After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi studied the brand-new Court Audience Heavenly Talisman, a trace of hesitation rising within him.

The Dragon-Revering Sect used the Sect Secret Register to govern its disciples. From now on, all exchanges for profound qi and opportunities had to pass through this sect-blessed talisman to reach the Heaven-Observing Mirror...

Perhaps... the sect truly would know what every disciple obtained, what they exchanged, or how much Great Encompassing Profound Qi they had left.

’If I use this talisman to access the Heaven-Observing Mirror, the twenty-nine thousand four hundred streams of Great Encompassing Profound Qi on me might also be exposed,’ he thought.

He lowered his eyes and stowed the new talisman in his Vast Void Pouch, unable to make up his mind for the moment.

As these thoughts churned, another streak of golden light suddenly descended from the extreme heights of the sky.

In an instant, the golden light traversed the seas of clouds and towering mountains, passing through the many domains of the Dragon-Revering Sect and scattering in all directions.

Wherever the golden light fell, heaven and earth turned solemn.

When the golden light swept past Slumbering Deer Peak, the rosy glow flowing over the antlers of the suspended divine deer phantom paused. It was as if even this ancient phantom, which had slumbered for ten thousand years, was tilting its ear to listen to the descending light.

Chen Lingxi raised an eyebrow.

’The work of those two immortals from the Great Encompassing Heaven again.’

’Are they selecting Chanlong Servants again?’

As Chen Lingxi pondered this, an aura suddenly plunged from the edge of the sea of clouds, landing right outside the Water Curtain Cave.

Chen Lingxi swept his divine sense outward and immediately knew who it was.

”Junior Martial Sister Lingyu.”

He withdrew his gaze from the direction of the main sect, stood up, and went out to welcome her.

The moment he stepped out, he saw a pale yellow figure parting the water curtain before the thousand-zhang waterfall. Her footsteps were faster than usual.

Yuan Lingyu looked up and saw Chen Lingxi hovering before the cave. She froze for a moment before her bright eyes lit up.

”Senior Brother! You’re back!”

She closed the distance in a few steps, pulled the water curtain shut behind her, and tilted her head to carefully study the man before her, as if trying to catch every change the past two years had left on his face.

Two years might be nothing but a snap of the fingers for a cultivator, but for a young female disciple who had just stepped over the threshold of cultivation and hadn’t even mastered her first Great Divine Ability, it was an incredibly long time.

For the past two years, she had stayed on Slumbering Deer Peak, cultivating alongside her senior martial brothers and sisters. The days had dragged by slowly.

Now that she was seeing Chen Lingxi again, she didn’t quite know where to begin.

Seeing her like this, Chen Lingxi gave a slight nod.

He smiled and said, ”Junior Martial Sister... it’s been two years. You’ve grown a bit more composed.”

Yuan Lingyu blushed at his words.

”Senior Brother is teasing me for being flustered again,” she laughed.

The two of them then went inside the cave.

Chen Lingxi poured a pot of spiritual tea for Yuan Lingyu, and they chatted about trivial matters on the peak.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Yuan Lingyu took out two neatly folded robes. Holding them in both hands, she presented them to Chen Lingxi.

”Senior Brother, I made two robes for you.”

Chen Lingxi paused slightly and looked down.

The two robes were lustrous, glowing with a soft, jade-like radiance. Even in the dim cave dwelling, a clear spiritual energy slowly circulated around them. A single glance was enough to tell the material was far from ordinary.

One of them was pure silver-white. Its texture was fine and resilient, without a single crease visible where it had been folded, as if the fabric itself weighed absolutely nothing. Illuminated by the skylight filtering into the cave, a faint layer of pale emerald sheen shone through the lustrous white.

The other was a deep black base adorned with golden patterns. The gold wasn’t overly bright or dull; it perfectly accented the dark base, tracing out flowing, cloud-like ripples that exuded a solemn elegance.

Looking closely, Chen Lingxi noticed extremely fine and dense patterns circulating within the inner lining of the fabric. They firmly locked a cloud-like spiritual aura deep within the material, preventing even the slightest bit of it from leaking out.

”Jade-Carving Silk?”

Chen Lingxi looked up at Yuan Lingyu.

He and Yuan Lingyu had previously seen this material among the sect’s spiritual resources.

