Entering the state of Dao union gave Xu Ying the opportunity to comprehend the Heavenly Daos of the Xuanhuang Realm, uniting with them and grasping the realm's profound mysteries. Because of this, he was able to cultivate his fifth Immortal Realm cave-heaven. The moment this cave-heaven manifested, his divine consciousness swelled, expanding dozens of times over!
Perfected Qianhuan's master had tried to use this occasion to seize his opportunity in the Xuanhuang Realm and prevent him from forming this cave-heaven. Yet Xu Ying had leapt into the Returning Dao Jade Platter and undergone rebirth through fire, ultimately shattering his adversary's divine calculations and successfully completing the cave-heaven!
Not only that, but he also sensed that during his Dao union in the Xuanhuang Realm, he had faintly resonated with the Qi of Creation.
It was as if he had gained partial control over the Returning Dao Jade Platter!
This was what puzzled Xu Ying the most.
He had not attempted to refine the platter, nor had he tried to take command of the Qi of Creation. He had simply let nature take its course, using his Undying True Spirit to touch the Qi of Creation, harmonizing his light with the dust and coexisting with it.
Yet he actually felt a part of his own imprint embedded within the platter!
It was bizarre. Xu Ying did not believe his luck was so boundless that he could refine the platter purely by accident. After his experience with the Diamond Snare, he always felt that Supreme treasures were nothing but massive trouble, rife with traps.
Especially this time—he had done nothing, yet he had refined a portion of the Returning Dao Jade Platter. There was definitely something fishy going on!
Still, he went with the flow. Realizing he could control the jade platter, he immediately mobilized its power to reconstruct his physical body first. Speaking of fortune—and naturally, with a touch of the Qi of Creation added to the remolding—his physical body was rebuilt far stronger than before. It was flawless as fine jade throughout; aside from being slightly darker in complexion, not a single flaw could be found!
His current body brimmed with vitality and blood. Even without opening a cave-heaven, he remained constantly in a state of overflowing magic power, divine consciousness, and life force. The two qis were in harmony, his mental vigor flourished, and his soul was immensely powerful.
And that was only the power of his physical form.
His Primordial Spirit had also undergone reconstruction and rebirth. Far more formidable than before, it finally broke through the limit of a normal mortal's stature!
Previously, Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit had been identical in height to his physical body, which was itself the fruit of countless rounds of tempering. Now, when reconstructing his Primordial Spirit, he used a little extra Qi of Creation, allowing it to stand a full zhang and six chi tall!
This was even after holding back out of caution that using too much Qi of Creation might leave behind hidden perils.
Were it not for that concern, Xu Ying most likely would have poured all the Qi of Creation within the Returning Dao Jade Platter into remolding his Primordial Spirit, forging an unimaginably colossal one for himself!
Even standing only a zhang and six chi tall, it was extraordinary, surpassing his previous Primordial Spirit countless times over.
In his haste, he had flown out from the platter, completely forgetting to restore his garments. As a result, he stood suspended above the jade platter with his bird flapping freely in full view of the crowd.
However, Xu Ying quickly caught on to the crowd's stares. Remaining unruffled, he visualized a set of black clothes and draped them over himself. While this could temporarily cover his modesty, if his cultivation fell short of an onlooker's, the visualized clothing would be seen through, rendering him effectively naked.
Many of those present possessed higher cultivations than Xu Ying. Figures like the Heavenly Fiend Imperial Monarch and the Heavenly Fiend Primordial Monarch, as well as corpse kings and corpse lords, not to mention Perfected Jade Pot, all had cultivation bases superior to his. Yet when their gazes swept over him, none could see through his clothing, and all were inwardly startled.
Xu Ying's physical body had been recast and nourished by the Qi of Creation, making his divine consciousness intrinsically formidable. Furthermore, the Immortal Realm cave-heaven he had opened corresponded to the Yellow Court other shore, stealing the spiritual energy and spiritual power of the Immortal Realm to transmute into an immortal elixir for his divine consciousness!
His divine consciousness was a hundred times greater than before. Under his visualization, the clothes were virtually indistinguishable from real magical treasures!
