After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi immediately soared into the air on a cloud, heading out to search for the Treasure Pagoda’s location.

High above, two bright mirrors hung in the sky.

Heavenly winds howled past his ears as the mountains and rivers below blurred backward.

Chen Lingxi flew his cloud over the twelve rolling peaks, heading steadily north. After flying for about four hours, a vast mountain range appeared before him.

The mountains were perilous and rugged, covered in jagged rocks. Not a single blade of grass grew on the peaks; they were made entirely of stark, grayish-white stone.

From a distance, the place looked like a battlefield of immortals abandoned in the mortal realm, permeated with a desolate and ancient aura.

’The Treasure Pagoda is here.’

Chen Lingxi looked down at the peaks, and the Method of Qi Observation silently began to circulate in his eyes.

As the saying went: the sun had sun qi, the moon had moon qi, mountains had mountain qi, water had water qi, vegetation had vegetation qi, and living beings had the qi of living beings.

There was nothing in heaven and earth that did not possess qi.

Staring intently, Chen Lingxi spotted faint, glowing patterns etched into the previously dull gray rocks.

An extremely profound and mysterious aura flowed through them.

He focused his gaze, tracing the remnants of the formation patterns until they converged on a peak in the deepest part of the mountain range.

’This is the place.’ Chen Lingxi felt certain. He silently urged the Cloud Soaring Technique beneath his feet, transforming into a long rainbow as he shot toward the low mountain.

Landing on the short peak and passing through a patch of lush woods, Chen Lingxi finally saw a door.

It was a stone door.

The stone door looked perfectly ordinary, with nothing remarkable about it.

Chen Lingxi gave it a casual push.

Creak...

The stone door swung open.

Behind the door was a bottomless gloom. Extremely faint traces of spiritual qi drifted out from the darkness, blending into the surrounding mist. Without careful observation, it was completely imperceptible.

’There are actually no restrictions guarding it.’

A bit surprised, Chen Lingxi stepped through the doorway.

Beyond the door lay a deep, dark corridor.

Fist-sized luminescent pearls were embedded into the stone walls on either side, emitting a warm, bright glow that illuminated the entire passageway.

The corridor was incredibly long. Chen Lingxi walked slowly, spreading out his divine sense to vigilantly monitor his surroundings for any movement.

After walking a little over a hundred paces, his surroundings suddenly opened up to wide light.

It was an extremely spacious cave abode.

The cave abode had a high vaulted ceiling and walls as smooth as mirrors. The floor was paved with solid slabs of cyan jade. Though countless years had passed, it was still bright enough to reflect a person’s image.

Chen Lingxi’s expression shifted slightly at the sight.

’Is that the Spiritual Artifact Treasure Pagoda?’

Suspended right in the center of the cave abode was a pagoda. The Treasure Pagoda was about three feet tall, cast entirely from some unknown glazed glass, and consisted of exactly three tiers.

The pagoda’s body bore no carvings or decorations. Only at the upturned eaves of each tier was a bean-sized jade bead embedded.

The beads gave off a warm and luminous glow, casting the entire cave abode in a hazy halo of light.

What shocked Chen Lingxi most was that the empty space surrounding the Treasure Pagoda faintly rippled with fine, dense streams of light.

That radiance was extremely sharp, like sword qi, yet it slowly revolved around the pagoda like a myriad of stars holding the moon. As it circulated, it exuded an incredibly deep, heavy, and ancient aura.

’This Treasure Pagoda actually emits such profound sword qi?’

Chen Lingxi was astonished.

His gaze shifted, and he noticed a shadow branded onto the stone wall of the cave abode.

The shadow was sitting cross-legged in meditation. Its back was straight as a pine, its hands resting on its knees in a calm, unhurried posture.

But the shadow’s outline was exceedingly blurry. It was like looking at the moon’s reflection in water through a thick fog—hazy and indistinct.

He could only vaguely make out a tall, slender human figure. It was likely a predecessor who had once cultivated in seclusion here.

Chen Lingxi felt a surge of awe.

’Who knows how long this senior sat meditating here to forcefully burn such a deep brand into the stone wall.’

After studying the shadow for a moment, Chen Lingxi withdrew his gaze and refocused on the glazed Treasure Pagoda.

’Such spiritual dynamism... This Treasure Pagoda is definitely extraordinary,’ he thought, the burning light in his eyes growing even brighter.

The aura emanating from the Treasure Pagoda was heavy and ancient, completely different from any other treasure he had ever seen.

’I just wonder if any danger is hidden within a treasure like this?’

He pondered for a moment, a flash of decisiveness passing through his eyes.

’This is the Absolute Perception Divine Chamber. Even if I die, it won’t matter. It’s the perfect place to scout the way.’

No longer hesitating, he strode toward the Treasure Pagoda and grabbed it in his hand.

’Huh? It was that easy?’

Chen Lingxi was greatly surprised.

Yet, the Treasure Pagoda was already in his grasp.

Holding the Treasure Pagoda, he could clearly sense a profoundly ancient and mysterious power contained within it.

Just as Chen Lingxi was marveling at the unexpected ease...

The scene before his eyes abruptly changed.

