The Martial Dao Can Reach the Gods

The Immortal Emperor Supreme cast another divination. The hexagram remained identical to every reading he had performed before: Xu Ying was dead. "It is good that he is dead. Very good. And yet, Uncle Danxuan sent an incarnation to pursue that dog, Xiaotian, so why has he never found it? Until I see his corpse with my own eyes, there will always be a lingering unease in my heart." Hesitating for a moment, the Immortal Emperor Supreme performed the divination once more. The result was still Xu Ying's death, without the slightest change. *He really must be dead,* he thought to himself. Back when he harvested Xu Ying, he had been entirely immersed in refining Xu Ying's realms and Dao scenes, paying no heed to the corpse. Once he learned that Xiaotian had snatched the body away, he had grown uneasy, constantly worrying that Xu Ying might somehow come back to life. Yet over the past two and a half years since Xu Ying's harvesting, he had cast divinations several times every single day. Every time, Xu Ying showed up dead. With his divine divination skills, there should be no error. Throughout the past two years, whenever he recalled that harvest, a chill still ran down his spine. Even with such meticulous preparation, he had nearly failed. Fortunately, he had sought out Dao friends beforehand and rescued several of the powerhouses among the Six Supremes and Twelve Wondrous Ones to serve as his backing. Without that contingency, the one lying dead would likely have been him. "Only by planning from within the tent can one secure victory a thousand li away. A pity, though, to lose such an outstanding opponent." The Immortal Emperor attempted to channel Xu Ying's realms. Over the past two years and more, he had already transplanted Xu Ying's cultivation realms into his own body. At first, these realms resisted him slightly, but after prolonged nurturing, they gradually felt like his own. He had also attempted to refine Xu Ying's thirteen Dao scenes. The first six were swiftly harmonized with his original six Dao realms, but refining the remaining seven proved exceptionally difficult. With his vast magic power, he could easily summon the four Dao realms of the God Bridge, the Indeterminate Long River, the Void Flame, and Hunyuan Taiyi. However, when it came to the three Dao scenes of the Emerald Rock, the Three Realms, and Primordial Chaos, he could barely unleash their true might. His goal in harvesting Xu Ying was not merely to activate these seven Dao scenes, but to grasp their underlying Great Daos once he possessed them. What he needed to do was nourish these seven Dao scenes so they would continually grow and elevate to the level of a Supreme. Yet after more than two years, his gains remained meager. Though he had the advantage of having acquired these seven Dao scenes firsthand, deciphering the principles embedded within them was still an immense struggle. The Primordial Chaos Dao scene, in particular, remained utterly motionless. "Over the past two years, I have spread word that I am the founder of the new Dao. No one in the entire Earth Immortal Realm is unaware of it. I shall become the ancestral master to countless Qi Refiners! My merit and virtue will only grow, and I will surely master the Primordial Chaos Dao scene!" The Immortal Emperor let out a long breath and looked toward the Three Realms Golden Ships docked at the ferry. The first batch of Three Realms Golden Ships had already been forged under Daoist Yu Ji's direction. These ships differed somewhat from the dragon race's Three Realms Golden Ships. The Dao patterns on the dragon vessels were dragon runes, which were inherently powerful; however, dragon runes were notoriously difficult to comprehend and even harder to activate. Thus, the newly refined Three Realms Golden Ships were inscribed with the runes of the present era. At the docks, several immortal gods were gathering their gear and preparing various magic treasures, boarding one of the Three Realms Golden Ships one after another. It was a thrilling moment: they were about to test this new golden ship on an expedition to the Heavenly Immortal Realm! After a moment, the magnificent golden ship was activated by the magic power of the immortal gods. It slowly sailed out of the dock and soared toward the sky. Beyond the sky of the Earth Immortal Realm, a colossal shadow was visible to the naked eye. The skeletal remains of a gigantic dragon, drifting from some unknown origin, hung suspended in the void—frozen in place, radiating an