Day of Ascension

Huang Siping, Wei Chu, and Yuanqi saw Xu Ying frozen in place, staring into the well. They followed his gaze.

Man, god, and demon alike met the stare of the enormous eye below. Their gazes turned hollow, staring fixedly at the eye.

The large eye seemed to possess a strange power. Once they looked into it, they could no longer look away.

Then the bell rang. The sound snapped Xu Ying and the others back to their senses.

Only then did they realize their hands were slick with blood. Somehow, without noticing, they had grabbed the thick chains hanging into the well and were pulling with all their strength.

Yuanqi had no hands, so he had curled his tail around a chain and dragged it outward!

They had already pulled dozens of zhang of chain from the well. The further sections of the chains were covered in black blood and carried a stench so foul it churned the stomach.

Along with the chains came the skeletons of more than a dozen people!

A chill ran down their spines.

None of them knew when they had lost control of themselves, what had taken hold of their minds, or how long they had been pulling the chains. They didn’t even know what was shackled below.

They had realized one thing: the chains were growing heavier. Something was attached to them.

Inside the well, the large eye had disappeared without a trace. Bloody water churned and bubbled. The crimson tide rose higher and higher until it reached the mouth of the well.

They hurriedly let go of the chains. The bell chimed again as the chains crashed back into the darkness below, and the bloody water slowly receded.

A weak, delicate sigh drifted up from the well. It sounded extremely pleasant, as if a young girl was lamenting her misfortune, unable to escape the well.

The more pleasant it sounded, the more terrified they felt.

Xu Ying approached the well and looked down. The bloody water had completely receded. The chains were bound to a coffin, hanging straight down along the wall of the well.

A moment later, the coffin slammed into the bottom of the well.

At the bottom was a sharp, triangular mouth filled with sharp teeth. It swallowed the coffin whole, and the chains dangled from its mouth like a grotesque beard.

Xu Ying’s heart pounded violently. The massive creature moved directly under the well and opened its mouth wide.

He immediately threw himself backward and fled for his life, dragging Yuanqi by the tail.

Huang Siping and Wei Chu were still staring in confusion when an earth-shaking roar erupted from the well. They groaned in pain as blood poured from all seven orifices.

The creature in the well was furious. It had failed to send the coffin out. Its roars shook heaven and earth. Even the bronze bell swayed violently under the impact, bending like a willow in a storm.

The entire rocky mountain rumbled and trembled violently, as if it were about to be shattered into pieces.

Xu Ying and Yuanqi had managed to avoid the initial shockwave of the roar. Unfortunately, the shockwave from the roar and the bell’s collision still reached them, hurling them several zhang away.

Meanwhile, the Hell River outside the temple turned turbulent. The water level rose increasingly higher, as if a massive demon was churning beneath the surface, trying to crash through the bell-shaped wall of light.

Attacked from both inside and outside, the radiance emitted by the bronze bell in the pavilion dimmed. Moreover, even the wall of light enveloping the rocky mountain grew thinner and fainter.

Xu Ying channeled his vital energy with all his might and dragged Yuanqi toward the main hall.

Vital energy stirred on the surface of his skin. Tiny beads of blood even seeped from his pores, staining his clothes red.

Yuanqi had already fainted from the shockwave.

Xu Ying gritted his teeth tightly. Blood flowed from his eyes. The smell of iron filled his nostrils as warm blood ran from his nose.

Roars erupted continuously from the depths of the well. Blood flowed from Xu Ying’s ears. His heart beat like drums, as if it could burst at any moment. Each step left behind a bloody footprint as he walked toward the main hall.

Finally, Xu Ying reached the main hall and collapsed to the ground. Inside, the roars were much softer, giving him a chance to catch his breath.

A cold gleam flashed across the sky. It seemed like a sharp weapon, yet it was shockingly enormous, tearing a hole through the bell-shaped wall of light!

Crack!

The waters of Hell River immediately poured in through the hole.

Xu Ying struggled to his feet and looked out. Towering figures stood upon the river, surrounding the wall of light. They seemed uncannily human and wielded enormous weapons, attacking the wall of light and creating even more openings!

Those figures were majestic, like heavenly gods. They were nothing like the grassroots gods and demon gods. A glance at them filled one’s mind with distracting thoughts and an overwhelming urge to kneel in worship.

