Daoist Yuan and Little Martial Uncle boarded Xu Ying's imperial carriage. Xu Ying said, "This carriage of mine has no mounts. You two will need to cast divine powers to conjure beasts to pull it."
Daoist Yuan tested the waters, asking, "How about walking instead?"
Xu Ying chuckled. "A white dragon does not disguise itself as a fish, and why should one in fine brocade walk by night?"
Daoist Yuan had no choice but to indulge him. Casting a divine power, he manifested four qilin to pull the imperial carriage forward, heading toward the Shangqing Ancestral Court.
Xu Ying inquired, "Daoist Yuan, I heard you address Daoist Taiqing as Grand Martial Uncle. Are you and Daoist Taiqing from the same sect?"
Daoist Yuan smiled and replied, "Our Shangqing Ancestral Court enshrines both the Taiqing Dao Ancestor and the Yuqing Dao Ancestor. To our lineage, the Taiqing Dao Ancestor is considered a martial uncle, but given my junior generation, I address him as Grand Martial Uncle."
Xu Ying was utterly baffled. "The Shangqing Ancestral Court does not enshrine a Shangqing Dao Ancestor?"
Daoist Yuan laughed. "There is no such being as a Shangqing Dao Ancestor. Our Shangqing Dao Sect reveres the Yuqing Dao Ancestor above all, followed by the Taiqing Dao Ancestor. Later, the Taiqing Dao Ancestor founded the Taiqing Dao Sect, establishing Tushita Palace in Lihen Heaven and Qingyang Palace. The Shangqing Ancestral Court cultivates two scriptures: the Yellow Court Scripture and the Shangqing Great Cavern Scripture."
Knowing nothing of this, Xu Ying smiled. "Then why isn't it called the Yuqing Ancestral Court?"
Little Martial Uncle shot him a glare and sneered, "Ignorant!"
Fearing Xu Ying might take offense, Daoist Yuan hurriedly added, "There is no Yuqing Ancestral Court in this world. There is, however, a Yuxu Ancestral Court, situated at Yuxu Palace in the Kunlun Realm. Young Master Xu, you should have quite a deep connection with Yuxu Palace."
Xu Ying's heart stirred slightly. He had visited Kunlun's Yuxu Palace and restored the Great Dao of heaven and earth there before departing, without ever meeting Daoist Yuxu.
Yet with Daoist Yuxu guarding Yuxu Palace and the Xu family guarding Kunlun, there indeed seemed to be some connection between them.
Suppressing his curiosity for the moment, he asked, "Fellow Daoist Yuan, you mentioned two scriptures of the Shangqing Ancestral Court, one of which is the Yellow Court Scripture. The Yellow Court is one of the six secret depositories of the human body, a vital depository in Nuo methods. Could the Yellow Court Scripture be connected to this Yellow Court secret depository?"
Among the six secret depositories of the human body, the Yellow Court governed divine consciousness. The Yellow Court Mansion of the Dark Yellow Realm was the very place Xu Ying had forged during his first life to refine immortal medicine for divine consciousness.
Being a grandmaster in this domain, Xu Ying naturally drew the connection upon hearing the name.
Daoist Yuan shook his head. "That, I cannot say. But I imagine once we arrive at the Shangqing Ancestral Court, Young Master Xu's questions regarding the Yellow Court will be readily answered."
Xu Ying was intensely intrigued, thinking to himself, Just what lies within the Shangqing Ancestral Court?
Suddenly, a faint tremor rippled through heaven and earth, lightly jostling the three inside the carriage.
A moment passed before the tremor gradually subsided.
Looking outside, Little Martial Uncle suddenly exclaimed, "Look, quickly!"
Xu Ying and Daoist Yuan peered out. Immortal light flickered across the firmament, and abruptly, the sky split open. A thick pillar of immortal radiance plummeted from above, crashing into the mountains and rivers of the Ancestral Court.
Trailing a luminous tail, the radiance slowly retracted.
Xu Ying murmured in astonishment, "An immortal descending to the mortal realm? No, wait—the tear in the sky hasn't closed!"
He gazed up at the heavens. The rift between the immortal and mortal realms left behind by the immortal's descent remained wide open, showing no sign of shrinking!
