The Last Lord of Ziwei's unique way of offering praise was certainly unconventional, leaving Xu Ying feeling thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Still, that was in the past. Now, We cannot take your head. We have summoned you here this time so that you may restore Ziwei's Great Dao."
The Last Lord of Ziwei turned solemn. "Only when the Great Daos of Heaven and Earth in Ziwei are revived can the Ancestral Court truly be restored, mortals can achieve immortality, and the Ancestral Court can possess the strength to stand against the Immortal Realm. As for the Ancestral Court today, with its Little Celestial Venerable, its Ancestral God, and its Demon Ancestor and Dao Ancestor—they are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs, fools meant to serve as stepping stones for others' achievements!"
His words were harsh. Ranting against the Little Celestial Venerable was one thing, but lumping in the Ancestral God, the Dao Ancestor, and the Demon Ancestor made Xu Ying feel a pang of sympathy. *No wonder he feels this way. People from the other ancestral courts say that the Ziwei Ancestral Court is merely an ornament and its immortal emperor is just a mascot. It's easy to imagine that the Demon Ancestor, the Dao Ancestor, and the Ancestral God were never polite to Emperor Ai back then.*
Of course, he would never utter those thoughts aloud.
Xu Ying asked, "The heaven and earth of Ziwei have collapsed, carved apart by others. With neither heaven nor earth remaining, how can the Great Dao be recovered? What must be done to revive the Great Daos of Heaven and Earth in Ziwei?"
He had already gained a general understanding of the Ziwei Ancestral Court's state. It had long been carved up and picked clean by the denizens of the Immortal Realm, leaving behind only the tomb grounds of Mount Qian.
Without even a heaven and earth, whence could Great Daos of Heaven and Earth arise?
The Ancestral Court's Great Dao of Heaven and Earth could be restored because the Little Celestial Venerable had gathered immense quantities of immortal artifact fragments containing remnants of the Immortal Dao. Once Xu Ying repaired those fragments, the Little Celestial Venerable could carry out the Heaven Mending Plan.
The Demon Ancestral Court could also recover its Great Dao of Heaven and Earth because a portion of it was branded within the Ancient Fusang Tree and the Demon Ancestor. If the Demon Ancestor had died, heaven could not be mended; but once Xu Ying saved him, the Demon Ancestral Court's Great Dao would be restored.
Yet both places operated under the premise that although heaven and earth had shattered, the fragments still remained.
The Ziwei Ancestral Court, however, had been looted almost entirely into a void, leaving only the burial grounds of past immortal emperors. How could one mend the heavens here?
What would one even use to mend them?
The Last Lord of Ziwei smiled. "Minister Xu, We naturally have a way. The reason the Ziwei Ancestral Court bears the name 'Ancestral Court' is that it was the seat of the Great Emperors, the origin of the Immortal Court. What makes a Great Emperor? If one cannot suppress all things and master the Great Daos of Heaven and Earth, does one even deserve to be called Emperor?"
He smiled faintly and added leisurely, "And including Myself, six such Great Emperors are buried in Mount Qian."
Xu Ying tested the waters, "What does Brother Dao mean?"
The Last Lord of Ziwei said, "Break open the seals of the Immortal Realm, invite forth the corpses of the six emperors, and revive the Great Daos of Heaven and Earth!"
Xu Ying's expression changed instantly, and he shook his head. "Your Majesty may have summoned the wrong person. I still have seals upon myself that remain unbroken. My seals are merely from an Imperial Monarch, yet they are already difficult to unravel. How could I possibly undo seals that bind six immortal emperors? Please forgive me, but I am powerless to help."
He had seen those seals. The powerhouses of the Immortal Realm had practically stamped every seal they possibly could upon Mount Qian. The mountain was covered with all manner of seals, each demonstrating the pinnacle of Immortal Dao profundity!
Xu Ying had been sealed for nearly fifty thousand years, yet the seal on his body consisted of merely sixteen characters, with only eight more added in this life. The characters in the seals on Mount Qian, by contrast, were numerous enough to compose a massive tome of Immortal Dao lore!
