After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi’s eyes shifted, and he suddenly asked, ”Brother Lin, do you have a Jade Precept Book?”

Lin Suri paused for a moment, then shook his head.

The Jade Precept Book wasn’t considered anything rare in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, but it was incredibly scarce within this Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven.

He had originally carried a few on him, but he had exhausted them in previous transactions.

Seeing him shake his head, Chen Lingxi frowned.

’Without a Jade Precept Book, this transaction is going to be a bit tricky,’ he thought. ’I’m afraid I’ll have to spin a few more lies...’

But right at that moment, Lin Suri raised his brows.

He reached into his robes and pulled out several Vast Void Pouches.

He poured out their contents.

A massive jumble of miscellaneous items tumbled out, piling high upon the bluestone.The pile included jade pendants, command medallions, Jade Bottles containing pills, and torn talisman papers.

All of it was loot stripped from the cultivators he had slain since entering Ancestral Mountain. He lowered his head and rummaged through the pile for a long while before finally shaking his head.

This action gave Chen Lingxi an idea.

With a thought, the flying skiff hovering nearby immediately touched down. It also carried a Vast Void Pouch.

Xi Yuan’s Vast Void Pouch was inside.

He dug through the treasures inside. A moment later, a hint of joy lit up his eyes.

”Found one.”

He withdrew a jade slip from Xi Yuan’s Vast Void Pouch. Barely the size of a palm, it was entirely pure white and warm to the touch, shimmering with a faint emerald glow beneath the starlight.

Its surface bore no decorative patterns, save for a few minuscule ancient seal characters engraved on the front.

He rested the jade slip in his palm, turning it over to examine it closely. Without a doubt, it was a Jade Precept Book.

”It seems this Jade Precept Book isn’t something easily obtained after all,” Chen Lingxi remarked. He felt a wave of relief as he thought, ’Counting the cultivators who died by my hand, plus the Vast Void Pouches Lin Suri holds, there must be over a dozen people’s worth of loot here, yet between us all we only found a single Jade Precept Book.’

Despite his lament, his mind felt considerably more at ease.

With this Jade Precept Book, the transaction would be much more credible and straightforward. Seeing Chen Lingxi produce the Jade Precept Book, Lin Suri stopped digging through his own pile of clutter.

He gathered the scattered items back into his Vast Void Pouches, then looked up, his gaze falling upon the jade slip with a flash of understanding.

He already had a rough guess as to what Chen Lingxi intended, so he didn’t rush to ask, merely waiting in silence for him to continue.

Chen Lingxi weighed the Jade Precept Book in his palm, looked up, and smiled at Lin Suri.

”It is precisely because I only seek an opportunity for the Dao Foundation that the Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi in your hands is a true stroke of fortune for me.”

He spoke slowly, ”Aside from that, since Brother Lin practices the Six Qi True Method, you must hail from the Pool Soul Courtyard!

”I also wish to ask Brother Lin to report back to the academy. Once we return to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, please ask True Person Jing Shijue to perform a tribulation gazing for me using the Tribulation-Viewing Pool!”

The moment these words left his mouth, Lin Suri’s pupils shrank.

He jerked his head up, genuine astonishment bleeding into his eyes.

He carefully scrutinized Chen Lingxi and said, ”Do you mean... you want to trade with me, but a single stream of Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi isn’t enough? You also want a Cauldron Vessel tribulation gazing?”

Chen Lingxi met his gaze and nodded frankly, adding, ”Plus one instance of the academy taking action on my behalf in the Greater World. How about it?”

At this point, as if fearing Lin Suri would find him insatiably greedy, he let out a long sigh. A hint of helplessness laced his tone. ”Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi, plus a Cauldron Vessel tribulation gazing, plus the academy taking action for me...

”In truth, all of this is still far from enough to exchange for the fortune in my hands.

”It’s just that keeping such an opportunity in my own hands would be far too great a waste.

”With my current cultivation level, even if I included my meager sect, there’s simply no way we could digest an opportunity like this.

”So, I decided I might as well find a wealthy backer and sell it off.”

He laid out his words smoothly. The helplessness in his tone and the lament in his expression were perfectly measured.

He looked exactly like a destitute man clutching a priceless treasure he lacked the strength to protect, forced to hand over his family heirloom just to secure a stable future.

Lin Suri took a deep breath, a sudden flash of inspiration striking his mind.

