Daoist Taiqing arrived quietly at Kunlun and ascended Yuxu Peak. Before long, he reached Yujing, where he activated the altar within the city to connect to the Kunlun realm in the void. As he stepped into the Kunlun realm, a green-robed Daoist had already walked out from the Jade Void Palace. Upon meeting, the two Daoists bowed to each other.
"Dao Brother, your Kunlun realm seems rather tranquil, yet it no longer possesses its past grandeur," Daoist Taiqing said, surveying their surroundings and breaking the silence first. "Back then, seekers of the Dao on Mount Kunlun were countless, and voices surged like a boiling cauldron. You sat upon the Great Canopy, a manifestation of the Dao in your own right, your radiance blanketing thousands of worlds—as if standing on the other shore, ferrying mortal souls across. Today, however, only the two of us remain here. Dao Brother Yuxu, the youth surnamed Xu contributed immensely to your resurrection this time. Will you grant him some rewards?"
The Daoist Yuxu opposite him was lean and hale, upholding the Great Dao of heaven and earth, grasping the dual forces of yin and yang. He held his spirit within independently, his flesh unified as one, in tune with heaven and earth.
Daoist Yuxu replied, "I wished to grant him benefits, only to find he was already proficient in them, requiring no more. I considered giving him magical treasures, yet I worried he could not bear the karmic weight, so I simply gave nothing."
His spirit was like the spirit of the Kunlun realm, his Dao like the Dao of the Kunlun realm. His breath was the wind and gathering clouds of this realm, and his moods were like the temperaments of heaven and earth, occasionally clear and occasionally overcast.
Daoist Taiqing fell silent for a moment before remarking, "Your realm is lofty and profound, Dao Brother. Tell me, is the Dao Lord of your Jade Void Palace still in this realm?"
Daoist Yuxu shook his head. "Since awakening from death, when I sense him, he feels both present and gone, near yet distant. I can never be certain whether he still walks the mortal world. What of the Dao Ancestor of Tushita Palace?"
"There has been no word of the Dao Ancestor either," Daoist Taiqing said.
Both Daoists lapsed into silence. They were the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits of their respective masters rather than their true bodies; yet even they had no way of knowing whether their masters were alive or dead.
"Fellow Daoist, do you feel it?"
Daoist Yuxu rose, walked to the edge of Qilin Cliff, and looked outward from the Kunlun realm. He whispered, "Across this vast primordial expanse, the ancient Great Dao of heaven and earth is murmuring, stirring back to life."
Daoist Taiqing came to his side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
What entered his sight was a boundless void, immeasurable and vast, where the All Heavens and Myriad Realms and the Ancestral Court each drifted like ferries upon a great ocean, pitching and tossing in the tides.
The Netherworld seemed concealed beneath the shadows of the myriad worlds and the Ancestral Court, submerged within the waters. The Immortal Realm, meanwhile, appeared like another sea suspended above the primordial ocean, only not as vast in scale as the myriad worlds.
The tides stirred by the Three Realms caused this storm to grow ever more turbulent.
Between the Three Realms, other shores floated like tiny stars, flickering intermittently.
The two Daoists gazed beyond this primordial void, where, vaguely and indistinctly, some great tempest seemed to be quietly drawing near.
***
In the Yuanshou world, atop Mount Jiuyi, Foolish A'fu lazily got to his feet, while Feng Xian'er, the pride of the Jiuyi Sect, rushed excitedly over to welcome Xu Ying.
Xu Ying was long accustomed to Foolish A'fu's habits. Smiling at Feng Xian'er, he said, "I am on my way to the Wangxiang Platform in the Netherworld. Since I was passing by, I stopped to see you. It wasn't that I made a special trip just for you."
Feng Xian'er gave Foolish A'fu a pointed look and giggled. "Fool, see? He didn't make a special trip to see you!"
Foolish A'fu snorted. "I knew that, of course."
Xu Ying chuckled. "Since I rarely return, I shall show great benevolence and pass the ancestral method of the six secrets down to you."
Foolish A'fu's heart shook slightly. In disbelief, he blurted out, "You obtained the ancestral method of the six secrets?"
Xu Ying corrected him, "I comprehended the ancestral method of the six secrets left behind by my first life. The ancestral method was originally passed down by the ancestors of my Xu family; all other Undying People who did not bear the Xu surname learned only abridged versions. But I am the only one left in the Xu family now. If I continue to hoard it selfishly, I fear the six secrets will be lost to the world."
