After the Great Dao Died

Xi Lan waited for a long time before she finally had to withdraw her gaze.

She looked down at the sea of clouds, now returned to calm without a single trace left behind, then raised her head to look at the Heaven-Observing Mirror hanging high and imposing in the sky.

”This sword light and the lightning... they are somewhat familiar.”

Pale gold sword light with lightning patterns flowing through it... it looked like the handiwork of that young immortal from the Weiji Grotto-Heaven.

”But how could there be such a coincidence?”

Xi Lan shook her head and solemnly bowed toward the empty sea of clouds.

Then, she turned and flew off in another direction.

”To survive a great disaster and gain so much insight... I should be able to step into the Dao with my Profound Root now!”

At this moment, Chen Lingxi was traveling southeast.

His Hidden Edge Method remained constantly active. From afar, he looked like nothing more than a sliver of light and shadow upon a drifting cloud in the sky, indistinguishable from ordinary passing clouds.

After traveling for several days, an indescribable sense of strangeness lingered in his heart.

He continuously recalled his encounter in the sea of clouds that day.

How vast was the Great Xuanzhuo Realm?

The Land of Nine Palaces stretched boundlessly from north to south and endlessly from east to west. Within it stood countless sects and immortal clans, tens of thousands of cities, and Loose Cultivators as many as ox hairs.

The chances of two acquainted cultivators running into each other by chance in such a vast world were almost zero.

Even Chen Lingxi, having walked within the Dragon-Revering Sect Territory for two years, had never met a single person he truly knew or could call by name.

Yet, on his way back, he had unexpectedly encountered Xi Lan.

He had run into that woman he had only met a handful of times in the Weiji Grotto-Heaven.

Xi Lan had once traveled alone over mountains and rivers, crossing numerous barriers to seek him out and take him as her master. They could be considered to have some connection.

Moreover...

’When I encountered her, she was trapped in a certain-death situation.’

’If I hadn’t saved her, she undoubtedly would have died. Because I intervened, she survived.’

’And I somehow felt compelled to step in and save her.’

The more Chen Lingxi thought about it, the more unusual this matter felt.

’It is just like the profound truths behind the Great Divine Ability, Heavenly Statute Edict.’

The mechanics of destiny and the threads of fate in the Land of Nine Palaces seemed chaotic and disorganized, but in truth, they secretly aligned with a certain Daoist subtlety.

As a cultivator’s cultivation advanced, their providence would grow along with it. Their actions, the people they met, and the matters they dealt with would all generate countless subtle, branching connections.

Over the past two years, he had been collecting Great Encompassing Profound Qi. While he acted normally, his providence had unknowingly been nourished. Gathering the Great Encompassing Profound Qi had gone extremely smoothly, with almost no obstacles arising.

’But thinking back on it now, I can’t help but feel that this very providence was the invisible thread drawing me to encounter Xi Lan...’

Chen Lingxi lowered his head in thought. Unable to figure it out for the moment, he gave a helpless smile.

’It feels as though my journey outside this time was solely to save her life.’

Reaching this point in his thoughts, he eventually shook his head.

The path of cultivation was inherently one of converging karmic ties, guiding opportunities, and matters that could never be fully known.

He had a single thought today and saved her life; that was the karma planted by this thought.

As for what would happen in the future, he would leave that for the future.

Suppressing the lingering sense of strangeness in his heart, Chen Lingxi tightened his Hidden Edge Method by another three degrees and continued southeast toward the Dragon-Revering Sect.

He did not travel very fast along the way.

On his return journey, he encountered other cultivators several times.

Some were solitary Loose Cultivators, carrying longswords or sabers on their backs as they hurried across the sky.

Others traveled in small groups of two or three, chatting as they hurried along. The spiritual qi flowing around them and their steady auras clearly indicated deep foundations.

There were also figures from certain sects, wearing uniform robes and waist medallions. Their auras were imposing, and they traveled in tight formations, showing at a glance that they had formidable backgrounds.

If it were anyone else walking along the edges of the Nine Quarters, they would inevitably have to dodge and give way to those cultivators, perhaps getting into a verbal conflict or a territorial dispute once or twice.

Yet Chen Lingxi never came face-to-face with a single person.

This was all because his Wondrous Realm Method of Qi Observation had grown increasingly pure alongside the advancement of his cultivation.

Often, from hundreds of miles away, he could already identify approaching people through the imperceptible shifts of auras in the void, allowing him to evade them in advance.

Under such cautious and composed travel, Chen Lingxi made it back to the Dragon-Revering Territory without any alarms or dangers.

