After the Great Dao Died

Another two or three months passed.

The new year approached.

Heavy snow had fallen over the Nanju Twelve Mountains for three days and three nights, showing no signs of stopping.

The ancient pines across the mountains bowed beneath the weight of the snow. Occasionally, a dead branch snapped under the burden with a sharp crack, startling a few jackdaws huddled in tree hollows. They took flight in a flurry of wings, swallowed instantly by the blizzard.

Chen Lingxi sat in a mountain cave, legs crossed on a flat bluestone.

While a world of ice and snow raged outside, the cave’s interior remained comfortably warm, heated by the faint spiritual light naturally circulating around him.

Compared to a few months ago, his aura had grown much deeper and heavier.

His cultivation at the Qi Circulation 9th Floor was completely consolidated.

Though he merely sat there in silence, an awe-inspiring presence flowed soundlessly around him.

Occasional arcs of golden lightning leaped through his eyelashes, so faint they were imperceptible without a close look.This was the result of months spent comprehending the Thunder-Concealing Sword Scripture.

Over the past few months, aside from his unshakeable daily breathing exercises, Chen Lingxi had spent almost all his time unraveling that sword scripture and the Longevity Bridge divine ability. In just a few months, he had perfectly conquered both the profound Longevity Bridge and the intricate Thunder-Concealing Sword Scripture.

Such was the extraordinary aptitude of a spiritual aperture.

His current mastery of the Thunder-Concealing Sword Scripture surpassed even Lu Baizhong’s. As for the Longevity Bridge, he had stepped into the Subtle stage without even needing Profound Qi!

These were Chen Lingxi’s gains over a few months—enough to eclipse what many cultivators achieved through years of study.

Right now, Chen Lingxi’s gaze rested on the items before him.

Numerous objects lay neatly arranged on the rocky floor in front of him.

Among them, two came from Xi Yuan; the rest all belonged to Rong Chun.

He started with the myriad items taken from Rong Chun.

Eight or nine out of ten were spiritual stones. The rest were heavenly materials and earthly treasures rich in spiritual qi, all sealed within jade boxes that had preserved their energy fairly well, along with many medicinal pills.

The remainder were merely small trinkets of little use.

Chen Lingxi had laid out all of Imperial Consort Chun’s belongings because he suspected one of them might be an item handled by the Daye Emperor.

”This is Imperial Consort Chun’s foundation, but it truly can’t be called deep,” Chen Lingxi said, shaking his head helplessly at the pile of consumables.

Imperial Consort Chun possessed an extraordinary status and equally extraordinary cultivation, yet her accumulated resources fell far short of Xi Yuan, who was also at the Eighth Floor.

Xi Yuan’s Vast Void Pouch did not contain many things. Aside from some spiritual treasures and formation-laying materials, there were only two items, but they brought Chen Lingxi the greatest surprise.

Those two items were exactly what sat before Chen Lingxi right now: the Jade Bottle and the Dharmic Robe.

Chen Lingxi’s gaze fell upon the Jade Bottle.

The bottle was barely three inches tall and pitch-black throughout; it was impossible to tell what kind of jade it was made from.

Its surface lacked any carvings, save for a few minuscule tadpole scripts engraved on the bottom. The characters were ancient, crude, and difficult to decipher. Chen Lingxi scoured every memory he had regarding talismanic scripts but found no corresponding meaning.

”This black Jade Bottle is definitely a great treasure.”

When Chen Lingxi first obtained it, he tried injecting a strand of spiritual qi inside, but the energy plunged into the bottle and vanished without a trace, failing to stir a single ripple.

Chen Lingxi only felt a bottomless depth within, like a vast ocean. No matter how much spiritual qi he poured in, it was never enough!

”It seems my cultivation at the Qi Circulation 9th Floor still isn’t enough to refine this black Jade Bottle.”

Chen Lingxi didn’t force the matter. The path of cultivation relied on destiny and timing; forcing something before the time was right was useless.

He resealed the Jade Bottle with a layer of spiritual light and carefully stored it back in his Vast Void Pouch, setting it aside for the future.

Next was the Dharmic Robe.

Chen Lingxi’s gaze shifted to the robe. It was as thin as a cicada’s wing, nearly transparent.

It weighed almost nothing in his hands, feeling like he had grabbed a handful of morning mist.

Yet the moment he draped the Dharmic Robe over his shoulders, his entire body abruptly sank downward.

”Ugh...”

Chen Lingxi let out an involuntary, muffled grunt.

He felt an extreme heaviness from the robe; wearing it was like having a mountain drop out of thin air right onto his back.

