After the Great Dao Died

Inside the cave on Mount Qiaoji.

Xu Qingru lay thrown against a corner of the cave wall, her back pressed to the icy bluestone. Her plain white dress was already stained with mud and blood from the riverbank.

Chen Lingxi had hastily sealed the stump of her severed arm with spiritual qi, stopping the bleeding.

Yet the incomparably sharp sword qi of the Cyan Edge Method still lingered in her meridians.

It felt like countless fine needles slowly swimming through her meridians. Every slight movement brought a stab of pain that left her forehead drenched in cold sweat.

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged on a bluestone opposite her, the Ghost Mask still on his face.

The Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber rested across his knees, exuding a daunting presence.

Xu Qingru panted for a moment before lifting her head. Her limpid eyes no longer held the pitiful, tearful look they had on the riverbank; only a deathly, ashen calm remained.

She knew she could not escape.

Her Qi Circulation 5th Floor cultivation was as fragile as paper before him. Even a 5th Floor body cultivator like Jiang Xing had been beheaded with a single slash. Even at her peak, she would be no match for this man.Chen Lingxi finally raised his eyes and looked at her, his gaze calm as water. ”Who sealed you in the coffins?” Xu Qingru fell silent for a few breaths before answering slowly. ”Yun Jiao.”

”Yun Jiao?” Chen Lingxi raised an eyebrow.

He had naturally heard the name.

Of the current nineteen rebel kings in the Great Li empire, the one with the greatest momentum was Xiao Changlv, followed by Wu Mohe.

And the third rebel king was this Yun Jiao.

Xu Qingru nodded. ”Yun Jiao is just like us, a reincarnator.”

A reincarnator was a cultivator from the Greater World who had walked through the Pool of Reincarnation to arrive in this grotto-heaven.

Chen Lingxi remained impassive, merely nodding slightly to signal for her to continue.

”Senior Brother Jiang Xing and I came from backgrounds far inferior to the disciples of famous sects in the Greater World. We wasted many years in this grotto-heaven, never finding an opportunity to climb the floors.” Xu Qingru’s voice grew lower. ”Later, by chance, we obtained a Cauldron Vessel Fragment called the Taotie Urn.

”Within that urn lay a Life Devouring divine ability, allowing us to devour the qi of others to fuel our own cultivation.

”The two of us... relied on this divine ability to eke out a miserable existence in this grotto-heaven.”

”Later, we heard that the rebel king Yun Jiao was widely recruiting cultivators from small sects and clans. He promised that if they helped him seize the cauldron, they would receive cultivation opportunities in Ehai upon returning to the Great World.” ”And you joined him?” Chen Lingxi asked.

Xu Qingru nodded, letting out a bitter smile.

Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes slightly. ”Why did he do this?”

”I don’t know.” Xu Qingru shook her head. ”After we were sealed in the coffins, our minds fell into chaos. We didn’t realize we had been sunk until you pulled us from the riverbed.”

Chen Lingxi fell silent.

Yun Jiao was a rebel king, yet he had bound these two cultivators in coffins and sold them to a eunuch of the Imperial Court?

The eunuch had then used these coffins as the core of an array, sinking them to the bottom of the Xia River to complete it.

’It seems these two didn’t know someone was using them to set an array,’ Chen Lingxi thought.

That eunuch belonged to the imperial palace, naturally making him a man of the Imperial Court.

Yet Yun Jiao, the dignified third rebel king, was actually colluding with the Imperial Court in secret, selling the cultivators who sought refuge with him as if they were mere cargo.

He pondered for a moment, temporarily suppressing these thoughts, and suddenly asked, ”You just said that you and Jiang Xing came from the Jiang Family on Chutian Star? What place is that? And what is your own background?”

Xu Qingru paused slightly, seemingly not expecting Chen Lingxi to suddenly ask about this, but she still answered. ”Chutian Star is a star within the Greater World. The Jiang Family is a small clan there.

”As for me, I am from the Azure Crown Sect. It is nothing more than a minor sect in the Immortal-Sealing Sea.”

Chen Lingxi nodded, then suddenly shifted the topic. ”Just how vast is the Greater World? And what kind of experts does it hold?”

The question was extremely abrupt. Xu Qingru stared blankly, a trace of confusion flashing through her limpid eyes.

