At that moment, the Taiyi Cave Abyss was merging with Xu Ying's Dao domain. With his ten domains united as one, Xu Ying was like a miniature Taiyi Cave Abyss, and having it integrate with his Dao domain vastly accelerated his imprinting speed!
His cultivation was also advancing by leaps and bounds. The various immortal mountains within the Taiyi Cave Abyss grew exceedingly bright, drifting suspended in the void of the abyss as pervasive Dao power nurtured and expanded his attainment.
Yet deep within those layers of floating immortal mountains, in an unimaginably distant region, lay a continent of the other shore. What had alerted Daoist Yuxu just moments ago was an abnormal disturbance originating from that very place.
Xu Ying was fully absorbed in comprehending the Great Dao and imprinting his Dao domain, completely unaware of this subtle ripple. Daoist Yuxu hesitated for a moment, thinking, *He is a descendant of our Yuxu Palace, the sole heir left to Yuxu Palace in this world.*
Nowadays, the Great Dao of the ancient era had fallen into decline. Xu Ying had not studied the Yuxu Dao methods extensively, but to Daoist Yuxu, being able to keep the heritage of Yuxu alive at all was already an immense blessing.
At present, Xu Ying was practically their only seed.
Daoist Yuxu raised his horsetail whisk into the air. The whisk hovered in the sky as its individual strands sprouted and spread downward like an inverted bowl, enveloping and shielding the Kunlun Realm.
This treasure was known as the Jade Void Horsetail Whisk. Renowned alongside the Diamond Snare, it was a magic treasure of the Wondrous Realm. Though its power was no longer what it was in its prime, it remained extraordinary.
Daoist Yuxu rose and walked toward the Taiyi Cave Abyss.
The whisk was his personal treasure; with it deployed, any invading foe would trigger it first, warning him immediately.
Stepping into the Taiyi Cave Abyss, Daoist Yuxu instantly felt a surging tide of spiritual qi, as though he were submerged in a boundless ocean of spiritual energy. Only spiritual qi of such staggering purity and scale could sustain a Heavenly Monarch in reaching the Supreme Realm!
Xu Ying's current cultivation was already remarkably formidable, yet the spiritual qi he consumed during his cultivation did not even amount to one percent of what the Taiyi Cave Abyss produced!
What astonished Daoist Yuxu even more was the Taiyi Great Dao itself. This Dao was exceptionally exalted. Dao sounds issued from the void, allowing one to enter a state of enlightenment at any given moment.
Cultivating this Great Dao would undoubtedly propel one's cultivation ever higher!
"It is in no way inferior to the cave abyss of my Yuxu Palace," Daoist Yuxu marveled.
The Yuxu Palace of the Kunlun Ruins had its own unique heritage and possessed its own cave abyss, called the Yuxu Cave Abyss, though it had been taken away long ago by Dao Ancestor Yuxu.
As he flew over peak after peak of the immortal mountains, the aura of the Taiyi Great Dao grew increasingly potent, and the resonance between the Dao and the soul intensified. If someone were to cultivate and comprehend the Taiyi Great Dao here, their speed would easily be dozens of times faster than in the outside world!
Daoist Yuxu even felt a creeping sensation that he was being assimilated by the Taiyi Great Dao. He was not a mortal, but a Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit—a divine being condensed from the Great Dao of the Kunlun Realm's Yuxu Palace bodhimanda. The Great Dao contained within the Taiyi Cave Abyss was so overwhelmingly strong that it posed a great hazard to him.
To him, this was an invasion of an outer dao.
Even so, Daoist Yuxu forced himself forward, determined to find out what was happening.
Among all cave abysses, the Taiyi Cave Abyss was the most enigmatic. After Emperor Haotian summoned it, he rarely displayed it to others. Following his demise, the Taiyi Cave Abyss vanished as well.
Emperor Haotian had also been the first person in history to unravel the mysteries of the Emerald Rock and summon a cave abyss, making it inevitable that his Taiyi Cave Abyss concealed some secret.
At last, braving the hazard of assimilation, Daoist Yuxu arrived at that other shore.