Even so, existences as mighty as Sword Lord Jinhe and the Heavenly Fiend Supreme could still tell that Xu Ying wore nothing at all, standing there buck-naked as if no one were around.
Seeing this, the Heavenly Fiend Primordial Monarch thought it a pity and lowered the hands covering her face; even she had been unable to see through Xu Ying's visualization.
Xu Ying turned and reached his hand into the Returning Dao Jade Platter, appearing to fish for something. At the sight, friend and foe alike dared not make a rash move. No one knew whether Xu Ying had refined the platter, nor what he might dredge up from within it!
*Whoosh—*
Xu Ying hauled an immortal mountain out of the Returning Dao Jade Platter and cast it behind him. Immediately reaching back in, he fished out four more immortal mountains one after another and tossed them behind him as well. These five immortal mountains were precisely the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains.
He was not actually salvaging the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains from the platter; rather, when he plunged into the Qi of Creation, treasures like the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains had also been dissolved by it. He was merely testing whether he could restore them. This time, however, he made slight modifications to the newly created mountains. Originally, these five mountains represented his Qi Gathering realm, formed from his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. But God King Xuantian had taken them and refined them into Heavenly Dao divine artifacts, imprinting his own understanding of the Heavenly Dao into the mountains. Those insights were riddled with errors and omissions. When Xu Ying recreated the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, he corrected and supplemented these flaws, wiping away God King Xuantian's imprints and stamping them entirely with his own.
In this way, the treasures became equivalent to artifacts refined directly from his own cultivation realm, completely severed from any tie to Xuantian!
Xu Ying followed the same method, reaching into the platter once more. With a scoop and a pull, he fished out the Heavenly Dao treasure, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron. Its Heavenly Dao runes from the Netherworld possessed a few deficiencies, which Xu Ying corrected before tossing the cauldron behind him to hang in midair.
He reached in repeatedly, pulling out the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, the Immortal Dao Jade Pool, and the Third Heavenly Pass in succession. Rebuilt through creation, the flawed immortal runes within these three Immortal King treasures were likewise corrected by him.
At the same time, the imprints of the Five Extremes Immortal King, the Ninth Immortal King, and Meng Wuhuai were utterly replaced by Xu Ying's own. From then on, these treasures had nothing to do with their former owners!
Xu Ying reached deep into the platter once again. After a moment, he gripped a strand of large Buddhist prayer beads and dragged it out from within.
This strand of beads was a treasure gifted to him by Master Daoyuan, a rosary once used by the Buddha Ancestor that had also been melted down into the Qi of Creation. While reshaping the prayer beads, Xu Ying took the opportunity to infuse his imprint into them, sparing himself the arduous effort of refining them over time.
The beads restored themselves gradually; as each fraction reformed, Xu Ying stamped a bit of his divine consciousness into it. Repeating this process, by the time the rosary was fully reconstituted, his imprint spanned every corner of the beads—firm and solid, matching the Buddha Ancestor's personal refinement.
This saved him days and nights of tedious refinement.
Of course, because the strand had been tempered by the Buddha Ancestor, it was extraordinary. While restoring the rosary, Xu Ying had recreated the Buddha Ancestor's imprint as well.
*In that case, can I use the Qi of Creation to restore other treasures that fell into the platter?*
Xu Ying's eyes suddenly lit up. If he threw the Diamond Snare into the dish, could he reproduce a second Diamond Snare after restoring the first?
If that worked, wouldn't the Returning Dao Jade Platter be an inexhaustible cornucopia?
He could continuously pull treasures out of the basin!
He immediately thrust his hand into the platter, visualizing the Buddha Ancestor's rosary with the intent to create a second strand. However, he discovered a peculiar force surging within the platter, preventing him from manifesting a duplicate.
Xu Ying was startled. *There's a trick to this treasure! The master of the Returning Dao Jade Platter might not be dead after all!*
Perfected Qianhuan's master was not the true owner of the platter. The fact that the platter had emerged, had not refined Xu Ying to death, and had stopped him from creating a second strand of prayer beads indicated that it was not an unowned object!
