After the Great Dao Died

Meanwhile.

On Mangyang Mountain, at the Crown Prince’s Beast-Fighting Palace.

The main hall’s domed ceiling arched high, resplendent in gold and jade. Brocade curtains shimmered with a dim luster in the candlelight.

Upon the jade platform, the silver-red cicada-wing gauze curtain had been rolled up, revealing the red sandalwood chair behind it.

Ying Chi sat in this chair.

Today, he wore a dark brocade robe with a white jade belt clasped around his waist and a purple-gold crown resting on his head.

A luminous pearl the size of a thumb, embedded in the crown, illuminated his devastatingly handsome face.

He propped his chin on one hand. The index finger of his other hand tapped lightly against the armrest, producing a faint, rhythmic knocking.

Suddenly!

Crown Prince Ying Chi’s expression shifted, and he closed his eyes.Through a secret technique and the body of that old eunuch, he sensed a wisp of spiritual qi!

That spiritual qi was terrifying!

Although only a single thread had leaked out, the power contained within that wisp left him astonished.

Ying Chi took a deep breath.

This person really is an expert, Ying Chi thought to himself. I just don’t know if he is someone seeking truth and inquiring about the cauldrons, or if he harbors some other motive.

He lowered his head in thought, then abruptly looked up, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.

Then, he reached out and picked up a Jade Precept Book from the desk.

The pages of the Jade Precept Book were as thin as cicada wings, radiating a faint cyan hue in the candlelight.

Ying Chi gripped the Jade Precept Book in his palm, circulating his spiritual qi and pouring it into the pages.

Two names upon the Jade Precept Book began to glow with faint golden light, flickering in the candlelight.

His gaze swept over the second name—the one besides his own.

Lu Baizhong.

Looking at this name, a faint smile surfaced on Ying Chi’s lips.

The smile was subtle, yet it carried a chilling undertone.

”In terms of the pure killing power of spiritual qi, the undisputed number one on the Sixth Floor is Lu Baizhong.”

As he muttered these words to himself, his tone held unconcealed admiration.

”Lu Baizhong, cultivated to the Qi Circulation 6th Floor, excels in a lightning technique. That method is incredibly overbearing. When unleashed with full force, it resembles a heavenly tribulation descending upon the world. Beneath that blinding heavenly lightning, even cultivators in the same realm must retreat ninety li.”

Ying Chi spoke as if introducing him to someone.

”Then I shall invite Lu Baizhong to test this senior on my behalf.”

The smile on Ying Chi’s lips deepened.

He and Lu Baizhong had previously struck a deal.

He had already given Lu Baizhong the item he wanted.

According to their agreement, Lu Baizhong had to strike on his behalf once.

Now was the perfect time to use this favor on Chen Lingxi.

If Chen Lingxi truly was an unfathomably deep expert, Lu Baizhong’s probing attack would allow Ying Chi to see his real strength.

If he was not an expert, he would unquestionably die beneath Lu Baizhong’s lightning technique.

Regardless of the outcome, Ying Chi stood to lose nothing.

”It’s just a pity...” He looked down at the Jade Precept Book on the desk and gently brushed a finger across its jade surface. ”...that my transaction with Lu Baizhong concludes here.”

The spiritual qi fluctuations on the Jade Precept Book slowly dissipated, and the page, thin as a cicada’s wing, silently rolled up and returned to its original state.

Ying Chi tucked it into his robes, looked up, and spoke into the shadows behind him.

”We are returning to the capital immediately.”

A person soundlessly stepped out of the gloom.

It was a woman, seemingly around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, possessing considerable beauty.

Spiritual qi flowed around her as well; she was a cultivator.

She walked to Ying Chi’s side, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes. She likely didn’t understand why Ying Chi had quietly arrived in Yuanjiang Prefecture only to immediately return to the capital.

Ying Chi narrowed his eyes.

”If you truly are an unfathomable senior figure, and I plot against you while hiding in the imperial palace... the unfathomable experts in the palace are as many as ox hairs. Even a Heaven-Facing Three Floors cultivator could not kill me if they entered the palace.”

If you are not— Ying Chi sneered in his heart. Then I will make another trip to Yuanjiang Prefecture to kill you!

The woman naturally did not know the many schemes running through the Crown Prince’s mind.

She merely followed behind him.

Ying Chi said no more. Adjusting his dark brocade robe, he strode out of the hall.

A carriage was already waiting outside the palace gates. It was drawn by four pure white steeds, their manes flowing like silver threads.

Ying Chi boarded the carriage, and the curtain fell, concealing his face.

The woman boarded as well, taking a seat opposite him.

The old eunuch stood on the carriage shafts and lightly flicked his fly whisk.

The carriage slowly started moving, winding its way down the mountain road and gradually fading into the distance.

Up on Mangyang Mountain, the towering Crown Prince’s Beast-Fighting Palace slowly vanished into the depths of the night. Only a resplendent outline remained, fading in and out of sight beneath the moonlight like a dream on the verge of waking.

Meanwhile, at the other end of Yuanjiang Prefecture.

Inside the Lu Family estate, Lu Baizhong sat cross-legged in a quiet meditation room.

He appeared no older than eighteen or nineteen. With red lips and white teeth, his striking beauty hardly seemed to belong to the mortal world.

He wore a moon-white long robe. A longsword hung at his waist, its scabbard pure silver-white, the hilt inlaid with a jade-green gemstone.

At this moment, his eyes were tightly shut.

Faint lightning flowed around his body. Tiny electric arcs leaped from the surface of his skin, sparking for a split second in the air before vanishing.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

There was no trace of emotion in those eyes—only pure, indifferent lightning slowly swirling within.