What met his eyes were ancient structures: massive, rugged, and completely unlike contemporary architecture. Across their surfaces were strange, branch-like patterns rendered in the form of written script.
Daoist Yuxu studied these patterns, unable to recognize a single character.
He advanced cautiously. A bizarre power radiated from these ancient buildings, suppressing his movements. This force was distinct from both the New Dao and the Old Dao; it was an entirely novel system of Dao methods.
*Xu Ying has probably never reached the depths of this cave abyss before.*
The deeper Daoist Yuxu went, the greater the influence this foreign dao exerted over him, forcing him to channel all his strength just to withstand it.
Had the Jade Void Horsetail Whisk been in his hand, he could have resisted with ease, but now he was finding it somewhat strenuous.
If even he felt strained, Xu Ying would certainly struggle even more had he come here. For this reason, he concluded that Xu Ying had never set foot in this place.
Strange corpses lay scattered on the ground. Daoist Yuxu stopped to examine them, finding that they belonged neither to the human race, nor to the demon race, nor to the dragon race.
They were humanoid beings with enormous skeletons, bearing some resemblance to the ancient god imprints within Xu Ying's bodhimanda. Yet the ancient god imprints in Xu Ying's bodhimanda were merely phantoms, whereas the skeletons here were physical and real!
Daoist Yuxu approached one of the colossal skeletons. He was not even as tall as one of its toes. Looking up, he saw the skeleton seated upright in a four-legged cross-legged posture, its eight hands forming seals before and behind its body, as though maintaining a seal to protect itself!
As Daoist Yuxu drew near, the aura emanating from the skeleton set his eardrums buzzing, rattling his composure so severely that he was forced to step back several paces.
He looked up again and noticed that across the surface of the skeleton were those same branch-like patterns, sprawling over every bone. These patterns were similar to the principles that formed the ancient gods within Xu Ying's bodhimanda.
"Could they be primordial beings? Or do they hail from beyond our universe?"
Daoist Yuxu showed a look of astonishment and murmured, "Are they gods of the other shore? But why would they die inside a cave abyss?"
He skirted around the giant skeleton and continued forward, and even more colossal skeletons came into view. Daoist Yuxu vaguely sensed that his own Great Dao was on the verge of unraveling under the pressure of these remains, so he had no choice but to halt, preparing to turn back.
Right at that moment, he caught sight of a figure in green sitting before a hall ahead.
Suppressing his discomfort, Daoist Yuxu walked forward and saw that the green-robed figure was a young man in his thirties, looking not quite forty, bearing an immortal aura and the bones of a true master of the Dao.
Daoist Yuxu felt his face looked familiar, yet could not recall where he had seen him. He inquired, "Fellow Daoist, Daoist Yuxu offers his greetings. May I ask how to address you?"
***
Having thoroughly refined the nine Heavenly Monarch cave abysses, Emperor Changsheng saw his cultivation and strength take another stride forward. Seeing that five days of the ten-day period had already elapsed, he emerged from secluded cultivation. An immortal immediately stepped forward to report, "Your Majesty, after Xu Ying left the Immortal Court, he headed for Kunlun."
Emperor Changsheng chuckled. "Cultivating in the Kunlun Ruins? Does he intend to rely on Daoist Yuxu to protect him? Daoist Yuxu is merely a Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit born from Dao Ancestor Yuxu's bodhimanda. If he truly had any real capability, how could he have fallen to the rebel army back then?"
He set off directly for Kunlun.
Entering the Kunlun Ruins normally required stepping onto the God Bridge and traversing its span into that ancient bodhimanda, but the God Bridge had long since been destroyed during the Thunder Department's subjugation of Kunlun.
Arriving at the severed end of the God Bridge, Emperor Changsheng crossed the gap in a single stride and stepped into the Kunlun Ruins. He saw Dao light intermittently flashing from Yuxu Palace atop Qilin Cliff, continually surging outward and contracting back in.
Waves of Dao sounds echoed forth. When loud, they resembled the roaring of ten thousand dragons; when low, they were like the whistle of wind inside a conch shell—truly winding through endless turns and singing the boundless wonders of the Dao.
