After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi frowned in thought.

As early as his first Vision Roaming of Lin Suri, Chao Feiye had mentioned Xuanhuo Temple!

This proved the illusion had been here for a long time.

Moreover, such a feat could never be achieved by ordinary techniques.

To seamlessly cover an entire Daoist temple in an illusion—so flawlessly that he had not noticed a thing before stepping inside—the cultivation of the one who cast it had to be far deeper than he imagined.

’Is it Emperor Daye?’ Chen Lingxi guessed inwardly.

In this entire grotto-heaven, Emperor Daye was probably the only one capable of laying down such a formation!

’Where is Changle now?’

Leaving no time to overthink, Chen Lingxi’s gaze swept past the layers of illusion and landed deep in the backyard.

Under the Method of Qi Observation, he could clearly see that the threads of spiritual qi weaving the illusion over the entire Daoist temple all pointed to a single source.

It was Liu Changle’s room.

”Hm?”

Frowning, Chen Lingxi strode toward that backyard room.

In his eyes, the room was still incredibly dilapidated, caked in dust, and thoroughly worn down.

Yet compared to the other buildings, it was in slightly better condition.

There was even a bed.

A person lay on the bed.

Covered by a thin cotton quilt, the figure had his eyes tightly shut, breathing long and steady as if fast asleep.

Chen Lingxi walked up to the bed and looked down at the face.

His features were sharply defined, with an inherent heroic spirit between his brows. At this moment, a faint smile rested on his face, lost in deep slumber.

It was none other than Liu Changle.

”Changle,” Chen Lingxi called out.

Liu Changle did not move a muscle.

Chen Lingxi frowned and called out again, his voice a bit louder than before.

But Liu Changle remained completely unresponsive, as if sunk into an impossibly deep dream, entirely oblivious to the outside world.

Chen Lingxi reached out and placed a finger on Liu Changle’s forehead.

Spiritual qi flowed from his fingertip, silently probing into Liu Changle’s body.

Then...

His frown deepened.

”Everything is normal. Why is he sleeping so deeply?”

Liu Changle’s meridians were unobstructed, and his blood qi was steady. The spiritual pool within his Qi Sea circulated slowly, showing not a single trace of abnormality.

There were no restrictions placed on his body, nor any residual toxins inside. His internal organs were perfectly intact and unharmed.

He was simply sleeping.

”How bizarre... When I used Vision Roaming on Liu Changle through Absolute Perception earlier, I also saw Xuanhuo Temple. It seems... Liu Changle is also deeply trapped within the illusion.”

Chen Lingxi withdrew his finger and fell silent for a moment.

He looked around, his gaze sweeping across the seemingly ordinary wing room.

Under the Method of Qi Observation, the threads of spiritual qi extending from the room remained clearly visible. Like a massive spider web, they spread out in all directions, covering the entirety of Xuanhuo Temple.

And the center of this web was none other than Liu Changle.

”Could it be that the source of this illusion is Changle?”

Chen Lingxi retracted his gaze, letting it fall back onto Liu Changle.

After some thought, he sat down on the edge of the bed, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and simply waited.

One day passed.

Two days passed.

Three days passed.

Liu Changle continued to sleep deeply, his breathing steady and his complexion completely normal.

He used his spiritual qi to examine Liu Changle’s body once a day, but could never find the slightest trace of abnormality.

The illusion over Xuanhuo Temple also persisted without the slightest change.

On the fourth day.

Chen Lingxi opened his eyes and let out a long breath of stale air.

”Waiting like this isn’t a solution. Perhaps... Liu Changle has already fallen into a deep slumber long ago.”

Chen Lingxi frowned and pondered for a moment.

Suddenly, he raised his hand.

Flipping his palm lightly in the empty air, a fruit appeared in his grasp.

The fruit was only the size of a fist and entirely bronze. It looked as if it had been cast from solid bronze, ancient and mysterious.

Faint, minute patterns flowed indistinctly across the fruit’s surface. These patterns layered over one another like the rings of a tree, each layer exuding a faint, primordial aura.

It was the Dao-Absorbing Fruit.

Chen Lingxi held the Dao-Absorbing Fruit in his palm and raised his other hand. Bringing his index and middle fingers together like a sword, a wisp of spiritual qi seeped from his fingertips.

This wisp of spiritual qi was precisely Emperor Daye’s qi.

’Sorry, brother. You can’t keep sleeping like this.’

Thinking this, Chen Lingxi slowly guided that wisp of qi into the Dao-Absorbing Fruit.