This was a fifth-grade spiritual material. Even in a behemoth like the Dragon-Revering Sect, an ordinary disciple’s entire year of cultivation allowances might not be enough to afford half a bolt of it.

It was incredibly durable, capable of enhancing one’s Dao Origin cultivation, and could keep the wearer immaculately clean. It was quite extraordinary.

To think Yuan Lingyu had actually used such spiritual material to make two robes to gift him... For a moment, Chen Lingxi felt a pang of guilt.

”I got this Jade-Carving Silk by chance. It didn’t cost a fortune,” Yuan Lingyu said quickly, seeming to see through Chen Lingxi’s thoughts.

She blinked, her smile carrying a hint of smugness.

”I recently learned a new method specifically for tailoring spiritual garments. Once I got the hang of it, I just went ahead and made two pieces for you as practice.

”The fabric was just sitting there anyway. If you don’t accept them, Senior Brother, I’ll have to bury them in the dirt.”

As she spoke, a trace of shyness was hidden in her eyes.

Seeing her like this, Chen Lingxi fell silent for a breath before finally reaching out and accepting the two robes.

”Thank you, Junior Martial Sister.”

Seeing him accept them, Yuan Lingyu’s eyes curved into crescent moons, her smile exceptionally beautiful.

As if suddenly remembering something, she hurriedly asked, ”Senior Brother, during these two years you’ve been away, did you encounter any incredible opportunities?

”I heard from a few senior sisters that the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror is now suspended high over the Nine Quarters, and any opportunity in the world can be exchanged for. I wonder if you found any good things, Senior Brother?”

Chen Lingxi shook his head. ”Just some ordinary items, nothing worth mentioning.”

Having said that, his thoughts shifted, and he changed the subject to ask about her cultivation over the past two years.

At the mention of this, Yuan Lingyu’s face fell.

”How else could it be? I’ve spent so much time practicing that [Heavenly Calamity Method] Great Divine Ability, but I still can’t grasp the basics.”

A stubborn refusal to concede leaked into her tone.

Listening to her, Chen Lingxi felt a slight stir in his heart.

The Heavenly Calamity Method that Yuan Lingyu practiced was of the same rank as his Heavenly Statute Edict, and neither belonged to the offensive class of divine abilities.

Her failure to grasp the basics after two years wasn’t necessarily due to a lack of talent. It was because this type of divine ability was far too obscure. An ordinary cultivator might spend their entire life without successfully mastering even a single one.

As he pondered, a plan formed in his mind.

He was holding on to nearly thirty thousand streams of Great Encompassing Profound Qi, waiting for his Absolute Perception to reach perfection. He hadn’t touched it yet.

’When the time comes... I might be able to help Junior Martial Sister find an opportunity.’

Now that Chen Lingxi had a way to repay his junior sister’s kindness, his guilt faded. He carefully put the two robes away.

Seeing Chen Lingxi accept the spiritual garments, Yuan Lingyu was deeply satisfied.

She stood up and said, ”Senior Brother, your journey was tiring. Get some good rest.

”I should head back as well. I still have half a cauldron of pills uncollected in my cave dwelling. If I don’t go back soon, it’s going to explode.”

Chen Lingxi saw her to the cave entrance. He watched her part the water curtain and disappear beyond the thousand-zhang cascade before turning back, returning to the dim cave, and sitting cross-legged on his rush mat.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then sank a wisp of his divine sense into the Divine Chamber, activating the Vision Roaming Divine Ability!

Amidst the churning sea of clouds, right beneath the initial line of golden tadpole-like text, the name belonging to Chan Zhaofu flickered with radiance.

He gave it a light tap.

His perspective was abruptly pulled away, piercing through layers of clouds, crossing countless mountains, and sweeping past who knew how many thousands of miles, finally landing within that magnificent, familiar palace hall.

The palace hall looked exactly as it had before.

A high vaulted ceiling, resplendent in gold and jade, with woven brocade curtains draping down the four walls!

Chan Zhaofu sat upright upon a jade platform. His snow-white brocade robe fluttered without wind. The extremely faint golden halo flowing over the robe made him look entirely like a jade statue steeped in moonlight.

Another figure—an exceptionally beautiful female Dragon Palace Crown Prince with a cold aura—was hidden amidst the mist. She sat off to the side with her eyes lowered, acting as if everything before her had nothing to do with her.

Two people stood in the center of the hall.

