Day of Ascension

The characters written on the jade slip read ”Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing Art.” Beneath them was another line of smaller characters, and nothing else.

Xu Ying walked toward the jade slip to take a closer look, but Zhou Buyi stopped him.

Zhou Buyi gave a half smile. “Young Master Xu, to decipher the jade slip, you must first study the Granny Tuo Immortal Book. Otherwise, you wouldn’t understand its contents. The only people who can contemplate this jade slip are the Zhou clan’s elders.

“They all possess immense cultivation and vast knowledge. They have studied the Granny Tuo Immortal Book for decades, yet even they can decipher only a fraction of what’s written here.

“You have only just arrived and already want to examine the jade slip. Aren’t you overestimating yourself?”

Xu Ying smiled faintly. “Buyi, since when are you qualified to tell me what I should or shouldn’t look at? If you’re that capable, Zhou Qiyun would have asked you to decipher the immortal book. Since you’re not, stand aside. Don’t point your fingers at those who are capable and tell them what to do.”

Despite being ashamed and furious, Zhou Buyi didn’t dare to act up. He could only stand aside. A country bumpkin who doesn’t know his place.

Xu Ying stepped forward. Just then, Dazhong’s voice echoed in his mind, saying, “Ah Ying, this thing is called a jade slip. It’s a kind of special jade bamboo. During ancient times, Qi Cultivators used these to record their insights, so they were also called jade slip Dao books.

“Jade bamboo is extremely rare and expensive. Ordinary Qi Cultivators could never obtain it. Whatever’s recorded here is probably far more valuable than the Granny Tuo Immortal Book!”

Xu Ying was puzzled. “Jade bamboo? Can bamboo be made of jade? Jade can grow out of the ground?”

Dazhong replied matter-of-factly, “Jade growing out of the earth is strange, but not wood? Some creatures can even grow metal within them, purer than anything you can refine yourself!”

Xu Ying pondered it and soon found that jade growing from the earth was much easier to accept.

He walked over to the jade slip and tilted his head back to examine the tiny characters closely.

There were a total of eight characters, all written in the bird-worm seal script. Their style differed greatly from what he had seen before. Profound truths seemed hidden within every stroke.

He understood the first character the moment he saw it clearly. Yet, the moment he recognized the character, he lost the ability to articulate its meaning in words. No language he knew could describe or convey what the character represented.

If he were to force an expression, it could barely be conveyed using the character “Tai”.

Just as he understood the character “Tai”, waves of strange sounds echoed in his ears. He involuntarily performed the corresponding movements.

He planted his feet firmly, extended one palm to the left and the other to the right, then curled both middle fingers. Next, he twisted his torso backward. His waist rotated nearly a full circle as his bones popped and cracked.

As he completed the movement, Xu Ying felt the primordial qi within him and the waters of the heavenly river surging along his spine. They rose as steam, transformed into rain, and washed through his ethereal void, purifying his internal organs.

Then, he saw the second character. If forced to express with a language he knew, it could roughly be called “Yin”.

The strange sound echoing in his ears immediately changed, as if someone were chanting a mysterious scripture, sending a rustling through his bone marrow.

Moving involuntarily, Xu Ying bent his knees into a squat, extended one palm forward and the other behind him, then stretched his neck outward. A surge of cool air immediately flowed through his bone marrow. Cracks and pops echoed throughout him.

Finally, all his energy gathered at the black iron mystic gateway at his Tailbone Pass and settled there!

When he discerned the third character, “Yuan”, the sound in his ears changed again. Xu Ying performed the third movement. One foot stepped forward while the other remained behind. He pressed both hands against the ground and tilted his head back as far as possible.

Within him, waters rose to the sky, and fires erupted across the land. The elements clashed and fused, refining all his acupoints.

Ultimately, water and fire converged near the dantian.

