Day of Ascension

The frowning old man sighed, realizing that he couldn’t make Xu Ying drink the tea today. Thus, he put away the table, chairs, teapot, and cups with a sweep of his sleeve, and slowly departed.

He seemed to move at a leisurely pace, yet he vanished from Mount Wu Wang without a trace in moments.

Meanwhile, an earth-shaking roar came from Mount Wu Wang. The mountainside shook slightly, then countless rocks exploded. The mountain slowly tilted to one side.

The mountain was simply too large. Even if it collapsed, it would take time to crash to the ground.

Meanwhile, Xu Ying was still sprinting wildly beneath the expanding silk handkerchief. However, he was now the size of a soybean. No matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t escape the area covered by the silk handkerchief anytime soon.

A huge snake appeared ahead. “Is that you, Ah Ying?”

The snake had a pair of dragon horns, one black and one white, and had mirror-like scales. Obviously, he was Yuanqi. Though he still seemed as big as before, that was only relative to Xu Ying.

Xu Ying had shrunk to the size of a soybean, and Yuanqi had also shrunk. The snake was now a little over a chi long, yet he remained many times larger than Xu Ying.

The man and the snake shared the same plight; Granny Zhou Yu had shrunk them both with the silk handkerchief.

Xu Ying jumped onto Yuanqi’s back and said, “Xiao Qi, go faster. We need to escape this place as soon as possible!”

Yuanqi carried him on his back and slithered forward. “What technique did that granny use? How is it so powerful?”

Dazhong’s voice rang out, “It should be the exorcism technique, Scattered Bean Soldiers, though she used it in reverse. The technique turns beans into golden-armored divine beings. Once they hit the ground, they grow with the wind and become much larger than ordinary people.

“The granny reversed the technique and turned people into the size of soybeans. Qi Cultivators also have similar mystic arts.”

His eyes flickering, Xu Ying said, “I’ve already unlocked my Mud-Pill Secret Trove and comprehended life and death, and Yin and Yang. I can control the vigor inside human bodies. Although her exorcism technique is brilliant, it can’t trap me for long.

“I’ll return to normal size soon. Yuanqi, if you can grasp the size-shifting techniques recorded in the True Cultivation of Ba Snake and the Dragon-Snake Spring Awakening Cultivation Method, you can break her technique as well.”

As Yuanqi raced forward, he recalled the shifting technique in the True Cultivation of Ba Snake that Xu Ying had taught him. Sure enough, it contained methods for altering one’s physical form.

He was overjoyed inside. Indeed, Ah Ying is reliable. With just a hint from him, I found the method to break this exorcism technique!

Through the silk handkerchief, they saw Mount Wu Wang tilt and collapse. Despair surged within them. The mountain was collapsing toward them. Before long, it would crush them to pieces!

Under normal circumstances, they might have escaped. Yet with bodies no larger than soybeans, they couldn’t outrun the mountain’s collapse zone.

Just then, a large hand picked up the silk handkerchief. Wrapped within it, Xu Ying and Yuanqi rose involuntarily into the sky.

Granny Zhou Yu grinned and chuckled, shaking the silk handkerchief over the basket hooked on her arm. Xu Ying and Yuanqi felt their world spinning as they fell into the basket.

“I’ve already invited Young Master Xu. I’ll get going first!” She smiled, though it was unclear who she was addressing.

Xu Ying and Yuanqi fell into the basket half-filled with soybeans, which crushed them and made them cry out in pain.

The two jumped in fright. Then they saw the beans stand up like humans, clad in golden armor and helmets, wielding green swords. They had sharp, heroic looks, each very handsome.

Startled, Yuanqi asked warily, “Who are you? Did that evil hag also capture you?”

With his hands on his hip, the golden-armored man closest to Yuanqi shouted with a disdainful look, “What evil hag? She’s clearly the Heaven-Shattering Palace Master! You ignorant, worthless snake! Haven’t you heard of Scattered Bean Soldiers? We are the Heaven-Shattering Palace...”

