Xu Ying stood frozen.
The two young Daoist boys, Qingfeng and Mingyue, had died so abruptly before his eyes, sending violent tremors through his Dao heart that refused to settle.
Of these two boys, one had been simple and muddle-headed, while the other appeared honest on the surface yet harbored deep scheming. And yet, over the past few days together, Xu Ying had come to see that neither was an evil person.
They had their own ideals and their own convictions. If Qingfeng hid his schemes, it was solely to fulfill the trust placed in him by the Ancestor of Earth Immortals—to protect the Dao tree and the Dao fruits.
Xu Ying also deeply admired their valor. The two boys had swept through Heavenly Venerables and Immortal Monarchs and crushed Immortal Kings with awe-inspiring might. Had Emperor Changsheng not raised the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, the two of them might well have purged Wuzhuang Temple clean already.
Nor were they callous beings. Qingfeng had known full well he was rushing to his doom, yet as he charged out, he had still urged Xu Ying to seize the chance to escape.
And now, both boys were dead.
The impact of this sight was simply too heavy, leaving Xu Ying's mind reeling and numb.
Lan Suying came soaring in from behind, vaulting into his Yingzhou cave abyss. Her voice sounded in his ears, speaking at breakneck speed: "Celestial Venerable Xu, run! That youth with flowing sleeves is Emperor Changsheng!"
Her words came in a frantic rush: "Inside the Ginseng Fruit Tree's bodhimanda, he cannot sense the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler. But the moment you step outside the bodhimanda, he will sense it! You must seize that split-second window—the instant you exit the bodhimanda, send the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler away!"
Snapping out of his daze, Xu Ying surged forward with everything he had.
Having entered the Yingzhou cave abyss, Lan Suying drifted down and arrived at the replica of Xujiaping created by Xu Jing.
The Divine Mother rushed over at once, eyes gleaming as she bowed in greeting. "The Supreme has no need to hide from the Imperial Monarch, the Heavenly Venerables, or anyone else. With the Supreme's abilities, even if only an incarnation had come, you could easily defeat them and withdraw unscathed. You hid inside the Yingzhou cave abyss, which proves you are not the Supreme!"
Lan Suying gave a faint smile. "I never claimed to be the Supreme. You are welcome to divine my origins!"
She sat cross-legged with her hands pressed together, then suddenly raised them over her head and parted them to the sides. Countless arms sprouted in an instant, their fingers rapidly pinching and calculating.
The Divine Mother looked behind her, only to see what seemed like an endless succession of Lan Suyings seated in a line, stretching deep into the void.
Every Lan Suying had four faces, all staring fixedly at their own palms.
Upon those palms, fingers twitched and shifted in dizzying permutations. With every pinch, a thread of karma was plucked, or immense computational power was brought to bear to deduce the future!
"This is... the divine calculation method of past and future bodies!"
The Divine Mother was thoroughly shaken. This method mobilized one's past and future bodies, allowing countless versions of oneself to calculate simultaneously and generate an unrivaled volume of divinatory power.
Furthermore, judging by her techniques of deduction, Lan Suying's algorithm combined the strengths of divine calculation with karmic law, yielding staggering power!
Yet the Divine Mother was well-versed in ancient lore; the technique Lan Suying displayed was not entirely identical to the lineage of the Immortal Emperor Supreme.
Lan Suying's method was far older.
'She originally possessed an ancient art of divine calculation and merged it with the Supreme's lineage to attain such astonishing heights!' the Divine Mother realized.
Lan Suying's voice reached Xu Ying in a rapid stream: "Celestial Venerable Xu, Emperor Changsheng's cultivation is unfathomable. I dare not divine him; if I do, he will surely notice. However, there is a glimmer of vitality upon you. Though I do not know where it comes from, this glimmer of life is enough to preserve you!"
Emperor Changsheng did not know that the person who had slain his incarnation and taken the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler was Xu Ying. His flick of the finger that executed Qingfeng and Mingyue had merely been an offhand gesture.
The youthful emperor walked directly toward the Ginseng Fruit Tree as if entirely blind to its Dao light, making no attempt to dodge the beams that struck his body.
