When Fairy Qingbi saw him haul the monkey over, shock seized her heart. Yet there was no time to think; she followed him and charged outward.
Above their heads, the great Buddhas wore smiles of enlightenment. What they chanted was no longer Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures, but the Dao resonance of the Supreme Dao, their voices growing louder and more resounding!
As these great Buddhas chanted, even more Buddhas transitioned toward the Supreme Dao resonance, smiles plastered across every one of their faces.
Even as Xu Ying held fast to Taiyi, holding out proved difficult.
The Supreme Dao gradually encroached, invading his Primordial Spirit and altering his Great Dao.
Fairy Qingbi was also doing everything in her power to resist the resonance of the Supreme Dao, but she was quickly assimilated by it, plunging into the dual oblivion of self and world.
Her cultivation was comparatively weaker. If she were to undergo Dao transformation, the transformation would occur all the more rapidly. Before long, her Primordial Spirit and physical body alike would likely dissolve into nothingness, leaving her dead and gone.
She mobilized the Gourd Heaven Dao Verification Scripture, concealing her Primordial Spirit in the void, but even that could not withstand the encroachment of the Supreme Dao.
"Heavenly Dao domain!"
Seeing that she could not hold out, Xu Ying immediately mobilized the three thousand Heavenly Dao runes. They coalesced into a pocket world, enveloping her within his domain as well.
Seeing this, Qingbi also channeled the three thousand Heavenly Dao runes to form a second Heavenly Dao domain.
Their Primordial Spirits concealed within the Heavenly Dao domains, the two exchanged glances, both sensing the gravity of the situation.
Xu Ying fled outward with all his might. The one hundred and eight great Buddhas above them wore bizarre smiles, chanting the Supreme Dao resonance, and the Buddhist prayer beads began to undergo continuous Dao transformation as well!
Xu Ying surged forward in flight, fleeing toward that forest of Dao trees.
As long as they reached the forest of Dao trees, he would still possess the strength to resist and not remain in such peril.
Yet the next moment, his Heavenly Dao domain began to collapse. The Heavenly Dao and various other immortal arts—even the Dao of the Grand Pure Realm, the Jade Void Dao of the Kunlun Realm, the Void Sovereign Dao of Xuandu Jade Capital Mountain, and other arts—began to transform into the Supreme Dao!
This Supreme Dao was truly terrifying, corrupting everything it could possibly corrupt. Even Xu Ying's various magic treasures—and the Dao imagery, Dao patterns, and runes etched upon them—were transitioning into the Supreme Dao!
The Dao resonance they emitted was entirely that of the Supreme Dao!
"No wonder there is no heaven and earth in this realm, nor any foothold. I fear that even the myriad things of heaven and earth have been transformed into the Supreme Dao! Still, I will not sit by and await death!"
"Zhuxian sword qi!"
Xu Ying roared fiercely, unleashing boundless killing intent. A surging tide of slaughter swept through heaven and earth—slaying heaven, slaying gods, slaying immortals, slaying the Dao, wiping out mortal life, exterminating Great Daos, and incinerating heaven and earth!
That all-pervading, all-transforming Supreme Dao immediately met the resistance of the Zhuxian sword qi. Yet an instant later, even that all-destroying Zhuxian sword qi began to be assimilated by the Supreme Dao.
Xu Ying looked toward the forest of Dao trees that was drawing closer and closer. Yet it was now impossible for them to step inside. If even the Zhuxian sword qi could not hold it off, they would be assimilated by the Supreme Dao before ever setting foot in the forest!
Suddenly, the Zhuxian broken sword standing upon the wasteland outside Biyou Palace registered in Xu Ying's perception!
The Zhuxian broken sword seemed to sense that the Zhuxian sword qi was being assimilated. Using him as a bridge, a surging torrent of sword intent came rolling in, bursting into this Supreme Realm to contend against the Supreme Dao!
Xu Ying's brow center opened wide. A broken sword standing tall between heaven and earth was unscrupulously releasing its sword intent, crashing forth and sweeping through the surroundings.
Overjoyed, Xu Ying instantly accelerated, barreling toward the forest of Dao trees.
