Huge boulders crashed down in sheets. Ancient patterns gradually emerged across the surface of Feilai Peak, and the loose rocks lodged in its grooves trembled violently before shaking free. Section by section, Feilai Peak lit up brilliantly, dumbfounding the Nuo masters who had been fighting over the bronze caldrons and bronze trees. One after another, they craned their necks to look up.
"What kind of treasure is that?"
"A dharma treasure refined from Mount Buzhou?"
"The First Emperor gathered all the world's treasures to forge the Twelve Golden Men. Could someone have unearthed the Twelve Golden Men and refined them into such a massive pillar?"
The bronze caldrons and bronze divine trees washed down by the flash flood from the mountains were undeniably remarkable treasures. In particular, that bronze divine tree stood forty feet high, branching into twelve bronze boughs. Perched on each bough was a three-legged golden crow crafted from pure gold, and atop the central branch was the pattern of a blazing sun.
This bronze divine tree radiated intense waves of power, casting rays of colored light into the sky from time to time that stained the surrounding peaks crimson. The twelve golden crows also took flight intermittently, rising and swooping down. Whoever dared approach was pecked viciously; even a Grand Nuo who had opened five cave-heavens would often be killed in a single strike.
Yet compared to Feilai Peak, such treasures paled into insignificance, utterly unworthy of mention.
Zhu Chanchan attempted to activate and recall this treasure, only to find it excruciatingly difficult. She felt a twinge of regret. *I skimmed a bit too many leftover scraps from the Son of Heaven of Zhou. This treasure is truly too heavy. Without reaching the pinnacle realm of cultivation, don't even dream of easily wielding it!*
Straining with every step, she dragged her feet forward, causing the entire Feilai Peak to tilt slowly.
*I really did pocket way too many scraps. I wonder if the Divine Boat of the Other Shore that the Son of Heaven of Zhou had me build can actually reach the other shore?*
Zhu Chanchan could not help worrying. Back during the era of the Son of Heaven of Zhou, everyone was vexed by their inability to cross their tribulations and ascend, and so they ventured toward the world of the other shore one after another. But the path to the other shore was fraught with perils; countless Ascension-stage Qi Refiners perished on the way or were incinerated by immortal fire.
The Son of Heaven of Zhou had therefore gathered treasures from all under heaven to forge the Divine Boat of the Other Shore, intending to carry the entire imperial court—both civil and military officials—across to the other shore. Zhu Chanchan was the master artisan who had forged the Divine Boat of the Other Shore for the Son of Heaven of Zhou.
*If I embezzled too many scraps and the Divine Boat of the Other Shore couldn't hold up and capsized...*
She shuddered. Wouldn't the entire court have gone to a watery grave with it?
Suddenly, several hundred Nuo masters blocked her path with murderous intent. Some stared at her; others fixed their eyes on Feilai Peak.
"Little girl, leave the treasure behind!"
"Leave yourself behind too!"
"Call us lords!"
Zhu Chanchan smiled sweetly and chirped, "Oh, lords—take this!"
Feilai Peak swept across. The immense mountain mass crushed everything in its path like dry leaves in a tempest. Even when those people activated their bronze divine trees and bronze caldrons, nothing could withstand Feilai Peak; every artifact was batted away.
Spitting blood, the crowd scrambled frantically for their lives, but how could they outrun Feilai Peak? In an instant, hundreds of experts were ground into dust!
Just then, a voice rang out, trembling with shock and fury: "Vile creature, how dare you!"
Zhu Chanchan looked toward the sound and saw the sky distorting wildly. Nine cave-heavens rotated and churned in the heavens, piercing through the void and rooting themselves into a jade-like firmament.
*A grand expert who has cultivated the secret depositories to the ninth heaven!*
Solemn and cautious, Zhu Chanchan dared not tarry. Without a word, her Primordial Spirit vaulted out from behind her, driving Feilai Peak straight forward in a thrust. Up in the sky, that Nuo immortal channeled his Nuo arts; monstrous magic power coalesced into an enormous hand that reached out to grasp Feilai Peak. But the giant hand shattered instantly, and Feilai Peak drove straight toward the nine cave-heavens!
"What a fearsome beast!"
The grand expert of the ninth heaven grunted in agony, sprayed blood across the sky, and fled for his life.
Treasures like the bronze divine tree and bronze caldron flew up on their own, landing upon Feilai Peak. They had originally been part of Feilai Peak to begin with; now they were merely returning to their rightful master.