He looked up and asked, ”Fellow Daoist, just what kind of opportunity is this?”

Chen Lingxi only shook his head, refusing to answer the question.

He simply lowered his head, holding the Jade Precept Book before him. Raising his right hand, he pressed his index and middle fingers together like a sword.

Spiritual qi pulsed erratically from his fingertips. Using his fingers as a brush and spiritual qi as ink, he rapidly inscribed lines of text onto the Jade Precept Book.

The characters surfaced one by one beneath his fingertips, with the unforced grace of floating clouds and flowing water.

Lin Suri focused his eyes and saw that the very first things carved into the Jade Precept Book were several extremely solemn clauses.

The most crucial sentence among them clearly read:

[This is a Golden Portal opportunity, an opportunity that even holds the hope of touching upon the True Monarch realm. If it is not, this precept is void!]

Following that line were several rows of dense, tiny text, explicitly listing out the terms of the transaction.

The two most vital clauses among them were:

[Once this precept is established, neither party may harbor thoughts of fighting over it again.]

[Once this precept is established, Brother Lin must act as my protector and assist me in refining the Mother Qi.]

After finishing the inscription, Chen Lingxi cupped the Jade Precept Book in his palms and silently read through it once more, ensuring there were absolutely no errors.

Then, remaining entirely silent, he neatly signed his name onto the jade slip.

[Chen Lingxi.]

He then offered the Jade Precept Book to Lin Suri.

Lin Suri took the jade slip and lowered his head to read it closely.

The characters on the jade surface swirled with spiritual light, the sentences shimmering with a faint golden radiance.

He read through it word by word for a long time, his frown deepening with every passing second.

He looked up again, his gaze locking onto Chen Lingxi’s face as he asked, ”Brother, what exactly is this opportunity...”

But Chen Lingxi had already closed his eyes, assuming a posture that made it clear he wouldn’t say another word.

So, Lin Suri stopped asking.

He looked down at the Jade Precept Book in his hand, his mind racing as he rapidly calculated the possibilities.

’A Golden Portal opportunity, even holding the hope of touching upon the True Monarch realm...’ He silently recited those words in his head. An incredibly bold guess involuntarily surfaced from the depths of his mind.

’Could it be the Immortal Slough?’

But the moment this thought emerged, he rejected it.

The secret of the Immortal Slough was highly classified. Aside from suspicions about whether anyone in the imperial palace knew, every single truth-seeker within this Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven should be completely ignorant of it. Otherwise, this grotto-heaven would have been turned upside down long ago. Would it even be their turn to fight over Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi here?

Not to mention, the only reason he had managed to find minute clues leading to the Immortal Slough was entirely thanks to the River-Crossing Jade Method bestowed by his martial uncle.

This was a secret transmission of the Under-Dao Academy. Even he, Lin Suri, didn’t know how to cast the art himself; he could only rely on a River-Crossing Jade Slip to execute it for him.

How could any other truth-seeker possibly track it down?

’Could there be another opportunity hidden in this Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven?’

Lin Suri’s eyes flickered. A war waged in his mind, and for a moment, he found himself entirely unable to make a decision.

Suddenly, he thought of a method.

’I might as well add a clause to the Jade Precept Book stating that the transaction is only valid if it is NOT the Immortal Slough.’

But just as the idea surfaced, he shook his head, instantly rejecting it.

The clauses on the Jade Precept Book had to be absolutely transparent between the two signatories; nothing could be hidden.

If he revealed the words ”Immortal Slough,” and the opportunity Chen Lingxi was trying to trade wasn’t the Immortal Slough, then Chen Lingxi would learn of its existence.

This person was impossibly mysterious and possessed deep foundations. Even a figure like Xi Yuan had fallen by his hands. If he learned the words ”Immortal Slough,” he wouldn’t even need the full details; simply knowing an Immortal Slough existed in this realm would be disastrous. Should the news leak, it would highly likely draw in countless sects. This Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven belonged to the Que Star Xi Family, an immortal clan ruled by a True Monarch. If they learned an Immortal Slough lay hidden here, it would become a catastrophic nightmare.

And he couldn’t just add a vague clause like ”opportunities already known to me are invalid” onto the Jade Precept Book either.

He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

And so, Lin Suri pondered for a long time...

Chen Lingxi didn’t rush him, merely waiting in silence.

A long while later, the light in Lin Suri’s eyes gradually firmed.