The onlookers watched him grope around inside the platter without bringing anything else out. When Xu Ying withdrew his hand, the Returning Dao Jade Platter floated in the void behind him like a verdant moon. The sight struck a chill into everyone's hearts.
Had such a Supreme treasure truly been tamed by Xu Ying?
A murderous glint flickered in Perfected Jade Pot's eyes. *For such a treasure to fall into his hands is a sheer waste! He has no idea what the Returning Dao Jade Platter is truly meant for!*
His figure faded into the void, preparing to stalk Xu Ying and seize the treasure. The other corpse kings, corpse immortals, corpse ghosts, and corpse lords also readied themselves to strike at Xu Ying and claim the platter.
After all, the Returning Dao Jade Platter was a Supreme treasure; if one could seize and refine it, its power would be boundless!
Moreover, its applications went far beyond merely restoring the Heavenly Daos. In their eyes, neither Perfected Qianhuan nor Xu Ying had grasped the platter's true utility.
One needed only to invoke the treasure and let its light envelop oneself to restore one's Great Dao at any time and place, even repairing the physical body and Primordial Spirit. It would place a person in an invincible position, rendering them completely unkillable—and that was merely one of its uses.
Right at that moment, Xu Ying suddenly turned around and reached back into the platter. He drew out an incense stick as thick as an arm, lit it, held it high, and bowed toward the platter.
"Junior is a man of meager fortune and shallow virtue. I dare not lay claim to Senior's supreme treasure, lest I fail Senior's trust and prove unable to bear Senior's karma. I pray Senior choose someone more worthy. Please, please, please!"
Xu Ying bowed repeatedly, yet the platter remained motionless, suspended in the air.
With a solemn expression, Xu Ying bowed again. "Junior was brought back from death to life and holds Senior's kindness close to heart." The platter still did not budge in the slightest.
Xu Ying straightened his back, pinched out the incense, and crushed it to powder. "In the Dao Revelation Ground, Junior rescued Daoist Taiqing. At the Yuqing Palace in the Kunlun Realm, I restored the Great Daos of heaven and earth. At Xuandu Jade Capital Mountain, I conversed merrily with Eastern Brightness Void Sovereign. In the Ancient True Sea, Heavenly Venerable Jiaoku of the Taiyi Ten Directions revived the Ten Yama Kings on my account. Senior, it is not as though I lack backing. Please quit while you are ahead."
The Returning Dao Jade Platter suddenly buzzed and shuddered, tearing through the air and shooting away with a piercing whistle.
Perfected Jade Pot burst out from the void, only to see the jade platter flying toward Perfected Qianhuan. Just as Qianhuan reached out to grab it, a youth leaped out from behind him and snatched the platter in his hand—it was Young Master Ningqing!
Having obtained the platter, Young Master Ningqing was overjoyed. He immediately activated it and streaked through the void, daring not linger for a second!
Moving with incredible speed, he turned into a ray of cyan light and shot straight toward the eye socket of the Supreme skull, attempting to escape Weixu through it.
Young Master Ningqing knew the platter was of monumental importance; remaining in Weixu would only lead to his capture and the treasure's theft. The simplest way to leave was to pass through the eye socket into the other shore, and then find a way to depart the other shore and return to the Immortal Realm!
Perfected Jade Pot froze, utterly bewildered. He had never imagined the platter would fly away on its own.
He looked back toward Xu Ying, only to see him let out a sigh of relief. Xu Ying's face abruptly went deathly pale, and sweat poured off him like rain, as if he had just been pulled from the water.
*The kid's body is so weak—is he heavily injured?*
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Perfected Jade Pot struck out with a palm without a second thought. His hand vanished and reappeared directly behind Xu Ying's head, intending to obliterate him.
*Thump!*
The blow landed squarely on the back of Xu Ying's head without a hitch. Perfected Jade Pot was filled with pleasant surprise. "Explode—"
Xu Ying stood his ground, swaying slightly, but his head did not burst open as anticipated.
Having rebuilt his body with the platter's Qi of Creation, his physical form was so formidable that not even Perfected Jade Pot could shatter his skull.
