Those three impermanence ghosts and the snake-faced impermanence ghost were, of course, Xu Ying, Yuan Weiyang, Uncle Xiao, and Yuan Qi. Yuan Qi's body was simply too massive; though he had transformed into an impermanence ghost, he had slithered for all one hundred and twenty years of his life. Standing upright felt awkward and clumsy, nowhere near as comfortable as gliding along the ground.
These Nuo masters had disguised themselves as impermanence ghosts to enter the Netherworld and harvest yang qi. If they could get in, they naturally had a way to get out.
The fake impermanence ghost trembled all over as they coerced him into leading the way. "You can't get out like this," he stammered. "The bronze bell and that giant behind you are way too conspicuous! The moment we reach the outside, my sect will notice us, and we'll all die!"
Xu Ying knew he was telling the truth. Just moments ago, when a few men had their masks ripped off, their own companions struck them down without hesitation. Infiltrating the Netherworld to harvest yang qi was clearly an illicit, top-secret operation.
It was difficult for Xu Ying's group not to draw attention; leaving like this would surely give them away.
Uncle Xiao said haughtily, "A mere sect of the martial world can hardly amount to much. A handful of Grand Nuo would already be pushing their limits. Once we're out, all we need to do is give the name of our Yuan clan, and even their sect master would probably fall to his knees to welcome us."
Xu Ying questioned the guide, "Who are you people?"
The fake impermanence ghost hesitated for a moment before answering truthfully, "We are from the Cangwu Sect of southern Xiang. We were commissioned by someone to enter the Netherworld and gather yang qi."
Uncle Xiao was well versed in the affairs of the martial world. Hearing this, he furrowed his brows slightly and said, "The Cangwu Sect is indeed a sect of Nuo masters located on Mount Jiuyi. It lacks any profound Nuo arts in its heritage—just a small local sect. We can go there without worry; stating our name will suffice."
Yuan Weiyang shook his head. "Uncle Xiao, could a small local sect truly possess so many impermanence ghost masks?"
To refine each impermanence mask, one had to descend into the Netherworld and hunt down an impermanence ghost. This time, the Cangwu Sect had deployed two to three hundred Nuo masters, wearing two to three hundred masks. A tiny local sect could never possess such immense wealth and resources!
With a sobbing tone, the fake ghost wailed, "These impermanence masks were sent from the capital! They don't belong to our Cangwu Sect! A grand figure in the capital ordered us to enter the Netherworld to harvest yang qi. If we refused, our entire sect would be exterminated!"
Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang exchanged a look, both seeing astonishment in the other's eyes.
A grand figure from the imperial capital came all the way to Mount Jiuyi in Yongzhou, sought out this small Cangwu Sect, and made them descend into the Netherworld to scrape yang qi from little ghost babies?
Everything about this reeked of sinister strangeness.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind Xu Ying: "Why would a grand figure from the capital seek you out to harvest yang qi?"
Xu Ying's scalp went numb. Yuan Weiyang could not help shivering either and whispered, "Is it the Zhou clan ancestor?"
Xu Ying turned around and saw a white-browed youth who had appeared behind them without anyone noticing. It was none other than the old ancestor of the Zhou clan, Zhou Qiyun.
Yuan Weiyang looked back, cold sweat instantly drenching him.
Uncle Xiao clenched his fists, thinking grimly, *The old ghost Zhou found his way here! Even if it costs my life, I must protect the Young Master's escape!*
Yet he also knew that even if he died, he would likely fail to protect Yuan Weiyang.
Before the Zhou clan ancestor, his life did not have the slightest sacrificial value!
Xu Ying looked overjoyed, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion. "Old Ancestor Zhou, we finally waited you out! The shockwaves of your divine power swept us here, and after waiting so long without you showing up, we feared something had happened to you! If you hadn't come, we would have been lost in the Netherworld forever!"
The white-browed youth, Zhou Qiyun, said coolly, "I followed the trail left by the bronze bell and searched all the way here, which caused a bit of delay. Had you remained in place, finding you would have been much simpler."
Xu Ying said without batting an eyelid, his face deathly pale, "I was worried you wouldn't be able to find us, so I had the bell leave a furrow in the ground."
The Zhou clan ancestor fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Does wearing a Nuo master mask thicken one's skin as well?"
Xu Ying laughed boisterously, then turned back to question the fake impermanence ghost: "What is this grand figure from the capital here for?"
The fake ghost replied, "I heard from a senior martial brother that the grand figure from the capital came to prolong their life."
"Prolong life?"
This time, even Zhou Qiyun was stunned. He set aside Xu Ying's ditching him and escaping, and demanded, "A grand figure from the capital came to Yongzhou to prolong their life? How do they prolong it?"
The fake ghost answered, "I heard from a senior sister that when she delivered the yang qi, she saw the grand figure consume it, and their complexion improved tremendously. That grand figure is also practicing some cultivation technique that requires massive amounts of yang qi every day."