He had already vaguely come to a decision.

’Forget it. The Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi is nothing more than icing on the cake for me. If I can use it to gamble for a new Golden Portal opportunity, that would naturally be fantastic...’

’And even if I lose the bet, it won’t be a big deal.’

’Furthermore, this Chen Lingxi was able to capture Xi Yuan and seize a flying skiff while only at the Qi Circulation 7th Floor. This level of strength and fortune is absolutely beyond what an ordinary cultivator can compare to.’

’Since he dares to use a Jade Precept Book as proof, it means he truly holds an opportunity of that value.’

’As long as it isn’t the Immortal Slough...’ He finally took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and raised his right index finger. Spiritual qi surged from his fingertip as he slowly carved his own name onto the Jade Precept Book.

[Lin Suri.]

The instant those three characters fell, the Jade Precept Book flared with blinding light.

An indescribable radiance erupted from the very center of the jade slip.

Amidst the swirling light, the jade slip silently split into two.

They landed respectively into the hands of Chen Lingxi and Lin Suri.

The jade precept was established, backed by the threat of divine retribution.

From this moment on, the clauses between the two of them were as if carved into the Great Dao of heaven and earth itself—unalterable and absolute.

Staring at the jade slip in his hand, Chen Lingxi let out a long sigh of relief.

He didn’t waste any words. He merely projected a wisp of his divine sense into his half of the Jade Precept Book and silently wrote down a single line of text.

”Thirty li outside the Great Li Capital... the Long River... the Immortal Slough!”

The instant that line of text landed, Lin Suri’s expression underwent a drastic change. He lowered his head, staring at the exact same words syncing onto his own half of the Jade Precept Book, the light in his eyes violently flashing.

The Immortal Slough... it really was the Immortal Slough.

The spiritual light on the Jade Precept Book continued to shine brilliantly, reflecting off Lin Suri’s pale face and making it look even whiter.

He sat there in silence, quiet for a very, very long time.

The mountain wind funneled in through the mouth of the valley, causing his dark brocade robes to flutter.

He kept his head lowered, staring at the Jade Precept Book in his palm, his complex gaze fixed upon the two words ”Immortal Slough” radiating a faint golden light.

A long while later, he suddenly let out a heavy sigh. He shook his head, a bitter smile surfacing on his face.

”It truly is a Golden Portal opportunity,” he said softly, his tone incredibly complicated.

Chen Lingxi met his gaze and nodded frankly. With a hint of smugness in his voice, he smiled. ”Now you should believe me, right, Brother? If the news of the Immortal Slough were to spread, who knows how many powerhouses would project their avatars into this Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven.

”Trading an opportunity like this for those three things... I actually took a massive loss.”

Lin Suri fell silent for a moment before retrieving that stream of Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi from his sleeve.

The stream of clear qi resembled a tiny, bright moon, slowly swirling in his palm and emitting a warm, radiant glow. He looked at the luminescence, a faint hint of reluctance flashing through his eyes before he swiftly suppressed it.

’I must be willing to accept defeat after a gamble,’ he told himself. Treating it as nothing more than a failed investment, he handed the Mother Qi over to Chen Lingxi.

Chen Lingxi accepted the Mother Qi with both hands.

The instant the clear qi touched his hands, he felt the hundreds of apertures across his body suddenly clear up, while the spiritual pool within his sea of qi surged and tumbled in sheer jubilation.

Seeing the joyful expression on Chen Lingxi’s face, Lin Suri couldn’t help but think, ’This man is quite honest. Not a single word he spoke was a lie; he was even willing to trade such a precious Immortal Slough opportunity to me.’

’It seems Imperial Consort Chun, Lu Baizhong, and the others truly did have a grudge against him, which is why he killed them.’

Chen Lingxi carefully stored the Mother Qi away in his Vast Void Pouch, then looked up and gave Lin Suri a slight cupped-fist salute.

”Brother, please act as my protector,” he said, his tone open and composed. ”Once I finish refining the Mother Qi, the transaction will be complete. We will both have gotten what we needed, so everyone leaves happy.”

Lin Suri didn’t say much else, merely nodding slowly.

”Fellow Daoist, I will stand guard for you. Go ahead and... refine this Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi.”

Chen Lingxi beamed with smiles. ”Now the two of us have formed a good karmic tie. When we return to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, and with the jade precept binding us, we should definitely interact more in the future.”