The burden of reviving the Sword Sect was simply too arduous. Depending on Shi Yuqing alone was naturally difficult, but if she could rope in a talented young man like Xu Ying, things would become far simpler.
*Leave all the heavy, exhausting, dirty work to him!* Her eyes sparkled as she thought, *And I don’t even have to pay him wages!*
She rummaged through her Realm of Xiyi, pulling out countless medallions—belonging to venerables, elders, peak masters, and all sorts of positions, a vast and varied collection.
After searching for a while, Shi Yuqing finally found the jade medallion for a Grand Supreme Elder of the Sword Sect. Handing it solemnly to Xu Ying, she said, "Once you accept this jade pendant, you will be our Sword Sect's Grand Supreme Elder. Henceforth, whenever your fellow sect members face trouble, as the Grand Supreme Elder you must naturally lend your full support and stand together in the same boat."
Xu Ying took the jade pendant. After pondering for a moment, he said, "What a coincidence, Sect Master. I happen to have a matter that requires your full support."
Seeing his troubled expression, Shi Yuqing assumed he was an honest, simple soul who felt embarrassed to ask favors of others. She asked, "What is it? Is it also on the Wangxiang Platform? We are fellow sect members now, so speak freely! I will surely lend you all my aid!"
Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. "On the edge of the Wangxiang Platform, there is an old woman selling tea. She knows the truth of my origins. I intend to question her, but I fear she won't tell me. I plan to use force, but I'm afraid I won't be able to defeat her."
Shi Yuqing laughed. "We disciples of the Sword Sect always watch out for one another, and you are a Grand Supreme Elder besides! How could I not help with this? Let us set off at once!"
She apologized to Venerable Cangyang, stowed him into the Bright Moon Wheel, and walked outward side by side with Xu Ying.
The young woman took out a scroll map to check their surroundings. Xu Ying glanced over; the map was extremely ancient, handed down from who knew when, and seemingly depicted the topography of the Wangxiang Platform.
It was long and narrow, marking clusters of mountains.
Even with the map, they still carefully avoided the creatures of the Wangxiang Platform.
These creatures were mostly transformed from people—many were Nuo masters, and some were Qi Refiners. They had turned extraordinarily bizarre, unspeakable and indescribable.
As they walked through a grove of trees, the trees heard their footsteps and rustled as they turned around. Knots in the bark had grown into the shape of human eyes, bulging outward and staring eerily at them.
Between the trees, vines crept along the ground; at the base of the vines were human bodies lying face-up toward the sky, their eyes hollow and lifeless.
Continuing forward, they came across a cliff smothered in flesh and blood. Suddenly, the flesh tore open, revealing a gigantic eye that filled the entire cliff face, rolling around and watching them.
Behind Shi Yuqing, the Bright Moon Wheel spun, from time to time shooting out cold, clear sword qi to sweep away the green slime along the path ahead so it wouldn't splash onto them.
They also encountered shattered fragments of magic treasures. Xu Ying picked up one piece—a shard of a massive bronze furnace with a Qi Refiner's Dao images imprinted on the furnace wall.
Qi Refiners branded Dao images onto magic treasures to enhance their power and might.
"Yuqing, look!"
Xu Ying pointed at the Dao image brand on the bronze furnace fragment. "The Dao image on this fragment is already warped beyond its original form. This is the effect caused by the Immortal Dao; the Heavenly Dao's influence isn't this powerful."
Shi Yuqing leaned in to look. Sure enough, some Dao image brands on the magic treasure fragments had burst apart, while others were twisted and spiraling, in utter chaos, as if some bizarre force had destroyed these treasures!
"I've heard my sect's elders say that we cultivate immortality in order to jump beyond the Three Realms and not remain within the Five Elements. The so-called Three Realms are the realms of mortals, ghosts, and gods. The realm of gods is the Heavenly Dao world, where heavenly gods dwell," the young woman pondered. "So our goal in becoming immortals is to make our Dao leap beyond the scope of the Heavenly Dao and achieve transcendence."
