After the Great Dao Died

Ancestral Mountain was about to stir; the Mother Qi was about to emerge.

Spiritual energy in this Grotto-Heaven was withered and decayed. Cultivation here was like sailing against the current.

Yet, an immense fortuitous encounter like the Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi lay dormant within it, and a Killing Power Cauldron Vessel Fragment was soon to appear. It was as if a living vein was buried in a land of death, a door to survival hidden within a desperate crisis.

He had now stepped into the Qi Circulation Sixth Floor. His Golden Blood had just formed; the vital blood throughout his body seethed like boiling oil, and his Jade Qi churned...

’Ancestral Mountain Maternal Qi. Taking it will grant the opportunity to open a spiritual aperture!’

Chen Lingxi’s eyes flashed. ’I need to make preparations early. The Mother Qi opportunity is extraordinary enough to make even Imperial Consort Chun want to seize it. If I can obtain it, it will definitely be a massive boon to my cultivation progress.’

’But before that, I must do everything I can to deepen my foundation.’

’How do I elevate it...?’

The evening gloom settled heavily over the mountains. In the distance, the Yuanjiang River lay across the earth like a hazy gray ribbon. Mist rose from the water, faintly obscuring the scattered glow of a few fishing lanterns.

He did not linger on the view, instead casting his gaze toward Marquis Baosu’s Manor. The Demonic Banner was still there.’That Demonic Banner extended Marquis Baosu’s life by decades. It must be extraordinary. I should seize it first!’

But...

Chen Lingxi frowned. The problem was that Lin Suri was also there.

With a slight shift of his intent, his mind sank into the Divine Chamber.

Vision Roaming!

Sure enough, Lin Suri was in Marquis Baosu’s Manor.

He was borrowing the radiance of the precious lamp, immersing his heart in cultivation.

’I will wait for him to leave.’

Chen Lingxi was in no rush to act. He simply waited quietly on Cuojin Mountain.

—

This wait lasted twelve days. During these twelve days, he observed Lin Suri daily using the Vision Roaming Divine Ability.

Through Vision Roaming, he watched that precious lamp burn day after day. Lin Suri remained as motionless as a stone statue, sitting cross-legged while his aura rested as heavy and calm as still water.

Until the thirteenth day.

Lin Suri finally stood up. His brows furrowed slightly, as though sensing something.

Then, without lingering, he walked straight out of Marquis Baosu’s Manor. With a flicker of movement, his body transformed into a streak of pale golden light, shooting out of the city.

He moved with blinding speed, leaving the borders of Yuanjiang Prefecture in a remarkably short time. Heading in the direction of the Capital, he thoroughly escaped the coverage of Chen Lingxi’s Vision Roaming Divine Ability.

Chen Lingxi roused from his Vision Roaming, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Lin Suri had left in a hurry with locked brows. He had clearly run into a matter he had to handle personally.

’This works too.’

Chen Lingxi whispered. His figure vanished from where he stood.

He entered Yuanjiang Prefecture, concealing his spiritual qi and vital blood as he quietly slipped into Marquis Baosu’s Manor.

With the advancement in his cultivation floors and the reinforcement of Profound Qi, the Subtle stage’s Hidden Edge Method had become exceptionally profound. At this moment, Chen Lingxi’s boiling vital blood felt as though it had been smothered by a massive, invisible hand. In an instant, it turned from boiling hot to freezing cold, and his breathing, heartbeat, and flowing aura were suppressed to the absolute limit.

Unless someone looked with their own eyes, no one would ever sense a person standing there.

He raised his head and looked at the Taoist temple before him.

Xuantong Observatory.

Chen Lingxi did not take the main entrance. Instead, he circled to the side, silently scaled the high window, and peered inside.

He saw that old servant.

The old servant was sitting cross-legged in the temple’s main hall. Wearing dusty gray robes and sporting a haggard face, he looked no different from an ordinary old manservant.

Yet, the vital blood throughout his body surged and burbled. The sound was deep and continuous, like a subterranean river flowing in the dark.

Chen Lingxi looked with the Method of Qi Observation. The old servant’s internal vital blood was shockingly abundant; he had actually reached the Jade Qi Great Completion stage.

Jade Qi Great Completion.

No wonder the last time he spied on this place, the old servant’s palm strike had forced him back from a distance. Back then, Chen Lingxi was only at the Qi Circulation Fourth Floor and the Golden Body Realm; he had possessed no ability to resist.

