At the foot of the mountain, a figure was also watching the commotion in the sky.
It was a humanoid silhouette, behind which stretched another humanoid silhouette, and another, extending backward in an endless sequence.
He was like a hunting tiger, quietly waiting for his opportunity.
Xu Ying was waiting as well.
He heard the clamor of the Heavenly Dao—turbulent, like the chanting of myriad mortals, like the chirping of countless birds, incessantly noisy.
Ever since he had used the Martial Dao to temper his spirit and willpower, the Heavenly Dao's noise had affected him less and less; he could already withstand its whispers.
*There are more stone statues of heavenly gods nearby, though I can't tell whether it's one or several,* Xu Ying thought. *Strange. Aren't the heavenly gods' stone statues all kept in the Palace of Heavenly Gods? Why have they run out?*
Just then, a branch of the parasol tree swayed slightly. A triangular-headed stone statue appeared upon it—not tall, only the size of a palm—staring down at Xu Ying.
An amused smile curled on the stone statue's face.
At the foot of the mountain, the humanoid silhouette showed a look of disappointment, turned, and silently walked away. This was not what he had been waiting for.
What he had hoped to see was the true body of High God Tianshu descending. Seizing that chance, he could drag High God Tianshu down, substitute himself in his place, and use the opportunity to return to the Heavenly Dao world!
Suddenly, a strange ripple stirred the air. Outer God Tianshu raised his head and looked up in astonishment. Streams of divine light descended from the heavens, landing upon the parasol tree on Mount Jiuyi.
Puzzlement crossed his face. "Why aren't the gods of the Zhou Heavenly Order guarding the Palace of Heavenly Gods, and descending here instead?"
He instantly perked up and dashed toward the Palace of Heavenly Gods, thinking, *The Palace of Heavenly Gods is a shortcut to the Heavenly Dao world. Now that these heavenly gods are away, I can seize the chance to enter the palace and return to the Heavenly Dao world!*
On the parasol tree, as beam after beam of light plummeted down, stone statues of various sizes appeared one after another along the branches. In an instant, ten thousand rays of rosy dawn radiated from the parasol tree, making it appear immensely imposing and towering above all!
And those stone statues, which seemed no bigger than a palm or a man's height, appeared colossal in Xu Ying's vision—like heaven-propping owls squatting upon the divine tree!
At this moment, the parasol tree was like the Palace of Heavenly Gods!
In the distance, Beichenzi and Fairy Yutang hurried over. Seeing the scene from afar, they were stirred with excitement. Fairy Yutang smiled. "We finally caught up!"
Fu Yi, the sorrowful old man, hurried over as well. "Beichen, Beichen! Quickly bring out the demon-quelling runes!"
Beichenzi retrieved the demon-quelling runes and the altar. The incense still burned, and the characters of the runes remained clear, though the "Prison" character seal was noticeably dimmed.
Fu Yi's brows knitted with worry. "Last time, he broke the Heavenly Dao seal, which caused the Prison character seal to loosen. I'm somewhat reluctant to let these heavenly gods handle this again. If they cause other seals to loosen, it will be even harder to account to our superiors."
Beichenzi and Fairy Yutang exchanged glances.
Fairy Yutang whispered, "Brother Dao, you worry too much. Xu Ying's escape last time was mere luck. We didn't anticipate so many Martial Dao experts hiding in the Taichu World, which gave him an opening. This time, all we need to do is seal him, wipe his memories, and hand him over to the High God of Heavenly Will."
Beichenzi chimed in, "The method of the High God of Heavenly Will is sound. When pushed to the limit, change; through change, endure. Following the High God of Heavenly Will's way, in just a century or two, Xu Ying will be ruined."
Fu Yi sighed, his wrinkles deepening. "Fine. Let them intervene this once. If they still cannot succeed, we'll do things our old way."
Fairy Yutang smiled. "When the will of the Heavenly Dao bears down, Xu Ying will fall unconscious immediately, leaving him at their mercy. That was how they abducted him last time."
As she spoke, she noticed Xu Ying still standing beneath the parasol tree without the slightest sign of fainting.
Beichenzi, Fu Yi, and Fairy Yutang felt a jolt of alarm, each muttering that things were amiss.
Fu Yi's expression shifted drastically. "The Martial Dao he cultivated in the Taichu World has broken through the interference of the Heavenly Dao!"
Beichenzi said, "Fortunately, his cultivation is still low. Even if he can break through the interference, he cannot escape."
