Every morning, Xu Ying would bring a small cup of Jade Pool Immortal Dew. The Demon Ancestor did not drink it immediately, but carefully preserved it.
A cup or two of Jade Pool Immortal Dew was not enough to change his current state; he needed to gather more before it would be possible to restore vitality to the Ancient Fusang Tree.
Two more months passed like this before the Demon Ancestor finally accumulated enough Jade Pool Immortal Dew. He waited another two days to gain two more cups of immortal dew before finally consuming it.
Only a portion of his root system was still alive. Though these roots remained connected to the Fusang tree, they had been utterly unable to revive it.
His main trunk was dead, more than half of his roots had perished, and the Great Daos of Heaven and Earth in the Demon Ancestral Court had been battered and fractured, rendering him incapable of revival no matter what he tried.
The Daoist form he manifested was actually nothing more than the quintessential energy within his surviving roots.
At this moment, after swallowing the Jade Pool Immortal Dew, there was no noticeable reaction at first. Then, suddenly, he felt sensation return to one of his severed, necrotic roots.
The Demon Ancestor was both startled and overjoyed. Soon, more roots appeared within his awareness, like clusters of stars lighting up the dark night.
Nourished by the Jade Pool Immortal Dew, these roots were actually regaining vitality!
A moment later, the fallen trunk of the Fusang tree unexpectedly appeared in his perception as well, emanating a faint aura of life!
Roots reconnected with the trunk one by one. This ancient Fusang tree, which had supported ten dynasties of Demon Emperors, was slowly returning to life.
Flames flowed through its main trunk as withered boughs fell away. From the shriveled crown sprouted tender green shoots, bathed in firelight.
Sensing something stir, Xu Ying walked out of Daoji Palace and gazed toward the Ancient Fusang Tree from afar.
Viewed from a distance, the ancient tree showed no obvious change, but his cultivation was exceptionally profound, allowing him to keenly detect the surging vitality within the Ancient Fusang Tree.
At the same time, Demon Sovereign Jinghong noticed it as well. With a look of astonishment, he stepped out of the new imperial court hall and looked toward the Ancient Fusang Tree.
Jin Buyi was discussing rebuilding a physical body for him when he saw Jinghong walk out in a daze, much to his surprise. But soon, Jin Buyi also sensed that wondrous Dao rhythm and involuntarily walked out of the court hall as well.
The two stood side by side, gazing into the distance at the Ancient Fusang Tree.
By this time, Demon Sovereign Han, Demon Sovereign Feng, and Demon Sovereign Kun had each felt it too, looking toward the Ancient Fusang Tree one after another.
The canopy of this gigantic ancient tree had once propped up half the sky of the Demon Ancestral Court, and even after collapsing, it still sustained the heaven and earth of the ancestral court.
Yet at this moment, the withered crown of the Ancient Fusang Tree began shedding continuously. Branches tens of thousands of li long collapsed and plummeted from the tree with terrifying force.
To the inhabitants of the ancestral court, this sight was like the end of the world. Some demons living beneath the tree suffered for it; to avoid being crushed to death by falling boughs, they had to run and dodge for their lives.
"Save them!" Jin Buyi shouted urgently.
He took the lead and flew out, with Demon Sovereign Jinghong following closely behind. Back then, this Demon Sovereign had rebelled against Emperor Gong precisely because Gong's conduct was absurdly reckless, utterly disregardful of whether the lower-ranking demons lived or died.
Jin Buyi's very first impulse had been to rescue those lower demons living beneath the Fusang tree, which brought a warm swell to Jinghong's chest.
*I made the right choice in following this new emperor.*
Most of the civil and military officials in the new court were scions and elders of aristocratic demon clans. They had initially been stunned by the shedding of the Fusang tree's canopy and had never even thought of saving the lower demons, but seeing even the Demon Emperor rush out, they had no choice but to follow.
