I Need You to Aid My Cultivation

The Jiuyou Emperor flared with fury, yet he did not dare continue provoking Xu Ying. Back when Xu Ying had "ascended" to the Immortal Realm and joined the Dou Department, the Jiuyou Emperor had heard of it and sent his disciple to Primordial Monarch Zitong's manor with a marriage proposal, intending to gain leverage over Xu Ying. Xu Ying had intervened, and the disciple had spoken insolently, heaping insults upon Xu Ying and Primordial Monarch Zitong, only to be beaten to death by Xu Ying on the spot. That very night, the Jiuyou Emperor came seeking revenge for his disciple and secretly crossed hands with Xu Ying. After three exchanges, Xu Ying summoned the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler and knocked him head over heels. Only because he had suffered that humiliating setback did he constantly provoke Xu Ying. Now, however, seeing that Xu Ying was truly on the verge of turning violent, he swallowed his remaining words, thinking, *Back then, Xu Ying was at least something of a scholar. Now he’s nothing but a savage, threatening to turn people 'lifelike' at the drop of a hat. How utterly uncouth!* Xu Ying asked, "Does Brother Changsheng intend to remain here to cultivate?" Polite and courteous, he continued, "To ensure that our eight Dao brothers maintain the status quo, I believe we ought to invite them out of the Supreme cave abyss and seal this place off. The Supreme cave abyss is a treasure reserved exclusively for the Immortal Emperor. Until someone actually becomes the Immortal Emperor, no one is permitted to use it. This was the rule set down by the Nine Emperors of the Nine Heavens, and surely we cannot go against it, can we?" A chill ran through the Yanglong Emperor, the Taixiao Emperor, and the others. *This brat leaves absolutely no loopholes!* They had secretly hoped to use the Supreme cave abyss to nurse their Dao injuries and recover their cultivation, but Xu Ying had now blocked that path entirely. Emperor Changsheng knew that Xu Ying feared he might refine the Supreme cave abyss or use it to achieve a breakthrough within the ten days; that was the sole reason behind this proposal. He glanced toward the Yanglong Emperor and the others. Even though they were terribly frail, he still dared not turn hostile right now. If the Yanglong Emperor and his peers retained even ten percent of their strength and joined forces with Xu Ying, the one who ended up dead might very well be himself. When the Primordial Monarch had died, Emperor Changsheng had been half a step faster than Xu Ying, yet both had arrived at the scene of her death at the exact same moment. The sheer level of cultivation Xu Ying had displayed back then had genuinely startled him, leaving him unwilling to stake everything on a reckless gamble! "We shall do as you say." Emperor Changsheng turned and walked out of the Supreme cave abyss. The Yanglong Emperor and the others supported one another and followed him out as well. Once they were outside, Xu Ying immediately placed a seal over the Supreme cave abyss and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, we shall meet again in ten days!" With that, he drifted away. The Yanglong Emperor and the others looked grim. The seal Xu Ying had left behind was exceptionally intricate; if they wished to unravel it, they could never do so in short order, requiring days of dedicated study before they might hope to break through. "Brother Yanglong, should we add our own seals outside the Supreme cave abyss as well?" the Taixiao Emperor whispered. "Even if we add them, we can't keep that Xu kid out. He comes and goes as he pleases." "Add them!" the Yanglong Emperor said decisively. "We aren't guarding against Xu Ying—we are guarding against the other one!" The Taixiao Emperor understood at once. If there was only Xu Ying's seal, Emperor Changsheng might still find an opportunity to breach it. Only by layering the seals of all eight emperors upon it could they hold Emperor Changsheng at bay! They were already gravely injured, and forcing what little magic power they had left to place the seals worsened their condition even further. Emperor Changsheng stepped forward as well, placed his own seal outside the cave abyss, bowed respectfully to the eight emperors, and turned to leave. The ones he was guarding against were the eight emperors. The Yanglong Emperor and the others watched his retreating figure, and one suddenly said, "To the Wealth Department! The Heavenly Venerable of the Wealth Department oversees all the world's cave abysses, and they still have a few Immortal Monarch and Immortal King cave abysses there. We'll make do with them for ten days just to keep ourselves alive!" With haggard, despondent expressions, the eight emperors made their way toward the Wealth Department. Even using a Heavenly Monarch–grade cave abyss, it would take them eight to ten years to heal their injuries. Relying on the Immortal King and Immortal Monarch cave abysses of the Wealth Department, they could at best keep death at bay; of fully curing their wounds, there was no hope whatsoever! Xu Ying poked his head out from behind a palace wall. Seeing the eight emperors hobbling away while supporting each other, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and walked toward Weiyang Palace. *The deceit and paranoia of the Immortal Realm—this sensation where no one can trust a single soul—is truly wonderful!