Thousands of golden-armored men turned to look at them in unison and shouted as one, “Bean Soldiers!”

The corner of Yuanqi’s eye twitched. He whispered to Xu Ying, “They’re not humans?”

Before Xu Ying could say a word, Dazhong’s voice rang out, “They are the beans of Scattered Bean Soldiers. To bestow intelligence on these bean soldiers, that Granny Zhou Yu is indeed incredible.

“One can’t achieve such mystic arts with the vigor in their Secret Trove alone. The Zhou clan’s exorcism arts have likely undergone extensive refinement, making them more profound than similar mystic arts used by Qi Cultivators.”

Dazhong had always regarded exorcism arts as inferior to the mystic arts of the Qi Cultivators’ era. For him to admit that the exorcism technique, Scattered Bean Soldiers, surpassed similar mystic arts was indeed rare.

The leader of the golden-armored men asked, “Which one of you is Young Master Xu? The Heaven-Shattering Palace Master has instructed us to look after him and ensure no harm comes to him.”

Xu Ying ignored him. He immediately stepped on a bean soldier’s head and climbed toward the edge of the basket.

“Don’t go!” The golden-armored bean soldier grabbed his legs. “Two-legged gods roam outside! Their claws are dozens of times bigger than yours. They have iron beaks, golden mouths, flames on their heads, razor-sharp steel wings, and voices like thunder. They breathe mist and devour us whole! Many of our brothers died in their mouths!”

Yuanqi thought for a moment, then said, “Are you talking about chickens?”

Determined to leave, Xu Ying climbed upward. The bean soldiers pulled at his feet, or hung on them, trying to drag him down. After considerable effort, he finally reached the rim of the basket and lifted the silk handkerchief to look outside.

They were high in the sky. The granny was carrying the basket on her arm. Beneath her flew a roc, beating its wings as it carried them through the sky.

The roc was likely manifested through the granny’s Radiant Vestige, carrying her and them through the air.

Suddenly, Xu Ying saw the distant mountain ranges tremble, followed by terrifying shockwaves that swept outward, flattening the clouds in the sky.

Xu Ying’s face turned pale with fright. He cried out loud, “Oh no! Master Zhong, come out and save us!”

Dazhong flew out from the back of his head and burst through the basket. Xu Ying, Yuanqi, and a chain of golden-armored bean soldiers still clinging to Xu Ying’s ankle tumbled into Dazhong.

Dazhong was an artifact forged by an ancient Qi Cultivator and had previously been hidden inside Xu Ying. So, Granny Zhou Yu’s exorcism technique didn’t shrink him, and as a result, he retained his original form.

Granny Zhou Yu noticed the bell immediately. Startled, she reached for Dazhong in a hurry. “Young Master Xu, don’t resist. I bear no ill---”

Before she could finish her sentence, the terrifying shockwave struck, instantly shattering the golden-winged roc exorcism art. The terrifying force hit her, making her cough up blood as it hurled her backward.

Clang!

The destructive shockwave also struck Dazhong, making him toll loudly. Various runes lit up on his surface, humming and spinning as they transformed into an incredibly thick wall of light, shielding him.

On the wall of light was a huge palm print—the wound left behind by the coffin maiden. It had now become a breach in the defense of the bell’s surface.

The shockwave tore apart the thick light wall in the next moment. Dazhong chimed loudly as he flew and spun through the air.

Sorrow washed over Dazhong. It’s over! All the vital energy I painstakingly stole these past few days to heal my injuries has gone to waste!

Inside the bell, Xu Ying, Yuanqi, and hundreds of golden-armored bean soldiers flew left and right, colliding into one another. Some bean soldiers cried out, “You’re crushing me! I’m going to die!”

After saying that, he was crushed into bean paste and met a tragic end.

A moment later, the violent impacts outside finally calmed down. Dazhong plummeted from the sky and crashed into the mountain forest. He rolled for three to four li, chiming continuously along the way before finally coming to a stop.