With his blood energy cultivation at the Nine Revolutions realm, he could easily heft a ten-thousand-jin boulder without changing expression. Yet this small Dharmic Robe pressed down on him so hard his breath hitched, and the bluestone ground beneath his feet cracked under the unbearable load.

The spiritual qi in his sea of qi roared into motion, and his blood energy surged like a tide. Only then did he manage to stabilize his stance and keep himself from dropping to his knees.

”Good heavens,” Chen Lingxi muttered, standing on the shattered bluestone. He felt the terrifying weight on his shoulders—a force that threatened to crush him into the earth—and a flash of astonishment crossed his eyes. That astonishment quickly morphed into intense interest.

”This Dharmic Robe is extremely precious too...”

”Just wait until I refine it.”

A treasure of this caliber was vastly different from the Profound-Pointing Sword Furnace he had obtained before. Its internal formations were profoundly intricate.

Even with Chen Lingxi’s deep reserves of spiritual qi, exploring the arrays and refining the treasure still took him over ten days.

By the fourteenth day, he finally poured the entirety of his spiritual qi into the core of the formation.

The moment the array completely activated, the crushing weight that had nearly bent him in half vanished without a trace.

The Dharmic Robe became as light as a feather once more, and a faint, gentle cyan halo rippled across its near-transparent fabric!

”Refined.”

Chen Lingxi stood in the cave, looking down at the weightless robe draped over him.

With a mere thought, his divine sense entered the formations within the robe.

”The Myriad Marvels Dharmic Robe can manifest endless variations.” Suddenly, the transparent, wing-like gossamer shifted around his body!

In the blink of an eye, an incredibly gorgeous, dark brocade robe materialized.

Finding it amusing, he willed it to change again.

In just a few breaths, it transformed into a suit of pitch-black armor.

He enjoyed the game immensely. Over the span of a dozen breaths, the robe shifted into over ten different appearances.

”The robe repels all dust. This will be quite convenient.”

Pausing in thought, he reached out and lightly flicked the robe.

A burst of blood energy shot out, striking the fabric.

Immediately, ripples of spiritual light blossomed on the robe’s surface, spreading out to encompass his entire body in an instant!

”This is its true extraordinary power.” Chen Lingxi retracted his hand, a look of realization and satisfaction in his eyes.

Changing its shape and appearance was merely a minor trick. The real utility of this Dharmic Robe lay in how its mystical formations dissolved external forces—especially the impact of blood energy attacks.

”Wearing this is like raising an invisible, formless mountain in front of me. Those martial experts who solely cultivate blood energy throw punches and kicks with the power to crumble mountains and split boulders. But if they strike someone wearing this robe, the force gets weakened layer by layer. By the time it reaches the flesh, I doubt even a tenth of the impact remains.”

A smile naturally formed on Chen Lingxi’s lips.

”If I run into a Nine Revolutions martial artist now, I could probably just stand there and let them hit me, and they still wouldn’t breach my defenses.”

His eyes shifted, and he couldn’t help but think of Xi Yuan.

”It seems that genius from the Xi Family also had extraordinary luck and destiny.”

He had acquired this Jade Bottle and Dharmic Robe much like how Lin Suri obtained the bright lantern, the token, and the Jade Sword. Both had found great fortunes within this barren Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven.

What a pity his cultivation fell short. He couldn’t refine either of these treasures.

”If he had truly been able to refine these two items, back in Ancestral Mountain when Lin Suri and I tried to kill him, the outcome of that battle would have been far from certain.”

Such was the cruelty of the cultivation world.

What was the difference between having a lucky encounter you lacked the strength to enjoy, and having no luck at all?

Xi Yuan had gained these two treasures, but due to his insufficient cultivation, he couldn’t refine them. He could only seal them in jade boxes, hide them deep in his Vast Void Pouch, and pray day and night for an early breakthrough.

But before he could break through, he died at the combined hands of Chen Lingxi and Lin Suri. The treasures he had painstakingly acquired ultimately only paved the way for someone else.

Chen Lingxi pushed these thoughts down and turned his gaze back to Imperial Consort Chun’s belongings.

”She was so favored in the imperial palace; did the Daye Emperor really never bestow anything truly valuable upon her?” A hint of doubt flickered in Chen Lingxi’s eyes.

”Could it be that she offered all the treasures she collected to the one in the palace?”

He stopped dwelling on the matter, first storing the heavenly materials, earthly treasures, medicinal pills, and spiritual stones back into the Vast Void Pouch.