* he thought happily, quickening his pace. *Since nobody trusts anybody, none of them will be able to touch the Supreme cave abyss. That means the only person who can actually use it is me!* He entered Weiyang Palace, paid his respects to his mother, Lan Suying, and said apologetically, "Mother, I have stirred up major trouble, and I fear it will implicate you and Father. The Imperial Monarch is an avatar of Emperor Changsheng. In ten days, I will challenge Emperor Changsheng to settle our vendetta." Upon hearing this, Lan Suying understood his meaning immediately. She promptly instructed the palace maids to pack their belongings and said, "I will go find your father, and we will hide for ten days. Ten days from now, we will return to cheer you on." Xu Ying bowed deeply, kowtowing to the floor. "I have brought trouble upon my parents!" Lan Suying hurriedly helped him to his feet with a warm smile. "You are my son. What talk is there of trouble?" Xu Ying severed the Yingzhou cave abyss from himself and handed it to her. "Mother, take the Divine Mother, Gushe, and the others with you. For this battle, I want to face it myself without borrowing their strength." Knowing he feared implicating the immortals residing within Yingzhou, Lan Suying accepted the cave abyss without hesitation. Leading several palace maids, she departed in haste and hurried toward the Dou Department. Xu Ying escorted them all the way, watching them enter the Dou Department safely. When Lan Suying found Xu Jing, she said, "In ten days, Ying'er will fight a decisive battle against Emperor Changsheng. We need to leave and hide for a while." Xu Jing was baffled. "Hide from what?" "If Emperor Changsheng lacks total confidence in victory, he will certainly move against us first to disrupt Ying'er's state of mind so that he cannot cultivate in peace during these ten days," Lan Suying said swiftly. "He might even capture us to threaten Ying'er. This duel is a matter of life and death; we must prepare for every eventuality!" Xu Jing was startled. "Madam, have you already learned to divine Emperor Changsheng's moves?" Lan Suying rolled her eyes at him and chuckled. "Why would I need divination for this? A moment's thought makes it obvious. Thank goodness Ying'er took after me and not you. Oh, right—bring Primordial Monarch Zitong along!" Xu Jing laughed sheepishly, gathered his things, and went to see Primordial Monarch Zitong to explain the situation. Primordial Monarch Zitong remained impassive and asked, "Should we bring the other sisters along as well? I hear he has quite a few." Lan Suying laughed. "My silly son cares about only one woman, and that's you. Don't let your thoughts run wild. The others are pure fabrications." Xu Jing took out a jade pendant, pressed it into Primordial Monarch Zitong's hand, and smiled. "This is Yingzhou warm jade, naturally imbued with the Immortal Dao, capable of taking a lethal calamity in one's stead. Yingzhou produced only three such pieces. When Ying'er obtained them, he offered two to us and kept this one intended for you. It's just that he is thin-skinned and felt too bashful to come, so he asked me to give it to you. Monarch, surely you see where his heart lies." Primordial Monarch Zitong accepted the jade pendant, secret delight filling her heart. "Then I shall accompany you." With that, the three descended to the mortal realm. Lan Suying summoned the Divine Mother, Gushe, Yuan Tiangang, and the rest, saying, "Sever karmic ties, obscure heavenly numbers, and break free of all cosmic clues. Once we conceal ourselves, not even a Daluo Golden Immortal or a Supreme Saint will ever track us down!" The four master diviners joined forces. A dense bank of mist rolled in, and they stepped into the fog. When the mist cleared, the group had vanished without a trace. *** In Yantian, within the Hall of Changsheng. Emperor Changsheng returned to the hall. Palace maids stepped forward to help him change into everyday robes and served hot tea. Emperor Changsheng waved a hand, dismissing them. After a moment of contemplation, he raised a hand and plucked a thread of black qi from between his brows. The black qi dropped to the floor and coalesced into the Heavenly Fiend Imperial Monarch. The Heavenly Fiend Imperial Monarch bowed to him and said, "I ruined your plans. Do you intend to kill me?" Emperor Changsheng shook his head. "You are part of me. Why would I kill myself?" The Heavenly Fiend Imperial Monarch looked surprised. "If