Inside Xiaoyao Palace atop Jiucai Ridge, Li Xiaoke stood before the mirror, using a pair of shears to trim his eyebrows and beard, adjusting his robes as he gradually sank into deep thought.
In the mirror, he was still young, looking just as he had three thousand years ago.
Back then, he had been spirited, young, and promising, working alongside many other Qi Refiners to decipher and restore the ancient Qi refining methods.
During the Zhou Dynasty, Qi Refiners discovered the other shore. Countless powerful beings crossed the void, heading there in search of longevity, which led to a massive decline among Qi Refiners.
Though profound arts were still passed down, there were no longer any forebears to interpret them, making decipherment exceedingly difficult.
In truth, even before the Zhou Dynasty, Qi Refiners had already begun their decline, for tens of thousands of years had passed without anyone undergoing tribulation to ascend.
Though Qi Refiners who cultivated to the Ascension stage still underwent tribulation, they were all elderly cultivators whose lifespans were on the verge of exhaustion, leaving them no choice but to brave it.
With no one ascending, the end of Qi refining remained death. A decline was inevitable, but the discovery of the other shore accelerated it.
"From the Zhou to the Han, across a span of four thousand years, no one was left who could read the Dao runes that recorded immortal arts. Together with the Qi Refiners of that era, I tried to recover various broken arts and unearth the secrets of high antiquity. One after another, we deciphered those ancient arts."
Li Xiaoke spoke softly to his reflection in the bronze mirror. "My strength drew closer and closer to those legendary Qi Refiners of ancient times. The fellow Daoists of my time and I made monumental contributions to reviving the Qi Refiners. One could say that no one could surpass what I accomplished!"
A brilliant smile appeared on his face. He nodded encouragingly at his reflection and said, "We are worthy of such glory!"
He murmured to himself, "We also uncovered certain secrets of the ancient Qi Refiners—they discovered Nuo methods. They actually defiled the sacred bond of master and disciple, twisting the passing of mantle and lineage into a thoroughly filthy form of exploitation! Whenever we spoke of it, we were furious. We made countless attempts to seek out the orthodox path, yet to our sorrow, we found that once one cultivates to our level, opening the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body becomes impossible."
His reflection in the mirror sighed. "We took the wrong path. If only we had cultivated both Qi and Nuo during the Qi Harvesting stage, using Qi refining as the foundation supplemented by Nuo arts, we could have become the strongest Qi Refiners and had hope of overcoming tribulation. But when we realized this, it was already too late."
Li Xiaoke said, "Yet we were the chosen of heaven, after all. We still had time to search for a remedy. Until one day, when I saw a strand of white hair at my temple."
A look of terror crept onto his face, though his reflection remained composed.
Li Xiaoke fell silent, but another voice of his echoed through Xiaoyao Palace. This voice emanated from the bronze mirror, saying, "That white hair made us realize that we were neither ageless nor invincible. There was still something capable of defeating us. And that was time."
Li Xiaoke spoke, following along with the voice. "Time could defeat the invincible me; it could defeat my talent, my aptitude, and my comprehension. Sooner or later, I would become just like those decrepit Qi Refiners, forced to summon a super heavenly tribulation and gamble with my old life."
His reflection wore a grave expression, his voice turning shrill as he cried, "Yet we could never survive the heavenly tribulation! We would die in the tribulation just like those old fools, reduced to a handful of ash! We did not want to die!"
Li Xiaoke plucked an extra hair from his left eyebrow and said, "Indeed, we did not want to die. Nor did we have to. We could simply become like the old monsters we despised, selecting fine leeks, planting them, and harvesting them."
The eyes of his reflection gleamed. "They are our longevity elixirs. Once the great medicine is refined, it gives off a mesmerizing fragrance that makes one's index finger twitch with appetite."
Li Xiaoke began trimming his sideburns, carefully counting the hairs on both sides. "The first time I consumed a great medicine, I was thoroughly disgusted. I felt like I was eating people. My Dao heart was damaged because of it, and it took a long time to walk out of that gloom."
His reflection smiled. "Yet by the next time, we had adapted, even finding it delicious!"
Li Xiaoke trimmed his sideburns evenly and adjusted his robes. "We transplanted the secret depositories and cave-heavens of those great medicines, refining those savory offerings."
The Li Xiaoke in the mirror did not mirror his movements; instead, he was trimming his own small mustache, saying, "Every harvest is an art. We can experiment with different harvesting techniques. Different techniques yield different emotions in the harvested great medicine, and their flavors differ as well."
Li Xiaoke sighed in comfort. "I don't know when, but we grew fond of hunting. This thrill of excitement is truly wonderful."
He turned and walked toward the palace doors.
His reflection watched him leave Xiaoyao Palace and chuckled from behind him, "It makes us feel like we've returned to our youth once more."
"Indeed."
