Day of Ascension

“The Ninth Innate Realm is this world’s absolute peak, then what does that make me? A man who is just one step shy of the Thousandth?”

Xu Ying emerged from seclusion, somewhat bewildered. His cultivation level defied all common sense.

Even so, the time for vengeance had come.

He walked outside, muttering under his breath, “By the usual playbook, I should lay low, let the first heir apparent oppress me, launch a desperate counterattack, and leave him bloodied and humiliated. Then, Jin Peng, who injured me, will come take revenge for the first heir apparent, and I’ll seize the opportunity to eliminate him!”

He mused out loud, “Then, the State Preceptor’s disciples would swarm forth and seek revenge against me. I’ll kill and injure them, shocking the world with my skills. The preceptor will then make a move personally.

“I’d have a showdown with the State Preceptor, then win the hearts of four or five beauties. And learn about my mother’s background. She will most likely have some illustrious background... Wait, all this sounds familiar. I read this in Master Qi’s collection!”

Xu Ying stopped in his tracks and exclaimed in shock, “Wait, who is Master Qi?!”

He faintly heard a bell and felt a bit dazed. He muttered, “Master Zhong, do you remember if we had a snake demon by our side...”

As he spoke, a chill ran down his spine. He looked around, sensing something amiss. “And who is Master Zhong?”

He stopped and looked around, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

Suddenly, his Thousandth Innate Realm aura erupted, and his expression turned fierce. “But I’m already in the Thousandth Innate Realm. Why do I need to stoop to such petty schemes? I should just find the first heir apparent, eliminate him, and then kill Jin Peng too! If the State Preceptor tries to get in my way, I’ll get rid of him too!”

As he strode forward, a fiery bird swooped through the sky, perching on a courtyard branch to inspect him curiously.

The three-legged bird felt hauntingly familiar.

Xu Ying stopped in his tracks, his aura rippling restlessly as he stared at the fiery bird, as if he had seen it before.

The fiery bird flapped its wings and flew toward him. It turned into a ball of fiery light and entered his glabella.

Xu Ying was startled and hurriedly stepped back but couldn’t dodge it in time. Next, a bright lightning pattern instantly appeared on his glabella.

Twenty thousand years of memories surged forth like a roaring inferno, consuming his mind.

Xu Ying felt as if he were standing inside a sea of fire. Vivid images flashed past him in a blur, overwhelming him.

“Jin Buyi, Master Jin.”

Xu Ying looked around, as if awakening from a dream, looking surprised. Wasn’t I refining my martial Dao in Haojing? How did I end up here?

He remembered wanting to explore the origins of exorcism techniques and divine abilities. So he had started with the Dao of martial arts. He cast aside all techniques and honed his martial Dao essence in the city.

“I remember stone figures appearing on the courtyard tree, then everything went black. Then, I woke up as the fourth heir, Xu Ying.”

Xu Ying composed himself and immediately performed Inner Vision, intending to regain his cultivation. Immediately, dense Heavenly Dao imprints materialized, severing his divine sense.

The Heavenly Dao imprints flashed and vanished without a trace. Whenever he tried to channel his divine sense, they immediately intervened!

“It’s different from the past seals! This time, it’s a Heavenly Dao seal! But no one understands these Heavenly Dao imprints better than I do.”

The imprints had been before his eyes for a moment, but Xu Ying had memorized them. He even spotted quite a few mistakes. Deciphering these Heavenly Dao runes is much easier than immortal Dao runes. It won’t be long before I can break the seal.

He tried to sense his Golden Core, but could not. Then, he tried to channel his primordial qi, but it was also nowhere to be found. His soul remained hidden, and his ethereal void stayed firmly shut.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He could tap into only the raw, innate qi he had cultivated over the past three days. Unfortunately, three days of qi wouldn’t suffice to break a Heavenly Dao seal.

So my soul didn’t transmigrate, the first heir never ambushed me, and Jin Peng didn’t beat me to death.

Xu Ying relaxed, finding the past three days almost laughable. “Bei Chenzi’s group must have altered everyone’s memories, including the first heir’s and Jin Peng’s.”

Just then, a voice rang out. “You also sensed something amiss with the Innate Realm, right?”

Xu Ying followed the voice and saw a stranger in the Prince of Xiang’s Mansion. A handsome youth of seventeen or eighteen, mirroring his own height, yet radiating the overwhelming presence of a peerless grandmaster. He had an extraordinary bearing that made one look up to him like a mountain.