invisible sense of dread. The dragon skeleton was so gargantuan that one of its claws seemed to stretch right to the edge of the Earth Immortal Realm. In reality, it was still unimaginably distant, separated by endless expanses of solidified spacetime. The skeleton had still been moving two years ago, but recently, for reasons unknown, it seemed to have been arrested, fixed within the frozen spacetime and unable to stir. Under the expectant gaze of the Immortal Emperor, the golden ship set sail. At the same time, another golden ship entered the River of Spiritual Light, charting a course toward the Mortal Realm. This, too, was a test voyage, meant to verify whether the new golden ship could safely reach the Mortal Realm. Of the two golden ships, one vanished into the shimmering depths of the Heavenly Sea, while the other ascended ever higher and faster, breaking free of the Earth Immortal Realm and drawing closer to the colossal dragon skeleton. Several dozen days later, the ship that had ascended into the sky suddenly exploded with a deafening blast, turning into a ball of fire right before the dragon's head. As for the immortal gods aboard, one look was enough to know none had survived. "Continue forging stronger Three Realms Golden Ships!" Daoist Yu Ji commanded at the ferry. Several dozen days later, the other golden ship that had headed toward the Mortal Realm returned. Of the many warriors who had originally filled the deck, most were dead or injured; fewer than ten percent made it back. They had brought back a unique creature from the Mortal Realm: a white bone skeleton. It was during the capture of this skeleton that the majority of their casualties had occurred. "At last, we can set sail." Towering figures such as the Supreme of Creation gathered behind the Immortal Emperor. Including the emperor himself, there were nine in total: three Supremes and six of the Wondrous Realm of Great Luo! "The battle between the Holy Venerable and the Ancestral God shook heaven and earth, yet there has been no word of them since! Those two peerless beings must have mutually wounded each other! We shall campaign against the Mortal Realm, crush the Holy Venerable, and eradicate the Ancestral God!" "Fellow Daoists Jiugong, Taiyuan, and Saint Luo remain in the Mortal Realm. If they stubbornly choose to stand with the Holy Venerable, we shall simply send them on their way!" A Three Realms Golden Ship, carrying the nine great masters including the Immortal Emperor Supreme, drifted out to sea. Aboard the vessel, the Immortal Emperor Supreme pinched his fingers in divination and smiled at the Supreme of Creation, Luofu Dao Lord, and the others. "The hexagram says this journey brings supreme good fortune. We shall land safely in the Mortal Realm." Out of habit, he cast another divination to check on Xu Ying's life or death, feeling quite gratified. "Xu Ying is truly dead. I may rest easy." Back at the dock, Daoist Yu Ji surfaced from diving into the sea to salvage shipwrecks. Returning to shore, he noticed one of the golden ships missing from the shipyard and promptly grabbed someone to demand, "Where did that golden ship go?" "Reporting to the chief craftsman, His Majesty and several supreme beings from the Great Luo Heaven boarded the ship, set out to sea, and headed for the Mortal Realm." Hearing this, Daoist Yu Ji stamped his feet. "That ship was forged by my good disciple Chanchan! How could they be so reckless as to board Chanchan's ship?! Even I wouldn't dare!" On the thirtieth day. Just as the Mortal Realm came into sight, the ship sprang a leak. Before it could sink entirely to the bottom, the golden ship skidded onto the shores of the Mortal Realm. With ashen faces, the Immortal Emperor Supreme and the others stepped onto the land of the Mortal Realm. Behind them, the Three Realms Golden Ship slowly sank into the depths, swallowed by the waves. Ships built by Zhu Chanchan were just that miraculous. "No matter. Our journey brings supreme good fortune!" the Immortal Emperor Supreme stated. The Supreme of Creation, however, wore a look of concern and murmured to the others, "Could it be that Mingzun suffered a backlash from Primordial Chaos after harvesting Xu Ying, throwing off his divinations?" Daoist Danxuan chuckled. "Having obtained such an opportunity, his cultivation and power have vastly increased. His divinations will only become sharper and sharper. How could they be inaccurate?" "Did any of you find the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler?" the Supreme of