After the Great Dao Died

On one side of the north courtyard in the Baosu Marquis Residence, tucked into the most inconspicuous corner, unexpectedly stood a small Daoist observatory.

Though small, the observatory possessed a profound Daoist charm.

It featured gray bricks, black tiles, and sweeping eaves. A stone plaque hung beneath the roof.

It bore three neatly carved characters: Xuantong Observatory. The brushwork was lean and forceful, exuding a transcendent, otherworldly air.

A couplet hung on either side.

The first line read, ”Sever the Three Corpses to cultivate the Dao,” and the second read, ”Refine Profound Unity to step through the Entering Profound gate.”

An indescribable profundity seeped through the lines, as if this tiny observatory truly hid some incredible, authentic Daoist legacy.

Chen Lingxi stood behind a low wall, using a few old pines for cover as he gazed at the observatory from afar.

It was exactly noon. The Baosu Marquis Residence was still bustling with preparations to welcome Imperial Consort Chun.

However, the vast majority of the staff was concentrated in the east courtyard, leaving the north courtyard practically deserted.He slipped out from behind the wall. The Concealed Edge Method circulated silently within his body, wrapping the spiritual liquid in his qi sea tightly behind an invisible barrier.

He vaulted the wall as silently as a wildcat, melting into the depths of the north courtyard.

The observatory doors were shut tight. Chen Lingxi quietly sensed his surroundings.

Having stepped onto the Qi Circulation 4th Floor, his perception had grown increasingly sharp.

He frowned slightly, surprise flickering in his eyes.

Above Xuantong Observatory, qi was actually flowing—turbid and foul.

It was extremely faint. If a cultivator did not inspect it closely with a secret method like the Art of Observation, it would be completely impossible to detect.

It seeped out from the observatory thread by thread, like a wisp of ultra-fine black smoke that slowly coiled through the air without dissipating.

’Is it coming from that Demonic Banner?’

Pushing the Concealed Edge Method to its limits in his caution, Chen Lingxi quietly slipped over the wall and into the observatory grounds.

The courtyard looked ordinary. A few dwarf pines grew in the corner, and a few dead leaves littered the bluestone paving.

But to his eyes, a bizarre aura permeated everything.

The foul qi seeped from the observatory’s east wall, writhing slowly through the cracks in the bricks like a living creature.

Chen Lingxi frowned in thought for a moment. He glided silently behind an old locust tree in the courtyard, using its thick trunk for cover, and scaled the high wall on all fours like a spider.

Clinging to the tall east wall, he peered inside through a tiny side window.

His pupils instantly contracted.

The interior of the observatory was incredibly strange.

Ordinary Daoist observatories enshrined Daoist deities.

Yet inside the Main Hall of this Xuantong Observatory, the object of worship was actually a massive banner.

The banner was as black as ink, woven from some unknown material.

It was incredibly large and tall, hanging from the ceiling all the way to the floor like a black waterfall plunging from the highest heavens.

Countless talismans were inscribed on its surface. The patterns were vastly complex, overlapping and linking together in a manner that exuded an indescribable eeriness.

What truly shocked Chen Lingxi was that those talismans seemed to be alive!

They weren’t drawn with ordinary cinnabar ink. Instead, they looked like some kind of crimson liquid flowing sluggishly across the banner.

Like blood pumping through veins, the liquid traveled from one pattern to another, bleeding from one talisman into the next.

Chen Lingxi held his breath. Pushing his qi to the absolute limit, he inspected it carefully with the Art of Observation.

Then, he realized it.

That Demonic Banner was actually brimming with dense spiritual energy!

’It seems it isn’t a cauldron vessel fragment after all, but rather some bizarre treasure.’

Chen Lingxi pondered, ’I wonder if I can refine this Demonic Banner?’

Having experience refining spiritual arrows, he knew that the key to controlling such wondrous treasures lay in whether one could refine the array formations within them.

Since this Demonic Banner could extend lifespans and contained such rich spiritual energy, it had to be an incredibly rare and extraordinary treasure.

If he could obtain and refine it, purging the filth from within, it would surely become a massive asset.

Right at that moment, a soft creak echoed from the side door of the lofty hall.

Chen Lingxi immediately pressed himself flatter, blending into the high wall like a patch of moss.