The Dao light of the Ginseng Fruit Tree was like the sharpest blade, capable of flaying a top-tier Heavenly Monarch like the boy Mingyue, yet when it struck him, it did no more than flutter the hem of his robes.
His Great Luo Bodhimanda spread outward. Behind him stood a Dao tree resembling an ancient plum tree—its fragrance growing richer with age, its branches twisted and unruly like ferocious claws reaching toward the sky.
Plum blossoms bloomed across the Dao tree, and upon it hung a single green plum, exceptionally brilliant.
'Emperor Changsheng isn't a Supreme?'
Xu Ying was slightly taken aback by the sight. Emperor Changsheng cultivated a bodhimanda and refined a Dao tree and Dao fruit, which was fundamentally different from Qingxuan's Ten Scenes of Great Void.
Daoist Qingxuan had been the first person to reach the Supreme Realm and was its creator; if later generations cultivated to the Supreme Realm, their path would surely resemble Qingxuan's Ten Scenes of Great Void.
The path Emperor Changsheng walked was clearly not Daoist Qingxuan's, but that of a Great Luo Golden Immortal from the ancient era!
The Great Luo Golden Immortals of the ancient era were the ones who cultivated the path of Dao trees and Dao fruits!
'Emperor Changsheng is a Great Luo Golden Immortal who practices the ancient methods!'
Xu Ying was utterly stunned. But had the ancient methods not been rendered obsolete after the Dao weeping? Immortals since then were supposed to walk the path of the Supreme Realm.
After the Dao weeping, the Ancestral Court had even been slandered as the Demonic Domain, and the ancient methods branded as demonic arts. Why was an entity like Emperor Changsheng practicing the demonic arts of the Demonic Domain?
With Qingfeng and Mingyue slain by Emperor Changsheng, the pressing crisis confronting the Imperial Monarch, the Heavenly Venerables, and the others was resolved. Letting out a collective sigh of relief, they bowed to Emperor Changsheng in unison.
As Xu Ying charged toward this direction, Emperor Changsheng's gaze fell upon him, a curious gleam flickering in his eyes. He thought silently, 'The Supreme's plaything. Best not touch him.'
He acted as though he had not seen Xu Ying at all, letting him rush right past.
He had only one objective: the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
He did not stop Xu Ying, but that did not mean the Imperial Monarch, the Primordial Monarch, and the others would stand idly by. The Imperial Monarch and his peers immediately stepped back into the bodhimanda and charged straight toward Xu Ying.
Lan Suying's voice sounded in Xu Ying's ears, swift and sharp: "Imperial Monarch—three steps left, advance six, retreat two, four to the right, swing your right hand backward!"
Without hesitation, Xu Ying dashed left. After three steps, he advanced six steps forward. In just those nine brief steps, he evaded twelve divine arts unleashed by the Imperial Monarch!
As the twelve divine arts grazed past him, the Imperial Monarch was startled. Right then, Xu Ying swung his right hand backward, slapping squarely onto the back of the Imperial Monarch's hand.
The Imperial Monarch's hairs stood on end and his complexion turned pale as twelve Dao wheels surfaced behind his head. Yet Xu Ying had already darted past his side.
Just now, when he unleashed his twelfth technique, not only had Xu Ying dodged it, but his hand had struck right through the flaw in the divine art, frightening the Imperial Monarch half to death.
He almost suspected that Xu Ying's mastery of divine arts had reached the level of a Supreme.
Dodging the Ginseng Fruit Tree's Dao light, the Imperial Monarch cast a hasty glance back, only to see Xu Ying stepping through an extraordinary sequence of footwork. Shifting and weaving forward, backward, left, and right, he effortlessly bypassed the barrage of golden coins from Wealth Heavenly Venerable as well as the Dao light of the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
Xu Ying even casually pocketed several of Wealth Heavenly Venerable's coins along the way. Fortunately, Wealth Heavenly Venerable was fabulously wealthy and had treasures to spare, so he paid it no mind.
Yet Xu Ying's movement was supernatural beyond words, as if he could foresee every move and make deductions before his opponents even struck.