They flew beneath the Fusang tree. The falling boughs from this ancient divine tree descended like ancient mountain ranges dropping from the sky; even those clan elders would likely be severely crushed and injured if struck by one.
Displaying their divine powers, everyone rescued the demons who couldn't flee in time. More Fusang branches fell from the sky, and before long, the canopy of the Ancient Fusang Tree was stripped completely bare.
"What is happening?"
Just as this thought crossed their minds, the roots that had originally thrust out of the ground, towering high like mountain ranges, suddenly began squirming like flood dragons and giant serpents, slowly burrowing back into the depths of the earth!
Near the Fusang tree, peaks had stood like a forest, all formed when the Demon Ancestor's roots had thrust above ground. Now that these roots had regained life, they naturally drove themselves deep beneath the earth.
Mountains sinking into the earth—this spectacle was not in the least inferior in grandeur to the branches crashing down from the Ancient Fusang Tree.
While everyone was still marveling in shock, they saw the ancient divine tree, which had been lying tilted on its side, begin to right itself slowly under the pull of the underground roots.
Yet the tree was so colossal that the process of straightening was exceedingly slow, resembling a fallen pillar that held up heaven being hoisted upright by an invisible force.
Slow as it seemed, at the crown of the tree the speed was extraordinarily fast—dozens of times faster than the movement of celestial stars!
The tree was simply too vast.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the sight until someone suddenly muttered, "The Demon Ancestor has come to life."
Only then did the others awaken as if from a dream.
Indeed, the Demon Ancestor had come to life.
This ancient existence, dead for six hundred and seventy thousand years, had revived from ruin and decay. He severed the useless dead boughs and withered foliage, drove his roots deep into the earth, and straightened his trunk.
It would grow once more and become again the divine tree shielding the demon race!
Among the demons, people cheered and leaped with excitement, their voices hoarse with emotion as they embraced one another. This incomparably ancient Fusang tree was the spiritual symbol of the demon race, the site of ten dynasties of immortal courts, and represented the demon race's most glorious era!
The emergence of Demon Emperor Jin Buyi had brought hope to the demon race.
Yet the Demon Ancestor's revival brought them confidence!
Xu Ying arrived at the high platform outside the Fusang tree hollow. The Demon Ancestor was already waiting there. Seeing him arrive, the elder smiled and said, "I knew little friend Xu would come."
Xu Ying smiled. "Congratulations, Senior Demon Ancestor."
Overjoyed, the Demon Ancestor said, "I am going to revive the Great Daos of Heaven and Earth in the Demon Ancestral Court, which requires me to enter secluded cultivation for several months. Before that, I must honor what I promised you. Follow me."
Xu Ying followed him into the tree hollow, walking toward the various golden manuals collected by the Demon Ancestor.
Yuan Qi and Ling Siyi were in the middle of purloining one of the golden manuals. Seeing Xu Ying and the Demon Ancestor, both of them were startled, feeling like thieves caught red-handed.
Yuan Qi hastily tucked away the Diamond Snare, while Ling Siyi stuffed the stolen golden manual into her robes, whispering, "You with the surname Niu, if my master asks later why we're here, just say we hid here for a secret tryst."
Yuan Qi was inwardly delighted, though he demurred bashfully, "Isn't that... a bit improper?"
The two stood to the side, quietly waiting for the Demon Ancestor and Xu Ying to approach.
The Demon Ancestor acted as if he didn't see them at all. Xu Ying said with a half-smile, "You two certainly wouldn't be here stealing demon race cultivation methods. You're definitely here for a tryst, right?"
Blushing fiercely under his teasing smile, Ling Siyi blurted out, "No, we're here to steal techniques!"
Yuan Qi hastily tugged at the corner of her robes, and only then did Ling Siyi realize what she had said.
They arrived at the pavilion housing the three golden manuals of the other races. The Demon Ancestor called out, "Niu Yuan Qi, you have great ability. Come over and take out the other two golden manuals for little friend Xu to study."
Frightened out of his wits, Yuan Qi nearly fled in panic.