The delicate youth approached. “Which level of the Innate Realm did you reach?”

Xu Ying replied, “Nine hundred ninety-nine. What about you?”

The delicate youth answered, “Hundred thousandth.”

Xu Ying felt a deep sense of awe. To cultivate to such a level in a world where primordial qi of heaven and earth was so scarce was truly incredible!

He asked, “May I ask who you are, Senior?”

“I wouldn’t dare call myself a senior, but two hundred years ago, people knew me as Martial Immortal Zhai. I’ve come to guide you to the other side.”

The delicate youth calmly snapped off a tree branch. “Two hundred years ago, I reached the Ninth Innate Realm, the peak of this world’s martial Dao. Yet I felt only despair, as the path ahead was severed. Until one day, when I was refining my vital energy, I suddenly realized that there’s a realm beyond the Ninth Innate Realm.” ℯℯ𝑙.

He gazed intently at the branch in his hand. Xu Ying sensed his innate true qi flowing through it. The bare branch instantly sprouted new stems and flower buds, and soon bloomed into flowers.

Martial Immortal Zhai planted the flowering branch in the ground. ”I went on to challenge top Innate Realm experts in the world and defeated five hundred forty-two peak Innate Realm beings. In my final battle, I broke through to the Tenth Realm. My mind opened instantly, and my cultivation skyrocketed.”

The flowering branch quickly took root, grew taller, and bore fruit. Before long, the new tree hung heavy with fragrant pears.

He picked a pear and handed it to Xu Ying. “When I reached the nine hundred ninety-ninth level, a single wisp of my aura could crush a peerless expert. I was unrivaled in the world, revered as a martial immortal by the people of that time.

“But I knew that the thousandth level was far from the end of the martial Dao. I thought of those who were also revered as martial immortals in history and had a sudden thought: perhaps they were just like me.”

Xu Ying took a bite out of the fragrant pear; sweet juice filled his mouth.

Martial Immortal Zhai raised his hand lightly and uprooted the pear tree. As if time had reversed, the pears on the tree turned green and shrank, while the new branches grew tender and shorter.

The roots retracted until only a single blossom remained, which shrank back into the original branch.

He pressed the branch back onto the tree trunk. Xu Ying stepped closer, fruit in hand, inspecting the seamless wood. It looked completely whole, as if it had never been broken.

Xu Ying exclaimed in surprise, “This belongs to the martial Dao?”

Such methods should be exorcism techniques!

Xu Ying wasn’t surprised when Martial Immortal Zhai plucked a branch to grow a tree earlier. Xu Ying had unlocked his Mud-Pill Secret Trove and wielded vitality; he could do the same easily.

However, to make the pear tree retract all its branches, make the pears return to being buds, and even make them shrink back into the branch, then plant it back onto the tree? He couldn’t do that!

This was no longer a technique; this was the Dao.

Martial Immortal Zhai said, “This is martial Dao. That which can be called Dao breathes life into all creations and acts in accordance with the natural laws of heaven. Plucking a branch to grow a pear tree is merely following the principle of the transformation of all things. It’s nothing surprising.

“You and I cultivate the martial Dao, so our own bodies are massive treasure troves. When you reach my level, you’ll be able to do all of this easily too.”

Suddenly, his aura shook, and his martial Dao aura surged into the sky, radiating boundless vitality like a massive Mud Pill grotto heaven!

Inside the Prince of Xiang’s Mansion, flowers bloomed and withered in seconds, filling the courtyard with an overwhelming fragrance.

His aura shifted once more. His heart thundered like war drums, unleashing a bloodthirsty killing intent that swept toward Xu Ying, like the terror of a battle-hardened god standing before a mountain of corpses.

His aura shifted again as he showed Xu Ying the Martial Dao Spirit’s immense power. It was an unbreakable fortress of iron and bronze.

His will was as strong as the Yellow Court grotto heaven, even purer than the divine sense immortal herb within!

He unleashed his full soul: formidable, absolute, and fused so tightly with his flesh that so long as his body endured, his soul would never fall.

Xu Ying felt deeply shaken!

