After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi was astonished, finding Great Sage Luoyuan’s profound methods nearly impossible to comprehend.

’To bear the title of Great Sage in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm requires truly boundless might. It is not something an ordinary Qi Circulation cultivator like me can even begin to fathom,’ he thought.

Chen Lingxi kept his gaze fixed on the vortex between Liu Changle’s eyebrows, where the scenes continued to shift and flow.

He watched a single drop of river water from Great Sage Luoyuan fall into this grotto-heaven and transform into an ethereal human figure.

The figure walked through the void, striding across the vast world and passing countless mountains and rivers, until it finally arrived at that ancient mountain in Yuanjiang Prefecture.

It was the Ancestral Mountain!

At that time, the Ancestral Mountain was lush and green, devoid of the thick mist that now wreathed it. It appeared towering and majestic with rolling ridges, but it was otherwise an ordinary mountain.

But the moment the figure stepped into the Ancestral Mountain, that changed.

Vortices suddenly swirled open across the peaks. These vortices entrenched themselves in the void, fracturing the entire mountain into a patchwork of black holes.

The black holes linked together, brimming with profound mysteries.

Then, the black holes vanished. The initial human figure—the incarnation of Great Sage Luoyuan—quietly faded away within the Ancestral Mountain.

At that moment, the once ordinary-looking Ancestral Mountain began to change.

Thick mist began to wreathe the peaks. Mingled within this fog was a rather wondrous power, as if it were reshaping the mountain itself.

An unknown number of years passed.

Miraculously, several new soaring peaks grew from the Ancestral Mountain, along with many babbling streams and several cascading waterfalls.

These peaks, streams, and waterfalls seemed to possess a unique power.

Within Liu Changle’s most deeply hidden memories, Chen Lingxi saw these peaks, streams, and waterfalls occasionally flash with specks of spiritual light, which gathered in the void.

This continued until one day.

The spiritual light in the void suddenly flared, radiating a blinding white brilliance.

After the blazing white light faded, a long river of spiritual light could be faintly seen flowing sluggishly through the void.

And those black holes reappeared, shrouding the Ancestral Mountain and the long river of spiritual light.

In the next instant, the entire Ancestral Mountain changed its appearance, becoming even more colossal and majestic.

”This Ancestral Mountain looks exactly like the one I saw when I went to fight for the Mother Qi.”

Chen Lingxi’s eyes burned with intensity.

From Liu Changle’s deep memories, he could perceive with absolute clarity...

...that the three high peaks, the spiritual pool, the high platform above it, and the numerous streams within the Ancestral Mountain formed what appeared to be a unique array.

Spiritual light shimmered naturally within this array and fell into the river incarnation, nurturing the long river.

The long river manifested, then fell into a deep slumber within the void.

A speck of spiritual light then flew out from it, leaving the Ancestral Mountain.

By this time, a city had already been built in the vast Yuanjiang Prefecture, and Great Li now ruled the land. The spiritual light flew into the Capital of Great Li, plunging into the belly of a dying woman!

An old doctor by the woman’s side was taking her pulse when a look of utter shock suddenly seized his face.

”She’s alive... she actually came back to life...” the old doctor stammered, his voice trembling.

Beside them, a scholar in his twenties widened his eyes, his face drenched in sweat. ”My wife is alive?”

The old doctor continued checking her pulse and shook his head. ”It seems both the madam and the child in her womb have come back to life together.”

...

Scene after scene flowed through the vortex.

Chen Lingxi sensed the wondrous Cauldron Vessel power of the Dao-Absorbing Fruit.

’I can even weave sequential memories now.’

He thought for a moment, but ultimately shook his head slightly.

The swirling vortex dissipated, and the numerous scenes shattered.

A faint smile graced Liu Changle’s lips as he continued to sleep peacefully, oblivious to whatever he was dreaming about.

Chen Lingxi looked up at the Xuanhuo Temple, which was entirely composed of illusions, and then looked back at the slumbering Liu Changle.

’An incarnation of a Great Sage... To think that my good friend, a fellow official bondservant, would have such an origin.’

He lowered his head in thought, ultimately deciding not to disturb Liu Changle any further.

’Even though he is an incarnation of Great Sage Luoyuan, Liu Changle still has his own memories within this grotto-heaven.’

’He is slumbering here now, wreathed in spiritual qi, and his cultivation base seems to still be growing.’

’Perhaps one day, he will recall his memories from before his reincarnation and remember that he is a drop of river water.’

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Lingxi quietly left Xuanhuo Temple and departed from Yuanjiang Prefecture.

He circulated his Cloud Soaring Technique and arrived before the Ancestral Mountain, gazing from afar at the mountain shrouded in thick mist.

The mountain was supremely high, yet there was not a single trace of spiritual qi within it.

Chen Lingxi descended into the clouds and mist, looking down upon the entire Ancestral Mountain.

He saw the peaks and streams, as well as the waterfalls and pool waters.

However, these things were just as lifeless, lacking even the slightest hint of anything profound.

’Because the incarnation of Great Sage Luoyuan descended here, the Ancestral Mountain seems to have split into two different facets.’

’One of these facets seems to connect to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm or perhaps other grotto-heaven secret realms.’

Chen Lingxi clearly remembered that when he used Vision Roaming on Lin Suri, Lin Suri had stepped into the Ancestral Mountain and encountered several cultivators from other worlds.

’Therefore, it’s highly likely that a method—or a passageway—to leave the Great Xuanzhuo Realm is hidden within the Ancestral Mountain.’

’Furthermore... if the incarnation of Great Sage Luoyuan could awaken from his slumber...’

’Perhaps, just as that Credit Peddler said, that True Monarch of the Que Star Xi Family would no longer refine this grotto-heaven.’