Right now, it was evening, and the daylight slanted down.

Three great suns shed their brilliance from different directions, dyeing the sky into an incredibly dazzling glow where gold, red, and purple blended together.

Chen Lingxi slowly descended from the clouds, hiding beneath the shade of ancient cypresses on a high mountain, and gazed at a distant peak.

It was exactly Sun Observation Peak.

The mountain could not be called towering, and its halls were already old and worn.

The daylight slanted over the peak, gilding the aging buildings and the lush vegetation with a faint layer of golden radiance.

In front of the mountain gate, a few young disciples were sweeping.

Hua Liuli sat on the stone steps, holding a divine ability manual in her hands and reading it silently.

Chen Lingxi peered closer using the Method of Qi Observation and saw Zhu Qingjian inside the hall. She was sitting with her eyes closed, cultivating a Great Divine Ability, appearing not far from mastering it.

Chen Lingxi gazed at the peaceful scene from afar.

’True Person Xiangshu did not break his word. Sun Observation Peak has indeed found peace, and Changle’s juniors can cultivate safely.’

Everything was well on Sun Observation Peak.

Chen Lingxi watched from a distance for a while before abruptly descending the high mountain. Parting the clouds and mist, he quietly landed in the back mountains of Sun Observation Peak.

Deep in the back mountains was a solitary grave hidden beneath ancient cypresses.

A bluestone slab stood as its monument.

It was Liu Changle’s grave.

On the ground in front of the tomb, a few freshly lit sticks of incense were curling with wisps of smoke.

Most likely, those disciples came here every month to pay their respects and sweep the grave.

Chen Lingxi sat before the grave. Half an hour later, he quietly rose into the clouds from the back mountains of Sun Observation Peak and continued toward Slumbering Deer Peak.

—

Slumbering Deer Peak.

The phantom image of the divine deer suspended thousands of feet in the void still hung there quietly.

Its antlers pierced the sky, and rosy light cascaded down, enveloping the many mountains under Slumbering Deer Peak’s jurisdiction in a gentle golden glow.

Chen Lingxi returned on his cloud!

The moment he entered the Lumian Territory, he acutely noticed the differences compared to two years ago.

The mountain paths across the various peaks were sparsely populated.

The young disciples who used to travel in groups of two or three, carrying spiritual materials and medicinal herbs back to the peaks, were now hardly seen.

The open areas on the mountainsides, where disciples used to constantly practice their divine abilities, were entirely empty.

The few disciples who occasionally passed by were in a rush, their expressions intensely focused and grave, or carrying bags as they headed outward from the peaks.

Chen Lingxi’s gaze flickered as he immediately understood the reason.

Now that the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror hung high above the Nine Quarters, countless opportunities manifested upon it.

Any cultivator who obtained the Court Audience Heavenly Talisman could seek an audience with the Heaven-Observing Mirror, exchanging various offerings for Great Encompassing Profound Qi.

With such opportunities presented, how many disciples among the Dragon-Revering Sect Two Hundred Peaks could still peacefully remain on the mountain, building a chariot behind closed doors?

Those disciples and young cultivators naturally wanted to collect as much Great Encompassing Profound Qi as possible, hoping to exchange it for an opportunity that could drastically advance their cultivation.

It was only natural that the mountains were deserted.

Chen Lingxi traveled all the way to the outside of the Water Curtain Cave.

The thousand-foot waterfall cascaded like thunder, still hiding his dwelling from two years ago within a hazy mist of water.

He parted the water curtain and entered the cave.

The furnishings inside were exactly as before.

The rocks were still there, the meditation cushions were still there, and the night-spirit stones embedded in the walls still emitted their familiar, warm, faint light.

Chen Lingxi walked straight to the flat bluestone, just about to close his eyes and cultivate.

Suddenly, a ray of rosy light fell outside the cave entrance.

That wisp of light passed through the thousand-foot water curtain and delivered an extremely concise message straight into Chen Lingxi’s Sea of Consciousness.

”You have returned to the peak. Come see me immediately.”

Chen Lingxi stopped what he was doing.

’True Person Xiangshu is summoning me.’

Chen Lingxi stored the items in his hands into his Chaos Pouch, straightened his robes, brushed aside the water curtain, and stepped out of the cave.

Cloud qi generated beneath his feet, carrying him toward the main peak of Slumbering Deer Peak.

Above the main peak of Slumbering Deer Peak, the sea of clouds surged like crashing waves!

