"Entering the other shore is a method of smuggling across," Zhu Chanchan said. "It requires using a vessel to carry goods, as well as an induction to the other shore. Mortal treasures cannot enter the other shore. Using a vessel to carry goods means branding Immortal Dao runes onto a magic artifact, disguising it as an immortal object. The Qi Refiner hides inside the artifact and smuggles themselves to the other shore. Refining such an artifact requires immortal gold. However, immortal veins in the mortal realm are far too scarce, and immortal gold is pitifully rare. Mount Kunlun has vast amounts of immortal gold; the immortal gold needed for the Divine Boat of the Other Shore was obtained from Kunlun."
Upon hearing this, the big bell hurriedly chimed in, "Ah Ying, using a vessel to carry goods—isn't that describing me? Ancestor Chanchan reforged me with Kunlun immortal gold, and I have many Immortal Dao runes on me. Therefore, I can smuggle us across to the other shore!"
Xu Ying hesitated. Just as he was about to speak, Yuan Qi said with delight, "Lord Bell, so that means you can carry me and smuggle us right in front of old man Cangwu's rift to the Immortal Realm, right?"
The big bell beamed with pride and called out, "Seventh Master, into my embrace!"
Yuan Qi was wildly excited and quickly flew beneath the bell. The big bell immediately soared toward the rift to the Immortal Realm.
Xu Ying's heart skipped a beat. *If Lord Bell finds out it's still just a bronze bell and not cast from immortal gold, who knows how heartbroken it will be! The Queen Mother of the West bestowed so much immortal gold, surely Chanchan at least...*
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw that the closer the big bell got to the Immortal Realm, the greater the pressure it endured. Squeezed by the Immortal Dao pressure of the Immortal Realm, it clanged loudly, shimmering with radiant hues and shedding rays of immortal light along the way!
It actually withstood the pressure of the Immortal Dao and steadily arrived beneath the rift to the Immortal Realm!
Xu Ying was stunned. He muttered, "Did she really restore it to look old while making it new?"
Zhu Chanchan said smugly, "You handed me a bronze bell. If I returned a golden bell to you, or a gaudy bell covered in gold leaf and gilding, would Lord Bell still be Lord Bell? Lord Bell's appearance cannot change, or it wouldn't showcase the supreme mastery of Ancestor Chanchan's craft."
Xu Ying was surprised. He glanced at her, then looked outside at the bronze mountain peak, and asked, "You didn't pocket a single bit?"
Zhu Chanchan said solemnly, "When a friend asks me to refine a treasure, how could I embezzle anything? At most, I only melted the scrap materials you didn't want into Feilai Peak."
Xu Ying pondered for a moment. Perhaps he had misjudged Zhu Chanchan a little.
According to Zhu Chanchan, the Divine Boat of the Other Shore was cast from immortal gold and branded with Immortal Dao runes. Yet Zhu Chanchan's Feilai Peak did not use immortal gold, which suggested that when making the Divine Boat of the Other Shore, Zhu Chanchan had not skimmed much immortal gold at all.
Otherwise, the Divine Boat could never have held out for so long under the scorching of the immortal fire.
The material used for her Feilai Peak was mostly bronze, which was likely the impurities refined out. *The bulk of the scraps on Feilai Peak were probably skimmed from Haojing. Of course, it's also possible she buried the embezzled immortal gold deep inside Feilai Peak,* Xu Ying guessed.
"Chanchan, do you know Feng Yao and Qingluan?" Xu Ying asked. "I met them in Kunlun, and Qingluan had quite a few complaints about you. What happened between you?"
Zhu Chanchan grew rather disgruntled. "The three of us were originally good sisters, serving as officials together in the court of the Son of Heaven of Zhou. Qingluan had some immortal gold on hand and asked me to forge a bell for her. I went to great pains to purge the impurities from the immortal gold and forge the bell for her, yet after I gave it back, she broke ties with me. She even spoke ill of me behind my back, slandering me for stealing her immortal gold, and egged on Feng Yao, who served as Minister of Autumn, to take my head. Did you ever see her summon that bell?"
Xu Ying shook his head. When Qingluan fought enemies, she had never summoned a bell. "She probably felt it wasn't to her liking, so she never wore it."
