Li Xiaoke’s Dao heart had been jolted by Xu Ying's asymmetrical appearance and attire, causing his aura to destabilize for the briefest fraction of a second. That split second was precisely the opening Xu Ying seized, launching a series of attacks as swift as a swooping falcon, striking like a flash of lightning!
First, utilizing the hand of the heavenly god’s trait of confounding the mind, he struck Li Xiaoke’s occiput from behind, preventing him from focusing his concentration.
Next, he thrust the Tianzhu Sword straight toward Li Xiaoke's glabella, giving him no opportunity whatsoever to react!
Ordinary divine powers would never have posed a threat to a grand expert of Li Xiaoke’s caliber. Yet between the hand of the heavenly god and the Tianzhu sword qi, one was the severed arm of Heavenly God Longyuan, while the other was a divine power of the Heavenly Dao itself. Even if they failed to kill Li Xiaoke, they were more than enough to throw his mind into disarray!
So long as Li Xiaoke was disrupted by a Heavenly Dao divine power, he would lose his hold over the bronze bell, thereby granting Xu Ying a second opening.
This second opening would come from the bronze bell's own attack!
Xu Ying firmly believed that the bronze bell was not an artifact devoid of a sense of right and wrong.
It had developed spiritual sentience long ago. Throughout its dealings with Xu Ying and Yuan Qi, though it spoke sharply, down inside it felt deeply burdened with guilt over having once helped suppress Qingbi.
Whether Li Xiaoke tried appeasing it or subduing it by force, it would only incite the bell's rebellion.
Above all, the fact that Li Xiaoke had brought the bronze bell along to murder Xu Ying and Yuan Qi meant the bell would seize every conceivable chance to deal Li Xiaoke a vicious blow!
Blood seeped from Li Xiaoke’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The sonic shock of the bell blasted his Primordial Spirit so violently that it was nearly knocked clear out of his physical body!
Xu Ying gripped the bell's suspension loop and swung it, aiming the bell mouth straight at Li Xiaoke as he stimulated the "Cage" Dao rune engraved upon its wall!
In a single instant, a three-dimensional "Cage" seal materialized around Li Xiaoke, locking down the surrounding space. Immediately afterward, the second layer activated, sealing his physical body!
The third layer of the "Cage" Dao rune locked Li Xiaoke’s Realm of Xiyi, followed immediately by the burst of the fourth layer's power!
The fourth layer aimed to lock Li Xiaoke’s Primordial Spirit, while the fifth, sixth, and seventh layers were meant to seal his soul, his three souls and seven spirits, and his imperishable true spirit respectively!
Once the seventh layer took effect, Li Xiaoke would have no hope of turning the tables!
Xu Ying's heart thrummed wildly with excitement. For a cultivator at the Cross-Refinement stage to seal a grand Qi Refiner of the Ascension stage was an unprecedented, supreme feat of glory!
All of this took time to describe, yet in reality it occurred with blinding speed; in mere blinks of an eye, Xu Ying and the bronze bell could complete all seven seals and trap Li Xiaoke forever.
Yet just as the fourth layer of the "Cage" Dao rune erupted with power, the Primordial Spirit inside Li Xiaoke suddenly surged with matchless might, snapping the fourth layer right in two!
Xu Ying's eyelid twitched. Unleashing his Golden Core, he poured every drop of his magic power into the bronze bell! By now, Xue Ying'an and Yuan Qi's Golden Cores had also broken free of restraint, and they too unleashed them to bolster the bronze bell.
The young man and the great serpent wore ferocious expressions as they roared in unison, "Sacrifice—!"
*Clang!*
Empowered by their magic power, the bronze bell’s might surged once more, igniting the "Cage" Dao rune a second time.
It could activate the rune’s power on its own, but it possessed no true comprehension of the Dao rune; even when triggered, it could not draw forth much of its profound might.
For instance, a few days ago, when it had used the "Cage" Dao rune to seal Yuan Qi, Jin Buyi had pecked right through the outer spatial seal, nearly swallowing Yuan Qi whole.
Xu Ying, however, was different.
