“The Immortal Dao here is starting to affect me.” Xu Ying’s heart sank. He could not entirely resist the Immortal Dao’s invasion. It was simply too overwhelming; its influence still seeped into him, pushing his physical body past its limits.
The youth continued forward, doing his best to skirt around the grand hall. Looking up, he saw that the bronze palace had plummeted here from beyond the heavens at a distinct angle. The sky above the Wangxiang Platform still bore traces of its descent.
The sky had cracked open.
Where the bronze palace had crashed down, a massive tear ripped across the heavens, the shattered space displaying a pulverized ruin that refused to heal.
Spatial fragments of various sizes drifted silently in the air, eerily still.
Apart from those, remnants of the bronze palace also floated quietly in the air, motionless as if frozen in time.
He even spotted a mangled severed hand with two of its five fingers broken off and another bent at a grotesque angle.
Xu Ying withdrew his gaze and continued forward, leading Shi Yuqing. Like a wooden puppet completely devoid of consciousness, she relied entirely on him to guide her way.
Xu Ying heard ragged, wheezing gasps coming from his own nostrils; with every breath, blood trickled down into his lungs.
Not only that, but his vision was blurring, his field of view narrowing until it was almost impossible to see ahead.
Inside his mouth, something seemed to be growing—his teeth, sprouting uncontrollably at an alarming rate!
And his tongue felt as though it had turned into a snake, burrowing backward down his throat.
Xu Ying felt an alien power invading his body, corrupting his Dao methods. His Golden Core had reached the state of True Spirit Void Bright Serenity, yet it was now turning murky and tainted.
He felt his intestines turn into giant serpents slithering within his belly.
“*Wheeze, gasp...*”
Xu Ying came to a halt, struggling to distinguish the path ahead through an increasingly blurred haze.
In the nearby bronze palace, a figure seemed to stand behind the hall doors—slender and graceful, seemingly a woman, gazing out at him with a haunting stillness.
“*Wheeze, gasp...*”
Xu Ying panted heavily in ragged gulps. Suddenly, he raised his right hand and plunged two fingers straight into his eye sockets.
“Aaargh—!”
His head snapped sideways as he roared, gouging out both eyes, immediately biting off his own tongue, and piercing his ears deaf.
His nostrils and mouth healed and fused shut, sealing completely until his face was as blank and smooth as a sheet of white paper.
Xu Ying could hear no sound, see no light, and breathe no air. Yet he took a step forward, walking outward one pace at a time.
His Golden Core grew increasingly contaminated, its light dying out.
His Five Sacred Peaks immortal mountain gradually rotted and collapsed into the mire, the Heavenly River turned green, and heaven after heaven was coated in dust.
His yuan qi sank into dead silence, the portals of his mystic passes rusted over, and cave-heaven after cave-heaven decayed at a rapid pace.
His cultivation vanished.
Xu Ying continued forward, leading Shi Yuqing—who, like him, could neither see, hear, nor smell—toward the darkness and the unknown.
In this invisible town stood people just like them, frozen in place like carvings of wood and clay.
They too, like Xu Ying, had sealed themselves away so the external evil could not invade, yet they had failed to walk out of this town.
In the end, they stood motionless, having practically turned to stone.
Xu Ying kept walking forward, avoiding one stone-like figure after another. He had to lead Shi Yuqing out of this city; he refused to remain here forever!
*I still have so many things left undone, memories I haven’t recovered, and my homeland waiting to be found!*
Xu Ying walked forward. He was now nothing more than a mortal.
For a mortal who could neither see nor hear to try escaping this town under the blight of Immortal Dao pollution was nothing short of a fool’s dream!
Let alone while dragging another person along!
Suddenly, Xu Ying bumped into someone.
His heart sank. He shouldn’t have collided with anyone. He had memorized the road ahead and mapped out the exact location of every single person. Following his memory, an error should have been impossible!
Yet an error had occurred.
Xu Ying steadied his mind, took another step, and skirted around the person to move forward.
Suddenly, he slammed into a wall.
Xu Ying stopped, the corners of his eyes twitching. Though blinded, a clear map was etched into his mind, complete with streets and the positions of every person.
Now, that map had blurred and scrambled.
Fine beads of sweat broke out across his forehead. *Calm down, be calm,* he told himself. *I must not panic right now.*
Panicking would lead to another mistake, and another mistake could mean never walking out of this town alive!
He groped his way forward and bumped into someone else. The person he brushed against seemed to awaken, starting to shuffle about and bumping into yet another figure.
Gradually, the street grew lively as people drifted about in growing numbers, constantly colliding with one another.
Xu Ying groped the way ahead with one hand, trudging forward with difficulty. He had no idea how long he had been feeling his way along—perhaps a day, perhaps ten days, or perhaps a month.
He could see nothing and hear nothing; time seemed to have lost all meaning.
