After the Great Dao Died

In Min Qin’s eyes, Chen Lingxi’s figure—standing casually at the mountain peak—suddenly grew incomparably tall.

Unimaginably terrifying vital energy almost materialized into a surging aura that bloomed in the void, radiating a vast, mighty pressure.

In this instant, Chen Lingxi’s figure stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the mountains!

Even though Min Qin stood amid the clouds, looking down over the entirety of Guanri Peak, she still felt Chen Lingxi stood far higher than she did.

Min Qin took a deep breath, a touch of solemnity appearing on her aloof face.

’What kind of divine ability is this?’

’And for him to unleash such vital energy and pressure, could he be a body cultivator?’

As she pondered, the spiritual light of Dao Origin occasionally flashed in her eyes as she seemingly tried to sense Chen Lingxi’s cultivation.

However...

She found absolutely nothing.

She couldn’t see through his true cultivation realm, couldn’t fathom the depth of his Dao Origin, and had no way of knowing what divine abilities he practiced.

Having achieved the Dao Foundation within the Dragon-Revering Sect and secured her place as a peak elder, Min Qin naturally knew to be cautious when facing an enemy she couldn’t see through.

Thus, Min Qin narrowed her eyes slightly and suddenly faded away.

The thick fog around her drifted over, carrying heavy Dao Origin and harboring various hidden killing intents.

But at this moment, the drifting fog tightly concealed Min Qin’s figure.

Chen Lingxi simply stood on the mountain peak, his arms hanging casually. His long sleeves fluttered continuously in the mountain wind, snapping sharply.

He watched the thick fog.

After a few breaths, Chen Lingxi flicked his finger. Dozens of streams of the Cyan Edge Method were instantly unleashed, shredding the thick fog within the mountain’s sea of clouds.

Min Qin had already disappeared; it seemed she had retreated.

Nearby, Cheng Shiyan and the others had also sensed the imposing aura radiating from Chen Lingxi. Their expressions varied.

The youngest, Hua Liuli, was initially astonished by his vital energy pressure, but she soon couldn’t help showing a look of joy.

”Martial Uncle Changle’s friend seems to be much stronger than that elder from Cyan Pool Peak.”

Her twin ponytails hung down her back, and her eyes sparkled.

Cheng Shiyan and Ning Ya also revealed joyful expressions.

Only Zhu Qingjian seemed to harbor some worry.

’It is naturally a good thing that this senior’s cultivation is so extraordinary...’

’But Yellow Luminary Peak, or even Cyan Pool Peak, doesn’t just have one Dao Foundation cultivator,’ she pondered.

At this moment, Chen Lingxi had already retracted his Heaven-Inviting Momentum aura. His gaze remained fixed in the distance, resting upon the faraway sea of clouds.

Then...

Zhu Qingjian and the others heard Chen Lingxi ask, ”Where is Yellow Luminary Peak?”

Why would the senior ask for the location of Yellow Luminary Peak?

The group was puzzled.

Cheng Shiyan, however, didn’t dare be negligent. He looked toward the southeast of Guanri Peak, where the sea of clouds surged. Many towering mountains could faintly be seen piercing through the mist, standing tall like islands in the sea.

”The territory of Yellow Luminary Peak is much broader than Guanri Peak. It commands forty-two mountains under its banner, and there are likely over a thousand ordinary cultivators.

”Flying eighteen hundred li from here, you will see a bamboo mountain. That marks the beginning of Yellow Luminary Peak.”

Cheng Shiyan pointed far into the sea of clouds. ”And their main peak is not hard to find. It possesses two Fourth Profound spirit veins, making the spiritual qi there extremely abundant.

”At the foot of the peak, there are also many ordinary cultivators hoping to join them.”

Chen Lingxi nodded slightly, then raised his head to look at the high clouds and mist.

The clouds drifted away, layer upon layer, yet there was nothing strange about them.

Soon after, Chen Lingxi frowned slightly and asked softly.

”I’ve heard that in the Dragon-Revering Territory, there is a Dragon Transformation Immortal Roll formed by the Cauldron Vessel Celestial Ranking. Where might this immortal roll be?”

Zhu Qingjian replied, ”Senior, the Dragon Transformation Immortal Roll is located in the eyes of the black dragon statue at the Dragon-Revering Main Sect.

”Whenever there is a change in the roll, the black dragon statue opens its eyes and reveals it.”

A black dragon statue?

Chen Lingxi suddenly recalled that he had once been to the Dragon-Revering Main Sect and seen that statue.

The statue was ferocious, its dragon pressure suppressing the sky, almost manifesting as a thick fog that shrouded a ten-thousand-li radius.

When he saw it, the black dragon indeed had not opened its eyes.

Chen Lingxi nodded slowly. He suddenly brushed his sleeve, and in an instant, clouds crackling with lightning gathered beneath his feet.

