Toward the Little Celestial Venerable, Xu Ying had previously felt only the divide between friend and foe. Yet at this moment, another sentiment stirred unbidden within his heart.
He could not recall what had transpired in his first life, but the Little Celestial Venerable had once said that Xu Ying was his master, his father, his elder brother, and his friend.
The word "father" revealed that in his heart, the Xu Ying of those ancient days had been like a father to him.
Xu Ying had not understood this feeling before, but now clarity struck him. In that primordial, unenlightened age, the Little Celestial Venerable had likely been an orphan he had taken in.
Taken in by Xu Ying, the child had followed this lawless rogue, roaming far and wide, braving every manner of danger and enduring every trial.
Under Xu Ying’s care and guidance, the child grew day by day. In his young heart, the person he idolized most had to be Xu Ying; the person he revered most was certainly Xu Ying; and his best friend had to be Xu Ying as well.
He had taken Xu Ying as his role model and Xu Ying’s dreams as his own, yearning to overturn heaven and earth, to transform the Ancestral Court’s impoverishment and weakness, and to end the days when its people endured starvation, beatings, and abuse.
He wanted to mend the sky for the Ancestral Court, unearth the buried and concealed history, and enable every inhabitant of the Ancestral Court to hold their head high in life.
He wanted to restore the Ancestral Court to its bygone glory!
In truth, these dreams had never originally belonged to him; they had belonged only to Xu Ying. But after following his master for so long, over time, they had become his own.
That was why, when Xu Ying chose to ascend to the Immortal Realm, the Little Celestial Venerable had felt such agony over his betrayal—even harboring thoughts of slaying Xu Ying in vengeance.
The Immortal Realm had devastated the Ancestral Court and slandered it as a demonic realm, branding its people as demons. The oppression exerted upon the Ancestral Court by the Immortal Realm and the myriad worlds had never ceased.
In his heart, there had always been an idealized Xu Ying: like a teacher and father, like a brother and friend. How could his heart not ache when the man who had entrusted him with this grand dream ascended into the enemy camp and became a foe?
Yet the Little Celestial Venerable had not killed Xu Ying. Instead, when Xu Ying met with misfortune, he had sought him out, even studying the Immortal Dao to undo the seals upon him—a course of action that appeared utterly foolish to anyone else in the Ancestral Court.
Though he resented Xu Ying’s betrayal and abandonment, deep in his heart, he still regarded Xu Ying as his master and friend, as his father and brother.
Now that the Little Celestial Venerable was in peril, Xu Ying could not leave him to his fate.
"Celestial Venerable Xu, you are also a wanted criminal of the Immortal Realm. Capturing you will fetch an even greater reward! Today, I shall send you two, master and disciple, on your way together and claim this grand fortune!"
Daoist Ji stomped his foot. Behind him, amid the boundless Chaotic Star Sea, an imposing Primordial Spirit slowly rose. It threw back its head—bearing the head of a bird, the body of a man, the talons of a phoenix, and golden wings unfurled upon its back.
Its formidable divine power warped the surrounding space, condensing ten thousand li of space into a halo that drifted behind the bird-headed divine being’s skull.
A shard of a star drifted past the halo, seeming diminutive by comparison.
Within that halo lay a Heavenly Dao domain, resounding with the deafening chants of countless mortal beings.
His Primordial Spirit was forged from the union of qi refinement and incense. When Xu Ying had first entered the Ancestral Court, he had envisioned that such an embodiment would be the ideal form for Chu Xiangxiang.
Daoist Ji had attained this form long ago. His Primordial Spirit was both the spirit of a Qi Refiner and a primordial deity nurtured by the sacrifices and offerings of living beings. He walked the path of sanctifying the physical body and ascending as a god—dual cultivation of the immortal and divine!
This was a cultivation system unique to the Ancestral Court.
Xu Ying tilted his head back, gazing at this peerless Primordial Spirit, and blurted out, "Daoist Ji, you... you're a chicken demon, aren't you?"
"Insolence!"
Daoist Ji's Primordial Spirit reached out a claw toward Xu Ying before the immortal tomb, its magic power surging and solidifying the void!
With this claw strike, the scent of incense smoke qi billowed, and the chanting of living beings rang like great brass bells and chimes, melodious and reverberating. Under the force of this grasp, the surrounding starry sky—and even the immortal tomb of the Great God of the Three Altars and Sea Gathering—shook violently!