At last, Xu Ying burst into the forest of Dao trees. Before he could even heave a sigh of relief, the Daoists formed from vital energy beneath the Dao trees seemed to gain consciousness, abruptly halting their chanting and turning in unison to look at him.
Sensing trouble, Xu Ying sped up his rush outward. The Daoists formed of vital energy leaped into the air one after another, pouncing toward him as they spoke in unison: "Why not be one with the Dao?"
Sword qi abruptly erupted from Xu Ying's brow center. One Daoist after another shattered, dispersing into wisps of azure smoke.
Yet even more Daoists surged forth like a tidal wave, pressing forward in an endless succession!
The sword qi roiled from Xu Ying's brow center, cutting down swaths upon swaths of Daoists wherever it passed.
The Zhuxian broken sword seemed to grow impatient. A world-shocking sword might abruptly erupted from Xu Ying's brow center, whereupon the sword qi retracted, severed its connection with Xu Ying, and vanished into concealment.
"Sword Bro!"
Panic seized Xu Ying, and he hastily shouted, "Carry me a bit more, Sword Bro?"
The Zhuxian broken sword's connection with him had severed completely.
Despair rose in Xu Ying's heart, but right at that moment, countless ancient Dao trees around him collapsed. One Dao tree after another was severed at the roots, and the Daoists sprinting from beneath them dissolved into smoke one by one!
The entire boundless forest of Dao trees had been completely destroyed by the Zhuxian broken sword's single strike!
Xu Ying's scalp tingled. At the very least, these Dao trees had been left behind by beings on the level of Immortal Monarchs, and judging by their Dao transformation, the masters of these Dao trees likely possessed cultivation realms far surpassing that of an Immortal Monarch!
For the Zhuxian broken sword to sever all the Dao trees with a single strike and clear away all future trouble—such power was truly unfathomable!
*Could the Zhuxian Sword be a Supreme treasure?*
One ahead and one behind, Xu Ying and Fairy Qingbi raced forward like lightning, finally breaking out of the Dao tree forest.
Xu Ying gazed at the great rift running through the Supreme Realm at the end of the forest, a faint unease stirring in his heart. He asked, "Miss Qingbi, how do we return to our physical bodies?"
Qingbi asked in confusion, "Did you not learn the Aperture Return Chapter from the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra?"
Xu Ying shook his head.
Qingbi took his hand, her expression solemn. "You are truly daring, but do not do this again next time."
She mobilized the Aperture Return Chapter. An irresistible pulling force immediately seized them, dragging the two Primordial Spirits away from the Supreme Realm and hurtling downward.
Outside Hunyuan Palace, Xu Jing felt faintly uneasy.
After Xu Ying and Qingbi entered meditation and their Primordial Spirits ascended, he had remained in Hunyuan Palace to guard over them.
Yet Xu Ying and Qingbi had been slow to awaken, which caused him some concern.
Just then, an immortal raft flew in from the distance. Xiao Xixian, Zhu Chanchan, Foolish Ah Fu, and Feng Xian'er stood upon it.
Xu Jing was about to step forward to greet them when he suddenly perceived something. Without a second thought, his bodhimanda expanded, and a young Dao tree sprouted from the ground behind him!
Xu Jing raised a hand and struck toward the sky. An earth-shattering boom exploded in the ears of those aboard the flying immortal raft, like heavenly thunder detonating right beside them, leaving their heads ringing in a daze!
At the same time, countless immortal lights darted across the sky, forming Dao chains that coalesced into a colossal golden hand descending from the heavens to slam viciously toward Hunyuan Palace!
The moment that great hand collided with Xu Jing's palm, terrifying power erupted, sweeping in all directions.
The immortal raft bore the brunt of it, and it seemed they were about to be swallowed by that surging immortal deluge. Suddenly, a figure flickered—Xu Jing appeared before the immortal raft!
Before the rolling immortal deluge could strike him, it seemed to encounter an invisible wall, roaring as it parted to either side.
Those on the raft watched as the rolling torrent of the Immortal Dao on both sides shattered space, countless spatial fragments laden with thunder and fire rushing past like a roaring deluge. Horror gripped their hearts, and cold sweat broke out in their palms.