He only knew to keep pressing forward, searching step by step.
At that moment, his fingers touched a freezing cold wall. Xu Ying withdrew his hand and stopped in his tracks.
The icy wall felt neither like stone nor wood; it seemed to be forged of copper or iron, carrying the tactile sensation of cold metal.
Strange textures covered the wall, constantly shifting like swimming snakes, or perhaps...
Xu Ying’s palm trembled slightly. He recognized it: this was the bronze immortal palace.
After circling endlessly, he had ended up right back beside the bronze immortal palace.
Trembling, he felt around his surroundings and touched an arm. The owner of that arm, like him, had also felt their way to the bronze immortal palace.
Except the arm’s owner seemed petrified, standing there stiff and motionless.
Xu Ying continued feeling along the bronze immortal palace, brushing against more arms.
A ring of faceless people stood around the bronze immortal palace. When they had touched the palace, despair had claimed them, leaving them immobile like carvings of wood and clay.
Xu Ying kept groping ahead, gradually moving away from the bronze immortal palace. Those people had given up, but he had not. He would keep feeling his way through until he found a way out.
After an unknown span of time—perhaps a day, perhaps ten days, or perhaps a month—he touched the icy bronze immortal palace once more. He had returned to square one yet again.
Xu Ying’s body shook violently. Helplessly, he crouched down and clutched his head.
He remained completely still, as if he too had succumbed to the same despair that held the others.
After a long time, he rose once more, tugging Shi Yuqing along to press on and search again.
*I need eyes.*
Xu Ying halted and thought silently, *To walk out of here, I must have a pair of eyes.*
He no longer had any magic power. His Golden Core was tainted, and realm after realm seemed to have decayed. Not a single one of his Dao images could be used!
His cave-heavens were completely contaminated as well, rendering every immortal herb stripped of its original efficacy.
He could not regenerate his eyes.
Suddenly, he remembered the scene of Zhai Wuxian snapping off a blossom. Zhai Wuxian was merely a martial artist who had never learned Qi Refinement or Nuo arts, nor did he understand any Dao images.
Yet Zhai Wuxian had plucked a flower to sprout a pear tree, then reverted the pear tree back into a branch and reattached it to the tree. Such martial cultivation had already seized the creation of heaven and earth.
Were Zhai Wuxian here, not even the Immortal Dao could seal him!
*All divine powers originate from martial arts! When humanity resisted nature, resisted heaven and earth, resisted tyranny, and tempered body and will—only then were divine powers born from martial arts!*
Standing in place, Xu Ying stirred the spirit of the Martial Dao, igniting his martial will.
He tied the ribbon holding Shi Yuqing’s hand around his waist and slowly began to execute the Eight Methods of the God of War, move after move, distinct and lucid.
The Martial Dao was fighting heaven and earth, contending with nature; it was acting with chivalry and righteousness, rising against tyranny!
The Martial Dao refined not merely the physical body, but also honed the spirit, empowering it to break through every oppression and shatter every shackle!
Xu Ying had practiced the Martial Dao before. On the Other Shore of the Martial Dao, he had mastered every supreme technique there in the shortest time, yet his martial cultivation had still never reached the level of figures like Zhai Wuxian and Wu Tianzun.
He had not managed to enter the Dao through martial arts, nor had he transformed into the Dao through martial arts!
Now, facing this desperate plight, he finally experienced what Wu Tianzun, Zhai Wuxian, and the others had felt when confronting the primordial battlefield.
Perseverance, protection, holding fast to the obsession and righteousness in one’s heart—fearless of all, never giving up!
Even if it were an immortal, even if it were the Immortal Dao pressing down upon him, he would overturn it, he would shatter it!
His will led the way, guiding his physical flesh to express that will and pour forth the passion in his chest!
His essence, qi, and spirit coalesced to the utmost, and his qi and blood began to circulate, accelerating faster and faster until they roared within him like a surging Heavenly River!
With every punch and kick, the wind stirred by his palms grew fiercer, his striking power projecting ever farther!
It was as though he were gradually recovering his cultivation; his strikes seemed endowed with divine powers, growing steadily more formidable!
His decayed Heavenly River slowly regained vitality, allowing qi and blood to circulate freely and washing the Heavenly Mountain clean!
Within his Realm of Xiyi, the decay upon the Five Sacred Peaks immortal mountain began to recede. Vegetation met spring anew, turning lush and green once more.
His cultivation remained suppressed by the Immortal Dao, his divine sense was still affected by it, and his Golden Core lay dormant.
Yet another force—one immune to the suppression of the Immortal Dao—was awakening, growing ever stronger alongside his expanding will and spirit!
*Whoosh—!*
Xu Ying’s qi and blood surged through the sea of fire and the ocean, rejuvenating the Samadhi true fire and Samadhi divine water. From this grand furnace vessel, a Golden Core rose slowly, radiating ten thousand beams of brilliant light!
