When Fairy Qingbi caught sight of Xu Ying, fluster stirred in her heart.
Her greatest concern upon stepping out into the world had been running into Xu Ying, fearing he would disturb the tranquility of her Dao heart.
After Imperial Monarch Cangtian imparted the Supreme Cave Abyss Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra to her, she understood that even if she wished to live in secluded retirement, she could never escape worldly troubles; karmic ties bound to Imperial Monarch Cangtian would inevitably track her down. Thus, she chose to enter the world of her own accord.
She had never visited the Ancestral Court before. Upon arriving, she had originally intended to seek out Imperial Monarch Cangtian. Yet after traveling far and wide, not only had she failed to locate him, she unexpectedly crossed paths with Xu Ying once again.
Her feelings for Xu Ying had begun during a hazy period of herding sheep, yet it had been an affection bounded by propriety, without crossing a single line. Later, when Xu Ying vanished, she buried those emotions deep in her heart, unwilling to become overly entangled with an ageless immortal.
Yet in this lifetime, Xu Ying had reentered her life, showing every sign of rekindling old flames.
Even so, she had guarded her Dao heart, resolved to let go of this relationship completely, which was why she had chosen seclusion in the first place.
Now that she stood before Xu Ying, however, composure returned to her. If it could not be avoided, she would face it. She was that kind of cultivator—always capable of looking directly into her own heart.
"Xu Ying, we meet again," she greeted him in a brisk, candid manner.
Xu Ying was somewhat surprised. Whenever this girl had encountered him in the past, she had always seemed to avoid him, reluctant to become deeply involved. For some reason, this time she took the initiative to greet him, appearing remarkably free and easy.
"Lady Qingbi, you seem much more cheerful than before."
Xu Ying could not help feeling happy for her and smiled. "Congratulations on walking out from the Yuanzheng World."
Fairy Qingbi smiled and said, "Sovereign Cang has returned to life and taught me the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra. Knowing I was tied to him, I realized it would be hard to stay aloof. Since I was bound to be drawn into the karma of the Ancestral Court sooner or later, I figured I might as well step into the Ancestral Court proactively. Even if upheaval comes in the future, I can prepare for it early."
Xu Ying said delighted, "I also heard Imperial Monarch Cangtian speak of you. I never expected his cultivation technique could prompt you to enter the world. That's wonderful!"
At the side, Xu Jing frowned deeply, worried sick. *What does he mean, 'That's wonderful'? Back then I taught him poetry, songs, and rhapsodies. Wouldn't reciting a verse or two make him seem cultured and win the lady's heart far more easily?*
Yet he had not considered that this Xu Ying was not the Xu Ying of his first life.
Nurtured and educated by his father, the first-life Xu Ying had been brilliant in literary talent, heroic in every gesture, his speech filled with scholarly elegance.
Meanwhile, this Xu Ying had only truly lived in the world for sixteen years. Although he had recalled memories spanning over forty thousand years, in essence he was still a snake catcher, practically an illiterate.
It was already quite a feat that his foolish son could write at all. Had it not been for the diligent tutoring of a certain big snake, his speech would probably be even more unrefined.
Throughout the forty-thousand-odd years of memories, there were certainly many Xu Yings who knew poetry and songs, and had mastered the zither, go, calligraphy, and painting. But to the present Xu Ying, those were things buried deep in the sediment of his mind.
He had to painstakingly sift through his memories just to recall them; he could not employ them with effortless ease.
Fairy Qingbi, however, found nothing amiss in Xu Ying's words. On the contrary, she appreciated his candid sincerity. "After receiving the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra," she said, "I discovered a very intriguing issue. Xu Ying, come look. The ancestral six secrets method you passed to me shares some striking similarities with the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra."
Xu Jing was overjoyed and beamed. "Ah Ying, you passed your ancestral method to her?"
He took it for granted that the ancestral method was a token of affection. Since he had even passed on their ancestral technique, the young couple was surely a settled match!
Xu Ying saw his expression and knew he had misunderstood, but had no way to explain.
He stepped over to Fairy Qingbi. She produced her handwritten copy of the Supreme Cave Abyss Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra, as well as the ancestral six secrets method Xu Ying had given her. Opening both scrolls, she pointed. "Look here."
