After the Great Dao Died

Profound-Pointing Sword Furnace.

That was the name of this magical artifact.

Channeling spiritual qi into the sword furnace was like refining profound iron to forge sword qi.

Chen Lingxi slid the ring onto his left index finger. Driving the spiritual pool within his qi sea, he sent spiritual qi surging like a broken dam into the black bead set in the ring.

The bead trembled slightly, and a microscopic point of green-jade light flared within it.

Then it vanished.

Chen Lingxi’s pupils contracted.

’I can refine it, but firing a single strand of sword qi will probably drain every drop of spiritual qi in my body,’ he estimated silently.

’With my current cultivation, if I pour all my strength into a single sword light and reinforce it with the Micro Realm of the Cyan Edge Method, an ordinary Qi Circulation 6th Floor cultivator or someone at Jade Qi Peak Completion wouldn’t be able to handle it.’

Delighted, Chen Lingxi kept the Profound-Pointing Sword Furnace on his left index finger and turned his attention back to the strand of Purple True Precious Qi in his qi sea.Ever since devouring the numerous fragments of purple qi from the Crown Prince’s avatar that day, it had grown immeasurably stronger. He calmed his mind and circulated his spiritual qi, completely refining the avatar’s final purple qi fragment.

Bathed in the golden light, the purple qi grew increasingly condensed. What had started as a pale purple strand thin as silk had thickened to the size of several chopsticks bundled together. Its color had deepened from pale lavender to a heavy, profound purple, faintly radiating a jade-like luster.

’Now, this Purple True Precious Qi won’t hold me back anymore.’

Chen Lingxi’s thoughts raced.

’The Crown Prince’s spiritual qi, paired with that Purple True Precious Qi... if his avatar possessed that much power,’ Chen Lingxi speculated. ’It seems he hasn’t been standing still this past year. He must have already broken through to the Qi Circulation 7th Floor.’

The Qi Circulation 7th Floor was the threshold of the Upper Three Floors. At that stage, spiritual qi became as dense as mercury, and divine sense initially formed, able to leave the body and perceive the outside world.

As a disciple of the Southern Heaven Region, Ying Chi possessed peerless talent. Given his high status, breaking through within a year was hardly a surprise.

’Lin Suri has also reached the Qi Circulation 7th Floor.’ Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes in deep thought. ’And Lu Baizhong is likely close behind.’

”Whether it’s the Killing Power Cauldron Vessel in Yuanjiang Prefecture or the Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi, neither has emerged yet...” he murmured, a sharp gleam in his eyes. ”I still have time.”

It was late May. Early summer had arrived outside the cave, filling the mountains with lush foliage and the ceaseless drone of cicadas. In the ravines, streams shimmered under the bright sunlight.

Bolstered by Profound Qi, his daily speed of breathing and refining spiritual qi had multiplied several times over.

Combined with the Pure Wondrous Qi Pivot Array gathering spiritual qi day and night, and the resources he had obtained from Luo Ran—two spirit stones, a spirit mushroom, and a pill—his Qi Circulation progress advanced a thousand miles a day. ’I’ll cultivate here in Mount Nanju until I reach the Qi Circulation 6th Floor. Only then will I leave seclusion.’

His mind made up, he tossed the pill into his mouth and began refining it. He closed his eyes, focused his spirit, and charged at the bottleneck of the Qi Circulation 6th Floor.

In the mountains there are no Jiazi markers; several months passed in the blink of an eye.

Time flew by, and the winter solstice of another year arrived.

On this day, fine snow drifted outside the cave, painting the mountains in pure white.

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged at the core of the array, spiritual qi boiling around him. After months of bitter cultivation, the spiritual pool in his qi sea had expanded to its absolute limit. The spiritual liquid was as clear as jade and unfathomably deep.

At that exact moment, the spiritual qi inside him abruptly transformed.

Within the spiritual qi, the Nine-Return Spirit Mechanism quietly sparked to life.

Formless and immaterial, this mechanism circulated silently through his qi, repeatedly compressing, purifying, and stripping the impurities from the spiritual liquid in his qi sea.

With every compression, the liquid grew purer. Its initial green-jade color deepened to dark cyan, and then into an intense, almost ink-black green.

By the end, every single drop of spiritual liquid was condensed to the extreme, hovering in the spiritual pool like microscopic, hair-thin spiritual needles pulsing with a dark, chilling gleam.