Creation asked abruptly. The others all shook their heads. The Supreme of Creation laughed softly. "The Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler was Fairy Qiongtai's Supreme treasure. Whichever brother found it, just speak the truth. Could anyone possibly rob you of it?" Luofu Dao Lord added, "Indeed. We are all in the same boat now; what is there to hide? If you have the treasure, bring it out early." The Supreme of Creation glanced around the circle and suddenly laughed. "It seems the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler is truly not among us." The nine figures all chuckled together and said, "The scene was so chaotic back then. Most likely, the ruler was lost or flew away." "By the way, Danxuan, did you catch that dog?" the Supreme of Creation asked. Danxuan shook his head. "That dog is too fast and terribly cunning. Every time my incarnation tracked him down, he used all manner of tricks to slip away." "Did you find Xu Ying?" Danxuan shook his head. The crowd chuckled. "Dao Ancestor Xu, it seems, is indeed quite dead." A guest arrived at the Yuan Manor. At first, he was a filthy, disheveled beggar, but once washed and groomed within the manor, he turned out to be an exceptionally handsome youth of sixteen or seventeen. When Guo Xiaodie caught sight of him, she found him vaguely familiar. By the time she returned to the Yuan Manor to seek him out, the youth had already departed with Yuan Weiyang. Guo Xiaodie felt melancholy for a long time over this. The young girl of the past had now become a married woman, yet back then, there were two youths she had liked most. Sadly, one of those youths had been a woman, and the other was an undying immortal. *Hasn't that fellow Xu Ying always looked thirteen or fourteen?* She felt rather puzzled. *How did he grow up a bit? Once an undying immortal grows up, is he still an undying immortal?* Xu Ying sat at the bow of a pleasure boat, drifting along the ripples of the Luo River with Yuan Weiyang. The so-called beloved was right at the bow, barely two feet away. Xu Ying relaxed completely, lying back on the deck of the boat and gazing up at the white clouds in the sky. With her head bowed and hair falling loose, Yuan Weiyang read from an ancient book, her crisp voice echoing across the river: "Yin and Yang are the Dao of heaven and earth, the guiding principle of all things, the parents of transformation, the root of life and death, the palace of divine illumination. One who understands Yin and Yang can comprehend the principles governing the changes of the great Dao of heaven and earth, master life and death, and commune with the divine. Ah Ying, perhaps you should begin by harmonizing the two qi of Yin and Yang." Xu Ying sat up and channeled the Taiyi Undying True Scripture. Yet his thirteen realms were completely empty; let alone the two qi of Yin and Yang, he could not sense even the qi of his five viscera. Yuan Weiyang laid down the ancient text and consoled him, "It's all right. We will think of other ways. If things are like this, what if I sever those realms of yours? Could they appear again?" Xu Ying smiled. "In the past, yes. Because my Undying True Spirit was strong enough. But after being harvested this time, all that remains of me is a single wisp of indestructible spiritual light." Yuan Weiyang examined his soul closely. His soul was exceedingly faint, and his indestructible spiritual light was no different from a mortal's. Such an Undying True Spirit clearly lacked the power to restore a broken physical body. Concealing the anxiety in her heart, she said, "I'll look through other ancient books. There must be a way to heal you." She pondered. The ancient books preserved in the Yuan family likely contained no records of such severe injuries, because anyone wounded to this extent should have died long ago. "Perhaps we should seek out some immortal herbs and medicines. Maybe they can heal your wounds." Yuan Weiyang's eyes brightened, and she smiled. "We should go to Kunlun. There are many immortal lingzhi and herbs there. I remember our pilgrimage to Kunlun last time!" As she spoke, she suddenly paused, her brows knitting slightly. Xu Ying looked at the girl beside him. Her memories ended abruptly with the pilgrimage to Kunlun and meeting the Queen Mother of the West. She remembered nothing that occurred after. She did not know that the Queen Mother of the West had awakened Zitong, turning Yuan Weiyang into a mere fragment of memory. From that moment on, Xu Ying had harbored a deep fear of his