To her, although the man before her was only at the Qi Circulation 5th Floor, his techniques had already reached the Subtle grade, and his spiritual qi was extremely profound.

Such a figure would undoubtedly be a genius even in the Greater World. How could he ask such a question?

But with her life currently dangling in his hands, she did not dare to withhold an answer.

She stayed quiet for a few breaths before slowly speaking. ”The Greater World is... vast and boundless.”

”It’s just that the void underwent a change, shattering the heavens and earth and dividing them into countless realms.

”The sum of all these numerous worlds—where spiritual energy flows freely between them and passage is possible through spiritual artifacts—is what truth-seeking cultivators call the Greater World.”

”The Greater World is... the Great Heaven of Xuanzhuo.”

Her voice grew even lower. ”It is also known as the Great Xuanzhuo Realm.” ’The Great Heaven of Xuanzhuo...’ Chen Lingxi silently repeated the name, feeling as if the words contained some indescribable mystery. Just reciting them made his mind tremble slightly.

”There are many sects and immortal clans in the Greater World,” Xu Qingru continued. ”In the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, there are True Lords and Mystic Monarchs, as well as the legendary Heavenly Lords and Immortal Lords.

”Take Nascent Soul Mystic Monarchs, for instance. They have formed the Mystic Throne of the heavens and sit upon the high skies, possessing a nobility beyond words.”

”But to me, such figures are illusory and distant; I can only look up to them.”

Chen Lingxi listened quietly. His face remained expressionless, but inside, a stormy sea was already surging.

The high heavens of Great Xuanzhuo.

The Great Xuanzhuo Realm.

Mystic Monarchs were Nascent Soul cultivators!

These names were entirely foreign to him, yet they only made him yearn even more for that mysterious and magnificent Greater World.

True Lords, Mystic Monarchs!

Golden Core, Nascent Soul!

Heavenly Lords, Immortal Lords. These terms had only existed in the conversations of people like Lin Suri and Ying Chi, but hearing them now from Xu Qingru’s mouth was like finding puzzle pieces that somewhat completed the blurry picture of the Greater World in his mind.

He pondered for a moment before suddenly asking, ”You said Yun Jiao is also a reincarnator. What is his cultivation level?”

Xu Qingru shook her head. ”I don’t know.

”Yun Jiao is extremely mysterious and has never revealed his true cultivation to others.

”But as far as I know, he has at least three Qi Circulation 6th Floor figures under his command. They all obey him unconditionally and dare not show the slightest defiance.

”To make 6th Floor experts revere him so deeply, his cultivation is probably... at least in the Upper Three Floors.”

The Upper Three Floors.

Chen Lingxi repeated those three words in his head, his brow furrowing slightly.

Yet another figure of the Upper Three Floors.

Imperial Consort Chun was at the Qi Circulation 8th Floor, and Xi Yu was at the 8th or even the 9th Floor. Now Yun Jiao had appeared, and he was at the 7th Floor at the very least.

The number of Upper Three Floors cultivators in this grotto-heaven seemed far higher than he had expected.

”Where is Yun Jiao now?” Chen Lingxi asked again. ”Qianqing Prefecture,” Xu Qingru replied. ”He commands an army of eighty thousand, occupying the three prefectures of Qing, Zhong, and Xu. He has been locked in a standoff with the Imperial Court’s army for several years.”

Chen Lingxi nodded, committing every piece of this information to memory.

He asked a few more questions about the experts under Yun Jiao’s command, and Xu Qingru answered them one by one, hiding nothing.

Aside from this, Chen Lingxi asked many things regarding the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, and Xu Qingru had no choice but to answer those in detail as well.

It was only at the very end that Chen Lingxi asked what a Cauldron Vessel was.

Xu Qingru grew increasingly confused, her brow furrowing slightly as she stared at the Ghost Mask wearer before her.

This man had just asked about the vastness of the Greater World and basic cultivation concepts like Mystic Monarchs and True Lords. Now he was asking what a Cauldron Vessel was. He was acting exactly like an ignorant child who had just stepped onto the Dao and was begging a teacher for knowledge, completely unlike a Qi Circulation 5th Floor cultivator.

Were there really cultivators from the Great Xuanzhuo Realm who didn’t know about Cauldron Vessels?

But she had already fallen into his hands. Her qi sea was sealed, and the lingering sting of the Cyan Edge sword qi in her severed arm still throbbed faintly in her meridians. No matter her doubts, she did not dare to question him. She could only lower her eyes, suppress the confusion in her heart, and slowly answer...

