Young Master Ningqing sighed. "Upright and unyielding in life, only to rot away after death, unable to carry through to the end. How truly pitiful, how lamentable."
The Five Extremes Immortal King and the Ninth Immortal King nodded repeatedly, seemingly stirred by deep feelings of their own.
The Ninth Immortal King said, "Sword Lord Jinhe went precisely to suppress them, lest those immortal corpses rebel, run amok, and bring disaster upon the mortal world."
Young Master Ningqing smiled. "The Immortal Realm has taken great pains to protect the people of myriad realms, and Sword Lord Jinhe's toil and meritorious service are great indeed.
"Immortal Kings, I had another purpose in entering Weixu this time: to find this Sword Lord Jinhe."
The Ninth Immortal King and the Five Extremes Immortal King were both taken aback, though neither let it show. *Young Master Ningqing is looking for Sword Lord Jinhe? Could this be an order from the higher-ups? Are they planning to heavily rely on him?*
Displeasure stirred in their hearts.
Sword Lord Jinhe was merely suppressing the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, doing nothing else, while the two of them bore all the dirty, grueling labor. If the higher-ups chose to favor Sword Lord Jinhe over them now, it was impossible not to feel aggrieved.
The Five Extremes Immortal King said, "Weixu consists of three great immortal domains. Ours is the first, another is the Heavenly Fiend Immortal Domain, and the last is the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain. To reach the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, one must pass through the Heavenly Fiend Immortal Domain, an exceedingly perilous place. Why not allow Brother Nine and me to escort you there, Young Master?"
Young Master Ningqing replied, "There is no need to trouble you two. Weixu is a place of strategic importance; your duty to guard it takes precedence, so there is no reason to go in person. Simply assign me a few guides to lead the way. Truth be told, I possess a bit of strength myself."
The Five Extremes Immortal King and the Ninth Immortal King voiced their agreement and arranged a group of men, after which Young Master Ningqing set out. Consulting in private, the Ninth Immortal King said, "The journey to the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain is fraught with danger. If any mishap befalls the young master, we will never be able to bear the blame. Why not trail them in secret to ensure his safety?"
The Five Extremes Immortal King gave a cold laugh. "The higher-ups would rather promote Sword Lord Jinhe than the likes of us—it truly chills the heart. As I see it, there is no need.
"Besides, when the higher-ups sent him down to handle business, they surely knew his capabilities.
"He wants to enjoy this excursion to his heart's content. If we hover over him at every turn and rob him of any chance to display his prowess, wouldn't we just be spoiling his fun?"
Hearing this, the Ninth Immortal King knew his words held truth. This Young Master Ningqing spoke grand, elegant words, but operated quite differently in practice, possessed by an intense curiosity.
The moment he descended to the lower realms, he had insisted on witnessing with his own eyes how Weixu's Supreme Sovereign's eye operated, forcing them to bring disaster upon the Fangdu world ahead of schedule just so he could have his thrill.
In refusing their accompaniment on this journey to the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain, Young Master Ningqing clearly intended to take matters into his own hands and deal with the perils along the way.
Just then, a disciple of the Hua clan rushed over to report, "Ancestor! Hua Luoluo and several experts have failed to return from the Supreme Sovereign's eye for far too long. When we went to check, we found only their corpses!"
The Five Extremes Immortal King's heart jolted, and he hurried over. The Ninth Immortal King accompanied him to the Supreme Sovereign's eye. Experienced and sharp-eyed, both Immortal Kings instantly recognized that the wounds on Hua Luoluo and the others had been inflicted by the Hua clan's ultimate technique, the Five Extremes Sky-Transcending Art!
"It is that wretched daughter of mine, Hua Cuoying, sneaking into Weixu!"
The Five Extremes Immortal King sneered, his voice frigid. "The little wench made off with my treasure, the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, and threw her lot in with Xu Ying. A white-eyed wolf who can never be fed! She has snuck into Weixu with treasonous intent, even striking down her own kinsmen!"
