Day of Ascension

The aged Golden Crow wailed. Soon, a raging sea of fire engulfed Xu Ying and the others.

Yuanqi’s flesh crackled and sizzled from the heat. Catching a faint aroma, his heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly called out, “Ah Ying, tell him to stop crying. This is too tragic!”

It was unclear whether he meant Jin Buyi’s grief or his own roasting flesh. ℯ

Xu Ying felt a wave of sympathy when he thought of Jin Buyi’s past. He stepped forward to comfort him. “I recognized you, but since you’re so old, I wanted to let you live out your final years in peace on the Fusang Tree. Why did you leave?”

Emotion choked Jin Buyi. Senile and forgetful, he nagged continuously, repeating himself over and over. Yet every rambling sentence lamented his own failing memory. He never blamed Xu Ying once.

He blamed himself for forgetting about Xu Ying over four millennia, despite their vow never to forsake one another.

Had Xu Ying not left Origin Dao Essence inside him, and had the Fish Belly people not practiced dual cultivation to provide him with immortal herbs, he would not have recalled these things.

He babbled on, cursing his old age for cluttering his mind and making him forget.

He still remembered the last time he saw Xu Ying. The latter had been captured, locked in a prison carriage, and escorted to Xianyang City[1].

Flying over the prison carriage, he had seen the youth inside look up at him. Yet, he simply flapped his wings indifferently and flew away.

“Since then, I couldn’t remember you at all!” he wailed, the flames setting Xu Ying’s clothes ablaze.

Xu Ying hurried to comfort him, and Yuanqi endured the pain and chimed in, “This isn’t your fault. You’re injured. You need to heal your wounds quickly...”

Jin Buyi raised his wing to wipe away the fiery tears. He looked at the blood on him. “This isn’t mine. It got on me when I cut people. You smell so good...”

Yuanqi said nervously, “I think I’m almost cooked. Stop crying.”

Jin Buyi finally calmed down. He raised a claw and asked Xu Ying, “Is this bell yours?”

During the battle with Qingbi and the heavenly dragon, Dazhong had already been riddled with holes. Yet Li Xiaoke had still activated him to fight Jin Buyi, worsening his injuries.

Though Jin Buyi had grown muddled with age, he was a veteran who had fought alongside Xu Ying in countless deadly battles, including over thirty fights against heavenly gods!

He had even joined battles against the mysterious existences who descended from above—entities whom even the heavenly gods treated with utmost respect!

This battle against Li Xiaoke was merely an insignificant skirmish in his long life. Old as he was, he was not about to lose to someone like Li Xiaoke.

He had seen Dazhong before and had a vague impression of him, so he had refrained from throwing the bell away. He held it like a tiny trinket and asked Xu Ying.

Yuanqi took a closer look and exclaimed in delight, “It’s probably Master Zhong!”

Only the eight immortal Dao runes on Dazhong were still intact; the rest of him was mostly shattered. He seemed unconscious, though whether he had been beaten into this state by Jin Buyi or Fairy Qingbi was unclear.

Jin Buyi lifted Dazhong and shook him. Air whistled through the holes in him. “This bell is probably broken beyond repair.”

He intended to hang Dazhong on Xu Ying’s neck, but the bell was too big. So, he spat out a stream of flame, refined it into a fire rope, and hung the bell on Yuanqi’s neck.

Yuanqi froze, terrified the fire rope would burn through his neck and drop both his head and Dazhong to the ground. Fortunately, none of that happened.

However, he quickly sensed his vital energy quietly draining away, which brought him a faint sense of relief.

Master Zhong is still here. He’s siphoning my vital energy to heal his wounds. But it won’t be easy to recover fully this time.

Jin Buyi lifted his other foot and asked Xu Ying, “Did you drop this sword?”

Xu Ying was surprised and delighted upon seeing the eight-facet sword. He quickly replied, “I could have dropped it!”

Jin Buyi’s claw held Li Xiaoke’s eight-facet Han sword, one of the two supreme treasures guarding the sect on Mount Jiulong!

