Day of Ascension

Xu Ying stared blankly. This familiar taste was unmistakably the Meng Po Soup.

Everything that had happened in his dream was real.

It had not been a dream. Perhaps he had revisited an old place, or perhaps a mysterious power sealed within this place had awakened a fragment of the memories buried three thousand years ago.

The Meng Po Soup had sealed away those memories, causing him to forget them. Now, they had resurfaced.

He had relived those memories in his dream, as though trapped in a dreamlike illusion.

A raging fire burned in his chest, fueled by sorrow and anger. Why did he have to experience all this? Who was manipulating his fate?

His heart burned with such bitter rage that he wanted to kill!

Bei Chenzi watched him drain the Meng Po Soup as if it were water, a chill creeping into his heart. It’s already no different from drinking water. Those two fellow Daoists must have reached the Heavenly God Hall by now. I hope they can deliver the Demon-Suppressing Runes as soon as possible, and nothing happens to them along the way...

As Xu Ying’s chilling gaze swept over him, Bei Chenzi’s heart skipped a beat. He nearly fled on the spot, panicking internally. What’s with his gaze? Does he recognize me?

His hair stood on end. He remembers me? No, no, I didn’t send him to Jiangjiatian. I only met him twice: once at Mount Wu Wang and now. There wasn’t a third meeting. There’s no way he recognizes me!

The coldness in Xu Ying’s gaze gradually faded. His expression dimmed, and his thoughts drifted back to everything that had happened over those months.

At times, he felt as though everything was still by his side. Yet the instant he returned to reality, he was forced to face the fact that he had lost it all.

Seeing this, Dazhong was just about to toll to help him recover. However, Xu Ying repeatedly circulated the Heart-Returning Seals technique to steady his mind and force himself to stop dwelling on the past.

Dazhong sighed inwardly and stopped worrying. Ah Ying can get through this himself. His Dao heart is already very strong.

Xu Ying walked a slow lap around Diqiu City. When he first entered the stone city, everything had felt unfamiliar. Now, it all seemed so familiar.

After all, he had lived here for several months and made many good memories.

Finally, it was time for them to leave.

Yuanqi reverted to his true form, and the group sat on his head. Xu Ying invited Bei Chenzi aboard. Bei Chenzi had been worrying about how to find an excuse to join them, so he happily accepted and climbed onto the giant snake’s head.

“What a wonderful scent!” Bei Chenzi caught another whiff of the immortal herbs on Zhu Chanchan, and his appetite was instantly whetted.

Xu Ying asked, “Senior Bei Chenzi, you’re well-traveled and knowledgeable. I wish to ask you something. It has been three thousand years since the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Exorcists rose to prominence during the same period. Is there any connection between the disappearance of Qi Cultivators, the rise of Exorcists, and the Heaven-Man Resonance?”

Dazhong couldn’t help but listen intently as well.

Bei Chenzi’s eyes flickered, and he chuckled. “How would I know of something this ancient? Qi Cultivators declined, and their legacies gradually faded into history. Isn’t it only natural that people turned to the Exorcism path? Qi Cultivators became obsolete and were swept aside by history. That’s simply the natural order of things.”

Xu Ying pressed on, “I heard that the decline of Qi Cultivators and the rise of Exorcists were due to problems with Heaven-Man Resonance. Have you heard of any rumors regarding this, Senior?”

Bei Chenzi’s expression shifted slightly. “Who told you that?”

He caught himself and quickly forced a smile. “These are all rumors. None of them are true. Let alone three thousand years ago, who can explain what happened just three hundred years ago? I’m just a little Exorcist—”

“You’re lying!” Zhu Chanchan slammed her fist into Bei Chenzi with a thud. “You’re clearly a Qi Cultivator, so why are you claiming to be an Exorcist?”

The punch sent the artifacts hidden within Bei Chenzi’s ethereal void clattering against one another, making his heart skip a beat.

This fierce little girl’s punch is full of power!

Although the blow didn’t hurt him, it nearly shattered the artifacts hidden in his ethereal void, leaving him thoroughly shaken.

He channeled his primordial qi, and a series of grotto heavens manifested behind him, glowing with violet qi. Those grotto heavens were rooted deep in a mass of violet qi, shrouded in primordial chaos.

Bei Chenzi smiled. “Look, I’m clearly an Exorcist.”