Foolish A'fu stiffened his neck. "I won't learn it. My surname isn't Xu."
Feng Xian'er nudged him with her elbow, teasing, "His surname is Xu, and yours is Xu as well! Why wouldn't you learn it?"
Foolish A'fu muttered sourly without replying. Back then, it was he who had destroyed the Nuo methods of the Yuanshou world, a deed he took immense pride in. The last time Xu Ying handed him a jade slip containing one of the ancestral methods of the six secrets, he had merely said he would glance at it, but never cultivated it.
Yet Xu Ying's intention to spread the ancestral method throughout Yuanshou moved him after all. Once this ancestral method was widely disseminated, no one would be able to harvest others anymore. The hope of longevity would no longer be a mere fantasy.
"Lord Xu, if one cultivates the ancestral method, can one become an immortal?" Foolish A'fu asked. "If one cannot become an immortal, what meaning does it have?"
Xu Ying glared at him. "I am teaching the ancestral method. Are you going to learn it or not?"
Foolish A'fu declared resolutely, "I'll learn! Only a fool wouldn't!"
Xu Ying did not leave immediately. Instead, he stayed behind to instruct them in the ancestral method of the six secrets. Even forty-eight thousand years ago, this ancestral method was kept strictly secret and never taught to outsiders; now, Xu Ying was gradually spreading it.
Yuanshou held great significance for him. Over the past forty-eight thousand years, though he had been imprisoned here, those who imprisoned him were immortals and gods, while those who nurtured him were mortal parents. Over those forty-eight thousand years, countless people had looked after him.
He wanted to change this man-eat-man world. Although people no longer cultivated the flawed Nuo methods, if Qi Refiners still had no hope of transcending their hierarchy, then cannibalism would inevitably recur.
Thus, he chose to pass on the ancestral method of the six secrets.
Beneath the parasol tree, Foolish A'fu, Feng Xian'er, Yuan Qi, and the big bell listened quietly as Xu Ying imparted the ancestral method. Yuan Qi glanced sideways at the big bell, thinking, *What's the point of this foolish bell listening to the six secrets? It doesn't have the six secret depositories, so it can't cultivate them anyway.*
The Mother Insect was unexpectedly resting peacefully on Xu Ying's shoulder, listening attentively as though it could understand.
Yuan Qi thought to himself, *The immortal insect is an artificial creation. Even if it can understand, it can't open the six secrets. So Lord Seven's status remains the most secure.*
He then glanced at Foolish A'fu, thinking, *He won't do either. He doesn't have a brain.*
Yet Foolish A'fu was actually the first to thoroughly comprehend the ancestral method of the six secrets, dealing Yuan Qi quite a blow.
Xu Ying taught it only once, then left them to comprehend it on their own, telling them to ask him if there was anything they did not understand.
*I wonder how the Son of Heaven of Zhou and the Ancestral Dragon have been faring all these years? And what of Yan Kongcheng, Xue Ying'an, and Shi Yuqing? What are their circumstances now? And those sects—have they cultivated the ancestral method I spread?*
Standing beneath the divine parasol tree, Xu Ying looked at the splendid landscape all around him—Lingling City in the distance, the Nai River, Mount Wuwang, and even farther away, the Shendu of Luoyang and Haojing.
And the people living within the divine capital. Xu Ying still remembered Guo Xiaodie, Old Master Guo, and the others, as well as the mysterious Second Shendu. Reflecting on those people and places warmed his heart with longing, making him wish he could fly to them immediately.
*I will return to Yuanshou again, but my visits will probably grow fewer and fewer. Just like a homeland—once you step out into the world, your visits back gradually dwindle, leaving behind only sentimentality,*
Xu Ying thought quietly to himself.
*Returning this time is the perfect chance to bid farewell to those old friends and acquaintances.*
Until one left Yuanshou, one did not know how vast the world was. Only upon returning after having left did one realize that one's heart no longer belonged here.
Suddenly, Feng Xian'er said in surprise, "How strange! For some reason, our Jiuyi Sect's sect-guarding immortal artifact keeps stirring restlessly!"
Xu Ying's thoughts were interrupted. Looking toward the immortal artifact, he saw Feng Xian'er striving to suppress it.
