Avenging the Blood Debt

"A Heavenly Dao domain! He's one of the Heavenly Dao Crowd!" Young Master Zisang was taken aback. In the duel between Xu Ying and the Heavenly Dao Crowd member just now, the methods Xu Ying had used were also those of the Heavenly Dao Crowd, yet Xu Ying wielded them with far greater subtlety and truer alignment with the Heavenly Dao. Only, the Heavenly Dao Crowd were Qi Refiners chosen by the heavenly gods to walk the mortal world in their stead, dedicated entirely to cultivating the Heavenly Dao. How could their comprehension and command of the Heavenly Dao fall short of such a young boy's? Xu Ying dashed forward to search the middle-aged Heavenly Dao cultivator's corpse for anything useful. Unfortunately, having unleashed a destructive strike with his Heavenly Dao Primordial Spirit, he had pulverized the man too completely; not a single usable treasure remained. Young Master Zisang stepped slowly out from behind a tree and inquired, "Hongyi, is this the Demon King Xu you often speak of?" Cradling her pipa, Zhu Hongyi stood up with a smile. "He is indeed Xu Ying. Brother Xu is known as the ageless immortal, and many ancient records speak of him. Brother Xu, this is Abbot Zisang of Mount Song's Wansui Temple." Young Master Zisang said, "Brother Xu, while the Heavenly Dao Crowd can indeed boost their cultivation and strength in a short time, they are also bound by the Heavenly Dao. The Immortal Dao transcends the Heavenly Dao—that is the true path of our cultivation. How can we, as cultivators defying the heavens to alter our fate, allow ourselves to be trapped by the Heavenly Dao? Only by leaping outside the Heavenly Dao can true freedom be attained." Seeing his refined demeanor and having always admired educated scholars, Xu Ying could not help but feel a favorable impression. "Thank you for the guidance. I have only dabbled in Heavenly Dao runes, but I do not cultivate the Heavenly Dao." Young Master Zisang gave his horsetail whisk a light flick, resting it in the crook of his elbow, and smiled. "Brother Xu possesses extraordinary talent. If you are willing to enter my Wansui Temple to cultivate, your achievements will surely be magnificent." Xu Ying politely declined, "I have too many enemies. I fear Wansui Temple could not withstand them." Refusing to back down and still eager to recruit him into the temple, Young Master Zisang remarked nonchalantly, "Brother Xu, though my Wansui Temple is not large and each generation produces few successors, among our past abbots are immortals who reside in the Immortal Realm. Whatever enemies you have, my Wansui Temple can handle them." He added earnestly, "Brother Xu, we live in an era of great transformation. If a nation does not change, it cannot survive in this world; if the people do not change, they cannot make a living; if a sect does not change, it cannot maintain its foothold; if a person does not change, they cannot ascend. Today, the ways of Nuo and Qi both rise together and must advance hand in hand before ascension is possible. With your remarkable skill and the courage to confront the Heavenly Dao Crowd at your current cultivation, you are truly a genius. Welcoming you to my Wansui Temple would be an honor for us!" Xu Ying pondered for a moment, then called the bronze bell over. "Abbot, please take a look. These are eight of the characters from the Immortal Dao runes sealing me." Young Master Zisang stepped forward and scrutinized the bell's surface. His expression changed slightly, and he bowed with cupped hands. "Zisang acted rashly. Brother Xu, please go as you wish." Xu Ying bowed slightly in return. "Other members of the Heavenly Dao Crowd are hunting me down as we speak, so I cannot linger. Farewell. Ah, by the way, does the Abbot know which peak is Yuzhu Peak?" Young Master Zisang pointed toward the mountains beside Mount Kunlun. "Of those two divine peaks, one is Yuxu Peak, and the other is Yuzhu Peak." Xu Ying expressed his thanks and hurried away with Yuan Qi, the bronze bell, and the purple immortal plant. Young Master Zisang watched his departing figure, his eyes flickering with thought. Zhu Hongyi sighed, "Back then, all the great clans of Shendu wanted to win him over, yet none succeeded. Who would have thought that even Wansui Temple could not sway him?" Young Master Zisang shook his head. "His refusal to join my Wansui Temple is our good fortune—we have escaped a catastrophe. Had your Shendu clans recruited him, they likely would have been wiped out long ago. The Immortal Dao runes on him..." His expression shifted subtly as he continued, "They are unfathomably deeper than the Immortal Dao runes left by the ancestral immortal masters of Wansui Temple. I can barely understand the runes our ancestors left behind, but those eight Immortal Dao runes just now... I couldn't understand them at all. And those were merely the runes sealing him..." He began walking toward Mount Kunlun, muttering under his breath, "In my era, the ageless immortal was merely an ordinary mortal who happened to possess eternal life. Today, he has become a Qi Refiner capable of slaying the Heavenly Dao Crowd. If my contemporaries still view him as the ageless immortal of three thousand years ago, I fear they will suffer terribly." Zhu Hongyi froze, turning her gaze in the direction Xu Ying had gone. She mused inwardly, *Is Demon King Xu Ying really that formidable?