Moreover, those seals had likely been designed by beings at the Supreme level. Undoing them would be anything but easy.
The Last Lord of Ziwei chuckled. "We naturally anticipated that you could not undo them on your own, but We shall help you."
Xu Ying looked doubtful. "How?"
The Last Lord of Ziwei smiled. "It was precisely when we spoke earlier of how you opened an Immortal Realm cave-heaven that Our appreciation for your talent was stirred. That you mastered an Immortal Realm cave-heaven without a teacher caught My attention and made Me realize you were the one to entrust with this."
Hearing his praise, Xu Ying thought, *He has probably already lopped off my head in his mind.*
The Last Lord of Ziwei continued, "This means you can cultivate the techniques of the Great Emperors, obtain their legacies, and thereby utilize their cave abysses!"
Hearing this, Xu Ying turned on his heel to leave.
The Last Lord of Ziwei barked, "Halt! We have pointed out a grand avenue for you. Why do you leave instead of thanking Us for Our immense grace?"
Xu Ying sneered, "The Ziwei Ancestral Court has already been carved up completely. The cave abysses of you six emperors must have fallen into the hands of the Immortal Realm's supreme powerhouses long ago. If I learn your techniques and call upon your cave abysses, the very people who destroyed the Ancestral Court will sense it. The moment I master them will be the moment I die. Emperor Ai, farewell!"
The Last Lord of Ziwei chuckled. "Who said the cave abysses of the six emperors were all stolen?"
Xu Ying stopped and turned around.
The Last Lord of Ziwei walked toward him and said, "Back then, Emperor Taihao strictly forbade summoning the other shore. But once the spark had caught fire, how could he be allowed to defy the prevailing tide of the world? At that time, many still summoned the other shore, and some achieved great heights. Emperor Taihao acted against the times, so he was abdicated. The one who inherited the throne was Shaohao. After Shaohao came Haoying. After Haoying came Haohong. Any immortal emperor was required to have the character 'Hao' in their name. In those days, I too had a 'Hao' in mine."
At this point, shame colored his face. He had failed to keep that character 'Hao' and in the end had become Emperor Ai.
Xu Ying blinked and said, "Since all six Great Emperors are buried here, it means they didn't live long after abdicating before dying."
The Last Lord of Ziwei smiled. "They were immortal emperors, immortals—how could they die?"
Xu Ying stared blankly at him. "Indeed. Then why are these six Great Emperors buried here?"
The Last Lord of Ziwei said resolutely, "Naturally, they died of grief and melancholy! Could it be that the new emperors killed the old ones?"
Xu Ying had a sudden realization. "The immortal emperors of the former dynasties died of grief because they were forced to abdicate."
"Wrong!"
The Last Lord of Ziwei corrected him solemnly, "No one was forced. They abdicated because they felt their own virtue was lacking compared to their successors, so they voluntarily stepped down to make way for the worthy. It was just that in the process of yielding the throne, a few people inevitably died and some blood was spilled. It was only natural for the former immortal emperors to die of melancholy afterward, likely because their families suffered heavy losses during the abdication—such as losing their imperial-grade cave abysses and other shores."
Xu Ying translated, "So the old emperor yielded the throne, the new emperor clipped his wings, killed his descendants, and took his imperial-grade cave abyss and other shore for himself."
The Last Lord of Ziwei said, "Imperial-grade cave abysses were passed down in an orderly fashion. Yet only the Taiyi Cave Abyss was not handed down. Emperor Haotian's Taiyi Cave Abyss was lost during that process, vanishing without a trace. I searched through the former dynasties' historical records for a long time, but found nothing of its whereabouts. You are the only person who might find the Taiyi Cave Abyss."
Xu Ying was puzzled and smiled. "Why does Your Majesty say that?"
The Last Lord of Ziwei said, "Summon your cave-heavens."
Xu Ying activated the Taiyi Indestructible Scripture. Behind him, seven great cave-heavens emerged, each piercing through to the Immortal Realm and drawing upon its power.