'Did that scoundrel Xu Ying stumble upon some miraculous encounter again?'
The Imperial Monarch was thoroughly bewildered. But the incoming Dao light from the Ginseng Fruit Tree left him no time to ponder; he had to parry the beams and press closer to the tree.
Even though Emperor Changsheng had come to claim the Ginseng Fruit Tree, the Imperial Monarch did not believe Changsheng was guaranteed to secure it; he himself still had a chance.
Compared to Xu Ying, the ginseng Dao fruits held far greater temptation for him.
'Only by obtaining a Dao fruit can I secure a place for myself in the future!'
His gaze fell upon the remaining twenty Dao fruits on the Ginseng Fruit Tree, his heart blazing. 'Otherwise, once that behemoth behind the Immortal Realm strikes—heheh, not even Heavenly Monarchs will survive! Having a Dao fruit offers a glimmer of hope!'
In that brief window, Xu Ying dodged the lethal assault of Fire Department Heavenly Venerable Li Sixue and pinched Heavenly Venerable Sixue's buttocks, drawing a sharp cry from her.
Xu Ying was secretly annoyed: 'No wonder that sly schemer told me to reach out my left hand and grab downward! I thought she was breaking the Fire Heavenly Venerable's technique, but she actually had me grope her backside! The Immortal Emperor Supreme truly has bizarre tastes!'
Heavenly Venerable Sixue's fair face flushed crimson. She glared fiercely at Xu Ying, thinking, 'That wretch never changes! Back then, he used to sneakily pinch me like that... Ah well, for the sake of our past love, I'll let him off!'
She did not pursue the matter and dashed toward the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
A ginseng Dao fruit was far more important than Xu Ying, an old flame.
Lan Suying also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking silently, 'Fortunately, my foolish son still has an old lover who clings to the past and hasn't severed her inner demon.'
In the blink of an eye, Xu Ying evaded an ambush by Water Department Heavenly Venerable Xie Qingshan. Xie Qingshan unleashed over a dozen strikes in rapid succession without touching a hair on Xu Ying, his face draining of color in shock.
Cries of astonishment rose from the crowd. Suddenly, the Eastern King's eyes lit up. Attacking toward Xu Ying, he laughed: "So a remarkable master of divine calculation is helping Celestial Venerable Xu?"
He was thrilled by the challenge. Seeing that Xu Ying could calmly evade everyone's divine arts, he knew he had met a top-tier master of divine calculation, one perhaps no weaker than himself, which stirred his competitive spirit.
Xu Ying flew into a rage: "Your Highness Eastern King, have you forgotten we are allies? I came here precisely to lend you a hand, yet you attack me instead! Do you have any decency left?"
Attacking him, the Eastern King sneered: "You came to lend me a hand, yet my avatar died here while you plucked Dao fruits! What kind of logic is that?"
Under Lan Suying's direction, Xu Ying repeatedly dodged his offensive while evading the attacks of other Heavenly Monarchs, lowering his voice: "I did lend your avatar a hand, but you were useless and got killed! What could I do?"
Heavenly Venerable Ning of the Taisui Department was also attacking Xu Ying. With an expert in divine calculation like the Eastern King involved, even Lan Suying found it strenuous.
Heavenly Venerable Ning Zhong was Ning Qing's father, and his strength was formidable. Though wounded earlier by Qingfeng and Mingyue and shaken by the Dao weeping, his power remained terrifying.
Although his Jade Hall Great Method had flaws, Xu Ying could not seize them in time; the openings vanished in the blink of an eye.
Between him and a Heavenly Monarch, a vast chasm still remained.
The Eastern King chuckled: "Rest assured, I only wish to see how capable this fellow Daoist's divine calculations are; I don't truly mean to kill you. I'm holding back my power, so even if my moves strike you, they won't end your life."
Words aside, taking a blow from him in such a perilous situation and suffering serious injury would leave Xu Ying incapable of blocking Heavenly Venerable Ning's moves, most likely resulting in him being blasted apart by the barrage of attacks.