Chen Lingxi recognized the first person at a glance.

This person had clear, handsome features and a slender, tall build. A faint fiery glow circulated around him. The light wasn’t searing, yet it possessed a profound intent capable of melting all things. It was like a pool of magma hidden deep within a volcano—calm and rippless on the surface, but breeding enough heat underneath to incinerate the heavens.

It was exactly Zhu Mi of Southern Brightness Peak, the number one figure on the First Profound Ranking, who practiced the Brightness Fusion Art Great Divine Ability!

However, Chen Lingxi had never seen the other person standing beside him.

This person was slightly older than Zhu Mi. He had a sharply contoured face and a flamboyant aura. He wore the standard Daoist robe of the Illuminating Sword Profound Peak, and a longsword with an unadorned, dark scabbard hung at his waist.

Looking through Chan Zhaofu’s eyes, Chen Lingxi could clearly sense the sword qi radiating from that blade. It lay dormant in the scabbard, circulating slowly, exceptionally sharp!

That sharpness was piercing and profound, far surpassing any sword-user Chen Lingxi had ever seen.

Chen Lingxi’s heart stirred, and a person suddenly came to mind.

’Qi Chuan of the Illuminating Sword Profound Peak.’

This figure, who held a resounding reputation within the Dragon-Revering Sect and sat as the Second Profound Ranking Head, was someone Chen Lingxi had only heard of from Yuan Lingyu’s accounts but had never met in person.

Now that he saw the flow of these two streams of sword qi, Chen Lingxi no longer needed to guess. Such a perfectly natural and somewhat aloof sword intent could belong to no one else but that Qi Chuan, who was said to be praised even by his own True Person.

For a moment, it was extremely quiet in the hall.

Only Chan Zhaofu slowly opened his eyes. The two people standing below were reflected in his strikingly, almost demonically handsome eyes, and a faint, imperceptible gleam flashed through them.

He raised a hand slightly, signaling for the two not to stand on ceremony, before finally speaking slowly.

”I summoned you two here today for a matter concerning the Entwining Dragon Palace... The two of you shall be my Dragon Palace’s [Nine Palaces Commanders!].”

He paused.

His voice echoed through the spacious hall. ”The Great Encompassing hangs high, and the Nine Quarters are united.

”Since the Entwining Dragon Palace is the place beneath the Great Encompassing Heaven that oversees the opportunities of the Nine Quarters, there naturally must be official representatives within the Nine Quarters to walk for the Entwining Dragon Palace, to observe the winds for the Entwining Dragon Palace, and to manage the comings and goings of opportunities for the Entwining Dragon Palace.”

”The title of ’Nine Palaces Commander’ carries two responsibilities.”

Chan Zhaofu said slowly, ”First, to travel the Nine Quarters for the Entwining Dragon Palace and gather opportunities;

”Second, to command the Nine Palaces Walkers under your respective names for the Entwining Dragon Palace. Each of you will command six, and from those Nine Palaces Walkers, you will acquire eighteen Chanlong Servants.”

”As Nine Palaces Commanders of the Entwining Dragon Palace, you will be bestowed with Dragon Essence, treasures, and cultivation opportunities. If you make no mistakes in the future, you may enter the Entwining Dragon Palace!”

Having said this, his gaze slowly swept over the two of them. His look was exactly like someone inspecting two newly forged, top-quality artifacts.

Borrowing Chan Zhaofu’s perspective, Chen Lingxi took all of this in.

’Nine Palaces Commander...’

He silently repeated the title in his mind, but his thoughts uncontrollably drifted to what had happened in the main sect’s great hall.

That day, he had also been chosen by this golden light. That day, Chan Zhaofu had also publicly promised him a Cauldron Vessel Opportunity, a Profound Void Dao Fruit, and a Fledgling Dragon Bloodline. That day, he had also been bestowed with a piece of Dragon Essence.

That day, Chan Zhaofu had called him a ”Chanlong Servant.”

But now, here in the palace hall, this Zhu Mi of Southern Brightness Peak and Qi Chuan of Illuminating Sword Profound Peak became ”Nine Palaces Commanders” the moment they joined the Entwining Dragon Palace...

His face couldn’t help but darken.

’Then why was I labeled a ”Chanlong Servant” when it was my turn?’

’Within this Entwining Dragon Palace, the ranks of Commander, Walker, and Servant are likely entirely different tiers.’