Leaning closer, Xu Ying saw her fair, flawless complexion, her jade-like nose, crimson cherry lips, crescent brows, and mesmerizing moonlit eyes.
Perhaps due to practicing the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra, she appeared even more radiantly fresh and breathtaking than before.
Xu Ying subconsciously recalled how she had once disguised herself as a ghost to scare him and Yuan Qi, and a smile touched his face. Qingbi looked as aloof as an iceberg on the surface, but deep down she was just a girl who loved playing pranks.
Pulling his thoughts together, he looked where she was pointing.
"This passage of the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra says that in the boundless unseen lies the Supreme Realm, suspended high above the void. It is the fountainhead of Dao, where the Supreme Qi is harbored."
Fairy Qingbi traced the text with her finger. "To cultivate the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra, one must first locate the Supreme Realm, then open the Supreme Cave Abyss and draw upon the Supreme Qi to cultivate. Doesn't this method of cultivation bear a certain resemblance to the ancestral method you taught me?"
Xu Ying studied the scripture carefully and discovered that although the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra opened a cave-heaven to draw Supreme Qi, it did not open an other shore.
*The Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra seems to link oneself to the place known as the Supreme Cave Abyss. What is the Supreme Cave Abyss? Is it an other shore as well?*
Xu Ying suddenly remembered what he had seen in the Realm of the Great Void.
The number of other shores visible in the Realm of the Great Void was far more than six. Just the ones he had seen amounted to nine!
And there were likely more he had not seen—who knew how many there truly were?
*Could the Supreme Cave Abyss be an other shore within the Realm of the Great Void? The Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra is most likely connected to the Xu family's ancestral method!*
Xu Ying compared the two techniques. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Just now, my father and I were discussing the origins of the Kunlun Xu family's ancestral method. It seems our ancestral method was indeed created on the foundation of the Ancestral Court's immortal arts."
"Your father?" Qingbi glanced at Xu Jing, blinking in confusion at Xu Ying.
Xu Ying smiled. "Lady Qingbi, this is my father."
Fairy Qingbi bowed respectfully to Xu Jing with the etiquette of a junior and said softly, "Junior Qingbi failed to pay her respects earlier. Greetings, Uncle."
Xu Jing smiled. "No need for formalities, young lady."
He retrieved a jade pendant from his Realm of Xiyi and said with a chuckle, "Ah Ying doesn't know how to look after a girl and has been neglecting you. This is warm jade from Yingzhou. It is exceedingly rare, an immortal treasure. Wearing it on your person can avert a fatal catastrophe; should you encounter a mortal crisis, the pendant will shatter in your stead, leaving you unharmed. Since this is our first meeting, Lady Qingbi, please do not decline."
Fairy Qingbi was surprised and looked at Xu Ying.
Xu Ying smiled. "Just take it."
He then looked at Xu Jing. "Father, do you have any more pendants like that?"
Xu Jing produced another one and placed it in his hand, chuckling. "During my cultivation in Yingzhou, I gathered two pieces. I originally intended to give one to you and one to my daughter-in-law. Well, never mind, you can have this one for now."
Qingbi's face flushed slightly. She wanted to return the pendant, but did not know how to broach the subject.
She had never encountered someone so forcefully betrothing a daughter-in-law.
Xu Ying blinked at her and said, "Let's carry on."
Assuming he had a way to return the jade pendant later, Qingbi felt at ease and continued, "Lately, as I practiced the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra, I discovered that one's Primordial Spirit can follow the Supreme Cave Abyss into the Supreme Realm, roaming within it and communing with the Supreme Dao. The Supreme Dao does not appear to be the Immortal Dao."
Seeing her accept the jade pendant, Xu Jing thought to himself, *It's plain to see mutual affection is already there; they just need to pierce the paper window!*
Xu Ying mused, "The Immortal Dao of the Immortal Court differs from the Immortal Dao of the Ancestral Court. The Great Dao within the Supreme Realm should be the Ancestral Court's Immortal Dao."
Qingbi continued sharing her discoveries: "The Supreme Dao is extraordinarily bizarre—vast, profound, and incomplete. Every time I roam the Supreme Realm and touch the Supreme Dao, I feel a sense of forgetting both self and matter, a terrifying pull toward assimilation. I saw many cultivators sitting in oblivion there, immensely ancient. Some were boundless in power, far beyond my comprehension, while others had already turned to skeletons. So I always force myself awake and leave the Supreme Realm to avoid being assimilated by the Dao."