The Eastern King struck dozens of times in succession, but every move was blocked by Xu Ying. At times, before his divine art could even unfold, it was interrupted by Xu Ying. The Eastern King grew increasingly uncertain: 'Could it be that I am not the world's foremost master of divine calculation?'
Then realization struck him, and his hair stood on end: 'The master of divine calculation guiding Xu Ying to evade so many Heavenly Monarchs' attacks must be my father!'
Shocked, furious, and filled with a touch of dread, he immediately withdrew his hands and stopped testing Xu Ying, thinking, 'Father, you have hidden yourself so deeply! Your son thought he was the foremost master of divine calculation, yet your attainments surpass even mine! But you favor outsiders, actually helping Xu Ying seize the ginseng Dao fruits!'
Unaware that his avatar had already made a similar deduction, he had simply guessed it all over again.
However, he never could have imagined that the one hiding in the Yingzhou cave abyss directing Xu Ying was not an incarnation of the Immortal Emperor Supreme, but Lan Suying, the adoptive daughter who had been under house arrest in the imperial palace all along.
He knew that the Immortal Emperor Supreme had taken Lan Suying as an adoptive daughter, but he had never paid this adoptive sister any mind. Lan Suying had met him a few times and asked for guidance on divine calculation, and the Eastern King had merely taught her some rudimentary techniques.
What he never anticipated was that, relying on these rudimentary techniques alone, Lan Suying had reverse-engineered the Supreme's divine calculation and merged it with the divine calculation she originally possessed, cultivating past and future bodies and mastering astonishing computational power!
After all, Lan Suying's divinatory abilities had never been weak to begin with. Back when Xu Ying was still young, only eight or nine years old, he had just finished class with Xu Jing and dashed out, bumping into a youth.
The child Xu Ying looked back, but saw no one.
Yet Lan Suying had seen that in the distant future, forty-eight thousand years later, her son would arrive at Wangxiang Platform and meet her across space and time.
At that time, her divinatory power had already reached such a level, granting her hazy premonitions of the future. Though she did not know the causes, possessing such an ability was already peerless under heaven.
After merging the Supreme's divine calculation, she created the Past and Future Light-Time Scripture, unconsciously surpassing the Eastern King, yet all these years she had kept it hidden, biding her time!
Seizing the moment the Eastern King was dazed, Xu Ying launched several rapid strikes at Heavenly Venerable Ning, whispering: "Your son Ning Qing is in my hands."
Heavenly Venerable Ning Zhong turned a deaf ear and pressed his deadly attack.
Xu Ying immediately changed his tune: "The Heavenly Dao is incomplete; your Jade Hall Great Method has flaws! Let me out, and I will teach you the true Three Thousand Heavenly Daos!"
Heavenly Venerable Ning Zhong pulled back his strike and allowed Xu Ying to depart.
The Heavenly Venerable's eyes flickered, and he turned to walk toward the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
The Eastern King was about to strike at Xu Ying again when, as if having anticipated his attack long before, Xu Ying thrust a finger forward, striking the center of his palm and neutralizing the divine art he was about to unleash.
The Eastern King was shaken: 'It really is my father guiding him!'
Rage filled his heart, and he turned toward the Ginseng Fruit Tree.
Xu Ying exhaled in relief, evading the Heavenly Venerables and Primordial Monarchs as he charged toward the edge of the bodhimanda.
Lan Suying was fraught with tension and warned, "The instant you break out of the bodhimanda is when Emperor Changsheng will sense the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler! You must seize this chance!"
The Divine Mother, Fairy Gushe, and the others were also on edge, looking up at the canopy. The world inside the canopy was still concealed by the Ginseng Fruit Tree's bodhimanda.
Evading the Dao light striking from behind, Xu Ying took a step forward, half a foot already stepping out of the bodhimanda.
His body soared upward. As he broke out of the bodhimanda, with a whoosh, he burrowed into the canopy.
The Yingzhou cave abyss trembled slightly and vanished.
At the same time, beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree, Emperor Changsheng suddenly turned his head, his sharp gaze sweeping over with ferocious intensity!
"Insolent thief! You dare lay a hand on my Supreme treasure? You shall not be spared!"
Chapter 525