Zhou Yihang had been cleaved in two by a single sword strike. From the severed surfaces of his bisected body, countless fleshy buds danced in the air, frantically writhing as if trying to locate their other half and knit themselves back together.
Yet his indestructible body ultimately relied on his Mud Pill secret depository as its foundation. Now that Xu Ying's sword had cleaved straight through the Mud Pill secret depository within him, severing his life force, his indestructible body instantly unraveled.
The two halves of his body writhed for a few moments before the vital energy in the fleshy buds faded entirely, dropping to the ground one after another like dead earthworms.
This was the earth-shattering sword strike Xu Ying had comprehended before the temple gates. Previously, constrained by his cultivation, he had never been able to unleash its true might.
Only now, having reached the Pass-Breaching stage so that the bronze bell no longer siphoned his vital qi, had he truly brought out the full power of this technique for the very first time!
This strike was balanced, righteous, upright, and grew stronger against formidable opposition. The stray sword qi that had leaked out while slaying Zhou Yihang neatly split four towering ancient trees right down their centerlines, along with thirty-eight thousand four hundred leaves, a patch of weeds, and several strands of hair.
"Let this sword technique be called Realm Breaker," Xu Ying thought as he dispersed the sword qi.
Nearly half of the vital qi within him had been squandered on that single strike. He immediately backed away with utmost caution, whispering, "Yuan Qi, let's go!"
He sensed that the situation was taking an unfavorable turn. Aside from Regional Inspector Zhou Heng, others seemed to have their eyes fixed on him as well, watching him with keen interest.
Yuan Qi darted onto a floating boulder, slithered to the opposite end, coiled his body, and sprang forth once more, landing on another boulder more than a dozen zhang away.
With his eyes locked on Regional Inspector Zhou Heng, Xu Ying backed away slowly, then suddenly spun around and leaped onto a floating boulder.
He broke into a dead sprint across the rock, pushed off violently with his final stride, and hurled himself into the air!
Beneath Xu Ying lay a bottomless drop of tens of thousands of zhang. The youth's silhouette arced across the vast sky, landing with a heavy thud on another massive boulder over a dozen zhang away.
Xu Ying rolled several times to absorb the impact, bounced back to his feet, sprinted again, and leaped into the air once more toward the next floating boulder.
Zhou Heng watched Xu Ying's retreating figure. He stood upon one immortal mountain while Xu Ying was on another, separated by a vast distance. Yet given his cultivation and power, such a gap posed little difficulty.
Just as he was about to make a move, he caught sight of another figure and was forced to hold himself back.
"Vice Prefect Ling has come as well!"
He shifted his gaze toward that Vice Prefect Ling. The man was tall and thin, resembling a frail scholar, yet thick incense smoke swirled vigorously all around him, coiling before and behind his form.
Within the halo of light behind him floated a scroll of parchment and an iron brush.
This man was Ling, the Vice Prefect of Yongzhou.
In the Nether Court, a deity governing a single county was called a City God and maintained a temple where they resided. A deity governing an entire prefecture was called a vice prefect and was granted a government office where they held court.
City God Xue presided over divine affairs in the territory of Lingling, while Vice Prefect Ling was his direct superior, overseeing all deities throughout Yongzhou.
Vice Prefect Ling was named Ling Youdao. He and Regional Inspector Zhou Heng kept each other in mutual check, and his cultivation and strength were exceptionally profound.
Zhou Heng narrowed his beady eyes and murmured, "Zhou Yihang had opened his Mud Pill secret depository to the second tier, but after all, he was merely from our Zhou family's outer branch. He had no access to our true lineage, so his death is of little consequence. Still, even if it wasn't the core inheritance, our Zhou clan's Nuo arts are no trivial matter. It seems Zhou Yang spoke the truth—Xu Ying is indeed a genius who thoroughly understands demonic arts! In all likelihood, he has already discovered the path beyond the Qi Harvesting stage."
At these words, the two bull demons pulling his carriage couldn't help but rise up on two legs, turning to gaze toward Xu Ying.
To monsters such as them, the Qi Harvesting stage was the ultimate peak of their lifetimes. If someone truly could break through the Qi Harvesting stage, it would be an act of profound grace and rebirth for the monster race!
Zhou Heng looked up at the grand temple suspended amidst the mountains. A faint smile surfaced on his plump face as he said, "Judicial Administrator, lead your men to capture him. I want him alive. If you cannot take him, drive him toward the grand temple. I shall make my way there myself and meet Vice Prefect Ling on the road."
The Judicial Administrator was also of the Zhou clan, named Zhou Zheng. He bowed and asked, "My lord, what should we do if we encounter deities from the Nether Court along the way?"