Xu Ying and Xu Jing exchanged a glance, both surprised.
The phenomenon Qingbi described had never appeared in the Realm of the Great Void.
The many other shores hidden in the Realm of the Great Void were actually natural phenomena nurtured by the Great Dao of the universe—such as the two qi of Black and Yellow, the Sea of Chaos, and the Indestructible Spiritual Light. Contact with those places did not result in assimilation.
Yet the Supreme Realm Qingbi spoke of would assimilate cultivators, and its Supreme Dao was fragmented—something exceedingly strange.
"The Supreme Realm is likely not within the Realm of the Great Void," Xu Ying said.
He hesitated, then added, "Lady Qingbi, could you give me a copy of the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra?"
Qingbi nodded and handed him her transcribed copy. "I still have stone slabs with the original text of the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra."
Xu Jing beamed inwardly. *Exchanging cultivation techniques is just exchanging tokens of love!*
Suddenly, something stirred in his senses. He smiled and said, "Ah Ying, don't keep the lady standing out in the wind. Go inside Hunyuan Palace and talk at your leisure."
Xu Ying came to his senses and hastily invited Qingbi into the palace.
Xu Jing shook his head, murmuring, "I almost have to teach you hand by hand... Still, this 'good friend' who's arriving has cultivation that is no small matter!"
He soared into the air, leaping across several peaks until he stood atop the towering mountains outside Hunyuan Palace. Looking into the distance, he saw a beam of immortal light streaming down from the heavens, focusing squarely upon a tall, imposing man.
The man possessed handsome, majestic features and an aura of stern authority. He gripped a three-pointed double-edged blade, enveloped by an immortal bodhimanda where countless Dao chains intertwined to form a single stalk of jade bamboo.
Xu Jing raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Halt."
The man paused, raising his three-pointed double-edged blade, his voice rolling like thunder: "Ren Xuanji of Tianquan, Seven Primes of the Northern Dipper, Department of the Dipper, Immortal Court. I descend by imperial order to capture the rebel Xu Ying. Which fellow immortal are you? Why do you bar my path?"
Xu Jing gave a faint smile. "My son is attending to a major milestone in his life and cannot be disturbed. Go back the way you came."
Ren Xuanji of Tianquan chuckled low. "Audacious. The Seven Primes of the Northern Dipper do not hold hollow reputations."
Xu Jing remarked, "Fourth Prime of the Northern Dipper, Ren Xuanji of the Tianquan Heavenly Palace. Cultivates the Nine Elders Immortal Capital Art, mastering nine distinct Great Daos, condensing a stalk of jade bamboo in his bodhimanda to fuse all nine Daos into one."
Ren Xuanji's heart jolted, and he barked, "Who are you? How do you know my cultivation technique and divine abilities?"
Xu Jing replied, "My son gathered the cultivation techniques and divine abilities of every immortal master he could find, piling them like mountains for me to study and comprehend. He wanted me to become self-taught, using your arts and divine powers as a foundation to fathom even more profound methods. I have contemplated them for over forty thousand years..."
Before he could finish, Ren Xuanji vaulted into the air without another word, brandishing the three-pointed double-edged blade and cleaving downward through the sky!
Xu Jing sighed and murmured, "Trapped in Yingzhou for so long, I never knew what stage my cultivation had reached, nor did I know how strong I truly was. But looking at your moves..."
His figure abruptly shifted, intercepting Palace Master Ren Xuanji of Tianquan. Lifting his hands, his palms and fingers shifted in rapid succession to meet the three-pointed double-edged blade.
"...they are nothing but flaws!"
With strikes, slaps, and jabs, his hands dispersed all the Dao power contained in that blade strike within an instant!
In the very next instant, Xu Jing seized the momentum to breach Ren Xuanji's bodhimanda. After a mere few exchanges, Ren Xuanji spewed blood and went hurtling backward, slamming violently into a mountain peak, his dull, lifeless eyes staring blankly at the sky.
Xu Jing withdrew his hands, stared at them, and murmured, "I still cannot sense where my limit lies. I only know that Sword Monarch Jinhe and Heavenly Lord Pingnan treat me with great respect."
