After the Great Dao Died

Several months slipped quietly by amid the roar of the waterfall outside the Water Curtain Cave.

Above Slumbering Deer Peak, the phantom projection of a divine deer hung high in the boundless sky, its jagged antlers showering the world below in rosy light.

The radiance of three great suns converged from different directions—one gold, one silver, one crimson—draping the many ridges and ashrams of Slumbering Deer Peak in flowing, iridescent color.

Deep within the Water Curtain Cave, Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged.

The waterfall crashed down the thousand-zhang cliff, smashing against the broken rocks in the pool to kick up a thick, misty haze.

His eyes were tightly shut.

Deep between his brows, a wisp of golden radiance slowly circulated.

Ever since the Dragon Transformation Immortal Roll bestowed a spiritual opportunity upon him, it had hung in his Sea of Consciousness like an everlasting lamp. Its light illuminated the Heavenly Statute Edict method he had once found so obscure, gradually revealing a thread of logic.

After a season of meditation, he had already gained some understanding.

Today, Chen Lingxi temporarily withdrew his spiritual sense from his meditation.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the sky.

”It is time for Vision Roaming.”

For days on end, Chen Lingxi had activated Vision Roaming daily without interruption.

He hoped to seize various opportunities and uncover hidden secrets.

Yet half a year had already slipped by.

Chan Zhaofu, the immortal from the Great Encompassing Heaven, had neither summoned him nor revealed any other secrets. Instead, the man simply kept his eyes closed in continuous cultivation.

Occasionally visualizing that true dragon had, however, allowed Chen Lingxi’s True Edict of Approaching the Dao to improve considerably.

Aside from that, he had gained nothing.

Today, a wisp of Chen Lingxi’s consciousness rose from the depths of his Divine Chamber to circulate the Vision Roaming divine ability.

Instantly!

The scenery before him shifted. Qi pulled and tugged like the ebb and flow of a tide.

Before long, the scene changed abruptly, snapping into Chan Zhaofu’s perspective.

But to Chen Lingxi’s surprise, the scene playing out before him was not Chan Zhaofu’s secluded cultivation spot; it was the Dragon-Revering Main Hall he had seen long ago!

Inside the grand hall, seven figures sat perfectly still, each occupying their own seat.

Their faces were entirely blurred, just as Chen Lingxi remembered.

Above the jade dais, a female cultivator in flowing robes hovered in midair.

It was True Person Yujun.

Her robes draped quietly around her. Not a single trace of qi leaked from her body; she seemed suspended in thin air.

Aside from her, there were two others in the hall.

The two immortals from the Great Encompassing Heaven—the two crown princes of the Dragon Palace.

The female-looking immortal from the Great Encompassing Heaven still kept her eyes tightly shut, unable to speak.

Chan Zhaofu stood beside the jade dais. He wore a snow-white brocade robe bound by a jade belt. His brows resembled distant mountains, and his eyes were like deep pools. A soft halo of light flowed gently along the folds of his white robe. The aura of the Great Encompassing Heaven surrounding him was starkly different from any cultivator in the Dragon-Revering Sect.

The hall was deathly quiet.

Through Chan Zhaofu’s eyes, Chen Lingxi took in everything.

Right then, Chan Zhaofu raised his hand slightly and flicked his wide sleeve.

The motion stirred no wind within the hall, yet a brilliant light abruptly materialized beneath the jade dais, right in front of the seven seated figures!

The radiance gathered out of thin air, transforming in an instant into a talisman that hung high in the center of the hall.

The talisman was no more than three chi square. Its entire surface shimmered with a profound light of an indescribable hue.

One moment it looked azure, the next it appeared white!

Countless complex runes were carved onto it. The lines linked and coiled around one another, extending inch by inch into the depths of the void, as if anchoring it to some impossibly distant place.

Chan Zhaofu tilted his head up to glance at the talisman before speaking.

”This talisman is named the Court Audience Heavenly Talisman.”

”It is the talisman used by the disciples of the Nine Quarters to seek an audience with the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror.”

The seven figures in the hall all raised their heads.

Chan Zhaofu continued, ”Currently, the numerous profound sects and immortal clans of the Nine Quarters are gradually being brought under the jurisdiction of the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror.

”Once the entire Nine Quarters is completely integrated, this talisman can be passed down alongside the [Sect Secret Record].”

He tipped his head up slightly, gazing at a sliver of heavenly light piercing the deep dome of the hall.

”From Golden Core True Monarchs and Golden Palace True Persons at the peak down to ordinary Qi Circulation cultivators, all may use this talisman to seek an audience with the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror and obtain opportunities for their cultivation.”

At this point, he paused.

”Until then, it must absolutely not be passed down privately.”

”And when the time comes to transmit it, it must be accompanied by the Sect Secret Register.”

The auras of the seven figures rippled slightly.

True Person Yujun remained silent.

Through Chan Zhaofu’s eyes, Chen Lingxi—still operating his Vision Roaming divine ability—locked his gaze onto the talisman hanging in the hall.

The strokes and crucial nodes of the talisman were laid out before him with absolute clarity, completely unobscured.

His heart stirred with a sudden, audacious idea. Not daring to be careless, he firmly memorized every stroke, every turn, and every nuance of how the lines began and ended.

The runes started from a slanted drop at the top, folded into three hooked curves, and spread out to both sides like two fans.

Inside each fan lay a circular loop. From the depths of each loop, a single line split off and shot straight down, intersecting in the middle to form the character ’heaven’.