”No one knows where Cauldron Vessels come from; they seem to have existed since ancient times.”

She paused for a moment before adding, ”The wonder of a Cauldron Vessel is as profound as the mysteries of the Great Dao. It is so sublime and miraculous that it defies description.

”Furthermore, a Cauldron Vessel recognizing a master is not limited by their cultivation realm. One can seek out a vessel to cultivate during Qi Circulation, and the same holds true for Dao Foundation, Golden Portal, and Golden Core.

”However, Cauldron Vessels also differ in strength. The wonders that the exact same vessel can display during Qi Circulation are far inferior to what it can achieve during Dao Foundation or Golden Portal.”

At this point, she mused briefly before adding, ”Let me give you an example.”

Her voice leveled out somewhat, though when she mentioned that name, an involuntary trace of reverence crept into her tone. ”Take the most famous Golden Core Cauldron Vessel in the Great Heaven of Xuanzhuo, for instance: the Heaven-Determining Brush of the Dao Teacher from the Under-Dao Academy.”

Chen Lingxi sat upright on the bluestone, his expression hidden beneath the Ghost Mask, and gave a faint nod.

Xu Qingru then went on, ”Legend has it that the Dao Teacher obtained the Cauldron Vessel, the Heaven-Determining Brush, during his Golden Portal realm.

”At that time, there was a Daoist Miao on Mount Yanduo who once engaged in a Dao dispute with the Dao Teacher.”

”Mount Yanduo had snatched a portal-establishing treasure from a disciple of the Under-Dao Academy, so the Dao Teacher used the Heaven-Determining Brush to decree a heavenly fate for Daoist Miao.”

She straightened her posture slightly, her voice full of awe. ”That heavenly fate consisted of just two words: ’Kinsfolk Severed.’

”Later, Daoist Miao’s most beloved senior disciple, Liu Junhe, saw his cultivation advance by leaps and bounds, only to be consumed by greed. He stole his master’s heavyweight treasure, the Heaven-Connecting Shuttle, and betrayed the sect.”

At this point, she shook her head slightly, her tone carrying a hint of lament. ”The Heaven-Determining Brush was already extraordinary during the Golden Portal realm, but who could have expected that after the Dao Teacher broke through to the Golden Core, new word would spread.

”The Dao Teacher had verified his position as a True Lord and used the Heaven-Determining Brush to decree the heavenly fate of the Dao Palace’s chief disciple, Xu Jingzhen. That fate was called ’Profound Mastery of Myriad Dharmas’.” As she spoke those words, a flash of unconcealed envy crossed her limpid eyes. ”Under this heavenly fate, Xu Jingzhen could understand all methods at a single glance and completely integrate them. Even for Golden Portal techniques, he would reach the Wondrous State upon learning them, and could even innovate upon the old to bring forth the new.

”Relying on this ’Profound Mastery of Myriad Dharmas’ fate, Xu Jingzhen has now achieved perfection in the Golden Portal realm. He is merely a single step away from becoming a True Lord.”

Chen Lingxi sat motionless, but beneath the Ghost Mask, he drew a sharp, deep breath.

The Heaven-Determining Brush. It was the Heaven-Determining Brush again.

During Vision Roaming, he had heard the woman in red promise Lin Suri that if they found the Immortal Slough, she would ask the Dao Teacher to use the Heaven-Determining Brush to decree the ’Cultivation of Myriad Dharmas’ path for him.

At the time, he had taken it as a promise of an ordinary opportunity. Hearing Xu Qingru’s words now, he finally realized that the Heaven-Determining Brush possessed such unimaginable might.

Determining a person’s heavenly fate, deciding their Dao path with a single word.

During the Golden Portal realm, it could decree the ’Kinsfolk Severed’ fate, making master and disciple turn against each other and martial brothers slaughter one another.

At the Golden Core realm, it could even decree the ’Profound Mastery of Myriad Dharmas’, allowing a cultivator to gain the divine ability to comprehend all methods at a single glance out of thin air.

Such means could no longer be described with the word ’profound’. It was nothing short of altering heaven, changing destinies, and taking the helm of creation itself.

He kept his face blank, but in his heart, he firmly memorized the words ’Dao Teacher of the Under-Dao Academy’.