Astounded, Zhu Chanchan scratched her head in confusion. “Strange. I clearly sensed the aura of Qi Cultivator artifacts on you.”

Dazhong and Yuanqi were also astonished. They had assumed Bei Chenzi belonged to the frowning old man’s group and was a Qi Cultivator. They never expected him actually to be an Exorcist.

Xu Ying kept a straight face and said calmly, “I thought Zhou Qiyun was the first to dual cultivate Qi and Exorcism. It turns out Senior Bei Chenzi beat him to it.”

Bei Chenzi laughed heartily. “I have indeed studied Qi cultivation a little. What do you wish to know, Demon King Xu? I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Xu Ying said, “During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Qi Cultivator surnamed Dong proposed the theory of Heaven-Man Resonance and had a Great Spiritist communicate with the gods of heaven and earth here in Diqiu City. Something went wrong, causing everyone in the city to vanish overnight.”

Bei Chenzi’s expression changed slightly as cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He remembers all this? Weren’t his memories sealed?

Xu Ying asked, “May I ask, Senior, what went wrong here?”

Panicking inside, Bei Chenzi replied, “How would I know about such ancient matters? I’m just an ordinary old man passing through here. I have nothing to do with what happened three thousand years ago—”

Xu Ying pressed on, “Then where did those people go? Where did the Qi Cultivators go? They couldn’t have simply vanished overnight!”

Bei Chenzi gritted his teeth. “I truly am just passing through here. I... Well, I did hear some rumors about what happened in Diqiu. It’s said that it might be connected to the Heaven-Man Resonance during Emperor Wu’s era.

“Back then, Qi cultivation had already hit a dead end. In pursuit of eternal life, people chose another path: Heaven-Man Resonance, which infinitely amplified their connection with heaven, earth, and nature.”

Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead. “Then... they made contact with a god.”

Puzzled, Xu Ying asked, “God? Could it be a heavenly god?”

Bei Chenzi shook his head. “Not a heavenly god. The god they had made contact with didn’t come from the Heavenly Dao World but from another void known as the Towering Wasteland. Rumor has it that the Towering Wasteland lies hidden within the deep abyss.”

Xu Ying was slightly taken aback. Yuanqi was slithering along the edge of the abyss, searching the famous mountains and great rivers for parasol trees where phoenixes might nest.

Yuanqi looked down subconsciously, only to see that the mortal realm and the underworld within the deep abyss were still colliding. Deafening tremors echoed from below, sounding like the bellowing of bulls and the roar of dragons.

Anyone who looked with the Third Eye would see a massive, slimy figure rolling through the lava. Yet upon closer inspection, it was nothing more than a scale-shaped boulder.

“Qi Cultivators of that era couldn’t ascend. So, they amplified their perception and made contact with the mysterious gods within the Towering Wasteland. Under those gods’ guidance, even more powerful methods of resonance were developed.”

More cold sweat beaded on Bei Chenzi’s forehead. He carefully chose every word, saying only what he believed was safe.

He said carefully, “Such powerful resonance methods allowed Qi Cultivators to fall into an extremely deep state of Dao immersion and enter the depths of the Towering Wasteland, establishing an even deeper connection with that world.

“Back then, a legend said that entering the Towering Wasteland granted eternal life. Perhaps Diqiu’s disappearance three thousand years ago, and its reappearance today, are both related to the Towering Wasteland.”

Xu Ying’s heart skipped a violent beat as he thought of the mystery of Dao immersion.

If an Exorcist sank too deeply into Dao immersion, they would sense a great terror. It was as though incomprehensible murmurs echoed from the abyss, drawing them into the deep abyss.

Xu Ying himself had encountered this situation before!

Could the great terror encountered during deep Dao immersion actually be one of the gods of the Towering Wasteland?

It was highly likely!

Yet why had Qi Cultivators been able to establish connections with the gods of the Towering Wasteland in the past, while Exorcists now encountered only life-threatening terror?

Dao immersion could lead to death! That was the consensus among talented Exorcists. It had become an extremely dangerous undertaking.

Suddenly, Xu Ying took out the two pages of cultivation technique Yuan Weiyang had given him. His heart pounded wildly!