you acknowledge that I am part of you, why did you sever me from your body in the first place?" Emperor Changsheng smiled. "First, you embody the righteousness, kindness, and integrity in my heart—traits the Immortal Realm cannot tolerate, making them demonic here. I had to sever you to preserve my cold reason. Second, I could use you to lay traps, ensuring that anyone attempting to probe my Dao arts and divine powers would suffer a disastrous loss. With you inside me, I could not scheme with undivided focus." The Heavenly Fiend Imperial Monarch asked, "And you severed me just now to make a move against Xu Ying?" Emperor Changsheng chuckled. "Warfare is governed by deception. Xu Ying once defeated the Jiuyou Emperor; his strength is extraordinary. His cultivation is barely a hair weaker than mine, with virtually no difference. Therefore, I must ensure he cannot cultivate in peace. Someone, come!" A disciple hurried in immediately and bowed. "Master." "Luo Xuan, go to Mount Sumeru, seek out Ji Bodhi, and ask him to hunt down and kill Xu Jing and his wife," Emperor Changsheng ordered. "He owes me a favor; without repaying it, he will find no footing here. After seeing Ji Bodhi, go to the Myriad Immortals Valley and find Heavenly Monarch Yan Shuihan, Heavenly Monarch Feng Louchun, and Heavenly Monarch Li Wanzhong. Have them join the pursuit against Xu Jing and his wife as well. They received my grace in the past; today is the day to repay it." Luo Xuan assented and departed Yantian at once, heading for Mount Sumeru. The Heavenly Fiend Imperial Monarch remarked, "Xu Ying is exceedingly sharp. He will certainly have his parents hide beforehand. Sending people after them will likely yield no results." Emperor Changsheng smiled. "Just because he has taken precautions does not mean I will not do it. Even knowing he is prepared, I will still send people after them. That way, even in seclusion, he will find no peace of mind, constantly fretting over his parents' safety and stalling his cultivation." The Heavenly Fiend Imperial Monarch realized his intent. Emperor Changsheng continued, "My battle against the Eastern King left me with only minor wounds. The technique Qingxuan devised to merge cave abysses was placed before the Eastern King by my own hand. I understand the method as well, yet I never had the chance to practice it." His eyes flickered as his gaze fell upon nine Heavenly Monarch–grade cave abysses. "It will not take ten days—perhaps only five or six—before I can master the control of all nine cave abysses, gathering the nine Daos of the cave abysses into one body," Emperor Changsheng murmured. "I will not honor the ten-day agreement. The moment I have fully integrated the nine great cave abysses, I will strike without warning in a surprise attack, ending Xu Ying's life!" In a duel of life and death, there was no room for honor! *** Leaving Weiyang Palace, Xu Ying traveled to Kunlun. Rather than visiting the Queen Mother of the West and the others, he made his way directly to Yuxu Palace in the Kunlun Ruins. "Patriarch," Xu Ying greeted Daoist Yuxu with a bow. "I need to cultivate here for a few days. The world is vast, yet I fear there is nowhere I can cultivate in peace. After much thought, this was the only place." Daoist Yuxu said, "Cultivate here in peace. No one will disturb you." Thus Xu Ying took up residence in Yuxu Palace. Behind him, a dark cave abyss slowly rose into view—the Taiyi cave abyss, its outer perimeter encircled by the Emerald Rock Great Dao. This was the first time since his "ascension" that he had unleashed the Taiyi cave abyss. Daoist Yuxu raised an eyebrow, shook his horsetail whisk, and shifted it to the crook of his other arm. That dark halo of light unsettled Him slightly. With a resonant hum, another halo of light emerged behind Xu Ying's head: the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven. Xu Ying unfurled the Great Luo Heaven, and the Ten Great Luo Sceneries manifested. Though these ten sceneries had once been eroded into tatters in the mortal realm, they were now fully restored and even grander than before, spanning over ten times their original scale. Atop each of the ten sceneries sat a Dao flower, with phantoms of ancient gods seated around the flowers atop the landscapes. Those ancient gods were composed of the branch-like striations of the Emerald Rock Great Dao, each exuding immense majesty and grandeur! These ancient god imprints were the dark Heavenly Dao of the mortal realm, another form of the Emerald Rock Great Dao! Xu Ying barked, "Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan, come forth! I need you to aid my cultivation!" The moment the words left his mouth, a strange Heavenly River flower "walked" out from behind the ten great Dao sceneries within the bodhimanda. The flower surged with soaring sinister qi, yet the Dao arts it cultivated were virtually indistinguishable from Xu Ying's own! Evidently, it had deciphered Xu