"Xu Ying, you have fought several battles since entering the Ancestral Court. The combat prowess you demonstrated was indeed formidable, but in my eyes, it amounts to nothing more!"
Daoist Ji's bird-headed Primordial Spirit resembled a primordial God King. Tens of thousands of years of incense smoke qi had allowed him to comprehend and grasp the worldly Great Dao of the Ancestral Court.
This path of cultivation was the same as that of Chongxiao, the heavenly god Xu Ying had encountered in the Benshi World, yet he had cultivated far longer than Chongxiao, and his magic power was far deeper!
The Heavenly Dao he cultivated was distinct from the Heavenly Dao of the myriad worlds; it was unique to the Ancestral Court.
His divine power was even more majestic than that of God King Xuanhao, whom Xu Ying had faced in the past. The divine power forged between his Primordial Spirit and the incense smoke qi had achieved seamless unity.
"Your era has passed!"
His sharp talons descended, causing the scattered stars of the Chaotic Star Sea to tremble and drift.
Xu Ying smiled. Suddenly, his figure flickered as he surged forward to meet the claw. Behind him, six great cave-heavens spun, humming with power!
"Before entering the Ancestral Court, I sealed my own cultivation, utilizing only my Ancestral Court methods. Now, at last, I can unbind my seals and release my full cultivation to my heart's content!"
Xu Ying laughed heartily. The six great cave-heavens seemed almost to rejoice, rotating with unmatched exuberance!
Inside his body, the self-imposed seals on his cultivation shattered layer by layer, and his aura swelled ever vaster, stirring the wind and clouds.
The vitality, yin and yang, Primordial Spirit, heart power, vital qi, and divine consciousness within him surged madly. Empowered by the six great cave-heavens, his Primordial Spirit expanded from three feet tall to nine feet tall, standing over a foot taller than Xu Ying himself!
Having meditated on the Dao Comprehension Platform and merged with his past imprint, Xu Ying had finally cultivated the two Nuo Ancestor cave-heavens of Yellow Court and Jade Pool, grasping the ancestral methods of the six secret depositories and uniting them with the Taiyi Inborn Technique.
This was the very first time he unleashed the complete ancestral methods of the six secret depositories alongside the Taiyi Inborn Technique. Though the Yellow Court and Jade Pool cave-heavens were not the cave-heavens of his first life—reaching only the fifth heaven—the moment the ancestral methods circulated, boundless oceans of vital qi and divine consciousness surged forth!
Behind Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit, a halo formed by a Heavenly Dao domain also manifested, endowing the spirit with terrifyingly majestic magic power.
"Daoist Ji, let me show you the complete ancestral methods of the Kunlun Xu family!"
His Primordial Spirit opened its arms wide, making an embracing gesture before violently thrusting outward. It was as if Lord Lao the Taishang had cast down an Eight Trigrams alchemy furnace from Lihen Heaven—a raging sea of fire erupted, carrying the sun and moon within its blazing expanse!
Divine ability: Eight Desolations Sun Refining Furnace!
Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit lifted the furnace, crashing into the sharp talons of Daoist Ji's Primordial Spirit!
A terrifying force erupted between them, knocking Daoist Ji's Primordial Spirit backward.
Just as this dreadful might exploded, a streak of clear qi shot out from the crown of Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit, dividing into three to become the Three Purities Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits. Halos formed by Heavenly Dao domains hovered behind all four Primordial Spirits, exuding immense heavenly majesty!
One Qi Transforming into Three Purities!
Xu Ying's true Primordial Spirit and the Three Purities Primordial Spirits flanked their foe from both sides, pummeling Daoist Ji's Primordial Spirit into steady retreat, unable to regain its footing!
The Heavenly Dao domain of Daoist Ji's Primordial Spirit was forged from the broken Heavenly Dao of the Ancestral Court, whereas the domain behind Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit was the complete Heavenly Dao domain of the myriad worlds—they were simply not on the same level!
For Daoist Ji to flaunt his Heavenly Dao domain before Xu Ying was sheer humiliation invited upon himself!
Suddenly, Xu Ying's physical body transformed into a streak of flowing light. Darting straight through the billowing aftermath of the divine abilities, he charged Daoist Ji. Before even reaching his opponent, he unleashed the divine ability Chaotic Star Sea!
Once a cultivator formed a Primordial Spirit, their style of combat shifted drastically. The Primordial Spirit was not merely the seat of life; it was also one's most potent means of attack.
Xu Ying divided the confrontation between body and spirit: Primordial Spirit against Primordial Spirit, flesh against flesh.