”Where is Senior going?” Hua Liuli asked nervously, likely afraid that Chen Lingxi would simply abandon them.

Chen Lingxi was about to answer but suddenly looked toward the distant sea of clouds again.

Within that sea of clouds, several brilliant lights flashed, turning into beams of light shooting toward them.

The vast sea of clouds was plowed into ravines of mist by these light beams. At the same time, heavy fluctuations of spiritual qi radiated from them.

Hua Liuli and Ning Ya’s expressions instantly changed!

”It’s Zhang Chuzhi from Yellow Luminary Peak. He is the one closest to the Dao Foundation realm among them.”

Cheng Shiyan’s expression, however, remained unchanged. ”Besides him, there are seven or eight other Yellow Luminary Peak disciples. They must be coming for us.”

Zhu Qingjian’s face similarly remained impassive.

With so many Yellow Luminary Peak disciples flying over, one didn’t need to think much to know they were here to kill. Most likely, Yellow Luminary Peak already knew that Liu Changle was dead and couldn’t wait to harvest Guanri Peak.

If it were in the past, encountering such a life-and-death calamity, the group would definitely have braced themselves as if facing a great enemy.

But at this very moment, they were completely unafraid.

It was only because today, upon Guanri Peak, there was also a Dao Foundation cultivator.

Zhu Qingjian was just about to speak when the lightning clouds beneath Chen Lingxi’s feet suddenly shone with dazzling brilliance. At that moment, Chen Lingxi turned into a streak of radiant light and shot forward.

In an instant, the sky full of clouds abruptly tore open.

Chen Lingxi stood on the clouds with his hands behind his back. He reached out a hand, formed a sword with his index and middle fingers, and lightly slashed toward the several streaks of light piercing through the air!

In an instant!

A clap of thunder suddenly roared, followed by an incomparably powerful sword qi erupting from his fingertips.

That sword qi was originally extremely minuscule, but the moment it left Chen Lingxi’s fingers and leaped into the sea of clouds, it expanded immensely in the blink of an eye.

Looking from afar, it was as if a thunderbolt hundreds of zhang long tore through the sea of clouds and slashed into the void!

Rumble!

Monstrous might erupted at this moment.

It was as if a divine being wielding thunder had violently struck down!

When this sword qi violently slashed down, all the mist in the void seemed to be shredded by countless fragmented sword lights!

Along with the sea of clouds within a radius of hundreds of zhang, and along with the several light beams that had just arrived, everything was swallowed by this single sword qi.

Following closely behind, a sky full of blood mist exploded from within the sea of clouds!

Chen Lingxi still stood upon those lightning clouds. Just like that, he passed through the sea of clouds and the sky filled with blood mist, flying southeast. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared from sight!

As for the many Yellow Luminary Peak disciples who were originally heading toward Guanri Peak, and even that figure from Yellow Luminary Peak who was closest to the Dao Foundation realm—all of them had been reduced to blood mist!

The terrifying escape lights that had originally been soaring through the sea of clouds had all dimmed and vanished.

The clouds closed back up.

Chen Lingxi had already vanished into the horizon.

The four disciples on Guanri Peak were all silent. Only after a long while did they look at each other in dismay.

”Did the senior just slay all those Yellow Luminary Peak disciples with a single sword strike?”

Ning Ya suddenly asked.

”Even if he is a Dao Foundation cultivator, how could he casually slay so many Heaven-Facing Three Floors cultivators with a single strike?”

They had clashed with Yellow Luminary Peak for a long time, so they naturally knew the cultivators within those beams of light all possessed extraordinary cultivation.

Even if a Dao Foundation cultivator made a move, they likely wouldn’t be able to kill so many experts with a single sword strike.

Not to mention...

”The senior unleashed a bolt of lightning sword light, and those people were slain before they could even react... From this, it seems Senior Zhi Ling’s cultivation is likely much stronger than Martial Uncle Changle’s, or perhaps even stronger than the Sect Master’s.”

Cheng Shiyan’s breathing was steady, but he couldn’t suppress the excitement in his eyes.

”But...” Hua Liuli suddenly spoke up. ”Senior went toward the southeast. Could he have gone to Yellow Luminary Peak?”

There were three Dao Foundation figures at Yellow Luminary Peak!

If the senior went alone, wouldn’t it bode ill for him?

Zhu Qingjian pondered for a moment, then slowly shook her head. ”The lives of Dao Foundation figures are precious; the senior naturally knows what’s at stake.

”He should only be going there to investigate. Perhaps he’ll return to Guanri Peak before long.”

The others nodded.

Cheng Shiyan looked toward the sea of clouds, where the blood-colored mist had yet to dissipate.

”With so many disciples dead, Yellow Luminary Peak will inevitably be furious.