Pale, ghastly white hands emerged from the surface of the Hell River, reaching into the opening and appearing in the sky above the temple. Each finger was several zhang long, sweeping past the main hall.

Xu Ying quickly ran to the back of the hall. The pale, ghastly hand reached into the pavilion, grabbed the bronze bell, and tried to tear it off.

Clang!

The bell chimed, shattering the large hand. Flesh and blood flew everywhere. A fingertip flew in Xu Ying’s direction, pierced through the main hall, and nailed itself onto the door.

Firelight flickered on the dilapidated door. Strange characters emerged, twisted like insects. They contained unimaginable energy and ignited the pale, ghastly finger.

Xu Ying was still staring at the characters on the door when a long whip suddenly came flying from the river. It whipped past his head and coiled around the crown of the bronze bell with a swish and yanked back violently.

The pavilion holding the bell shattered instantly.

The bell flew away from the mouth of the well, and the roars coming from within the well became even more frantic.

Xu Ying looked up. The whip twisting through the air above him was made from solemn human faces linked together segment by segment. Every face was different; every pair of eyes was closed.

The strange, long whip carried the bell and flew through the main hall, snaking like a dragon, swaying.

Threads of white silk flew out of the Hell River and dove into the well.

Xu Ying’s heart stirred. Perhaps the Hell River changing course was no mere coincidence.

The scene before him felt less like a natural disaster and more like a deliberate act. Someone had redirected the river to suppress the bronze bell in the temple and free whatever was trapped inside the well.

Xu Ying thought, To rescue the coffin in the well, someone caused widespread death! Who exactly is buried inside that coffin?

The bronze bell clanged loudly as if enraged. It shattered the long whip and flew out of the temple.

Outside the temple, the roar of crashing waves mixed with the peal of the bell.

Xu Ying looked up and saw human silhouettes flickering on the wall of light. Suddenly, the bell hit an uncanny human figure’s head, making it explode.

Another uncanny figure swayed as its flesh dissolved entirely. A moment later, the bare white skeleton left behind crumbled into dust.

Xu Ying watched in terror. Those figures felt unfathomably powerful to him, like Mount Sumeru[1] or the Abyssal Netherworld!

Yet, under the assault of the bronze bell, they were no different than ants!

The waters surged and poured in from all directions. It had already reached the main hall. Dragging Yuanqi with him, Xu Ying promptly leaped through a hole in the roof and landed on top of it.

Looking down, he saw Huang Siping in the rear courtyard. The god stood balanced on one leg atop his hundred-refined zhanmadao, its shaft driven into the ground.

However, the waters had nearly reached his sole, and he was bleeding from his seven orifices due to the roar. The demon god’s face was filled with despair.

Earlier, both he and Wei Chu had reacted a moment too slowly. The shockwaves from the well had struck them, leaving them with heavy injuries. By the time they recovered, the water had already swallowed the rear courtyard, cutting off any path back to the main hall.

And the water was still rising!

It lapped against the bottom of Huang Siping’s foot, dissolving his flesh, leaving only bones.

It continued eating away at his left leg. At this rate, it would not be long before his entire leg was stripped bare. And after that, the Hell River would swallow him whole.

On a withered old willow tree in the rear courtyard, the prison warden, Wei Chu, wasn’t faring any better. The willow tree had long since rotted away, leaving only its trunk behind. He, too, was standing on one leg like Huang Siping, enduring the pain and sacrificing one leg to preserve his life.

But the willow tree trembled violently beneath the force of the current. It looked as though the current would uproot it at any moment. When that happened, he would die with no burial place!

Worse still, he wasn’t as tall as Huang Siping. Even if the willow tree stood strong, he would die before Huang Siping.

Xu Ying’s gaze shifted toward the well. The silk threads had wrapped themselves around the chains and were pulling upward. The black coffin rose slowly and reached the mouth of the well.

Xu Ying remarked inwardly, Those people ultimately achieved their goal!

The river lured the bronze bell away, and the silk threads had nearly pulled the black coffin out of the well.

Suddenly, a ray of sunlight shone on his face. Looking up, he saw the sun rising in the east, illuminating his face and gradually bathing him in light.

The momentum of the river’s water was weakening, the river itself was growing faint, and the bell chimes grew more distant. Just like that, the river of the underworld suddenly disappeared without a trace just as the sun rose.