"Jump beyond the Three Realms, not within the Five Elements?" Xu Ying felt a yearning sense of wonder and smiled. "Can mortals truly achieve carefree transcendence through cultivation?"
Shi Yuqing smiled. "Naturally! Our Sword Sect once had patriarchs ascend to the Immortal Realm, achieving transcendence!"
Her face darkened immediately, and she gritted her teeth. "Yet ever since that Great Villain blocked the road to ascension, no one has been able to ascend! That despicable Great Villain caused the deaths of generations of our Sword Sect's patriarchs!"
She ground her teeth, clearly harboring profound hatred toward that Great Villain.
Xu Ying felt a moment of hesitation. As far as he knew, the "Great Villain" people often spoke of actually referred to two individuals.
One was that super ascender who had pushed the Heavenly Tribulation into a super heavenly tribulation, to the point where no one could cross the tribulation and ascend.
The other Great Villain was Xu Ying himself. This was something Xu Ying had deduced from what he had seen along the heavenly road, because he had seen with his own eyes that the Great Villain who destroyed the heavenly road was himself!
*I wonder which Great Villain it is that Yuqing hates,* he thought secretly.
Ahead on the path, fragments grew increasingly numerous. Every piece of treasure debris showed twisted, burst striations. The further forward they went, the fewer Dao images were merely warped, and the more were completely shattered.
Xu Ying caught up to Shi Yuqing and said, "Yuqing, are we on the right path?"
Shi Yuqing examined the map closely and said, "It is this path."
Feeling uneasy, Xu Ying asked, "Is there another way?"
Shi Yuqing shook her head.
Xu Ying took the map from her hands and studied it carefully, his brow furrowing. Based on their current position, there was indeed only one path leading to the Nai River Bridge; otherwise, they would have to detour across the mountains.
Yet in the mountains on the map, many dangerous red circles had been drawn in cinnabar ink, indicating forbidden zones where no one could set foot.
"From what era does this map date?" Xu Ying asked.
Shi Yuqing replied, "It is said this map was left behind by our founding patriarch. Before his ascension, the elder explored the entire Wangxiang Platform; every place he marked is a forbidden zone that cannot be entered. Back then, Martial Uncle Cangyang carried a copy of this map when he entered the Wangxiang Platform."
Xu Ying frowned slightly. "The founding patriarch was a figure from forty-eight thousand years ago. After such a long time, could the geography of the Wangxiang Platform have changed?"
Hearing him say this, Shi Yuqing grew uneasy as well. However, they could only continue following the map forward now, with no possibility of turning back.
Behind them, vast azure mist blocked their retreat.
"This azure mist doesn't actually exist," Shi Yuqing told Xu Ying. "The founding patriarch noted in his records that the reason we see azure mist is because of a mysterious force within the Wangxiang Platform—the rules of heaven and earth here. In the form of azure mist, it erases the memories of the way back for anyone who enters. Therefore, those who step into this place have no possibility of walking out. To enter here means returning to death, with no hope of survival!"
Puzzled, Xu Ying asked, "Then why is there still a path to life on the Wangxiang Platform?"
Shi Yuqing smiled. "The founding patriarch mentioned that in his notes as well. He said he suspected someone used immense magic power to forcibly suppress the heavenly and earthly rules of the Wangxiang Platform, leaving behind a way of life."
Xu Ying felt deep reverence. "Who could alter the rules of heaven and earth, or even suppress them to forcibly leave behind a way of life?"
Shi Yuqing said, "The founding patriarch speculated that since the way of life lies upon the Nai River Bridge, the one suppressing the Great Dao of heaven and earth in the Wangxiang Platform is most likely the master of the Nai River. He said it was that old woman selling tea at the bridgehead."
Xu Ying's heart drummed in his chest. *Oh no,* he thought.