Beneath the parasol tree, Xu Ying looked up at the stone statues of heavenly gods perched above.
One statue turned its head, gazing down at him with indifferent eyes. "Xu Ying, your doom is sealed. There is no need to resist."
Xu Ying tilted his head back and laughed heartily. "You so-called heavenly gods—the Heavenly Dao runes on your bodies are all fakes! You dare call yourselves heavenly gods? Where is Jin Buyi?"
The moment the words left his mouth, an aged voice thundered, "Jin Buyi is here!"
*Boom!*
An aged golden crow plummeted from the sky and landed on the parasol tree. The solar divine fire blazing around its body ignited the tree!
Exuding the peerless, ferocious aura of an ancient primordial beast, the golden crow stood motionless, its visage fearsome.
The heavenly god stone statues on the tree were infuriated and flew up in unison, intending to slaughter the great bird!
The aged golden crow remained perched on the parasol tree, steadfast and unmoving. Yuan Qi poked his head out from the feathers at its neck, trembling with apprehension. *The old master didn't forget how to fight, did he?*
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than two gleaming divine sabers descended! Ten thousand rays of saber light danced through the air like dragons, weaving together like flashes of lightning. In an instant, they sheared off the heads of the heavenly god statues as easily as chopping melons and vegetables!
With another flash of the sabers, the stone statues shattered amidst the light and clattered downward.
The shattered statues fell toward the base of Mount Jiuyi, countless stones rolling and crawling across the ground in an attempt to piece themselves back together.
One stone statue managed to assemble its head and looked up, shouting, "What is the origin of this bird?!"
The two gleaming divine sabers hummed sharply and stabbed into Mount Jiuyi. Sunlight struck them and reflected off the bright blades, turning into a slash of light that cleaved a cloud in the sky with a sharp hiss.
At the foot of the mountain, the stone statues quaked with terror at the pair of sabers' peerless, ferocious might.
Just then, a bronze bell flew up from the parasol tree with a resonant buzz. Countless patterns surfaced across its walls, forming a bell-shaped barrier of light that expanded outward.
The bell-shaped barrier clamped down over the entirety of Mount Jiuyi, and the bell tolled with a resounding *dang*!
Within the light barrier, terrifying power erupted. Yet strangely enough, this power only acted upon the stone statues, touching neither the mountain nor anything else!
Not even the grass and trees were affected by the bell's chime and might!
*Dang—!*
The lingering toll echoed across the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Inside the barrier of light, every last stone statue of the heavenly gods shattered, reducing to fine powder and scattering like dust.
In the distance, Beichenzi, Yutang, and Fu Yi took in the sight with a chill in their hearts. They exchanged glances and murmured, "We must rethink our plans!"
The three split up in different directions and made their departure.
Xu Ying felt a sudden premonition. He looked toward the directions the three had fled, deep in thought.
Jin Buyi flew down from the parasol tree. Yuan Qi hurried down from its body, smiling. "Ah Ying, we finally found you!"
Just as he was about to leap onto Xu Ying, he saw a blade of grass coiled around Xu Ying's shoulder. His heart turned cold. *In just a few days, I've been replaced by someone new?*
Even so, he hopped onto Xu Ying's other shoulder, warily eyeing the purple immortal plant.
The bronze bell flew over, bursting with excitement. "Ah Ying, look at my new look!"
Xu Ying inspected it. It was indeed shinier, but it still bore the color of brass rather than a golden sheen, looking scarcely different from before.
Xu Ying couldn't help but grow suspicious. Glancing toward Zhu Chanchan, he thought, *Lord Bell just looks like he's been polished once. I put so many treasures and materials into Lord Seven's belly—did she embezzle all of them?*
Zhu Chanchan's eyes sparkled, her feet glued to the ground as she stared at Jin Buyi's two divine sabers.
Xu Ying could only ask, "How does Lord Bell feel compared to before?"
"I feel better than ever! I don't rust anymore!" the bronze bell exclaimed.
Xu Ying narrowed his eyes, suspecting Zhu Chanchan had planted countless branding seals into the bell to keep it from speaking ill of her.
*When the Son of Heaven of Zhou returns and beheads Patriarch Chanchan to consecrate the war banners, she definitely won't be wronged,* he thought wryly.
Still, the bronze bell's power was undeniably far greater than before. These heavenly god statues were formidable; even though Jin Buyi's divine sabers had hacked them apart, obliterating every last one of them in a single sweep was no easy feat.
