Yuan Qi and the big bell arrived in Haojing and explained the situation to the Son of Heaven of Zhou. The Son of Heaven of Zhou immediately ordered people to search far and wide for Xu Ying's whereabouts—he was even more worried about Xu Ying's safety than Yuan Qi and the big bell were.
"There is no shortage of powerhouses under the Son of Heaven of Zhou. They're good at finding people, so they'll definitely find Ah Ying."
The big bell put its worries aside and muttered, "So, Seventh Master, isn't it time we attended to our proper business?"
Yuan Qi understood immediately and chuckled. "When we went to Kunlun, the Queen Mother of the West bestowed so much immortal gold and treasures upon us, and then we gained so many treasures at the Wuji Sect. It's indeed time to go see Ancestor Chanchan."
One snake and one bell, full of high spirits, went to see Zhu Chanchan. They found Heavenly Artisan Zhu working in shackles, and beside her was a ferocious, menacing giant holding the Tianzhu Sword, supervising her as if ready to chop her down at any moment.
"When Heavenly Artisan Zhu escaped last time, even though she returned on her own, her crime was aggravated by one degree."
The ferocious, giant-like figure was Haojing's Autumn Minister of Justice, who oversaw punishments and prisons. He said to Yuan Qi, "His Majesty has ordered that if the criminal official Zhu Chanchan dares to flee again, or cuts corners on materials and labor, she is to be beheaded on the spot."
Yuan Qi whispered, "Chop her for real, or fake?"
The giant Autumn Minister glanced at Zhu Chanchan, leaned in close to Yuan Qi, and whispered, "Fake, of course! His Majesty said that if I dare harm a single hair on her head, he'll chop me down first. Don't you go telling anyone!"
Yuan Qi agreed.
When Zhu Chanchan saw the Kunlun immortal gold and precious ores they brought, as well as so many magic treasures forged by Ascension-stage Qi Refiners, she was overjoyed. A moment later, however, tears began streaming down the girl's face.
Yuan Qi and the big bell hurriedly asked, "Ancestor Chanchan, why are you crying right after rejoicing?"
Wiping away her tears, Zhu Chanchan choked up and said, "Getting my hands on so many treasures made me overjoyed, thinking my immortal artifact is within reach. But then I thought: I haven't even ascended yet, and I'll already be able to forge an immortal artifact—what joy is left in the long years to come? I couldn't help but be overcome with grief."
The big bell fell silent for a moment, then said, "Ancestor Chanchan, aren't you supposed to refine *me* into an immortal artifact?"
Zhu Chanchan quickly dried her tears and laughed. "Of course it's you who will be refined into an immortal artifact! Who else could it be?"
The big bell was suspicious.
Yuan Qi whispered to Zhu Chanchan, "Ancestor, you're helping this silly bell enhance its might and power, but what about me? After you hammered me last time, I felt that my aptitude and comprehension improved quite a bit, and I want to improve even more. I've got plenty of treasures here to pay respects to Ancestor."
He opened his maw wide, and a bellyful of magic treasures surged up, stuffing his mouth to the brim.
Seeing all these treasures, Zhu Chanchan was ecstatic and burst into three loud laughs. But as soon as the third laugh died down, she couldn't help weeping aloud.
Yuan Qi hastily asked what was wrong, and Zhu Chanchan sobbed, "I thought of how my Feilai Peak is about to become an immortal dao treasure and the paramount heavyweight weapon in the world, so I beamed with joy and couldn't help laughing three times. But then I realized my Feilai Peak is already overweight and hard to activate, and now it's only going to get heavier—so I couldn't help crying out in sorrow."
Yuan Qi pondered and said, "Ah Ying has awakened part of Master Ying's memories. He remembers a divine ability called Buzhou Mountain, which is also a bronze mountain peak with an eternal, undying Dao image. If Ancestor is a little less greedy while refining us two brothers, I'll beg Ah Ying to teach you that move."
The big bell inwardly praised the Seventh Master's wit and coaxed gently, "Master Ying's Buzhou Mountain will allow you to refine and condense Feilai Peak. Once completed, it will be a top-tier immortal artifact. As long as you skim a little less off our treasures, we'll ask Ah Ying to pass it on to you."