Li Xiaoke had forged the eight-facet Han sword and the Carefree Bell. While Qingbi had turned the Carefree Bell into scrap, this sword’s power remained. It was absolutely a top-tier artifact!

Jin Buyi said apologetically, “I accidentally burned the imprint on the sword.”

Xu Ying took the sword excitedly. “That’s even better!”

Xue Ying’an was filled with envy.

Seeing Xu Ying happy made Jin Buyi happy. He tried to fly and perch on Xu Ying’s shoulder just like in the old days.

Xu Ying felt like a nail driven into the dirt under the weight of a bird as massive as a mountain. Taking a step forward was a struggle, the crushing burden growing heavier by the second.

Fairy Qingbi said to Xu Ying, “Let’s go recuperate at Mount Jiulong first. This place is not safe.”

She keenly sensed a strange aura in the air. Uneasy, her intuition warned her to leave immediately.

The Land of Heavenly Retribution was completely barren. The corpse of the archaic beast that carried the ancient temple on its back lay sprawled across the wilderness while the other beasts stampeded in all directions, fleeing.

Caught in the crossfire between Li Xiaoke and Fairy Qingbi, the beast had met a violent death, as neither combatant had held back.

Though the beast was dead, a lone door still stood on its back, its plaque’s words still flickering.

Suddenly, big chunks of flesh soared through the air like manta rays. One by one, they descended into the deep well behind the door.

Below the manta-ray-shaped chunks of flesh, fleshy towers charged toward the group across the barren wasteland.

“Not enough! Still not enough!”

A magnificent consciousness surged within the well. “I require more limbs, and more energy to break through the immortal Dao seal! My limbs scattered across the world, return quickly and break through the seal!”

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Li Xiaoke was incredibly powerful, but also equally cunning. He had dangled the promise of breaking the seal to string him along, coaxing out Heretical Dao arts and squeezing him dry of knowledge.

He had tried to fool Li Xiaoke in return, tempting him to perform the Heaven-Man Resonance to fold space-time and move a portion of the Divine Land into the sky above the Land of Heavenly Tribulation for him to feast upon.

He devoured millions, hollowed out the entire region of the Divine Land, and plundered the primordial qi of heaven and earth. Finally, he freed a piece of his body from the seal.

He sought revenge using that part of him. He devoured the Land of Heavenly Tribulation, swallowing his enemies’ descendants and squeezing this world dry. However, Li Xiaoke didn’t continue offering him more land as a sacrifice.

Li Xiaoke was clearly trying to exploit him, seeking to extract everything for nothing.

The deep well trembled continuously. “But I’m finally about to break free!”

Jin Buyi struggled to keep his balance while standing on Xu Ying’s shoulder. So, he had no choice but to jump down. The crow followed behind Xu Ying like a vulture, hopping on his legs.

He was utterly thrilled, yet terrified of feeling like a stranger to his old master. He kept trying to strike up a conversation, but his memory kept failing him. He forgot things constantly, and he was especially fond of picking things up.

He picked up Yuanqi’s head curiously and brought it in front of Xu Ying. “Ah Ying, did you drop this bug?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll eat it.”

“Don’t! Master Qi, wake up! Wake up... See, you weren’t eaten. He spat you out when you reached his throat. It’s not dirty, it’s clean.” Xu Ying comforted the giant snake.

A moment later, Jin Buyi asked Xu Ying, “Ah Ying, did you drop this young man?”

The crow held Xue Ying’an by his head. He looked in complete despair, hanging beneath the crow’s beak, not even daring to twitch.

Xu Ying’s heart skipped a beat, and he rescued Xue Ying’an. “No, but don’t eat him! He’s a good friend.”

Jin Buyi set Xue Ying’an down, patted him on the head, and comforted him. “I don’t eat humans.”

A moment later, he picked Xue Ying’an up again. “Ah Ying, did you drop this?”

......

Xu Ying returned to Jiucailing Ridge with Fairy Qingbi, Xue Ying’an, and the others to recuperate. There, Li Xiaoke’s disciples were shocked and doubtful at their arrival.