Daoist Yuan cried out in shock, "There's more than one crack in the sky!"
Xu Ying and Little Martial Uncle noticed it as well. Strewn across the sky of the Ancestral Court were over a hundred similar fissures—some long, some short, some wide, some narrow, some straight, and others jagged and winding.
This was merely what lay within their line of sight; beyond what they could see, there were bound to be far more!
"Could that strange tremor just now have cracked the sky open?" Little Martial Uncle asked in bewilderment.
The sight truly looked as if heaven itself had fractured. Yet strangely, the earlier tremor had not been particularly violent. How could it have shattered the sky?
Furthermore, even if the sky of the Ancestral Court had cracked, why would immortals come pouring out from the fractures?
Suddenly, the sky was ablaze with thick pillars of immortal radiance. Immortals descended along the light by the hundreds, arriving from the Immortal Realm into every corner of the Ancestral Court!
A formidable immortal dao majesty radiated from those beams of light; before even making landfall, they had already begun polluting the heaven and earth of the Ancestral Court!
"Aren't immortals from the Immortal Realm forbidden from descending easily?"
Daoist Yuan was equally baffled. Poking his head out, he wondered aloud, "I heard that for an immortal to descend, they must sever their own cultivation before stepping into the mortal world. Only with the explicit authorization of the Immortal Court can they descend with their cultivation intact, and even then, they cannot linger long."
Xu Ying's thoughts shifted, and he said, "Those fissures in the sky aren't tears in the Ancestral Court alone; they are shared fractures between the Immortal Realm and the Ancestral Court. That tremor just now cracked both the Ancestral Court and the Immortal Realm open simultaneously."
His expression turning grave, Xu Ying stood up and stepped outside the carriage. Before his eyes was a sky perforated like a honeycomb, with even more immortals descending.
Tainted by immortal light, the firmament resembled an overturned palette, smeared indiscriminately with all manner of hues.
"The Tide of the Three Realms caused a massive upheaval in space-time, cracking open fissures between both worlds. Those immortals are descending through those very cracks."
Xu Ying exhaled a breath of turbid air. If the sky of the Ancestral Court had been torn open, what about the world of the heavens and the myriads of realms?
Could they remain intact?
"A grand era where immortal and mortal blend together has finally arrived," he murmured.
Across the boundless earth, who will rule supreme?
In the Yuanshou world, faint tremors echoing from the depths of space roused the Son of Heaven of Zhou, Jiang Qi, and the others. Looking up, they witnessed beams of immortal light descending from the sky.
It was early dawn, before the sun had risen. The world was shrouded in gloom, though the eastern horizon showed a pale white.
The immortal light illuminated the shadowed earth, then receded, settling upon various immortal sects. Yuanshou sank into darkness once more.
"Immortals have descended, Your Majesty," Jiang Qi said.
"I know."
The Son of Heaven of Zhou's countenance remained veiled in the pre-dawn darkness. In an even voice, he said, "This is precisely the prime opportunity to hunt immortals and elevate our cultivation. Grand Preceptor, begin your preparations. I am an earthly immortal; I shall rise in Yuanshou and restore our ancestral glory!"
Jiang Qi felt a tremor of excitement in his heart and bowed respectfully. "Understood."
At the same time, in realms across the heavens such as Longxing, Yongkang, Yuanfeng, Yuanding, Taichu, and Taishi, varying amounts of immortal light descended.
On this day, the Tide of the Three Realms pulled upon the world of the heavens and the Ancestral Court, triggering tremors throughout every major realm and tearing rifts in the barrier between the mortal and the immortal.
Numerous immortals from the Immortal Realm descended, formally inaugurating an age of mortal and immortal coexistence.
In the Ancestral Court, the imperial carriage rolled onward toward the Shangqing Ancestral Court, finally drawing near after more than ten days. Along the way, Xu Ying witnessed immortals fighting with the Ancestral Court natives over sacred grounds.
Owing to the revival of heaven and earth's Great Dao, these sacred grounds had become wondrous and sacred, their mountains harboring spiritual springs that overflowed with immortal light and immortal qi, naturally inviting covetous eyes.
They came across dozens of such skirmishes throughout their journey.