Martial Immortal Zhai had demonstrated martial Dao vitality, strength, divine sense, soul, and primordial qi to Xu Ying in sequence, corresponding to the Mud-Pill, Crimson-Palace, Yellow-Court, Gushing-Spring, and Jade-Pool Secret Troves, respectively. Only the Yin and Yang qi of the Jade-Capital Secret Trove remained unexplored!

Though his aura was undeniably powerful, it was profoundly restrained, radiating no further than a cun around him. It didn’t even alarm the others in the Prince of Xiang’s Mansion.

It was nothing like the grotto heavens of the Six Secrets, which burst forth in blinding light and shockwaves that rattled heaven and earth.

“To cultivate in the martial Dao to this extent...” Xu Ying sighed in admiration. Composing himself, he asked, “Martial Immortal Zhai, you must be close to ascending, aren’t you?”

Martial Immortal Zhai replied, “I tempered the true Yang of my soul using martial Dao essence to refine the Martial Dao True Fire, and used my body as a cauldron to refine the Martial Dao Golden Core. At the Hundred Thousandth Innate Realm, I finally opened my second pass. Now, I have no idea how far I am from ascension.”

Xu Ying pondered aloud, “So, you’re at the Second Gate-Knocking Stage and have already opened the Central Ridge Pass. The Heavenly Mountain corresponds to the thirty-three vertebrae of the spine.

“Between the first Gate-Knocking Stage and mastering the second lie twenty-one vertebrae, leaving twelve that correspond to the Twelve-Story Pagoda of the throat.”

Martial Immortal Zhai looked at him in surprise, unsure what he was muttering about.

Xu Ying smiled. “I’m talking about the realms of the legends. For example, the Nine Hundred Ninety-Ninth Innate Realm is at the Qi Gathering Stage, while the Thousandth Innate Realm is at the Gate-Knocking Stage. Cultivating to the Ten-Thousandth Innate Realm would place you in the Transmutation Stage, refining the Martial Dao Golden Core.

“Upon reaching the hundred-thousandth level, one would be in the Second Gate-Knocking Stage, which is the Central Ridge Stage. Your next step is the Pagoda Stage. When you reach this stage, your Golden Core will transform into the Primordial Spirit.”

Martial Immortal Zhai was astonished. He blurted out, “You know about the subsequent realms?”

Xu Ying nodded and smiled. “The subsequent realm, according to the martial Dao, should be called Martial Dao Primordial Spirit.”

Martial Immortal Zhai burst out laughing. “I made the right choice guiding you today. According to our rules, you need to break through to the Thousandth Innate Realm before we can officially guide you. But since you know the subsequent realms, we can make an exception!”

Puzzled, Xu Ying asked, “We?”

Martial Immortal Zhai’s aura enveloped Xu Ying. With a light tap of his foot, he soared into the air in the next moment.

Gales roared past Xu Ying’s ears. Below, the Great Xia capital shrank into a dot.

Martial Immortal Zhai carried him up and leaped forward, transforming into a long rainbow as he shot through the air. He said leisurely, “Remember when I asked where history’s martial immortals went? Since I survived until now, what about those legends?”

He continued unhurriedly, “When I reached the Thousandth Innate Realm back then, I discovered this mystic gateway, which I call the Innate Pass. Once I broke through, a senior—a legend from five centuries prior—found me and became my guide.

“He told me that the true martial Dao lay elsewhere, forged on the Martial Dao Other Shore by those pursuing its ultimate essence.”

He smiled at Xu Ying. “I’ve come here to guide you to the Martial Dao Other Shore.”

Xu Ying’s heart skipped a beat. Martial Dao Other Shore?

Martial Immortal Zhai carried him across the sky, traveling tens of thousands of li. Suddenly, he let out a long howl. His Golden Core erupted with blinding radiance, and martial Dao essence surged skyward, forming a storm of wind and clouds spanning dozens of li, crackling with thunder and lightning!

Martial Immortal Zhai unleashed a single punch. Thunder crashed, and lightning flashed as his fist tore the sky apart.

Xu Ying saw that he had torn open an ancient seal, revealing a long-forgotten battlefield from the Primordial Beginning Realm. Immediately, an overwhelming killing intent surged toward them!

The killing intent was incredibly intense. Colossal weapons stood like mountains, driven into the wilderness. The fiendish qi formed a howling fog that swept back and forth. Within it, fiery light flashed like eyes.

Xu Ying’s heart pounded with fear as he murmured, “What kind of place is this?”

