Day of Ascension

Thousands of li north of Mount Jiuyi, new lands had emerged and forced the great river more than two thousand li northward. A city once stood here, Jingzhou, where the Cui clan’s Great Exorcist, Cui Yongyi, served as prefect.

Then the underworld had invaded. More land rose from the Abyss of Cangwu beneath Mount Jiuyi. Mountains and rivers appeared out of nowhere, cutting Jingzhou off from the territories under its rule and reducing Cui Yongyi’s authority to a hollow title.

Had it only been a few mountains, the Cui clan could have carved new roads through Jingzhou Prefecture. But vast marshes and great rivers had risen with the new land. Across a territory of ten thousand li, the region had become an immense wetland strewn with lakes of every size.

Mist floated over the lakes. From high above, the clouds seemed dreamlike, and the water looked like the sky. The sky lay trapped in the lakes, while clouds floated over the waves.

This was the ancient Yunmeng Marsh. It had disappeared from the world a long time ago, only to reappear with the underworld invasion.

A group of Exorcists poured out of the Jingzhou prefectural office, including Great Exorcists and clan elders. Cui Yongyi was also among them. A young master stood out from the crowd, guarded by everyone like stars around the moon. He was the Cui clan’s eldest young master, Cui Dongli.

The Cui clan’s force included house disciples raised by the prefectural office, descendants of branch families, and members of the main line. More than two thousand strong, they swept into Yunmeng Marsh in a grand procession, carrying every sort of artifact.

Cui Yongyi remarked with deep emotion, “Since ancient times, the Yunmeng Marsh has been incredibly difficult to enter. After three thousand years, it has finally reappeared. We’ve recently received many reports about this marsh.

“Someone saw a giant with a dragon’s head and a human body walking across the water, with lightning striking wherever he went.

“Someone else saw a mountain slowly stand up, only to discover it was a massive, unknown beast. Its roars reverberated through the mountains like thunder, and it swallowed an entire lake in a single gulp.”

Shaking his head, he said, “The marsh is completely out of my control now.”

A clan elder, Cui Zhicai, chuckled. “Yongyi, there’s no need to look so discouraged. You’re simply too far from the Divine Capital to have encountered the newest ultimate techniques. Your strength will skyrocket once you start dual cultivation of Qi and Exorcism. Then you will realize that we are still the masters of this land.”

He paused for a moment and asked, “Are the findings real?”

Prefect Cui Yongyi confirmed, “It’s true. When the marsh emerged from the Abyss of Cangwu, it caused the heavens and earth to tremble. That fractured an Exorcist Immortal’s Radiant Vestige land, exposing it.

“Immortal light surged out of the Radiant Vestige land magnificently, and many people in Miluo County saw it. Some even saw a divine dragon flashing through the clouds, revealing its black-and-white horns.”

The Cui clan’s eldest young master, Cui Dongli, asked in surprise, “A dragon with black and white horns?”

Cui Yongyi replied, “That’s right. It flew through the sky, then plunged into the river. It was hundreds of zhang long, snake-headed, devouring huge fish in the water.”

Cui Dongli’s thoughts stirred. Why does that strange dragon sound like that snake demon by Demon King Xu’s side? It’s already been two years since he was last seen.

The clan elder Cui Zhicai exclaimed in surprise, “How peculiar. The Yunmeng Marsh vanished three thousand years ago. Why would an Exorcist Immortal’s Radiant Vestige land be sitting at its edge?”

Cui Dongli said, “There’s something you might not know, Grand Uncle. I checked the imperial archives and found that Exorcism existed even three thousand years ago during the Qin and Han eras.

“The Ancestral Dragon’s burning books and burying Exorcists alive, along with Emperor Wu’s declaration of Exorcism as supreme, prove that Exorcists had already begun to replace Qi Cultivators by then.”

Prefect Cui Yongyi praised, “You’re well-read, Eldest Young Master.”