Having driven Feilai Peak twice in succession, Zhu Chanchan was left gasping for breath, having expended most of her cultivation. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief: *If that fellow had fought me to the bitter end, I wouldn't have been able to muster another strike. Good thing he was a coward. Dragging this mountain, who knows when I'll ever reach Xu Ying... Wait, they're heading in this direction?*
She blinked, then smiled. *That works out nicely—saves me the trouble of tracking them down. Wait, I only left my imprints on the bronze bell, Yuan Qi, and the axe; I didn't leave one on Xu Ying. Could Xu Fu have murdered him for his treasures, killed Ah Ying and snatched the three darlings away?*
She immediately relaxed. *Then this Patriarch will just have to slay Xu Fu, take back the three darlings, and avenge Ah Ying!*
She had little interest in the stone axe, but she was quite fond of the bronze bell and Yuan Qi. At the thought that both treasures were soon to bear the surname Zhu, she beamed from ear to ear.
*Something isn't quite right.*
Zhu Chanchan peered into the distance. She saw swarms of Nuo masters rushing in from afar, all heading in the same direction toward the vicinity of Haojing. Haojing was the imperial capital of the Son of Heaven of Zhou; it had originally been concealed amid soaring mountain ranges before vanishing from the mortal realm along with the Heaven-Human Induction.
Now that Haojing had resurfaced, it was natural that quite a few Nuo masters would come treasure hunting. Yet the sheer number of Nuo masters Zhu Chanchan saw along the way was overwhelming, filling her with suspicion. *Could the Son of Heaven of Zhou have returned? No, that can't be right. That Divine Boat of the Other Shore I built for him might not have held up carrying so many people to the other shore.*
She went over to inquire. Seeing that she was a pretty young girl accompanied by a towering mountain peak behind her, a Nuo master was astonished, but he still answered, "The treasure of the First Emperor Zulong has appeared in the world! The Twelve Golden Men, peerless weapons of slaughter that once suppressed the world, are also about to be unearthed! Haojing? What's a Haojing?"
Zhu Chanchan stared blankly. "The First Emperor Zulong and the Twelve Golden Men are more famous than Haojing and the Son of Heaven of Zhou? I don't believe it!"
The Nuo master looked at her as if she were a ghost, utterly flabbergasted, as the girl who had just spoken walked forward—and the bronze mountain peak behind her rumbled along with her.
Zhu Chanchan endured immense hardship just to reach the outskirts of Haojing. Half-dead from exhaustion, she leaned against Feilai Peak, panting heavily. *Let me rest for a bit,* she thought. *If this Patriarch hadn't been so greedy back then, I wouldn't have suffered so much today... Huh!*
Suddenly catching sight of figures flickering within the ruins of Haojing, she perked up immediately and scrambled onto Feilai Peak to look. She saw a figure standing atop a stone pillar, sleeves fluttering in the wind. The person was clad in an archaic style—the very attire and garments of the Zhou Dynasty!
Zhu Chanchan froze. Just as she was about to hurry over, the figure vanished in the blink of an eye!
*That was definitely a Qi Refiner from my era! Could it be... could it be...*
Her face drained of color in horror. *The Son of Heaven of Zhou has returned from the other shore? Then what about the scraps I embezzled from his treasures...*
Xu Ying stood atop Mount Fangzhang. Behind him was an immense host of Qi Refiners: some riding flying boats, some traveling on flying swords, and others seated upon leaves, chanting spells so that the leaves grew massive as they met the wind.
Each displayed their own wondrous methods as they traversed countless rivers and mountains, heading toward Mount Li.
Xu Ying also spotted several Ascension-stage Qi Refiners who were younger than Dong Meiqing in years, yet appeared far more aged. Xu Ying, having comprehended the great divine power of Tribulation Descending from the Heavens from the *Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens*, was extremely sensitive to calamities and tribulations. He could sense that these Ascension-stage Qi Refiners were relying on peculiar techniques to evade their Heavenly Tribulations.
Their tribulation fortune was exceedingly heavy. If they did not evade it, Heavenly Tribulation would track them down, and once the super heavenly tribulation erupted, they would likely be reduced to ashes without being able to withstand even a single blow! Moreover, even with secret methods to evade Heavenly Tribulation, they had only a few years left to live; their lifespans were already nearly exhausted.
Xu Ying left Mount Fangzhang and approached one of the aged Ascension-stage Qi Refiners, asking, "Your lifespan is nearing its end. Why don't you live out your remaining years in peace instead of traveling to Mount Li?"
