After the Great Dao Died

Just how vast was the world?

If Chen Lingxi had not known the exact coordinates, he likely never would have found this place.

The storm hung high in the distant vault of heaven, spanning hundreds of li across.

Within it, fierce winds howled, torrential rain swept through, and lightning flashed, churning the surrounding sea of clouds into absolute chaos.

Chen Lingxi stood at the storm’s edge, his robes whipping and lightning wreathing his body as he felt the destructive aura blasting against his face.

That aura was so violently fierce it felt as if countless bolts of heavenly lightning were simultaneously detonating in the dead center of the storm!

Let alone stepping inside, if an ordinary cultivator stood at this edge for even a moment, the residual might radiating from the lightning would likely shatter their mind and soul.

”This Storm Immortal Pivot is completely different from the Volcano Immortal Pivot. If the Volcano Immortal Pivot is defined by dormancy, this Storm Immortal Pivot is pure violence.”

Chen Lingxi gazed at the storm...

The power twisting within it was unimaginable, rolling outward as though it could extinguish everything in its path.

Yet for some reason, Chen Lingxi could not muster a shred of fear.

He initially thought this was because he was inside the Absolute Perception Divine Chamber, leaving him devoid of his usual reverence for death.

But on second thought, he realized how strange this truly was.

”It’s not just a lack of fear. I actually feel a trace of intimacy toward this storm, toward that lake—even toward the volcano and the Ancestral Mountain.”

Chen Lingxi lowered his head in thought.

’Is it because I am a native of this Weiji Grotto-Heaven?’ he wondered.

As he pondered this, his expression suddenly shifted.

”Huh?”

Chen Lingxi realized in astonishment...

The storm ahead seemed to be calling out to him!

At the same time, the lightning dao resonance within his body formed a faint, bizarre harmony with the lightning energy in the storm.

Like a wanderer returning home, or a weary bird settling into the forest, the roiling lightning inside the storm seemed to beckon him.

He could clearly sense an incredibly pure and profoundly mystic lightning energy brewing at its very center.

”Weiji lightning...” Chen Lingxi sensed the wondrous power and the hidden information within the lightning, a burning light flaring in his eyes.

Two bright mirrors hung high in the sky; he was still inside the Absolute Perception Divine Chamber!

No longer hesitating, Chen Lingxi stepped forward, plunging his entire being into the churning tempest.

Lightning cascaded like rain inside the storm. Every bolt carried world-destroying might, crashing down in a suffocating blanket.

Yet the strikes seemed remarkably restrained, entirely avoiding Chen Lingxi.

Meanwhile, gale-force winds howled and torrential rain poured within the storm.

Both the wind and the rain brimmed with terrifying power; if an ordinary cultivator was struck by even a drop, they would instantly vanish into ash.

However...

These winds and rains also refused to touch Chen Lingxi, as though unwilling to harm him.

Standing in the tempest, Chen Lingxi faintly sensed a feeling of intimacy radiating from the storm.

”Just what is the reason for this?” Chen Lingxi murmured in utter surprise.

He tilted his head in thought. ”Could I be a child of destiny, or perhaps possess what the cultivation world calls a Precious Body? Is that why this storm treats me so favorably?”

At that thought, a faint smile surfaced on his face.

He stood there in the tempest, raising his eyes toward the distant lightning.

”The Weiji lightning possesses its own mystic profoundness and extraordinary might.”

”I wonder... if I cultivate this lightning’s spiritual opportunity using the Dragon-Stripping True Formula, could I claim it for my own use?”

”Or perhaps I could use this opportunity to accelerate my cultivation of the Great Divine Ability.”

Acting on the thought, he sat cross-legged amid the sky full of lightning, closed his eyes tight, and circulated the Dragon-Stripping Dao-Transforming One Qi True Incantation.

True to his expectations, this profound method seized the storm’s lightning energy thread by thread, drawing it directly into his Plundering Dragon Dao Platform.