Zhu Chanchan was sorely tempted.
She had witnessed Beichenzi unsealing part of Xu Ying's memories back then; when Xu Ying summoned the Heavenly Tribulation to infuse himself with energy, the anomaly of a bronze mountain peak had appeared behind him—that must have been Buzhou Mountain!
"Deal!"
Zhu Chanchan agreed readily. "I'll be less greedy with yours and make up the difference from Haojing instead."
As the Autumn Minister of Justice, when the giant heard this, the Tianzhu Sword in his hand twitched and he felt an urge to chop someone down. He thought, *The criminal official openly declares right to my face that she'll make up the difference from Haojing. Should I enforce the law impartially, or turn a blind eye?*
After a moment, he decided to turn a blind eye.
Just then, an indescribable throb ran through heaven and earth, like a ripple through space-time, exceedingly bizarre.
Zhu Chanchan and Yuan Qi stepped outside and looked up. In the western sky, radiant clouds filled the heavens, soaring and circling like hundreds of iridescent phoenixes, lingering without dispersing.
"It is Kunlun."
A voice came from behind them. Yuan Qi turned his head and saw Grand Preceptor Jiang Qi.
"Kunlun has left the Yuanshou world. Seeing Kunlun again will probably take another three thousand years."
Grand Preceptor Jiang said with a tinge of melancholy, "Yet as Qi Refiners, even if we cultivate all the way to the Ascension stage, we only have one three thousand years. Kunlun is just like ascension: a Qi Refiner can only witness it once in a lifetime..."
Yuan Qi said, "Perhaps not. The reason Kunlun left Yuanshou so quickly this time is that a fairy moved Kunlun to another world among the heavens with boundless magic power. If she could move Kunlun away, she can certainly move it back."
Astonishment showed on Grand Preceptor Jiang's face. "There exists such a figure in this world? Who is this person?"
Kunlun Ruins.
Heaven and earth twisted, and space-time tilted, gradually sinking toward the Cangwu Abyss.
At the same time, the myriad worlds of the heavens hung in the sky of the Kunlun Ruins like pearls of varying sizes.
In one of those heavenly worlds, Kunlun's tallest mountain peak had already begun to peek through into that world!
Kunlun was about to descend!
Yuan Weiyang sat upright in the Divine Firmament, her long hair drifting in the air, the dark locks forming a black halo behind her as immortal light spread across her back.
The girl looked out toward the Yuanshou world. Viewed from the outside, Kunlun's space-time appeared to twist; yet from her perspective, it was the Yuanshou world that twisted.
"The past remains as cherished memories; the future still holds hope."
She murmured softly, adding in a low voice, "Lord Xu, until we meet again!"
Heaven and earth shook with a roar. Kunlun Ruins accelerated its descent into the Cangwu Abyss. In the very next moment, Kunlun Ruins arrived unheralded in the space-time of another world, revealing itself before the eyes of mortal men!
In the sky, the myriad worlds also vanished one by one.
On Mount Jiuyi, Xu Ying snapped his head up toward the western sky, where hundreds of phoenix-shaped radiant glows swooped downward, disappearing before long.
Xu Ying withdrew his gaze and looked toward Zhou Qiyun's desolate grave. Foolish Ah Fu was lying atop the grave mound with his legs crossed, a dried-yellow foxtail grass dangling from his mouth.
There was still a gaping hole in Foolish Ah Fu's head, the inside of his skull completely empty save for an expanse of light.
Anyone else would have died long ago, yet he had survived.
"Kunlun has left."
Xu Ying had been on Mount Jiuyi for several days, hiding here to evade the pursuit of three paramount experts: Nuo Peng, the vegetable farmer, and the woodcutter.
During his days in hiding, he mobilized two Nuo ancestor cave-heavens, continuously refining immortal herbs and integrating them into his physical body.
The immortal herbs of the Mud Pill Palace cave-heaven came from the Sea of Chaos and could boost bodily vitality and strengthen the physical body. The immortal herbs of the Crimson Palace cave-heaven came from Tushita Palace, enhancing heart power—which manifested as physical strength in the body and soul power in the soul.
