After the Great Dao Died

Chen Lingxi’s expression shifted slightly, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Liu Changle said, ”My cultivation in the dream is growing weaker. Even if I don’t die, I fear I’ll no longer be able to protect Sun Observation Peak.

”Yet my dream-self also seems to know how to ferry someone from this Grotto-Heaven to that world brimming with immortal qi.”

”If... you are willing, I will continue to sleep, and use my own Dao Platform and Profound Root to ferry you to that world.

”If it succeeds, I ask that you look after Sun Observation Peak in the future.”

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath.

The sliver of survival he had been searching for all this time had actually been found right here with Liu Changle.

Now, all he had to do was nod. Liu Changle would likely use his dream-self, his Dao Platform, and his Profound Root to ferry him away, allowing him to leave this Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven completely.

But...

After a moment of thought, Chen Lingxi asked, ”If I nod, what will happen to the you in the dream?”

Liu Changle smiled and shook his head. ”It will only make me a bit weaker.”

”Changle.” Chen Lingxi’s face was stern. ”You and I have lived together for over a year. Whenever I was racked with pain and illness, you were always the one looking after me.

”When I wished for death after testing medicines, it was you who gave up your own medicinal broth to save my life.

”I’ve seen the way you lied to Wang Kong many times. You can’t fool me.”

Liu Changle sighed and fell silent.

Chen Lingxi mirrored his silence. After a few breaths, he asked again, ”If your Dao Platform reaches into this Grotto-Heaven, but you die because you are already weak...

”Then what will happen to the you in this world?”

This time, Liu Changle spoke with utter seriousness. ”I honestly don’t know. Perhaps I’ll die. Or perhaps I simply won’t dream of that other world anymore.”

’I can’t risk it,’ Chen Lingxi told himself after careful thought.

Besides...

’Changle wants me to look after Sun Observation Peak, but if he ferries me to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm...

’The Que Star Xi Family probably won’t be able to refine the Realm Essence required to forge a Great or Profound Golden Palace.

’There is no telling how unfathomable a True Monarch’s divine abilities are. If he tracks me down and discovers that it was Sun Observation Peak’s Liu Changle who ferried me away...

’He might take his anger out on Sun Observation Peak.’

’Changle cares so much about Sun Observation Peak. If it is destroyed because of me, how could I ever face him?’

Chen Lingxi had studied the works of the sages.

A person lived only one life; in the pursuit of immortality, there were times to be ruthless, but there were also lines one must not cross.

’This isn’t the best solution. I’ll take it one step at a time... The incarnation of the great river awakening within the Ancestral Mountain and terrifying the True Monarch of the Que Star Xi Family into abandoning his refinement of this Grotto-Heaven—that is the perfect outcome!’

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Lingxi’s gaze fell back onto Liu Changle.

’I just don’t know if Liu Changle, as an incarnation of the river water, will be able to continue existing once Great Sage Luoyuan’s incarnation awakens.’

’Fortunately, I have the power of Absolute Perception. I can afford trial and error.’

As he pondered, another possibility came to mind.

’Emperor Daye once mentioned that he held a treasure capable of making heaven and earth completely ignore and forget a person.

’If I can acquire that treasure, I could have Liu Changle try using it while I trigger Absolute Perception.’

’If the Liu Changle of the Great Xuanzhuo Realm saves me with his Dao Platform without affecting the Liu Changle of this world, then there’s no harm done.’

The memories of the Liu Changles in both worlds now seemed fully connected.

They were essentially avatars of one another.

Since that was the case, as long as one survived, it was the same as both surviving.

Seeing Chen Lingxi’s reluctance to accept the ferrying via his Dao Platform, Liu Changle knew he was afraid of causing his death in this world.

But genuinely worried about the situation at Sun Observation Peak, he could only heave a long sigh.

”If you change your mind, come find me here.”

The two drank tea and reminisced about the past.

When Chen Lingxi was about to leave, Liu Changle stood up to see him off, then climbed back into bed and returned to his slumber.

As Liu Changle fell asleep in the Qi-Depleted Grotto-Heaven...

Liu Changle opened his eyes in the Fenglong Peaks of the Great Xuanzhuo Realm.

He frowned at the agonizing pain radiating from his Dao Platform, his Profound Root, his physical body, and his Sea of Consciousness.