His gaze then fell on the final few items.

These were objects that looked ordinary but couldn’t be disposed of casually.

There were several pieces of jewelry—gold hairpins and jade bracelets of exceptionally fine craftsmanship. They were likely what Rong Chun wore on a daily basis, as they still carried the faint, lingering scent of ambergris from her body.

There was also a Black Iron Token. Engraved on its front was the character ”Forbidden,” while the back featured an incredibly detailed map of the imperial palace.

He turned the token over in his hands, examining it closely with a raised brow. This was the access pass Rong Chun used to move about the palace; holding it granted free entry and exit through the forbidden gates.

For Chen Lingxi, the object itself wasn’t very useful.

’I wonder if this token is an item handled by the Daye Emperor?’ As the thought crossed Chen Lingxi’s mind, his consciousness sank into the Divine Chamber, sensing the array of information transmitted by the Vision Roaming divine ability.

’Vision Roaming bindings are linked to cultivation levels. This time, it shouldn’t be as easy as binding Lin Suri.’

’The Vision Roaming binding depends on the target’s cultivation. When I first bound Lin Suri, he was merely at the Qi Circulation 5th Floor...’

Chen Lingxi sensed the influx of information from the Vision Roaming divine ability.

’Below the Qi Circulation 6th Floor, it only requires mundane birth characters and an item they have handled.’ Chen Lingxi silently sorted through the details in his mind. ’For the Upper Three Floors—the 7th through the 9th Floor—it requires a handled item, a strand of pure spiritual qi, and a drop of blood.’

’As for the Heaven-Facing Three Floors, or even the Dao Foundation Realm... it seems they are all the same. They require a handled item, as well as a deeply binding karma.’

He furrowed his brows.

He sensed that as the information reached higher tiers, it grew blurry, as if veiled by a thin layer of gauze. No matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn’t make anything out.

For example, Chen Lingxi currently had no way to see how to bind someone at the Golden Core Realm for Vision Roaming.

But he had no time to ponder that.

A Golden Core True Monarch was simply too far beyond him. Even if he could Vision Roam a True Monarch, could he really steal their fortunes?

His thoughts returned to the binding conditions for the Upper Three Floors and the Heaven-Facing Three Floors. ’Spiritual qi and blood are already incredibly hard to obtain, though they can at least be tracked down. But what in the world is a deeply binding karma?’

A deeply binding karma...

Those words echoed repeatedly through Chen Lingxi’s sea of consciousness.

What did it mean?

He thought for a long time but couldn’t make head or tail of it.

Chen Lingxi temporarily suppressed these thoughts. ’For now, I need to focus on finding an item handled by the Daye Emperor.’

He stood up and gathered the remaining items from the ground.

’It’s highly likely that Rong Chun’s jade bracelets have never been handled by the Daye Emperor... so I have to think of another way.’

Chen Lingxi walked out of the cave. His gaze drifted west, piercing through the heavy veil of snow and the vast mountain ranges, landing on a prefectural city—Lunan Prefecture.

He knew that inside Lunan Prefecture, there was one person who definitely possessed an item handled by the emperor.

That person was the current prefect of Lunan Prefecture, Xi Ninghe.

Years ago, this Prefect Xi was merely an ordinary local official. The reason he was later exceptionally promoted and transferred to govern a wealthy place like Lunan Prefecture all came down to a single deed: presenting a treasure.

Chen Lingxi’s eyes flickered, and he delayed no further. He silently triggered the Cloud-Soaring Technique, gathering a wisp of pale cyan cloud under his feet that lifted him slowly into the air.

The blizzard raged fiercely.

Swirling, goose-feather snowflakes painted everything between heaven and earth stark white. The distant mountains lost their outlines, and the nearby forests were reduced to blurry silhouettes.

Standing upon the cloud, his robes fluttering in the wind, he looked like a banished immortal.

The Myriad Marvels Dharmic Robe radiated an incredibly faint layer of spiritual light, repelling all the snow that rushed toward his face.

He headed straight for Lunan Prefecture.

—

Lunan Prefecture was somewhat smaller than Yuanjiang Prefecture, but it remained fairly peaceful.

Situated at the convergence of two rivers, the prefectural city boasted convenient water transport and gathered throngs of merchants. While it couldn’t compare to the opulence of Yuanjiang Prefecture, it was still counted among the most prosperous hubs outside the Jingji Circuit.

In the dead of winter, with the new year approaching, the streets bustled with pedestrians.