Looking again now, he could truly see the depths of this old servant’s power. Chen Lingxi was in no hurry to strike. His gaze swept past the old man and landed in the depths of the main hall.

An enormous banner was unfurled there.

The banner’s surface was massive, taking up almost the entire wall. It was a dark, dull crimson all over, looking as though it had been soaked in the blood of some living creature and left to dry.

Dense patterns covered the banner. At first glance, they looked like runic scripts, but upon closer inspection, the lines were slowly writhing like living things.

And at this moment...

Chen Lingxi’s gaze focused.

Beneath the giant banner, a mass of black mist was constantly churning.

The black mist was impossibly dense. As it roiled, it carried a sense of flowing emptiness, as if the interior of the mist connected to an entirely different realm.

Chen Lingxi focused his vision, repeatedly probing it with the Method of Qi Observation. The banner overflowed with an astonishing amount of spiritual energy. Countless fine threads of spiritual light stretched out from its surface, pouring entirely into the black mist.

But the black mist itself was shrouded in an even heavier fog. No matter how he tried to pry, he could not see through it at all.

’This thing definitely doesn’t belong natively to this Grotto-Heaven.’

Chen Lingxi made his judgment. He swept his gaze back and forth across Xuantong Observatory, trying to find traces of the other person.

’And where is Marquis Baosu?’

From the time he arrived in Yuanjiang Prefecture until now, he had never seen Marquis Baosu’s true face.

Everyone said that Marquis Baosu cultivated the Dao right here in Xuantong Observatory.

But today, Chen Lingxi searched everywhere, even utilizing the Method of Qi Observation, yet he still could not find any trace of the Marquis.

’Where did Marquis Baosu go?’

Chen Lingxi furrowed his brows, then quickly smoothed them out.

He suddenly smiled, a touch of self-deprecation in his amusement.

’There are very few people in Yuanjiang Prefecture who can stop me now. Why should I cower in fear?’

Even as the thought crossed his mind, the aura around his body explosively erupted.

With the Hidden Edge Method withdrawn, his Purple True Precious Qi gushed out like floodwaters breaking a dam. His rolling vital blood boiled like magma, and his Jade Qi steamed into white mist, completely enveloping him.

The bluestone bricks beneath his feet could not withstand the impact of this aura, snapping and shattering as cracks spread in all directions like a spider’s web. Inside the main hall, the old servant’s eyes snapped open.

His reaction was nothing short of rapid. The moment Chen Lingxi’s aura exploded, the old servant flipped to his feet. Crossing his palms, his vital blood roared into motion, and he unreservedly unleashed his Jade Qi Great Completion cultivation.

Vital blood coalesced between his palms, forming a jade-colored palm imprint that ruthlessly blasted toward Chen Lingxi.

The might of this palm was enough to pulverize a small building.

But Chen Lingxi only extended a single finger.

He did not even employ any profound technique. He simply focused his Purple True Precious Qi at his fingertip and gave it a light flick.

A streak of Purple True Precious Qi shot out from his finger, so brilliant it stung the eyes.

The strand of precious qi collided with the old servant’s palm imprint, but there was no earth-shattering boom.

Only a soft hiss rang out, like a red-hot iron rod piercing into fat.

The palm imprint was punctured right through the middle, instantly collapsing into nothingness. The strand of Purple True Precious Qi continued unabated, stabbing straight through the old servant’s chest.

The old servant looked down, his eyes already dimming. He swayed twice, then toppled over backward, stiff as a board.

Dead in one hit. Chen Lingxi pulled back his finger, his face perfectly calm.

Jade Qi Great Completion was indeed extraordinary. But before Chen Lingxi—who was at the Qi Circulation Sixth Floor and had greatly elevated his Purple True Precious Qi—it was as fragile as paper.

The gap between them was no longer something that cultivation arts and techniques could bridge.

He did not spare the old servant another glance. Taking large strides into the main hall, he stopped before the giant banner.

Up close, the Demonic Banner exuded an even more suffocating pressure.

The squirming lines on its surface were not simple runes; they looked more like the meridians of a living creature. One could even vaguely see dark red liquid flowing within them.

Its spiritual energy was so abundant it practically overflowed from the banner.

Chen Lingxi reached out and took the Demonic Banner down from the wall.

It was heavy in his hand, feeling cold and clammy to the touch, much like gripping the body of a giant python. Without further inspection, he willed his Vast Void Pouch open and stowed the entire Demonic Banner inside.

But the moment the Demonic Banner entered the pouch, something bizarre happened.