From Jin Buyi’s memories, Xu Ying had traced the golden runes left behind by his past self during the Great Shang era. His grasp of the "Cage" Dao rune and his ability to unravel it had reached an extraordinary level!
With him driving the rune, the profundities of this Immortal Dao rune could be unleashed to their fullest extent!
Bolstered further by two Golden Core experts, Xue Ying'an and Yuan Qi, the Immortal Dao rune grew even more formidable!
Yet quicker than words could tell, the moment Xu Ying triggered the "Cage" Dao rune on the bell, he felt an overwhelming surge of magic power gush from Li Xiaoke’s body, propping up the "Cage" Dao rune and preventing the Immortal Dao rune's power from crashing down!
Compared to this surge of magic power, the combined force of the three Golden Core experts was like a handful of water against the ocean, a grain of sand before the desert—utterly insignificant!
*Crack!*
The immortal seal binding Li Xiaoke’s Realm of Xiyi shattered, unleashing his realm once more!
Xu Ying's expression changed abruptly. A streak of sword qi flew from his fingertips, shaving off Li Xiaoke’s left eyebrow. He immediately threw himself backward, shouting, "Run!"
Yuan Qi, however, gaped his maw wide, vomiting forth hundreds of magic treasures that hurtled in a mad cluster straight for Li Xiaoke’s forehead!
Yet before those treasures could even descend, the magic power surging from Li Xiaoke blasted them aside!
Xue Ying'an pushed his strongest sword qi and lunged forward, but before the blade could even close the distance, it disintegrated like smoke and scattered into nothingness!
"Go!" Xu Ying roared, carrying the bronze bell as he took to the air.
"Do you think you can escape?"
Infuriated beyond measure, Li Xiaoke battered against the second seal, laughing in cold fury. "You ought to have scurried and hid like rats, shivering in dread! Who would have thought you’d dare to plot against me!"
The second seal bound his physical body. If this seal broke, he would regain complete freedom of movement!
Suddenly, a slender, beautiful hand appeared right before Li Xiaoke’s face, lightly tapping against his glabella.
Li Xiaoke’s hair exploded into a wild frenzy. He was sent tumbling and rolling uncontrollably, crashing through peak after peak upon the ancient behemoth's back with thunderous booms!
The moment he stabilized his footing, dozens of delicate jade hands suddenly materialized in all directions, each displaying a different mudra seal. From every conceivable angle and pocket of space, some fast and some slow, they struck his body!
The might of those mudras erupted, unleashing terrifying shockwaves that swept in every direction, leveling all the surrounding hills and mountains until only the temple was left standing!
The ancient behemoth fleeing for its life suddenly felt the weight on its back lessen, its steps growing much lighter. Overjoyed, it glanced back—only to be struck with sheer terror.
Massive chunks of flesh flew through the sky, and eight-legged towers of flesh plunged down one after another onto its back!
There were hundreds of these flesh towers, every tier covered with grotesque eyes of various sizes. The largest stood nearly a thousand zhang tall, its bizarre eyes radiating astounding power!
The ancient behemoth shuddered. The eyes across the eight-legged towers focused, unleashing dreadful beams of light that converged upon the bizarre temple on its back!
Just as the temple was about to be obliterated by the grotesque eyes, a black coffin descended from the heavens. A petite figure appeared before the temple, her face filled with surprise as she murmured, "A heterodox Dao divine power? Who are you?"
She raised a palm, blocking those thousands of world-destroying beams!
*Flash!*
From another fold of space, the beams reappeared, slamming straight into Li Xiaoke!
Xu Ying, Xue Ying'an, and Yuan Qi rushed out of the temple, only to scramble back inside in haste. With a deafening roar, a terrifying torrent of energy erupted across the ancient behemoth's back, tearing across the landscape in all directions!
Even sheltered inside the temple, they felt the horrific shockwave battering in—something even a Golden Core could not withstand!
The bronze bell rang out with a resonant clang, shielding everyone and absorbing the brunt of the heterodox Dao divine power.
The ancient beast carrying the temple let out a stifled groan. Its four limbs buckled, and it collapsed to the ground, shivering uncontrollably and daring not move an inch.