The lightning energy within the storm was boundlessly majestic and flawlessly pure!

As he absorbed this lightning energy, his comprehension of lightning surged into his mind like a tidal wave.

The speed at which the Thunder Prison Heaven Great Divine Ability condensed grew faster and faster!

”As I expected, I can use the lightning energy in this storm!”

Chen Lingxi’s eyes sparkled.

The Plundering Dragon Dao Platform spun wildly, devouring and refining every ounce of the lightning essence flooding into his body.

With the constant influx of essence, the many once-obscure and profound Thunder Prison Heaven techniques recorded on the Great Divine Ability Spiritual Wall finally began to clarify.

Chen Lingxi continued his cultivation right there within the tempest.

A short day passed. When Chen Lingxi opened his eyes again, the lightning wreathing his body had transformed.

The thin layer of lightning that had previously lingered over his skin had swelled immensely, wrapping him entirely from head to toe.

It made him look like a deity born from a bath of lightning, his aura deep and heavy, his presence radiantly imposing.

He raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together like a sword.

A sword light forged entirely of lightning energy flashed at his fingertips. Lightning crests rippled across the blade, and with every shift, microscopic sparks detonated in the empty air.

”With this Storm Immortal Pivot, the speed at which I cultivate the Thunder Prison Heaven Great Divine Ability will skyrocket!”

”Moreover, the lightning in this Immortal Pivot will also benefit my cultivation of the Thunder-Concealing Sword Scripture.”

Chen Lingxi’s eyes brimmed with irrepressible joy.

Retracting his fingers, he cast his gleaming gaze toward the horizon beyond the storm.

”This way, I can drastically speed up the complete refinement of the Thunder Prison Spirit Branch. Once that is done, cultivating a Profound Root and ascending to the Dao Foundation will no longer be an impossible dream.”

His thoughts churning, Chen Lingxi slowly stood up.

”This is the Absolute Perception Divine Chamber. Hiding away just to cultivate won’t do much good; I should go investigate the other Immortal Pivot first.”

Leaving the Storm Immortal Pivot, Chen Lingxi headed for the Lake Immortal Pivot.

The lake sat upon an island. From the outside, there was nothing special about the landmass; it looked like any other desolate island scattered across the vast ocean.

The lake was tranquil, its surface as pristine as a mirror. It reflected the brilliant starlight and roiling sea of clouds above, filling the area with an air of peace and serenity.

Standing by the shore, Chen Lingxi slowly circulated the Dragon-Stripping True Formula.

His Dao Platform spun, generating a tidal suction force.

The spiritual opportunity held within the lake was plundered by the Plundering Dragon Dao Platform, morphing into jade-green cyclones that poured into his body.

This spiritual energy was incredibly mild and gentle, a stark contrast to his own lightning dao resonance.

It flowed into his limbs and bones like soft, jade-green threads of silk.

Wherever it passed, the microscopic hidden injuries he had sustained while cultivating the Thunder Prison Heaven Great Divine Ability began to heal at a visible rate.

The spiritual energy seeped into his Meridians, his bones, and his internal organs, melting away the residual lightning scorch marks bit by bit. It worked like spring water dissolving the stubborn ice of winter—silent, yet entirely unstoppable.

”The spiritual opportunity of this Lake Immortal Pivot... can actually heal injuries!” Chen Lingxi’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

He could distinctly feel that the healing properties of the Lake Immortal Pivot were astounding. Compared to this, the medicinal pills he had swallowed in the past were hardly worth mentioning.

Furthermore, the energy was remarkably docile. Once inside his body, it circulated on its own; he did not even need to guide it with his divine sense to refine it before it began repairing years of accumulated hidden injuries.

”With this Lake Immortal Pivot, as long as I do not suffer an instantly fatal wound, I can just come here to recover from any injury.”

A faint smile touched the corners of Chen Lingxi’s mouth.