Li Xiaoke waved his sleeve to close the doors of Xiaoyao Palace, taking down the bronze bell hanging beneath the palace eaves, and smiled. "Today, you will come with me on a hunt. This hunt is bound to be quite entertaining."
The bronze bell vibrated violently, yet it remained unable to shake off his control.
Li Xiaoke walked outward, slipping away from Jiucai Ridge without anyone noticing, and chuckled. "I forged you. Your spirit was born because of me. Your branding, your Qi harvesting method—all of it belongs to me. Yet you are utterly loyal to another person, even daring to rebel against me!"
He said leisurely, "Therefore, having him die by your hands will surely be quite entertaining!"
He flew out of Jiucai Ridge and descended toward the desolate, uncanny Land of Heaven's Scourge below, laughing softly. "Now then, let the hunt begin!"
Not long after Li Xiaoke departed, the doors of Xiaoyao Palace suddenly creaked open. Footsteps followed—soft, slow clicks that were extremely faint, yet crystal clear.
Aside from Li Xiaoke, no one dared step inside this Xiaoyao Palace.
The Li Xiaoke in the mirror looked up and laughed. "Back so soon? Could it be that this hunt offered no challenge at all? You..."
His expression froze, then twisted into sheer terror. "Y-You, how did you find your way here? You couldn't possibly have found this place!"
The clatter of chains rang out. A young woman's figure appeared on the surface of the bronze mirror, followed by a pitch-black coffin dragging long chains behind it.
The maiden had delicate features and a shapely, graceful figure—she was none other than Qingbi, the maiden in the coffin whom Li Xiaoke had suppressed inside the dry well on Little Stone Mountain!
Qingbi arrived before the bronze mirror. The face of the mirror's Li Xiaoke returned to normal, and he laughed heartily. "So what if you found this place? You can't do anything to me! I am inside the mirror, not in the same world as you..."
The maiden extended a pale hand and lightly reached into the bronze mirror. The next moment, she seized him by the throat and dragged him out of the mirror world!
The mirror Li Xiaoke's face filled with dread. He struggled relentlessly, yet could not break free of Qingbi's grasp, shouting, "You can't kill me! Your reputation is already ruined; you're a wanton woman fit for any man, and that can never be salvaged! But my reputation remains untarnished! Better to untie a grievance than keep it bound—let go of your hatred and begin a happy new life! In this era, no one knows about the rumors I spread about you!"
Qingbi appraised him with a strange look in her eyes. "Why did Li Xiaoke separate you from his body?"
The mirror Li Xiaoke hurriedly replied, "When he consumed the great medicine, he felt guilt in his heart, which threatened his Dao heart. So, he simply severed me as his negative consciousness! That way, his Dao heart could remain untainted."
He chuckled slyly. "Afterward, whenever his Dao heart was troubled, he would sever his negative consciousness, and I gradually grew stronger. Hehe, the more he severed, the stronger I became. I am the number two figure on Jiucai Ridge, second only to him! Whenever he leaves, I stay behind here to impersonate him, and not a soul can tell the difference!"
Qingbi could not help saying, "If you are identical to him and no one can tell the difference, what was the point of him severing you?"
The mirror Li Xiaoke laughed. "Probably just psychological comfort, making him feel that all the wicked deeds were done by me, while he remained innocent."
Qingbi nodded gently. "He truly is that sort of useless coward. Where is he now?"
The mirror Li Xiaoke said, "He went to the Land of Heaven's Scourge to hunt down the ageless immortal! He intends to devour the primordial Dao essence in the ageless immortal's body and refine the six secret depositories' immortal medicine."
Qingbi cast the mirror Li Xiaoke aside and turned to walk out of the palace.
Behind her, the mirror Li Xiaoke admired her graceful figure and chuckled, "You're still so beautiful... But you're no match for him! He has gathered the power of the six secret depositories and transplanted the secret depositories and cave-heavens of dozens of Nuo immortals. His magic power is countless times stronger than it was back then! He is now the strongest Qi Refiner..."
Qingbi paused and flicked her finger.
The mirror Li Xiaoke flew backward uncontrollably, crashing into the bronze mirror.
Her back turned to him, Qingbi raised her right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist.
Behind her, the bronze mirror began to warp, crumpling into a mangled ball. The space inside the mirror continuously collapsed and shattered. The mirror Li Xiaoke let out a shrill scream as he was crushed into grotesque deformities, his limbs annihilated!
"Looking at you for even a moment sickens me!"
Qingbi opened her hand; the bronze mirror had been crushed into a ball of scrap metal.
She stepped out of Xiaoyao Palace. The golden bell was floating at the summit of Jiucai Ridge and only noticed her now. Startled, it was about to chime an alarm when the surrounding space suddenly layered and folded in disarray, preventing any sound from escaping to the outside world!
"Back then, it was you who ambushed me and cast me into the dry well on Little Stone Mountain, suppressing me alongside the heavenly god."
