Xu Ying's vital essence bled away at an alarming pace. At first, it rose like a beacon's smoke column, but soon it billowed up in roiling clouds that blanketed the heavens and earth, enshrouding even the Holy Venerable's Great Luo Heaven!
His current strength was already comparable to that of a Great Luo Golden Immortal. With a single breath, not even a Heavenly Monarch–grade cave abyss could withstand his intake, leaving only a Supreme-grade cave abyss capable of sustaining him. Now that he was dispersing his cultivation, one could well imagine the horrifying deluge of spiritual qi and spiritual energy unleashed as it unraveled!
In a mere instant, his realm was cut all the way back down to the Ascension stage!
Behind him, the realms of Jade Capital, God Bridge, Yao Pond, Multi-storied Pavilion, Mutual Refining, Qi Gathering, and the Three Passes manifested one after another. Brandishing the Heaven-Measuring Ruler like a sword, he sliced them away one by one!
In ancient times, when immortals descended to the mortal realm, they had to sever their own realms first, shearing away their immortal dao to step foot into the world below.
Yet no immortal would ever sever away stages like Ascension as well. Xu Ying, however, sliced his cultivation straight down from the Heavenly Immortal realm to an utter blank slate, stripped of any realm whatsoever!
Because he had cultivated the Leakless Golden Body, his physical form's realm could not be stripped away. Likewise, his Primordial Spirit was an Indestructible Primordial Spirit and could not be severed either.
Even so, within mere moments, ninety percent of his cultivation was shed, and he had even excised his attainment in the Emerald Rock Dao.
His strength was decimated by ninety-nine percent!
Only a single tenth of his cultivation remained, nestled deep inside his Primordial Spirit.
Watching this, Lou Mingyu felt his heart pound in sheer terror. To slash away every single realm in one breath solely to test whether a new dao was viable—even he lacked such staggering boldness.
Severing a cultivation base was easy, but refining it back was excruciatingly difficult.
Cultivation was rife with unpredictability. A sudden flash of enlightenment might let someone breach a bottleneck once, but upon cultivating anew, that very same revelation might never return, leaving one forever barred from reclaiming their previous heights.
Lou Mingyu watched Xu Ying anxiously. He saw him sit cross-legged and begin to gather and refine qi, testing the feasibility of each consecutive realm.
Xu Ying had severed his Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, and now he began to cultivate them afresh.
This realm served as the groundwork, securing the vessel and nourishing vitality. It was of paramount importance, determining whether one's foundation would be sturdy enough to break through subsequent realms.
Though the route was familiar and well-trodden, Xu Ying still took several days, even mobilizing the spiritual qi of the Taiyi Cave Abyss to cultivate and stabilize the realm.
Five days later, he finally achieved a breakthrough, stepping into the Hidden Scenery realm.
This realm required internal contemplation within the Realm of Xiyi to manifest Dao images, which in turn formed an internal cave-heaven. Because it was a completely unprecedented realm, Xu Ying's cultivation did not come easily; it cost him three days.
Seeing him successfully verify this realm, Lou Mingyu was visibly moved, knowing that Xu Ying's path to becoming a Dao Ancestor was truly established.
Standing at Xu Ying's side to guard him, Lou Mingyu watched him advance toward the next stage: the Golden Core realm. Reaching the Golden Core realm first required opening the Weilu mystic pass, then refining Samadhi Divine Water and Samadhi True Fire to the point of utter clarity where water and fire mutually refined one another to forge an elixir cauldron, ultimately bringing the core to fruition.
This realm actually compressed two stages from the ancient Qi Refiner path and was a time-consuming affair, but Lou Mingyu was certain Xu Ying could pull it off.
At that moment, an uncontrollable thought suddenly exploded within his mind.
*What if... I mean, what if I take advantage of the fact that Junior Brother Xu hasn't regained his realms, while his cultivation and strength are far inferior to before, and kill him outright?*
The flesh below Lou Mingyu's left eye twitched violently. He tried to master his expression, but the muscles and sinews of his face seemed beyond his control, twisting into a grotesque contortion.
The harder he tried to rein it in, the more warped his face became.
*If I kill him, the person who created the New Dao's realms will be me! I will be the Dao Ancestor of the New Dao! My achievements will far outstrip the Holy Venerable, far outshine Qingxuan! I will be venerated for myriad generations, remembered with gratitude by untold multitudes. The incense and worship they offer alone would grant me divine power on par with the Ancestral God!*
His palms trembled faintly. At this instant, the temptation flared with unbearable intensity.