The Cui clan Exorcists nearby chimed in one after another. “Our clan captured an immortal from the Other Shore and forced them to reveal their cultivation techniques. We couldn’t make sense of it, but the Eldest Young Master deciphered the immortal art.”

“Eldest Young Master used the immortal arts to unify the Secret Troves. That’s unprecedented. Now, he’s unlocked the Jade-Pool, Crimson-Palace, and Mud-Pill Secret Troves. He is truly a grandmaster whose brilliance eclipses everyone in history!”

“Our young master has already unified three Secret Troves. If the other noble clans had not clung to their worthless legacies as though they were priceless treasures, he would have unified even more. Those fools have no foresight.”

......

Cui Dongli smiled faintly. Indeed, he had every reason to be proud.

The Cui, Guo, and Pei clans joined forces and broke into the Other Shore to capture the slumbering “immortal” within. The “immortal” was in a weakened state and powerless to resist. They seized control of his ethereal void, ensuring he couldn’t cultivate. They interrogated him until they surrendered the Lesser Creation Inner Vision Classic.

Cui Dongli was the first among the three clans to comprehend its profound mysteries and earned the clan’s admiration. When the Exorcist Immortal’s Radiant Vestige land was discovered in Miluo County, he was put in charge of leading the exploration.

He remembered when Xu Ying had struck fear into the hearts of the Exorcists from the noble clans along the Luo River. With a single stone axe, he had shattered the heroic dreams of countless youths.

But that was in the past.

Cui Dongli thought, Now, Demon King Xu is nothing compared to me. What undying person, what Ageless Immortal? They’re nothing but fleeting clouds.

He snapped out of his thoughts and said, ”Grand Uncle, the Radiant Vestige land in Miluo County is of utmost importance. An Exorcist Immortal from the Qin and Han eras could be hiding there. Unearthing the Radiant Vestige land of an Exorcist from back then could resolve the misfortune Exorcist Immortals suffer after sealing themselves inside.

“Back then, Exorcists stood as rivals to Qi Cultivators. There’s no way they labored under such a crippling disadvantage.”

The crowd exclaimed in admiration, “Eldest Young Master is wise!”

When they arrived at that Radiant Vestige land, they found it backed against a great river, its surface shimmering with ripples of light. The water stretched to the horizon. Sandgulls swarmed like clouds of mosquitoes to hunt small fish, while fish-dragons six or seven zhang long leaped from the river and swallowed the birds whole.

The tremors had exposed a gateway to the Radiant Vestige land, suspended right above the river. The Cui clan’s Exorcists were guarding it nearby.

Seeing them arrive, one of them reported, “We have been guarding this place the whole time. No one has entered.”

Cui Dongli led the group inside, pouring in like a school of fish. A sheet of fire erupted before them as they entered. A golden crow swooped toward them, unleashing Solar True Fire and inflicting heavy casualties at once.

The clan elder Cui Zhicai was both shocked and furious. He channeled his divine ability to resist the Three-Legged Golden Crow, only to see it soar into the air and transform into a single eye suspended in midair.

Then the eye transformed into a sun, grew a pair of wings, and flew away.

The group rushed forward. Looking up, they saw a monstrous toad in the sky with six eyes and three legs. Its long tongue descended from the heavens, snaring a group of Exorcists and swallowing dozens of them.

The group quickly unleashed their exorcism arts and divine abilities toward that monstrous toad. Yet instead of retreating, it pressed forward and leaped into the crowd to devour them.

It devoured a hundred people before Cui Zhicai forced it back. It leaped into the air, transformed into an eye, then shifted into a bright moon, secretly watching them.

Their hearts pounded with terror, but they finally managed to hold their ground in this Radiant Vestige land.

Looking up, they saw immortal peaks drifting above. Five mountains hung inverted, and between the sun and moon stood a magnificent celestial palace on the clouds, radiant with immortal light.

“That’s the Jade Capital!” Cui Dongli’s breathing grew heavy as he called out, “Let’s go there! That’s where the Radiant Vestige land of sublimation lies. The Jade-Capital Secret Trove legacy must be there!”