"When one is old, death is inevitable anyway. Rather than dying upon a warm brick bed, I would rather kindle one last flame for the future of Qi Refiners."
Xu Ying was stunned.
He went to inquire of several other elderly Qi Refiners and received similar replies. Knowing they did not have much time left, they wished to accomplish something tangible for the Qi Refiners who would follow, so that the lineage and legacy of Qi Refiners could be passed on.
Xu Ying returned to Xu Fu's side and said, "Cultivating Nuo arts can prolong a Qi Refiner's life. In theory, practicing both Qi and Nuo can lead to longevity—there wouldn't even be a need to ascend to the Immortal Realm, as one could simply live as an earthly immortal. Patriarch Xu Fu, is orthodoxy truly that important?"
Xu Fu replied, "It may not be important to you, but to Qi Refiners on the brink of extinction, it is everything."
Xu Ying was deeply shaken. He looked back at the Qi Refiners striving forward. Their Daoist heritage stood on the verge of extinction, yet like fish swimming upstream against the torrent, they fought against the wind and waves. The prevailing tide of this era belonged to Nuo masters; these Qi Refiners were marching against the current, enduring the cold stares and incomprehension of the world. Such courage and sense of duty were truly admirable.
They wanted to fight for an era—an era of their own, restoring a lost age!
"Traditional Qi Refiner cultivation manuals are flawed; supplementing them with Nuo techniques can correct them and make them whole."
Xu Ying said to Xu Fu, "Opening the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body and unifying them with Qi Refinement arts is the path to immortality. Zhou Qiyun crossed his tribulation this way as well. Why must you stubbornly cling to pure Qi Refinement?"
Xu Fu said indifferently, "Can what Zhou Qiyun did even be called crossing a tribulation? It was nothing more than kidnapping a heavenly god. With his strength, he could not even withstand the force of a single strike from the Heavenly Tribulation! That is a crooked, heretical path, unworthy of mention!"
A fanatical gleam appeared in his eyes as he said, "A true tribulation crossing is holding up the heavens with a single hand, clashing head-on with Heavenly Tribulation, defying heavenly majesty, and defying the Heavenly Dao! To comply with Heaven is to perish; to defy Heaven is to flourish! Defying Heaven to become an immortal—that alone is the true tribulation crossing and ascension! Master Xu, you were the one who taught me this!"
Xu Ying shot him a glance and said, "I said that? I don't remember. You said you could help me undo my seal to lure me here, so why don't you undo my seal and let me see if I ever uttered such words?"
Xu Fu smiled and said, "I have been waiting for you to ask me this. In fact, I am already helping you undo your seal."
Xu Ying was momentarily taken aback. Xu Fu retrieved a golden booklet and gently flicked his wrist. The golden booklet flipped open as he said, "Do you still remember the writing in this golden booklet?"
The golden booklet radiated brilliant light, projecting numerous characters of bird-and-worm seal script into the air. The script moved along with the motion of Mount Fangzhang.
Xu Fu said, "You were the one who entrusted this golden booklet to me back then, saying it sealed your memories. Over these years, I have searched everywhere for ancient texts, attempting to decipher its mysteries. Once I unravel the secrets behind these characters, I will be able to undo your seal."
Xu Ying looked at those characters of bird-and-worm seal script, and a violent tremor shook his heart; a roar echoed in his mind.
These characters of bird-and-worm seal script were virtually identical to the writing on the paper talismans that Beichenzi and the other two had used to seal him!
He murmured under his breath. Gradually, the sound of the Dao resonated in his mind, growing louder and grander, echoing again and again—the very meaning of those sixteen characters!
"Mandated by Heaven, eternally suppressed in this life; encircled and imprisoned, sealed and confined."
*Clap!*
Xu Fu snapped the golden book shut and put it away. Only then did the resonating sound of the Dao slowly fade from Xu Ying's mind.
At the same time, the white-robed old man Beichenzi, who had been monitoring Xu Ying's movements from nearby, saw the chess piece in his hand shatter with a sharp *crack*.
"Are they even going to let people live?!"
Beside himself with rage, Beichenzi sprang to his feet, his gaze flashing like lightning as he glared at Xu Fu from afar. "Fairy Yutang, call for reinforcements!" he said chillingly.
The woman in red was also infuriated. She stood up swiftly as her Primordial Spirit manifested, and three streams of azure qi shot out from above her head, transforming into three wild geese that beat their wings and soared away!
Chapter 122