The Yuan clan’s Primordial Dao Heavenly Domain Resonance involved refining a supreme divine sense to resonate with the heavens, thereby gaining unimaginably powerful divine abilities. The Yuan clan was deeply versed in this Dao!

Perhaps I could use this cultivation technique to perceive the depths of the deep abyss!

Xu Ying’s eyes grew increasingly brighter. This mere fragment of the cultivation technique was enough. He had planned to correct its flaws before cultivating it, waiting until he could refine the immortal herbs of the Yellow Court.

But now, he had decided to cultivate it immediately to strengthen his divine sense and establish contact with the Towering Wasteland that Bei Chenzi had described.

Xu Ying asked, “Senior, is the Towering Wasteland at the end of the deep abyss?”

Bei Chenzi shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Then, was Heaven-Man Resonance, which Qi Cultivators used to connect with the Towering Wasteland, what caused the disappearance of the Qi Cultivators?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did those who disappeared go to the Towering Wasteland?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then, is the reappearance of the ancient world released from the Towering Wasteland?”

“I don’t know.”

After receiving the same answer four times in a row, anger flared within Xu Ying. Sweeping his sleeves, he said, “Senior, you know nothing. What use do I have for you? If you don’t know the answer to the next question either, then please step down!”

Bei Chenzi wore a troubled expression. Some of your questions, I truly don’t know. Other questions I do know, but I can’t answer them. There’s nothing I can do!

Xu Ying said, “Feng Xian’er’s current whereabouts. You should know this, right, Senior?”

Bei Chenzi wanted to give the same answer again, but remembering Xu Ying’s outburst, he worried that Xu Ying might storm off. If he finds that silly phoenix, I won’t have to worry about him running wild. Once the Demon-Suppressing Runes arrive, everything will be fine. I’ll have peace for many years!

He chuckled. “You’re too hot-headed, Demon King Xu. That’s not good. Fortunately, I do know of several locations with divine parasol trees that attract phoenixes. Perhaps you can find that little phoenix in one of those places.”

Xu Ying’s anger turned into joy. He apologized to him, saying, ”I lost my cool earlier. I apologize, Senior. Please forgive me.”

Bei Chenzi smiled. “What wrong have you done?”

He paused as a thought suddenly struck him. Wait! He asked me questions, and when I didn’t answer, he got angry. Then I risk my life to answer him, and he becomes happy enough to apologize... and I tell him he did nothing wrong?

His hair stood on end. What’s wrong with me?

Bei Chenzi wallowed in self-pity for a moment, then pulled himself together. “You’ll most likely not find Feng Xian’er if you go to Mount Song. As written in the Classic of Poetry[1], ‘The phoenix sings upon the lofty ridge; the parasol tree grows where the morning sun shines.’

“Parasol trees that attract phoenixes must be divine. Such trees grow at the highest point, where they receive the first rays of dawn.”

Xu Ying understood immediately. The parasol tree on Mount Jiuyi grew on the mountaintop, standing far taller than any of the surrounding mountains. That was why it attracted Feng Xian’er to perch on it.

Bei Chenzi said, “Phoenixes are good at awakening the bloodlines of archaic divine birds. Wherever a phoenix lands, there will be exotic birds. As long as we watch for those two signs, we’ll know whether a phoenix is nearby.”

Xu Ying thanked him sincerely. “Without your guidance, Senior, we would have taken many unnecessary detours.”

Bei Chenzi smiled. “Demon King Xu, why are you in such a hurry to find Feng Xian’er?”

Xu Ying jutted his chin toward Zhu Chanchan, saying, “Isn’t it just to protect her?”

Bei Chenzi looked toward Zhu Chanchan in confusion. “Protect her? Why do you have to protect this girl? She smells incredible!”

Thinking nothing of it, he chuckled. “Why do you need a phoenix to protect her? With me here, protecting her wouldn’t be a problem. If you trust me, it would be better to stick to the plan and head to Mount Song. We can stay there for a few days and face this girl’s enemies.”

Zhu Chanchan was in the midst of refining the immortal herbs inside her when she suddenly grew tense and said to Xu Ying, “I’m being targeted. We need to find a place to hide quickly!”

Xu Ying hesitated briefly before turning to Bei Chenzi. “In that case, we’ll be counting on your help to fight off the formidable enemies once we reach Mount Song, Senior.”