Not only that, but the power derived from refining the immortal herbs could also reinforce Dao images, rendering them clearer and more formidable. The purity of the immortal herbs' power made the Dao images all the more real, bordering on the immortal Dao.
Over these past few days, Xu Ying had visualized Dao images such as Buzhou Mountain, the Eight Desolations Sun Refining Furnace, the Chaotic Star Sea, and the Dao Burial Abyss, constantly deepening the Dao images to prepare for any contingency.
Reclaiming two Nuo ancestor cave-heavens had given him a tremendous boost in strength, but putting these two cave-heavens to proper use was of paramount importance.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, I am already a Nuo Immortal," Xu Ying said calmly to the grave mound beneath Foolish Ah Fu. "Now, I can deploy my Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground and turn it into an immortal realm. Within this immortal realm, I am an immortal whose physical body and strength have reached the immortal state. I am even stronger than you were back then."
Foolish Ah Fu scratched his head in confusion, sat up, and looked down at the desolate grave beneath him. Only then did he realize Xu Ying was not speaking to him.
"Even so, in my heart, you are still the strongest," Xu Ying said. "Your strength was merely limited by the environment of your time. Had you lived to this day, your strength would certainly be even greater. I believe you could have reached the pinnacle of the world."
Foolish Ah Fu turned around and stared at the grave, looking rather indignant.
Xu Ying said, "In today's world—or throughout the ages, for that matter—very few people have earned my respect, but you are one of them. Even though I have grown immensely powerful today, in my heart, you remain a true powerhouse."
"Lord Xu, what about me?"
Foolish Ah Fu suddenly spoke. "I prepared for two thousand years. In the twilight era of Qi Refinement, I stirred the winds and clouds of the realm, incited the turmoil of Yin and Yang, uncovered the sealed world, opened Kunlun, exposed the Six Ancestors, heavily battered the anglers, swept the prestige of Nuo methods into the dust, and revived the flourishing age of Qi Refinement! I braved the tribulation alone, resisting a Heavenly Tribulation that no one had stood against in over forty thousand years! My wisdom reaches the heavens—do I not deserve a single word of admiration from you, Lord Xu?"
Xu Ying did not seem the least bit surprised that he could speak. Glancing at him, Xu Ying said, "You never stepped out from my shadow, nor did you break free from my grasp. And you insisted that Nuo methods are demonic heresies that must be destroyed. Why would you deserve my admiration? Ah Fu, *I* am the master of the six great Nuo ancestor cave-heavens—all six were opened by me! Now..."
Facing Foolish Ah Fu directly, he asked, "Do you still believe that Nuo methods are merely a method to harvest the world?"
Foolish Ah Fu looked toward the two Nuo ancestor cave-heavens behind him and said, "Lord Xu, now that you possess the Nuo ancestor cave-heavens, can you sever the cave-heavens of others?"
Hearing this, Xu Ying was slightly taken aback, then nodded.
Foolish Ah Fu laughed heartily. "There you have it. You can sever the cave-heavens of all under heaven—so how are the people of the world any different from chives to you? You might choose not to sever them, but if someone else kills you and takes your cave-heavens, they can still harvest the world! The Nuo method has never been an orthodox path; it is an instrument forged to harvest all under heaven."
Xu Ying was stunned.
Foolish Ah Fu lay back down on the grave mound, his eyes distant as he said, "Lord Xu, the one you should admire is me, not the dead ghost in this grave."
Just then, the sky suddenly trembled as the firmament split open. Two snakes, one black and one white, descended from the heavens, slithering down and coiling around the mountains.
The two immortal snakes' eyes burned like torches as they scanned the mountains, searching for Xu Ying's whereabouts.
Xu Ying's expression changed slightly. Channeling his origin qi, he swiftly drew a Heavenly Dao talisman, slapped it onto Foolish Ah Fu, and vanished in an instant.
The two immortal snakes slithered to the mountain peak, their gazes sweeping over Foolish Ah Fu, but what they saw was an entirely different person.
Catching sight of the flying rainbow trail left behind by Xu Ying's escape, the two immortal snakes immediately raised their heads. Suddenly, the figure of the old crone Nuo Peng descended from the sky, landing beside the grave.