Deep within the clouds, the Golden Palace Dao Field floated quietly. Its crimson walls and jade-green tiles were shrouded in dense spiritual qi.

Chen Lingxi landed at the bottom of the dao field’s stone steps, adjusted his attire, took two steps forward, and bowed respectfully toward the main gates.

”Your disciple, Zhi Ling, requests an audience with Master.”

The gates of the dao field opened silently.

”Enter.”

Chen Lingxi stepped over the threshold, stopped three paces inside, and bowed once more.

True Person Xiangshu sat beneath a lamp, looking at Chen Lingxi. The kindness in his eyes was the same as always, not showing the slightest bit of distance from their two years apart.

”Have you gained anything from your two years of wandering?” he asked.

Chen Lingxi lowered his eyes and replied, ”Along this journey, everything your disciple has seen, experienced, encountered, and interacted with has yielded gains.

”Revisiting the bottlenecks of the Heavenly Statute Edict that I pondered during my secluded cultivation on the peak, I now find them much clearer.”

True Person Xiangshu nodded slightly.

He looked at Chen Lingxi, the warmth in his eyes deepening.

”As long as you have gained something, that is good.”

He slowly stood up, walking out from beneath the lamp to stop in front of Chen Lingxi.

”During your two years away, the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror happened to be suspended over the Nine Quarters.”

True Person Xiangshu’s voice remained gentle. ”Starting today, the Land of Nine Palaces is officially under the gaze of the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror.

From top to bottom, all the inner peaks, upper peaks, and lower peaks of the Two Hundred Peaks have received messages from the main sect.

”From now on, all disciples of our Dragon-Revering Sect, regardless of their cultivation level, may enter the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror, seek an audience with the Cauldron Vessels, and exchange profound qi for opportunities.”

As he spoke, he slowly took out a brand-new talisman from his sleeve.

The talisman looked almost identical in shape and appearance to the one he had previously bestowed upon Chen Lingxi.

It was about three inches wide and two fingers long, a gentle pale gold all over. Spiritual patterns flowed across its surface, faintly radiating a very subtle Daoist aura.

However, upon closer inspection, aside from the dense lines of seal script on this new talisman, there were a few extremely shallow, almost imperceptible dark patterns on the side.

These dark patterns intertwined and resonated with the seal script. At first glance, they were inconspicuous, but if one re-traced and compared this talisman stroke by stroke in their Sea of Consciousness against the extremely familiar one, they would sense the subtle differences.

Though the dark patterns on the runes were faint, comparing it to the Court Audience Heavenly Talisman he had used every day for the past two years, he could tell that the rest was completely identical; only these few dark patterns seemed somewhat different.

And he recalled the words spoken by Chan Zhaofu in the main hall of the Dragon-Revering Sect that day.

[This talisman is called the Court Audience Heavenly Talisman. It is the talisman for disciples of the Nine Quarters to seek an audience with the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror. From Golden Core True Monarchs and Golden Palace True Persons at the top, down to ordinary Qi Circulation cultivators, all can use this talisman to seek an audience with the mirror to obtain opportunities for their cultivation.]

[When passed down, it must be accompanied by the Sect Secret Register.]

Pondering this, Chen Lingxi reached out and accepted the talisman.

’The reason this talisman is different is probably because it contains the Sect Secret Register, which is used to distinguish the identities of cultivators.’

Chen Lingxi whispered in his heart and bowed to True Person Xiangshu again.

”Thank you, Master.”

True Person Xiangshu nodded slightly.

”Go. Cultivate well.”

Chen Lingxi left the main peak and returned to the Water Curtain Cave.

He sat in the cave, looking at the new Court Audience Heavenly Talisman before him... his eyes flickering.

’I wonder, if I use this new talisman to seek an audience with the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror now, will my identity as the Loose Cultivator Chen Lingxi change? And I also wonder if my 30,000 wisps of Great Encompassing Profound Qi will still be retained.’

Chen Lingxi was somewhat worried.

Beyond that, Chen Lingxi was even more concerned about another matter.

’Beneath the Sect Secret Register, this kind of audience rune should mark the identity of the cultivator. Cultivators with masters and sects should be clearly indicated within it.’

’If that is the case, I wonder whether the upper echelons of the sect can govern these cultivators through the Great Encompassing Heaven-Observing Mirror.’

’If that is truly the case... it is highly likely that the sect’s upper echelons possess some sort of authority to know that I have this much Great Encompassing Profound Qi.’

His eyes flickered, and for a moment, he actually began to hesitate.