Chen Lingxi walked through the crowd, completely inconspicuous in the cyan-gray robes his Dharmic Robe had transformed into. From the outside, he was merely a tall, handsome young man. In this manner, he entered Lunan Prefecture and found an inn to stay at temporarily.

Another day passed.

It was the hour when officials finished their shifts.

In front of the government office at the end of the long street, seven or eight sedan chairs filed out.

The central sedan chair was unremarkable, its curtains half-worn and its lacquered surface slightly chipped and old.

Sitting upright inside was a middle-aged man in his forties with well-defined features and a three-strand beard. He wore a scarlet official robe, a silver belt cinched at his waist, and a black gauze hat upon his head.

He sat with his eyes closed, back perfectly straight, and hands resting on his knees—an impeccable posture.

Yet Chen Lingxi perceived the lingering sorrow knit in the man’s brow, as well as the faint exhaustion and haggardness radiating from beneath that scarlet robe.

This man was the prefect of Lunan Prefecture, Xi Ninghe.

Xi Ninghe had governed Lunan Prefecture for many years, managing the city until it was as solidly united as a monolithic block of iron.

Whether it was the commoners or the officials, everyone was utterly convinced by this prefect’s leadership.

Furthermore, this place was far from conflict and commercially prosperous, and Xi Ninghe held a high position... Who knew what a figure like him could have encountered to make him so deeply troubled?

Xi Ninghe returned all the way to his estate and made for the rear courtyard.

The mansion wasn’t particularly large. It had three courtyards front to back, sporting white walls and black tiles, with two stone lions standing guard by the gate.

The rear courtyard was much quieter than the front.

Passing through a moon gate, Xi Ninghe arrived at a small, secluded courtyard deep in the back and pushed open the door to the main room.

The room’s furnishings were quite elegant.

An intricately carved rosewood canopy bed stood out as the most prominent piece of furniture, draped with pale cyan curtains.

A middle-aged woman sat by the bed, holding the hand of the person lying there while murmuring in a low voice.

The woman looked to be no more than thirty-eight or thirty-nine. Her features were fair, but the fine lines at the corners of her eyes and the few strands of white at her temples added a touch of age to her appearance.

Lying on the bed was a young woman who appeared to be seventeen or eighteen.

She was stunningly beautiful, looking like a statue carved from a flawless block of white jade.

However, her exquisite face was utterly drained of color. She lay there with her eyes shut, her breathing long and steady, as though merely asleep.

Xi Ninghe walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Reaching out, he gently placed his hand on the young woman’s forehead, looking down at her face. ”Is our daughter any better?”

The woman, the prefect’s wife, shook her head silently and grasped her daughter’s hand tighter.

Xi Ninghe continued, ”I’ve asked around. Over in Guanshan Province, there’s an old Daoist highly skilled in exorcism. He specializes in treating bizarre comas like this.

”I have already written a letter and sent a man on horseback to deliver it. We’ll have a reply in a month at most, or half a month at the earliest.”

Tears welled up in the wife’s eyes upon hearing this.

She lowered her head, forcing out a sentence: ”Will it work? The Daoist priest we invited last time drew talismans and performed rituals, making a fuss for three whole days... Not only did Lan’er not improve, she fell into an even deeper stupor...”

Xi Ninghe took a deep breath, a trace of sorrow surfacing in his eyes.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned away to stare into the pitch-black night outside the window.

After a long time, he finally spoke slowly. ”Lan’er remains in a coma, and Yu’er’s whereabouts are still unknown. It has been five years... Five years without a word... To think my Xi family would suffer such a calamity.”

His tone was desolate. He sounded like an ordinary father whose back had been bent by a relentless string of disasters, entirely bereft of the imposing authority he wielded while judging cases in the court during the day.

But hearing this, his wife suddenly raised her head and shook it. ”No, she is not Yu’er. I know.”

Xi Ninghe took a deep breath, ultimately saying nothing more.

Standing up, he took one last look at his daughter before turning and leaving the room.

Inside the prefect’s study, case files were piled as high as a mountain.

Official documents, petitions, and administrative slips stacked up incredibly high.

Sitting back down behind the rosewood desk, Xi Ninghe had no time to review them.

He smoothed out a fresh sheet of stationery, picked up his brush, and began drafting another letter.

This one was to an old friend in Qinghua Province, who had once mentioned in a letter that a reclusive master skilled in medicine lived there and could cure any disease.

In the letter, Xi Ninghe earnestly pleaded with his old friend for an introduction.

After finishing that one, he spread out another sheet... and continued writing to other acquaintances.

The night deepened.