Chen Lingxi then asked about Cauldron Vessel Fragments. This time, Xu Qingru did not hesitate as she continued, ”When a cultivator obtains a Cauldron Vessel and practices with it, if they die, the vessel shatters into numerous fragments. These fall into the turbulent currents of the void and are subsequently scattered to many corners of the Great World, or drop into various grotto-heavens and mystic realms.”

She paused, her tone carrying a hint more speculation. ”Or perhaps, some masters of Cauldron Vessels, in pursuit of opportunities, will actively scatter their own vessels across the myriad realms.

”As long as the master of the Cauldron Vessel does not die, even the fragments remain under their control.”

Speaking up to here, she suddenly looked up, as if recalling something, and murmured, ”For example... the Taotie Urn that we found.”

She pressed her lips together and continued explaining, ”We guessed that this was the case with the Taotie Urn.

”The master of this Cauldron Vessel is using the fragment to devour the power of our sacrifices to fund their own cultivation.”

Hearing this, Chen Lingxi came to a realization.

The Time Candle, the Crown Prince’s Beast-Fighting Palace, the Host Star Stone, and even that Taotie Urn—they were all Cauldron Vessel Fragments.

Their masters had either died, causing the shattered vessels to scatter across the myriad realms, or were still alive and had intentionally broken their vessels, scattering the pieces everywhere to devour sacrificial power and aid their own cultivation.

Regardless of which it was, these Cauldron Vessel Fragments retained a portion of the original vessel’s mighty power, trading lifespan, lives, and spiritual qi in exchange for all kinds of opportunities.

He pondered for a moment, finally having some understanding of Cauldron Vessels, and brought the topic back. ”Where is the Taotie Urn now?”

Hearing this, an extremely faint light flickered through Xu Qingru’s eyes, like a dying person grasping a thread of survival. She hurriedly answered, ”It is right in our cave abode. If Dao-brother can let me return, I will definitely bring the Taotie Urn and offer it to you.

”Beyond that, I will also bring back three spirit stones and a precious pill.”

When she spoke the words ”let me return,” her voice carried a cautious, probing tone. Her limpid eyes looked at Chen Lingxi, her gaze full of earnestness and pleading.

Chen Lingxi sat straight on the bluestone, the eyes behind the Ghost Mask betraying no emotion.

He thought it over briefly, but did not agree. He merely stood up, walked over to Xu Qingru, and reached out his hand.

Xu Qingru thought he was going to undo her seal. A trace of pleasant surprise had just surfaced in her eyes when a sudden, intense pain ripped through her lower abdomen.

An incredibly thin, faint streak of cyan light seeped from Chen Lingxi’s fingertip. The peerlessly sharp Cyan Edge Method shot from his finger, and with a light thrust, it pierced straight through her qi sea.

Xu Qingru’s body jerked violently. She opened her mouth to scream, but the pain robbed her of her voice. She could only feel the spiritual qi within her qi sea leaking out madly like a burst dam, gushing from the rupture and dissipating into the void.

She slumped limply to the ground. There was not a trace of color left on her soft, beautiful face, leaving only a deathly, ashen pallor.

Chen Lingxi pulled back his finger, bent down to grab the back of her collar, and lifted her entire body before striding out of the cave. Outside, the night was deep, and the mountain wind wailed as it swept through the forest.

Carrying Xu Qingru, he crossed two mountain peaks and found another extremely hidden cave.

He threw her inside and stepped back out, pressing both hands against a massive boulder at the entrance that weighed fully ten thousand jin. The blood energy of the Jade Qi Realm exploded outward. With a flash of jade luster around his body, he shoved the massive boulder over inch by inch, sealing the cave entrance tightly. Only a few extremely thin, narrow crevices remained, barely letting in a sliver of daylight and air.

Chen Lingxi stood outside the cave. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stared at the sealed boulder and muttered to himself, ”My strength is insufficient for now. Once I grow stronger, I will go and see if this Xu Qingru was lying.”

”Even with a shattered qi sea, the physical body of a Qi Circulation 5th Floor cultivator has already been remolded by spiritual qi. She absolutely will not die from going three months without food.

”I’ll just bring her some dry rations in a few days.”

A dark, cold gleam flashed in Chen Lingxi’s eyes.

”She wanted to kill me, so ending up like this is only right and proper.”