In an instant!

Chen Lingxi’s expression drastically changed!

He felt as though an irresistible force had dragged him into another world. Everything around him twisted and morphed.

In the blink of an eye, the cave abode faded into nothingness.

It was replaced by a vast, boundless galaxy of stars.

’Where is this?’

Chen Lingxi stared blankly.

The galaxy surged, and the stars rotated.

Countless dazzling streams of starlight washed past him like a tide, sweeping him up within them.

Standing right in the center of the galaxy, he looked up and witnessed a sight that shook his very soul.

From the depths of the galaxy, a figure was walking forward, treading upon the stars.

The figure was incredibly majestic, dressed in a silver robe with a Jade Sword at his waist. He looked like an immortal roaming the river of stars.

Behind him floated a Treasure Pagoda. It was seventy-two tiers high, cast entirely of glazed glass, with a dazzling star hanging from the upturned eaves of every single tier.

Those stars emitted a blazingly intense light, illuminating the entire galaxy into a magnificent daylight.

The silver-robed figure had an extremely youthful appearance. His thick brows were like swords, his eyes like bright stars, and his nose bridge as tall as a mountain peak. Yet, the profound vicissitudes of time leaking from his deep eyes were absolutely not something a person of such age should possess.

He stood in the center of the galaxy, the aura around him too majestic, too terrifying.

He was like a Mystic Monarch, so brilliant and imposing that one could not look at him directly.

The silver-robed figure stopped in the center of the galaxy and raised his head, gazing into the boundless void.

Two clusters of indescribable light suddenly flared within his deep eyes, piercing through the galaxy, through the void, and through every obstacle in heaven and earth.

Then, he spoke!

His voice seemed to carry extremely complex and obscure syllables.

Every single syllable felt as if it contained some ultimate truth pointing directly to the Great Dao, making one’s soul tremble.

It also carried an awe-inspiring momentum that looked down on the world and suppressed all living things. The pressure within his words made Chen Lingxi’s divine sense quiver.

Though he couldn’t understand the literal meaning of the syllables, for some reason, the True Intent of the words surfaced in Chen Lingxi’s mind all on its own:

[Heaven shall have Chen! Illuminating Xuanjing!

Heading south the immortals fall! The vast cosmos is eternal!

The Great Dao exists through being; the Great Dao exists through non-being!

Thus the Immortal Capital departs, and the purple palaces are born!]

The voice faded, and heaven and earth fell dead silent.

The silver-robed figure slowly dissipated, the seventy-two-tier glazed Treasure Pagoda vanished with him, and the towering galaxy silently receded.

Chen Lingxi only felt the world spin before his eyes. The next moment, he was back inside the cave abode.

He was still gripping the Three-Layer Glazed Treasure Pagoda in his hand. The brilliance on the pagoda had dimmed significantly, becoming as warm and mild as an ordinary glazed ornament.

Everything he had just witnessed in that galaxy felt like an absurd dream. Now that he was awake, it left no trace.

Yet, those ancient decrees spoken by the silver-robed figure continued to echo relentlessly in his mind!

’Heaven shall have Chen, illuminating Xuanjing... The Great Dao exists through being; the Great Dao exists through non-being...’ he recited silently, the burning light in his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

’Who was that person? What exactly is the connection between that seventy-two-tier glazed Treasure Pagoda and this three-tier one?’

He lowered his head, looking at the small Treasure Pagoda in his hand.

’This experience was simply too profound.’

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath, his gaze ultimately returning to the Treasure Pagoda in his hand.

No matter who the silver-robed figure in the vision was, and no matter what the Great Dao existing through being and non-being meant, at the very least, the Treasure Pagoda was now in his hands.

He could sense the extremely sharp power contained within it.

’This treasure shouldn’t be any weaker than Daoist Shu Rong’s Big Dipper Jade Ruyi Projection.’

He stored the Treasure Pagoda in his Vast Void Pouch and turned to walk out of the cave abode.

Leaving the cave abode, Chen Lingxi took to the clouds, a glint still flickering in his eyes.

’Now that I have the Treasure Pagoda, my second goal for this trip is that treasure sword.’

Inside the Immortal Pivot’s illusion, he had seen many fortuitous encounters and treasures.

Among them, the ones that most suited Chen Lingxi’s desires were the Treasure Pagoda, which possessed the most robust qi signature, and a treasure sword.

In the illusion, that treasure sword had fallen into the depths of the Northern Sea, harboring an unparalleled, razor-sharp sword intent.

’It’s getting late. If I delay any longer, Absolute Perception might shatter.’

Riding the clouds and mist, Chen Lingxi traveled straight north from the mountain range, crossing endless peaks and plains. After a long time, the outline of the Northern Sea finally appeared in the distance.

The Northern Sea was not as vast and boundless as the Southern Sea, but it was deeper, colder, and darker.

Fortunately, the scenes from the Volcano Immortal Pivot were extremely detailed. After searching the area a few times, Chen Lingxi managed to locate the general vicinity where the treasure sword had fallen.

Like a pale golden meteor, he plunged into the depths of the Northern Sea.