A trace of worry crept onto his somewhat weathered face.

”Cheng Shiyan...” he called out softly.

A robust man walked in from outside. With a solemn face and resolute eyes, he bowed to Liu Changle. ”Martial Uncle.”

”Have our disciples been evacuated?”

Cheng Shiyan nodded slightly and replied in a low voice, ”Nearly half of the disciples refuse to leave. They want to live and die with Sun Observation Peak.”

Liu Changle sighed.

”You should head down the mountain with Qingjian. If you don’t go, she won’t go either, and you’ll inevitably fall into the hands of that fiend...”

Right at that moment, Zhu Qingjian walked through the door. Dressed in white, her bearing was pure and transcendent.

A hint of joy seemed to color her face.

”Martial Uncle... Zhuo Jiao has comprehended an extraordinary spiritual essence and has now entered secluded cultivation.”

Liu Changle was briefly stunned before joy appeared on his face. ”How do you know?”

Zhu Qingjian produced a spiritual letter. ”This spiritual letter came from Azure Sky Peak. It’s unsigned, so it must be Senior Sister Shi Xi remembering our old ties and sending this missive.”

Shi Xi?

The joy on Liu Changle’s face grew even brighter.

Sun Observation Peak had actually gained this sliver of hope.

—

Chen Lingxi returned to the King of the East’s Traveling Palace, feeling a bit lost and empty.

He knew that if he had agreed, he might have been able to head to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm before long.

But many things in this world could not be done at the expense of righteousness.

Pushing the thoughts aside, he continued his cultivation, refining the Myriad Breeding Dao-Seeding Marvelous Lotus Qi.

Time slipped by quietly, and over ten days passed in a flash.

On this day, Chen Lingxi slowly opened his eyes, a trace of irritation evident on his brow.

Refining the Myriad Breeding Dao-Seeding Marvelous Lotus Qi wasn’t considered overly difficult, but as it reached its final stages, it either became increasingly harder, or Chen Lingxi was simply too distracted.

Several times when the refinement reached a critical juncture, something always went wrong.

Sometimes his spiritual qi would agitate the precious qi, causing it to scatter in all directions before gathering back into the void.

Other times, Chen Lingxi’s spiritual qi would flow past without catching the crucial bottleneck within the precious qi, resulting in a complete failure on the verge of success.

’I’m only a few steps away, but it just won’t come together.’

’Maybe I’ve been in secluded cultivation refining precious qi for too long. It’s making me irritable and unable to focus.’

Chen Lingxi thought for a moment, and a sudden idea bloomed in his mind.

’My cultivation is no longer weak. There are very few in this Grotto-Heaven who can defeat me.’

’Since I’ve reached a bottleneck in my cultivation, I might as well travel around. I can look for opportunities while clearing my head.’

Thus, Chen Lingxi walked out of the King of the East’s Traveling Palace and rode into the clouds.

Picking a direction at random, his Wondrous State Cloud Soaring Technique wrapped him in lightning as he shot deep into the horizon.

Sitting cross-legged on the cloud, Chen Lingxi continued to refine the precious qi.

Sure enough, the refinement of the precious qi went incredibly smoothly this time. In just a short day, this stream of Myriad Breeding Dao-Seeding Marvelous Lotus Qi completely vanished from the void before him, sinking into his Qi Sea to submit to the vast spiritual qi alongside the other three streams of precious qi.

A faint smile touched Chen Lingxi’s face.

’It seems wandering around can sometimes be beneficial to cultivation.’

’I might as well go a bit farther.’

With that thought, he let the Cloud Soaring Technique carry him tens of thousands of feet into the sky, speeding continuously onward.

He flew across an unknown number of miles and past countless cities.

Chen Lingxi knew he had already left the territory of Great Li and arrived in Great Zhou.

Along the way, Chen Lingxi continuously circulated the Method of Qi Observation, watching the world below to see if he could stumble upon an opportunity or two.

It wasn’t until he reached the borders of Great Zhou that he spotted a mountain in the distance.

The mountain looked thoroughly unremarkable—desolate, even, with barely any greenery to be seen.

But in Chen Lingxi’s eyes, waves of ancient aura billowed from the mountain, filling the void and even stirring the surrounding spiritual essence. It left him immensely surprised and delighted.

’My opportunity has really come.’