The old woman selling tea Shi Yuqing spoke of had to be Granny Meng. Was she truly that formidable?
Could her surname not be Meng, but fierce?
*With the strength of Lord Jin, Lord Bell, Lord Weed, and me, can we really take down Granny Meng?*
Xu Ying thought of Lord Seventh, but immediately ruled him out. *No,* he thought. *Though Lord Jin is mighty, even he can't forcibly invert the Great Dao of an entire world. Lord Weed only has a chance if it burrows into Granny Meng's body, and Lord Bell is still lacking a bit...*
"Wait a minute!"
Cold sweat rolled down his forehead. He had gotten lost, but Jin Buyi and the others hadn't! At their speed, they had probably reached the Nai River Bridge long ago!
Knowing them as Xu Ying did, those fellows certainly wouldn't wait for him—they would definitely strike at Granny Meng directly!
*Lord Seventh is steady. With me away, he's the backbone,* Xu Ying exhaled a long breath of turbid air and thought, *Lord Seventh will surely keep them from making a move.*
At the head of the Nai River Bridge, Yuan Qi revealed his true form and charged first toward Granny Meng, yelling, "Aba aba!"
On his forehead, the leaves of the purple immortal plant fluttered. Behind him, the bronze bell and Jin Buyi came rushing with a roar!
At the bridgehead, the tea-selling old woman's aura trembled slightly, and the celestial phenomena abruptly shifted. Behind the little old woman, boundless darkness emerged, crisscrossed by countless Nai River Bridges that connected to realm after realm of the heavens within the dark!
Countless dead souls from those worlds were marching across the bridges!
And the Nai River connecting those myriad worlds transformed into a vast torrent sweeping along endless spirits of the dead, surging beneath Granny Meng and coursing through the starry cosmos—magnificent beyond measure!
At this moment, the little old woman's form expanded without limit. The charging great serpent was two to three hundred zhang long, the bronze bell was like a hill, and the Golden Crow was larger than a mountain, yet before the little old woman, they were like three flying insects.
"Aba aba!"
Controlled by the purple immortal plant, the great serpent wailed in utter terror, tears cascading like waterfalls from its eyes as it spun around to flee the way it came.
*Clang, clang!* The bronze bell chimed loudly as it braked frantically, whirling around in panic to escape.
Only Jin Buyi still flapped its wings and flew toward the "little old woman." Flames surged around it to the heavens as it cried out fiercely, "Where are my sabers?!"
Two streaks of snow-white brilliance flew forth. Jin Buyi brandished its dual sabers, pouring out all of its true solar fire as it brought them whistling down right onto Granny Meng's nose.
*Clang!*
Beside Granny Meng, a teacup flew up. In an instant, Jin Buyi's world spun, and it began plunging toward the teacup.
The aged Golden Crow sneered, "I followed my master across the primordial cosmos, soaring above the starry sky, passing through sun after sun with a single flap of my wings! You think you can trap me? In your dreams!"
Spreading its wings, it took flight, turning into a dazzling, snow-white rainbow that pierced through the void.
In a few flaps of its wings, the Golden Crow flew out of the Netherworld, into deep space, racing toward the sun and sweeping past star after star.
Those stars were colossal beyond measure, whizzing past its flanks. Seeing this, Jin Buyi thought proudly, *My blade hasn't dulled with age; I haven't lost a step from my prime... Wait, why am I here?*
It slowed slightly, intending to stop and ponder why it had run off to this place, only to see an unimaginably colossal silver ring materialize behind it. It pulled immeasurable space into a collapse toward the ring, dragging the Golden Crow into it as well!
The silver ring swallowed the Golden Crow, spat out the sun, moon, and stars it had sucked in, and space returned to normal.
Then the silver ring gradually shrank, turning into a teacup that drifted lightly down onto Granny Meng's table.
"This old woman hasn't made a move in so long, you nearly got away."