The instant the qi entered it, the Dao-Absorbing Fruit suddenly lit up!

On its bronze surface, the previously dormant patterns ignited. They shifted from dull to pale gold, then from pale gold to blazing white, before finally settling into an almost transparent, pale golden glow.

An indescribably profound aura emanated from the fruit, filling the room in the blink of an eye.

The aura was not particularly overwhelming, yet it carried an inherently heart-palpitating pressure, as though an ancient entity that had slumbered for countless years had finally been awakened.

Chen Lingxi focused his attention, sinking his divine sense into the Dao-Absorbing Fruit.

Then...

He sensed Emperor Daye’s Cauldron Vessel.

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath.

”Delusion-Weaving Golden Eyes.”

He murmured softly, ”The Cauldron Vessel held by Emperor Daye is indeed a complete Cauldron Vessel.”

The primordial aura of the Cauldron Vessel emanating from Emperor Daye was completely different from ordinary Cauldron Vessels. Chen Lingxi had suspected as much long ago, but now that his theory was confirmed, he still felt surprised.

Sensing the myriad profound auras transmitting from the Dao-Absorbing Fruit, his anticipation grew.

”Come to think of it, the Cauldron Vessel in the Heavenly Gate Sea was truly extraordinary. It could absorb the power of thousands of Cauldron Vessels for its own use.”

”If I obtain this Cauldron Vessel, wouldn’t it be the equivalent of obtaining countless Cauldron Vessels?”

Chen Lingxi suppressed his inner greed and injected a stream of spiritual qi into the Dao-Absorbing Fruit.

In an instant, the seemingly indestructible bronze Dao-Absorbing Fruit turned into nothingness, followed by billows of rising smoke.

The golden smoke resembled burning fire as it drifted into Chen Lingxi’s eyes.

Instantly!

Chen Lingxi felt an unimaginably primordial aura erupt within his eyes, brimming with profound mysteries and incomprehensible power.

At the same time, two golden flames began dancing continuously in Chen Lingxi’s pupils.

These flames were exactly the same as the golden fire in Emperor Daye’s eyes.

Sensing the mighty power of this Cauldron Vessel, Chen Lingxi took two steps forward and slowly placed a finger between Liu Changle’s brows!

In a flash!

Streaks of spiritual light burst forth from between Liu Changle’s brows, rapidly forming into a vortex!

As the vortex spun, screens of light continuously flipped past.

The very first ones showed Liu Changle’s memories in the Great Li Imperial Capital.

Liu Changle was born into the Chujiang Liu Family, boasting an extraordinary background. With the clan owning vast tracts of land, they were incredibly wealthy.

Up until the age of seventeen, Liu Changle had never suffered the slightest grievance.

But later... the Liu family was raided, his parents were executed, and Liu Changle fell into the hands of the Department of Penal Law. Ultimately, he was assigned to Marquis Baosu’s Manor as an official bondservant.

These memories weren’t much different from Chen Lingxi’s own past.

Chen Lingxi frowned.

Right at that moment, the memory light screens within the vortex suddenly changed!

Then, Chen Lingxi’s expression froze...

To his shock, he saw a vast river within the light screen.

The surging river rolled on endlessly, stretching for millions of li.

Suspended in the void, it resembled a milky way stretching between two stars.

Yet this mighty river was currently dissipating, rising into the void and growing smaller and smaller.

A moment later.

The long river suddenly trembled.

Countless drops of river water rained down, transforming into faint, indistinct human figures.

More river water passed through a domain of darkness filled with continuous storms. Yet the water safely traversed the tempest, once again transforming into human figures.

Chen Lingxi’s eyes went wide, an inexplicable shock filling his heart.

”This long river sent down its waters, seemingly creating many avatars by sheer force.”

”The vast majority of these avatars remained in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm.”

”And many other avatars... fell into the turbulent currents of the void, or fell into grotto-heavens and secret realms.”

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath and looked at Liu Changle in front of him.

”Moreover...”

Chen Lingxi continued to stare into the vortex. He saw that a profound power rested upon the river avatars in those secret realms and grotto-heavens, connecting them to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm and linking them to the avatars over there!

”Two avatars, yet truly a single entity...”

”One in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, and the other in a secret realm or grotto-heaven... Who knows how many pairs of these river avatars exist. I’m afraid there are thousands, even tens of thousands.”

”To think it’s this bizarre.”

He didn’t need to think any further. The Liu Changle before him was an avatar of Great Sage Luoyuan!