“This place is bad news.”

Standing on Jiucailing Ridge, Fairy Qingbi looked down at the Land of Heavenly Tribulation below, her heart pounding with fear.

She said to Xue Ying’an, “A supremely malevolent creature is hidden in this world, waiting for the chance to escape. We can only stay here briefly to treat our wounds, or we’ll definitely fall victim to Him! You must get your sibling disciples to leave as soon as possible!”

Confused, Yuanqi asked, “Why aren’t we hunting down Li Xiaoke? He must be gravely injured, or he wouldn’t have escaped. Now is the perfect time to kill him!”

Qingbi shook her head. “If we leave, once that malevolent creature emerges, He could follow this mountain and enter the Divine Land. Given His capabilities, He could easily destroy a world.

“The Divine Land cannot withstand His devastation. Once my injuries heal, I will move this mountain back to the Divine Land and sever the connection between the two worlds. As for Li Xiaoke...”

Shaking her head, she said, “He’s just a homeless dog incapable of withstanding a single blow. It won’t be too late to kill him after we settle matters here.”

Xu Ying praised inwardly, This woman has a chivalrous heart.

Shaking off the terror of his near-death experience in the bird’s beak, Xue Ying’an declared, “Focus on healing your injuries. I’ll go persuade my fellow disciples to leave!”

He left in a hurry.

Xu Ying watched him go. In the eyes of the disciples of Mount Jiulong, Xue Ying’an is a traitor who colluded with outsiders. Will they listen to him?

Just as he thought of this, sword qi surged violently in the area. About a dozen Mount Jiulong disciples activated their sword cases and little bells, charging at Xue Ying’an.

They roared, “Traitor surnamed Xue, today we’ll kill you as a sacrifice to Heaven!”

“Eliminate that Xue dog!”

“Kill that Xue dog and avenge Master!”

As Xue Ying’an fended off his sibling disciples’ attacks, he shouted, “The Heretical Dao evil god suppressed here is about to break free. We’ll all die here if you don’t leave!”

He had no artifacts and could only rely on sword qi to resist the onslaught of his sibling disciples’ sword cases and little bells. Yet, the moment he unleashed his sword qi, it broke their flying swords one after another, and even the little bells renowned for their defenses could not withstand the might of his sword!

Xue Ying’an was startled. “How did my cultivation rise so quickly?”

During this time, he opened three grotto heavens. With Origin Dao Essence within him, his cultivation and strength had unknowingly eclipsed all his sibling disciples on Mount Jiulong!

Sweeping through the mountain unrivaled, he easily defeated his senior and junior brothers and knocked down his sisters.

Before long, Xue Ying’an had severely wounded all his fellow disciples. Feeling surprised and delighted, he carried them off Jiucailing Ridge.

Even after fighting this long, my primordial qi is still at its peak, my wounds are healing rapidly, and I don’t feel tired either. Dual cultivating Qi and Exorcism is overpowered!

Xu Ying, Qingbi, and the others settled in temporarily, recuperating while keeping an eye on changes in the Land of Heavenly Retribution.

While Xue Ying’an fought his fellow disciples, Xu Ying seized the opportunity to secretly learn the sword techniques of the Mount Jiulong lineage.

Mount Jiulong was known for its mastery of bell and sword, and Li Xiaoke was a peerless expert of the Han era. The sword divine abilities he taught his disciples were top-tier techniques.

Although his mastery of the sword Dao was not unrivaled under the heavens, he was definitely supreme in the sword Dao among Han-era Qi Cultivators. Xu Ying’s initiation into the sword Dao had begun with Li Xiaoke, but his progress had stalled since then.

Now, as he observed the battle between Xue Ying’an and the disciples of Mount Jiulong, his mastery of the sword Dao soared by leaps and bounds, reaching new heights.

Li Xiaoke’s divine abilities had left the most injuries on Qingbi, their traces lingering in her wounds. They were incredibly difficult to erase, so she had to channel her cultivation and divine abilities to remove them gradually. No one else could help her.

It was the same for the heavenly dragon.