Bringing him along, Martial Immortal Zhai soared inside. He focused his voice, sending a voice transmission across tens of thousands of li, saying, “Everyone, I’ve brought a new fellow Daoist! Please welcome him!”

A massive fist instantly tore through the dense fiendish qi, clearing a path of eerie white bones.

Martial Immortal Zhai led the way, guiding Xu Ying as they swiftly stepped onto the path. “The one who just struck is the most ancient legend of the martial world on the Martial Dao Other Shore. He’s nearing the Millionth Innate Realm, yet he has still not refined his Martial Dao Primordial Spirit.”

Xu Ying’s heart jolted with shock. On both sides of the path, the fiendish qi of the primordial battlefield had coalesced into various demonic creatures, hideous and terrifying. They lunged at the two, only to be shattered into pieces by the surging fist intent.

Someone this formidable really hasn’t refined their Primordial Spirit? Xu Ying thought.

“The recent underworld invasions have made the demonic energy here grow increasingly heavy!” Martial Immortal Zhai said, frowning slightly.

“Underworld invasion?” Xu Ying’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at him in surprise and asked, “There was an underworld invasion here, too?”

Zhai Wuxian replied, “This is the underworld, sealed away during the archaic era. Our Martial Dao Other Shore was built upon this ancient battlefield in the underworld to use the martial Dao to purify this place.”

Xu Ying was somewhat confused. Both the Primordial Beginning and Yuanshou Realms suffer from the underworld’s invasion. Are they facing the same underworld? If yes, who commands it?

In the capital of the Great Xia Kingdom, the frowning old man, Fu Yi, sipped tea as he watched a game of chess. His passion for chess was not as extreme as Bei Chenzi or Fairy Yutang, who could spend a hundred years on a single game.

He only watched for five days before snapping out of it. “I’ll go check on Xu Ying.”

Bei Chenzi and Fairy Yutang stayed focused on their game and paid him no attention.

Holding a green paper umbrella, Fu Yi walked through the capital of the Great Xia Kingdom, shrouded in misty rain. With a smile, he thought, With the Supreme God Heaven’s Will stepping in, we’ve returned to how things were before.

Bei Chen and Fairy Yutang are playing chess, the earth god has returned to his temple in the Divine Land to enjoy the incense offerings, and I can hold my green paper umbrella and walk under the setting sun or the hazy fine rain...

He returned to the Prince of Xiang’s Mansion. A moment later, the smile on his face froze and gradually turned upside down into a frown.

“What’s going on?” He looked left and right, but he couldn’t find any trace of Xu Ying. The veins on his forehead twitched as he tried his best to suppress his anger.

“You were supposed to be here, frantically training in the Great Xia Dragon-Sparrow Art. Once you reached the Innate Realm, you were meant to slay the First Heir Apparent and murder the State Preceptor’s disciple, Jin Peng!”

His voice grew increasingly loud, shouting in angry frustration, ”That offense would trigger the State Preceptor to hunt you down. Then I would reveal your mother’s identity as the Saintess, forcing you to claim leadership over the mysterious sect.

“From there, you’d romance beautiful women, return to reclaim the heir apparent title, take revenge on the State Preceptor, assist your father in seizing the throne, and then take the throne from him...”

The first heir apparent, Xu Hao, walked in. Hearing the commotion, he grew furious and barked, “Old servant, what are you making such a racket for?”

Fu Yi turned to look at him with a vicious glare and flicked his finger. Xu Hao exploded on the spot, reduced to a mist of blood!

All around, the servants and maids of Prince of Xiang’s Mansion screamed in terror and scattered in all directions.

Fu Yi’s face turned murderous. His aura shook, killing all the servants and maids.

Alerted by the commotion, the Innate Realm experts in the Prince of Xiang’s Mansion rushed to the scene. Overcome by a murderous frenzy, Fu Yi had no patience to tangle with them.

His Primordial Spirit manifested behind him, standing in midair and slamming its palm down. In an instant, everything within a hundred-li radius of the Great Xia Kingdom’s capital was reduced to dust, leaving no one alive!

Whether nobles or commoners, everyone was wiped out!

Fu Yi stamped his foot and roared at the heavens in fury, “I’ve been making arrangements for you for a hundred years, yet you ran off without a word? Do you think you can escape? Supreme God, Heaven’s Wiiiill!”