Through the Nine-Return Spirit Mechanism, the spiritual qi had been compressed nine times, purging all impurities until every drop resembled a needle. At the same time, deep within his flesh, the Golden Blood spirit mechanism emerged.

Sprouting from the very marrow of his bones, it was like a golden seed breaking ground in his skeletal cavities. It sent out tender shoots and grew rapidly, transforming into an irresistible and overwhelming torrent of vitality that surged through his veins to every corner of his body.

Bathed in this vitality, a faint, microscopic golden luster began to shimmer within his blood.

Though faint, that golden light genuinely existed in every single drop of his blood.

The Golden Blood intertwined with the golden glow of his Profound Qi, running parallel through his body like twin rivers of gold.

Wherever they flowed, his meridians grew broader and more resilient, and even his bones began to radiate a soft golden halo.

This halo was entirely different from the Golden Body Realm—it was vastly more profound.

Chen Lingxi opened his eyes.

”Qi Circulation 6th Floor!”

The liquid spiritual qi in his qi sea was now unimaginably dense. Its boundaries had expanded several times over, the liquid churning like boiling water.

Even his Profound Qi seemed to have grown, becoming far more solid than it had been months ago. It absorbed spiritual qi at an astonishing rate.

”No wonder the Time Candle said that in the Twelve Floors of Qi Circulation, each floor is an entirely different world! Just climbing a single floor brings about such miraculous changes...”

Overjoyed, Chen Lingxi immediately sensed his Divine Chamber.

”The Divine Chamber... it’s changed again!”

The Divine Chamber in his mind had expanded drastically, now stretching eighty li across in every direction.

An eighty-li radius was enough to encompass the entire Yuanjiang Prefecture city, along with dozens of surrounding mountains and several rivers, swallowing them all into its projection.

”And it isn’t just an increase in Vision Roaming’s range. The Absolute Perception Divine Ability has changed too.”

With a thought, he sank his consciousness into the Divine Chamber.

In the void of the Divine Chamber, thick fog roiled wildly as a line of golden tadpole-like text flickered and flowed through the empty air.

[Divine Ability: Absolute Perception (Ready)]

After his long, bitter cultivation, the restoration of Absolute Perception was finally complete.

Yet what surprised Chen Lingxi wasn’t just the progress of the restoration.

Focusing closely, he realized that upon fully restoring itself, the Absolute Perception Divine Ability seemed to have undergone another transformation. ’What changed?’

A massive, complex flood of information surged from the depths of the Divine Chamber, pouring into his sea of consciousness like a shattered dam.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, carefully examining the influx of knowledge.

’I can use Vision Roaming at the same time as Absolute Perception now?’

A smile tugged at the corners of Chen Lingxi’s mouth. He withdrew his consciousness from the Divine Chamber and stood up.

He had been in seclusion among the Nanju Twelve Mountains for a long time. Now that he had reached the Qi Circulation 6th Floor and completed his profound transformation, it was time to return.

Outside the cave, the world was entirely white.

The northern wind hurled snow spray down from the peaks, whipping his robes loudly around him.

Xi Mu trailed silently behind him, his moon-white robes fluttering gently in the blizzard.

Half a year later, Chen Lingxi finally returned to Mount Qiaoji.

The mountain drifted in and out of view through the driving snow, crouching between heaven and earth like a slumbering behemoth.

He didn’t return to his previous cave. Instead, he headed to the place where Xu Qingru was imprisoned. The ten-thousand-jin boulder sealing the entrance remained firmly wedged in place, leaving only a few hair-thin cracks at the edges to let in a meager trace of sunlight and air.

Chen Lingxi shoved the boulder just enough to create a gap and slipped inside.

Xu Qingru was curled up deep within the cave. She had withered to the point of losing her original shape—her eye sockets were sunken, her cheekbones jutted sharply, and her plain white dress was torn to rags.

For a full half year, she had survived solely on the rations left in the Vast Void Pouch Chen Lingxi had provided. When thirsty, she drank spring water from the pouch; when hungry, she gnawed on the hard flatbread wrapped in oiled paper.

Her qi sea was shattered and her spiritual qi had long dissipated. She was no longer the cultivator who boasted Qi Circulation 5th Floor prowess.

But she had been a cultivator once, leaving her far more resilient than an ordinary mortal.

Moreover, the minuscule, lingering traces of her spiritual qi had barely managed to sustain her life force over the past six months, allowing her to stay somewhat clean instead of becoming a filthy, reeking prisoner.

Hearing the noise, she raised her head. When she recognized the intruder, a flash of deeply complex emotion crossed her dull, ashen eyes.