Xu Ying was too weak right now, possessing only the cultivation remaining in his Primordial Spirit. In the cultivation of the immortal realms, what a Primordial Spirit could store was vastly inferior to a bodhimanda or a Dao scenery. Relying solely on his Primordial Spirit and the Leakless Golden Body, he could never withstand Lou Mingyu's assault.
Fame, glory, and supreme power were within arm's reach!
And yet...
*I cannot do this! I am not the true Dao Ancestor—he is! If I kill him and usurp his title, what Dao heart would I have left to cultivate?*
His expression flickered between darkness and light. *Yet that was exactly what Master did. The Holy Venerable murdered Qingxuan and usurped his place, becoming the true sovereign of the New Immortal Realm! That was how he did it, so what's the big deal if I, his disciple, follow in his footsteps?*
A war raged within his soul. From time to time, he raised a trembling hand to pinch and rub his glabella, desperate to yank out and sever the demonic thought plaguing him, only to hesitate again and again.
*This is an ordeal of cultivation. I must conquer my own greed and selfish desire!*
He sat down cross-legged, his complexion shifting erratically as good and evil clashed violently within his heart, tearing through his thoughts like an apocalyptic war.
Six days later, Xu Ying entered the Cave Abyss realm. The profound Dao resonance echoing from his cave abyss suddenly shook Lou Mingyu awake.
Lou Mingyu looked up and froze, entranced.
Within the cave-heaven shaped by Xu Ying's Dao images, myriad Dao manifestations danced in concert with the Five Sacred Immortal Mountains, coalescing into the form of a cave abyss. Immortal mountains nestled within, resembling a miniature world of the immortal dao—magnificent, breathtaking, and seemingly pregnant with limitless possibilities for the future!
Lou Mingyu had seen countless cave abysses. From the lowest grade that housed only a solitary immortal mountain to the most exalted Supreme-grade cave abysses, he had witnessed them, studied them, and even cultivated with Supreme cave abysses.
Yet what Xu Ying displayed was a cultivation realm—one that contained the immortal dao within and formed a self-sustaining cave abyss.
Such an exquisite realm of the New Dao struck Lou Mingyu with a force that obliterated the lingering demonic thoughts in his heart, leaving him trembling with awe. Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled over.
*To attain such a wondrous realm is an immense blessing for countless cultivators. If I were to murder him for petty self-interest, I would be severing myself from the Great Dao!*
With the demonic thoughts purged from his Dao heart, an overwhelming clarity washed over him. His heart turned luminous and unclouded, and he saw his prior greed and fixation for what they truly were: petty and hollow.
Xu Ying's realm continued to climb. He swiftly bypassed the Primordial Spirit realm and advanced into the Nine Realms of Cave Abyss. Driven by his diligent cultivation, the cave abyss continually ascended, making a relentless charge toward the ninth realm.
Lou Mingyu thought to himself, *If Junior Brother Xu had named the nine realms of the New Dao something like First Heaven and Second Heaven, it would have been a laughingstock. Future cultivators speaking of the Dao Ancestor who forged these realms would probably murmur behind his back that he was an illiterate. Fortunately, I applied a bit of pressure on him.*
He felt a quiet swell of pride, convinced his own contribution had to be somewhat greater than that of a mere sword-bearing page beside a Dao Ancestor.
*Junior Brother Xu achieved this enlightenment under my guidance. Even if I can't claim half the credit, twenty or thirty percent should be reasonable, right?*
He reconsidered, feeling that might still be too generous. *Ten percent. Surely I deserve at least ten percent?*
Just then, he suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation, striking so violently that his heart pounded against his ribs. Lou Mingyu glanced at Xu Ying, but Xu Ying remained deep in his meditative comprehension, undisturbed by the tremor.
Clearly, Xu Ying was not the source of the disturbance.
Tracking the origin of the tremor, Lou Mingyu stepped out of the Holy Venerable's Great Luo Heaven and gazed at the surrounding Great Luo Heavens. The twelve neighboring Great Luo Heavens were faintly undulating as well, their fabric of pure Dao rippling into layer upon layer of creases!
Even more astonished, Lou Mingyu peered downward. Even the Nine Heavens beneath Great Luo Heaven exhibited ripple after ripple, undulating like flowing water!