The jade slip had eight characters. Xu Ying read them all. Every time he discerned a character, he heard a different Dao sound. By the time he finished reading all eight, miraculous changes had occurred throughout him.

His five viscera, tailbone, dantian, spine, throat, the space beneath his tongue, his tongue itself, and his glabella had all undergone transformation.

Xu Ying felt like he had been cleansed thoroughly from the inside out. The sensation was even more comfortable and soothing than the Thunderous-Rumble Tempering and the Great-Sun Tempering.

One could express the eight bird-worm seal script characters as “Supreme,” “Yin,” “Primordial,” “Nurture,” “One,” “Yang,” “Eternal,” and “True.”

Yet the profound mysteries they contained could only be comprehended by hearing the Dao sounds born from their meanings at the exact moment of understanding.

Even more strangely, the eight characters on the jade slip Dao book vaguely corresponded to the eight realms of cultivation: Qi Gathering, Gate-Knocking, Transmutation, Second Gate-Knocking, Pagoda, Jasper Pool, Divine Bridge, and Ascension.

After practicing it once, Xu Ying felt his physique, soul, divine sense, primordial qi, and bloodline all settle in harmony. His thoughts became smooth and flawless like pearls strung together, yet distinct from one another. The chaos that once clouded his thoughts vanished.

Moreover, the Dao phenomena within his ethereal void also became far more stable.

Xu Ying was puzzled. The Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing Art can’t be just these eight characters, can it? Isn’t this cultivation technique far too simple?

Compared to the eight characters of the Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing Art, the Granny Tuo Immortal Book was far more substantial.

The Granny Tuo Immortal Book contained Granny Tuo’s interpretation of the Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing Art, an ancient Qi Cultivator. It was divided into eight realms, each with lengthy annotations that used complex terminology. To explain those terms, she introduced even more complicated concepts.

Ultimately, Granny Tuo’s comments on those annotations reflected her understanding of these eight characters and contained her unique comprehension of the Dao. Consequently, the text became so cryptic and profound that it stumped the Zhou clan’s greatest prodigies.

Yet in Xu Ying’s eyes, everything Granny Tuo tried to express remained within the scope of those eight characters.

Xu Ying thought, Moreover, Senior Granny Tuo’s comprehension seemed a little off. She grasped the essence of the characters for supreme, Yin, primordial, and nurture, but her comprehension of one, Yang, eternal, and true was lacking. That might be why anyone who cultivates the Granny Tuo Immortal Book turns into a woman.

Standing before the thirteen Zhou clan elders who had spent their lives buried in scriptures, Xu Ying repeatedly practiced the Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing Art. The strange postures he assumed drew the gazes of the Zhou clan’s geniuses.

A Zhou clan member, still in his youth despite his white hair, asked Zhou Buyi, “Who is that?”

Zhou Buyi bowed and smiled. “Young Master Youyou, he’s a young genius from the countryside. Do you remember Xu Ying, the one who caused a massive uproar some time ago?”

The white-haired youth, Zhou Youyou, exclaimed in surprise, “That criminal who practiced demonic arts? I heard that many people died trying to apprehend him.”

Zhou Buyi nodded with a smile. “He looks down on the Granny Tuo Immortal Book and wants to decipher the jade slip.”

Shaking his head, Zhou Youyou said, “Ridiculous. Country folks sure are ignorant. They praise a swindler as though he’s some divine figure.”

Suddenly, a voice boomed from outside. “Which one of you is Xu Ying?”

The voice was so loud that it made everyone’s eardrums in the hall buzz. Xu Ying turned toward the entrance and saw several young men and women stride in aggressively.

Leading them was a young man dressed in white-and-red robes. He charged into the hall like a raging wildfire. As soon as he stepped into the hall, he shouted, “I heard the old ancestor has captured the criminal Xu Ying and brought him here to decipher the immortal book. Which one is Xu Ying? Step forward!”

Xu Ying stepped forward. “I am Xu Ying.”