"It is impolite not to return a courtesy!"
Xu Jing gave a cold snort, his voice crisp and clear as it traveled along the divine power straight into the Immortal Realm. "You struck from the Immortal Realm, and I received your blow here; I could be said to have taken advantage of you. Allow me to return the courtesy!"
With a flick of his sleeve, he mobilized his divine power. Countless Dao chains within his bodhimanda boiled, rising and circling his sleeve before transforming into a divine power that tore through the void!
Shifting his stance, Xu Jing struck three palms in succession, sending them crashing into the Immortal Realm!
The four aboard the raft watched this scholar prove so formidable, dueling a supreme expert of the Immortal Realm from the Ancestral Court and even striking into the Immortal Realm itself. Awe left them stunned.
Beyond the sky, within the Immortal Realm, the immortal who had struck appeared utterly incensed. After receiving the three palms, he struck out recklessly. The sky of the Ancestral Court shattered as the divine powers of the two powerhouses either crashed downward from above or surged upward from below!
"Delightful! Truly delightful!"
The scholar laughed heartily. Cave-heavens opened one after another behind him, his Dharmic power continually climbing. He drew upon various Dao methods with practiced ease, assailing the Immortal Realm with ever more ferocious power!
Aboard the immortal raft, Xiao Xixian, Foolish Ah Fu, and the others watched with pounding hearts.
They remained within the blast radius of the aftershocks from these two supreme experts. Had the scholar not stayed planted firmly before them, the shockwaves alone would have long since ground them to dust!
The might of Xu Jing's divine powers climbed steadily, the erupted Dao power growing ever more domineering. Xiao Xixian possessed the highest cultivation; looking up, she vaguely glimpsed a heavenly palace. Divine powers flew from that palace, unleashed by an immortal manifesting the Law Phenomenon of Heaven and Earth.
That immortal had assumed the Law Phenomenon of Heaven and Earth, his body colossal and his physical form unified with his Primordial Spirit, his divine power terrifying.
Xiao Xixian looked from afar: the immortal had narrow, elongated eyes, wore a vermilion robe, and had black cloud shoulders curving upward on both sides. The cloud shoulders were embroidered with cloud patterns and kui dragon patterns, adorned with mountain-and-river pearls of various sizes dangling from the edges.
*That person resembles the head of the Dipper Department, the foremost of the Three Realized Ones of the Central Dipper, Perfected Lord Yang.*
Xiao Xixian was shaken. Perfected Lord Yang, foremost of the Three Realized Ones of the Central Dipper, was a figure titled Heavenly Venerable!
*Grandmaster is actually fighting on par with him. Truly ferocious...*
Just as the thought crossed her mind, Perfected Lord Yang Yanlong's breath suddenly failed to keep up. Xu Jing's palm force bore down with crushing weight, a colossal palm print slamming directly onto the Heling Dugu Heavenly Palace!
Swaths of architecture across that heavenly palace collapsed. Even without hearing the sound, they could easily imagine the utter chaos reigning in Heling Dugu Heavenly Palace at that moment!
Xu Jing surged his cultivation, striking palm after palm into the sky, huge palm prints smashing into Heling Dugu Heavenly Palace one after another.
Perfected Lord Yang still fought desperately to meet his attacks, but blood was already seeping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He merely gritted his teeth, holding on for dear life.
Foolish Ah Fu whispered, "I heard Heavenly Lord Pingnan, the one who likes collecting corpses, say that no matter what, never provoke that schoolteacher."
Xiao Xixian, Zhu Chanchan, and Feng Xian'er nodded repeatedly. Feng Xian'er murmured, "An ancient corpse has very sharp eyes."
Just as Perfected Lord Yang and Heling Dugu Heavenly Palace were on the verge of destruction, an immortal banner suddenly flew out from the side, severing the connection between the immortal and mortal realms.
Once that immortal banner swept past, the barrier between the immortal and mortal realms stabilized once more, and the Immortal Realm was no longer visible from the Ancestral Court.