The mass of black mist that had originally lingered beneath the banner actually drifted right into the Vast Void Pouch along with it.

It was as if it and the Demonic Banner were one entity, or it shared some inseparable attachment to it. Chen Lingxi furrowed his brow, but he had no time to study it closely.

Because from outside Xuantong Observatory, several sounds of the air tearing could be heard.

Stepping out of the temple doors, he saw several Golden Body experts darting madly toward him.

Leading the pack was Marquis Baosu Manor’s guest retainer, Zhao Qinglou. He had drawn his sword, a cold glint flickering on its edge. His cultivation was also terrifyingly at the Golden Body Realm.

Several martial artists trailed behind him, every one of them possessing robust vital blood.

”Audacious thief!”

Zhao Qinglou roared in fury. Thrashing his longsword, he turned into a beam of sword light and lunged forward with fierce momentum.

Chen Lingxi did not even look at him squarely. Bending his finger slightly, he flicked out another blast of Jade Qi and vital blood.

The blast of force ripped through the air at speeds nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.

Zhao Qinglou only had time to swing his sword horizontally to block. A sharp clang rang out. The hundred-refined fine iron longsword snapped in two, the upper half flying backward to embed itself with a heavy thud into the distant wall.

The residual power of the blast tore through the broken blade and slammed into Zhao Qinglou’s chest. He was blasted off his feet, crashing heavily to the ground as he violently spat mouthfuls of blood.

Seeing this, the other cultivators skidded to a halt in unison, their faces awash with shock and uncertainty. Chen Lingxi remained silent. His figure blurred.

Amidst a swirling vortex of vital blood, he transformed into a purple-gold rainbow that pierced the sky, tearing away in the direction of Cuojin Mountain.

Behind him, Marquis Baosu’s Manor was cast into a dead silence. The guest retainers and cultivators stared at one another; not a single one dared to give chase.

Today, Chen Lingxi was not wearing a mask, but with their level of strength, none of them had even managed to catch a clear look at his face.

—

By the time he returned to Cuojin Mountain, the sky had turned pitch black.

Chen Lingxi brought out his Vast Void Pouch. With a thought, the Demonic Banner flew out and unrolled across the ground.

Right behind it, that mass of black mist lazily drifted out, hovering above the banner in a slow, churning dance.

Chen Lingxi sat down cross-legged, using the Method of Qi Observation to study the two objects closely.

The Demonic Banner’s condition was exactly as he had seen it earlier. Overflowing with spiritual energy, its patterns wriggled as if it were a living creature.

But what truly caught his attention was the relationship between the Demonic Banner and the black mist.

Through his qi-observing vision, he clearly saw the Demonic Banner continually producing demonic qi. Thin as hairs, these strands of demonic qi endlessly sprouted from the banner’s surface before flowing entirely into the black mist, like all rivers running into the sea. Meanwhile, the black mist hovered quietly, inhaling and exhaling the demonic energy.

It made no sound, nor did it ripple violently. It just continuously breathed in and out, in and out, with a slow, steady rhythm.

That rhythm reminded Chen Lingxi of a single word.

Breathing.

This ball of black mist was breathing.

’It is not a dead object.’

This thought bloomed in Chen Lingxi’s mind.

He stared at the black mist for a long time. Finally, he reached out and injected a surge of spiritual qi into the Demonic Banner, attempting to refine it.

’Can this Demonic Banner be refined?’

The moment his spiritual qi entered the banner’s surface, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, instantly swallowed by the writhing patterns within.

Chen Lingxi could feel his spiritual qi successfully entering the Demonic Banner, but before he could even try to manipulate it, the spiritual qi was automatically converted into demonic qi by the banner, and then dutifully fed straight to the black mist.

Refusing to give up, he tried a few more times. Every attempt yielded the same result.

The spiritual qi entered the banner, instantly transformed into demonic qi, and was devoured by the black mist.

The Demonic Banner did not reject the spiritual qi he injected, but it also offered no response, as though an invisible barrier stood between him and the banner.

He could send spiritual qi inside, but he could not leave his own mark within it.

’It cannot be refined.’

Chen Lingxi retracted his hand, staring at the constantly churning black mist. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

Since this black mist could breathe demonic qi, then it was a living creature.

’Since it’s a living thing, naturally, it can also be poisoned to death.’

As if guided by ghosts and gods, he took out that jade bottle.

Stored inside the bottle was the precious medicine refined from Zhao Yong’s corpse.

