After the Great Dao Died

Several quarter-hours had passed since the earth-shattering battle concluded.

Chen Lingxi stood up and walked out of the King of the East’s Traveling Palace. Standing atop the mountain peak, his black clothes fluttered in the wind.

The night sky grew increasingly pitch-black, devoid of a single trace of light. Yet thousands of zhang above the Imperial Palace, faint streaks of spiritual light still shimmered. These lights were the remnants of Dao Origin, which had yet to dissipate.

Chen Lingxi was still immersed in what he had witnessed through Vision Roaming.

The Big Dipper had shone high in the sky, and numerous divine abilities had crisscrossed through the Dao Origin.

Even after Chen Lingxi’s Vision Roaming shattered, the astonishing clash had continued for several quarter-hours.

It was only later, when Chen Lingxi looked over with the Method of Qi Observation, that the continuously colliding Dao Origin above the Imperial Palace had vanished. The violently churning sea of clouds had also returned to stillness.

Only a few specks of light remained, yet to fade away.

Chen Lingxi’s expression was solemn, his heart harboring a great deal of apprehension.

’I wonder who ultimately won between Daoist Shu Rong and Emperor Daye,’ he thought.

Daoist Shu Rong had arrived as an avatar. Her true cultivation was unfathomably formidable; even as a mere avatar, she was absolutely not someone an ordinary Early Dao Foundation cultivator could contend with.

Yet Emperor Daye’s prior display of might had been completely on par with hers.

The Method of Qi Observation continued to circulate in Chen Lingxi’s eyes. He gazed far into the end of the void, where an extremely dim crimson radiance pierced through the sea of clouds, fleeing far away in the direction it had come from.

That crimson radiance was far weaker than when it had first arrived. It flickered faintly, seemingly on the verge of dissipating entirely.

’Daoist Shu Rong has retreated,’ he noted inwardly.

Chen Lingxi then looked toward the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace remained like a pool of stagnant water, its aura incomparably mysterious. Even as Chen Lingxi scrutinized it with the Method of Qi Observation, he could not see through it in the slightest.

’From the looks of it, in this battle between two Dao Foundation figures, it is highly likely that Daoist Shu Rong was defeated.’

Chen Lingxi shook his head and waited quietly for another two or three shichen.

Only then did he initiate Vision Roaming on Lin Suri.

Through Vision Roaming, he discovered that Lin Suri was still meditating and regulating his breathing atop that snowy mountain. After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Lin Suri suddenly furrowed his brows and rose into the clouds.

From the mist within the sea of clouds, Jiang Xiu and Wei Qingran also revealed themselves. Together with Lin Suri, they flew north, presumably to receive Daoist Shu Rong.

It wasn’t until Lin Suri and the other two Under-Dao Academy disciples had flown hundreds of li that they finally landed upon an unnamed, desolate mountain.

The desolate mountain was not tall and was rather remote. As it was the height of summer, the forest trees flourished and the flora grew lush, tightly concealing the interior of the mountain.

Deep within the desolate mountain lay a cave.

As Lin Suri and the other two stepped into the cave, they saw Daoist Shu Rong’s avatar sitting cross-legged, forcibly plundering the spiritual qi from the surrounding hundred li to heal herself.

At this moment, the avatar was covered in numerous cracks, and its spiritual light was quite dim, as if it had suffered grievous injuries.

Borrowing Lin Suri’s perspective, Chen Lingxi saw Daoist Shu Rong sitting cross-legged on a smooth bluestone inside the cave. Her eyes were tightly shut as she circulated a profound healing method.

In the void within three chi of her body, extremely faint starlight circulated.

That starlight resembled countless tiny fragments of stars, slowly revolving around her. With every revolution, her injuries healed by a trace, and her aura recovered by a fraction.

However, the speed was excruciatingly slow. To completely restore the avatar to its peak cultivation would likely take a very long time.

Thus, the three Under-Dao Academy disciples stood guard outside the cave, allowing Daoist Shu Rong to cultivate within.

Her face was pale and her aura withered as she sat cross-legged in the mountain cave, healing her wounds.