The man in white and red scanned him up and down, then sneered coldly. “You’re the one who killed Second Brother Zhou and Uncle Zhou Yihang?”

Zhou Buyi stepped forward and coughed dryly. “Young Master Fan, the old ancestor invited Young Master Xu here to decipher the heavenly book. Please don’t cause any trouble.”

That man was Zhou Fan from the Zhou clan’s inner estate. He sneered coldly, “Uncle Yi, do you know how many people of our clan he’s killed? He wiped out all the Exorcists of the entire Lingling County! He also killed Second Brother Zhou Yang and Uncle Yihang!

“More than half of the elites of Yongzhou Prefecture are either dead or injured. How many people died because of him? Even Zhou Zheng is dead!”

Zhou Buyi said, “Please forgive me, Young Master Fan. The old ancestor has ordered me to look out for Young Master Xu. I cannot allow you to kill him to vent your anger.”

Zhou Fan laughed in anger. “I never said I would kill him. I’ll just teach him a lesson! Uncle Yi, you won’t even allow that?”

Zhou Buyi turned to look at Xu Ying and sighed. “You saw it yourself, Young Master Xu. It’s not that I’m unwilling to look out for you. The public’s anger is simply too great to suppress. Just suffer a slight loss and let them vent a little. With me here, your life is assured. At worst, you’ll suffer a few injuries.”

A smile spread across his wrinkled face. “Fortunately, the clan is unrivaled in healing. As long as you’re alive, we can save you.”

Zhou Fan strode toward Xu Ying with wide steps. Before he reached, he had already raised his right hand and swung toward Xu Ying’s face.

He barked fiercely, “I’m slapping you once for Second Brother Yang. That’s not too much, is it?”

Xu Ying shrugged and raised his hand. In an instant, his palm swelled with blood, like a palm-leaf fan. He swung out, producing a thunderous smack. His strike moved after Zhou Fan’s, yet arrived first.

Smack!

The soundwave exploded. Fresh blood spattered as the slap whipped Zhou Fan’s head half a circle.

One moment, Zhou Fan saw his own butt. Next, he spun through the air, slammed into a pillar four zhang away, and crashed to the ground.

However, he was no slouch. He jumped back up to his feet, still vigorous as a dragon or a tiger.

The moment he jumped, he saw a sword aura pointed at his glabella, forcing him to stick close to the pillar.

In the hall, the Zhou clan’s members rushed forward, shouting one after another.

“Insolence!”

“You bastard!”

“Drop your sword!”

Standing four zhang behind the sword aura, Xu Ying said indifferently, “Whether it’s too much or not depends on your strength. In front of me, do you have the power to cross the line?”

He looked around, taking in the expressions and demeanors of the Zhou clan members. With a gentle expression, he said, “One thing really confused me in the past. Zhou Yang is already a magistrate, the highest-ranking official there. He had everything he could ever want: over a dozen beautiful wives, vast fertile lands, endless gold and silver, and endless delicacies.

“Whenever he goes out, he rides in a grand palanquin carried by eight men. Whenever he returns, his beautiful wives welcome him. Meanwhile, farmers and vegetable vendors like us have nothing. Many can’t afford to take a wife and are forced to end their bloodlines. Many can’t afford houses and must sleep in dirt burrows and straw shacks.

“Our families are so poor that we never knew where our next meal will come from. Yet why is the magistrate still so greedy? Plundering us poor wretches? We can’t afford to eat. Why does he still have to seize the last of our food?”

Smiling faintly, he said, “Now that I see you, I understand. It turns out that he has to feed you people. You live in luxury, free of worry for basic necessities.

“When you go out, you wear the finest garment and ride the finest horses, with countless servants surrounding you like stars around the moon. Behind you stand countless people like Magistrate Zhou, worshipping you like gods!”