Xu Ying looked even further into the distance. The Hell River gradually faded, retreating until only the riverbed it had carved through the mountains remained.

No trace of life could be seen along its path. Withered, rotten trees were everywhere, blackened as though something had burned them to death.

Skeletons lay strewn across the dry riverbed not far away, washed ashore and piled together in grim heaps.

“Where’s the bell? And those massive figures?”

Xu Ying looked around. The Hell River and the bronze bell had both disappeared without a trace. Even those heavenly, godlike figures who had surrounded the temple and fought had vanished.

Not a drop of water remained in the temple or the rear courtyard. The green ghostfire had gone out as well, returning to an ordinary flame.

Xu Ying steadied himself and looked toward the rear courtyard. The pavilion over the well had collapsed. The deep well itself had fallen silent once more.

A young girl in white was sitting on the mouth of the well with her back facing him, slowly combing her disheveled hair.

She turned around, met Xu Ying’s gaze, and smiled. For a brief moment, he found life beautiful, and the sunlight warm.

As sunlight streamed into the rear courtyard, the young girl vanished, leaving only the coffin by the well. Next to it were several black iron chains.

Suddenly, the coffin rose into the air, broke free from the chains, and flew away!

“The thing suppressed in the well escaped in the end.”

Xu Ying recalled the young girl’s appearance and thought, But she really was quite beautiful. Godfather and Grandfather would have loved her as my wife. Too bad she’s a ghost.

A loud thud rang as Wei Chu fell from the withered tree. He crashed onto the ground and fainted.

His entire right leg had been stripped of flesh, leaving only bare white bone behind.

Not far away, Huang Siping hopped off his hundred-refined zhanmadao, staggering slightly. His expression was dark. His left calf had suffered the same fate, stripped completely bare.

He was vicious by nature and treated himself the same. He silently endured the pain.

Huang Siping looked up at Xu Ying, who stood atop the main hall.

Xu Ying was facing east and channeling his vital energy using the guiding method. Under the dawn sunlight, the motes of light drifting through the air became increasingly visible. As he breathed, they swirled toward him like a miniature storm before pouring into him.

Thunder rang inside him. His vital energy transformed into a blazing sun, coursing through him, tempering his flesh, purging the blood stains left behind from the injuries he had sustained last night.

Now that the Hell River crisis had ended, Xu Ying’s greatest threat was no longer the river itself. It was the god and the official hunting him.

Huang Siping took a deep breath, regulating his aura as he circulated his own cultivation technique, absorbing the essence of the rising sun.

His injuries were much more severe than Xu Ying’s. Aside from internal injuries, he had also lost his left leg. Fortunately, he was a Demon King. His vital energy from his cultivation remained. As long as he could suppress his injuries, he still had enough strength left to kill Xu Ying in a single strike.

Thus, beneath the light of dawn, both man and god silently steadied their auras. They did their best to suppress their injuries and recover most of their strength before the other. Whoever moved first would seize the initiative.

“Xu Ying, you could have left first,” Huang Siping said indifferently as his aura slowly leveled out. “You were quick-witted and avoided the first shockwave from the roar. Your injuries are lighter, while I’ve lost my leg. If you had fled, I would never have caught you. There was no reason for you to stay.”

The light particle storm in the air grew increasingly stronger as he continued channeling the Grand-Unity Guiding Method, facing east.

Basking in the dawn’s light, his posture steady like a mountain overlooking an abyss, Xu Ying said with grandeur, “My friend is unconscious. How could I leave alone?”

Huang Siping’s gaze flickered. Gripping his zhanmadao tightly, he said, “Friend? You call a snake demon your friend? Don’t forget that you’re a snake catcher! You and snake demons are natural enemies! They’ve killed people like you; you’ve killed people like them!”

“That doesn’t stop us from being friends!” Xu Ying roared as he stomped heavily, falling from the rooftop into the main hall below.

The back of the hall exploded.

Vital energy coursed through Xu Ying, then coalesced into an elephant god fiend. He knocked down a bronze pillar in the hall with a shoulder ram.

Xu Ying hoisted the pillar up to his waist and swept the ten-thousand-jin pillar toward Huang Siping!

He had to kill Huang Siping quickly before the other gods or officials arrived. Only then could he take the unconscious Yuanqi and escape this place.

1. A sacred, mythical mountain in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain cosmology, representing the center of all physical, metaphysical, and spiritual universes. ☜