Further down, it divided into five thin lines reaching out in five directions. Curled within each line was the tiny shape of a talismanic insect.

Chen Lingxi meticulously committed it all to memory.

Right then, atop the jade dais, True Person Yujun’s hanging robes fluttered slightly.

She furrowed her brow and said, ”The fate of the Nine Quarters is entirely tied to this Cauldron Vessel. If a calamity were to befall it...”

True Person Yujun did not finish her sentence.

Chan Zhaofu slightly raised his head and chuckled softly, ”This is a Cauldron Vessel of the Great Encompassing Heaven. It possesses its own spirit.”

He paused for a moment.

”Rest assured, True Persons. A Cauldron Vessel of this caliber cannot be peered into or schemed against even by a Mystic Monarch, much less be made to suffer a calamity.”

”You may naturally...

...put your minds at ease!”

Silence claimed the hall.

Through Chan Zhaofu’s eyes, Chen Lingxi branded everything in the hall into his Sea of Consciousness.

But just then, one of the seven seated figures stood up, preparing to speak.

Chen Lingxi was just about to listen closely when he felt the strand of consciousness rooted in his Divine Chamber suddenly grow impossibly heavy...

The Vision Roaming shattered!

”Chan Zhaofu’s cultivation base is vastly superior to mine. With my current level of attainment, I cannot maintain Vision Roaming on him for too long,” he muttered.

Chen Lingxi opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of murky air.

He slowly stood up.

The sunlight slanted into the cave, casting a chill over his black robes.

”The Court Audience Heavenly Talisman...” he murmured to himself.

”The runes used by the disciples of the Nine Quarters to seek an audience with the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror...

”Once the entire Nine Quarters is completely brought under its jurisdiction, it can be passed down alongside the Sect Secret Record. From Qi Circulation cultivators up to True Monarchs, all may hold this talisman for an audience...”

Chen Lingxi stood in the cave, his heart surging with turbulent emotions.

He had always assumed that the Great Encompassing Heaven was a Cauldron Vessel suspended high above and apart from the Nine Quarters.

Now, it seemed the true purpose of this mirror was not to ”suspend” itself over the Nine Quarters, but to ”subsume” the Nine Quarters beneath it.

Chen Lingxi pondered for a moment longer before lowering his gaze. Inch by inch, he mentally retraced the talisman he had seen during his Vision Roaming within his Sea of Consciousness.

The runes started from a slanted drop at the top.

They folded into three hooked curves, spreading out to both sides like two fans.

Inside each fan lay a circular loop. From the depths of each loop, a single line split off and shot straight down.

They intersected in the middle, forming the character ’heaven’.

...

He remembered every last detail with pristine clarity.

A moment later, Chen Lingxi opened his eyes, a sudden thought sparking in his mind...

’Since this is a Cauldron Vessel of the Great Encompassing Heaven, no one can peer into it.’

’Then if I use these runes to seek an audience with the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror, no one should be able to detect it.’

At this thought, his eyes lit up slightly...

He acted the moment the idea took root.

Chen Lingxi immediately closed his eyes and concentrated. Inside his body, the Dragon-Stripping Dao slowly revolved. Dao Origin rose from within his foundation, following his meridians all the way to his fingertips.

That single strand of Dao Origin—pale gold and incredibly fine—seeped out from the tip of his right index finger and hovered in front of him.

Using his finger as a brush, Chen Lingxi began to draw.

With Dao Origin in hand, he traced the runes!

”Heaven.”

...

When Chen Lingxi finally placed the last stroke, the talisman forged of Dao Origin hung silently in the empty air before him.

It didn’t possess the flowing, profound light or the shadow-swallowing radiance of the one Chan Zhaofu had personally manifested during the Vision Roaming.

The one drawn by Chen Lingxi was thin and plain, its qi muddled and impure.

Yet it remained perfectly accurate, down to the very last detail!

The next instant!

The talisman slowly spun open. A hair-thin, spectral light bloomed from its center, instantly swallowing the three chi of space around him!

Chen Lingxi felt his entire being enveloped by a mighty cosmic force!

The next instant, dead silence fell.

When he opened his eyes again, he was somewhere else entirely!

It was a realm of absolute nothingness.

Yet this ethereal void felt undeniably real, holding boundless, profound mysteries.

Chen Lingxi’s consciousness stood there, looking around in bewilderment.

’Is this the Land of Court Audience?’

’But where is the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror?’ he wondered.

Right at that moment...

A vast starry sky abruptly materialized before his eyes, its cosmos immediately beginning to swirl.

Like an ancient scroll painting pushed open from its center, the image unfurled in all directions, stretching further and further until it felt incredibly real!

Starlight suddenly flooded outward!

Flickering, vibrant, warm, and vast—all four sensations were somehow contained within a single mote of starlight.

At the same time, an unimaginably ancient aura washed over him.

Chen Lingxi’s heart stirred.

He seemed to realize something.

Within this void, his consciousness bowed its head.

He slowly bowed toward that starlight falling from an impossibly distant place.

The moment his bow ended, a speck of brilliance sparked in the depths of the starry sky.

From that single speck, threads of light stretched out, slowly weaving together to form several lines.

Chen Lingxi fixed his gaze upon them.

It was a line of text.

[Loose Cultivator Chen Lingxi!]

Chen Lingxi stared blankly.

”This Cauldron Vessel deduced my identity?”