However, as a creature of the Heavenly Dao, his life force was countless times stronger than that of ordinary people. He was still alive even though Dazhong had smashed everything below his head into pieces. However, his injuries were the most severe; he was on the verge of death.

When Qingbi’s injuries healed slightly, she helped him refine away the traces of divine abilities on his wounds first.

Then, Xu Ying immediately took over, channeling his Mud-Pill Secret Trove’s longevity immortal herb to help him restore his physical body.

“I recognize you,” the heavenly dragon said, sizing up Xu Ying as slender limbs slowly sprouted beneath his neck, stabilizing his vital energy. However, his newly grown limbs were relatively tiny and frail, only about ten chi long, unable to support his massive head.

The heavenly dragon sized up Xu Ying. “When my master was still alive, we hunted you together. Then he died. Before he passed, he called you a rebel!”

Jin Buyi picked him up curiously and tilted his neck back in an attempt to swallow him.

The heavenly dragon hurriedly spread his limbs wide to try and brace against the walls of his mouth to prevent himself from falling into his stomach. He cried out, “Stop! Stop! We were enemies once, but we’re on the same side now!”

Jin Buyi spat him out reluctantly and stroked his massive head with his feathers.

“Don’t be like that. We’re on the same side, same side.”

The heavenly dragon muttered under his breath, “I have switched sides.”

Just then, the celestial phenomena over the Land of Heavenly Retribution changed dramatically. The earth shook violently, and even the sky trembled.

Xu Ying rose to his feet and activated his Third Eye to look toward the source of the tremors. There, he saw the earth split open. Earth qi gushed outward, filling the air with white smoke.

Jin Buyi stood behind him, his voice deep and aged as he said, “I can’t remember where I put the sabers you forged for me to hack people. Let me sense them.”

He spread his wings and channeled his ancient divine sense. Supreme Yang Divine Fire surged around him and transformed into a blazing sun, illuminating the Land of Heavenly Retribution.

Rumble!

The land shook violently as the split earth formed a deep abyss, unleashing a surge of flesh into the sky that clung to the firmament and spread outward.

More and more flesh surged out from the bloody abyss, gradually filling the sky of this world.

Massive flesh pillars descended from the sky with a smack, and countless thick tentacles spread out, covering the fleeing archaic beasts below and devouring them on the spot.

When the pillars of flesh retracted, only the skeletons of the archaic beasts remained on the ground. Their blood and flesh were completely gone!

In the sky, even the sun’s light was obscured. It was as if even the two suns had been devoured by the flesh.

The only light remaining was the blazing fiery light radiating from Jin Buyi on Jiucailing Ridge’s summit.

Xu Ying turned and shouted, “Qingbi, how much of your cultivation have you recovered?”

Qingbi hesitated for a moment before summoning the black coffin.

Her cultivation was still insufficient to move Jiucailing Ridge back to the Divine Land. Still, if she transplanted the grotto-heavens within the coffin into herself, her power would soar enough to unleash the divine ability required.

Just as she was about to make a move, the white feathers on Jin Buyi’s face trembled like stringed pearls. He laughed. “I sense my sabers! They’re coming!”

Crack!

The sky behind them split open. Two beams of blinding light cut through the sky and descended upon Jiucailing Ridge, standing behind Jin Buyi and Xu Ying like two bright monuments, reflecting thousands of sharp blades.

The sheer aura of the saber light slashed into the surrounding masses of flesh, sending severed chunks raining down.

Xu Ying looked back and saw two sabers glowing so brightly it was nearly impossible to keep his eyes on them. Their surfaces were so smooth that his eyes couldn’t focus.

Taller than Jin Buyi himself, the divine sabers were embedded deep into the earth on either side of the bird’s wings.

Xu Ying glanced at the eight-facet sword, then back at the two divine sabers. With a blank look on his face, he muttered, “I forged them?”

He casually handed the eight-facet sword to Xue Ying’an and murmured, “Ying’an, keep this sword. I’m sure I left something better for myself.”

1. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty and the first imperial capital of unified China. ☜