Tonight was moonless. Even with lanterns lit, the courtyard seemed quite dim and dusky.

Xi Ninghe wrote for too long. One letter followed another until he lost count. Their contents were largely identical: begging friends, fellow graduates, and former subordinates across various provinces for help, hoping someone could recommend a truly capable physician or mystic to exorcise whatever afflicted his daughter and cure her illness.

He sealed each envelope one by one, neatly inscribing the recipients’ names and addresses.

Another half an hour passed.

Xi Ninghe hadn’t rested properly in months. By day, he handled official business at the yamen; by night, he wrote everywhere seeking medical help.

Though he had practiced martial arts in his youth and possessed a sturdier constitution than ordinary civil officials, he still couldn’t endure such relentless, daily exhaustion.

He fell asleep right there at his desk, his breathing gradually steadying.

The candle on its stand had nearly burned down.

Just then, a biting, frigid wind swept past the door.

The already dim lanterns out in the corridor were caught in the gust and extinguished simultaneously.

The howling wind poured into the study, rustling the freshly written letters on the desk and blowing out the last flicker of candlelight with a soft puff.

The room instantly plunged into darkness.

Awakened by the breeze, Xi Ninghe lifted his head. Just as he reached for the fire folded on his desk to relight the candle, he abruptly froze. Someone was sitting in the guest chair.

He had no idea when the person had entered.

The room was completely dim with the candle out; the only light came from a few relit storm lanterns outside the corridor, filtering faintly through the window paper.

The glow was extremely faint, casting only a blurry silhouette over the intruder.

Judging by the build, it was a tall, slender man.

He sat squarely in the guest chair, his face hidden in the shadows, leaving only a pair of eyes faintly gleaming in the dark.

After a split second of panic, Xi Ninghe forcibly calmed himself.

He was, after all, a local official of over a decade. He had presided over countless cases and seen much of the world.

Anyone capable of slipping silently into a prefectural manor in the dead of night was either a highly cultivated martial expert or an evil entity with heaven-defying means.

Whichever it was, shouting for the guards now would be utterly useless...

Long before help arrived, this person could snap his neck with the flick of a finger.

So he remained perfectly still behind the desk, simply asking, ”Who goes there?” His voice was steady, betraying little panic.

The figure in the chair didn’t speak.

Xi Ninghe waited a moment. Seeing no answer, he asked again, ”What have you come here for?”

Pausing briefly, his tone even took on a hint of sincerity. ”Lunan isn’t comparable to the wealthy provinces along the nine riverbanks, and my manor hardly hoards gold and jade.

If you came seeking wealth, despite being a prefect, I am but a poor official. I truly have little saved up.

”I just don’t know if it’s enough to satisfy your appetite.”

Several breaths of time passed.

The man sitting in the chair finally spoke. ”Upon my arrival in Lunan Prefecture, whether it’s the townsfolk inside the city or the villagers outside, all show great respect and affection for you... Walking through the teahouses and taverns along the way, I saw that whenever your name is mentioned, people raise their thumbs and praise you as a good official.”

Xi Ninghe remained silent, refusing to interject.

The mysterious person suddenly asked, ”Prefect Xi, where is Xi Yu?”

The question came so abruptly that Xi Ninghe couldn’t help but freeze.

He had assumed this midnight visitor came either for money or his life. He never expected the man to inquire about his daughter, who had been missing for five years. Gathering his wits, he replied, ”To think someone still remembers my daughter, Xi Yu...”

His voice unconsciously dropped. ”Over these past years, Great Li has been in turmoil. The nineteen rebel kings hold their own territories, and the Imperial Court clashes endlessly with their armies. Countless bandits and ruthless men have seized the chaos to crown themselves kings of the mountains.

My daughter was merely fifteen or sixteen at the time. She went to the mountains to play, but she never returned.

”It’s been five years now... Five years without coming back. She must have fallen victim to scoundrels; the odds are entirely against her survival.”

At this point, he suddenly peered closer at the silhouette in the dark. ”Just who are you?”

The figure didn’t answer, merely giving a soft nod before changing the subject. ”I came looking for you today because I truly do need an item.”

Xi Ninghe listened intently.

The mysterious man continued, ”Many years ago, you were not yet in Lunan, but serving in Yuanjiang Prefecture.

At that time, you made a meritorious contribution by presenting a treasure. The Sage issued an edict, exceptionally elevating your rank and transferring you here as the prefect of Lunan Prefecture.

”Such honor caused quite a stir in the capital region back then.”

”I have come today to ask you for that very imperial edict.”