* As Xu Ying made his way toward Kunlun's Yuzhu Peak, he retrieved the twenty-four Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads and began engraving Heavenly Dao runes onto them. Earlier, the Heavenly Dao shield had not been made of sufficient material to withstand the power of the Heavenly Dao and had shattered into dust. But the Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads were different. This set of treasures had come from Patriarch Qingshuang of Emei, Qiao Zizhong; it was extraordinarily powerful, capable of transforming into twenty-four moonlit realms. If he could brand Heavenly Dao runes onto them and forge them into a Heavenly Dao domain, it would certainly surpass the shield and could be reused many times. Xu Ying moved and paused intermittently, steering clear of pursuers from the Heavenly Dao Crowd, and finally had the Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads mostly refined. Sensing that every bead was suffused with the majesty of the Heavenly Dao—the mountains and rivers within appearing as though forged from the Heavenly Dao itself, possessing power on par with its own—the bronze bell felt immense envy. "Ah Ying, that Abbot Zisang said the Heavenly Dao is not the orthodox path. Is that true or false?" Yuan Qi inquired. The bronze bell listened with bated breath, thinking to itself, *The snake asks a good question! If the Heavenly Dao is the orthodox path, I'll comprehend it and brand it onto myself, turning into a Heavenly Dao treasure bell!* Xu Ying pondered. "When Qi Refiners comprehend various Dao images, those are indeed parts of the Heavenly Dao, but they represent their own understanding. The Heavenly Dao runes comprehended by the Heavenly Dao Crowd were handed down to them by heavenly gods, which doesn't count as their own realization. Abbot Zisang was most likely referring to that." Yuan Qi asked, "Then can the Heavenly Dao still be cultivated?" Xu Ying chuckled. "Of course it can. The Heavenly Dao runes I carve are far beyond what those illiterate heavenly gods can match. Comprehending the runes I transcribe carries none of the danger Zisang mentioned." Yuan Qi and the bronze bell promptly began studying the runes Xu Ying had branded onto the Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads, memorizing them attentively and pondering them with care. At the same time, each noticed the other's sneaky behavior, their hearts turning wary. *As expected, this guy is secretly memorizing them too!* both thought simultaneously. Yuan Qi thought to himself, *The bell has a treasure artifact for a head after all—not the brightest. I've read books since childhood. I can't beat you in background, but when it comes to scholarship, can you really measure up?* The bronze bell scoffed internally, *Think I'm scared of your book-learning? Ah Qi wants to use this to escape his junior status? Keep dreaming!* Having finished refining the twenty-four Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads, Xu Ying immediately turned around and set off to hunt down the Heavenly Dao Crowd! At the foot of the Lu Wu Mountains, a member of the Heavenly Dao Crowd was rushing along in search of Xu Ying's whereabouts when she suddenly sensed something and halted in her tracks. This member of the Heavenly Dao Crowd was a woman wearing floral-patterned cotton clothes and a ponytail, carrying a flower basket on her arm. Her plain attire made her indistinguishable from any ordinary village woman. She turned around and found Xu Ying standing right behind her. "I wore out iron shoes searching high and low—" Before she could finish, Xu Ying raised his hand. Twenty-four bright moons rose into the sky, shedding brilliant moonlight so dazzling that it eclipsed the sun! A celestial canopy descended, blanketing the surroundings. Xu Ying strode forward. The Heavenly Dao runes etched onto his body grew brighter and brighter, while across the surrounding canopy, myriad Heavenly Dao runes blazed with radiant splendor, echoing and resonating with the markings on his skin! Behind Xu Ying, a towering Heavenly Dao avatar took form, bridging heaven and earth with boundless heavenly might. Seeing this, the woman sacrificed her flower basket. The basket was her refined Heavenly Dao treasure, branded with the Heavenly Dao runes bestowed upon her by the heavenly gods. Yet the basket had barely ascended into midair when it clattered to the ground with a smack. The Heavenly Dao runes upon it went dormant, turning dull and devoid of precious luster. With a shrill screech, the woman leaped into the air and pounced toward Xu Ying, her Primordial Spirit manifesting behind her to bolster the strike's ferocity! Behind Xu Ying, the Heavenly Dao avatar's fist smashed down. With a heavy thud, it landed squarely on the woman, striking with such immense weight that it pulverized both her Heavenly Dao physical body and Heavenly Dao Primordial Spirit, leaving not a single rune intact. Xu Ying dispersed the Heavenly Dao domain and gathered the Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads. Inspecting