After all, a portion of the heavenly gods' power remained housed inside those statues.
That the bronze bell could pulverize them all to dust proved that it had destroyed the remnant divine power alongside them. That was no trivial matter; clearly, Zhu Chanchan had put great care into reforging the bronze bell.
"Ah Ying, what is this?" Yuan Qi finally couldn't help asking, pointing at the purple immortal plant.
Xu Ying chuckled. "I forgot to introduce you. This is an immortal medicine, an immortal plant that grew inside the imperial mausoleum on Mount Jiuyi."
He explained the purple immortal plant's origin, making everyone's eyes light up.
Zhu Chanchan abandoned the divine sabers, staring at the purple plant with trembling excitement. "Eating it grants immortality and turns you into an ageless immortal?"
Xu Ying explained how the immortal medicine had to be used, concluding, "In other words, you have to be like Xu Fu, standing upon an immortal mountain, to remain immortal. Or you must travel to the Immortal Realm, where you can live forever even without attaining immortality."
Everyone immediately lost interest in the immortal medicine. Yuan Qi said lazily, "If you can reach the Immortal Realm anyway, then achieving immortality shouldn't be hard either. Tomb grass, from now on you follow me and call me Lord Seven."
No sooner had he spoken than his neck tightened; the purple immortal plant's roots had wrapped around his throat and lifted him into the air!
Yuan Qi coiled his body around the purple plant, sneering, "Tomb grass, you dare clash with Lord Seven? Fine, I'll teach you why they revere me!"
The snake and the grass flew off Xu Ying's shoulders, brawling midair.
The bronze bell hurried over, tolling *dang dang* to cheer them on.
Accustomed to this, Xu Ying paid them no mind and walked over to Jin Buyi. Jin Buyi lowered its head, inspected Xu Ying, and upon seeing he was unharmed, nuzzled against him.
Having put its mind at ease, the golden crow tucked its head into its feathers and fell asleep standing right before him.
Zhu Chanchan said worriedly, "Lord Jin has been forgetting things more and more lately. On the way to find you, he kept forgetting what he was supposed to be doing."
Xu Ying's eyes flickered. "Lord Jin is an ancient behemoth. Though his lifespan is vast, it is finite after all. But if we can bring him to the Immortal Realm during ascension, with the immortal medicine, he can live in the Immortal Realm forever."
He had considered many ways to extend Jin Buyi's life.
For example, having Jin Buyi open secret depositories to cultivate. However, Jin Buyi had long passed the optimal window for cultivation, making it impossible to unlock his secret depositories.
Another method was transferring the immortal medicine within his own Mud Pill Palace to Jin Buyi, using primordial Dao essence to refine it for him, which could also extend his life.
Yet primordial Dao essence would eventually be exhausted.
After weighing the options, Xu Ying felt that having Jin Buyi consume the immortal medicine and journeying to the Immortal Realm was the best path.
Zhu Chanchan shook her head. "No one can survive the super heavenly tribulation, and the heavenly road was severed. Ascension is utterly impossible! This path is doomed to fail!"
Xu Ying smiled. "Perhaps it will succeed."
Just as Zhu Chanchan was about to speak, Yuan Qi's screech came from above: "Lord Grass, have mercy!"
Zhu Chanchan looked over in shock to find Yuan Qi bruised and battered, one of his fangs broken and a pair of black-and-white horns snapped off, begging the purple plant for mercy.
*This grass is formidable,* Zhu Chanchan thought. *And it seems Lord Seven's standing has dropped yet another tier. Then again, Lord Seven was already at the very bottom.*
***
Palace of Heavenly Gods.
Thunder surged across the hall's ceiling as streams of Heavenly Dao qi cascaded down from another realm, merging into the stone statues within the palace.
The heavenly gods awakened one after another, seething with rage. Having their bodies chopped apart by a bird and then blasted into dust by a bell was a humiliating disgrace!
"Our true bodies cannot descend to the mortal realm, and with mere stone statue avatars, we are no match for those bandits. But we can enact a Divine Descent!"
A solemn, resonant voice echoed above the great hall, speaking in deep tones: "Gentlemen, if we descend into the mortal realm through body seizure, can we not intervene in worldly affairs and avenge ourselves?"
The other gods voiced their agreement.
One heavenly god asked, "If we do this and our superiors find out..."
"We pin the blame on the Shenzhou Earth God, Beichenzi, and the others!"
Just as the gods reached this point in their discussion, the Palace of Heavenly Gods violently shuddered and began to crumble!