"What is this...?"
He looked toward the Earth Immortal Realm. The entire realm seemed like a restless sea, gently shuddering as ripples spread rapidly from one end of the realm to the other.
The starry skies abruptly brightened, and countless stars seemed to materialize out of nowhere in the direction of the Mortal Realm.
Peering into the distance, Lou Mingyu could vaguely make out three rotating, abyss-like silhouettes amidst the radiant brilliance of the far-off Mortal Realm.
Shaken to the core, Lou Mingyu muttered, "The Holy Venerable and the Ancestral God... have clashed in the Mortal Realm after all..."
Now that the Far Ancestor was dead and his spirit shattered, the only being left in this world who could contend against the Ancestral God was the Holy Venerable!
The Holy Venerable represented the peak combat strength of the New Dao era. His solo duel against the Ancestral God was a clash of glory worthy of being recorded in the annals of history!
*Wait... if the Holy Venerable is fighting the Ancestral God, Mingzun will realize the Holy Venerable is not in Great Luo Heaven...*
The thought sent a cold shiver down Lou Mingyu's spine.
At the very same time, Immortal Emperor Supreme, having emerged from his secluded cultivation and severed the Dao injuries of his Zangification, had returned to his peak strength. These past days, he had been diligently attending to imperial affairs without rest; only today had he found a moment of leisure.
Standing outside the Imperial Palace, he raised his gaze toward the glow emanating from the Mortal Realm. Then, turning his eyes toward Great Luo Heaven, a peculiar expression crossed his face.
"Holy Venerable, you are not in Great Luo Heaven?"
***
The Ancestral Court.
Zhenwu Temple.
The Four Saints of the Northern Pole held vigil here, each cultivating the Taishang Cave Abyss. At this moment, an ethereal phenomenon of the Taishang Cave Abyss manifested in the sky above. The boundless, majestic dao power and spiritual qi of the Taishang Dao surged out from the cave abyss and poured into Zhenwu Temple.
Young Master Ningqing was also cultivating here. Under the guidance of the Four Saints, he applied himself with great diligence, and his comprehension of the Taishang Dao had already reached an exceptionally profound realm.
Right then, a voice rang out with pristine clarity in the ears of the Four Saints and Ningqing: "The Taishang Cave Abyss may indeed be a Supreme-grade cave abyss, but because it is damaged and its Great Dao incomplete, it was abandoned long ago. To think you people would still treat it as a priceless treasure."
The Four Saints and Ningqing turned toward the voice and saw a young man in dark blue-black robes. At some point, he had walked into Zhenwu Temple, an elliptical cave abyss hovering behind his head, and was looking up at the Taishang Cave Abyss.
The Four Saints felt a chill. They had not sensed when this man had entered the temple at all!
Zhenwu Temple was their personal bodhimanda. For an outsider to step into their sanctuary undetected meant his power was terrifyingly high—far beyond the Four Saints themselves!
"Who are you?" Ningqing demanded.
The youth offered a faint smile. In the next breath, Ningqing felt the Returning Dao Jade Platter break free from his control and fly out of his Realm of Xiyi. Alarmed, the Four Saints hastened to unleash their magic power to suppress the jade platter.
To their horror, the jade platter merely pulsed with a faint ripple of light, and Imperial Monarch Cangtian's Dao instantly disintegrated. His Primordial Spirit shattered into dust, and he collapsed to the ground as a lifeless corpse.
As the light on the Returning Dao Jade Platter swirled, Imperial Monarch Zhenwu, Imperial Monarch Heisha, and Imperial Monarch Puhua collapsed dead one after another, their Dao unraveling and their Primordial Spirits shattering without exception.
"You were revived through my Returning Dao Jade Platter to begin with. How dare you raise a hand against me?"
The youth chuckled softly and turned to Ningqing. "Do you know who I am now?"
The Returning Dao Jade Platter cast its glow over the fallen, and the Primordial Spirits of the Four Saints knit back together while their Daos were restored. Miraculously, they returned to life from death. The four of them stood in shock, gripped by suspicion and dread.
"I am one of the founding elders of the new dynasty, one of the Six Supremes and Twelve Wonders—Good Fortune Supreme,"
the young man said with a smile. "Ningqing, you are my disciple, and the Four Saints were guardians I arranged for you. Do you know who I am now?"