’Going by Chan Zhaofu’s words just now, one Nine Palaces Commander commands six Nine Palaces Walkers and eighteen Chanlong Servants.’

Chen Lingxi was still deep in thought.

At this moment, Zhu Mi and Qi Chuan had already bowed respectfully below.

”We strictly obey the supreme edict.”

As their voices fell, the mist in the palace hall shifted slightly.

Chan Zhaofu gently flicked his sleeve from the jade platform. Between the unfurling and retracting of his wide, snow-white sleeve in the void, two streams of azure Dao Origin formed out of thin air from his palm and hovered before the two men.

That Dao Origin was exactly the same as the one Chen Lingxi had received back then. It was azure throughout, with the faint image of a true dragon’s real body bobbing and circulating within. Its aura was mystical to the extreme.

Chan Zhaofu flipped his palm again, taking two items from his sleeve and handing them to Zhu Mi and Qi Chuan, respectively.

The two items were each contained in a jade box. Faint patterns were carved onto the boxes, and the ancient aura they contained was identical to the Cauldron Vessel Fragments Chen Lingxi had seen during his travels over the past two years.

Furthermore, Chan Zhaofu raised his hand and carved an extremely fine seal character onto each jade box.

The brushwork of that seal character shared the same intent as the Sect Secret Register on the Court Audience Heavenly Talisman Chen Lingxi had just seen. It seemed he was specifically passing down the Entwining Dragon Palace’s secret register to these two at the same time.

”Go, and handle your tasks well,” Chan Zhaofu said slowly.

Zhu Mi and Qi Chuan received the jade boxes, put them away safely, bowed once more, and turned around together to slowly walk toward the palace doors.

Watching their retreating figures, Chen Lingxi still had some unresolved questions in his heart.

Just as he was about to exit Vision Roaming, the female Dragon Palace Crown Prince—who had been hidden in the mist the whole time with a cold aura—suddenly lifted her eyes.

She spoke.

”Elder brother.”

Chan Zhaofu turned his head slightly.

”Dao Brother has schemed for several years, spending every day diving into the raging seas with your avatar to search. I wonder, have you selected this Cauldron Vessel Opportunity yet?”

Chan Zhaofu shook his head.

The light in his eyes flickered slightly after the female cultivator’s question, but his face remained completely composed.

”I’m still a bit short.”

”I haven’t hoarded enough Great Encompassing Profound Qi. It’s not enough to exchange for the specific Cauldron Vessel Opportunity I desire. I still need to accumulate a bit more.”

As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand and lightly flicked the empty air.

A streak of spiritual light flew from his fingertip, hovering in the void between the two of them as it slowly unfurled.

Within that spiritual light, an exceptionally clear water curtain appeared.

On the water curtain, heavenly light cascaded down and seas of clouds churned, while right in the very center of the curtain was a raging sea.

That raging sea was violently turbulent. Mountainous waves surged on the surface as fierce winds howled. Layer after layer of whitecaps rolled in fiercely from the horizon, crashing against the reefs and shattering into clouds of mist.

And right amidst those mountainous, raging waves, a figure stood perfectly stable atop the crest of a swelling wave.

The figure was dressed in a white robe, his features so handsome they bordered on demonic. He exuded the exact same noble air as the Chan Zhaofu inside the hall.

It was exactly an avatar of Chan Zhaofu himself.

In the raging sea, that avatar was submerging within the waves, rising and falling with the turbulent swells at an unhurried pace. Faint specks of glimmering light could be seen condensing, dispersing, and gathering in his palm, as if he were day after day extracting some extremely pure and rare spiritual essence from the deepest bottom of the raging sea.

”Half a year at most,” Chan Zhaofu said, looking at the water curtain. His voice was as flat as usual. ”Then I will have gathered enough Great Encompassing Profound Qi.”

”By then...”

He paused slightly, a very faint smile surfacing on his demonically handsome face.

”I’ll be able to exchange for the Cauldron Vessel Opportunity I desire.”

The female cultivator quietly watched the water curtain, remaining silent as well.

Vision Roaming abruptly shattered at this exact moment.

Chen Lingxi withdrew from the churning sea of clouds and opened his eyes.

”Half a year...”

Chen Lingxi muttered to himself, his gaze profound.

”Cauldron Vessel Opportunity...”