It was as if that grand cultivator who had stood proudly in the void yesterday—crowned by the high-shining seven stars with an overwhelmingly astonishing aura—was not her at all. Only the crimson robe on her body remained as bright red as blood.

Jiang Xiu stood before the mountain cave, his brows tightly furrowed.

He gazed at Daoist Shu Rong, who was healing with her eyes closed amid the mist, his eyes full of incomprehension.

”Martial Aunt Shu Rong is a cultivator at Dao Foundation Perfection,” Jiang Xiu said. ”Even in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, there are scarcely any figures within the same realm who can defeat her. Although this projected avatar only possesses Early Dao Foundation cultivation, when it comes to her comprehension of the Great Dao and divine abilities, this avatar is absolutely beyond compare to any ordinary Early Dao Foundation cultivator.”

”That the Great Li Emperor was actually able to injure Martial Aunt to such a state truly leaves me baffled.”

Beside him, Wei Qingran shook her head. ”Martial Aunt’s avatar is tottering on the verge of collapse, but it ultimately didn’t dissipate, so it isn’t too great a loss.”

”Furthermore, that Dao Foundation figure in the Great Li’s Imperial Palace was also injured. His progress in stepping into the Dao Foundation Middle Stage will inevitably be slowed down significantly because of this.”

Speaking up to this point, she looked at Lin Suri and Jiang Xiu.

”Our current plan requires us to set up the great array once more and connect with the Myriad Realms Projection. If we can bring over a Grade Four Magical Artifact, only then will nothing go wrong.”

Right at this moment, a voice suddenly drifted out from within the mountain cave.

”Let it be so.”

Her voice was somewhat weak, yet it remained steady.

”That Emperor Daye, Ying Xian—he is indeed no ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator. There is something peculiar about him. The power contained within that great array was also no ordinary spiritual energy... With just me alone, I’m afraid I cannot snatch the Immortal Slough from his hands.”

Inside the cave, Daoist Shu Rong spoke softly, her brows tightly knitted.

”To think that Emperor Daye’s Dao Origin is actually mixed with some sort of power of decay. It is quite extraordinary.”

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Jiang Xiu and Wei Qingran simultaneously changed.

”Power of decay?” Jiang Xiu blurted out. ”Could it be the Heavenly Decline Law of the Shangshe Ruanle Dao?”

Daoist Shu Rong slowly shook her head. ”It is not the Heavenly Decline Law. Emperor Daye has yet to cultivate a second Profound Root, so he has not cultivated this law. The power of decay on his body is similar to the Heavenly Decline Law, yet different.”

She paused slightly, her brows still locked tight.

A moment later, Daoist Shu Rong stood up and walked out of the mountain cave.

”Let us return to that snowy mountain first. You need not overthink this either; we will discuss this further once my injuries are fully healed. You three will continue setting up the array to bring over your magical artifact.”

The three complied. Riding the clouds and mist, they headed back to the peak of that snowy mountain.

Jiang Xiu, Wei Qingran, and Lin Suri sat down cross-legged once more above this sea of clouds. With spiritual qi surging around their bodies, they began to construct that great array to connect with the Myriad Realms Projection.

Profound and mystical hand seals flew from their fingertips, intertwining, wrapping, and linking together in the void.

Those hand seals stacked layer upon layer, slowly spreading out amid the clouds and mist like a woven net.

Borrowing Lin Suri’s perspective, Chen Lingxi watched as that great array formed inch by inch.

He withdrew his gaze.

Vision Roaming shattered at this very moment.

Chen Lingxi opened his eyes.

’It seems Daoist Shu Rong’s injuries are not light, but Emperor Daye’s progress in stepping into the Dao Foundation Middle Stage will inevitably be slowed down significantly as well,’ he thought.

To him, this was undoubtedly the best possible news.

’Now that Emperor Daye has to heal his injuries while also refining that Space-Disrupting Flower, I will inevitably have more time to cultivate and accumulate, using this to step into a higher realm. Otherwise, once Emperor Daye makes a move against me, I will be fundamentally incapable of resisting.’