These seven cave-heavens boosted his vitality, yin and yang, divine consciousness, primordial qi, soul power, heart power, and power of life and death!
As the seven cave-heavens circulated, Xu Ying's cultivation and strength skyrocketed!
The Last Lord of Ziwei had assumed he had cultivated only two or three cave-heavens at most. He had never expected Xu Ying to open seven all at once. He could not help but exclaim in admiration, "Talent like yours would have earned your entire clan execution in any dynasty. No immortal emperor would ever tolerate your rise!"
Xu Ying felt quite pleased with himself and accepted the praise.
After all, this was an achievement he had not even attained in his first life!
The Last Lord of Ziwei said, "Since you can open seven cave-heavens, you might very well find the Taiyi Cave Abyss. What you lack is Emperor Haotian's cultivation technique. Once you circulate his technique, you will be able to locate it."
Xu Ying's eyes lit up, his breathing quickening as he asked in a raspy voice, "Was Emperor Haotian's technique passed down?"
"No, it was not."
Seeing Xu Ying's disappointed expression, the Last Lord of Ziwei hurriedly added, "However, what Emperor Haotian deciphered from the Emerald Rock back then did survive. By coincidence, I happen to have preserved a copy here."
He stepped into the painting. Moments later, he brought out over a hundred jade slips of Dao texts. The Emerald Rock inscriptions deciphered by Emperor Haotian were recorded on these jade slips, which was why they had endured for so long.
"With your foundation in seven Immortal Realm cave-heavens, you might be able to comprehend the secrets of the Taiyi Cave Abyss from these jade slips and summon it forth," said the Last Lord of Ziwei. "Once you claim the Taiyi Cave Abyss, you will have the confidence to unseal the Immortal Realm's seals and invite forth the corpses of the six emperors without being shaken to death by the backlash."
Branded onto the jade slips were Dao patterns used in ancient times, similar to modern runes—methods for recording the Great Dao.
Xu Ying's grasp of Dao patterns was even deeper than his grasp of Immortal Dao runes. His five acts of mending the heavens—restoring Lihen Heaven, the Kunlun Realm, Mount Yujing, the Nether Sea, and the Xuanhuang Realm—had all relied on Dao patterns.
His accomplishments in the Immortal Dao, on the other hand, were the achievements of his first life.
Xu Ying sat cross-legged and took the jade slips one by one, releasing them into the air. Myriads of Dao patterns drifted around him, shifting and swimming like dragons and serpents.
His gaze was drawn to the patterns, his mind plunging into deep comprehension.
The Last Lord of Ziwei walked out of the immortal palace. Nan Ziyan and several of his martial sisters were keeping watch outside; seeing him emerge, they quickly bowed in greeting.
The Last Lord of Ziwei waved a hand, gesturing for them not to bother with formalities, and said with a smile, "I am already a dead man, so what need is there for this? Over the coming days, do not enter the palace to pay homage to the six emperors, lest you disturb him."
Nan Ziyan and the others assented.
The Last Lord of Ziwei looked back toward the brilliant Immortal Dao runes in the sky. The thousands of seals were so mighty and dense that breaking them seemed nigh impossible!
"I did not pass my technique to him," the Last Lord of Ziwei remarked. "My technique combines the strengths of the previous five emperors and is even superior to Emperor Haotian's divine art. But my technique is not suitable for him; my Taicang Cave Abyss has already been refined by the Immortal Realm into a Supreme precious realm. I could only pass down Emperor Haotian's insights from the Emerald Rock."
Nan Ziyan heard this and asked, "If you only passed on the Emerald Rock insights, can Young Master Xu find the Taiyi Cave Abyss?"
The Last Lord of Ziwei shook his head. "If he cannot, then no one can. In all these years, he is the only one who comprehended Immortal Realm cave-heavens and plundered the spiritual qi of the Immortal Realm without a teacher. I have never seen anyone with such talent—at least not in the past six hundred thousand years."