first-life self. It was also from that moment that Xu Ying learned that once his first-life self awakened, he would die just as Yuan Weiyang had. Yuan Weiyang was fortunate. She did not know she had a past life, did not know of the entangling love that bound her to Xu Ying across generations, and did not know that Primordial Monarch Zitong had ever existed. Right now, she rejoiced at reuniting with her beloved, yet worried over his injuries. She was blessed not to know any of that past. Xu Ying had come to understand something: to free the one she loved from the curse of reincarnation, Primordial Monarch Zitong had excised herself as an inner demon, leaving her physical form to Yuan Weiyang. That was why the Immortal Emperor Supreme had never divined Yuan Weiyang's existence. From beginning to end, the one he had calculated was Primordial Monarch Zitong. He had never thought to divine Yuan Weiyang. Zitong had left Yuan Weiyang to him, choosing death for herself. Xu Ying could not sever his first-life self the way Zitong had severed hers, because the first-life Xu Ying had never truly died; he had merely slumbered within the Sovereign's seal. Every Xu Ying across ten thousand lifetimes was nothing more than a dream born of his slumber. A Xu Ying born of a dream could never sever his master. Only the master could sever himself. The first-life Xu Ying had made nearly the same choice as Zitong: he had left Xu Ying behind and chosen death for himself, thereby severing the Immortal Emperor's divine foresight. Primordial Monarch Zitong and the first-life Xu Ying—both had likely departed forever, dispersing into the mortal world. All that remained now were two incomplete souls: one named Yuan Weiyang, and one named Xu Ying. Xu Ying offered a faint smile. "You don't need to worry about me. Was I not penniless and empty-handed in the past as well? Though I have lost everything now, I have gained my true self. Moreover, Mingzun can strip away all my cultivation, all my realms, and all my Dao scenes, but the things in my head are something he can never take." He rose to his feet and began practicing martial arts on the pleasure boat, throwing punches and kicks, diligently tempering his martial Dao. Ripples spread outward across the calm surface of the river. The martial Dao could connect to the gods; it was the origin of all divine arts and Dao techniques. He had lost everything, but his martial Dao remained—it had never been harvested! Seeing his spirits lift, Yuan Weiyang smiled. Whenever he paused to rest, she would ask him about the various realms of the new Dao, laughing as she said, "After returning to Yuanshou, I heard you were preaching the Dao there and hurried over, but you had already left. I will help you look for those immortal herbs and medicines, and you can teach me how to cultivate the new Dao." Xu Ying gladly agreed. Aboard the pleasure boat, one practiced martial arts while the other cultivated the new Dao. Only Uncle Xiao in green stood silently at the stern, surging with magic power to propel the craft forward. The old man said nothing, watching the pair of youngsters with an occasional smile. He channeled his magic power, and the pleasure boat took to the air, soaring toward the boundless expanse of the heavens in search of immortal mountains, blessed lands, spiritual lingzhi, and divine herbs. "I've formed a hidden scene!" Yuan Weiyang's delighted cry rang out. "I've opened a cave abyss!" "I've broken through the Nine Realms!" "I've mastered the Six Paths!" ... Yuan Weiyang's cultivation progressed so swiftly that Xu Ying repeatedly asked to inspect her realms, lest she leave behind any hidden flaws. To his surprise, however, Yuan Weiyang's foundation on the cultivation path was even firmer than his own. She was one of the rare few whose talent and comprehension rivaled his, and she polished every single realm to utter perfection. Not only that, but Xu Ying had only laid out the rough outlines of each realm; many things he had never thought of were conceived and refined by Yuan Weiyang. By the time the pleasure boat reached the borders of the Immortal Realm, Yuan Weiyang was already preparing to undergo her heavenly tribulation. "Weiyang! My first realm—it seems to have sprouted a few little mountain buds!" Xu Ying suddenly cried out in surprise and joy. Yuan Weiyang rushed over to look. Sure enough, within Xu Ying's empty Qi Gathering realm, several tiny mountains were sprouting, burgeoning into peaks the size of a fingertip! "They're so tiny!" she exclaimed in delight.