”The opportunity in this Immortal Pivot is truly extraordinary!”

”And the Immortal Pivot has its own miraculous defenses. Even the projected avatars of those mighty figures from the Great Xuanzhuo Realm have not been able to locate it. This would serve as an excellent spot for secluded cultivation.”

Reaching that thought, Chen Lingxi shook his head slightly.

”Those powerhouses from the Great Xuanzhuo Realm have countless bizarre methods at their disposal. If I stay in this Lake Immortal Pivot and they use secret arts or treasures to divine my location, it would end up exposing the lake itself...”

”I won’t need to worry about that with the Storm Immortal Pivot. If those experts actually have the guts to enter that storm, I’d gladly let them in.”

”Looking at it that way, the Storm Immortal Pivot acts as a natural grand protective array, allowing me to cultivate undisturbed.”

Figuring this out, his smile grew even wider.

The two bright mirrors still hung high in the sky.

Before he knew it, Chen Lingxi had been rushing back and forth, and eight full days of Absolute Perception had already passed.

With his remaining two days, Chen Lingxi thought it over and headed for the Ancestral Mountain.

He went to look for the Credit Peddler, only to be stunned by the realization that the man was no longer there; he had vanished without a trace.

”Where did the Credit Peddler go? Could he have left this Grotto-Heaven?” Chen Lingxi frowned as he stood before the dusty gray rock, feeling a tinge of regret.

He had traded with the Credit Peddler to obtain the True Formulas of the Six Qi True Method, the Pure Wondrous Qi Pivot Array, the Palace Lord’s Demon-Breaking Twenty-Four Mystic Beads, and the Three Profounds Mirror.

Every exchange had yielded him an incredibly rich harvest.

But now the Credit Peddler was no longer at his spot, gone without a trace.

It was as if he had never existed in this Grotto-Heaven to begin with.

”It’s just a shame I can’t fleece the Credit Peddler for a little more profit.”

Chen Lingxi shook his head in resignation.

He had initially planned to snag a free treasure while still under the state of Absolute Perception, but he never expected the Credit Peddler to be gone.

But soon after, he let it go.

Figures like the Credit Peddler came and went without a trace, moving according to their own logic. It was not something he could ever hope to predict.

He stopped dwelling on the matter and turned his thoughts to something else.

In that scroll of divine sense, he had not merely seen the three Immortal Pivots; he had also spotted numerous treasures.

Those treasures were scattered across every corner of the Grotto-Heaven. Some were Spiritual Artifacts, some were heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and others were deeply mysterious objects of unknown origin.

”While in Absolute Perception, I have no fear of death. Since that is the case, I should take a trip to the place with the strongest aura of Spiritual Artifacts and exotic treasures.”

Chen Lingxi closed his eyes to think, and the images of those numerous treasures instantly surfaced in his mind.

He remembered that amid the visions of the Immortal Pivot, he had seen a rugged, desolate mountain range filled with perilous peaks and jagged, grotesque rocks.

Right in the middle of those mountains sat a cave dwelling shrouded in layers upon layers of restrictive seals.

That cave dwelling was called the Profound Hero Cave, and it concealed a truly extraordinary treasure.

It was a Treasure Pagoda.

The Treasure Pagoda stood about three feet tall, breathing out a terrifying pressure that made the heart palpitate.

The pagoda’s aura crisscrossed the air, incomparably fearsome. It was not one bit weaker than the projection of Daoist Shu Rong’s Big Dipper Jade Ruyi Spiritual Artifact.

”I will go find this Treasure Pagoda. If I succeed, I will go fetch another sword from among those many treasures, and combine it with the Enemy-Slaughtering Spirit Wall...”

Chen Lingxi’s gaze burned hot, the two clusters of pale-gold lightning in his eyes suddenly flaring bright.

”I wonder if I will finally be able to match someone at the Early Dao Foundation stage in a fight!”