He peered through a crack in the bricks toward the source of the noise.

The side door was pushed open.

A figure stepped out from behind it.

The person was incredibly old and decrepit, looking frail and shaky. His posture was stooped and his footsteps staggered, as if a single gust of wind could blow him over.

His face was covered in wrinkles as deep as ravines. His eye sockets were sunken, his cheekbones jutted out, and his lips were so shriveled they could no longer cover his gums.

Yet this old man, who looked to have one foot in the grave, was carrying a large basin of flesh and blood.

The gory mass was still steaming, exuding a pungent stench. Blood dripped over the edge of the basin, dragging a wet, dark red trail across the floor.

The old man walked up to the massive banner in the hall. He set the basin of flesh onto the altar, took a step back, and stood with his arms hanging at his sides.

Instantly, the talismans on the banner seemed to come alive!

Countless crimson threads shot out from its surface, thrashing wildly in the air like tens of thousands of tiny tentacles.

The threads plunged into the basin. Like starving wolves pouncing on a meal, they greedily devoured the flesh and blood.

The gore dwindled at a visible rate, sucked dry strand by strand by the red threads until nothing remained but a pile of pale bone fragments.

Even the bone fragments crumbled into dust and vanished into the air, leaving not a single trace behind.

Chen Lingxi’s pupils shrank.

Because he had seen something within that basin of flesh: a severed finger, a fleck of rouge polish still clinging to its nail.

The polish was a very pale pink, but it was exceptionally glaring in the dim hall. It was a woman’s finger. A young woman’s finger.

He only had time for that single glance before the red threads from the banner swallowed it whole.

’This flesh—’ Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes.

Right at that moment, the trembling old man seemed to sense something. His head suddenly swiveled in an eerie motion, staring straight at the tiny window. Straight at Chen Lingxi!

Two clusters of cold, spectral fire now burned in the old man’s cloudy eyes.

’Hmm? Did he sense me?’

Warning bells immediately blared in Chen Lingxi’s mind!

The next instant, qi and blood coiled around the old man, and a terrifying power erupted from his frame!

His stooped body forcefully straightened. He was like a legendary sword that had been buried in the dirt for countless years, suddenly drawn from its sheath, radiating a blinding edge!

Unable to withstand the force, the bluestone tiles beneath his feet cracked inch by inch, sending gravel flying!

He launched himself toward the window like a cannonball!

The force behind this charge could swallow mountains and rivers. Even Zhao Yong’s full-power strike at Golden Body Consummation paled in comparison to this impact. It completely defied belief that such power could burst from this decrepit figure!

Chen Lingxi’s expression remained unchanged, as steady as ever.

He reached his right hand into empty air, and the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber dropped into his grasp.

He let out a sharp cry, and a dragon’s roar exploded from his throat!

Dragon Roar Technique!

The sharp roar reached the old man’s ears, shaking his form and causing him to stall for a split second. The twin ghost fires in his eyes flickered.

Yet in a mere blink of an eye, the old man broke free from the Dragon Roar Technique’s suppression, continuing his brutal charge directly at Chen Lingxi.

But that split second was exactly what Chen Lingxi had been waiting for!

The instant the roar landed, he opened his mouth and spat out a streak of Purple True Precious Qi!

The purple light was as thin as a cow’s hair but as blinding as sunlight. It shot straight toward the old man’s face.

Simultaneously, Chen Lingxi kicked off the wall, launching himself backward like an arrow released from a bowstring!

He intended to use the brief window bought by the dual assault of the roar and the Purple True Precious Qi to retreat from the observatory.

But the old man shattered the Purple True Precious Qi with a single punch!

When his shriveled fist smashed into the purple light, it was like a sledgehammer striking colored glass. The purple light fractured inch by inch, disintegrating into countless motes of light that faded into the air.

The Dragon Roar Technique had only made him frown slightly. It hadn’t harmed him in the least!

His body smashed straight through the wall, sending bricks and debris raining down.

Riding that heaven-shaking momentum, he threw a palm strike through the air at the retreating Chen Lingxi!

As the palm thrust forward, ripples visible to the naked eye warped the empty air!

The strike slammed down like an invisible mountain of flesh crashing from the sky, threatening to crush Chen Lingxi beneath it!