Nuo Peng looked even more wretched than before, covered in wounds from head to toe. One arm had been severed, her other arm was injured, and there were hundreds of Dao injuries riddling her body.
The Primordial Spirit behind the old crone was far taller than Mount Jiuyi, its penetrating gaze tracing the rainbow light left by Xu Ying into the Hundred Thousand Mountains as it searched for his trail.
She withdrew her Primordial Spirit and was about to pursue Xu Ying when her body suddenly stiffened. She shrieked, "Who's there?"
Foolish Ah Fu was startled, thinking she had seen through Xu Ying's talisman, but then he saw Nuo Peng's blazing gaze sweep into the sky.
A cloud had drifted overhead unnoticed. From within stepped a palace-dressed woman looking down from above, who chuckled and said, "To think the Pengyan Fairy of the past would end up in such a state today. How pitiful."
Nuo Peng sneered, "Brat, who are you?"
The palace-dressed woman smiled. "You might not recognize me, but you will definitely recognize this."
With a slight thought, ten thousand beams of immortal light burst behind her, piercing the clouds. Within the immortal light, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions slowly rose—and that very light was shining forth from this mansion!
Nuo Peng looked at the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, her face changing dramatically.
Foolish Ah Fu looked up toward the palace-dressed woman's back as well. Inside the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, each story held a motionless silhouette seated upright, looking like an imprint rather than a living person.
What shocked him was that every single one of the twelve imprints in the mansion bore the exact likeness of Xu Ying!
"It seems Fairy Pengyan recognizes this mansion," the palace-dressed woman said with crescent eyes and a smile. "My master heard that Fairy Pengyan had suffered grievous wounds and was driven out of Kunlun, so he ordered me to come bearing this mansion to reclaim the Nuo ancestor cave-heaven from Fairy."
Nuo Peng showed terror. Channeling her two great snakes of immortal qi to shield her body, she cried, "This old woman's Mud Pill Palace cave-heaven has already been stolen! It isn't on me!"
"I don't believe you."
The palace-dressed woman giggled and pointed her finger. The Twelve-Storyed Mansions took flight, pressing down toward Nuo Peng.
Knowing this was a matter of life and death, Nuo Peng immediately rallied all her cultivation, sending the two immortal qi snakes roaring upward to coil tightly around the Twelve-Storyed Mansions. She sneered, "Girl, if you want to deal with me, having your master come in person would be more like it! By coming yourself, you're merely gifting the Twelve-Storyed Mansions to this old woman!"
Just as she said this, the imprints of Xu Ying across each level of the Twelve-Storyed Mansions opened their eyes in unison! Light intertwined within the mansion into a blinding white glare, and the two immortal snakes formed of black and white qi burst with twin bangs!
Immortal light blazed from the Twelve-Storyed Mansions as it plummeted from the sky, flattening Nuo Peng into a puddle of mush with a heavy thud!
The clouds drifted down as the palace-dressed woman descended onto the peak of Mount Jiuyi. Stepping closer to inspect, she frowned slightly and stomped her foot. "She wasn't lying to me! The Nuo ancestor cave-heaven really isn't on her! I'm just too suspicious!"
Sighing, her eyes drifted over to Foolish Ah Fu lying on the grave.
Suddenly, she raised her hand and peeled off the talisman Xu Ying had placed on Foolish Ah Fu. Foolish Ah Fu was startled: *She can see through Lord Xu's talisman?*
The palace-dressed woman examined the talisman, then took to the air. "I'll take it back for Master to see!"
Borne by the glowing clouds, she flew away and vanished from sight.
Foolish Ah Fu quietly stood up. Channeling what little mana remained in his body, he relocated Zhou Qiyun's grave a dozen or so zhang away.
With a sharp whoosh, a beam of light flew in from the distance, plunging straight into the spot where he had just been lying. The ground exploded with a roar, leaving a massive crater—it was the palace-dressed woman trying to silence witnesses.
Foolish Ah Fu lay back down, lost in thought. *The Twelve-Storyed Mansions that woman activated didn't seem like a magic treasure, but rather like the Twelve-Storyed Mansions within a Realm of Xiyi. But why would it bear the imprints of Lord Xu...?*
Chapter 271