Suddenly, bursts of brilliant light flared from the Weixu abyss, and a figure soared out from the radiance, streaking toward the depths of Weixu.
The Five Extremes Immortal King and the Ninth Immortal King were both startled. "An immortal has descended!"
With their seasoned discernment, both Immortal Kings saw that the immortal held a jade platter, from which the bursts of light had just erupted.
Enveloped in that radiance, the immortal whistled through the air at blinding speed.
"What kind of treasure is that jade platter? It can actually slice through the space of Weixu!"
Both were gripped by doubt and shock, before suddenly recalling a legendary artifact. Their hearts thumped wildly. *Could it be the Returning Dao Jade Platter? But that supreme treasure has been missing for tens of thousands of years. Why would it suddenly appear now?*
Just then, another figure burst from the Weixu abyss, his divine consciousness rippling from afar and transmitting in all directions, "Perfected Qianhuan, stop hiding! You cannot escape the palm of my hand!"
The two Immortal Kings focused their gaze and saw that the pursuer had white hair and a ruddy complexion. He moved with astonishing speed as well, vanishing into the depths of Weixu in the blink of an eye.
*That voice just now sounded like Perfected Yuhu!* both Immortal Kings thought to themselves. *Why has that old bastard run off to Weixu? And who is this Perfected Qianhuan he's chasing? Could he also be after the Returning Dao Jade Platter?*
Without a second thought, the two Immortal Kings transformed into streaks of immortal light and shot through the void, chasing after Perfected Yuhu and Perfected Qianhuan.
"Perfected Yuhu never rises early unless there's profit to be made. In pursuing Qianhuan, his objective must be that Returning Dao Jade Platter!"
Fervor burned in their hearts, casting all thought of Young Master Ningqing aside. Even the deaths of Hua Luoluo and the others no longer mattered to them.
What was Young Master Ningqing compared to this? What did the deaths of a few clansmen count for?
If they could seize this Returning Dao Jade Platter, not only could they return to the Immortal Realm, but their standing and status would rise to an entirely new height!
***
Leading several disciples from the Hua clan and Diecui Valley, Young Master Ningqing made his way toward the Heavenly Fiend Immortal Domain.
The Hua clan members were led by Hua Zhuzhe, a woman whose subordinate clansmen were all seasoned experts.
Diecui Valley was led by Nalan Du, accompanied by his fellow disciples, all inheritors of the Ninth Immortal King.
Nalan Du, Hua Zhuzhe, and the others were intimately familiar with the geography of Weixu, so under their guidance, their pace was swift.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled across the sky. Everyone looked up to see two figures piercing through the void one after the other, whipping up a violent gale.
Two streaks of immortal light followed closely behind, moving just as rapidly.
Nalan Du's face changed abruptly, and he barked, "Raise your guard!"
Hearing this, the members of the Hua clan and the experts of Diecui Valley summoned their Primordial Spirits and unleashed divine powers, conjuring bizarre, shimmering Immortal Dao runes.
While Young Master Ningqing was still looking on in confusion, discordant chatter assaulted his ears—like tens of thousands of people screaming, whispering, cursing, and concocting sinister conspiracies!
All manner of negative emotions, wicked thoughts, and sheer malice swept over them in an overwhelming deluge, meddling with their thoughts and invading their Dao hearts!
"This is..."
Young Master Ningqing looked back and saw countless wisps of black qi whistling across the ground, rolling forward like a tide to engulf the world!
Those wisps of black qi were nothing other than heavenly fiends—the demonic, stray thoughts severed by immortals!
The passing of the four great experts just now had caused a tremendous stir, stirring up the countless heavenly fiends hidden within the Flesh Wasteland into a frenzied heavenly fiend tide that submerged them in an instant!