Before the wind from the strike even reached him, Chen Lingxi felt the qi and blood in his entire body abruptly stall.

Chen Lingxi instantly drew his saber!

The moment the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber left its sheath, the pale golden patterns on the blade flared with blinding light!

Lightning as fine as hair shot out from the engravings, crackling as it coiled around the blade!

At the same time, the cyan edge of the Cyan Edge Method clung to the metal. A fresh burst of Purple True Precious Qi erupted from his mouth, and his golden rampart qi and blood surged like a tidal wave!

Lightning, cyan edge, purple light, and golden blood—the four colors intertwined as he slashed out!

This ultimate killing blow collided head-on with the old man’s fleshy palm.

The instant blade met palm, Chen Lingxi felt an overwhelming, unstoppable force roll back up the saber. It felt like he had been struck head-on by a literal mountain!

Crushed by the wind of the palm, the lightning and cyan edge on the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber completely shattered, collapsing into an endless cloud of fine light specks!

His wrist jolted violently. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger tore open, and blood streamed down the hilt.

However, his slash had managed to diffuse a portion of the power behind the old man’s palm.

Riding the recoil, his body drifted backward for several zhang. He let out a muffled groan and burst completely out of the observatory grounds!

This terrifying explosion alerted the various guest ministers in the Yin’an Courtyard.

One aura of qi, blood, and spiritual energy after another suddenly stirred, rushing frantically from the Yin’an Courtyard toward the north courtyard!

But the decrepit old man in the observatory did not pursue. He merely stood on the ruined wall, hands clasped behind his back, staring in the direction of Chen Lingxi’s escape. The two ghost fires in his eyes slowly died out.

Chen Lingxi vaulted clear of the observatory. Pushing the Concealed Edge Method to a frenzy, he thoroughly concealed every trace of his aura as he sprinted north.

He plunged from the north courtyard straight into Yuanjiang. Using the river waters as cover, he slipped cleanly out of the city and eventually reached Cuojin Mountain.

Only when he entered his cave on the cliff face did he finally let out a long breath.

Inside the cave, Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged and circulated his qi, regulating his breathing to heal his injuries.

Although that palm strike hadn’t landed squarely, the old man’s qi and blood were far too overwhelming. The mere wind from the blow had left his internal organs churning and his meridians throbbing with pain.

’That old man is, at the very least, an expert at Jade Qi Great Completion.’

’But I have no idea why he didn’t pursue. If he had chased me down, I fear my Thorough Awakening this time would have been completely shattered.’

Chen Lingxi pondered silently.

Zhao Yong was at Golden Body Consummation. When he pushed his golden rampart qi and blood, he shone as brightly as the midday sun, and his Purple-Gold Wheel was indestructible. He was already incredibly formidable.

Yet the might of that old man’s palm was countless times stronger than Zhao Yong.

In the Jade Qi Realm, qi and blood transformed into a jade-like substance, pure and translucent inside and out. The body became as light as a swallow, capable of standing upon a crane’s back without falling. Upon reaching Jade Qi Great Completion, a cultivator could condense their jade-like qi and blood into various physical forms—be it a fist, a palm, a saber, or a sword—each possessing limitless power.

He smoothed out his breathing, his thoughts returning to that pitch-black Demonic Banner.

’That Demonic Banner isn’t a cauldron vessel fragment, but a full-fledged treasure. If I can refine the dense spiritual energy layered within it, its power will surely be extraordinary.’

However, the old man’s cultivation was far too terrifying. With his current strength—at the Qi Circulation 4th Floor and minor success in the Golden Body realm—trying to take it by force would be throwing his life away.

’Moreover... I didn’t see Lin Zhongming anywhere.’

Chen Lingxi frowned, recalling the bizarre energy seeping out from the massive banner.

To be corroded by such power year after year, all just to extend one’s life...

’I absolutely cannot afford to overlook this Lin Zhongming.’

Chen Lingxi shook his head. ’It seems I will still have to use Zhao Yong’s great medicine.’

He stopped overthinking and went back to healing his injuries.

Two days later, Chen Lingxi’s eyes suddenly snapped open, his brows furrowing!

’Such an intense fluctuation of spiritual qi. Is someone fighting?’