"If you ever saw her summon that bell, you'd know I definitely didn't embezzle her immortal gold—at most, I only took a few scraps she didn't want," Zhu Chanchan said. "Her bell may look small, but once summoned, it spans thousands of mu, standing like an immortal mountain. When the bell tolls, Primordial Spirits shatter into pieces; even old monsters who've lived tens of thousands of years would find it hard to escape death! In the entire court of the Son of Heaven of Zhou, apart from the Divine Boat of the Other Shore and Haojing—which can never be fully refined—whose magic artifact could rival her bell? Only the Tianzhu Sword could possibly compete with it."
Xu Ying was dumbstruck.
Chu Xiangxiang's eyes gleamed with interest as she listened. She quickly said, "Chanchan, could you forge a few trinkets for me? Last time I fought a woman from Weixu, her Twelve-Story Mansion was formidable and crushed my magic artifact. My father gave me some immortal gold; if there are scraps left over, you're welcome to take them."
Zhu Chanchan agreed. "I'll write down the induction method for the other shore first, then forge artifacts for you."
She fetched brush and paper. As she wrote out the induction methods for the six great other shores, she said, "The induction methods for the other shores were passed down by the six Nuo ancestors of Kunlun. When the Son of Heaven of Zhou offered sacrifices to the ancestors in Kunlun back then, the six ancestors imparted the induction methods to the other shores probably in hopes that the Qi Refiners of Shenzhou would ascend to the other shore one by one and become vessels for absorbing immortal herbs."
A stray thought crossed Xu Ying's mind.
If the civil and military officials of the court had not refined the Divine Boat of the Other Shore, but instead forged their own artifacts to reach the other shore and steal immortal herbs, they would likely have ended up just like the Qi Refiners of the Grand Shang era—turning into vessels for immortal herbs and ultimately being burned to death in the immortal fire. Yet the Son of Heaven of Zhou happened to have a fondness for grand spectacles. He assembled the entire court, refined the Divine Boat of the Other Shore, and led three thousand powerhouses in a grand procession toward the other shore. Because of that, they survived across six thousand years, and most of their experts were preserved.
While Zhu Chanchan focused on writing down the six ancestors' induction methods for the other shores, Xu Ying called over the big bell and hid beneath it. The big bell carried him as it flew toward the rift to the Immortal Realm.
Before long, they arrived before the rift.
Xu Ying's eyes flashed as he examined the seals within the rift. Suddenly, he leapt into the air, his hands moving like flying birds. Using his hands as seals, he pressed imprint after imprint onto the rift.
*Crack!*
In the Cangwu Abyss of the Immortal Realm, an Immortal Dao rune suddenly dimmed. Then a thin seam burst open in the abyss, and immortal qi drifted down like a ribbon of smoke and dust.
Xu Ying flew upward, gliding along the sealed Cangwu Abyss. His hands flashed continually, striking seal after seal against the Immortal Dao runes in the Cangwu Abyss and unraveling them one by one.
Behind him, the Cangwu Abyss burst with a continuous barrage of cracks and pops as more seals shattered. Immortal qi cascaded down from above like a snow-white waterfall, invigorating everyone in the Cangwu Secret Realm—their Primordial Spirits, physical bodies, divine sense, and origin qi alike—as if they had consumed immortal pills!
Chu Xiangxiang stared blankly at the scene as vibrant life returned to the Cangwu Secret Realm. Long ago, this place had been like a celestial realm, bathed in the glow of the Immortal Realm, nourished by immortal qi, flourishing with all sorts of rare immortal herbs and blooms, and even inhabited by exotic beasts of the Immortal Realm.
Yet all of that had been reduced to ash over sixty thousand years ago, leaving only the corpse of Great Emperor Cangwu in the Cangwu Secret Realm.
Now, the Cangwu Secret Realm was regaining its past splendor, and even Great Emperor Cangwu had come back to life!
Her gaze fell upon Xu Ying, who was unraveling the seals. She thought silently, *He truly is a miraculous person. What was he like in the past?*
Suddenly, she felt a longing to learn more about Xu Ying's past.
At last, Xu Ying completely broke the seals of the Immortal Realm. A beam of immortal light cascaded down from the heavens into the Cangwu Secret Realm, bathing the body of Great Emperor Cangwu.
With a *pop*, the purple immortal plant poked its head out of Great Emperor Cangwu's mouth, bathing in the immortal light. Then, roots danced out from the Great Emperor's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, seemingly trying to absorb the immortal qi.