Nan Ziyan hesitated, then summoned his courage. "Your Majesty, if Fellow Daoist Xu finds the Taiyi Cave Abyss, will he truly be able to break the Immortal Realm's seals?"
The Last Lord of Ziwei shot him a glare, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
Several of Nan Ziyan's senior sisters quickly pulled out a small booklet and chuckled, "Ziyan touched the dragon's scales today and died once more." With that, they added another stroke to the booklet.
Countless five-stroke tally marks were already inked within its pages.
The Last Lord of Ziwei sighed and said, "Finding the Taiyi Cave Abyss has no direct bearing on whether he can break the seals. But if he can summon the Taiyi Cave Abyss, it means he possesses talent on par with Emperor Haotian. If Emperor Haotian were revived and brought here, he would surely break these seals."
To summon the Taiyi Cave Abyss signified the aptitude and talent of an immortal emperor.
Only with that level of talent, backed by the Taiyi Cave Abyss as a source of power, would it be possible to unravel the Immortal Realm's seals!
"He possesses part of the Taiqing legacy, the Dao methods of the Void Emperor Great Dao Lord, and the arts of beings like Taiyi Heavenly Venerable and the Yuxu Dao Ancestor. These ancient figures were extraordinary; each held a cave abyss no lesser than the Taiyi Cave Abyss, and their Daos were also inspired by the Emerald Rock inscriptions," said the Last Lord of Ziwei. "With the Dao methods of these masters combined with Emperor Haotian's Emerald Rock insights, he will surely achieve a breakthrough! What is more..."
He raised his head toward the dazzling Immortal Dao runes and murmured, "Prolonged illness makes a doctor; he is also the person who understands Immortal Dao seals best. If he cannot succeed, then no one can. Truly, no one else... If that happens..."
He turned around and said, "The Ancestral Court will usher in its darkest hour. Everything from the past will be destroyed. True history will vanish like smoke, and only altered history will remain. No one will ever know the truth..."
Xu Ying sat inside the immortal palace, surrounded by the memorial tablets and portraits of the six immortal emperors. Yet he remained completely oblivious, pouring his entire heart and soul into comprehending the Dao patterns on the jade slips.
As the patterns reflected in his eyes, countless wonders and principles flooded into his mind.
Strangely enough, as he comprehended these Dao patterns, his understanding of the Taiqing Dao, the Yuxu Dao, and the Yujing Dao grew even deeper!
Time slipped away. By the time he had comprehended every single Dao pattern, half a year had passed.
Though it was only six months, to him it felt like centuries or millennia. Looking back at himself from half a year ago, he felt his attainments back then had been rather shallow.
A sudden insight struck him. Unconsciously, he began to circulate the Taiyi Indestructible Scripture. The seven great Immortal Realm cave-heavens manifested behind him, pleasant Dao tones echoing from within.
Moreover, the eighth cave-heaven, the Dao Power Cave-Heaven, was actually forming as well, expanding rapidly and whirling open a path to the Immortal Realm.
As the Dao Power Cave-Heaven was established, various colors of Dao light gathered, and the ninth cave-heaven—the Void Cave-Heaven—began to take shape too!
This was a full three years ahead of what Xu Ying had anticipated!
The Last Lord of Ziwei looked up toward the sky above the immortal palace. Nine great cave-heavens hung brilliantly across the firmament, their far ends opening into the Immortal Realm!
"I did not judge him wrongly; I truly did not!"
A smile appeared on the Last Lord of Ziwei's face as he murmured, "He will surely comprehend Emperor Haotian's technique and find that lost Taiyi Cave Abyss! Three years. There are still three years before the Immortal Realm descends! I hope he can find the Taiyi Cave Abyss within those three years!"
Inside the immortal palace, Xu Ying retrieved the Emerald Rock rubbing gifted to him by the Demon Ancestor. Comparing it with Emperor Haotian's deciphered text, he suddenly let out a soft exclamation.
"This really is related to my Xujiaping's Taiyi Inborn Technique!"
Chapter 495