Zhou Qiyun muttered, "Fascinating, truly fascinating... Which old friend from the capital has arrived in Cangwu? I am trying to undergo my tribulation in Yongzhou; why rush over in such a hurry without even saying hello?"
A flicker of killing intent glinted in his eyes.
To undergo his tribulation, he would spare no expense. Any master coming to Yongzhou at this time would be his enemy and a hidden danger that had to be eliminated!
"Xu Ying, do you have any more Nuo master masks?" Zhou Qiyun asked. "Lend me one."
Xu Ying took out an impermanence mask. Zhou Qiyun placed it onto his face, and his appearance immediately changed, transforming him into an impermanence ghost.
With a flick of his finger, a Nuo art flew out and landed on Yuan Qi. Yuan Qi's enormous body instantly shifted, quickly shrinking to the size of a normal impermanence ghost.
Seeing Yuan Qi still sprawled on the ground slithering forward, Zhou Qiyun could not help frowning. "Stand up. Stop crawling."
Yuan Qi stood up, took two steps, collapsed again, and went back to slithering.
Zhou Qiyun took a long breath, suppressing the annoyance in his heart. *If not for my past connection with this fellow's grandfather, I would strike him dead right here!*
Back then, he had framed Yuan Qi's grandfather and knew he was in the wrong. He raised a hand to pluck off Yuan Qi's mask, letting him return to his normal form, and said, "The only reason you cannot alter your size is that your magic power is insufficient for such a colossal form. I shall lend you a helping hand so you can change your size at will."
Before Yuan Qi could respond, Zhou Qiyun's soul flew out and pressed a palm against Yuan Qi's head.
Yuan Qi immediately felt a surging torrent of power pour into his body, sending his cultivation soaring step by step, multiplying two- to threefold in an instant!
Zhou Qiyun withdrew his soul and said, "Now try circulating your technique."
Yuan Qi circulated the True Cultivation of the Ba Snake. Suddenly his body expanded, turning into a hundred-zhang giant serpent exhaling clouds and mist, before abruptly shrinking until he was barely a foot long, small and dainty!
Both surprised and overjoyed, Yuan Qi quickly gave thanks.
Zhou Qiyun said coolly, "It was virtue accumulated by your ancestors. No need to thank me."
Xu Ying was filled with envy. Just as he was about to speak, Zhou Qiyun shook his head. "Your ancestors accumulated no virtue."
Xu Ying dropped the idea of asking for an empowerment of cultivation.
Yuan Qi sprang onto Xu Ying's shoulder, hiding inside his collar.
Zhou Qiyun walked over to the bronze bell, making Xu Ying's heart leap into his throat. Zhou Qiyun merely said, "This bell suffered severe injuries yet wasn't shattered to pieces. A truly rare marvel."
He patted the bell lightly with his palm. The place where his hand fell happened to be the palm print left by the maiden in the coffin, though that print had already been filled in by the copper pillars of Huaihua Palace and was invisible to the naked eye.
As if struck by an attack, Zhou Qiyun's hand snapped back violently. Shock and doubt flickered across his face. "What a peculiar divine power!"
The bronze bell suddenly shrank, spinning rapidly as it flew into the back of Xu Ying's head, shouting, "Ah Ying, this miser Zhou Qiyun actually helped refine away a portion of my injuries!"
Zhou Qiyun lifted his palm and saw bizarre patterns shimmering across his flesh; the remnant divine power in that palm print had actually invaded his hand!
*A palm print left by a peerless Qi Refiner!*
Secretly alarmed, Zhou Qiyun glanced at Xu Ying. Xu Ying was skilled at deciphering Qi Refiner techniques, possessed such a bronze bell, and now the palm print on it was also left by a peerless Qi Refiner. This made him wonder whether Xu Ying was truly just a snake catcher from Lingling in Yongzhou.
He clenched his fist forcefully, wiping away the lingering divine power from his palm, and said flatly, "Now that we are entering Cangwu, we won't draw any attention. Let's go."
The fake impermanence ghost scurried forward to lead the way.
That Zhou Qiyun had not claimed the bronze bell for himself came as a surprise to Xu Ying.
After all, Zhou Qiyun had pillaged wealth everywhere along the way, scraping even Shuikou Temple and Huaihua Palace clean down to the bedrock. The bronze bell was worth far more than those two places, yet Zhou Qiyun had not been tempted!
"Xu Ying, I can tolerate you running away twice," Zhou Qiyun held up two fingers and said calmly. "Should there be a third time, I will kill you and take your treasures. I am quite fond of your bell."
Xu Ying smiled. "This isn't my bell. It's my friend."
"Befriending a magic artifact?"
Surprised, Zhou Qiyun shook his head. "If it were me, I would definitely erase its sentience. An artifact is an artifact, nothing more than a tool. Sentience only gets in the way!"
Along the way, they encountered several other fake impermanence ghosts who were also from the Cangwu Sect, all looking dejected. Ordered into the Netherworld to harvest the yang qi of little ghost babies, their operation had been disrupted by Xu Ying and the others. Having gathered little, they were dreading punishment upon their return.