Xi Ninghe’s eyes flickered, but his expression didn’t change. He calculated rapidly in his mind before stating calmly, ”You might not be aware, but the imperial court maintains a strict system of returning vermilion edicts.

Any memorial personally reviewed by the Sage, any annotated document, and any issued edict must, with few exceptions, be returned afterward for archiving under the unified jurisdiction of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

That edict... has long since been returned to the archives.

”If you wish to find it, I’m afraid you must head to the Capital, not my insignificant Lunan Prefecture.”

Reaching this point, Xi Ninghe’s exhausted eyes showed a trace of helplessness.

However, the mystery man suddenly shook his head, cutting Xi Ninghe off. ”While the system of returning vermilion edicts exists, it isn’t an absolute rule.

Ordinary annotations, administrative policies, and cabinet decrees naturally must be handed back.

But the edict in your hands isn’t of that sort. It is a decree of commendation, a mandate where the Sage personally praised you for your ’meritorious presentation of treasure.’

”Such an edict represents clan glory, an heirloom personally bestowed by the emperor himself... How could something like that be reclaimed for archiving?”

Xi Ninghe’s brow twitched.

It seemed this person was no ignorant vagrant oblivious to court regulations.

The last sliver of hope in his heart extinguished. Yet he was no pedantic fool. Since this individual had snuck in late at night and specifically requested the edict, they definitely wouldn’t leave empty-handed.

Sitting here in the study, agreeing meant trading a useless object for his life.

And if he refused? A man who bypassed the manor’s heavy guard silently could just as silently sever his head.

He still had much left undone... Lan’er, lying comatose in bed, still needed him to seek out a cure, and Yu’er, missing for five years, might still be waiting somewhere for him to bring her home.

He couldn’t die here.

Reaching this conclusion, Xi Ninghe slowly stood up.

His face bore a perfectly measured look of deference as he made an inviting gesture.

”That edict is enshrined within our Xi family’s ancestral hall, located right in the East Hall. If you wish to see it, please, follow me.”

Instead, the mysterious man stood up and gave a slight shake of his head.

As he rose, the faint light in the study fell upon him.

Aided by the dim glow, Xi Ninghe finally made out the intruder’s outline.

He was no taller or shorter than a normal man, but an indescribable aura enshrouded him. Yet when Xi Ninghe focused, trying to make out his facial features, he was astonished to find the man’s face seemingly obscured by an ethereal layer of mist. No matter how wide he opened his eyes, he could only see a hazy blur.

While he was still reeling in shock, the figure vanished right before his eyes!

Then, a voice rang out directly beside his ear. ”Since it is in the East Hall of your ancestral shrine, I shall go fetch it myself. There’s no need to trouble you.”

Xi Ninghe’s scalp instantly went numb.

Rooted to the spot, staring at the empty doorway and the pitch-black night beyond, a chill shot straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

He hurried out the door, standing under the corridor and looking frantically around. The courtyard was entirely vacant; there was no trace of the man anywhere.

’Have I seen a ghost?’

A sudden realization flashed through Xi Ninghe’s mind.

He immediately thought of all the incomprehensible events just now... the mist cloaking his face, the vanishing figure, the voice transmitted directly to his ear...

How could a mundane martial artist display such methods?

Wasn’t this clearly the legendary... means of an immortal?

Struck by inspiration, he rushed out from the corridor and began bowing repeatedly in all directions, shouting as he did. ”Please, hold your steps! This official... No... I, Xi Ninghe, have a request!” His voice carried far into the silent night sky, startling awake the servants and guards in the back courtyard.

The window paper of several side rooms lit up one after another, followed by the sound of hurrying footsteps.

But Xi Ninghe ignored all that, continuing to bow desperately to all corners of the yard.

Yet... there was no response.

A guard rushed over, dropping to one knee to ask what had happened.

Xi Ninghe waved a hand, signaling them to withdraw.

Then, abruptly snapping back to reality, he sprinted frantically toward the ancestral hall.

Bewildered, the guards could only grab their lanterns and follow behind.

The doors to the East Hall in the ancestral shrine were left ajar.

Xi Ninghe threw the doors open and rushed over to the altar table.

The table usually held a purple sandalwood box, lined with yellow silk and carved with a motif of twin dragons holding up the sun.

But right now, the altar table was completely bare. That precious box enshrined to hold the edict, along with the decree itself, was gone.

Xi Ninghe stared blankly at the empty table, remaining silent for a very long time.

He didn’t care about the edict at all.

It was just that...