He brought the bottle close to the Demonic Banner and pulled the stopper.

A thick, fragrant medicinal aroma instantly wafted out, carrying an astonishing amount of spiritual energy. Chen Lingxi instantly found himself salivating over the precious medicine.

But the Demonic Banner remained totally unresponsive.

No, more accurately, the Demonic Banner had zero interest in the precious medicine’s existence.

The wriggling patterns maintained their original rhythm. Demonic qi continued to be produced endlessly, and the black mist kept breathing slowly.

The entire bottle of precious medicine sitting right there was nothing more than a rock by the roadside to them.

Chen Lingxi brought the jade bottle closer to the black mist, but the mist also gave no reaction.

’Fascinating.’

Chen Lingxi stowed the jade bottle away. He looked at the Demonic Banner and the black mist, finally shaking his head.

’I struck out this time, but gained nothing.’

That thought wasn’t entirely correct, though.

The Demonic Banner was in his hands, after all, and the black mist had followed it. Even if he couldn’t refine them right now, they had ultimately fallen into his possession.

Given the sheer density of spiritual energy within this Demonic Banner, it was certainly no ordinary item. He might eventually find a method to refine it in the future. ’I’ll keep it for now. I’ll wait and see if I can find an opportunity to refine it later.’

He stopped worrying about it. After all, there were more important matters at hand.

Chen Lingxi stuffed the Demonic Banner and the black mist back into the Vast Void Pouch. Rising to his feet, he stepped out of the cave. The night was thick, the mountain winds howling. He fixed his gaze on the Capital, a gleam flashing in his eyes.

Lin Suri had headed toward the Capital. Today was already the thirteenth day.

’He still hasn’t returned. I’ll go see just what you went to the Capital for.’

Chen Lingxi delayed no longer. Propelling himself upward, he soared in the direction of the Capital.

By the time the sky broke with dawn, Chen Lingxi had touched down on a nameless hill roughly seventy li outside the Capital.

Chen Lingxi chose a spot by a cliff and sat cross-legged. Closing his eyes, he communicated with the Divine Chamber and unleashed the Vision Roaming Divine Ability.

Invisible perception rippled outward in all directions, with him at the center.

Ten li, twenty li, thirty li... Very soon, the landscape within an eighty-li radius had been entirely swept into his mind.

’Lin Suri really is here! And he’s incredibly close to me!’

He had found Lin Suri. Lin Suri was a mere ten li away, standing on the banks of a great river.

His aura was utterly subdued; he was actively hiding his tracks.

Chen Lingxi focused his attention to observe closely.

He saw Lin Suri standing in a patch of reeds by the riverbank. His entire body was shrouded in a faint, almost imperceptible layer of golden light.

His gaze was locked dead onto the depths of the river water. Golden light glinted within his eyes; he was clearly operating some kind of ocular technique.

Under the perspective of that ocular technique, the scene at the bottom of the river was crystal clear.

Chen Lingxi followed Lin Suri’s line of sight, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Buried in the deepest, unseen depths of the river was an arm.

The arm was a full size larger than an ordinary human’s arm. It was a pale gold all over, and one could vaguely see intricate lines flowing just beneath the skin, resembling some sort of profound array formation.

The arm was preserved in perfect condition. Its five fingers were slightly curled, the nails were pristine, and even the pores on the skin were clearly visible.

If not for that faint, bizarre aura it gave off, it looked exactly like an arm freshly severed from a living person.

And completely surrounding this arm was a dense cluster of array artifacts. These artifacts came in all shapes and sizes—some looked like bronze nails, others like jade plates, others like miniature banners—numbering no less than a hundred.

Taking the arm as their core, they formed an incredibly complex grand array.

The array runes were hidden beneath the river’s silt and mud. Their spiritual light didn’t glow. Without looking closely with an ocular technique, it was entirely undetectable.

But what concerned Chen Lingxi even more was that this grand array was harnessing the river’s current to siphon up colossal amounts of the world’s spiritual qi.

Spiritual qi merged from the waterways like all rivers running into the sea. After being converted by the grand array, it transformed into a thick beam of spiritual light that shot straight toward the Capital.

The location where that spiritual light landed was exactly where the Imperial Palace sat.

In a flash of lightning, a thought crossed Chen Lingxi’s mind.

That grand array, that arm, that colossal volume of spiritual qi, and the Imperial Palace where it all ultimately gathered... everything pointed to one single answer.