What Nalan Du, Hua Zhuzhe, and the others had deployed were the methods created by the two Immortal Kings specifically to counter heavenly fiends, normally extremely effective at driving them back.
Yet this was the first time they had ever witnessed heavenly fiends surging in such overwhelming numbers.
Under the relentless assault of the fiends, the Immortal Dao runes they had laid down dimmed at terrifying speed. The experts' auras grew unstable, and their runes threatened to shatter at any moment!
Far more terrifying was the invasion of their Dao hearts. The negative emotions, wicked impulses, and stray thoughts of immortals assaulted their mental resolve and corrupted their will, plunging them toward a pitch-black abyss!
Nalan Du steadied his mind, held fast to his Dao heart, and shouted, "We can't fall back to Diecui Valley now! There is only one way: cover the young master and push forward!"
The group formed a tight circle, shielding Young Master Ningqing in their midst as they charged ahead with all their might. They did not fear individual heavenly fiends in the least, but confronted with such staggering numbers, even Young Master Ningqing felt his heart race in dread.
These heavenly fiends were severed demonic thoughts of immortals, and how terrifyingly potent was an immortal's consciousness?
Under the ceaseless assault of innumerable immortal thoughts, no matter how steadfast one's Dao heart might be, it would soon crumble, leaving one's physical body a vessel for the fiends!
Even Earth Immortals and Heavenly Immortals would find it difficult to withstand an onslaught of this scale; before long, their Dao hearts would break and their will would collapse!
Shielding him, the group charged frantically forward, scattering plume after plume of black qi. Mingled within the darkness were streaks of bloody qi—vestiges of an immortal's Dharmic power carried by the severed fiends—whose impact battered and cracked their divine powers relentlessly!
Nalan Du struggled to maintain the Immortal Dao runes. Seeing this, Young Master Ningqing promptly summoned his Primordial Spirit. A radiant burst of immortal light surfaced behind him like a blazing sun rising above the sea, illuminating the heavens. His Primordial Spirit sat enthroned within the light, shining across the sky and suppressing everything around him!
Imitating what he saw, Young Master Ningqing deployed the exact same Immortal Dao runes that Nalan Du and the others used, replicating them without the slightest discrepancy. With his aid, the tide of rushing heavenly fiends was instantly forced back.
*He watched us cast the ward against fiends just once and mastered it immediately,* Nalan Du marveled inwardly. *Such intellect and talent are truly rare under heaven.*
Yet Young Master Ningqing's expression remained grave. His Dharmic power was depleting rapidly; if this continued, even he would not last much longer.
Just then, the chanting of Buddhist chants echoed from ahead, carrying an exotic Dao imbued with extraordinary power.
Young Master Ningqing hurriedly said, "Head toward that sound!"
Uniting their efforts to withstand the assault of the fiends, the group pressed toward the chanting.
As the sound grew nearer, the surrounding heavenly fiends dwindled rapidly, seemingly repelled by the sacred syllables.
Nalan Du and the others were filled with doubt and bewilderment. *Who is casting an unorthodox divine power here?*
When they reached the source, they realized it was not a divine power, but an unorthodox treasure!
A massive string of Buddhist prayer beads hovered in midair, forming a great circle that shielded an area of roughly a zhang across.
Bead after bead revolved in a cycle, creating a domain of about an acre into which no heavenly fiend dared intrude!
As Nalan Du and the others approached, they immediately sensed the Immortal Dao within their own bodies stirring restlessly, suppressed by the chanting and the prayer beads!
"The demonic path of the demonic realm!"
Their hearts turned cold. Whenever the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth from the Ancestral Court clashed with that of the myriad realms, it displayed immense aggression, which was why the Ancestral Court was called the demonic realm, and its Great Dao the demonic path.
The demonic path within the prayer beads, like the Dao of the Ancestral Court, interfered with the circulation of the Immortal Dao.