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Ningqing. He immediately bowed in worship: "Disciple pays respects to Master!"
Good Fortune Supreme burst into hearty laughter. "Rise."
The Four Saints of the Northern Pole each let out a heavy sigh. Back when Imperial Monarch Cangtian had accompanied Xu Ying to visit the Ancestral God, the Ancestral God had told him that their life and death were not in their own hands, but subject to another's whim. Now, those words had proven entirely true.
Good Fortune Supreme was the true mastermind pulling the strings.
Good Fortune Supreme scrutinized Ningqing with satisfaction and said, "Back in Weixu, I originally wanted to choose Xu Ying, but that brat was utterly stubborn and refused to take the bait. I had to settle for second best and choose you. You have more drive and potential than the Eastern King, and you are worthy of inheriting my mantle. I only just escaped from the Cosmic Dark Realm; all these years, I guided your cultivation through the Returning Dao Jade Platter. These coming days, I shall instruct you in person."
Both surprised and overjoyed, Ningqing bowed again in gratitude.
Good Fortune Supreme took up residence in Zhenwu Temple to guide Ningqing's training. Under his tutelage, Ningqing's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.
More than a month later, the heavens and earth suddenly trembled with a violent thrum. Sensed by something profound, Good Fortune Supreme quickly looked toward the starry skies beyond the Earth Immortal Realm.
"The ones fighting must be the Holy Venerable and the Ancestral God!"
He threw his head back and roared with laughter. "The Holy Venerable lacks foresight—to think he was actually lured away to the Mortal Realm! The Ancestral God already controls the Heavenly Dao of the Mortal Realm as well as the Heavenly Dao of the Dark Mortal Realm. That realm has become the Ancestral God's bodhimanda! Stepping into the Mortal Realm guarantees he would be detected by the Ancestral God!"
Excitement coursed through him. "Right now, the Ancestral God is mightier than ever. Locked in a death battle against him, the Holy Venerable is doomed to lose! Even if he miraculously survives, he will be grievously wounded! All these years of waiting haven't been in vain—my chance to turn the tables has finally come!"
Filled with vigor, he soared straight into the sky, leaving Ningqing and the Four Saints behind as he flew toward the Nine Heavens.
"First, I'll raid your old lair!"
***
Within the Holy Venerable's Great Luo Heaven, Lou Mingyu's eyes darted frantically, sensing impending disaster. The secret of the Holy Venerable's absence from Great Luo Heaven could no longer be kept from the Immortal Emperor, and the Emperor was bound to come in person to reap Xu Ying. Right now, Xu Ying had only reached the Six Daos realm, having refined the Six Daos realm to encompass ten Daos, yet he had not fully verified it. How were they going to survive this?
He glanced toward Daming Palace, gritted his teeth, and hauled Xu Ying inside, thinking, *Live or die, it all comes down to this!*
The moment his front foot stepped across the threshold of Daming Palace, the sky over the Holy Venerable's Great Luo Heaven suddenly sagged downward. It looked as though a gigantic face were pressing against the firmament, its features distinct down to the finest detail, its eyes rolling in every direction as it searched for anyone remaining in Great Luo Heaven.
Catching sight of this from afar, Lou Mingyu dragged Xu Ying deeper into Daming Palace, his heart pounding in terror.
*Is that face Mingzun?* Lou Mingyu's chest heaved.
In the split second he looked back, the face on the celestial canopy sank lower and lower, practically scraping the ground. Then, as if a thin membrane had been torn from the Holy Venerable's Great Luo Heaven, a humanoid entity wrapped in this membrane descended slowly, separating from the sky and striding toward Daming Palace.
Reaching the deepest recesses of Daming Palace, Lou Mingyu steadied his breathing. Looking at the countless Dao trees, Dao flowers, Dao fruits, and Dao sceneries around them, his expression turned grim as he muttered under his breath, "Let's see whether the Supreme realm can overcome the Great Luo Myriad Phenomena left behind by the Holy Venerable!"
Just then, the corner of his eye caught Xu Ying. Within Xu Ying's Six Daos realm, an eleventh Great Dao was currently taking shape.
Lou Mingyu was dumbfounded, mumbling, "Didn't we agree 'Six Daos' meant six Great Daos? What on earth do you mean by refining eleven?"
And at that very moment, the membrane-clad figure stepped through the gates of Daming Palace!
Chapter 609