously, the spiritual pool in his qi sea boiled over. An incredibly profound strand of golden energy rose from the pool, merging into his spiritual qi, his saber momentum, and every inch of his flesh and bones.

Empowered by the Profound Qi, his Dragon Roar Technique reached the Subtle stage.

”Ho!”

He opened his mouth and let out a low, forceful exhalation.

The sound seemed casual, yet it carried an extraordinary, heavy force. It was as if a true dragon coiled beneath a great river was slowly waking from a century-long slumber, letting an irritated, low rumble slip from its throat!

Where the sound passed, ripples visibly tore through the air, expanding wildly in all directions.

Jiang Xing’s mountain-like figure rushing up the dune immediately froze at the shout!

For the first time, a flash of terror cut through the killing intent in his eyes.

Contained within that single shout was a force that made the spiritual qi in his entire body tremble.

The level of that power was far beyond what an ordinary Qi Circulation 5th Floor cultivator could ever hope to reach!

Then, he snapped back to reality. He awoke with a sudden jolt: ’A shouting spell like this... For it to carry such divine might when used by a Qi Circulation 5th Floor cultivator, it must have broken past the Initial Realm! The spell has advanced to the Micro Realm!’

He wanted to retreat.

But his entire body’s spiritual qi had already been forced into a momentary silence by the Dragon Roar Technique, so it was too late.

Chen Lingxi’s saber slashed down!

The three-colored edge of the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber glowed brilliantly. Purple, cyan, and gold tangled together, carving a magnificent yet terrifying arc through the night.

The strike was inconceivably fast. Before Jiang Xing could even raise his petrified arms to block, the blade cleaved into his chest.

And the Cyan Edge Method...

Had also reached the Subtle stage!

Beneath the razor-sharp light of the blade, Jiang Xing’s stone armor was sliced open without a sound!

The edge pressed deeper, tearing through skin, severing ribs, and carving into his internal organs.

Lightning exploded in the wound, charring flesh and blood into ash.

The cyan light churned within his meridians, shredding his spiritual qi inch by inch. The Purple True Precious Qi, acting like an invisible blade, pierced directly into his qi sea.

Jiang Xing shook violently.

His eyes flew wide open. He desperately pushed his spiritual qi, but Chen Lingxi’s saber had already slashed down again from another angle.

This second strike was aimed right at his neck!

As the blade swept across, a perfectly good head tumbled from his neck, spraying blood into the air!

His massive body crashed down onto the riverbank, kicking up a shower of broken stones and water.

Xu Qingru’s weeping abruptly ceased, the spiritual qi around her already flaring intensely.

Her jet-black hair exploded outward like a living creature!

Infused with spiritual qi, every single strand of hair pulled taut like a steel needle. They elongated in a bizarre fashion and let out a piercing shriek as they tore through the air, shooting toward Chen Lingxi in an overwhelming barrage.

The fierce momentum looked like an inverted storm of black rain, fully intent on pinning Chen Lingxi down and turning him into a sieve.

At the same time, she opened her mouth, pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Spiritual qi churned in her throat, and a ghastly green beam of spiritual light shot out from between her lips.

The beam was as thin as a chopstick but astonishingly fast, launching second but arriving first to strike straight at the center of Chen Lingxi’s brow. Yet Chen Lingxi didn’t so much as frown.

Keeping his right hand on the hilt of the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber, he raised his left hand and simply squeezed the empty air in front of him.

The Qi Sea Whirlpool erupted, causing the myriad strands of spiritual qi hair to stall slightly in the void.

At the same time, a spiritual arrow tore through the air, colliding with the spiritual light Xu Qingru had fired and erupting in a deafening boom!

Chen Lingxi took a step forward.

The Qi Sea Whirlpool exploded once more, and concurrently, his heavy Jade Qi vitality began to roar!

Like an elongated shadow, he crossed a distance of over ten zhang, closing in right in front of Xu Qingru.

Xu Qingru’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. She wanted to retreat, but how could her reactions ever outpace Chen Lingxi’s saber?

The blade flashed.

The Cyan Edge Method circulated again.

The sixth stance of the Evil-Slaying Saber Art, Terminate Life!

The Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber brushed lightly past her right arm, drawing a faint line of blood. Xu Qingru’s entire right arm was cleanly severed at the shoulder, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

Xu Qingru let out a miserable shriek. Her spiritual qi collapsed, and she fell backward, crashing heavily onto the pebbles of the riverbank. Blood gushed from her severed arm, staining the stones beneath her a dark red.

’This man also cultivates vitality!’ Xu Qingru felt her heart turn to dead ashes. ’A Micro Realm spell, incredibly dense spiritual qi, and he even cultivated a body of Jade Qi vitality!’

’The two of us are both at the Qi Circulation 5th Floor, yet we couldn’t defeat him!’

Chen Lingxi sheathed his saber and looked down at her.

In his heart, however, he felt a bit puzzled.

’These two at the Qi Circulation 5th Floor are rather weak.’