Ling Siyi caught his hand to stop him from running, whispering, "Since we've been caught, we might as well just be open and aboveboard."
Yuan Qi agreed. Plucking up his courage, he stepped forward and invoked the Diamond Snare to suppress the Great Luo Golden Flame enveloping the golden manual, extracting the scripture within.
Following the same method, he retrieved the other golden manual as well.
Xu Ying took out the Ten Cave-Heavens Comprehension Method and said with a smile, "I'll trouble Lord Niu Qi to put this golden manual back."
Yuan Qi obediently complied and placed the golden book back into the Great Luo Golden Flame.
The Demon Ancestor smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Xu has only one hour."
Xu Ying could hardly contain his excitement. The Ten Cave-Heavens Comprehension Method was on the left side, yet it was already so formidable; the other two golden books would surely be no less extraordinary!
Composing his mind and discarding all distractions, he immediately flipped open one of the golden books.
Recorded in this golden book was a technique called Ten Attestations of the Dao Fruit. As Xu Ying read through it, his eyes lit up: it detailed ten distinct methods to attain a Dao fruit.
The person who authored the book referred to himself as Liu Guanyi. He had attempted to attain a Dao fruit, yet had never succeeded. He initially believed his cultivation would remain trapped in the Heavenly Monarch realm until death.
Yet he traveled far and wide in search of teachers and the Dao, visiting Great Luo Golden Immortals who had attained Dao fruits, and even raided the tombs of Great Luo Golden Immortals everywhere. Ultimately, he managed to find ten methods to cultivate a Dao fruit.
Liu Guanyi wrote in the book that in the past, those cultivating a Dao fruit who failed once would fail for all eternity, because their potential was exhausted and no amount of further cultivation could yield a Dao fruit.
Yet he refused to believe it.
If one method did not work, change to another; surely there had to be a way to forge a Dao fruit.
Xu Ying committed the ten Dao-attestation methods gathered by Liu Guanyi to memory one by one. Then, on a sudden impulse, he asked, "Senior Demon Ancestor, did this Liu Guanyi who wrote Ten Attestations of the Dao Fruit ever attain a Dao fruit?"
"No."
The Demon Ancestor said with a beaming smile, "That person was quite a legend in his own right. Normally, one only has a single chance to attest the Dao—if you fail once, you fail for eternity. Yet he refused to accept fate and actually tracked down ten methods. Surpassing every failed cultivator before him, he attempted to attest the Dao ten times. And all ten ended in failure."
Xu Ying was stunned.
"If he failed ten out of ten times, why did you place his Ten Attestations of the Dao Fruit alongside the Ten Cave-Heavens Comprehension Method?" Xu Ying asked.
The Demon Ancestor chuckled. "He failed ten times because his own ability was inadequate, but the ten Dao-attestation methods he gathered are genuine, authentic paths to attesting the Dao. Therefore, it is fully qualified to stand here."
Xu Ying felt immense admiration for this Liu Guanyi who had failed ten times in ten attempts. "What happened afterward? Where did Liu Guanyi go?"
"Later on, people called him the Ten Useless Heavenly Monarch. And later still, he probably died during the Dao weeping." The Demon Ancestor knew little about Liu Guanyi's ultimate fate and was not certain of his end.
Xu Ying set down Ten Attestations of the Dao Fruit and picked up the other book, thinking to himself, *Ten Attestations of the Dao Fruit is useless to me. I'm certain to succeed on my very first attempt. Besides, I'm still far from attaining a Dao fruit.*
The other golden book was a rubbing. Someone had written a title on the title page: Emerald Rock Inscription.
The rubbings of the stele inscriptions inside featured meandering characters. They resembled Immortal Dao runes, yet differed from modern Immortal Dao runes; they also resembled Dao patterns from ancient times, yet varied significantly from Dao patterns as well.