Only then did Chu Xiangxiang notice it. Letting out a cry of alarm, she rushed over, intending to yank out this grave plant. But the grave plant controlled Great Emperor Cangwu to stand up, then scurried around to the back of his head.
Great Emperor Cangwu wore a dignified expression as He looked at Chu Xiangxiang.
Chu Xiangxiang felt a shudder in her heart and said hurriedly, "Father God, you..."
With another *pop*, a stalk of purple grave plant sprouted from Great Emperor Cangwu's forehead. With a solemn, impassive face, He said, "Aba aba!"
Without a second thought, Chu Xiangxiang lunged forward, grabbed the plant on Great Emperor Cangwu's forehead, and pulled with all her might.
The big bell escorted Xu Ying as he drifted down from above. Chu Xiangxiang hastily let go of the immortal plant, her heart fluttering nervously. *Ah Ying won't think I'm uncouth, will he?*
Zhu Chanchan handed the written induction chapter for the other shore to Xu Ying. "These are the induction methods passed down by the six ancestors. You need only stand inside an artifact of the other shore and channel this method to pilot the artifact to the other shore. An artifact of the other shore and the induction method—neither can be lacked."
Xu Ying's gaze fell on the first sheet of paper. What was written on it was a method to sense the Chaotic Mud Pill Palace. He read through it entirely, finding that it only described how to sense it, with nothing beyond that.
Yet when he finished reading, subsequent techniques continually surged into his mind.
Chanting echoed in his ears. It sounded like his own voice, yet it was the voice of himself as a child, reciting the Mud Pill Palace technique!
Xu Ying froze. His surroundings were no longer the Cangwu Secret Realm, but a schoolroom, where many children his age were studying diligently.
What they recited was precisely the Mud Pill Palace technique surging in his mind!
It was a mental method for the Mud Pill Palace: how to locate the Sea of Chaos across cosmic spacetime, how to establish a connection with the Sea of Chaos, how to fix the Chaotic Mud Pill Palace, how to open the Chaotic Mud Pill technique, and how to cultivate the Chaotic Mud Pill cave-heaven!
Xu Ying stood there in a daze, unmoving.
This was a memory from his childhood. For some reason, triggered by the induction method Zhu Chanchan had transcribed, it plunged him into scenes of recollection.
In the schoolroom stood a young schoolteacher. Xu Ying looked at his face and found it remarkably familiar, yet he could never quite hold onto his features.
That was his father.
"You must memorize the Mud Pill Longevity Technique and harmonize it with the Taiyi Inborn Technique! Do not forget it!"
Holding a pointer, the schoolteacher walked toward him and tapped him on the head. "Xu Ying, stand up and recite it!"
Formulas regarding the Mud Pill Longevity Technique rushed into Xu Ying's mind in an unending flood. Unconsciously, he opened his mouth and began chanting, reciting the very ancestral method he had memorized in childhood—the *Mud Pill Longevity Technique*!
*Father taught me the ancestral method long ago,* he thought silently.
Yet that was something from forty-eight thousand years ago.
Forty-eight thousand years.
Was the schoolteacher who had forced him to memorize the Mud Pill Longevity Technique still in the mortal world?
Xu Ying steadied his mind and circulated the Mud Pill Palace ancestral method. Instantly, he sensed a vast, boundless Sea of Chaos deep within endless spacetime! For the first time, he felt the Sea of Chaos with such vivid clarity!
Even after obtaining a Nuo ancestor cave-heaven like the Mud Pill Palace cave-heaven, his perception of the Sea of Chaos had never been so real. It was as if closing his eyes allowed him to see himself standing above a chaotic ocean surging with raging tides!
In the next moment, the Nuo ancestor Mud Pill Palace cave-heaven hummed and spun, emerging behind him. He circulated the ancestral method, fusing it with the Taiyi Guiding Technique. By now, the Taiyi Guiding Technique could no longer be called a guiding technique—it should properly be called the Taiyi Inborn Technique.
The Taiyi Inborn Technique fused seamlessly with the Mud Pill Longevity Technique. As he circulated the technique, the Sea of Chaos drifted behind him, and the Mud Pill Palace cave-heaven plunged deep into the Sea of Chaos, drawing a surge of immense vitality.
He was like a divine being commanding the Sea of Chaos and controlling life itself!