The Cui clan’s Exorcists quickly summoned various treasures, connected them to the immortal mountains, and climbed up.

Before they could even set foot upon the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, flesh tentacles dropped down, coiled around them, and pulled them up into the sky. Panic broke out at once. Some lost their footing and plummeted, while others were hauled upward, screaming, and soon fell silent.

“True Fire of Samadhi!” Cui Dongli shouted, spewing the True Fire of Samadhi from his mouth, igniting the flesh tentacles. The tentacles screeched in agony and withdrew back into the sky.

By the light of the True Fire of Samadhi, the group finally saw what lay above, and their scalps went numb. The immortal peaks were covered in dangling roots. They were all flesh tentacles.

The entire underside of the mountains writhed with them, dense as hair and covering every surface.

As the True Fire of Samadhi burned them, the tentacles gave off the smell of cooked meat and rained down from the sky, creating a gruesome sight.

Cui Dongli raised his hand to channel the True Fire of Samadhi, forming a protective barrier before them. “Everyone, climb quickly! I can’t hold it back for long with my True Fire of Samadhi!”

The Exorcists frantically climbed upward and made it onto the mountain before his True Fire of Samadhi extinguished.

Once they climbed up the mountain, they suddenly saw sword light flashing everywhere, like a school of fish. In the blink of an eye, countless people were caught off guard and killed, decapitated on the spot!

The group fought desperately to defend themselves, but the streaks of sword light kept increasing. Elder Cui Zhicai and Prefect Cui Yongyi were the strongest, so they stood at the front to block the barrage.

Only then did they see bright mirrors hanging all over the immortal mountain; at the summit, a strange sword hung upside down without a scabbard.

The strange sword was shaped like a saber, broad at the tip and narrowing toward the hilt. It had a heavy tip, a curved body, and sharp edges on both sides. It hung there by its hilt, spinning continuously.

Whenever the mirror reflected the strange sword, sword qi erupted!

Cui Zhicai and Cui Yongyi desperately blocked the sword qi, but casualties kept mounting. Cui Zhicai shouted, “Dongli, you’re the most talented among us. Hurry up and break this formation!”

The sword light and sword qi kept increasing. Even with his eight grotto heavens unleashed, Cui Zhicai found it harder and harder to hold the line.

Cold sweat covered Cui Dongli’s forehead. He had no idea how to break this formation. Just as he was feeling helpless, a huge tail dropped from the sky.

A childlike voice rang out. “Grab my tail. Climb up.”

The group looked up and saw that the tail was enormously thick, covered in pale scales that shimmered with multicolored light.

They held onto the scales one after another. Just before the sword light engulfed them, the massive tail pulled back up and carried them into the clouds.

Once they emerged from the clouds, a blinding light filled their vision. Above them was the Jade Capital Celestial Palace.

To their astonishment, the tail had descended from the Jade Capital Celestial Palace itself. Shocked and bewildered, they let it carry them into the palace.

The tail gently set them down. They saw a giant snake of indeterminate length coiled all the way around the Jade Capital Celestial Palace. He slowly raised his head, and his eerie eyes burned like torches from the nine heavens as he stared down at them.

That same childish voice came from the giant snake’s mouth. “Didn’t you learn the Sword Kinesis Mantra? I remember Ah Ying passing that technique down before.”

The giant snake had two horns growing from his head, one black and one white. He was the strange dragon the people of Miluo County had seen in the sky.

Yet this enormous snake was far larger than anyone had described. His breaths created fierce winds and blew out thick clouds. Mysterious and powerful, he was a natural-born Dao avatar, striking fear into the hearts of anyone who saw him.

Shocked and terrified, everyone quickly thanked the giant snake.

Just then, a youth’s voice rang out from the city.

“Senior, ‘Yin and Yang of the divine crown, completion brings creation, independent of nature, unclouded through tribulation.’