Xu Jing's surging aura gradually returned to tranquility. He turned back to look at everyone. Knowing he was Xu Ying's father, Xiao Xixian, Zhu Chanchan, Foolish Ah Fu, and Feng Xian'er stepped forward to pay their respects.
Xu Jing smiled. "No need for formalities. It is rare to encounter someone who allows me to exert my full strength, so I could not help exchanging a few more moves with him. Fortunately, none of you were disturbed."
Everyone exchanged glances. Exert his full strength?
They did not believe it for a second.
That scholar had stood before them the entire time without moving half an inch, clearly retaining enough leeway to shield them from the aftershocks!
Inside Hunyuan Palace, two figures jerked violently. Xu Ying opened his eyes, only to see his own physical body seated beside him, while he resided inside an unfamiliar body.
Fairy Qingbi's voice called out: "This is my body. Your Primordial Spirit was too strong and occupied my body. Back out!"
Xu Ying looked down, only to discover that his chest was bulging. He reached out and squeezed both sides—soft, indeed a woman's body. He hastily withdrew his Primordial Spirit.
With her Primordial Spirit returned to its proper place, Qingbi's heart pounded wildly. *What did he just do? Villain! He... he...*
Xu Ying returned to his own physical body, his expression solemn as he spoke to Qingbi: "Is that great rift in the Supreme Realm the reason the Supreme Dao is damaged, or is the Supreme Dao concealed behind the rift, leaking into the Supreme Realm through it?"
Qingbi refrained from questioning his previous actions and replied, "It should be the reason the Supreme Dao is damaged. I once gained profound enlightenment there and perceived that this realm's Great Dao is fractured, which proves the rift caused the Dao's incompleteness. Cultivators who enter the Supreme Realm to cultivate often sit in oblivion and undergo Dao transformation; they harmonize with the Great Dao, using their own Primordial Spirits and physical bodies to mend the rift and thereby coexist with the Dao."
Xu Ying glanced at her. Seeing her blushing face, he involuntarily recalled his actions while inside her body. A ripple stirred his mind, and fires of desire flared up. He hastily guarded Taiyi, shaking his head. "If cultivation reaches the point where there is no self, only Great Harmony, what meaning is there?"
Qingbi deeply agreed and smiled. "One must distinguish whether the purpose of cultivation is to attain the Dao, or to become the Dao."
Xu Ying surmised, "Do you think it possible that because the Great Dao of the Supreme Realm is incomplete, it lures cultivators there to undergo Dao transformation and mend the heavens, devouring their lives?"
Qingbi shook her head. "Impossible! If the Great Dao actively tempted cultivators to undergo Dao transformation and mend the heavens, that would mean the Great Dao possesses consciousness. Where there is consciousness, there is good and evil, right and wrong. If the Dao had consciousness and committed evil, it would not be the Dao. In my opinion, the Supreme Dao is simply so vast and profound that once one comprehends it, one cannot help but transform into the Supreme Dao and coexist with it."
Xu Ying said, "Regardless, the Supreme Realm is far too perilous. Even if cultivation progresses at extreme speed there, it is best to cultivate there as little as possible. Miss Qingbi, you should refrain from cultivating in the Supreme Realm. The Six Secrets ancestral method you cultivate is not inferior to the Sovereign Cang Heart Sutra."
Qingbi hesitated. She knew he was concerned for her safety, but she did not agree.
In the Supreme Dao, she saw immense potential. If she could walk this path to the end, she would surely reach the supreme realm. As long as she attained the Dao without undergoing Dao transformation, she would have a chance to vie for the position of Supreme.
Xu Ying inspected the Buddhist prayer beads, only to find that part of them had also been assimilated by the Supreme Dao. Their power had diminished somewhat compared to before; though not by much, it still pained his heart.
Furthermore, his Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground had also been largely assimilated by the Supreme Dao.
Xu Ying set the golden ape's corpse aside, and he and Qingbi each tended to their own Dao injuries. Neither of them noticed that the golden ape corpse's chest was slowly rising and falling.
After a long while, when Fairy Qingbi awakened, she only heard Xu Ying's voice coming from outside: "Where is my monkey? Who saw my monkey?"
Chapter 472