Xu Ying froze. *"The Emerald Rock flew away, the other shore became a void." Is the Emerald Rock in this Emerald Rock Inscription the same place as the one that flew away?*
This golden book was placed in the middle of the three, showing that in the Demon Ancestor's eyes, its value surpassed even the Ten Cave-Heavens and the Ten Attestations of the Dao Fruit.
"The Emerald Rock Inscription is the most profound carving in this world,"
the Demon Ancestor remarked with a smile. "Its contents are very strange. It can be deciphered using the Immortal Dao runes of today, or through the Dao patterns of ancient times. During the Immortal Court era, mighty demons also deciphered it using demon arts. Some even deciphered it through the Heavenly Dao! From the stele inscriptions, everyone can decipher Dao arts and divine powers, but the bizarre thing is that different methods of deciphering yield entirely different Dao arts and divine powers."
"Different?"
Xu Ying was surprised. "Why would deciphering the same stone carving yield different results?"
Then realization struck him. He remembered back when Zhou Qiyun had forced him to decipher Granny Tuo's Immortal Scripture.
Back then, Granny Tuo's Immortal Scripture had been interpreted countless times. Every person arrived at a different reading from everyone else, and none of them believed they were wrong.
At that time, only Xu Ying had deciphered the scripture's true origin: the Taiyin Primordial Nurturing Technique.
"The content on the Emerald Rock Inscription transcends Immortal Dao runes, the Heavenly Dao, and the Dao patterns of the ancient and Immortal Court eras. That's why every era deciphers something different from it!"
Xu Ying's eyes flashed as he spoke rapidly, "The teachings in the Emerald Rock Inscription transcend one era after another from the past!"
The Demon Ancestor looked at him with a complex gaze and sighed. "You are so exceptionally bright—how wonderful it would be if you belonged to the demon race. That is correct. The content on the Emerald Rock Inscription indeed surpasses the Immortal Court era, the ancient era, and the rune-based Immortal Dao of today. Many Demon Emperors of my race saw the inscription; from the first glance, they were utterly entranced, devoting themselves feverishly to studying it, forgetting to eat or drink. The higher one's cultivation, the greater the allure of this carving."
He even suspected whether the decline of the demon race back then had happened because the Demon Emperors had been so captivated by the Emerald Rock Inscription that they neglected court affairs.
"Later, in the ancient era, peerless figures emerged among the human race, and they too were captivated by the Emerald Rock Inscription,"
the Demon Ancestor continued. "They were originally the foremost beings at the very pinnacle, yet the Emerald Rock Inscription showed that they had not reached the end of the Dao—there was still a path ahead. To them, such a revelation carried a fatal magnetism. That attraction surpassed everything else in the mortal world."
Xu Ying inquired, "I once heard someone mention the Emerald Rock. What exactly is it?"
The Demon Ancestor pondered for a moment, then said, "It is not entirely clear. However, some speculate that the Emerald Rock is a treasure that fell from another, higher realm. People call that higher realm..."
He paused, then said, "...the other shore."
This other shore was not that other shore.
This Other Shore was the place where Taiqing Dao Ancestor, Void Emperor Great Dao Monarch, Yuxu Dao Ancestor, the Buddhas, and others had departed to.
The Emerald Rock came from the Other Shore, and the Emerald Rock Inscription recorded supreme methods from the Other Shore. Thus, the Other Shore became the place that Dao Ancestors, Great Dao Monarchs, and Buddha Ancestors sought to find.
"Later, the Emerald Rock flew away,"
the Demon Ancestor said. "On the day the Emerald Rock flew away, the phenomenon of Dao weeping occurred. Countless powerful existences soared into the sky to pursue the Emerald Rock and seek the other shore. From that moment onward, the curtain was doomed to fall on the ancient era."
He paused, then added, "Of the three golden books, the most precious is the Emerald Rock Inscription, yet it is also the least precious. Xu Ying, you couldn't possibly understand the Emerald Rock Inscription in just one hour. Take this golden book with you; consider it my gift of thanks for restoring my life."
Chapter 483