He felt the information transmitted from the Jade Precept Book, sensing the name recorded within it as the terms of their transaction surfaced before his eyes.

Chen Lingxi.

He silently recited the name once, stood up, picked up the longsword resting by his knee, and secured it at his waist.

As the longsword settled into its scabbard, it let out a remarkably crisp, brief metallic ring, like a tiny bolt of lightning detonating inside the sheath.

Faint lightning flickered across his body. The electricity wasn’t deliberately circulated; it simply seeped out from beneath his skin naturally.

”I will kill you to fulfill the Jade Precept.”

Lu Baizhong murmured to himself, ”But who is this person?”

His eyes held no killing intent, only a trace of curiosity.

It was like a child growing curious about a toy in their hands.

Chen Lingxi took out the Spiritual Qi Orb and crushed it to powder.

He looked down at the tiny specks of light remaining on his fingertips, his gaze calm and undisturbed.

This Crown Prince already suspects me.

Sending that eunuch to invite him had clearly been a probe. Although the old eunuch had left, it didn’t mean the Crown Prince would stop there.

This man’s thoughts are meticulous. He likely has a backup plan.

The Crown Prince, Ying Chi, possessed tyrannical cultivation and wielded the Purple True Treasure Vase. Coupled with his status as Crown Prince, he was surrounded by many vital blood martial artists. Chen Lingxi had to stay on guard.

He couldn’t clash with the Crown Prince head-on—at least not yet.

Lin Suri saw Imperial Consort Chun at the junction of the Yuanjiang River and Zhuzhao River. If that is the case, Mount Qiaoji to the north of Yuanjiang Prefecture should be safe.

Chen Lingxi immediately left the city and headed toward Mount Qiaoji.

After crossing two peaks, Mount Qiaoji appeared in the distance.

Chen Lingxi traversed a riverbank and was just about to turn onto the mountain path when his footsteps suddenly halted.

Hiding in the shadows, Xi Mu had sensed something and instantly relayed it to Chen Lingxi.

Someone is here!

Someone was approaching—with extremely high cultivation and immense speed!

Chen Lingxi paused. His right hand quietly rested on his saber hilt, while the stream of spiritual liquid in his qi sea remained fiercely suppressed by the Hidden Edge Method, not leaking a single trace of aura.

Right at that moment, a bolt of lightning detonated in the far distance, piercing toward Chen Lingxi.

The lightning descended from the horizon. At first, it was just a faint, thread-like flash of gold streaking across the gloomy winter sky, but in the blink of an eye, it had arrived right before him!

A faint golden bolt of lightning as thick as an arm, wrapped in terrifying, world-destroying might, tore through the air, tore through the mountain wind, and tore through the omnipresent bleakness and silence of the world as it struck straight at Chen Lingxi’s head!

Wherever it passed, the air was scorched into distorted fragments, letting out ear-piercing shrieks like tearing silk.

A deep, charred trench was gouged into the earth. Dirt and crushed stone sprayed outward, sizzling in the air.

Chen Lingxi’s pupils shrank slightly.

He moved in almost the exact same instant the lightning detonated.

His right foot pushed off the riverbank with explosive force. His figure shot forward at an angle like an arrow leaving the bowstring, twisting through the air in a bizarre arc to barely evade the main brunt of the lightning.

But the lightning arrived too fast—so fast that even as he channeled his Golden Fluid Vital Blood to drive his movement technique, his left shoulder was still clipped by the shockwave radiating from the blast.

An irresistible and overwhelming searing heat pierced through his shoulder, scorching his Golden Body Astral Canopy until it sizzled. The golden light shield flickered violently several times before barely stabilizing.

Just the shockwave alone was this tyrannical!

Chen Lingxi landed on a river rock, raised his head, and looked toward the origin of the lightning.

Upon a nearby mountain ridge stood a person.

The man stood perfectly still in the biting north wind, faintly radiating a subtle, gossamer layer of lightning.

A longsword hung at his waist, spontaneously emitting a dim, cold gleam under the gloomy sky.

Lu Baizhong.

Chen Lingxi recognized this person at a single glance.

He had seen him in his Absolute Perception Deduction.

In that vision, the man had stood upon the branches of an old, crooked locust tree, looking down at him from above, killing him with a flick of his finger and a bolt of faint golden lightning!

Now, he had come again.

Lu Baizhong stood on the ridge with his hands clasped behind his back, his robes snapping in the wind.

Those eyes held not a single ripple. He just tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Chen Lingxi as if looking at an amusing plaything.

Chen Lingxi’s expression shifted slightly.

Right at that moment, the surrounding mist churned, and the willow puppet of Xi Mu walked out of the fog.

Xi Mu retained his usual appearance: a moon-white long robe, a handsome face, and hollow, lifeless eyes with a faint spiritual glow swirling deep within his pupils.

He stood several zhang in front of Chen Lingxi. Raising his right hand, he pressed down into the empty air. Countless streams of freezing qi hovered in the sky, aimed dead at Lu Baizhong.

Standing on the ridge, Lu Baizhong saw the figure emerge from the mist. For the first time, a faint trace of curiosity flashed in those innocent, childlike eyes.

Tilting his head, his gaze shifted from Xi Mu to Chen Lingxi.

Then, the corners of his lips quirked upward, revealing a bright, innocent smile.

”One who is hiding the head and exposing the tail.”

He paused, his gaze circling back to Xi Mu.

”One Qi Circulation 6th Floor...”

”How interesting.”

Chen Lingxi remained silent.

Lu Baizhong rested a hand on the precious sword at his waist. ”Someone asked me to kill you.”

”Come, stick out your neck and let me chop off your head!”