’An immortal came here, yet I failed to react in time, throwing away a heaven-sent chance to beg for an immortal’s help!’

—

That mysterious person was, naturally, Chen Lingxi.

At this moment, he was holding a bright yellow scroll—the imperial edict.

The text on the scroll was lengthy, opening with the standard bureaucratic drivel drafted by the Ministry of Rites: ”Ordained by Heaven, the Emperor Decrees.”

Chen Lingxi had no desire to read it.

His gaze flew straight to the top right corner.

There sat two small characters first—”Decreed.” And right after those words, a stroke of vermilion ink.

It formed a single, massive vermilion character.

”Approved!”

Just a single character, penned with force penetrating through the back of the paper.

It was the Sage’s personal annotation.

”This is naturally an item handled by the Sage.” A small smile touched Chen Lingxi’s lips as he slipped the edict into his Vast Void Pouch.

With that done, he originally planned to leave right away.

But just as he soared up on his cloud and swept past the sky above the rear courtyard, he suddenly frowned.

’There’s a highly bizarre spiritual fluctuation in this courtyard?’

He followed the fluctuation with his gaze.

It was coming from a small courtyard deep in the back.

Curious, Chen Lingxi deactivated the Cloud-Soaring Technique and drifted down into the courtyard like a falling leaf. The two servant girls keeping watch were huddled by a pillar, dozing off, completely unaware that a new arrival now stood among them.

He walked soundlessly past them, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

A burner filled with incense for calming the nerves was lit inside the room, its smoke curling up and lingering in the air.

The prefect’s wife had likely stayed awake too long and had fallen asleep slumped over the edge of the bed.

One of her hands still held her daughter’s.

Chen Lingxi glanced at her without waking her, quietly moving to the bedside and looking down at the comatose young woman.

’Is this... Xi Lan?’

Chen Lingxi’s expression shifted slightly.

Xi Lan.

Xi Yu’s younger sister, by three years.

When Chen Lingxi left Liujie Alley in Yuanjiang Prefecture, this girl was still a babbling toddler.

Back then, she always had her hair tied into two little buns. She could barely walk steadily, always tugging at her sister’s clothes while following behind Chen Lingxi’s heels. Yet she was never noisy; she merely stared quietly with a pair of round, dark eyes. After many years apart, she had grown into a graceful, elegant young woman.

’She is... in a coma?’

Chen Lingxi raised a brow slightly.

Looking closely, there wasn’t a trace of color on her exquisite face.

Her breathing wasn’t hurried; in fact, it was exceptionally long and steady, her chest rising and falling at a sluggish pace.

Pondering for a moment, spiritual qi ultimately circulated through his eyes as the Method of Qi Observation silently activated.

In an instant, Xi Lan’s body in his vision was no longer a mundane vessel of flesh and blood.

And then... Chen Lingxi couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation of surprise.

’How strange...’

He could clearly see an incredibly profound spiritual energy slowly cruising through Xi Lan’s meridians.

This energy was cyan-green. Like a tiny, gentle stream, it flowed soundlessly through her eight extraordinary meridians.

Whenever it passed a key acupoint, threads of microscopic spiritual light would bleed from it, seeping into the surrounding flesh, bones, and pathways. Simultaneously, the essence, qi, and spirit that originally belonged to Xi Lan were siphoned away bit by bit, flowing along her meridians to merge into this energy. It devoured and refined her vitality, ultimately converting it into a part of itself.

’This spiritual energy is devouring Xi Lan’s essence, qi, and spirit to strengthen itself, yet it’s also constantly reforming her body.’

Squinting slightly, Chen Lingxi saw it clearer than ever before under the augmentation of True Intent’s profound mechanism.

He could see that the meridians altered by the energy had grown far wider than those of an ordinary person, and her bones now gave off an incredibly faint, soft jade-like luster.

’This energy and Xi Lan share a symbiotic bond, their fates intertwined, mutually benefiting each other... Xi Lan nourishes the energy, and the energy remolds her bone structure, gradually transforming her from a mortal coil into a constitution far more suited for cultivation.’

’Is this the mysterious cultivation physique mentioned in the Six Qi True Method?’

Marveling inwardly, he pondered for a moment and roughly deduced the reason behind her coma.

’She didn’t fall unconscious out of weakness from having too much vitality devoured.’

’On the contrary, her body is undergoing a complete overhaul by this spiritual energy. The process is so intense that her waking mind simply couldn’t withstand the shock, forcing her into a coma.’

’This spiritual energy is utterly extraordinary,’ Chen Lingxi praised silently.