Listening to the Dao sounds, Emperor Changsheng's expression shifted slightly. This sound of the Dao was so profound that even he fell short in many respects. He immediately made his way toward Yuxu Palace.
In a duel to the death, there was no room for chivalry. Now that he was prepared while Xu Ying was not, Xu Ying was as good as dead!
Suddenly, Emperor Changsheng came to a halt.
A slender whisk strand silently glided past before him, cleanly cleaving the space in front of him.
Emperor Changsheng's eyelid twitched.
A magic treasure of the Great Luo Wondrous Realm had just displayed an incomparable level of finesse: that thin strand of whisk hair had sliced through space, yet left no visible cut surface at all!
The space before him remained layered seamlessly together, as though space itself had not even realized it had been cleaved.
Space possessed an extraordinary capacity to heal itself, mending rapidly even after being severed. But if space itself did not even realize it had been cut, it could never heal!
Emperor Changsheng raised his brow. Had that treasure landed upon his own body, the result would surely have been the same!
His eyes flickered. He was sorely tempted to test himself against this Wondrous Realm supreme treasure to see if he could break through its defense. Yet when he considered that he might very well suffer an injury, or worse, alert Xu Ying and give Xu Ying an opening to strike him down, he hesitated.
Emperor Changsheng blew softly. The world ahead suddenly shifted out of alignment, exposing a circular cross-section of severed space three thousand li wide and of unfathomable height!
"To encounter such a mighty Wondrous Realm supreme treasure and not test it..."
Emperor Changsheng moved forward. Across the sky, the whisk spun slowly as strands of whisk hair slashed downward. The nine cave abysses above Emperor Changsheng's head rotated, elevating his cultivation and strength to an even higher level. He flicked his fingers repeatedly, knocking back each falling strand before it could draw close.
Even so, the impacts left Emperor Changsheng's arms tingling with numbness. Daring not be careless, he immediately unfurled his bodhimanda. Within the domain, plum blossoms drifted from a plum tree, swirling in the wind and transforming into a Great Dao wheel that rose to meet the falling whisk strands.
The collision between the Dao wheel and the whisk strands produced a muffled, shocking thunder.
Suddenly, numerous other Great Dao wheels flew forth, sweeping back and forth across the air to deflect the whisk strands. As Emperor Changsheng advanced toward Yuxu Palace, twelve Great Dao wheels appeared in the sky, whistling past as they guarded his passage.
This was the Imperial Monarch's Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Demon-Breaking Art! In its state of twelve Dao wheels, the Demon-Breaking Art was truly breathtaking!
The Jade Void Horsetail Whisk grew all the more furious in its assault. Hundreds of strands swept across, battering the twelve Great Dao wheels aside and lunging directly for Emperor Changsheng.
Just as the hundreds of strands thrust forward in unison, the twelve deflected Dao wheels whistled back, settling behind Emperor Changsheng's head. Accompanied by a resonant Dao chant that sounded like ten thousand Daos harmonizing at once, an immense Dao wheel blazed to life behind him, piercing through the twelve wheels with blinding brilliance!
Meanwhile, the hundreds of whisk strands thrusting down suddenly fanned out, forming a pristine white hand of colossal proportions that slammed heavily downward.
*CLANG—*
A deafening chime like a great bell reverberated across the entirety of the Kunlun Ruins. Auroras burst across the sky as the Great Dao of the Kunlun Ruins was jarred into displaying wondrous phenomena. Yuxu Palace itself trembled violently without pause.
Taking the Jade Void Horsetail Whisk's blow head-on, Emperor Changsheng felt his blood flow turn slightly sluggish. He thought, *Emperor Qingxuan's technique is indeed effective! Although these nine Heavenly Monarch cave abysses cannot match a Supreme cave abyss, they can actually allow me to contend with a Wondrous Realm supreme treasure on equal footing. Truly remarkable!*
The most formidable aspect of Qingxuan's method was its ability to borrow the Dao force of cave abysses, harnessing the power of the Great Dao contained within them for oneself and converting it into the might of one's own divine arts.