The area surrounding the immortal tomb was the Chaotic Star Sea itself. Unleashing this divine ability here, its power grew far greater than usual, as if bolstered by the surrounding universe. Innumerable stars manifested like a rotating astral millstone, sweeping Daoist Ji into its churning expanse!
The Chaotic Star Sea had originally been a shattered stretch of the cosmos, where countless fractured stars drifted and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth lay broken.
Yet as Xu Ying executed this divine ability, the fractured Dao throughout this sea of stars hummed, and rays of multicolored radiance flew from the shattered firmament to augment his blow!
Daoist Ji's palms flew like lightning, meeting Xu Ying's Chaotic Star Sea head-on. The old man shattered countless stars; in an instant, cosmic fires flared and thunderously exploded, casting flames and stellar debris behind Daoist Ji's back.
He had forcefully punched straight through the Chaotic Star Sea, fighting his way out of the divine ability! Such was the combat style of the Ancestral Court—ferocious, overbearing, and direct.
The Ancestral Court was branded a demonic realm, and its gods were called demon gods, largely because their fighting style was wild and devoid of flamboyant arts. Their divine abilities and Dao methods existed primarily for close-quarters slaughter!
Their dual cultivation of immortal and god was termed a demonic path elsewhere, but in the Ancestral Court, this cultivation method was known as sanctifying the physical body!
Though Xu Ying had known the old man's cultivation was profoundly deep, he had not anticipated that his physical body would be this tough. He could not help but praise, "This old Daoist is truly fierce!"
*Bang!*
Having smashed through the Chaotic Star Sea, Daoist Ji's palms weaved and thrust forward, colliding resoundingly against Xu Ying's palms. The explosive force of their palm power triggered ceaseless detonations across the surrounding astral sea!
Even after activating the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body, Xu Ying failed to gain an immediate advantage.
Around the tomb of the Great God of the Three Altars and Sea Gathering, the Huntian Ribbon drifted into motion, growing immensely broad. It deflected flying star fragments and dispersed the shockwaves from Xu Ying and Daoist Ji's clash, shielding the immortal tomb from disturbance.
"Again!" Xu Ying bellowed. Pushing his palms forward, he drove the six Nuo Ancestor cave-heavens to their absolute limit.
Daoist Ji's eyes widened in fury as he boldly met the strike. The starry sky around them roared and rumbled, and shards of stars detonated one after another, obliterated by the overflowing shockwaves!
Daoist Ji's aura wavered, and he stumbled back a step!
"Again!" Xu Ying crashed into him like a savage dragon, accompanied by another earth-shaking boom. This time, Daoist Ji lost his footing entirely. Crushed under the overwhelming palm force, he was sent hurtling backward, crashing onto a fragment of a star!
"Again!"
Xu Ying's voice boomed down from the fractured sky of the shattered star. Crushing the firmament with both palms, he descended from above!
Daoist Ji raised both hands to block. In the next instant, blood seeped from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
*Boom!*
The star fragment exploded into countless pieces. With his hands locked against Daoist Ji's palms, Xu Ying sprinted across the cosmos, their bodies hurtling through broken continents one after another in a flurry of crashes.
*Whoosh—*
Amid the star sea, the colossal wings of Daoist Ji's Primordial Spirit unfurled, slicing toward Xu Ying like colossal divine blades to rescue his true body.
Xu Ying released Daoist Ji, evading the strike. At that very instant, his nine-foot Primordial Spirit invoked the divine ability Buzhou Mountain, crushing Daoist Ji and his Primordial Spirit beneath its weight!
Daoist Ji spat mouthfuls of blood, struggling desperately against the suppression of Buzhou Mountain. When the divine ability finally dissipated, he saw Xu Ying slowly descending from above, hovering overhead.
Daoist Ji drew a deep breath, preparing to fight again. But at that moment, Xu Ying's Three Purities Primordial Spirits descended from different directions, encircling him completely.
Daoist Ji's eyelids twitched. Looking up, he saw that Xu Ying's original Primordial Spirit still hovered in the sky above, having not even moved.
"Celestial Venerable Xu, I concede!" Daoist Ji looked toward Xu Ying and said, "You are the Celestial Venerable Xu, while I am merely a wild pheasant. If a great man like you forgives a petty person's misdeeds and lets me go, it would only burnish your matchless renown."