them one by one, he gave a slight frown. Even heavy treasures like the Bright Moon Mountains and Rivers Beads showed faint hairline fractures after unleashing the Heavenly Dao domain, struggling to bear the weight of the Heavenly Dao. Fortunately, the beads were numerous, dispersing the strain of the domain so they could be used many more times. "These twenty-four beads will go through battle after battle. I'll have to ask Chanchan to repair them, and Lord Bell needs mending as well," Xu Ying said. Yuan Qi was puzzled. "Ah Ying, the Mountains and Rivers Beads have only been through one battle. Why do you say 'battle after battle'?" Xu Ying waved his hand. The radiant beads flew back one after another, entering the Realm of Xiyi through the back of his head and suspending themselves in the sky within. Instead of heading straight for Yuzhu Peak, he turned toward the town of Xiadu nestled within the Nine Mountains of Lu Wu. Before long, he arrived at Xiadu. He summoned his Golden Core and sent it flying into midair, radiating brilliance visible for a thousand li around! With a calm expression, Xu Ying stood at the center of the settlement, before Lu Wu's divine temple. A large hole had already been blasted into the temple, and the statue of Lu Wu inside was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, members of the Heavenly Dao Crowd were rushing over from all directions, and the brilliance of the Golden Core had also caught the attention of Lu Wu, who was secluded in the bronze palace within the mountains. *What is he doing?* Suddenly, flames lit up within the divine temple. Countless brilliant talismans drifted upward amid the fire inside the shrine, and Lu Wu's divine statue manifested among the talismans, peering outside with curiosity. *Is he seeking death?* Lu Wu watched as one Heavenly Dao Crowd member after another entered Xiadu. Within moments, the pursuers had all converged on the town, fixing Xu Ying with greedy stares. They unleashed their Heavenly Dao treasures into the air, and vibrant rays boiled up from them, forming a Heavenly Dao domain that enveloped the entire town. Lu Wu was startled and slowly rose from the shrine, thinking, *Looks like I'll have to step in for this battle... Huh?* Behind Xu Ying, a string of bright moons rose, instantly transforming into an inverted Heavenly Dao domain that enclosed the entire town of Xiadu. As his twenty-four moons ascended, the treasures hovering in midair lost their Heavenly Dao majesty, reduced to mundane iron as they tumbled down one after another! Behind Xu Ying, resplendent Heavenly Dao rays poured in from the canopy, converging in radiant streams to forge a Heavenly Dao avatar behind him. The towering avatar slowly stood upright, its vast heavenly might suppressing everything. Xu Ying raised his right hand, splaying his fingers. The Heavenly Dao avatar mirrored the motion, its fingers spreading wide as crackling bursts erupted between them. "Overturning the Heavens seal method!" Xu Ying roared. His hand swept down in a crushing palm, descending like an immortal weapon from the Ninth Heaven to pulverize all in its path! Behind him, the Heavenly Dao avatar executed the exact same opening posture, yet that palm print resembled a supreme Heavenly Dao divine artifact, crushing the firmament and crashing down upon the mortal realm! Beneath the Heavenly Dao, all were mere ants! *Boom!* In the town of Xiadu, terrifying Heavenly Dao divine power churned, shaking the Nine Mountains of Lu Wu to their core. Avalanches rushed down the gorges between the nine peaks like ten thousand galloping horses, creating a deafening, terrifying roar. Yet within Xiadu, the sheer power of Xu Ying's strike remained confined within the Heavenly Dao domain, where dazzling celestial light, thunder, and fire raged furiously! By the time everything settled, the rolling avalanche had reached the outskirts of the town, only to be held back by the Heavenly Dao domain. Inside the town, Xu Ying's surging vital energy and blood steadied. He dispersed the Heavenly Dao domain, and the radiant beads flew back, sinking into the back of his head one after another. The doors and gates of the town had been vaporized, the buildings shattered, revealing a ground carpeted in white bones. From amidst those bones, ethereal figures slowly rose, standing atop the ruins of the town. They were the imprisoned ghosts of the people of Xiadu, suppressed within their own mortal remains for thousands upon thousands of years, unable to depart for the Netherworld, enduring endless weathering and suffering. "Kinsmen, you are free." Xu Ying stood in the center of the town, looking at them as smiles of release appeared on their ghostly faces. A tributary of the Nai River reached toward this place—the power of the Netherworld arriving to welcome them. Xu Ying waved his hand, watching the ghosts depart into the distance. Behind him in the divine temple, Lu Wu rose from the altar in shock, bewildered. *This kid named Xu Ying actually seems rather incredible!* Just then, His temple began to collapse, and a falling stone struck Him squarely on the forehead. "He's quite the hand at demolishing homes, too! My very last temple is gone!" Lu Wu exclaimed in dismay.