The sect founded by Feng Xian'er and Foolish A'fu was named the Jiuyi Sect, and their sect-guarding immortal artifact was an immortal pot. This pot harbored immortal radiance within, its exterior sculpted with celestial majesty, holding heaven and earth inside and exhaling profound mysteries. It was exceptionally formidable.
At that moment, the jade pot expanded and shrank erratically, leaping from time to time as if preparing to take flight and escape.
The snout of the immortal pot had popped open on its own, billowing with resonant, rumbling celestial qi. The Dao runes etched upon its exterior began to circulate with a droning vibration, shifting and projecting all manner of extraordinary Dao phenomena.
This sight startled everyone, drawing their collective gaze.
Feng Xian'er's expression changed abruptly, and she cried out in alarm, "I can't hold it down!"
Foolish A'fu hastily struck out, attempting to suppress the jade pot. Both of them had previously refined it; Feng Xian'er was somewhat simple-minded compared to him, so Foolish A'fu had deciphered the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture and taught it to her. Refining the jade pot also required Foolish A'fu to guide her, or she, as sect master, would have been incapable of subduing it.
Yet even with Foolish A'fu intervening, it was of no avail; they could not suppress this immortal artifact at all!
*Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!*
Behind Foolish A'fu, ancestral cave-heavens opened one after another, magnificent and brilliant, spinning ceaselessly behind his back and multiplying his cultivation strength more than tenfold!
Seeing this, Yuan Qi was aghast. *Ah Ying only just taught us the ancestral method of the six secrets, and this fool has already learned it? If he's this clever without a brain, how terrifying would he be if he had one?*
Foolish A'fu's sheer aptitude moved even Xu Ying. To master the six secrets in a single breath was an aptitude rare across the world!
And by "the world," it meant across all the All Heavens and Myriad Realms!
However, Foolish A'fu's cultivation realm was not high. When he underwent his heavenly tribulation to ascend on Kunlun, his cultivation had been ruined, his Primordial Spirit destroyed. Though saved by Xu Ying, his cultivation had been completely shattered. Even now, he was only in the second knocking on the pass phase and had yet to reform a Primordial Spirit. Even having learned the six secrets, his cultivation remained limited, unable to thoroughly suppress the jade pot.
Seeing the jade pot on the verge of flying away, Xu Ying intervened, slamming down a heavenly pass to pin it in place. Yet celestial qi immediately erupted from within the jade pot, shaking the Third Heavenly Pass until it wobbled precariously, unable to hold it down.
The immortal light bursting from the jade pot actually coiled around the Third Heavenly Pass, threatening to drag it inside!
Xu Ying's expression shifted slightly. Instantly driving the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, he shouted, "Collect!"
The Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron was a treasure of merit forged by God King Xuankong over tens of thousands of years using the incense of countless common mortals. Known as a Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure, it possessed boundless divine power, bore the imprints of the three thousand Heavenly Daos, and was exceedingly powerful.
This cauldron could swallow stars and take in heaven and earth. As its master, Xu Ying summoned the sea of fire and boundless ocean formed from the intermingling of water and fire; the great cauldron opened to swallow the sky, looking as though it would sweep up the entire heavens of the Yuanshou world and draw them in!
Xu Ying had never expected the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron to be so formidable, leaving him both surprised and delighted.
With a whoosh, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron sucked the jade pot inside.
Before Xu Ying could breathe a sigh of relief, the jade pot suddenly shot out from the cauldron, turned upside down, and attempted to pull the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron in instead!
*How formidable! Could Perfected Jade Pot be driving this treasure? If he is in the Immortal Realm, he cannot beat me!*
Xu Ying summoned the Immortal Dao Jade Pool and the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, combining their power with the Third Heavenly Pass to suppress the jade pot, while below, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron clashed fiercely with it. Yet even so, they could not pin it down.
Xu Ying's face fell as realization struck. *Perfected Jade Pot is not in the Immortal Realm—he is in Yuanshou! Earlier, he was too far away from this treasure, merely sensing its location. Now that he is drawing closer, the jade pot's power is growing stronger! That Perfected Jade Pot has probably already arrived near Mount Jiuyi!*
He surged his vital qi, and with two hums, two Immortal Realm cave-heavens manifested behind him, driving the treasures he had forged across his four great realms to their utmost power!
Foolish A'fu stared at the two cave-heavens in shock.
