Just after Xu Ying, the Northern Emperor, and the others departed, the dark sky above the ancient territory of the Nether Sea suddenly broke wide open. Layers of immortal light cascaded down, revealing a heavenly palace of the Immortal Realm. Upon the horizontal plaque before its gates were inscribed three characters: "Exorcism Court."
The one parting the barrier between the Immortal Realm and the ancient Nether Sea was an immortal official wearing a tall cap. His gaze was as sharp as lightning, arcs of thunder twined around his body to form a sash, and tiers of thunderous light coalesced into halos of the Dao behind him, radiating extreme peril. Poking his head down, the immortal official scanned below—and instantly beheld the colossal bodies of the Ten Yama Kings. One after another, the Ten Yama Kings lifted their heads and met the immortal official's gaze.
Startled, the immortal official hurriedly sealed the rift in space-time, and the Exorcism Court faded from sight.
"For the Immortal Realm to realize we have revived is ultimately no good thing," King Qinguang remarked with a furrowed brow. "The alien dao that destroyed the Netherworld back then was most likely the forces of the Immortal Dao."
Looking upward, King Chujiang said in puzzlement, "However, I did not sense those mighty existences who destroyed the Netherworld just now. If it is only the Exorcism Court, they are no match for our ancient Nether Sea. Yet if those mighty beings from back then take action, we will be far from their equal."
King Dushi said, "In my view, those mighty existences will not strike anytime soon. This tide of the Three Realms—spanning the Immortal Realm, the Netherworld, and the mortal realm—is drawing the Three Realms ever closer. The Great Daos of heaven and earth that had been shattered are reviving one by one, and even the Dao of our ancient Nether Sea has awakened along with it. I cannot shake the feeling that someone is fanning the flames behind all this."
The Ten Yama Kings fell into deep thought.
King Yanluo said, "Stirring the tide of the Three Realms to revive the Great Daos of heaven and earth from ancient times... what intention lies behind this? What is this person's goal?"
King Chujiang's eyes gleamed somberly. "Could their blade be pointed at those mighty existences who destroyed us?"
The Ten Yama Kings exchanged glances, eyes flickering. Those supreme masters who crushed the ancient Nether Sea back then were likely unshakeable supreme existences in the Immortal Realm today. In all probability, certain ambitious figures within the Immortal Realm were growing restless, coveting the thrones of those supreme beings.
***
In the Yuanshou world, within the sun, at the ruins of the Sun Divine Palace.
Xu Ying stood atop the rubble holding a sheet of gold paper, a peculiar expression on his face. "How on earth did Lord Jin become His Highness the Imperial Prince of the demon race?" he murmured.
On the gold paper was Jin Buyi's handwriting:
*I obtained the Eastern Emperor Heaven-Calming Art and pacified the unrest at the Sun Pass. The Demon Emperor said I am an Imperial Prince and wants me to go to the Demon Ancestral Court to inherit the family estate. My family might be very rich.*
*Master Seven, Lord Bell, and the Mother Insect have come with me to the Demon Ancestral Court to enjoy a life of ease. There is no need to worry. Take good care of yourself, etcetera, etcetera.*
Xu Ying stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded.
No matter how hard he racked his brain, he could not fathom it. Lord Jin had lived for more than twenty thousand years and was ancient and decrepit. Although forming a Primordial Spirit in recent years had made him look somewhat younger, how had he suddenly turned into an Imperial Prince?
Besides, where in the world was there a twenty-thousand-year-old prince?
"And it seems there's a vast fortune waiting for Lord Jin to inherit at the Demon Ancestral Court. How did he strike it rich out of nowhere without saying a word?"
Xu Ying suddenly recalled that back on Mount Sumeru, several young women had claimed to hail from the Demon Ancestral Court. Their leader, named Ling Siyi, was exceptionally formidable.
The willow branch in Ling Siyi's hand was even more extraordinary—said to be a branch from the Demon Emperor's Dao tree, leaving a deep impression on Xu Ying.