The cynical amusement vanished from Zhou Heng's face, replaced by a cold chill. "During this Netherworld incursion, my Yongzhou was the first to be struck. I fear the Nether Court is playing tricks behind the scenes, and Ling Youdao is surely mixed up in it! If those deities dare stand in your way, kill them without exception!"
Zhou Zheng bowed and departed with a retinue of guards.
On the other side, Vice Prefect Ling looked toward Zhou Heng as well. He gave a few instructions to the City Gods under his command, and they promptly set off with the experts among the deities.
With only a handful of attendants remaining by their sides, Vice Prefect Ling smiled faintly at Zhou Heng and stepped into the open sky.
Beneath his feet, the incense smoke coalesced into mist, bearing his weight so he would not plummet from the sky.
Step by step, Vice Prefect Ling strode forward. Layer upon layer of fragrant clouds formed incessantly beneath his feet, allowing him to tread upon the azure vapors and walk unhurriedly toward the grand temple.
"Riding clouds and driving mist? Nothing more than a trivial parlor trick among spells."
Zhou Heng laughed heartily, propping himself up on the arms of his throne as the rolls of fat on his belly sloshed like water bladders. He stepped down from the carriage with considerable effort and walked to the edge of the mountain, where boundless open sky lay beneath his feet.
Ignoring the drop entirely, Zhou Heng walked right out. Behind him manifested the apparition of a Golden-Winged Great Peng, plump and enormous. As the Great Peng beat its wings and took flight, Zhou Heng walked through the empty air alongside it.
"The Zhou clan's Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits Hidden Scenery Technique?"
Vice Prefect Ling raised an eyebrow slightly and said with a smile, "Lord Zhou, how many of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits have you mastered?"
Zhou Heng chuckled. "Why not test it and see for yourself?"
Xu Ying glanced back and saw the guards under Regional Inspector Zhou Heng giving chase. Some practiced martial arts while others cultivated Nuo arts, each displaying their own strengths.
Those cultivating Nuo arts stimulated green vines, which grew at astonishing speed to tether the floating boulders together.
In the sky, the boulders formed by the collision of immortal mountains were scattered between the peaks like a long ribbon. By binding these boulders together with green vines, they formed suspension bridges that allowed them to traverse the void rapidly.
The guards surged forward with redoubled speed, swiftly closing the distance.
Just then, Xu Ying noticed that aside from these guards, another faction was also pursuing him from a different direction.
"Deities!"
Seeing those towering silhouettes and the ribbons formed of incense smoke, Xu Ying instantly recognized their origins. Though he had never met these specific deities, judging from their attire, there were at least four City Gods among them!
The bronze bell sounded bewildered: "Ah Ying, something isn't right. You're just a petty Qi Refiner. To them, you're merely an ordinary person cultivating demonic arts. Why would they place such great importance on you? Where did your Taiyi Guiding Technique come from in the first place?"
Xu Ying sprinted forward, leaping through the air toward another boulder, and answered, "I don't remember when I learned the guiding technique either. All I know is that ever since I can remember, the technique was in my head."
The bronze bell asked, "Think carefully: on which day did you recall this technique? What happened that day?"
Xu Ying wracked his mind. Once more, his childhood in Xujiaping surfaced in his thoughts—his father and mother, his playmates, the uncles and aunts on the village streets, their faces and smiles all vividly etched in his mind.
"I still remember that my father was named Xu Zhigang and my mother was Liu Sanniang. Our family kept a dog and four ducks..."
Recalling his childhood, Xu Ying wore a blissful smile.
Suddenly, the street he had seen upon the Wangxiang Platform flashed across his mind—the young village teacher and the gentle woman. Though their faces were blank in his memory, they were definitely not the figures of Xu Zhigang and Liu Sanniang.
A muddle of confusion seized his mind.
"Were they my parents? No, that can't be! My parents didn't look like that in my memories!"
Xu Ying muttered, "I remember living in Xujiaping. My father was Xu Zheng, my mother was Yue Rou, and I had a happy childhood..."
A splitting headache ripped through him. He suddenly raised his hand and struck his own head violently, letting out a muffled roar as his eyes turned bloodshot.
Yuan Qi gritted his teeth and dashed ahead with all his might, coiling his body to leap from one floating boulder to the next.
Landing on the rock, Yuan Qi slid a short distance, then immediately slithered forward while gathering strength for another jump. Just then, he felt a strange stillness: "Why hasn't Ah Ying caught up?"
He hastily glanced back, only to see Xu Ying clutching his head with both hands the moment he jumped, tumbling helplessly from the sky.
"Ah Ying!"
Yuan Qi threw himself to the edge of the boulder and peered down. Xu Ying was falling at terrifying speed, still hammering his own skull with his fists as he plummeted.