”There must be a Cauldron Vessel Fragment inside this mountain,” he said with a smile. ”And given how dense this ancient aura is, it’s definitely no ordinary piece.”

To stumble upon such a lucky chance just by wandering around casually made Chen Lingxi feel quite pleased with himself.

’Daoist Brother Lin told me on the snowy mountain peak that day that there are many extraordinary cultivators in this world.

’They are born with unique constitutions. Some are known as immortal fetuses—they don’t even need to practice normally. Just by breathing in and out, walking, or resting, they naturally absorb spiritual qi, making their cultivation absurdly fast.

’Some possess wondrous divine physiques; they only need a passing glance at the world’s divine abilities and spells to easily master them and reach the Wondrous State.

’And some have heavenly fortune precious bodies, which are essentially no different from the Cauldron Vessel [Dao Fortune Dharma Slip]. They could just step outside for a stroll and trip over treasures.’

’For me to pick up a Cauldron Vessel Fragment while casually wandering... with luck like this, even if I don’t have a heavenly fortune precious body, I’m definitely far better off than ordinary cultivators.’

Brimming with smug satisfaction, Chen Lingxi gave himself a thorough mental pat on the back and lowered his cloud toward the mountaintop.

A rocky crag jutted out from the cliff face of the mountain.

A green pine grew upon it. Resembling a welcoming pine, its branches stretched far out from the rock, dense and lush with verdant needles.

And resting atop the pine’s canopy, Chen Lingxi spotted a treasure chest from afar.

The chest was coated in dust, looking entirely unremarkable to the naked eye.

But when Chen Lingxi examined it with the Method of Qi Observation, he saw that the incredibly dense and heavy ancient aura was emanating precisely from this very chest.

Chen Lingxi sent out a stream of spiritual qi, instantly snatching the chest over to float in the air before him.

”It really is a Cauldron Vessel Fragment.”

Chen Lingxi nodded in satisfaction, the pleasant surprise still lingering in his eyes.

’I wonder what wondrous uses this Cauldron Vessel Fragment actually has.’

As he pondered, he was just about to inject his spiritual qi into the chest to awaken the Cauldron Vessel Fragment...

But in the next instant, Chen Lingxi suddenly remembered something.

His consciousness sank into the Divine Chamber. Golden tadpole characters flashed upon the heavy clouds.

[Absolute Perception Origin Supplementation Progress: 73%].

Chen Lingxi’s Absolute Perception Origin Supplementation progress was no longer far from completion.

The reason it had been so fast this time was due to the stream of Myriad Breeding Dao-Seeding Marvelous Lotus Qi; refining that qi had boosted his Absolute Perception Origin Supplementation progress by more than thirty percent.

’A Cauldron Vessel Fragment always provides a great deal of progress for Absolute Perception Origin Supplementation.’

’Yet despite the incredibly dense ancient aura on this treasure chest, my supplementation progress hasn’t increased by even a fraction of a percent.’

Chen Lingxi’s eyes remained calm, betraying no sign of suspicion.

In his heart, however, he grew increasingly vigilant.

’Now that I think about it carefully... when I was refining the precious qi back in the King of the East’s Traveling Palace, I faced absolutely no obstacles at first. It was going perfectly smoothly.

’But toward the end, mistakes kept happening during the refinement.’

’And then, that bizarre idea to come wander around Great Zhou somehow popped into my head.’

’To happen upon this Cauldron Vessel Fragment while casually wandering... it’s far too much of a coincidence.

’And yet, I didn’t sense anything wrong with it at all. Instead, I felt smug about my own luck.’

Reaching this point in his thoughts, Chen Lingxi took a deep breath.

’Who is plotting against me?’

His burning gaze locked onto the treasure chest and its engraved ancient patterns.

Having stepped onto the path of immortality, even if only within this Grotto-Heaven, Chen Lingxi had already witnessed many treacherous and eerie methods.

’Great Divine Abilities and Cauldron Vessels both possess this kind of power.’

’Could Emperor Daye be plotting against me?’

Chen Lingxi slightly shook his head at the thought.

’Emperor Daye is healing his injuries... If he wanted to kill me, why go through the trouble of such a convoluted plot?’

’The cultivators from the Under-Dao Academy around Lin Suri are also busy healing. They have even less motive to strike at me.’

He took a deep breath.

’This is a bit strange.’