The apocalyptic energy unleashed on its back was enough to obliterate it dozens of times over!
Once the shock subsided, a booming laugh echoed from the sky: "Li Xiaoke, you too have such a day?"
Xu Ying looked up. Rolling storm clouds filled the sky, and from their midst, a colossal creature swooped downward!
*A heavenly god? Yet it doesn't quite seem like one!*
Xu Ying sensed the aura of the Heavenly Dao emanating from the beast and was deeply surprised. He was very familiar with this presence—back at the ruined temple on the stone mountain, he had experienced it firsthand.
Back then, a single glance into the dry well had met the eyes of this monstrous creature, whose Heavenly Dao aura had seized his mind and nearly compelled him to pull Qingbi from the well.
Later, when Qingbi broke free and severely damaged the bronze bell, the colossal creature in the well had seized the chance to escape as well.
Xu Ying walked out of the temple door. Only now did he get a clear look at the behemoth's true form. It was an aberrant species of dragon. Though it possessed a dragon's head, its mouth was triangular. Covered in scales, its sinuous form moved with immense power and grace.
*It must not be a heavenly god, but a mount of one!*
Xu Ying observed it closely. Although the dragon-kind beast bore the aura of the Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao runes surfacing upon its body were nowhere near as numerous as those on Heavenly God Longyuan. It was clearly a mount, markedly different from a genuine heavenly god.
It lacked the dreadful oppressive presence of Heavenly God Longyuan.
Evidently, it had been suppressed after being mistaken for a malevolent heavenly god.
The young maiden before the black coffin was none other than Qingbi. She looked toward Xu Ying, but when she saw his eyebrows and hairstyle, she seemed rather bewildered.
Xu Ying was shuffling along with only one shoe on, the other foot bare, and his pant legs rolled up unevenly—one high, one low.
Suddenly, violent surges of power erupted as dazzling cave-heavens rose one after another behind Li Xiaoke, warping space and time! Alarmed, the dragon-kind beast hurriedly vaulted into the sky to steer clear of Li Xiaoke, hovering uneasily among the clouds to peer down.
His robes disheveled, Li Xiaoke slowly rose to his feet as even more cave-heavens emerged behind him.
Muffled booms rang out. Xu Ying's heart sank as he felt the "Cage" seal he had placed on him being forcibly shattered by Li Xiaoke!
Fairy Qingbi took a step forward, a look of astonishment on her face as she gazed at the cave-heavens behind Li Xiaoke.
Under normal circumstances, a dual cultivator of Nuo and Qi could possess at most fifty-four cave-heavens: the Mud Pill, Jade Capital, Crimson Palace, Jade Pool, Yellow Court, and Bubbling Spring, corresponding respectively to the six immortal medicines: Longevity, Yin and Yang, Heart Power, Magic Power, Divine Sense, and Soul.
Once any secret depository was developed to its peak, one could open nine great cave-heavens, drawing immortal medicines at ever-faster rates.
Opening nine cave-heavens in any single secret depository earned one the title of Nuo Immortal.
Unifying all six secret depositories to open fifty-four cave-heavens was the absolute ideal state of Nuo and Qi dual cultivation—something no one had ever achieved.
Yet the cave-heavens Li Xiaoke displayed far exceeded that ideal!
He had as many as two to three hundred cave-heavens!
For instance, opening the Jade Pool cave-heaven to the ninth tier gathered enough yuan qi from nine cave-heavens to make a Nuo Immortal's magic power as vast as an ocean!
Yet Li Xiaoke possessed forty-five Jade Pool cave-heavens!
Those Jade Pool cave-heavens alone granted him five times the magic power of a Nuo Immortal, which, combined with his own cultivation, made it terrifyingly immense!
His magic power had reached heights that even an ideal dual cultivator of Nuo and Qi could never achieve!
Not even a heavenly god could boast magic power so boundless!
Beyond that, his physical vitality, divine sense, raw strength, yin and yang qi, and Primordial Spirit had all reached an unbelievable level!
"So it is Qingbi, and the Heavenly Dragon I suppressed back then."