A Martial Dao Golden Core, devoid of magic power and divine sense!
*That day, Zhai Wuxian transformed into the Dao through martial arts. Can I achieve the same?*
Xu Ying’s Golden Core shone brightly as it flew out of his body. Dancing through the air, it orbited his eyes and ears. Slowly, his eyes began to regenerate, and soon two new eyes formed, restoring his sight!
His eardrums also regenerated, returning hearing to both ears!
As the Martial Dao Golden Core orbited to his nose and mouth, they reformed as well!
That immortal palace still suppressed the rest of his cultivation, but he had finally achieved transforming into the Dao through martial arts, breaking through this suppression and influence!
Untying the ribbon at his waist, Xu Ying grasped Shi Yuqing’s wrist and strode toward the outskirts of the town.
He dodged the people blocking his path and steered clear of twisting, writhing, unidentified creatures, his steps light and nimble.
The Immortal Dao still tried to invade his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, attempting to make the organs in his abdomen grow like giant pythons, yet under the illumination of the Martial Dao Golden Core, its influence dwindled to near insignificance.
At last, Xu Ying rushed out of the town, and the bronze immortal palace’s influence over him dropped to its lowest point.
The Martial Dao Golden Core whirled around him with whistling gusts, purging the corrupting effects from his physical flesh before flying into his Realm of Xiyi. Wherever the Golden Core’s light swept, all decay rapidly receded, and every realm as well as the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body returned to normal.
Xu Ying’s cultivation returned, his yuan qi surged with vigor, and his Golden Core shone ever more radiantly.
Suddenly, a soft gasp of surprise seemed to echo from within the town, as if someone were astonished that he could actually break through the Immortal Dao’s influence. Stirred by the sound, Xu Ying glanced back, catching only a distant glimpse of the bronze immortal palace’s roof.
*Before I destroyed my eyes, I caught a glimpse of a woman inside the immortal palace. Could that sigh have come from her?*
Lost in thought, Xu Ying mused silently, *Could she be a fairy fallen to the mortal realm?*
He promptly tossed the thought aside, thinking, *Even if she is a fairy, she is utterly wicked. She corrupted the Wangxiang Platform and caused countless lives to be lost.*
He summoned his Golden Core to help Shi Yuqing purge the Immortal Dao’s invasion bit by bit. Her contamination was not particularly severe; after all, they had only been trapped in the town for several dozen days, which was not terribly long.
Had she been contaminated for countless years like those faceless people in the town, not even Xu Ying’s Martial Dao Golden Core would have been able to purge it.
Once Xu Ying refined away the invasive Immortal Dao energy for the young woman, he activated the vitality of her Mud Pill to restore her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Shi Yuqing slowly woke up, feeling as if a lifetime had passed. “You brought me out? Am I dreaming? Huh, Ah Ying, your demeanor seems a bit different from before.”
Xu Ying said nonchalantly, “Two months have passed. I’ve become slightly more handsome.”
Shi Yuqing leaned in close, inspecting him carefully before shaking her head firmly. “Not at all. You’re just as dark as before. Your temperament definitely improved, though!”
Xu Ying yanked her back and stared into her eyes. “Look again!”
Meeting his gaze, Shi Yuqing suddenly blushed and hurriedly turned her head away. “Really, no!”
Xu Ying was half-convinced, half-skeptical.
Shi Yuqing quickly walked ahead and urged, “Let’s hurry and get out of here!”
Catching up, Xu Ying walked beside her. Shi Yuqing stole a glance at the youth’s profile and thought, *Looking at him closely, the more I look, the more pleasing he seems... Good grief, what am I letting my mind wander into? I’m over three thousand years old, and he’s only a teenager!*
Her heart pounded like a startled fawn. *I-if I... if I got together with him, wouldn’t people say an old cow was grazing on tender grass? How utterly mortifying!*
She stomped her feet twice in agitation, her face flushed crimson.
Xu Ying noticed her strange behavior and thought, *Yuqing has incredible leg strength—she crushed the rock beneath her just now. She truly lives up to being the sect master of the Mount Shu Sword Sect. Right, our Sword Sect must have plenty of ancestral tombs, doesn’t it? As a renowned and prestigious sect, when our Sword Sect’s ancestors were buried, their funerary goods certainly wouldn’t have been modest.*
His own heart fluttered with excitement: *As the Grand Supreme Elder, well, if I go pay respects to the past ancestors in their tombs, surely no one would gossip, right? When the ancestors see how young and promising I am, it would be only natural for them to bestow a few magic treasures upon me as greeting gifts.*
At that thought, Xu Ying was overcome with regret. *I forgot! I should have asked Yan Kongcheng for the title of Grand Supreme Elder of Emei! That way, I could openly and honorably pay visits to the past ancestors of Emei to ask for a few greeting gifts too!*
Chapter 210