Xu Ying shook his head. "You consider yourself a demon, and for the sake of becoming an immortal, you betrayed the Ancestral Court to murder the Little Celestial Venerable. If I spare you, heaven knows what else you might do."
A chill ran through Daoist Ji's heart, followed by a surge of savage desperation. He abruptly merged with his Primordial Spirit, spread his wings, and shot toward the heavens, roaring, "Xu Ying, if you want me dead, I'll drag you down with me! I'll tear your Primordial Spirit apart first!"
Flames billowed in the sky as a colossal furnace materialized.
Startled, Daoist Ji veered sharply to charge Xu Ying's physical body. Yet greeting him was an equally dazzling divine blaze—the Eight Desolations Sun Refining Furnace rushing straight at him.
He bolted in another direction, but the flames burning all around him shone brighter than the sun, sealing off every avenue of escape.
*Boom!*
The furnaces merged into one, engulfing Daoist Ji inside.
A few moments later, the old Daoist was refined into ash.
Xu Ying recalled his Primordial Spirit and turned to walk back toward the tomb of the Great God of the Three Altars and Sea Gathering. He thought to himself, *We cannot linger here any longer. If Daoist Ji could track us here, others will too. I must take the Little Celestial Venerable and find another place to hide.*
Behind him, one of the Three Purities Primordial Spirits entered the Little Celestial Venerable's body, taking control of his physical form.
The Little Celestial Venerable stood up.
Xu Ying arrived before the immortal tomb, produced a few sticks of incense, offered them to the Great God of the Three Altars and Sea Gathering, and murmured a prayer. Turning to the Huntian Ribbon, the Qiankun Ring, and the other immortal artifacts, he said, "I have disturbed you all for some time, and my heart has been uneasy. If I offended you in any way forty-eight thousand years ago, please punish me as you see fit; I shall not strike back."
The Wind Fire Wheels and the Golden Brick flew out from the immortal tomb, yet neither struck him. Xu Ying expressed his gratitude, turned with the Little Celestial Venerable, and strode into the Chaotic Star Sea.
He had not walked far when sudden, powerful auras rippled across the sea of stars. Behind shattered fragments of stars, numerous imposing silhouettes emerged.
Xu Ying's heart sank, and he immediately changed course. Just then, powerful auras shot skyward behind him as well, and many mighty figures stepped out from the star sea.
"The Imperial Monarch issued a decree: whoever claims the life of the Little Celestial Venerable may trade it for an ascension slot."
An aged voice drifted over, remarking leisurely, "Across the myriad worlds, who would not go mad for such a chance?"
"Xu Ying, when you killed Daoist Ji, we witnessed your strength,"
an expert of the Ancestral Court said impassively as he approached. "Yet no matter how strong you are, you will not carry the Little Celestial Venerable out of the Chaotic Star Sea alive!"
Xu Ying's heart sank deeper and deeper. He feared no single opponent in the Chaotic Star Sea. Strong though they were, in single combat, he was confident he could slay any one of them, no matter how illustrious their reputation!
Yet with so many experts gathering in the Chaotic Star Sea, even enough ants could bite an elephant to death—to say nothing of the fact that many of these experts possessed cultivation on par with his own!
The muscles around Xu Ying's eyes twitched violently. He drew out a length of rope. The Little Celestial Venerable walked over and leaned against his back.
Xu Ying bound the youth securely to himself with the rope, recalled the Three Purities Primordial Spirit from within the Little Celestial Venerable's body, and whispered, "Don't be afraid. I'll fight our way out!"
As the words left his mouth, a scene flickered through his mind in a daze. In an identical desperate predicament, when he had also been a fourteen-year-old youth, he had smiled at a young child and said, "Don't be afraid. I'll fight our way out."
It was as though that moment was repeating itself.
Just as Xu Ying was about to charge, a red light flashed before his eyes. A crimson ribbon flew over, slipping beneath one arm, wrapping around the back of his head, and emerging beneath his other arm.
The Huntian Ribbon fluttered, stirring brilliant immortal radiance.
While Xu Ying was still reeling in surprise, a sudden heat rose beneath his feet. Two Wind Fire Wheels whirled whistling through the void, settling beneath the soles of his feet.
*Whew—*
A streak of fire arrived, and in his grip materialized the Fire-Tipped Spear!
The Golden Brick and the Qiankun Ring clinked softly—one resting upon his shoulder, the other hovering above his head.
In an instant, Xu Ying was fully adorned with immortal artifacts, armed to the absolute peak, as radiant immortal light blazed in all directions!
Chapter 350