Yuanqi slapped his tail against the ground and praised, “Fat rats, fat rats, eat no more of our millet[1]! It refers to precisely fat rats like you! Ah Ying, am I right?”

Xu Ying clapped and praised, “The Niu family is indeed a scholarly lineage. Your remark is truly cultured.”

Yuanqi laughed out loud. “You finally admitted that I’m more knowledgeable than you!”

The faces of the Zhou clan members turned ashen.

Trembling in anger, Zhou Buyi pointed his finger at Xu Ying and roared, “Rumors, these are all rumors targeted at our clan! If you dare to say such words today, I wouldn’t dare imagine what you’ll do tomorrow!”

Yuanqi exclaimed in bewilderment, “You’re just a servant of the Zhou clan, but why do you speak as if you’re its master? Our firsthand experiences are now mere rumors in your mouth? Do you hold the divine mandate in your mouth, and whatever you say becomes the law?”

Zhou Buyi’s hand trembled violently. He roared furiously, “A mere snake demon dares to spout such nonsense! Everything the clan does serves the Emperor’s orders, and all we push for is the Emperor’s grace. Questioning the Zhou clan is no different from questioning the Emperor and defying an imperial decree. You’re plotting a rebellion!”

Yuanqi snapped back angrily, “You can act like local Emperors, but I’m not allowed to rebel?”

Xu Ying coughed dryly, interrupting them. The sword aura slapped Zhou Fan’s face lightly, producing smacking sounds.

He said, “I’ll let you off this once, but there will be no next time. If you want to spar with me, you are welcome anytime. But if you want to avenge Zhou Yang and his father, then we’ll follow the rules of vengeance.”

He dispersed the sword aura, and his gaze turned cold. “But you have to remember clearly. The grudge between me, Zhou Yang, and his father is a blood feud. If you wish to avenge him, then bet your life on it!”

Staring at the sword tip as the sword aura dispersed, Zhou Fan immediately let out a fierce roar. Deafening roars echoed from within him. The muscles on his right arm grew wildly. With each rise and fall of his arm, a flesh wing that spanned four to five zhang took shape.

The muscles on the flesh wing were chiseled like rock, brimming with unimaginable explosive power.

As he swung his arm, crimson-gold feathers burst from the flesh wing and spread across its surface in an instant.

Each golden feather was incomparably sharp, as though a master artisan had forged and polished it from the finest steel. Every detail was exquisite.

This exorcism art came from someone who had comprehended the Manifestation of the Great Dao!

Raising and swinging his arm down, Zhou Fan’s arm transformed into a flesh-winged golden-feathered blade that was several zhang long in an instant.

The moment his arm came down, the flesh-wing golden-feathered blade was already descending above Xu Ying’s head.

He shouted, “What can you do if I’m avenging Second Brother Yang? This is the Zhou clan!”

A snow-bright streak of sword qi shot forth from Xu Ying’s shoulder to meet the tip of the flesh-winged golden-feathered blade, slicing straight ahead with an unstoppable momentum.

It drew a gorgeous arc of sword light, cutting from the blade’s tip to Zhou Fan’s glabella in an instant. It pierced through him with a sharp, metallic ring and struck the pillar behind him.

That bronze pillar was very ancient, carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, emitting a faint green glow.

At that moment, a thin trail of blood appeared on the pillar.

Xu Ying was surprised. His Realm Breaker strike had failed to damage the bronze pillar in the slightest. That alone proved the Locust-Flower Palace was truly a sacred land.

He turned his head and asked Zhou Buyi, “The Zhou clan is number one in the world in healing, you said. Can he still be saved?”

Before the bronze pillar, a thin line of blood flowed from Zhou Fan’s glabella. Realm Breaker had split his brain in two and cleaved open his Mud-Pill Secret Trove.

1. A direct quote from the Classic of Poetry. Chinese peasants used this poem to mock greedy, tax-collecting rulers by comparing them to giant rats eating the harvest. ☜