"That Miss Ling mentioned that the Demon Ancestor of the Demon Ancestral Court wanted to see me. Demon Ancestor, Ancestral Court, Imperial Prince... I wonder what the connection is between them?"
A faint worry stirred in his heart. Although the note left by Jin Buyi mentioned having the Primordial Spirit of a Demon Emperor by their side, anything involving power was bound to be fraught with peril.
By going to the Demon Ancestral Court, Jin Buyi would almost certainly be swept into power struggles there.
*Still, since the Demon Ancestor wants to see me, he must need something from me. Knowing Lord Jin's connection to me, Lord Jin will have the greatest backer of all in the Demon Ancestral Court,* Xu Ying reasoned.
Relieved of his concern, he was just about to summon the Third Heavenly Pass and return to the Ancestral Court when a figure suddenly flashed into view, rushing toward him at high speed.
His thoughts stirring, Xu Ying immediately channeled the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture, concealing his form deep in the void.
The figure transformed into a streak of immortal light and landed upon the ruins of the Sun Divine Palace. Immortal radiance swirled around him, warding off the terrifying heat of the Sun Divine Fire.
Looking closely, Xu Ying saw that the newcomer held a jade platter in his hand. The platter was bare, yet it brimmed with waves of curious power.
The man looked fairly young, around thirty years old, dressed in grey robes embroidered with five flood dragons coiled around his garments, each only a foot or two long.
Aura of immortal divinity drifted about him; clearly, he was no mortal.
As the man activated the jade platter, muttering incantations under his breath, Xu Ying immediately felt an ancient Great Dao of heaven and earth within the sun slowly reviving under the platter's influence.
Misty rosy glow welled up from the platter in the grey-robed immortal's hand, blooming in waves, causing the Great Dao of heaven and earth from the ancient era within the sun to awaken with even greater vigor!
Xu Ying was profoundly shocked. *What on earth is that jade platter?*
The grey-robed immortal let out a soft exclamation of surprise and murmured in confusion, "Strange. Now that I've revived the ancient Dao of the Sun Pass, why hasn't there been any upheaval? Not long ago, I clearly came here and restored the ancient Dao. By all accounts, the monsters suppressed in this place should have broken out of the Sun Pass and laid waste to Yuanshou."
Xu Ying was incensed. *He wanted to use the monsters suppressed in the Sun Pass to destroy Yuanshou!*
The grey-robed immortal suddenly took flight, heading deep into the interior of the sun.
Xu Ying shadowed him and watched as the immortal arrived at the place where the Sun Golden Casket had originally been kept—the very spot where the Demon Emperor and the rebellious primordial behemoths had been sealed. The golden casket was nowhere to be seen.
The grey-robed immortal frowned. "The golden casket has vanished, and the multistoried ships of the Sun Guards are gone as well. Just what happened here? Why didn't the Sun Pass follow my plan... Who's there?!"
He was exceptionally vigilant; his razor-sharp gaze swept directly toward the void where Xu Ying hid.
Feigning helplessness as if wounded by that glare, Xu Ying bit the tip of his tongue and tumbled out of the void spitting blood, crying out hoarsely, "Don't kill me—"
"Why are you running?!"
The grey-robed immortal transformed into a streak of light and shot through the air with a sharp whistle, drawing a line of immortal brilliance through the sun as he fled.
Xu Ying was both startled and furious. He had pretended weakness precisely so the grey-robed immortal would lower his guard, giving him the perfect opening to strike.
Who could have guessed that without the slightest sign of letting his guard down, the grey-robed immortal would simply turn tail and sprint?
Xu Ying roared and gave chase, plowing through the sun like a primordial wild bull. Bursts of thunder and fire detonated behind him, his momentum overwhelmingly ferocious!
"Immortal Mountains, Huntian Cauldron, Twelve Mansions, Jade Pool, Heavenly Pass! Summon! Summon! Summon!"