Beneath the deep sea, it was extremely silent and exceptionally eerie.

The fish, shrimp, crabs, and shells that were everywhere in the shallow waters were long gone. Only the occasional bizarre fish, emanating a cold, ghostly phosphorescence, swam silently past him. These strange fish had massive, bright eyes, with cold light flickering deep within their pupils like will-o’-the-wisps. It felt as if countless eyes born of the deep sea were peering at him from the dark.

Yet, Chen Lingxi was entirely unafraid. The aura of a Great Sage surrounding him was enough to make even a true deep-sea behemoth retreat ninety li before him.

Even if there were ten times as many of these bizarre fish, they posed absolutely no threat to him.

He continued to descend, his divine sense spreading out, piercing through layers of seawater to sweep across the seabed terrain within a hundred zhang.

Chen Lingxi weaved through the submarine mountain ranges and trenches for about an hour. His divine sense suddenly paused when it swept over a massive underwater volcano.

At the foot of the underwater volcano lay a wide open valley, scattered haphazardly with countless massive bones.

The bones were enormous. Each one was dozens of zhang long and several zhang thick, densely covering the entire valley floor.

Chen Lingxi focused his gaze to look closer.

Right in the center of those massive bones, coiled the largest and most intact skeleton of a giant whale.

The giant whale’s spine stretched from one end of the valley to the other like a winding mountain range, measuring a full several hundred zhang long.

But what caught Chen Lingxi’s attention most was a treasure sword stabbed diagonally into the seventh vertebra, right in the middle of the giant whale’s spine.

The treasure sword was entirely dull and lusterless, looking like scrap iron.

Its blade was covered in dark green seaweed and murky brown silt, making it look completely unremarkable.

But Chen Lingxi knew perfectly well...

’This is that treasure sword.’

A sharp light gleamed in Chen Lingxi’s eyes. Looking through the Method of Qi Observation...

He could see an incredibly pure, impossibly sharp sword light slowly circulating deep within the blade.

’The aura this treasure sword emits is even sharper than the Three-Layer Glazed Treasure Pagoda.’

The burning light in Chen Lingxi’s eyes blazed even brighter.

He stood atop the massive skeleton, looking down at the treasure sword.

The sword was like a peerless swordsman who had sheathed his blade, hiding all his edge, yet it inherently carried a chilling air that no one would dare underestimate.

’What a treasure!’

Without any further hesitation, Chen Lingxi reached out and grabbed the hilt of the treasure sword.

The hilt felt extremely heavy in his hand, and it was bone-piercingly cold to the touch.

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath. Inside his body, the Plundering Dragon Dao Platform slowly rotated, dissolving the chill that was invading his flesh.

He gripped the hilt tightly, preparing to pull the treasure sword from the giant whale’s spine.

But at that very moment, a sudden change occurred!

The giant whale skeleton beneath his feet seemed to come alive!

The several-hundred-zhang-long spine violently trembled. The vertebrae shook fiercely, letting out an earth-shattering sound of grinding bone.

The scattered ribs along the sides of the spine stood up one after another, erupting from the dirt like countless massive bone swords.

The giant whale’s skull suddenly reared back. Two clusters of cold, ghostly light abruptly ignited in its empty eye sockets, locking onto Chen Lingxi like a pair of dead eyes.

’What the hell is this?’

Chen Lingxi was so terrified his soul nearly left his body.

A roar!

Chen Lingxi only felt his Sea of Consciousness violently shake, and the spiritual qi in his Qi Sea completely stagnated.

The next instant, the giant whale’s tail bone lashed out at him viciously like a massive bone whip.

Wherever the tail bone passed, the seawater was cleaved apart. It came down like an overturning mountain, its power condensed to the extreme, enough to crush peaks and uproot mountains!

It was too fast!

Before he could even react, the bone whip ruthlessly struck his body.

Boom!

He only felt an indescribably terrifying force slam into him. The power was too majestic, too tyrannical.

Before the bone whip, his spiritual qi held out for less than a single breath before it was shattered inch by inch.

The bone whip, carrying ten thousand jun of force, struck squarely against his chest!

He heard the sound of his ribs shattering, heard the muffled thud of his blood being squeezed and forced backward into his heart by the impact, and heard the spiritual qi in his Qi Sea frantically wailing.

His entire body was sent flying backward from the whip like a falling star, plummeting into the deeper seabed like a kite with a broken string!

”Ugh...”

Chen Lingxi smashed heavily against the edge of the valley, crashing into the rocks and creating a giant crater several zhang deep.

As if awakening a ferocity that had slumbered for eons, the giant whale raised its tail bone again, smashing down toward his head like a bolt of divine retribution.

Enduring the agonizing pain threatening to tear his body apart, Chen Lingxi lifted his head.

The bone whip rapidly magnified in his vision, accompanied by a suffocating pressure of death.

He tried to mobilize his Plundering Dragon Dao Platform, his Palace-Knocking Finger...

But it was too late. The bone whip was too fast. It was so fast that the moment the thought arose in his mind, the whip had already reached the top of his head.

Boom!

Another earth-shattering boom resounded.

Everything returned to nothingness.

Absolute Perception had shattered.