Mingling among the crowd, Xu Ying's group followed them to a canyon. Looking up, they saw only a thread of sky overhead, unable to discern just how high the canyon rose.
As Xu Ying gazed upward, a phrase suddenly surfaced in his mind: *Cangwu Abyss? Is this the Cangwu Abyss?*
Ahead, the masked Nuo masters pressed close to the canyon wall, advancing along a narrow, winding ledge. Beneath their feet lay a bottomless abyss of ten thousand fathoms.
Above them, the cliffs towered impossibly high. Walking along this path, even Xu Ying, who had learned the sword control technique, felt his heart pounding with dread.
Suddenly, a deafening rumble surged from below. Xu Ying looked down and saw the canyon walls deep in the abyss glowing a blinding, searing gold and red. The moment his gaze touched the depths, his pupils shrank involuntarily.
On the narrow ledge, everyone's faces were flushed red by the glow.
In the abyss, the cross-sections of the two worlds—the Netherworld and the mortal realm—were still grinding and colliding with tremendous roars, belching waves of terrifying heat.
Xu Ying's heart stirred. He had witnessed this before—back when he had first mastered the Heavenly Eye, he had seen an abyss formed by the collision of worlds along the banks of the Nai River!
*Back then, I also saw rocks that looked like bodies moving in the abyss, but I was too far away to see clearly. Now that I'm inside the Cangwu Abyss, I should be able to see much better.*
At this thought, as if possessed, Xu Ying activated his Heavenly Eye and peered into the abyss.
Suddenly, he saw them again—enormous bodies writhed in the deepest part of the abyss, massive forms like boulders shifting ceaselessly!
This time he saw in greater detail: those writhing stones looked like rocks, yet also resembled stone-textured muscle fibers!
Just then, layers of muscle fibers parted abruptly, revealing a colossal eye.
Xu Ying's head spun, and his vision went black. When he came to his senses, he found his body already stepped out beyond the edge of the cliff, on the verge of plummeting!
Yuan Weiyang had grabbed him by the back of his clothes, preventing him from falling into the abyss.
Cold sweat beaded on Xu Ying's forehead as he thanked Yuan Weiyang.
When he looked into the abyss again, the rocks were just rocks; there was no eye to be seen.
"Gazing upon what should not be seen and listening to what should not be heard will only invite catastrophe," Zhou Qiyun said coolly as he walked past him.
Xu Ying caught up with him and asked, "Has Old Ancestor Zhou also heard and seen them?"
Zhou Qiyun was silent for a moment before saying, "Refining qi requires comprehending the images of the Great Dao; refining Hidden Sceneries also requires comprehending Dao images. When I was comprehending the Great Dao pervading heaven, earth, and nature, I entered too deeply into the Dao, and many strange voices whispered by my ears, sounding as if they were calling out to me. I also sensed unfathomably powerful auras. Whenever I tried to listen closely or perceive them carefully, I would encounter great terror."
Xu Ying's heart skipped a beat. "Great terror?"
Zhou Qiyun did not elaborate. "You will understand once you enter the Dao in the future."
Yuan Weiyang walked up beside him and whispered, "Old Ancestor Zhou is right. When you enter the Dao, you do hear bizarre whispers."
Xu Ying asked, "You've entered the Dao before?"
Yuan Weiyang replied, "While practicing our family's Yuan Dao Heavens Induction at home, I entered the Dao once. How many times have you entered the Dao, Demon King Xu?"
Xu Ying said sheepishly, "I've only entered the Dao once as well. Haha, I wonder what the weather is like outside?"
In his mind, the bronze bell yawned and said lazily, "Last time when you broke through the Pass-Breaching stage, if you had settled your mind to comprehend the Mysterious Root of Heaven and Earth, you probably would have entered the Dao once."
At that moment, silken threads suddenly dangled down from above the canyon. One by one, the Nuo masters grasped the threads and were yanked upward, flying toward the sky and vanishing from sight.
Zhou Qiyun looked up, his eyes flickering. "To think that within Mount Jiuyi there exists such a road leading straight into the Netherworld. Come, let's go up!"
Xu Ying, Yuan Weiyang, and Uncle Xiao each grabbed a thread. Suddenly, a reeling force took hold, flicking them upward and hurling them up the canyon!
Wind howled past their ears as Xu Ying, Yuan Weiyang, and the others soared upward for an unknown distance. Suddenly, as if breaking through an invisible barrier, bright light burst into view before their eyes.
With several swooshing sounds, Xu Ying landed. Green hills and emerald waters greeted his eyes.
Zhou Qiyun also touched down. Before he even had time to survey his surroundings, a voice brimming with majesty boomed from a grand hall in the distance: "Why did you gather no yang qi this time? Does your Cangwu Sect wish to be beheaded as sacrifices to Heaven?"
Hearing that voice, Zhou Qiyun's heart pounded wildly, an expression of disbelief washing over his face.
"The... the Emperor!"
He nearly cried out in shock. "The person who came to the Cangwu Sect to prolong their life is His Majesty, Emperor Shengshen Zhangwu!"
Chapter 64