Someone was using this arm as a core, borrowing the power of the grand array, to funnel spiritual qi to a certain person or a certain object inside the Imperial Palace.

’There must be a supreme expert in the Imperial Palace. Even Imperial Consort Chun probably couldn’t set up an array of this magnitude!’

He had no time to ponder further, because he saw Lin Suri make his move.

He watched as Lin Suri pulled a jade slip from his robes and held it up, aiming it at the great river. Spiritual light swirled above the jade slip, rapidly coalescing into a figure clad in red.

It was the very same Martial Aunt that Lin Suri had gone to visit before.

The Martial Aunt in Red’s figure bobbed within the spiritual light. She gazed at the great river, her eyes piercing through the water to behold that arm.

The next second, unrestrained joy bloomed on her face.

”It truly is an Immortal Slough!”

These words spilled from her mouth, bearing naked exhilaration.

”With this Immortal Slough, supplemented by Perfected Lord Lingguang’s Spirit-Gathering Wondrous Pearl, plus the vast accumulations between myself and Senior Brother, we can forge a Nine-Transformation Precious Body!”

She paused here, a burning heat flashing in her eyes.

”When that time comes, by infusing our sect disciples’ souls into the precious body, our Chipo Court will finally have hope!”

Chen Lingxi caught every single word of this exchange.

Immortal Slough.

Nine-Transformation Precious Body. Spirit-Gathering Wondrous Pearl.

He had heard of some of these terms, while others were entirely new to him. Yet even based purely on the fragments of her speech...

’Chipo Court plans to use this Immortal Slough as a foundation, supplemented by various accumulated treasures, to refine a precious artifact called the Nine-Transformation Precious Body.’

And once this precious body was refined, Chipo Court would have its disciples’ souls take possession of it, thereby gaining some immense advantage.

It could even be... the turning point for Chipo Court’s rise to power.

Lin Suri obviously knew this as well.

Standing by the river, he listened to the Martial Aunt in Red without changing his expression, only opening his mouth to ask, ”Martial Aunt, the array surrounding this Immortal Slough...”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was already abundantly clear.

Since this grand array could siphon spiritual qi and send it to the Imperial Palace, it meant it already had a master.

And any master capable of laying out an array on this scale was surely not someone to be trifled with.

Hearing this, the joy on the Martial Aunt in Red’s face gradually faded, replaced by cold composure.

Following the veins of the grand array, she cast her gaze toward the distant Capital, toward that towering Imperial Palace. A moment later, she shook her head slightly. ”The foul qi within the Qi-less Realm is far too heavy. Cultivators from outside the realm cannot enter. That is exactly why we need you all to rely on the Pool of Reincarnation to reincarnate or seize bodies.

”Although this Grotto-Heaven possesses fortuitous encounters, to those of us from beyond its borders, it is a land of absolute death.”

She paused, then added, ”A Cauldron Vessel of unknown grade is not worth a Dao Teacher borrowing the Myriad Realms Projection.”

”But with this Immortal Slough, it is more than enough.”

The Martial Aunt in Red’s tone was absolute.

She immediately instructed him, ”This matter must be kept strictly confidential. If other sects find out, they will inevitably arrive by borrowing projections as well.

”When that happens, whose hands this Immortal Slough falls into will be hard to say.”

As her words fell, her figure began to dissipate, the spiritual light above the jade slip gradually dimming.

But just before she completely dispersed, she suddenly gazed off in the direction of Ancestral Mountain.

That Mother Qi will emerge within three days! If you can obtain the Mother Qi, your Grotto-Heaven body will gain the aptitude of a spiritual aperture. When the time comes, you can cultivate my Pristine Return Tiger Soul Profound Secret True Art.

”By then, when the cultivators of our Chipo Court arrive via projection, you will be able to offer at least a modicum of assistance.”

Hearing this, Lin Suri took a deep breath and bowed in acknowledgment. And ten li away, on the nameless hill, Chen Lingxi exhaled a heavy breath of foul air.

Within three days, the Mother Qi would descend...

He slowly stood up, the mountain winds blowing his robes until they snapped and fluttered.

On the distant horizon, the silhouette of Ancestral Mountain phased in and out of the morning mist. That grand mountain had stood there in silence for untold ages, burying who knew how many secrets within.

And three days from now, one of its greatest secrets would see the light of day once more.

Within the Divine Chamber, the two characters for Absolute Perception shone with radiance.

’I absolutely must fight for this Mother Qi!’

”””import re

blocks = re.findall(r’(