As his thoughts reached this point, Chen Lingxi lowered his gaze to the sparsely populated Ancestral Mountain.

’The incarnation of Great Sage Luoyuan slumbers in the other facet of the Ancestral Mountain, occasionally rousing with a flash of spiritual light... just like the time he invited me to meet the long river.’

’But right now, I can only see this Ancestral Mountain in Yuanjiang Prefecture... How am I supposed to awaken Great Sage Luoyuan?’

Chen Lingxi tilted his head in thought, and naturally, his mind went back to Liu Changle.

’Liu Changle is the incarnation of the Great Sage. If he comes to the Ancestral Mountain, perhaps he can find a way to enter its other facet.’

Having thought this far, he decided to stay temporarily at the Cuojin Mountain East King Palace and wait for Liu Changle to wake up.

Just as Chen Lingxi was about to head to Cuojin Mountain, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.

’Inside the Ancestral Mountain...’

He murmured in his heart. His divine sense sank into his Qi Sea, seeking out a strand of spiritual mechanism from its unfathomably thick depths.

That strand of spiritual mechanism was brimming with a surging, ancient aura, as if it had been born from a certain Cauldron Vessel.

And indeed, it had.

This was because this strand of spiritual mechanism came from the Undying Willow Branch of that Cauldron Vessel, the Undying Willow!

For a long time, this strand of spiritual mechanism had remained buried deep in Chen Lingxi’s Qi Sea, completely forgotten.

This was simply because Xi Mu had long since been buried by Chen Lingxi within the other facet of the Ancestral Mountain.

But today, Chen Lingxi suddenly remembered this Undying Willow Puppet of his.

’I am currently at the Ancestral Mountain, and this mountain seems to be one entity with two facets.’

’The Ancestral Mountain in this grotto-heaven is entirely ordinary, while in the other world—perhaps within the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, or perhaps in another grotto-heaven or secret realm—the Ancestral Mountain bears the incarnation of Great Sage Luoyuan...’

’Since I am inside the Ancestral Mountain right now, I wonder if I can awaken Xi Mu.’

At this thought, Chen Lingxi completely discarded all hesitation.

He circulated his spiritual qi, connecting with that strand of spiritual mechanism within his Qi Sea.

Instantly, it was as if a zither string had been plucked. It trembled, and then a sound was transmitted far into the distance.

Relying on the trembling of this string and the transmission of this sound, Chen Lingxi awakened his connection to the Undying Willow Puppet.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

His consciousness clearly sensed the current Xi Mu, buried beneath the soil.

Chen Lingxi controlled Xi Mu to break out of the earth.

Even for a Qi Circulation cultivator, two or three years buried under the soil would cause their physical body to rot.

Just like the current Xi Mu, whose muscles were entirely decayed, leaving only bare white bones in some places.

However, the spiritual mechanism bestowed upon Xi Mu by the Undying Willow Branch remained intact. Through Xi Mu’s deep, hollow eye sockets, Chen Lingxi could still see the distant scenery.

Here, the mountains towered into the sky, the waters surged torrentially, and several great rivers rushed past.

In the distance, three peaks pierced through the clouds, wrapped in dense spiritual mechanisms.

Besides that, Chen Lingxi could clearly see that the spiritual pool in the extreme distance was also flashing with brilliance.

’I need to climb to a higher vantage point and get a broader look at this other facet of the Ancestral Mountain.’

Chen Lingxi simply sat cross-legged on the Ancestral Mountain, closed his eyes, and controlled the Undying Willow Puppet to head straight for the tallest mountain peak.

He reached the highest point of the mountain.

The Undying Willow Puppet looked down.

Through the eyes of the Undying Willow Puppet, Chen Lingxi gazed at the vast Ancestral Mountain.

The long river, the mountains... various energy mechanisms were all intertwined.

Even now, Chen Lingxi still could not see through its profound mysteries.

However, because the Dao-Absorbing Fruit had seen through Liu Changle’s memories, Chen Lingxi followed the network of the grand array from those memories, comparing them one by one.

’The other facet of the Ancestral Mountain contains an incredibly vast grand array.’

’This grand array is slowly brewing some kind of spiritual mechanism, which then falls into that cluster of mist far away.’

Chen Lingxi’s eyes flickered.

He had previously been to that cluster of mist.

Within that mist was Great Sage Luoyuan’s long river incarnation!

Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes, suddenly feeling as if he had grasped something.

’Great Sage Luoyuan’s long river incarnation is still slumbering within Liu Changle’s memories.’

’But if this long river incarnation were to be awakened, I wonder if that True Monarch of the Que Star Xi Family would still dare to refine this grotto-heaven.’

Chen Lingxi lowered his head and pondered carefully.

’Great Sage Luoyuan was born in this grotto-heaven, but I can’t be sure if he harbors any sentimental attachment to it.’

’Would he be willing to fight against a True Monarch figure for the sake of this grotto-heaven?’

’However... at this point, this can be considered a path of survival. Giving it a try... wouldn’t hurt.’

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Lingxi looked up and gazed toward the Capital in the distance.

He still remembered clearly that in a river outside the Capital lay an Immortal Slough.

’An Immortal Slough is extremely precious. Even the Under-Dao Academy, which possesses a True Monarch figure, would mobilize its forces for such an opportunity.’

’Because Emperor Daye obtained this Immortal Slough, he was able to nurture divine ability spiritual objects and breed that terrifying grand array.’

’Perhaps his ability to possess a Dao Foundation cultivation base is entirely because of this Immortal Slough.’

’In that case... if I could throw this Immortal Slough into Great Sage Luoyuan’s incarnation, would it be enough to awaken him?’

Chen Lingxi’s eyes burned with intensity.