Li Xiaoke drew out a handkerchief, carefully wiped the blood from his face, and walked toward the ancient temple with a smile. "What day is it today, to have gathered all the old enemies tied to my past?"
As he moved, the hundreds of cave-heavens behind him swayed, causing heaven and earth to tremble.
These cave-heavens had been harvested by devouring Nuo Immortals and transplanting them into his own body. The pressure he exerted upon Xu Ying surpassed even that of Heavenly God Longyuan!
"The me of today is me in my complete state."
Li Xiaoke stepped forward, the sky behind him warping into bizarre contortions. He looked at Qingbi and smiled. "I am a nostalgic man, Qingbi. I don't hold it against you that your reputation was ruined by me. If you are willing to change your mind, I would still take you. Do you see this?"
His gaze turned feverish as he laughed. "I am invincible now! I have an immortal-like body, immortal-like magic power and strength, immortal-like divine sense, and an immortal-like Primordial Spirit! Before even becoming an immortal, I have already transcended the mortal realm! The yin and yang qi shooting from my eyes can slaughter heavenly gods!"
A beam of black and a beam of white light shot from his eyes, scissoring toward the Heavenly Dragon in the sky!
*Snip!*
The sky was sheared open by his gaze. The Heavenly Dragon dodged frantically, its tail nearly severed!
Uncertain and terrified, the dragon dared not advance.
Li Xiaoke arrived before the ancient temple, looking at Qingbi with a smile. "What reason do you have left to refuse me?"
"You sicken me," Qingbi replied flatly.
Li Xiaoke gave a cold snort.
Xu Ying stood beneath the temple entrance and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Li, being so powerful, why do you still not dare to undergo your tribulation?"
Li Xiaoke’s cheek twitched.
"You don't dare face tribulation because the immortal medicines within your body have never been fully refined, isn't that right?"
Xu Ying smiled. "You turned Nuo methods into a trap and taught them to your disciples, having them cultivate and establish clan after clan. Once they became Nuo Immortals, they accumulated enough immortal medicine within themselves, and all you had to do was devour them to claim those medicines as your own. The reason you also had to transplant their cave-heavens is that you needed their cave-heavens to refine the immortal medicines."
Observing Li Xiaoke’s darkening face, Xu Ying confirmed his hypothesis and continued, "Indeed. Any method capable of refining immortal medicine requires a cave-heaven. You cannot open cave-heavens yourself; although you seized these medicines, you still could not refine them. Hence, you needed to transplant cave-heavens. But simply transplanting them wasn't enough, because the refining speed was still far too slow."
Xue Ying'an came to a realization. Taking a step forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Xu Ying, he said loudly, "You worried that accumulating too much immortal medicine in your body would turn you into leeks in someone else's eyes! That's why you sent me to Taiyi Lesser Mysterious Heaven to find the Primordial Dao Essence for you!"
Xu Ying smiled and said, "In my opinion, an even older angler has set their sights on you, which is why you've been blundering into one bad move after another. You've been targeted by another faction as leeks waiting to be harvested, and you’ve already noticed it. That is why you are so desperate for the Primordial Dao Essence to refine the immortal medicines, isn't it?"
Li Xiaoke’s face turned livid, but he burst into laughter. "I am already invincible under heaven! Who would dare target me? Who is worthy of targeting me?"
Xu Ying retrieved a bronze mirror taller than a man from Yuan Qi's mouth and smiled. "What a coincidence. I happen to possess a spell that can reveal who is spying on you from the shadows. Fellow Daoist Li, take a look."
Li Xiaoke looked into the bronze mirror, only to see no one else—just his own reflection. As he examined his features, his face changed color abruptly, and he hurriedly raised a hand to touch his eyebrow.
Without his noticing, his left eyebrow had been shaved off!
"Strike!" Xu Ying shouted.
Without a second thought, Fairy Qingbi struck immediately, pushing the Gourd Heaven Questioning the Immortals Scripture to its utmost limit. She reached out and made a snapping motion, peeling Li Xiaoke away from the myriad cave-heavens behind him!
Chapter 170