”This senior’s temper seems a bit impulsive. Once he returns, we probably won’t be able to stay on Guanri Peak anymore.”

Ning Ya suddenly gulped. His voice was thin, his complexion pale, and his eyes revealed a hint of frailty. ”We are waiting here for the senior... but if he doesn’t return, and instead, the Yellow Luminary Peak cultivators come here again... Senior Brother, Senior Sister... what should we do?”

Everyone fell silent.

Eventually, Cheng Shiyan spoke. ”It’s just as Junior Sister Zhu said. A Dao Foundation cultivator’s life is precious. If Senior Zhi Ling wasn’t confident, he naturally wouldn’t go to investigate Yellow Luminary Peak.

”Since he was willing to make a special trip here, he naturally wouldn’t just take a stroll and then abandon Guanri Peak.

”You and I... let’s just wait here.”

The other few nodded.

Cheng Shiyan looked far off in the direction Chen Lingxi had left, though he didn’t voice his remaining thoughts...

With things having reached this point, once Yellow Luminary Peak was enraged, if a Dao Foundation expert came pursuing them, leaving Guanri Peak and fleeing far away wouldn’t allow them to escape the hunt anyway.

In that case, they might as well pin their hopes on Senior Zhi Ling.

The four people of Guanri Peak thus stood on the mountain peak in front of the cultivation halls, gazing far into the sea of clouds to the southeast.

Within the sea of clouds, a rainbow light had appeared at some unknown time, and occasionally, a few immortal cranes could be seen flying across.

But in their eyes, whether it was the rainbow light or the immortal cranes, everything was as bleak and gray as the sea of clouds in the mountains.

’Can the senior... return safely?’

Zhu Qingjian wondered to herself.

—

Chen Lingxi rode the clouds away, flying for about two thousand li before finally spotting a rather unique hill.

That hill couldn’t be considered towering. There were no jagged, bizarre rocks on the mountain, nor were there clear streams or small creeks; there was only a dense forest of green bamboo growing all over it.

Those green bamboos were brimming with spiritual qi, and streaks of a sharp aura seemed to permeate from them.

The green bamboo covering the mountains and plains seemed to form a massive array, brewing something within.

’These green bamboos all seem to be treasures.’

’They appear to belong to Yellow Luminary Peak.’

Chen Lingxi thought to himself. A brilliant light suddenly flashed in his eyes. He then extended a palm and struck the void!

In an instant, the myriad of spiritual energies within a thousand-zhang radius were entirely plundered by Chen Lingxi’s palm strike.

The plundered spiritual energies, along with Chen Lingxi’s incomparably heavy Dao Origin, transformed into a giant hand seal a hundred zhang in size.

It was precisely the Heaven-Seizing Seal!

Waves of profound aura rose from this Heaven-Seizing Seal, and numerous runes sparkled brightly upon it.

The Wondrous State Heaven-Seizing Seal was untold times more powerful than an ordinary Heaven-Seizing Seal. Coupled with the enhancement of Chen Lingxi’s Dao Origin, Unfulfilled Thunder spewed out from the Thunder Prison Profound Root on his Plundering Dragon Dao Platform and fell into the Heaven-Seizing Seal.

Instantly, the Heaven-Seizing Seal turned the color of azure lightning, with bolts of lightning blooming within it.

Chen Lingxi stood upon the clouds, his expression calm.

That Heaven-Seizing Seal crashed down with a boom, landing on the bamboo mountain.

In an instant, the green bamboo all over the mountain erupted with bursts of sharp aura. This sharp aura, like swords, pierced toward Chen Lingxi’s Heaven-Seizing Seal.

However, the Heaven-Seizing Seal was completely unafraid. It swept forward against the sword-like aura and then clenched into a fist.

With a single clench.

The green bamboo on the hill immediately snapped off in droves, seized firmly in the grasp of the Heaven-Seizing Seal!

As the green bamboo fell into his hand, Chen Lingxi raised an eyebrow.

He could clearly sense that these green bamboos were incomparably tough and brimming with spiritual qi.

”These green bamboos are indeed treasures. If I can extract the profound essence of the green bamboo covering this entire mountain and forge a precious sword, it should be quite extraordinary, not any inferior to my Abyssal Heaven Spiritual Sword.”

A hint of a smile appeared on Chen Lingxi’s lips. He continued to control the Heaven-Seizing Seal like this, uprooting all the green bamboo across the mountain.

He wasn’t in a hurry and even deliberately slowed his pace, occasionally looking toward the distant sky.

As if he were waiting for something.

Eventually, all the green bamboo covering the mountains and plains had been uprooted by Chen Lingxi, held within the Heaven-Seizing Seal and suspended beside him.

Chen Lingxi’s gaze flickered slightly as he looked toward the horizon.

At the edge of that horizon, amidst the swirling mist, two human figures emerged.