Fortunately, this wave of descending immortals was not exceptionally powerful—Heavenly Immortals at most. Moreover, they were mostly cultivators who had led meager, frustrated lives in the Immortal Realm, seizing this chance to return to the mortal realm to throw their weight around.
The Ancestral Court possessed more than enough strength to deal with them.
Suddenly, another strange tremor swept across heaven and earth. This one was so violent that the very space housing the Ancestral Court shuddered!
Xu Ying looked up. Although the fissures in the sky had not multiplied in number, they had widened considerably. Many more powerful figures plummeted from above, far stronger than the first wave—among them, traces of Immortal Kings could already be seen.
"If people are descending to the lower realms, shouldn't there be people ascending to the upper realm?" Xu Ying suddenly laughed. "Smuggling oneself into the upper realm right now would save Xiao Xixian's smuggling fee."
In the Immortal Realm, the firmament had become riddled with scars before anyone realized it. Qi refiners who had yet to undergo tribulation were flying out from those fissures, barging headlong into the Immortal Realm.
The cultivation and strength of these "ascended" qi refiners were greater than those of ordinary immortals. Some wandered aimlessly, curious about everything; some sought out kin and friends, bearing bags and parcels of mortal local specialties; others went around robbing and plundering, their might brutally overbearing.
The Immortal Realm descended into a foul, chaotic mess.
Attempts to round up these qi refiners proved futile—there were simply far too many of them. Furthermore, among their ranks were cultivators hailing from lower-realm sects backed by Immortal Kings, Immortal Monarchs, or even Imperial Monarchs; arresting the wrong person would invite endless trouble.
Yet if authorities turned a blind eye, these qi refiners would settle comfortably into the Immortal Realm and never leave.
In the Ancestral Court, the imperial carriage slowly ground to a halt. Xu Ying, Daoist Yuan, and Little Martial Uncle disembarked. Daoist Yuan was just about to open the portal to the Shangqing Ancestral Court—a gateway concealed between heaven and earth, impassable to outsiders—when a laughing voice rang out: "The Shangqing Ancestral Court truly is here!"
Just as Daoist Yuan activated his unsealing divine power, a vermilion gateway abruptly materialized between heaven and earth. Four immortals charged out obliquely, blocking the front of the gate with triumphant delight on their faces.
"Ling Feng, you were right after all! A godforsaken place like this demonic realm really does hold the Shangqing Ancestral Court!"
One among them possessed impressive cultivation, having forged a bodhimanda and manifested Dao chains, standing at the Immortal King realm. He laughed and said, "In that case, the Shangqing Great Cavern Abyss must be inside this portal!"
The immortal named Ling Feng was a youth with delicate features. He smiled and said, "Back when I served as an immortal attendant under the Changsheng Great Emperor, the emperor once received a distinguished guest and casually mentioned that the Shangqing Ancestral Court's Great Cavern Abyss was a Supreme treasure realm. I quietly committed it to memory, and today our fortune has finally arrived!"
Daoist Yuan hurriedly said, "Venerable Immortals, this is indeed the Shangqing Ancestral Court, but the Great Cavern Abyss vanished without a trace long ago. You have arrived too late."
Ling Feng sneered, "Still trying to deceive us? Capture them and subject them to severe torture! They won't have a choice but to confess!"
Daoist Yuan was about to speak again when Little Martial Uncle barked, "Why waste words on them? Martial Nephew Yuan, deploy me!"
Seeing the four charging forward, Daoist Yuan had no choice but to cast Little Martial Uncle into the air.
The moment the young martial uncle was cast aloft, a ten-thousand-zhang primordial spirit descended from the heavens! The Great Dao coiled around its body like chains, while behind it, an ancient Dao tree stood tall and upright, its branches laden with blossoming Dao flowers!
Xu Ying's eyes went wide.
The young martial uncle's primordial spirit reached out with a massive hand. The strongest among the four immortals was only at the Immortal King realm; how could they possibly withstand such overwhelming might?
The four were about to flee, only to find a starfield blossoming within the palm of the young martial uncle's primordial spirit. Before they could navigate through the expanse and break free, the colossal hand clenched shut!
Crushed instantly by surging stars, the four immortals had both their physical bodies and primordial spirits ground into dust!
Recalling his primordial spirit, Little Martial Uncle drifted down from above, landing before Xu Ying. He grinned smugly. "Great Man of His Word Xu, what do you think of my skills?"