“Now, I’ve cultivated to the Transmutation Stage, refined both the True Fire of Samadhi and the Divine Water of Samadhi, and achieved samadhi in both Yin and Yang. Blending fire and water together, I’m about to refine my Golden Core, but I don’t quite understand the unclouded part.”

An aged voice answered with the chuckle of a kindly old immortal, “If I understood that, would I still be living in seclusion here and devoured cleanly by others? Don’t be too greedy, Young Friend. Since you’ve already obtained my Jade-Capital Secret Trove cultivation technique, you’d better leave quickly. Don’t get in my way while I slaughter the invaders!”

Their hearts pounding, the group walked into the city. From afar, they saw a kind-looking old immortal with a dark expression on his face, suppressed by a great bell. He sat beneath the bell, his clothes in tatters, looking miserable.

In front of the old immortal stood a broad-shouldered teenager. He bowed respectfully at his side and asked patiently, “Senior, you’re both a Qi Cultivator and an Exorcist. How did you still end up with the fruits of your labor stolen?”

The old immortal lost his temper and tried to jump up and kill him, but the great bell suppressed him with greater intensity, rendering him immobile. He barked, “My master taught me an evil art and purposely set me up! When I achieved success, he came and devoured me!

“I’ve been tricking people into coming here to devour them so that I can restore my physical body and get revenge on him! So many people have come today; let me go and eat my fill!”

The youth became even more respectful and said, “Senior, you were already no match for him when you were alive; how could it be easy when you’re dead? I advise you to just let go of your hatred—”

“Quit your nagging!” roared the old immortal furiously.

The youth had no choice but to let the great bell release him. He nodded apologetically at the group and warned kindly, “Everyone, be careful.”

He began walking out with the great bell. Just as he was about to step out of the Jade Capital Celestial Palace, Cui Dongli suddenly called out, “You’re Xu Ying? Hold it right there!”

The youth stopped, turned around, and smiled. “Is something the matter?”

His blood boiling, Cui Dongli shouted, “Three years ago, when you turned the Divine Capital upside down, I was ordered to stop you at the Luo River! My whole body shook with fear as I watched you slaughter, and I did not dare step forward!

“But today I have mastered my cultivation and divine abilities. I want to challenge you and shatter the shadow in my heart, that god!”

Xu Ying looked surprised, and his expression quickly turned into a smile. “Has it already been three years? Sure, I’ll give you a chance to shatter the god in your heart.”

A blinding radiance suddenly erupted behind Xu Ying. The grotto heavens of Mud-Pill, Jade-Pool, Crimson-Palace, and Yellow-Court Secret Troves appeared, along with the Other Shore sites of the sea of primordial chaos: Jade Void Palace, Tushita Palace, and Cosmic Pagoda!

Then a thunderous rumble echoed as he abruptly unlocked his Jade-Capital Secret Trove and opened three grotto heavens in an instant, raising his Jade Capital to the Third Heaven Realm!

Behind him, the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains appeared. The Heavenly River surged, the Heavenly Mountains hung inverted, the pass opened, and on the fifth heaven, water and fire blended to form a cauldron.

Inside the cauldron, a Golden Core slowly rose, its radiance piercing through the mountains and rivers of the ethereal void.

Wearing a faint smile, Xu Ying looked at Cui Dongli and said softly, “You may make your move now.”

His forehead covered in cold sweat, Cui Dongli trembled all over. He wanted to strike, but his aura was completely suppressed. Fear clenched his heart.

He shouted, wanting to launch an attack, but he collapsed weakly to the ground.

Xu Ying withdrew his aura and stepped out of the Jade Capital Celestial Palace. “Senior, I really like your Wu hook-sword[1]. How about gifting it to me?”

“Gift your grandpa!” The old immortal snapped.

Xu Ying activated Dazhong and smashed him down toward the immortal peak below, breaking the myriad-mirrors restriction.

He said solemnly, “I thank you on behalf of my grandpa.”

1. A curved, hook-like ancient weapon from the State of Wu ☜