’At the very least... I’ve achieved my goal.’

Chen Lingxi breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to close his eyes and continue his breathing exercises in the King of the East’s Traveling Palace.

Then...

As if sensing something, he abruptly turned his head. His gaze landed beyond the courtyard of the King of the East’s Traveling Palace, falling upon the horizon in the extreme distance.

That was exactly the direction of Changhe Province!

Between heaven and earth in Changhe Province, a massive gale suddenly kicked up.

This wind was simply too massive, howling down from the heavens above like a tornado. The wind roared, sounding like a stampede of wild beasts, shaking heaven and earth.

Chen Lingxi hastily stood up. His figure transformed into a bolt of lightning as he landed atop this high peak.

Subsequently, his pupils shrank, a look of shock appearing on his face!

This was all because he saw an extremely astonishing scene.

Within that howling gale, there were actually turbulent currents surging from the void mixed in.

Those turbulent currents were extremely thin, flickering in and out of existence like translucent gray silk ribbons slowly drifting in the void.

Yet wherever they passed, the air was silently torn apart, and the cloud vapor was completely swallowed up. Even the starlight that fell upon those turbulent currents was twisted completely out of shape.

Chen Lingxi’s pupils abruptly shrank.

He thought of a term he had heard before.

’Void turbulence...’

He had seen this kind of turbulence before at the bottom of the Zhuzhao River. When that killing-power Cauldron Vessel, the Enemy-Slaughtering Spirit Wall, had emerged into the world, it was surrounded by this very turbulence.

’Where did void turbulence come from inside this Grotto-Heaven?’

Chen Lingxi was greatly alarmed, but before he had time to think deeply about it, he looked toward that long river again!

The location of the Immortal Slough suddenly burst with radiant splendor.

That radiance was far too blazing, just like the bright moon of August. Its clear brilliance shot out in all directions, bathing the entire long river in a blinding silver-white.

From this arm of the Immortal Slough, an extremely dense aura erupted forth, subsequently flowing wildly in all directions like a torrential flood.

Wherever it passed, great waves instantly rose upon the river’s surface, and heaven and earth seemed to be dyed with a thick white mist.

Even separated by hundreds of li, Chen Lingxi could still clearly sense the astonishing spiritual essence contained within that white mist!

”This Immortal Slough is extraordinary as expected. No wonder the experts of the Under-Dao Academy wanted to project themselves here to fight over it,” Chen Lingxi muttered to himself, yet his expression shifted once again.

And as those patterns lit up, an extremely dense aura erupted out from the Immortal Slough.

That aura wildly spread in all directions like water breaking a dam. Wherever it passed, the river water boiled, and the mist on the river’s surface was blasted apart and scattered. Even the reed marshes along the riverbank were completely pressed flat by this aura.

’This is... the spiritual essence of the Immortal Slough...’

Chen Lingxi’s complexion changed abruptly.

The Method of Qi Observation operated madly. Spiritual qi emerged from his Qi Sea, traveling all the way up along his meridians to pour into both of his eyes.

He gazed as far as the eye could see using the Method of Qi Observation, and then he saw clearly...

The Immortal Slough’s aura was just like the surface of the sea when the tide approaches, with ripples wildly expanding in all directions.

Those ripples pierced through the clouds and mist, pierced through the void, and even pierced through the barrier of void turbulence that separated this Grotto-Heaven from the Great Xuanzhuo Realm.

It was as if they had transmitted to an even more distant location!

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath.

He stared blankly in the direction of Changhe Province, looking at that stretch of heaven and earth that had already been thoroughly blanketed by the Immortal Slough’s spiritual essence, stormy waves of shock rolling within his heart.

”Just what is Emperor Daye trying to do?” he asked himself in a low voice.

Right at this moment... Chen Lingxi abruptly sensed wave after wave of heart-palpitating auras rippling out from deep within the void.

With the Method of Qi Observation fixed on the canopy of the heavens, he faintly sensed streaks of spiritual light suddenly manifesting within that void turbulence and descending into this world.