Suddenly, Nalan Du froze. *Wait, no! Heavenly fiends are creatures of the demonic path—why would these prayer beads counter them? Since when does the demonic path counter itself? What if... what if the demonic path isn't truly demonic...?*
A shudder ran through him, appalled by his own blasphemous thought.
As they drew closer to the prayer beads, Young Master Ningqing looked over and saw two young people beneath them, a young man and a young woman. The youth was tall, somewhat slender, and slightly dark-complexioned.
The young woman wore palace robes. She was exquisitely beautiful, gentle, refined, and possessed of natural grace. Neither was affected in the slightest by the stray and wicked thoughts of the heavenly fiends, strolling leisurely and comfortably amid the onslaught.
The moment Nalan Du caught sight of them, he looked as though he had seen a ghost, and moved to pull Young Master Ningqing back.
Young Master Ningqing smiled. "It is a rare fortune to meet heroes who cultivate the demonic path—how could I not make their acquaintance? Besides, we need to borrow their treasure to survive this heavenly fiend tide. Friends!"
Nalan Du's heart leaped into his throat as he stared nervously at Xu Ying, dreading that he might strike without warning.
Xu Ying and Hua Cuoying turned at the voice. Hua Cuoying's expression changed drastically and she tensed on guard, but Xu Ying smiled in pleasant surprise. "Brother Nalan, long time no see! Have your injuries healed?"
Nalan Du's face flushed. "Little Celestial Venerable healed me."
Xu Ying looked at Young Master Ningqing, his eyes flickering as he smiled. "And who might this be? An envoy from the Immortal Realm, perhaps?"
Young Master Ningqing's eyes brightened, and he laughed. "I do indeed hail from the Immortal Realm. And you, my friend—your face looks remarkably familiar, as though I have seen it somewhere before."
Suddenly, a voice carried through the boundless black qi: "Fellow Daoists, caught in a heavenly fiend tide, yet you still have the leisure to chat here?"
Even amid the turmoil of the tide, the voice reached their ears with crystal clarity. Tens of thousands of heavenly fiends parted to the left and right, carving out an open path and not daring to draw near.
A young man of extraordinary bearing stepped forward, his gaze sharp as he surveyed Xu Ying, Young Master Ningqing, and the others. He smiled and said, "Demonic evildoers stirred up trouble this time, disturbing the heavenly fiends and triggering this great tide. The Supreme Sovereign knew that loyal and virtuous men would surely be trapped within, and fearing they might perish at demonic hands, dispatched me to receive and guide you all to the Immortal Realm. Please, follow me."
At these words, both Xu Ying and Young Master Ningqing stood dumbfounded. *Supreme Sovereign? There is a Supreme Sovereign in Weixu? Could the Supreme Sovereign's skull still be alive?*
Chills ran down their spines. *Then what about the Immortal Realm?*
Xu Ying sized up the young man, startled suspicion rising within him. *This man looks rather familiar too... I must have seen him somewhere...*
Nalan Du and his companions were also muttering anxiously in their hearts, utterly clueless about the young man's origins.
Dressed in magnificent robes, handsome and imposing, the young man carried the bearing of an emperor looking down upon the world, an air of disdain for all living things and soaring above creation. One look made it plain that he was no mortal being.
Of all the people Xu Ying had ever met, none could match this man's sheer presence.
Hua Cuoying, however, stepped forward to follow the young man, smiling. "Since the Supreme Sovereign invites us, we have no choice but to go."
Xu Ying and Young Master Ningqing caught up to her, with Nalan Du and the others trailing close behind.
The young man led the way ahead, and countless heavenly fiends parted and retreated, not daring to approach, as though he commanded a natural, sovereign authority.
The more Xu Ying looked at him, the more familiar he seemed. Suddenly, he asked, "How should we address you, brother?"
The young man smiled faintly. "My surname is Zhou, and my given name is Wu. But I haven't used that name in a very long time. In the Immortal Realm, everyone calls me the Imperial Monarch."
Chapter 418