After the Great Dao Died

A long, long time passed.

Emperor Daye’s expression still held a great deal of shock.

”So the awakening of the Great Sage’s avatar will draw the True Lord to refine the heaven and earth. And if the Great Sage’s true body descends, it will devour the Grotto-Heaven, annihilating all creation.”

Chen Lingxi nodded.

Emperor Daye’s gaze turned serious as he asked, ”How do you know this, Daoist Friend Chen?”

Chen Lingxi answered with a sudden question of his own. ”I wonder where Emperor Daye’s Delusion-Weaving Golden Eyes, that Immortal Slough, or that incredibly profound Mountains and Rivers Great Array came from?”

Emperor Daye fell silent.

Every cultivator in the world had their own secrets. For Ying Xian to have climbed from a mere mortal to his current heights, he naturally harbored unspeakable secrets.

Chen Lingxi did not pry further. Instead, his expression turned solemn.

”Daoist Friend Ying Xian!” he continued.

”We are both beings of this Grotto-Heaven, and death is staring us in the face. In this world, if there is anyone you can trust, Daoist Friend, it is only me, Chen Lingxi.

”And the same holds true for me.

”Because out of the one billion living beings in this Weiji Grotto-Heaven, only you and I have the ability to seek a path to survival!

”If we do not trust each other, if we do not put forth our utmost effort, we will both die!”

Lightning flashed brightly in Chen Lingxi’s eyes as he stared straight at Emperor Daye Ying Xian.

Within this Weiji Grotto-Heaven, Emperor Daye Ying Xian and he, Chen Lingxi, were the only two beings to have cultivated from local mortals all the way to the Dao Foundation Realm.

They were the only two who knew that the shadow of the Realm-Refining Furnace loomed over this world. They were the only two ants bitterly searching for a sliver of survival in the cracks between the True Lord and the Great Sage.

If they did not trust each other, if they did not join hands, they truly would have no chance of survival left.

Hearing Chen Lingxi’s words, Ying Xian finally nodded. He fell silent for a moment before suddenly standing up.

He stood on the rocky platform, the deep, vast fluctuations of Dao Origin around his body like a bottomless abyss and an endless sea.

Then, he bowed to Chen Lingxi.

Ying Xian was extremely solemn at this moment, like one emperor bowing to another, like one Daoist Friend bowing to another.

”Please tell me where our chance of survival lies, Daoist Friend!”

Chen Lingxi similarly stood up and bowed back to Emperor Daye.

His gaze then fell upon the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror suspended in the volcanic magma.

”Daoist Friend, I still need you to place my three souls and seven physical spirits into the Cauldron Vessel Fragment, so they can drift into the void turbulence as soon as possible, just in case,” Chen Lingxi said slowly.

Ying Xian raised an eyebrow and asked, ”In that case, wouldn’t I be fighting alone in this Grotto-Heaven?”

A faint smile appeared on Chen Lingxi’s lips. With a flick of his finger, a set of three souls and seven physical spirits manifested in midair.

The moment they appeared, an incredibly profound and bizarre Dao resonance emanated from them.

Emperor Daye Ying Xian’s pupils suddenly shrank.

He stared intently at that mass of pale gold mist, the two clusters of golden flames in his eyes dancing wildly.

He naturally recognized what this was. This was precisely a set of three souls and seven physical spirits created by the Myriad Breeding Dao-Seeding Marvelous Lotus Qi.

He possessed one himself, which was the avatar of Xiao Changlv.

Seeing Emperor Daye’s astonishment, Chen Lingxi smiled again and said, ”Daoist Friend, you are not the only one with hidden fortuitous encounters.”

Emperor Daye fell silent for a moment before suddenly bursting into loud laughter.

His laughter echoed through the Volcano Immortal Pivot, shaking the churning magma until it surged.

He laughed for a long time before slowly restraining his mirth. His eyes, burning with golden flames, were filled with complex emotions. Then, Emperor Daye reached out his hand!

An incredibly deep and pure stream of Dao Origin slowly circulated within his palm before descending toward the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror suspended above the magma.

”Daoist Friend, offer up that set of three souls and seven physical spirits,” he said.

Hearing this, Chen Lingxi controlled the souls and spirits, letting them float over until they arrived in front of Emperor Daye.

”Daoist Friend, your three souls and seven physical spirits are condensed quite purely,” Emperor Daye slowly remarked. ”Given time, if you have the fortuitous encounter to find a suitable vessel, they will certainly form an extraordinary avatar.”

As he spoke, Emperor Daye extended his left hand, gently resting the mass of mist in his palm before sending it toward the surface of the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror.

The mirror flashed with light, and the mist sank into it!

Chen Lingxi clearly sensed that the moment those souls and spirits vanished, his other stream of perception felt as though it had landed in a pitch-black box, though numerous ancient auras constantly flowed all around it!

