After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi stood amid the sea of clouds, sensing that his spiritual qi remained as steady as usual.

The spiritual qi within his Qi Sea had not even been depleted. Only the spiritual light from the mysterious person had grown increasingly dim, seemingly on the verge of dissipating.

Chen Lingxi was still immersed in the profound, mysterious aura of the Enemy-Slaughtering Spirit Wall.

”A cultivator of the Qi Circulation Eleventh Floor and a martial artist of the Twelfth Profound died by my hands just like that.”

Chen Lingxi’s gaze burned brightly. With the enhancement of the Enemy-Slaughtering Spirit Wall, he could acutely sense that during his battle against Marquis Fengshan and Qi Lian, his every movement had brimmed with unimaginable power.

”To amplify the power of my divine abilities and spells out of thin air—such might from a Cauldron Vessel is truly unfathomable.”

”With this Cauldron Vessel, perhaps no one in this realm is my match, save for Emperor Daye.”

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath, his gaze falling once more upon the distant Xuanji Island.

He departed on his cloud and landed on Xuanji Island.

Xuanji Island was not large. Chen Lingxi landed at the spot Marquis Fengshan and Qi Lian had been guarding, spotting the massive boulder at a glance.

The boulder was split in half down the middle, yet streaks of spiritual light flickered within the fissure.

Standing before the boulder, Chen Lingxi did not hesitate to circulate his Method of Qi Observation.

As his gaze fell upon the spiritual light in the boulder’s crevice, he suddenly sensed something, and his expression turned starkly serious.

”What kind of vision is this?”

Under his Method of Qi Observation, the myriad streams of spiritual light seemed to construct a profound illusion.

The projection was incredibly blurry, yet many things could faintly be seen within it.

To his shock, Chen Lingxi beheld a cultivator.

The cultivator wore ancient Daoist robes, his facial features indistinguishable in the hazy projection.

The man sat cross-legged in the void, devoid of any flowing spiritual light, looking just like a mortal.

However, the next moment, the cultivator slowly opened his eyes. He formed no hand seals; he simply raised his gaze and looked toward an expanse of nothingness ahead.

And then...

Chen Lingxi’s face filled with astonishment.

He clearly saw that within the blurry projection, a towering mountain had appeared out of thin air in that expanse of nothingness.

Its peaks clustered together, unparalleled in majesty!

Through those specks of spiritual light, Chen Lingxi could clearly perceive the weight of the mountain and the hardness of its rock.

The mysterious cultivator merely flicked his sleeve.

The mountain came crashing down, piercing through the clouds and mist before landing on the plains.

Dust immediately billowed everywhere. A massive crater was smashed into the plains, and even the river running through them was severed.

The river waters surged backward, kicking up monstrous waves!

The projection shifted again, and the cultivator looked toward the severed river.

A sliver of radiance flashed through his eyes, and the river waters began to swell rapidly.

In an instant, the water transformed from a trickling stream into a surging torrent. The waves crested dozens of zhang high, washing forward with crushing momentum!

The river water seemed enhanced by some profound power, becoming incomparably heavy and utterly terrifying.

Chen Lingxi could sense that if one were swept up by this water, their flesh and bones would melt away, and their spiritual qi would dissipate!

At the same time, streams of profound information were captured by Chen Lingxi’s Method of Qi Observation and poured into his mind.

The spiritual light within the boulder’s crevice continued to throb, but the projection vanished.

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath, his mind still filled with the cultivator’s mysterious and profound nature!

He had only taken a single glance and thought for a brief moment.

And that mountain and vast river had come into existence from nothingness.

Turning illusion into reality...

Chen Lingxi sensed the various pieces of information in his mind and took a deep breath.

”So this is the so-called Dao Foundation divine ability inscription... A Dao Foundation great divine ability is engraved within that spiritual light.

”With my Method of Qi Observation, I can only capture the lingering projections and information within the spiritual light; I cannot see the true, profound essence of this Dao Foundation great divine ability.”

”And this Dao Foundation great divine ability is named...”

”[Heaven-Human Thought].”

The Dao Foundation great divine ability, Heaven-Human Thought!

In ancient eons past, celestial beings existed.

Wherever their thoughts lingered, it could become a fleeting reality.

This was the great divine ability of the Limitless Epiphyllum Momentum Dao... Cultivating this art allowed one to turn thoughts into reality.

At this moment, towering waves of shock surged in Chen Lingxi’s heart.

”The Dao Foundation Realm can execute such an incomparably profound method?”

The might and profundity displayed by this Heaven-Human Thought had already surpassed any spell Chen Lingxi had cultivated so far.

Turning illusion into reality, turning thoughts into matter...

Just what kind of unfathomable method was this?

”Is this the so-called Dao Foundation great divine ability?”

Chen Lingxi’s gaze burned, and he suddenly recalled the two divine abilities cultivated by Emperor Daye.

Profound Brightness Reverent Splendor Dao, Age-Dial Reversal!

Shangshe Ruanle Dao, Heavenly Decline Law!

”Emperor Daye has already cultivated the Profound Brightness Reverent Splendor Dao’s great divine ability, [Age-Dial Reversal]. Now he is using a formation constructed from that Immortal Slough to nurture a flower.

”And that flower is the Dao Foundation Spiritual Object required to cultivate the [Heavenly Decline Law]!”

”So just how powerful is the current Emperor Daye? Once he successfully cultivates the Heavenly Decline Law and ascends another level, how profound will his methods be?”

His mind trembled as he gazed from a distance at the Dao Foundation divine ability inscription before him.

”It’s a pity that I still cannot see through the Dao Foundation great divine ability engraved within this spiritual light.

”It is akin to having a treasure trove right in front of me, yet being unable to use it.”

As his thoughts reached this point, his eyes suddenly shifted.