Granny Meng tilted the teacup, and the great serpent, immortal plant, bronze bell, and Golden Crow were all revealed, bound tight and dangling beneath the Nai River Bridge.
Jin Buyi was hung upside down, clutching its two divine sabers to its chest, not daring to let them drop for fear they would be washed away by the Nai River. If they were swept away, whether it could ever summon them back was another matter entirely.
Yuan Qi, the bronze bell, and the purple immortal plant had all resigned themselves to their fate. Yuan Qi said, "Didn't I say we should wait for Ah Ying? But the grave weed just wouldn't wait—it insisted on controlling me to charge forward!"
The purple immortal plant's leaves drooped limp. It tried to struggle, only for the golden ropes to bind it even tighter.
The bronze bell said, "Don't panic, everyone. Ah Ying will be here soon. Lord Jin, you have a big build—scoot over a bit and save a spot for Ah Ying."
Jin Buyi quickly scooted over.
Within the Wangxiang Platform, Xu Ying suddenly halted his steps. Shi Yuqing stopped hurriedly as well. Before them lay a stone bridge, behind which stood an ancient town shrouded in white mist, reminiscent of an early spring morning south of the Yangtze.
On the stone bridge stood four or five travelers, motionless.
One of them was facing Xu Ying and Shi Yuqing. On his face, there were no facial features—it was blank like a sheet of white paper.
The others on the bridge were the same, devoid of facial features. Cold sweat broke out on Shi Yuqing's forehead. Like Cangyang, these people had sealed themselves, but their seal was far more thorough!
Cangyang had not sealed his physical body, only his Primordial Spirit.
These people on the bridge had sealed their physical bodies as well!
"Something isn't right!"
Xu Ying and Shi Yuqing exchanged a glance. Having no way back, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and press forward. Shi Yuqing thrust the map into Xu Ying's hands and said, "Ah Ying, if I end up like them in a moment, take me with you and walk out."
She paused, then added, "If I cannot walk out alive, you will be the supreme sect master of the Sword Sect."
Looking somewhat apologetic, she said, "I'm sorry. On your very first day joining the Sword Sect, I'm saddling you with this heavy burden."
Stepping gingerly onto the stone bridge, Xu Ying skirted past each faceless person standing upon it and said softly, "Reviving the Mount Shu Sword Sect is best done by you in person. After all, Mount Shu's ancestral masters chose you as their successor."
Following behind him, Shi Yuqing edged forward cautiously and said, "I must prepare a second plan. If I die, there must be a successor. I cannot let the Sword Sect be ruined in my hands."
The two finally crossed the stone bridge and entered the town. Within the town were past masters who had hidden here in seclusion to evade death—both Nuo masters and Qi Refiners.
They stood there in silence, utterly motionless. Their faces were completely blank.
Just as Xu Ying was about to pass through the town, Shi Yuqing's trembling voice came from behind him: "Ah Ying, I think I've been invaded by an external evil."
Xu Ying turned his head to see blood streaming from the young woman's eyes, and then her nose began bleeding as well.
Yet they hadn't heard any Dao sounds of the Immortal Dao! Shi Yuqing drew two slender rapiers and plunged them into her own eyes, then drew two more slender rapiers and drove them into her ears, crying out loudly, "My life is in your hands!"
She plugged her nostrils, sealed her mouth, and stood blankly in place, completely motionless.
Xu Ying took out a sash, tied it around her wrist, fastened the other end around his own wrist, and led her toward the opposite side of the town.
At the center of the town, a bronze hall was embedded diagonally in the earth, an inexplicable Dao sound echoing from within. All around the bronze hall, flowers, grass, trees, and people grew in a deranged and chaotic manner, the boundaries between plants, animals, and insects blurring into one.
Living and non-living things could even grow fused together.
Suddenly, Xu Ying felt warmth in his nostrils. He raised a hand to touch his nose—his hand came away covered in blood.
Chapter 209