In that previous clash, Emperor Changsheng had pushed the Dao force of the nine cave abysses to their absolute limits to emerge unscathed.
*With my current cultivation and strength, I can easily weather the pressure of the Jade Void Horsetail Whisk and fight my way straight into Yuxu Palace!* Just as he was about to charge forward, the flickering Dao light inside Yuxu Palace suddenly flared outward, growing thousands of times brighter and grander than before!
Amidst the Dao light, a bodhimanda surged with a roaring momentum, expanding outward as ten great Dao scenes emerged within it—the very sign that Xu Ying had completed his bodhimanda!
Emperor Changsheng's expression darkened slightly.
At that moment, Xu Ying's primordial spirit materialized above Yuxu Palace, gleaming with dazzling indestructible spiritual light. Looking down, he smiled and said, "So it is the Imperial Monarch. Does the Imperial Monarch wish to wait for the ten-day period to expire, or would you prefer to settle life and death right here and now?"
Emperor Changsheng glanced up at the Jade Void Horsetail Whisk in the sky, wary of collateral disaster. Had Xu Ying not completed his bodhimanda, he would have dared to risk a desperate strike, but now he had no certainty of victory.
"Since we have agreed on ten days, it naturally cannot be changed."
Emperor Changsheng turned to leave, saying, "Five days from now, at the Heavenly Sea Ferry Crossing, I shall await your arrival."
Xu Ying smiled broadly, watching him depart. Only when Emperor Changsheng had completely left the Kunlun Realm did he exhale a sigh of relief and recall his primordial spirit.
As his primordial spirit settled back into his body, the smile on Xu Ying's face vanished entirely. "To be able to withstand even Dao Ancestor Yuxu's Wondrous Realm supreme treasure... Emperor Changsheng's strength is somewhat terrifying. In a clash, even if I deploy the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, I might not gain the upper hand!"
His sole trump card was the Emerald Rock Dao!
However, the Emerald Rock Dao weeping could only weaken a Daluo Golden Immortal; it could not kill one outright. The Evil Golden Immortal had only been destroyed by the Dao weeping because his Great Luo bodhimanda was not a normal one!
*My best bet is to find people to beat Changsheng half to death before the duel! Nip the danger in the bud.* A ruthless gleam appeared in Xu Ying's eyes as he thought, *Those qualified to battle Changsheng: Daoist Yuxu with the whisk counts as one, the Demon Ancestor counts as one, and Daoist Taiqing with the Diamond Snare counts as one. Why not invite them to beat Changsheng into a paralytic first? Wait, where did Daoist Yuxu go? Wasn't he supposed to be guarding me?*
He looked around but found no trace of Daoist Yuxu. Just as he was growing puzzled, Daoist Yuxu stepped out of the Taiyi Cave Abyss with a rather peculiar expression, saying, "Ah Ying, come inside for a moment. There's someone you need to meet."
Xu Ying was taken aback. "Who? Inside my Taiyi Cave Abyss?"
He followed Daoist Yuxu as the Daoist led him into the depths of the cave abyss, a place Xu Ying had never visited before.
Suddenly, Xu Ying's expression changed slightly as he detected an alien aura of the Great Dao. It shared the same origin as the Emerald Rock, yet possessed subtle differences and was not as exalted as the Emerald Rock Dao.
This was his first time setting foot here. From a distance, he saw towering, ancient structures and colossal skeletons that closely mirrored the ancient god imprints generated during his tribulation of the Four Realms!
Before he had time to ponder further, he saw a tall, green-robed man standing on the other-shore continent ahead, his features appearing somewhat familiar.
Xu Ying stared intently at the young man, growing more and more bewildered. Daoist Yuxu led him down to land and asked Xu Ying, "Do you know who he is?"
Xu Ying parted his lips, but words failed him.
The young man bowed in greeting, a warm smile gracing his face as he said, "Qingxuan of the Shangqing Dao Sect greets Fellow Daoist Xu."
Chapter 593