“No problem, no problem.” Bei Chenzi agreed readily. If I follow them around to search for a phoenix, those two fellow Daoists will have a hard time finding us. Who knows how long it would take before we could finally place the Demon-Suppressing Seal on him? Staying on Mount Song will make it easier for them to find us.

Mount Song wasn’t far to begin with. Since Yuanqi slithered quickly, they arrived at the foot of the mountain before nightfall.

At present, Mount Song was nothing short of extraordinary. It was far taller and broader than before, completely transformed. It had once possessed seventy-two peaks, but now those peaks had risen even higher, and countless new peaks had emerged from the earth.

The peaks now numbered in the thousands. Together with the original seventy-two peaks, they all grew on top of one huge mountain base!

The mountain base was ancient and vast. Its cliffs were as steep as walls and very hard to climb. Clouds and mist floated between the peaks, and a mighty river flowed down from the mountains.

At the edge of the mountain base, the water crashed down like cascading jade and shattered pearls, forming a massive waterfall ten thousand zhang tall that looked spectacular.

When Xu Ying’s group arrived, the sun was setting in the west. Its slanting rays seemed to hang in the gap between the waterfall and the mountain, making the mountain look indescribably majestic.

Immortal qi swirled between the peaks. The spiritual sanctuary Pei Du had mentioned had to be there.

Xu Ying suggested, “Let’s go to the highest peak. From there, we’ll be able to see any parasol tree within a thousand li.”

Naturally, Bei Chenzi agreed. The highest peak is best. It’ll be easier to send a signal to the fellow Daoists and have them come as quickly as possible.

Xu Ying said, “Master Qi, I must trouble you.”

Yuanqi smiled. “A blade is forged for a thousand days to be drawn in a single moment. It’s finally my time to shine!”

Channeling his vital energy, sword qi immediately swirled around him. Wielding the sword qi, the twenty-zhang-long giant snake rode the wind like thunder as he soared into the air, flying toward Mount Song’s summit, which pierced through the clouds!

Bei Chenzi stared in astonishment. This giant snake has not only awakened his bloodline, but he’s also a Qi Cultivator who trains in both Qi and Exorcism. If he cultivates to the Ascension Stage, who could be his match? Fortunately, he doesn’t seem very smart.

When they arrived at Mount Song’s Golden Summit[2], the sun had already set below the mountains. Yet, the summit was still bright, illuminated by sunlight.

Uneasy, Zhu Chanchan whispered, “Ah Ying, the heavenly demon is almost here. I’m afraid he’ll arrive tonight.”

Xu Ying reassured her, saying, “With Bei Chenzi here, you don’t have to worry.”

However, Zhu Chanchan still felt uneasy.

Xu Ying turned to Bei Chenzi and said, “Chanchan’s enemy is coming for her tonight, and they are extremely formidable. Please lend us a hand, Senior.”

Bei Chenzi smiled. “Just let him come. He may come alive, but he won’t return alive!”

Xu Ying felt at ease and turned to ask Zhu Chanchan, “How will the heavenly demon find us?”

“Heavenly demons are adept at possession, and are extremely powerful themselves. If they possess an expert, they would grow even stronger.”

Xu Ying now felt completely at ease. He smiled and said, “There is no one here except us for him to possess. Moreover, we have Master Zhong here. The heavenly demon can forget about possessing any of us.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Mount Song had a perimeter of three thousand li, with immortal light swirling within, enveloping the Sima Grotto Heaven. This grotto heaven was even larger than Mount Jiuyi. Rumor said that Immortal Deng had ascended here, leaving behind an ascension site.

By now, night had fallen. The Exorcists, descendants, and clan elders of the Pei, Cui, Li, and other noble clans were still excavating within this grotto heaven, trying to uncover treasures of ancient immortals.

The noble clans knew they could never claim this spiritual sanctuary for themselves, so they worked together to excavate it, acting as tomb raiders side by side.

They had suffered countless casualties, but they had also uncovered many priceless treasures.

“We found it! We found it!”

Suddenly, an excited shout echoed through the grotto heaven. An Exorcist ran over to report to the clan elders, absolutely ecstatic. “We dug up an immortal corpse!”

The clan elders were both astonished and delighted.

1. The oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, comprising three hundred five works dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC. ☜

2. In Chinese geography and mythology, it refers to the highest, most sacred peak of a holy mountain. ☜