He had found Xu Ying an eyesore for a long time. Having wiped out four immortals in a single stroke, he could not help but brim with pride.
Xu Ying praised sincerely, "A Heavenly Monarch primordial spirit is truly extraordinary, far surpassing my own. My primordial spirit is merely at the God Bridge stage, nowhere near a match for yours."
Little Martial Uncle looked immensely pleased with himself.
Xu Ying turned to Daoist Yuan. "Could your martial uncle be the reincarnation of an ancient Heavenly Monarch cultivating anew?"
Daoist Yuan nodded. "He is the reincarnation of my martial uncle, Daoist Yunhai. However, after reincarnating, Martial Uncle Yunhai retained no memories of his past life, possessing only this magnificent Heavenly Monarch primordial spirit. In this life, he is still named Yunhai."
Xu Ying looked at young Yunhai and asked, "If you were to recover the memories of your past life, would you want to be your past self, with who you are now reduced to a mere drop in the ocean of memory, or would you want to remain who you are today?"
Young Yunhai instantly plunged into confusion and distress, his brows knitting tightly.
Daoist Yuan hurriedly bellowed, "Bah! Martial Uncle, what abandons me of yesterday cannot be retained; what troubles my heart of today brings boundless grief! Past lives and bygone times are but fleeting illusions and foam upon water. Once the bubble bursts, all is laid to rest! Awaken!"
Young Yunhai's eyes gradually regained clarity. He cast a wary glare at Xu Ying and snapped, "You! You nearly destabilized my Dao heart!"
He lunged forward to strike Xu Ying, but Daoist Yuan quickly held him back.
Xu Ying's eyes lit up, and he said to Daoist Yuan, "Fellow Daoist Yuan, shout at me like that and wake me up too!"
Daoist Yuan panicked. "How would I dare shout at you like that? Young Master Xu, this way, please!"
Xu Ying had no choice but to follow him through the Shangqing gateway. Beyond the portal opened a whole new world—a wondrous paradise where immortal qi and immortal power surged like a vast ocean.
Immortal mountains floated everywhere, with thousands of palaces and halls towering upon them.
"This place..." Xu Ying suddenly had an epiphany and blurted out, "This place is the Shangqing Great Cavern Abyss! The Shangqing Great Cavern Abyss was never lost at all!"
Daoist Yuan smiled. "Young Master Xu has keen eyes. Indeed, the Shangqing Ancestral Court is itself the Shangqing Great Cavern Abyss. Where we stand now is the other shore."
Young Yunhai scoffed, "We went looking for you seven years ago to invite you to the Shangqing Ancestral Court. If you hadn't been running around like a hare that refuses to stay in its burrow, you would have cultivated here for seven years by now! In seven years, your achievements would certainly have far exceeded what they are!"
He felt quite indignant. Their purpose in seeking Xu Ying had been to invite him here to cultivate, yet Xu Ying had left them waiting all this time.
Xu Ying smiled faintly and shook his head. "Seven years ago, had I accompanied you to the Shangqing Ancestral Court, my achievements certainly would not match what they are now. Senior Martial Brother Yun, you have no idea how vast my achievements are today."
Young Yunhai looked eager, itching to find out.
Daoist Yuan had long known that this little martial uncle of his harbored a burning desire to give Xu Ying a sound thrashing. He hurried to Xu Ying's side and said with a smile, "Young Master Xu, this way, please. The two of us invited you here this time hoping you could help retrieve our Yuqing Dao Ancestor's Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit..."
He had only gotten that far when he froze, staring blankly ahead.
Before a majestic immortal hall stood a tall, lean Daoist clad in robes of black and yellow, looking at them with a smile.
"An... Ancestral Master!" Daoist Yuan cried in disbelief.
Xu Ying looked at the black-and-yellow-robed Daoist, somewhat surprised as well. He laughed, "So he is your Shangqing Ancestral Court's Yuqing Ancestral Master! I rescued him long ago. Brother Daoist, we meet again."
The Daoist bowed from a distance and smiled, "So it is Fellow Daoist Xu. Greetings from this humble Daoist."
Xu Ying returned the courtesy. "Greetings."
Chapter 501