Right at that moment, the bronze bell flew out from behind his head and caught him.
Yuan Qi breathed a sigh of relief, but Xu Ying's downward momentum was so immense that it dragged the bronze bell plunging downward with him.
Yuan Qi's heart leaped into his throat. A succession of bell chimes resonated through the air as the bronze bell strained with all its might, finally arresting the plunge. Only then did Yuan Qi's panic subside.
"What happened to Ah Ying? Why did he suddenly lose his footing?" Yuan Qi was filled with doubt and alarm.
Seeing that the bronze bell was carrying Xu Ying and that his life was not in immediate danger, the snake hurried toward the grand temple, thinking, "Once Ah Ying wakes up, he'll definitely head for the grand temple. Immortals reside there to offer protection. I'll go there first and wait for him!"
Astride the bronze bell, Xu Ying slowly regained consciousness, nearly tumbling off before scrambling to wrap his arms around it in shock. "How did I end up here?"
He had absolutely no recollection of what had just transpired.
Sensing Xu Ying's odd state, the bronze bell grew intensely curious: "Ah Ying's head doesn't work like a normal person's. Something extraordinary must have happened to him!"
"Lord Bell, stop wobbling," Xu Ying said in fright as he straddled the bell.
The bronze bell retorted angrily, "You brat, you're heavy as lead! It's exhausting carrying you, you know? Why don't you try carrying me instead!"
Xu Ying snorted. "It's not like I haven't carried you before. When you were wounded and unconscious, I was the one holding you up, and I didn't let go even while fighting."
The bronze bell wobbled violently. "You were clearly using me to bash people!"
Xu Ying nearly slipped off and hurriedly tightened his grip.
The bronze bell flew along with great effort. After a moment, Xu Ying cautiously stood up, perching both feet upon the suspension loop atop the bell. His legs were still trembling slightly, yet he held his ground against the wind.
"What are you doing?" the bronze bell asked in confusion.
Xu Ying stood atop the loop as the bronze bell flew through the air. The youth cut a rather dashing figure, though his hands still trembled faintly.
"Riding astride the bell doesn't look very elegant. I wanted to see if I could fly standing up—it feels much more impressive this way,"
Xu Ying whispered, "Lately, I've been experimenting with flying on a sword, but I was worried I might be scared of heights, so I figured I'd practice on you first."
The bronze bell said, "I thought you were trying to relieve yourself. Just give me a warning beforehand, and don't pee into the wind."
Just then, Xu Ying spotted divine dragons flying toward them. They were four stone dragons; as their claws lifted, clouds rose beneath them to support their bodies.
Treading upon azure smoke and clouds, the four stone dragons closed in on the bronze bell.
Xu Ying frowned. He had less than fifty percent of his vital qi remaining; riding atop the bronze bell, he stood no chance against the siege of four stone dragons.
"Lord Bell, head down to that immortal mountain below!" Xu Ying urged in haste.
A majestic immortal mountain drifted beneath them, and the bronze bell plunged swiftly into its heights. Looking down from above, Xu Ying saw numerous ancient altars concealed within the mountain's dense forest, beside which stood towering divine statues, standing like guardians of the altars.
"Strange. If this is the Immortal Realm, why are there divine statues and altars?"
Xu Ying was puzzled. In the Immortal Realm, there were no mortals to offer worship or gather incense smoke, so how could gods ever be born here?
Could it be that immortals worshipped gods too?
***
In the Netherworld, beside the Nai River, upon the Wangxiang Platform.
Yuan Tiangang sat outside his thatched cottage, breathing and meditating, when he caught sight of someone holding a green paper umbrella walking along the path of the Wangxiang Platform.
"That person has appeared again." Yuan Tiangang's fierce eyes flickered.
Ever since he had arrived and settled here, he had seen this green paper umbrella dozens of times. Every so often, this person would pass by carrying that umbrella.
Yuan Tiangang watched him depart into the distance, seeing the bearer of the green paper umbrella arrive at the Nai River Bridge and queue up for Meng Po soup.
"A strange fellow," Yuan Tiangang muttered, looking away.
The man waited in line for a long time before his turn finally arrived.
Granny Meng was about to pour the tea when her hand trembled upon seeing him.
From beneath the green paper umbrella came a calm voice: "Granny, a bowl of tea. Make the brew strong."
As Granny Meng poured the tea, she couldn't help but ask, "Lord Envoy, you've been asking for tea quite frequently of late."
The voice under the green paper umbrella sounded slightly displeased as he accepted the tea. "Isn't it because your tea lacks potency? It constantly fails to seal that person's memories. Those above are saying you've been watering down the soup."
Chapter 32