Sighing melancholy, he was just about to depart when three beams of immortal light descended from the heavens, encircling his path.
Within those three beams stood three towering figures, each possessing a Primordial Spirit of boundless might. They were Fu Hui, Master of Yaoguang Palace; Chen Bin, Master of Tianheng Palace; and Liang Hao, Master of Tianxuan Palace—three more of the Northern Dipper's Seven Primes.
"This man is formidable..." Ren Xuanji managed to gasp out before violently coughing up mouthfuls of blood, his aura withering.
Xu Jing turned to look at them. The three palace masters emanated sky-piercing auras, each summoning their Primordial Spirits and unrolling their bodhimandas. Their Primordial Spirits even uprooted the Dao trees within their respective bodhimandas!
Wielding a Dao tree as a weapon was the most powerful offensive technique an Immortal Monarch could deploy!
Xu Jing swept his gaze over them and rapidly identified their arts. "Yours is the Wenchang Heavenly Heart Art, yours is the Purple Yang Elixir Origin Art, and yours is the Cinnabar Flower Fire Bell Reversion to Truth Art. None of you are weak..."
The three palace masters lunged simultaneously from three directions. Fu Hui, Master of Yaoguang Palace, sneered, "Daring to champion a rebel—we'll send you to the netherworld!"
*Boom!*
That seemingly frail scholar actually blocked his onslaught with a single hand, shattered his Purple Yang Elixir Origin Art, breached his bodhimanda, and within a few moves blew his Dao tree to pieces!
Fu Hui crashed down beside Ren Xuanji, blood pouring incessantly from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. He struggled, "Old Ren, who is this guy?"
"I have no idea," Ren Xuanji wheezed, wiping blood from his lips and desperately suppressing his injuries. Gritting his teeth, he said, "He popped out of nowhere and told me not to delay his son's life milestone. Who the hell knows who his son is!"
*Bang!*
Liang Hao, Master of Tianxuan Palace, slammed down on his left, eyes vacant and devoid of will to live, staring blankly in silence.
Suddenly another resounding boom echoed as Chen Bin, Master of Tianheng Palace, was severely battered as well, his Primordial Spirit grievously wounded. Falling headfirst, he crashed right atop the three of them.
The four coughed up great mouthfuls of blood, looking in sheer horror at the scholar with graying temples hovering midair.
*Where did an Immortal Monarch like this come from? With strength this terrifying, he can't possibly be an unknown nobody!*
Yet no matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not recall the Immortal Realm ever having such a peerless powerhouse.
Just as Xu Jing was turning to head back to Hunyuan Palace, he saw a slender, tall man stride forward, heralded by a beam of immortal light falling from the heavens.
Behind this slender man walked a Daoist clad in green robes. The auras of both men were tremendously profound, far deeper than those of the earlier palace masters.
"Fellow Daoist," the slender man said, "you wound four of the Northern Dipper's Seven Primes and even destroy their Dao trees. To just walk away like this is showing far too little regard for our Seven Primes of the Northern Dipper."
Xiu Yushu was the foremost of the Northern Dipper's Seven Primes and sovereign of the Tianshu Heavenly Palace. His cultivation and strength were not necessarily inferior to the Three Realized Ones of the Central Dipper. Without further ado, he ramped his aura to its absolute limit and stated calmly, "Friend or foe, I must keep you here today to give the Department of the Dipper an accounting!"
His aura swelled ever more majestic. Even without drawing upon the power of the myriad immortals of Tianshu Heavenly Palace, his cultivation realm was already pressing close to that of a Heavenly Monarch!
A look of surprise crossed Xu Jing's face. Straightening his expression, he said solemnly, "Sir, you are worthy of my full strength."
*Weng, weng, weng, weng, weng, weng!*
Six subtle tremors resonated as six incomparably ancient cave-heavens rotated and opened behind him—peerlessly heavy, piercing the void and connecting to the other shores, causing his momentum to skyrocket by leaps and bounds!
The muscles at the corners of Xiu Yushu's eyes and mouth twitched. Suddenly reining in his aura, he said, "Your Excellency is formidable indeed; Xiu is thoroughly impressed. Realized One Qingke, take these useless fools. We are leaving!"
Chapter 470