Just then, with a sharp whoosh, the jade pot sucked the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron inside. It then swung around, and neither the Immortal Dao Jade Pool, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, nor the Third Heavenly Pass could escape; one after another, they were swallowed into the pot.
Xu Ying felt a sudden emptiness within him—he had lost all connection to the treasures forged across his four great realms!
The big bell tried to flee, but a beam of celestial light swept across, and it vanished as well.
"Hahahahaha! You can wear out iron shoes searching in vain, yet find it without the slightest effort!"
A hearty, aged voice echoed. A white-haired elder with the demeanor of a transcendent Daoist strode forward, beckoning from afar. The jade pot flew directly into his hands.
The white-haired elder had a ruddy complexion and a robust physique. He chuckled. "Xu Ying, it really is you! And my two wonderful disciples!"
His gaze turned piercing as he swept his eyes over Foolish A'fu and Feng Xian'er, placing heavy emphasis on the words "wonderful disciples" as old hatreds and new grudges surged in his heart.
Foolish A'fu's heart skipped a beat. Saliva drooling from the corner of his mouth, he gave a silly chuckle. "M-Master, we've finally waited until you arrived, old senior!"
"Bah!"
The white-haired elder was none other than Perfected Jade Pot. Spitting heavily, he suspended the jade pot in midair and sneered, "You two feign madness and play dumb—do you really think I'd fall for it a second time? What wonderful luck today! Not only do I reclaim my treasure, but I can also capture you two little thieves. And most important of all is you, Xu Ying!"
Deeply moved, he could not help looking up at the sky, sighing with emotion. "I was ordered into the lower realm for two reasons: first, for you, and second, for the person who opened the Immortal Realm cave-heavens. To think that the one who opened those cave-heavens is you! Today, I shall catch you all in one fell swoop!"
Just as he was about to drive the jade pot, Xu Ying shouted in a deep voice, "Lord Seven, cast the snare!"
Without hesitation, Yuan Qi hurled the Diamond Snare aloft!
The snare soared into the air, whistling and spinning as dual qi of yin and yang transformed into a Taiji diagram within it.
Perfected Jade Pot chuckled. "A little snake dares flaunt a treasure before me? Today, I'll take all of you!"
*Whoosh!*
The jade pot vanished, sucked straight into the Diamond Snare.
Perfected Jade Pot froze. Looking toward the Diamond Snare again, he suddenly felt the heavens dim as yin and yang circulated, evolving the myriad Daos of the cosmos—not a single Great Dao could escape the Diamond Snare's grasp!
*This snare will swallow even me!*
Terror seized him as his body fell uncontrollably toward the Diamond Snare. Crying out in panic, he pushed the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture to its absolute limit, cleaving through space and leaping away in flight!
Xu Ying, Foolish A'fu, Feng Xian'er, and the others looked up to see Perfected Jade Pot's divine abilities tearing open world after world as he shuttled through them, displaying glimpses of different realms.
Yet in the very next instant, the space of the worlds where Perfected Jade Pot fled twisted and warped, plunging toward the Diamond Snare!
Xu Ying was filled with shock. *What kind of treasure is this? Its power is utterly absurd!*
Seeing no way to escape, Perfected Jade Pot gritted his old steel teeth. Countless magical treasures, his crown, his robes, his attire, and even his shoes flew backward with a loud clatter, hurtling toward the Diamond Snare!
In an instant, the old man was stripped stark naked. Seizing the split second when the pile of treasures jammed the Diamond Snare, he sprang away!
This method of shedding his skin like a cicada left Xu Ying and Foolish A'fu dumbfounded, while Feng Xian'er hurriedly covered her eyes, not daring to look.
Having escaped the Diamond Snare's range, Perfected Jade Pot bellowed, "Xu Ying, this Perfected One possesses vast divine abilities and specializes in assassination! Watch your miserable little life!"
Suddenly, a brilliantly shining Golden Crow soared directly toward him, two divine sabers crisscrossing around its body as it slashed at him without a word of explanation!
Perfected Jade Pot drove the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture, treating heaven and earth as a gourd, and leapt to escape. Yet he felt dozens of saber strikes hit his back. The saber light actually sliced into his Dao arena and pierced straight through his Realm of Xiyi, nearly cleaving his Primordial Spirit!
*This Yuanshou world is full of treacherous mountains and vicious waters—even a bird here is so overbearing, hacking at people indiscriminately without asking any questions!*
Chapter 400