However, it had already merged completely with Xi Lan’s life force—they would flourish together, or perish together.

If an outsider tried to forcibly extract the energy from her, it would lose its host and wither away in an instant. And Xi Lan, robbed of the very force currently sustaining her life, would die on the spot.

’What a pity.’ Chen Lingxi shook his head slightly.

He intended to leave right then and there.

But just as he turned around, his eyes inadvertently swept across Xi Lan’s arm.

And then, he saw it.

Through the vision of Qi Observation, he spotted something else occupying her frail, battered meridians alongside the transforming energy.

It was a thread of spiritual qi of the utmost fine gauge.

As thin as a spider’s web and pale gray, it had practically blended into Xi Lan’s own meager, undeveloped aura.

Without a meticulous inspection, it would have been entirely masked by the dense spiritual light radiating from the cyan energy.

This thread wrapped tightly around Xi Lan’s wrist and stretched outward, sinking silently into the night.

Following its path, Chen Lingxi’s gaze pierced through layer after layer of roofs and walls, landing on another location outside the manor...

It was a magnificent, opulent mansion estate in the western part of Lunan Prefecture. The thread drilled deep into the compound, its trail disappearing from sight.

’Another truth-seeker? Someone is coveting Xi Lan...’

Chen Lingxi’s eyes flickered.

Right at that moment, he heard frantic footsteps approaching from the corridor.

The steps were heavy and rushed, mingled with a few deliberately muffled pants.

Retracting his gaze, he soundlessly backed up two steps, slipping into the shadow of the privacy screen beside the bed.

The door swung open.

Xi Ninghe strode inside.

He was still wearing the same casual robe as before, though his collar hung loose, likely from running too fast.

The instant he pushed the door open, he noticed a second person in the room.

A young male stranger, standing tall and straight in the shadow of the screen.

His face remained an indistinct blur. Xi Ninghe jerked to a halt, his pupils shrinking. ”I... Immortal...”

A flash of wariness quickly followed in his eyes.

His daughter was in a coma, and an immortal of unfathomable power was standing over her bed...

’Could Lan’er’s coma...’

Suspicion flared in his heart, but he forcefully stomped it out an instant later.

The prefect took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, and then... bowed deeply to the young man.

”Immortal... please, save her...”

But before he could finish, Chen Lingxi moved.

Chen Lingxi raised his right hand, index and middle fingers pressed together like a sword blade.

A speck of spiritual light ignited at his fingertips. It glowed a vivid cyan, shining in the dim bedroom like a miniature star.

He lightly tapped those two fingers against the center of Xi Lan’s brow.

A wave of exceptionally pure spiritual qi slowly fed from his fingertips into Xi Lan’s body. The wisp of energy traveled straight down from her brow, threading through her meridians until it poured directly into her dantian!

Her dantian, having already endured months of modification by the cyan energy, received Chen Lingxi’s pure spiritual qi like a long-parched earth finally tasting sweet rain.

Then, under Xi Ninghe’s astonished gaze, Xi Lan’s long, butterfly-wing eyelashes gave a gentle flutter.

The quiver was minuscule, but how could Xi Ninghe, who hadn’t taken his eyes off his daughter’s face, possibly miss it?

His breathing instantly turned frantic as his hands unconsciously seized the hem of his robe.

And then, Xi Lan slowly opened her eyes.

Her eyes were wonderfully soft, clouded with the haziness and bewilderment of freshly waking up. She looked like a fawn just rousing from hibernation, taking in the world with an innocent ignorance.

Xi Lan was indeed utterly bewildered.

She didn’t know how long she had been in her coma; she only felt as if she had dreamed an incredibly long dream...

In the dream, it was as if she had traveled to a magnificent Greater World, and her mind was filled with many strange, miraculous memories...

Xi Lan blinked, her misty eyes gradually pulling into focus.

First, she saw her father’s tear-streaked face. Then, guided by the spiritual energy inside her, she pierced through the lingering haze and clearly laid eyes on the person standing by her bed. He was an extraordinarily handsome youth, tall and standing perfectly straight. Clad in cyan-gray robes, his brow carried a natural aura of unhurried grace.

What anchored her gaze the most, however, were his eyes.

Within those eyes, as deep as freezing pools, a faint, hair-thin web of golden lightning shifted at the bottom of his pupils, flickering in and out of existence.

Xi Lan had never seen anyone like him. She stared in a complete daze.

Then, for reasons unknown, the words simply fell from her lips...

”You... you look really good.”

The very next instant, Xi Lan seemed to realize what she had just said, and her face flushed beet red.