The debating gods turned toward the breach, their faces registering astonishment.
"Someone is tearing down..." A heavenly god had only just begun to speak when a high god raised a hand to silence him.
The gods fell silent, quietly watching the palace being ripped open.
A figure barged inside, an infinite sequence of silhouettes trailing behind him—Outer God Tianshu!
Having seen the stone statues from the Palace of Heavenly Gods ambush Xu Ying, he had sensed the palace would be empty and rushed here, hoping to return to the Heavenly Dao world through this place.
To him, tearing down the Palace of Heavenly Gods mattered little; he only needed the ascension site within it to return to the Heavenly Dao world. What he had not expected, however, was that once he tore into the palace and stepped inside, countless heavenly gods were present, staring right at him!
"Heterodox evil god!"
The stone statues of the heavenly gods rose to their feet and lunged at him. Outer God Tianshu flew into a rage. "I only planned to slip back into the heavenly realm! Since you've spotted me, I'll slaughter all of you and return with head held high!"
With a tremendous shudder, the Palace of Heavenly Gods shattered into pieces.
***
Changsha, the Zhong family.
The Zhong family was a clan of considerable prominence. Though not comparable to the great Shendu clans like the Pei, Wang, Cui, Li, and Guo families, they were the local overlords of Changsha.
The current family head, Zhong Chengxiao, was originally a Great Nuo with little hope of becoming a Nuo Immortal. Yet he had the fortune to live in a grand era when the dual cultivation of Nuo and Qi flourished. Practicing Qi Refinement methods allowed his cultivation to progress further, and in one continuous surge, he opened nine layers of cave-heavens, finally becoming a Nuo Immortal.
Zhong Chengxiao was quite pleased, feeling his Qi Refinement cultivation was also advancing. On this day, as he was cultivating within his Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground, an aged figure suddenly appeared in his Hidden Scenery out of nowhere.
It was an old man with a sorrowful countenance, holding an open green paper umbrella, walking toward him.
Zhong Chengxiao's face drained of color, and he blurted out, "Who are you?!"
The sorrowful old man sighed, though his gloomy look melted into a smile. "Good disciple, the Nuo methods of your Zhong family were taught by me. How can you ask who I am?"
Panic gripped Zhong Chengxiao's heart. "No! My lifespan is nowhere near its end—you shouldn't appear at a time like this!"
The sorrowful old man walked toward him with a smile. "I didn't wish to harvest my great medicine so early either, but I've suffered multiple injuries in succession lately, and my mood has been foul. I had no choice but to harvest and consume it ahead of schedule."
Terror gripped Zhong Chengxiao. Striking out at the sorrowful old man with a single move, he tried to tear through space and flee.
The old man couldn't help but chuckle. "This is your Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground, and also your Realm of Xiyi. Where could you possibly run?"
With a casual wave, he broke Zhong Chengxiao's Nuo supernatural power, capturing the Nuo Immortal in a single motion and sealing all his limbs, bones, and acupuncture points.
"Something I've done for thousands of years without a single mistake—for some reason, it's been going wrong constantly of late."
As the sorrowful old man meticulously extracted the medicine, he spoke to the still-living Zhong Chengxiao, "Life hasn't been easy for me either; the pressure is immense. Only consuming immortal medicine can make me feel better."
Zhong Chengxiao felt his body being cut open, yet felt no pain whatsoever, terrifying him to the core.
The sorrowful old man stared at the immortal medicine, his Adam's apple bobbing, and smiled. "I'm not like the others. Some of them like to eat it raw, but I prefer mine cooked."
Just as he was about to kindle a fire, countless roots suddenly shot into Zhong Chengxiao's Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground, followed by a stalk of purple weed popping up out of nowhere.
The purple weed poked its head out, sneaking about and peering in every direction before shrinking back.
The sorrowful old man was astonished. Just as he was puzzling over this, a voice chuckled, "Old servant Fu Yi, didn't you go off to uncover the truth behind my mother's death? Why are you here eating people?"
The corner of the sorrowful old man's eye twitched violently. A wooden door materialized out of thin air, and Xu Ying—clad in black robes with a red sash—pushed it open and stepped into the Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground.
Dignified and elegant, with gentle eyes fixed on the sorrowful old man, Xu Ying smiled. "What? Don't you remember me, the Fourth Prince of King Xiang?"
Behind him, the bronze bell flew out, and Yuan Qi slithered in.
Chapter 196