”Exalted cultivator...”

Xu Qingru bowed.

Chen Lingxi stopped in front of her. He looked down and offered no empty words.

”Come with me to retrieve the Taotie Urn.” The blizzard raged fiercely outside.

Carrying Xu Qingru, he headed straight north, crossing mountains and ridges toward Mianyang Prefecture.

The reason Chen Lingxi dared to fetch the Taotie Urn was that Xu Qingru and Jiang Xing hadn’t hidden it in the territory ruled by the rebel king Yun Jiao.

Mianyang Prefecture was located north of Lunan Province, deep within the heartland of Great Li, a full thousand li away from Yuanjiang Prefecture.

Though small bands of rebels roamed the area, the nineteen rebel kings had never extended their reach here.

Besides, Xu Qingru’s cultivation was utterly ruined; Chen Lingxi didn’t believe she would dare to deceive him anymore.

The Taotie Urn was useless to her now, and killing her would take no more than a flick of his finger.

As expected, the journey went flawlessly. Chen Lingxi successfully retrieved the cauldron vessel.

He then discarded Xu Qingru in Mianyang Prefecture and headed straight back to Yuanjiang Prefecture.

This time, he didn’t return to Mount Qiaoji. Instead, he went to the King of the East’s Traveling Palace on Mount Cuojin.

The palace was completely deserted. Inside the main hall, Chen Lingxi pulled out an urn.

The urn was barely a chi tall, fired from some unknown black clay. Its surface was carved with intricate, eerie patterns that faintly formed hideous ghost masks of varying sizes and shapes. Some had their jaws unhinged as if ready to devour, some bared their fangs, and others had their eyes half-closed as if feigning sleep.

This was the Taotie Urn.

Chen Lingxi injected his spiritual qi into the Taotie Urn.

The instant the qi entered it, the ghost mask patterns adorning the urn seemed to come alive. The fangs of every mask trembled slightly, emitting a microscopic hum.

A primeval aura blasted upward from the mouth of the urn. Incredibly heavy and dense, it churned, gathered, and shifted within the vessel until it finally morphed into a woman’s face.

The face hovered above the opening, woven entirely from countless fine flecks of black light, its brows, eyes, mouth, and nose completely distinct.

It stared coldly at Chen Lingxi, its eyes devoid of emotion, holding only a condescending, almost apathetic scrutiny.

Then, it spoke.

Its voice wasn’t particularly loud, yet it possessed a staggering resonance, every single word exploding inside Chen Lingxi’s skull.

”Sacrifice one soul, and you shall obtain the Life Devouring divine ability.”

”Yes, or no?”

’Sacrifice one soul?’ Chen Lingxi frowned slightly.

He thought of Jiang Xing and Xu Qingru.

Those two must have sacrificed their own souls to this Taotie Urn.

’One soul.’

’A person only has three hun and seven po souls; how could sacrificing one end well?’

Although he didn’t know the exact consequences of sacrificing a soul, just thinking about it told him that this matter was nowhere near as simple as it seemed on the surface.

’I shouldn’t sacrifice my soul so casually.’

’Besides, since this Life Devouring is a divine ability, can I test it out with my Absolute Perception?’

’Can the method of a divine ability be forcefully memorized?’

With a plan in mind, he stopped dwelling on it and withdrew his spiritual qi.

The primeval aura on the Taotie Urn receded like the tide. The woman’s face stared at him expressionlessly for a moment before dissolving into a faint wisp of black smoke and vanishing into the mouth of the urn.

Chen Lingxi stowed the Taotie Urn into his cosmos sack. He stood up, walked out of the traveling palace, and gazed into the distance at the Ancestral Mountain west of the city, enshrouded in perpetual dense fog.

The Ancestral Mountain flickered in and out of sight amidst the blizzard. The fog blanketing everything above its midpoint was even thicker than before.

The mist churned violently, as if a behemoth that had slumbered for eons was slowly awakening, spewing out massive clouds of dense fog with every breath to wrap the mountain ever tighter.

Standing in the snow, he stared at the mountain, narrowing his eyes.

’The fog is churning, and when I passed by the Ancestral Mountain earlier, there were actually faint traces of spiritual qi on it.’

He remembered that when he previously used Absolute Perception to observe the Ancestral Mountain, it hadn’t held even a sliver of spiritual qi.

’With all these changes, it seems the emergence of the Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi isn’t far off.’

He noted silently.

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