Perfected Jade Pot was horrified. *The cave-heaven he opened clearly enhances divine consciousness, not the physical body. How is his body so absurdly tough?*
Xu Ying spun around and swept a palm back at him. Perfected Jade Pot hurriedly met it head-on. As their palm forces collided, Perfected Jade Pot grunted, blood spilling from his lips. In sheer panic, he immediately melted into the void and fled into the distance.
*How did a single trip into the Returning Dao Jade Platter completely remake this kid from head to toe?*
As he fled through the void, he could no longer suppress his injuries, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood that stained a patch of the sky crimson.
"Wait a minute, my jade pot hasn't been restored yet!" Xu Ying suddenly cried out in dismay. "No wonder the Returning Dao Jade Platter ran away so fast! I'm missing one of my treasures!"
Hearing this from afar, Perfected Jade Pot was consumed with furious indignation. *That's my jade pot!*
Dense corpse qi rolled in from all sides like thick fog. Deep within the heavy corpse mist, the Heavenly Fiend Supreme had already fought his way into the Dao field hidden in the shadowy fog.
Within that mist stood an immensely powerful corpse, red fur thrashing, surrounding itself in a self-contained world. In death, it sought to imprint its own Great Dao to become the Heavenly Dao of the realm!
Having failed to become a Supreme in life, it intended to preach its Dao across the myriad realms in death, forming a world and attaining the realm of Supreme!
Earlier, the Heavenly Fiend Supreme had clashed with it, exchanging thousands of blows in mere moments. The corpse had gradually grown unable to hold out, allowing the Heavenly Fiend Supreme to fight all the way to the front of the Dao field. Peering inside, the Heavenly Fiend Supreme saw a towering corpse standing tall, riddled with sharp swords.
Those swords radiated terrifying power, undiminished to this day. The corpse was covered in red fur that writhed as though alive, fluttering in the air like a haze of mist.
In its hand, the corpse gripped a wooden staff. Every strike just now had been executed by the staff itself, rather than by any deliberate action from the towering corpse.
"I recognize you," the Heavenly Fiend Supreme said, surveying the Dao field. "The peerless genius of back then who had the brilliance to become a Supreme: Heavenly Lord Pingnan. I heard you were only a half-step away from the Supreme realm. At first, I didn't believe it, but seeing that you still possess such a Dao field and presence after death, the rumors were indeed true. Do you wish to borrow my strength to aid your breakthrough and cultivate into a Corpse Dao Supreme?"
He shook his head slightly and turned to leave. "Relying solely on your own power, you cannot imprint the void and permanently engrave your Dao into this field. Yet I cannot help you either. Though I am the Heavenly Fiend Supreme, my cultivation and strength have not reached the level where I could facilitate your breakthrough."
The towering corpse possessed a long, mighty breath. Though it wore neither imperial crown nor imperial robe, it carried the aura of a great emperor. It asked, "Do you not dare fight me?"
The Heavenly Fiend Supreme halted and looked back. "It is not that I dare not, but that there is no need to help you break through. What you lack is a true Supreme-level opponent to force a breakthrough under their pressure. But if a real Supreme were to take action, you would only be beaten to death."
The corpse let out a roar, and the Dao field shuddered violently, tearing itself from the ground.
The Heavenly Fiend Supreme raised his head to see the deceased Heavenly Lord flying through the void alongside his battered, ruined Dao field. Tens of thousands of deceased Human Immortals, Earth Immortals, Heaven Immortals, Immortal Kings, and Immortal Lords soared up one after another, landing within his Dao field and soaring off with him.
His Dao field was the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain. These deceased souls had to follow him into the domain to maintain their immortality.
Seeing this, Sword Lord Jinhe immediately took to the air, riding his sword in pursuit. "Heavenly Lord Pingnan, don't even think of escaping Weixu!"
The Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain hurtled toward the eye socket of the Supreme skull, shattering the seal Sword Lord Jinhe had placed there. A geomagnetic torrent swept in, and using its momentum, the Corpse Ghost Immortal Domain burst out of Weixu and vanished into the boundless unknown.
Sword Lord Jinhe followed closely behind, his figure disappearing into the distance.
Chapter 427