Behind Xu Ying, the five immortal mountains, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, and other supreme treasures of the Heavenly Dao and weighty instruments of the Immortal Dao leaped forth, transforming into five great realms that empowered him!
Immediately afterward, one Immortal Realm cave-heaven after another blasted open, forcing back the surrounding Sun Divine Fire and channeling torrential primordial qi, heart power, soul power, and yin-yang qi into him, sending his cultivation skyrocketing!
*Boom!*
The surface of the sun erupted as Xu Ying burst out in pursuit of the grey-robed immortal, dragging a tail of flame a million li long behind him.
The flare was captured by geomagnetic forces on the sun's surface, arching into a colossal loop like the single wing of a butterfly before plunging back into the star. Yet where Xu Ying had broken through, the temperature had cooled drastically, leaving behind a sunspot.
Xu Ying paid it no mind, his eyes locked onto the grey-robed immortal ahead. Seething with anger, his divine sense surged forward, detonating as a voice in the immortal's ear: "Brother, I was already coughing blood! Why are you still running? Was my acting not convincing enough?"
The grey-robed immortal was astonishingly fast as well, but watching the distance between them shrink rapidly threw him into panic. He sneered back, "The only reason I've survived to this day is caution! You sneaked right up beside me without me noticing, and had your mind not wavered, I wouldn't have spotted you at all. A being like that spitting blood from my mere glance? Not even a ghost would buy it!"
Regret pinched at Xu Ying. *This bastard is too damn careful.*
He surged to even greater speed and roared, reaching out to grasp him.
Across the starry expanse, terrifying primordial qi of heaven and earth roared forward, coalescing into a colossal hand myriad zhang wide that pulverized smaller celestial bodies in its path as it reached straight for the grey-robed immortal!
This was none other than Gathering Heaven and Earth, the divine ability from Perfected Yuhu's Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture!
Only when Xu Ying unleashed it, the sheer domineering force was utterly absurd!
Horrified to his core, the grey-robed immortal hesitated no longer and immediately summoned the jade platter. Radiance burst from the platter, whisking him through a rift in space-time that opened onto another world among the heavens.
Carrying the grey-robed immortal, the platter zipped through the fissure into that heavenly realm, and the rift snapped shut behind him.
Yet Xu Ying's voice rumbled through space-time: "Trying such tricks in front of me—do you really think you can get away?"
The grey-robed immortal looked back and froze in terror. The sky trembled violently as a majestic heavenly pass suddenly manifested, squeezing space-time with deafening cracks as countless bolts of lightning burst from the compressed space, striking indiscriminately in all directions.
Even the air reeked of scorched ozone.
*Boom!*
The pass swung open, and the myriad-zhang hand froze space-time, clutching forward with brute ferocity.
Without a second thought, the grey-robed immortal spurred the platter and bolted, tearing through space-time in an instant to plunge into yet another heavenly realm. Behind him, however, space-time blew apart with a resounding crash—and the Third Heavenly Pass appeared once again, with Xu Ying's sky-covering hand hot on his heels!
Gritting his teeth, the grey-robed immortal drove the platter on. *Bang, bang, bang!* He flashed through world after world like fleeting shadows. The myriad worlds of the universe came in endless varieties, their landscapes and geologies distinct and wondrous, yet all blurred past in a flash.
Behind him, however, thunder rolled incessantly. The Third Heavenly Pass loomed like a colossal wall spanning heaven and earth, grinding forward unstoppably, while the titanic hand extending from that massive pass drew closer and closer!
Despair gripped the immortal: *Am I doomed to die here?*
Suddenly, the jade platter carried him into a ruined world, and the earth-shaking racket behind him abruptly ceased.
Looking back, the grey-robed immortal saw that the wall-like heavenly pass had not followed, nor had Xu Ying's massive hand reached in. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"This world..."
Glancing around, he saw that this realm had already been destroyed—a desolate, deathly silent world devoid of all life.