Ying's Dao arts and divine powers directly from the imprints within the Great Luo bodhimanda! "Xu Ying, you knew all along that I was inside the Great Luo Heaven?" the strange flower asked, puzzled. Xu Ying smiled. "Dao Brother, your rate of growth was faster than Master Bell's. Even if I were blind, I could have seen through you. Brother Xiao, my duel with the Imperial Monarch is at hand, and I must resolve the hidden danger you pose. However, I have reaped considerable benefits from occupying your Great Luo bodhimanda. I will give you a chance and spare your life. You may leave the bodhimanda and survive as a strange anomaly, provided you never harm anyone." The strange Heavenly River flower sneered. "And what if I refuse?" Xu Ying said, "If you refuse, your body and spirit will be thoroughly extinguished today." The great flower stood upright on its stem, bracing two leafy branches against its sides, and roared with laughter. "Xu Ying, your fatal mistake was being too confident! The instant you realized I was latched onto the Heavenly River flower, you should have struck and destroyed me! Yet you gave me the chance to grow strong inside my own Great Luo Heaven! All this time, I have devoured your cultivation, refined your spiritual energy, comprehended your Great Dao, and mastered your divine powers! Everything you know, I know! The reason I held back from touching you was to let you complete this bodhimanda. Once our bodhimandas merge into one, I will seize your soul and take your physical body for myself!" Xu Ying shook his head. "Everything you have belongs to me. How could you possibly seize my body? Brother Xiao, do not persist in your delusions!" The strange Heavenly River flower's body suddenly writhed and shifted rapidly, transforming into a man standing seventeen feet tall, clad in green robes, with an angular, bizarre flower pinned at his temple and floral stamens dancing behind him like tentacles. He chuckled, "Xu Ying, even Daoist Wukong failed to kill me! What makes you think you can?!" Letting out a piercing roar, he lunged at Xu Ying, hissing, "Ten Thousand Phantasmagoria Converge as One!" He struck out with a palm, and Dao phantasms danced through the Immortal Dao runes across the Great Luo Heaven. The very Immortal Dao runes refined from Xu Ying's own Dao phantasms were now under his command! Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan laughed uproariously, his aura surging explosively as he pressed in on Xu Ying. "Dueling me inside my own bodhimanda? I'll make sure you die without even knowing how!" Xu Ying activated his flawless golden body and engaged him in fierce, close-quarters combat. Both unleashed their full might. A manic gleam flashed in Xiao Lanshan's eyes as he shouted, "Xu Ying, there is a flaw in the flawless golden body! You know it, and I know it! Watch me shatter your golden form!" In mere moments, the two exchanged over a hundred blows, every strike aimed squarely at taking the other's life. Known as the Evil Golden Immortal, Xiao Lanshan was the paramount figure of the unorthodox path. Having survived relentless pursuits by countless enemies, his combat experience vastly outstripped Xu Ying's. He battered Xu Ying until his flawless golden body leaked, finally inflicting wounds upon him. Seeing that Xu Ying was on the brink of defeat, Xiao Lanshan was consumed by ecstatic triumph—when suddenly, Xu Ying summoned the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler. *Crack!* The ruler came down, shattering Xiao Lanshan's head to pieces. The Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler was renowned as a strike that never missed; true to its reputation, even a grandmaster of the unorthodox path like him could not evade it. Xu Ying caught his breath, circulated the Taiyi Indestructible True Scripture, and channeled the spiritual energy of the Taiyi cave abyss to mend his injuries. Once his wounds healed, he sat where he was, quietly contemplating the flaws of the flawless golden body and modifying the technique. Before long, he activated the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven once more. Within the Great Luo Heaven, Dao resonances boomed like drums, rumbling through the air. The forms of the ancient gods subtly shifted, Dao flowers bloomed and withered, and fresh buds sprouted, slowly unfurling. Countless Great Dao runes, Dao patterns, and principles rearranged themselves amid the booming Dao resonance, leaving the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven entirely refreshed. As the Dao flowers blossomed, Xu Ying's gaze turned sharp as lightning, and he barked, "Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan, come forth! I need you to aid my cultivation!" A strange Heavenly River flower strode forward on its root-tendrils like human legs, stepping out from behind the ten great Dao sceneries, and asked in bewilderment, "Xu Ying, you knew all along that I was inside the Great Luo Heaven?"