Xu Ying crawled out of the bell’s mouth with difficulty and sat on his rims, shaking from head to toe. He regained his composure soon and helped Yuanqi set his bones back into place.

The earlier impacts had been too violent. Every bone in Yuanqi’s body had shifted out of alignment. Fortunately, being a snake catcher, Xu Ying easily set them correctly.

Yuanqi came to Xu Ying’s side and looked at Mount Wu Wang in the distance. It had broken off in the middle. On the verge of tears, he murmured, “My home is gone...”

Behind them, the surviving golden-armored bean soldiers knelt on the ground, facing the corpses of their fallen comrades, and wailed. That shockwave had crushed many of the bean soldiers into bean paste, accidentally killing them. However, most of them survived, numbering three or four hundred.

Suddenly, a bean soldier stood up, kicked his wailing comrades, and shouted, “Real men should accomplish great things and die on the battlefield. What’s the point in crying like children? Stand up, all of you! Have you forgotten all the hard work the Heaven-Shattering Palace Master put in to nurture us?”

The bean soldiers perked up as if injected with adrenaline, each one as vigorous as a dragon or a tiger.

Xu Ying observed them in surprise. These bean soldiers had actually survived that terrifying impact. It showed that they were not as weak as he had imagined. On the contrary, every one of them possessed remarkable strength.

He thought, Granny Zhou Yu must have tempered them repeatedly after refining them into bean soldiers to raise their combat prowess.

Next, he called out, “Master Zhong, are you alright?”

Dazhong’s voice rang out weakly, “Ah Ying, my injuries have worsened. I need to hide inside your Mud-Pill grotto heaven to recuperate.”

He struggled to rise into the air and rapidly shrank. In a flash, he entered the back of Xu Ying’s head and vanished.

A moment later, Dazhong flew into his Mud-Pill Secret Trove unsteadily and floated inside the Mud-Pill grotto heaven.

“With Master Zhong injured, we can only rely on ourselves now. Strange, who is fighting? Their divine ability is so powerful. Master Zhong’s injuries worsened just from getting hit by the resulting shockwave!”

Xu Ying composed himself. The might of that divine ability far surpassed that of the white-robed Exorcist Immortal. It was truly formidable.

He didn’t know of many experts who could face off against the underground creature. Judging by the white-clothed Exorcist Immortal’s performance, he was probably not a match for the creature. At his peak condition, Dazhong definitely could, and naturally, the same goes for the coffin maiden.

That frowning old man was likely capable, too. As for the others, none were capable of it.

“The Zhou clan sent quite a few people this time, and Zhou Heng is leading them. There’s also that old woman, Granny Zhou Yu. She’s also an expert from the clan. Could it be that the Zhou clan’s old ancestor has stepped in to battle the underground creature?”

Xu Ying was deeply intrigued. The massive underground creature was likely the master of Mud-Pill Palace, while the old ancestor was possibly the snake catcher who entered the stone chamber over three hundred years ago. In other words, the successor of the Mud-Pill Palace Master.

How spectacular would a battle between them be?

He wished he could return to Mount Wu Wang immediately to watch the battle, but a single shockwave from their divine ability had nearly taken their lives. Observing the battle up close would be tantamount to suicide.

“We can’t stay here. The Zhou clan’s people will find this place soon!”

Xu Ying looked around, only to see unbelievably huge trees everywhere. The mountains were indescribably massive; they were impossible to cross.

“You cannot leave!”

The golden-armored bean soldiers blocked Xu Ying and Yuanqi. The leader of the bean soldiers said, “The Heaven-Shattering Palace Master has ordered you to remain here and wait for her!”

Suddenly, a bean soldier pointed at the sky and shrieked, “The two-legged giants are coming!”

Xu Ying looked up. He saw that a flock of unknown blue birds had spotted them and were flying this way. They were mutant birds from the underworld. As a snake catcher, he had seen all kinds of birds and beasts, but he had never seen such birds before.