He exhaled and chuckled. "So that's why. This realm does not fall under the Heavenly Dao, so his gateway cannot pursue me here."
Just as the thought crossed his mind, space behind him jolted violently, and a voice drifted from the depths of space-time: "Brother, why not stay and make friends?"
The grey-robed immortal whipped around and beheld a pair of massive hands reaching out from the depths of space, literally tearing the sky of this dead world apart.
Xu Ying was forcefully wrenching space open, on the verge of descending!
Terrified, the grey-robed immortal frantically activated the jade platter, whistling away through the void to vanish without a trace.
Tearing the sky wide open, Xu Ying flew out from the rift. Floating above this lifeless world and looking around, he was taken aback. The Great Dao of heaven and earth was suddenly awakening in this world that had been utterly dead just moments ago. Across the land below, sweet rain fell in mere moments, reviving lush vegetation that rapidly flourished in verdant green.
"Just what is that jade platter?"
Xu Ying was filled with shock and suspicion. He muttered softly, "To revive even the Great Dao of heaven and earth here... truly remarkable."
He gave chase in the direction of the space-time the grey-robed immortal had fled through, but he was a step too late. After crossing several worlds, he lost all trace of his quarry.
"The revival of ancient Great Daos in certain parts of the myriad worlds might well be connected to this grey-robed immortal and the jade platter in his hand!"
Giving up the chase, Xu Ying murmured, "That platter is by no means an ordinary immortal artifact. While it carries little offensive might, I doubt even the Imperial Monarch's Purple Nether Saber can compare to it. If only I could finish off that little grey man and take the platter..."
Reluctantly, he summoned the Third Heavenly Pass and stepped inside.
The pass closed and vanished.
A moment later, the void trembled suddenly, and the Third Heavenly Pass abruptly remanifested. Xu Ying strode out, his eyes like lightning as he swept his gaze across the surroundings and bellowed, "I see you!"
The roar set the eardrums of every living being in that world buzzing. Heads snapped up, looking around in alarm—some sheepish, some bewildered, and some even having their cultivation disrupted into qi deviation.
Xu Ying surveyed the realm once more. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he retreated sullenly into the Third Heavenly Pass, muttering to himself, "Looks like he really isn't in this world."
The Third Heavenly Pass shut and vanished.
Two days later, thunder shook the skies again, and the Third Heavenly Pass reappeared. A green-robed Xu Ying, a yellow-robed Xu Ying, and a white-robed Xu Ying flew in from three different directions.
"I searched for two days and didn't find the bastard," the white-robed Xu Ying said, shaking his head.
The yellow-robed Xu Ying said, "I searched for two days as well and found nothing."
The green-robed Xu Ying said, "I hunkered down in the Netherworld waiting for him to flee there, but turned up empty-handed too."
Standing within the pass, Xu Ying's true body recalled his One Qi Transforming into Three Purities clones. He shook his head and muttered suspiciously, "Could he truly not be in this world?"
He closed the Third Heavenly Pass and disappeared.
Inside a dilapidated temple, the grey-robed immortal stood atop an altar niche, eyes wide and sweat rolling down his face in torrents, nearly washing away the clay coating on his body.
Still not daring to step down, he remained rooted on the altar niche. He waited like this for three whole months before finally confirming that Xu Ying had truly departed.
"Too close! That was far too close! I was nearly caught by that fellow Xu! My death would be a small matter, but if the Returning Dao Jade Platter falls into someone else's hands, all under heaven will be thrown into turmoil!"
The grey-robed immortal leaped down from the altar niche. Even though three months and two days had passed, lingering dread still clutched his heart.
"Just who is that Xu fellow? Utterly vicious! Xu... wait! Could he be *that* Xu?"
A look of sheer horror washed over the grey-robed immortal's face. He stammered, "He's Xu Ying! Back then, his name stayed plastered on the wanted list for thousands of years!"
Chapter 414