Emperor Daye was just about to rise.

But then Chen Lingxi spoke up. ”Daoist Friend, within the profound mystery of the Luoyuan River Water, I saw that Emperor Daye once had a Dao Foundation Jade Precept Book. I wonder, where is that Jade Precept Book now?”

Emperor Daye’s expression tightened. He lowered his head in thought for a moment. Then, with a raise of his hand, a Jade Precept Book exuding a dense Dao Foundation resonance hovered above his palm.

He gave the Jade Precept Book a phantom push in Chen Lingxi’s direction.

As if it possessed a spirit of its own, the Jade Slip drifted toward Chen Lingxi on its own accord, suspending itself steadily in the empty space between the two of them.

Chen Lingxi accepted the Jade Precept Book, wrote down the terms, signed his name, and sent it back to Emperor Daye.

Emperor Daye opened the Jade Precept Book and saw that many terms had already been clearly written on the Jade Slip.

They concerned the mutual exchange of survival chances.

As well as the most important clause of all.

The two souls within the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror were forbidden from devouring each other unless one of them granted permission.

Emperor Daye read the terms from beginning to end, word for word, missing absolutely nothing.

He didn’t say a word. He simply used his finger to slowly carve his name into the Jade Precept Book.

[Ying Xian].

The moment those characters were carved, an indescribable, vast, and ancient pressure descended from the void, enveloping the two of them.

Chen Lingxi sensed the surrounding heaven and earth suddenly darken in that instant.

An extremely pure and sacred majesty—one that left no room for the slightest thought of defiance—pressed down on his mind like an invisible mountain.

”Great Azure Father, Immortal Monarch...”

This sensation was exactly the same as during Absolute Perception.

By now, the Jade Precept Book had already split into two, falling into their respective hands.

Emperor Daye tucked his half of the Jade Precept Book into his sleeve, turned around, and let his gaze fall once more upon the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror suspended over the magma.

He took a deep breath, and the deep, vast Dao Origin fluctuations around him bloomed without reservation.

The dark-gold Dao Origin poured madly out of his body like floodwaters bursting a dam. In an instant, he reverted back to his prime.

At the same time.

Above Emperor Daye’s Dao Platform, two Profound Roots faintly appeared. One was entirely pale gray, exuding a bizarre aura that caused all things to decay—it was precisely the Profound Root formed by the Heavenly Decline Law Great Divine Ability.

The other emanated a terrifying Dao resonance of reversing the years and turning back time. Presumably, this was the Profound Root formed by the Age-Dial Reversal Great Divine Ability.

One of the Profound Roots had already produced a wondrous fruit, while the other was currently sprouting branches and leaves, seeming ready to grow into a large tree.

With both Profound Roots appearing at once, Emperor Daye’s aura climbed to its absolute peak.

Emperor Daye slowly brought his hands together, and the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror began to slowly rotate in the empty space between his palms.

”Rise!” Emperor Daye shouted in a low voice.

At his shout, the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror suddenly shot into the sky, flying straight up toward the highest heavens.

Emperor Daye and Chen Lingxi stepped on the clouds and rose almost simultaneously, following that streak of dark-gold light as it flew out of the Volcano Immortal Pivot.

They stood atop the clouds above the volcanic crater, raising their heads to look far into the ends of the sky.

With a flick of Emperor Daye’s finger, a beam of golden light shot over and swept across Chen Lingxi’s eyes.

Chen Lingxi immediately saw the end of the sky, which was the barrier of this Grotto-Heaven.

Between the cracks of that barrier, he could vaguely see countless streams of gray void turbulence churning madly.

”So this is the void turbulence?” Chen Lingxi marveled.

In his eyes, those turbulent currents roared and shuttled through the void like countless pale-gray dragons, carrying a terrifying power sufficient to tear a Dao Foundation cultivator to shreds.

And at this moment, the Spirit-Placing Treasure Mirror crashed straight into that patch of void turbulence.

Then, it disappeared completely!

Chen Lingxi stood upon the clouds, gazing at the now-empty end of the firmament.

’This treasure mirror will drift aimlessly in the void turbulence. Who knows what year or month it will find a way out, or if it will ever see the light of day again.’

’But no matter what, it is ultimately a backup plan. If I fail and the Weiji Grotto-Heaven is refined, I will still be alive within that treasure mirror, leaving me a sliver of a chance to survive,’ Chen Lingxi thought.

Emperor Daye Ying Xian stood to the side with his hands behind his back, taking in this entire scene as well.

The churning void turbulence was reflected in his eyes, which burned with golden flames. He remained silent for a long time before slowly turning around, his gaze falling upon Chen Lingxi.

”Daoist Friend,” he slowly said. ”What about this chance of survival you spoke of?”