Yuan Qi watched this scene in astonishment and quickly asked, "Ancestor Chanchan, does cultivating the induction chapter you wrote look like this?"
Zhu Chanchan shook her head blankly and mumbled, "The induction chapter I wrote allows one to sense the location of the Sea of Chaos in the universe after cultivating it, but it never said it could be cultivated like this..."
Chu Xiangxiang circled Xu Ying, then suddenly leaped into the air, flying around Xu Ying's Mud Pill Palace cave-heaven. She saw that this cave-heaven was dazzlingly bright, and inside it sat a palace resting atop the surface of the sea.
Rooted above this Chaotic Mud Pill Palace, the cave-heaven continuously absorbed and refined immortal herbs, which then transformed through the cave-heaven into vibrant vitality and melted into Xu Ying's body!
"This method doesn't seem like a Nuo method." Chu Xiangxiang was also a great expert who had seen many Nuo methods, yet this was the first time she had witnessed such a formidable one. She could not help shaking her head and remarking, "Other people's Nuo methods cannot completely refine immortal herbs, but this method can completely refine them."
The expressions on everyone's faces grew stranger and stranger.
"What Ah Ying is cultivating should be... the ancestral method of the Chaotic Mud Pill Palace from the six secrets!"
Yuan Qi lowered his voice, terrified of disturbing Xu Ying's state. Trembling with excitement, he whispered, "A true method of the Undying People!"
Zhu Chanchan was also overwhelmed with excitement. She, too, recognized that the technique Xu Ying was currently practicing was an extraordinarily profound Nuo method, one that expounded upon the Chaotic Mud Pill Palace—one of the six secrets—to the absolute utmost!
Circulating according to this Nuo method, any immortal herbs fished from the other shore of the Sea of Chaos could undeniably be completely refined!
And completely refining immortal herbs was precisely the defining hallmark of an ancestral method among Nuo methods!
Nuo methods could generally be divided into three categories.
The first category was false methods. These Nuo methods contained traps and could not refine immortal herbs. Though seemingly powerful, practitioners were in truth great human medicines. No matter how profound their cultivation or how formidable their strength, once an angler invaded their Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground, they would be harvested. Nuo Immortals who cultivated false methods typically had a lifespan of only two to three hundred years.
The second category was orthodox methods. These Nuo methods had no traps and were incomplete Nuo methods that had spread outward from Kunlun. Some were passed down by the Undying People, some were intentionally disseminated by the six Nuo ancestors, and others were new Nuo methods comprehended by Qi Refiners building upon those foundations.
Such orthodox methods could refine immortal herbs, but could not completely refine them. The longer one lived, the more immortal herbs accumulated within the body, making one equally susceptible to being harvested.
The third category was ancestral methods. Ancestral methods could completely refine immortal herbs, but they had long been lost to history!
By cultivating an ancestral method, one did not need to fear having their cave-heaven severed, and their lifespan was extraordinarily long.
However, the complete ancestral methods had vanished long ago along with the destruction of Kunlun. The cave-heavens of the six Nuo ancestors had all been severed from Xu Ying and transplanted onto themselves; even they did not possess the true ancestral methods, only fragmented texts.
Yet unexpectedly, the ancestral method was now reappearing in the mortal world through Xu Ying!
"Child, memorize it. It will benefit you for a lifetime."
More memories flooded into Xu Ying's mind.
"Class is dismissed!"
Cheers rang out. The children of Xujiaping ran out of the schoolroom one after another, scampering merrily onto the streets of Xujiaping.
Xu Ying dashed out of the schoolroom, only to see his mother speaking. Yet there was no one in front of her; the space was completely empty.
"Young man, who are you looking for?" his mother asked.
Xu Ying rushed over, and his mother called out, "Ah Ying, don't run too far, it's almost time for lunch!"
"Got it, Mother!"
Xu Ying shouted back, running ahead with his companions. Suddenly, he felt as though he had bumped into something. Looking back, he saw the hazy silhouette of a youth like dust and smoke.
Memories flooded back.
At lunchtime, Xu Ying was covered in dirt, led by his mother to wash his hands and face.
"Mother, who was that person at noon?" he asked, sitting at the table and holding up a bowl of immortal rice.
"Someone who lost their way." His mother lovingly caressed his cheek.
The memories faded, and tears blurred Xu Ying's vision.
Chapter 288