Hearing Qingbi's voice, the Xiaoyao Bell panicked and slammed wildly, trying to shatter her spatial seal.
Qingbi raised her right hand, her fingers forming various strange mudras, and lightly struck out.
Her hand seals seemed to carry no force, yet the trapped Xiaoyao Bell felt as though it had been struck by a colossal blow. One deep palm print after another suddenly caved into the shimmering golden walls of the bell!
These palm prints were terrifyingly destructive, actually punching through the bell's walls, scattering its brandings, and erasing its power one piece at a time!
The Xiaoyao Bell was seized with terror. "You actually mastered the Gourd Heaven Questioning the Immortals Scripture! But if that wretched bell hadn't severely wounded me and left me unrecovered, you might not have been able to handle me..."
Qingbi's right hand shifted through a myriad of mudras, and in an instant, the golden bell was battered into a twisted heap!
Driven to frantic despair, the Xiaoyao Bell screamed, "Don't kill me! I can help you deal with him! He is unimaginably formidable now, the strongest Qi Refiner in history—you can't possibly be his match!"
Qingbi's expression was like an ancient well, without the slightest ripple. "Do you think I came to face him alone?"
With a clang, the golden bell lost all its might and plunged downward.
Yet in the eyes of the many Jiulong Mountain disciples, the golden bell had merely been floating there when it suddenly twisted out of nowhere, crumpling into a lump of scrap metal, its power utterly extinguished!
The disciples rushed forward in a panic, only to see that the Xiaoyao Bell had been beaten into useless scrap, devoid of any power!
Clang!
The Xiaoyao Bell hit the ground, the spirit of this magic treasure completely obliterated, ceasing to exist!
Taking advantage of the mountain's descent into chaos, Qingbi slipped silently past the onrushing disciples. With a light tap of her toes, the black coffin rose into the air.
Ascending alongside her was a dark cloud that flew out from among the peaks of Jiucai Ridge.
Thunder rumbled within the cloud, accompanied by flashes of lightning that revealed glimpses of a massive form swimming through the tempest.
A voice echoed amid the thunder: "Qingbi, once this vengeance is taken, you and I will settle our own karma! Eh? There is something strange about this place!"
***
In the Land of Heaven's Scourge, Xu Ying drove his Tianzhu sword qi, streaking across the barren wilderness like lightning at extraordinary speed.
To his astonishment, this realm was covered everywhere in that bizarre flesh, clinging to the earth and mountains, constantly licking and devouring the heaven and earth yuan qi.
No plant and no creature could survive beneath the coverage of such flesh!
Even the Qi Refiners who had once dwelled in this world, along with their former cave dwellings and the magic treasures they left behind, could not remain intact; the flesh often swallowed every trace of their essence.
What on earth happened here?
Just as this thought crossed Xu Ying's mind, clouds of dust suddenly billowed across the wasteland ahead. He sped forward to see forty or fifty colossal ancient beasts sprinting wildly.
They were fleeing the living flesh that clung to the earth behind them. Each beast moved at astonishing speed, causing the mountain peaks on their backs to sway violently from side to side.
Massive boulders were constantly flung from the beasts' backs, crashing down onto the earth with thunderous, terrifying rumbles.
Xu Ying slowed his pace and lowered his sword qi, the blade of light skimming behind the ancient beasts, drawing steadily closer.
Whoosh!
He steered the sword qi between the peaks resting upon the back of an ancient beast. These peaks were not particularly large, their surfaces covered in stone, though several had snapped, revealing bony structures beneath.
Suddenly, Xu Ying spotted an ancient temple nestled among the mountain ridges below. Despite the beast's frantic strides and violent shaking, the ancient temple remained completely motionless.
He even saw a falling boulder about to smash into the temple, only to be deflected away by a gentle force!
"There must be treasure here!"
Xu Ying's eyes lit up. He landed outside the ancient temple and set Xue Ying'an down. Yuan Qi also poked his head out curiously, appraising the ancient temple atop the giant beast's back.
There was writing on the temple's lintel plaque. After studying it, Yuan Qi said, "Fine calligraphy. Ah Ying, you do it!"
The script on the plaque was bird-and-worm seal script. Xu Ying examined it and said, "The words written there are 'Feng Jin'—Seal. They're almost identical to the two characters for 'Seal' that I wrote on Lord Bell."
Yuan Qi went frantic and snapped, "They are completely different, alright?! I copied down those eight characters on Lord Bell's rear long ago, and they don't match in the slightest! Ah Ying, do you actually not know them and are just bluffing me?"
Studying the two characters on the plaque, Xu Ying guessed, "The person who wrote these characters must have lacked sufficient understanding of the immortal Dao behind them, so they ended up looking deceptively similar."
Right at that moment, the temple doors suddenly creaked open. Behind them stood a white skeleton, striking a welcoming pose, as if inviting them inside.
Chapter 168