The flock of birds swooped down with a whoosh, charging toward them. These mutant birds were like the gods from the archaic era in the legends. Covered in colorful wings, with bronze tendons and iron bones, they possessed physiques thousands of times greater than Xu Ying and the others.

The earth shook as they landed. With a flap of their wings, fierce winds stirred.

The bean soldiers were completely helpless against them. Each peck shattered bones and snapped tendons before swallowing a bean soldier whole.

Around Xu Ying, the bean soldiers fled in panic, wailing as though the end of the world had arrived.

A mutant bird pecked down and split the bean soldier beside Xu Ying into two. He died horrifyingly. The mutant bird swallowed half its body directly, while the other half was still screaming in agony.

Some bean soldiers rallied their spirits and raised their green swords to fight the mutant birds. However, the birds were no ordinary creatures. They were mutants from the mountains of the underworld, impervious to blades. One peck was enough to kill each resisting soldier.

Xu Ying finally came back to his senses and cried out loud, “Xiao Qi, run!”

In all his years, it was Yuanqi’s first time coming across such a terrifying scene. He shrieked and followed Xu Ying in a hurry.

Behind, a mutant bird charged at them with its head lowered. It caught Yuanqi’s tail and lifted him in the air. With a shout, Xu Ying leaped up high to the bird’s head and unleashed a sweeping kick.

An elephant king’s divine avatar, as tall as two beans, manifested behind him and mirrored his kick.

Smack!

The kick twisted the mutant bird’s beak and flung Yuanqi away. However, the strong recoil also shattered the elephant king’s divine avatar behind Xu Ying, turning it into a mist of blood and scattering.

Xu Ying was shocked and furious. Upon landing, he saw a mutant bird’s sharp claw approaching. He immediately performed a Giant Python Rollover[1], lowering his center of gravity and spinning around.

A Ba snake as thick as his finger coiled around him and shot forth with a swish, binding the mutant bird’s legs together!

Xu Ying roared, “Fall!”

However, the mutant bird flexed its legs and tore apart the Ba snake, forming vital energy.

Xu Ying was stunned.

The Ba snake was a Manifestation of the Great Dao he had comprehended by studying the Dao diagram depicted in the True Cultivation of Ba Snake. Yet, some unknown bird had torn it apart!

Just as the mutant bird was about to peck him to death, Yuanqi charged in from the side. He grabbed Xu Ying with his tail and slithered away with a whoosh, avoiding the mutant bird’s beak strike.

A bean soldier cried out loud, “Cover Young Master Xu’s retreat!”

Dozens of golden-armored bean soldiers surged forward. Ignoring their own lives, they charged the blue mutant bird and fought desperately.

The blue mutant bird went on a killing spree. The bean soldiers’ limbs flew everywhere. The battlefield resembled a living purgatory.

“Escort Young Master Xu away!”

Golden-armored bean soldiers surged forward one after another, swinging their green swords as they fought the giant bird to the death, collapsing one after another.

Xu Ying was stunned. The sight stirred something within him.

He said softly, “Put me down, Xiao Qi.”

Yuanqi loosened his tail and let him down.

Xu Ying halted. He didn’t continue to flee. Yuanqi urged, “Ah Ying, what are you standing in a daze for? Let’s go!”

Xu Ying shook his head. With a solemn voice, he said, “I’ve unlocked my Mud-Pill Secret Trove and am already an Exorcist. I want to reverse-engineer the Scattered Bean Soldiers exorcism technique. I can’t let these soldiers throw away their lives for us in vain!”

He channeled his Mud-Pill grotto heaven. Immediately, a chaotic space appeared behind his head. Parting the chaotic mist, the Mud-Pill grotto heaven appeared.

1. An actual martial art movement, to block an attack and grab the opponent’s arm, spin around, twist the opponent’s arm, and get behind the opponent. Try searching 大蟒翻身 on YouTube if you’re interested. ☜