Chen Lingxi’s breathing grew increasingly rapid.

He suddenly thought of a certain possibility.

’For the Immortal Slough to radiate such spiritual essence, could it be that Emperor Daye... took the initiative to expose this Immortal Slough to the world?’

At this very moment, on the snowy mountain, Daoist Shu Rong had opened her eyes at some unknown point.

She was still sitting cross-legged amid that cloud and mist, the starlight around her body dim and her aura withered.

Yet right now, as she gazed in the direction of Changhe Province—gazing at the Immortal Slough’s aura that was currently spreading in all directions—her brows knitted tightly together, and her aura even grew somewhat chaotic.

The other three Academy disciples also raised their heads to look toward the void, their expressions grave.

They were all figures from the Great Xuanzhuo Realm. Naturally, they knew what void turbulence was, and they also knew exactly what the spiritual lights mixed within that void turbulence were.

In fact, Daoist Shu Rong could see things even more clearly than Chen Lingxi.

She cast her gaze toward the direction of Changhe Province, toward that Immortal Slough radiating a dense aura, and toward the terrifying qi dynamics hidden within those flashing spiritual lights.

”Emperor Daye intentionally exposed the aura of this Immortal Slough... into heaven and earth, broadcasting it far and wide,” she said. ”At this very moment, I fear there are already many experts in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm who have learned that an Immortal Slough exists within this Grotto-Heaven.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of Lin Suri, Jiang Xiu, and Wei Qingran all abruptly changed!

”This Emperor Daye... actually possesses such capability?”

Meanwhile, on Cuojin Mountain, Chen Lingxi also harbored a guess in his heart.

He finally understood exactly what Emperor Daye had meant yesterday during his great battle with Daoist Shu Rong, when the Emperor had muttered to himself: ”This is merely the beginning...”!

’For Emperor Daye to expose the location of this Immortal Slough to the world, he must definitely have his schemes. But I just don’t know what he is actually trying to do.’

He furrowed his brows tightly, his thoughts flashing rapidly.

’If Emperor Daye’s actions draw in numerous experts from the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, he will no longer be the strongest within this Grotto-Heaven... He might even face the extremely likely risk of perishing! To think he actually dares to take such a risk?’

Yet soon after, a faint smile appeared on his face.

’Emperor Daye muddying the waters is also a good thing.’

This Grotto-Heaven originally belonged to the Que Star Xi Family. The Xi Family’s True Monarch commanded the Realm-Refining Furnace and intended to refine this entire Grotto-Heaven into Realm Essence, all to forge a Great, Profound Golden Palace for the clan genius Xi Hengsu.

Whether it was the Cauldron Vessels within the Grotto-Heaven or other fortuitous encounters, to the Xi Family, they were merely prizes meant to let numerous sect disciples come in and temper themselves.

But the Immortal Slough was different.

Among the Cauldron Vessels, there might be many that were far more precious and profoundly mystical than the Immortal Slough.

However, the value of the vast majority of Cauldron Vessels could not compare to the Immortal Slough.

For the sake of this Immortal Slough, the Under-Dao Academy had not hesitated to connect with the Myriad Realms Projection, dispatching an expert like Daoist Shu Rong to descend upon this world.

If other sects learned that an Immortal Slough was hidden within this Grotto-Heaven, how could they possibly sit by and do nothing?

And once those sects descended upon this Grotto-Heaven, if the Xi Family’s True Monarch still wanted to refine the Grotto-Heaven, he would have to consider the interference of numerous sect factions.

At that time, the Great Li Imperial Court would no longer be the strongest faction within this Grotto-Heaven, and Emperor Daye would no longer be the emperor who could summon the wind and rain.

But he would also no longer be everyone’s primary target.

Only when the water is muddy can one properly fish in troubled waters.

’However, I must also be careful. The Que Star Xi Family or the Bai Family will inevitably dispatch experts here as well. Before my cultivation is sufficient, I still need to lay low for a bit.’

As he pondered this in his heart, his state of mind ultimately settled on one single point.

’No matter what, I must increase my cultivation as quickly as possible.’