”I am currently inside the Absolute Perception Divine Chamber, and this Dao Foundation divine ability inscription is an ownerless object.

”Why don’t I... just take it.”

Having made up his mind, Chen Lingxi immediately wrapped the boulder in spiritual qi, intending to stow it in his Vast Void Pouch.

However... the moment his spiritual qi landed on the massive boulder, it was like a drop of water vanishing into the sea. It disappeared in an instant, rendering him completely unable to envelop it.

Chen Lingxi pondered for a moment before suddenly stepping forward. With his vital blood circulating and spiritual qi surging, he attempted to physically move the boulder.

Yet it didn’t budge an inch.

He shook his head gently and sighed.

”No wonder Emperor Daye dispatched Qi Lian and Marquis Fengshan to guard this Dao Foundation divine ability inscription here, instead of bringing it back to the Capital.”

”The problem likely lies in that Dao Platform Restriction.”

Chen Lingxi recalled the words Marquis Fengshan had reported to Emperor Daye during Vision Roaming.

A Dao Platform Restriction lingered on this inscription. After that Dao Foundation cultivator perished in the past, their Dao Origin had coagulated instead of dispersing, autonomously forming a barrier.

Even a figure at the Qi Circulation Eleventh Floor like Qi Lian required the Golden Talisman bestowed by Emperor Daye to barely tear open a rift and glimpse the projection within.

He was currently only at the Qi Circulation 9th Floor. Hoping to break the restriction and carry away the stone stele was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Chen Lingxi fell silent for a moment.

Then, he shook his head gently.

”Since others cannot move this Dao Foundation inscription, and I have already seen the extraordinariness of this divine ability with my own eyes, why should I be in a rush?”

”I have not even achieved the Heaven-Facing Realm yet; I am still too far from the Dao Foundation Realm. It won’t be too late to plan for this [Heaven-Human Thought] great divine ability once I reach the Twelfth Floor of Qi Circulation, prepare to cultivate a Dao Foundation great divine ability, and form my Dao Platform and Profound Root.”

”This Dao Foundation divine ability inscription is right here, and no one can take it away.”

Chen Lingxi thought, ’The pressing matter at hand is to investigate the location of that Cauldron Vessel capable of bearing fruit once more.’

With his mind made up, Chen Lingxi immediately activated the Cloud Soaring Technique. An Azure Cloud laced with thunder materialized out of thin air, carrying him into the sky and straight into the void before plunging into the sea.

Within the pitch-black seawater, Chen Lingxi silently circulated the Method of Qi Observation. Spiritual qi surged from his Qi Sea, traveling up his meridians and pouring into his eyes.

In an instant, the deep sea before him drastically changed its appearance in his vision.

Those auras that ordinary sight could not detect surfaced one by one.

Some originated from volcanic crevices deep on the seabed, scorching and violent.

Some came from shells, corals, and the remnants of medicinal herbs scattered across the ocean floor, mottled and chaotic.

Yet none contained the ancient aura that a Cauldron Vessel ought to have.

He wandered through the Heavenly Gate Sea like this for the better part of a day, traveling north from Xuanji Island and crossing an unknown number of underwater mountain ranges and deep-sea trenches.

His Method of Qi Observation swept over every possible location that might hide a Cauldron Vessel. He investigated sunken ships on the seabed, caves beneath coral reefs, and fissures at the edges of volcanic craters one by one.

But there was nothing.

That complete Cauldron Vessel was like a needle dropped into the vast ocean. No matter how he searched, he could not find the slightest trace.

”It seems it won’t be that easy.”

Chen Lingxi surfaced and landed on a deserted reef, exhaling a long breath of stale air.

He did not feel overly disappointed.

How could a Cauldron Vessel and its fruit be found so easily?

”My journey into the Absolute Perception Divine Chamber has allowed me to witness the profundity of the Heaven-Human Thought great divine ability with my own eyes, and probe the true strength of those two on Xuanji Island. That is already a bountiful harvest.”

”I will keep searching until the Absolute Perception shatters... And moreover...”

Chen Lingxi looked into the distance.

”The people in the Imperial Palace should already know that I killed Marquis Fengshan and Qi Lian. I wonder how they will react.”

Chen Lingxi continued his search in the Heavenly Gate Sea for seven consecutive days.

He searched from Xuanji Island all the way to the northernmost reaches of the Heavenly Gate Sea, and then doubled back south, practically turning the entire Heavenly Gate Sea upside down.

He operated his Method of Qi Observation day and night without rest. His eyes ached faintly from the continuous influx of spiritual qi, and the spiritual qi in his Qi Sea was mostly depleted.

Yet that complete Cauldron Vessel seemed as though it had never existed, leaving not a single trace behind.

”It looks like I won’t be able to find it.”

At dusk on the seventh day, Chen Lingxi stood on a barren reef, looking into the distance where the sea met the sky and the clouds were dyed dark gold by the setting sun, and finally shook his head.

Seven days of searching had yielded nothing.

He was just about to sit cross-legged and quietly wait for the Absolute Perception to shatter...

Suddenly, Chen Lingxi looked out into the distance, his heart jolting.

In the distant void, an aura was heading this way.

The aura was faint at first, like a dying star lingering on the horizon.

But it rapidly drew closer, growing heavier and heavier, like an invisible abyss slowly pressing down from the heavens.

Chen Lingxi looked up!

At the edge of the sky, amidst the churning sea of clouds, a cloud skiff was slowly approaching.

The skiff was entirely condensed from mist and clouds. Its hull bore no patterns and no flowing spiritual light, looking like an ordinary wisp of cloud blown by the wind.

Yet the figure standing at the bow made Chen Lingxi’s breath catch in his throat.

Emperor Daye, Ying Xian!