Xu Ying's heart surged with turbulent waves.
Naturally, he had never forgotten the fissure across the Taishang Cave Abyss.
When he first entered the Taishang Cave Abyss, the sight had been both magnificent and bizarre. Immortals undergoing Dao dissolution stood one after another, their physical bodies and primordial spirits dissolving into the Taishang Dao to patch the great fissure in the abyss!
Beyond that, there was an astonishing expanse of Dao Tree forest!
In ancient eras, immortals who had no cave abysses to cultivate in were forced to practice the perilous Taishang Dao. This inevitably led them to undergo Dao dissolution, their bodies and primordial spirits dissolving away until nothing remained but their Dao Trees!
The sheer number of immortals who had perished within the Taishang Cave Abyss was enough to make one's scalp tingle!
Back then, Xu Ying had found Daoist Wukong sitting before the great chasm, having sealed himself away, and rescued him, which triggered the entire chain of subsequent events.
Who could have imagined that the crack across the Taishang Cave Abyss was tied to the legendary Emperor Haotian?
*Could it be that the master of the Taishang Cave Abyss, that Immortal realm being, caused the Dao dissolution of so many immortals just to heal his own wounds?*
It suddenly struck Xu Ying that when he and Qingbi had entered the Taishang Cave Abyss and witnessed so many immortals dissolving into the Dao, he had assumed the Taishang Dao was trying to repair the cave abyss on its own. Looking back now, the master of the abyss had actually been using the lives of those immortals to heal his injuries!
As Mi Yu gradually petrified, he recounted the subsequent events to Xu Ying.
During his time studying on the other shore, Emperor Haotian had already built quite a reputation. In those days, he was the brightest rising star on the other shore, the one with the greatest promise of breaking through to the Immortal realm.
Yet once he realized that the truth of the other shore was far from the paradise he had imagined, he resolved to sever every potential harvesting pipeline targeting the Three Realms before returning home.
The simplest way to sever these ties was to eliminate the masters of the cave abysses.
However, the masters of the cave abysses were terrifyingly powerful. They were beings of the Immortal realm, known as Immortals. Standing tall above the pure lands of the other shore, they possessed immense majesty and unfathomable strength.
The master of the Taishang Cave Abyss was one of them.
That battle was the one that made Emperor Haotian's name resound across the other shore. He had arrived merely as a scholar from a foreign domain; though he hailed from an inferior world and carried a lowly bloodline, his intelligence and eagerness to learn had earned him the admiration of many powerhouses on the other shore. They invited him to grand gatherings and treated him as one of their own.
He truly lived up to their expectations, mastering their teachings with remarkable speed. He wielded the various Zangification arts and Great Daos of the other shore with consummate ease.
He had become more like an alien than the aliens themselves.
When he challenged the master of the Taishang Cave Abyss, the powerhouses of the other shore initially adopted a wait-and-see attitude, pleased to watch a rising star test his mettle against an elder. Emperor Haotian severely wounded the master of the Taishang Cave Abyss and severed his Taishang Dao. While the injury was somewhat grievous, such outcomes were not uncommon in battle.
Afterward, Emperor Haotian acted with far greater prudence. He successively challenged the masters of the Shangqing, Taiying, Creation, Liangyi, Yin-Yang, and Sixiang cave abysses, compiling an astonishing record of victories.
These beings did not suffer injuries that were too severe, yet the passages connecting their cave abysses to the Three Realms were all severed, cutting off any possibility of them harvesting the Three Realms.
The final person Emperor Haotian challenged was his own mentor—the master of the Taiyi Cave Abyss.
That Immortal saw right through his intention and said, "I believed you had assimilated, yet you never did. We did not look down on you for being a lowly wretch from an inferior world. We bestowed civilization upon you, permitted you to wear our garments, observe our etiquette, speak our tongue, eat our food, and wield our treasures. I thought you could become one of us, yet you chose to wallow in your own degradation."
This was Emperor Haotian's most arduous battle. Both were exceptionally mighty Immortals who cultivated the Taiyi Dao. Their clash was fraught with mortal peril, but in the final moment, Emperor Haotian emerged victorious, grievously wounding his mentor and seizing control of the passage from the Taiyi Cave Abyss.
He was heavily injured in the fight. Before he even had time to tend to his wounds, word spread that Emperor Haotian intended to return to the Three Realms.
When this news broke, the ramifications were monumental.
The powerhouses of the other shore could permit him to learn their Dao methods, grant him exalted status, and even allow him to defeat experts of their own kind, but returning to the Three Realms after completing his studies?
Out of the question!
The battle to prevent Emperor Haotian's return erupted on the spot.
The alien trapped in the amber of time had claimed that a million kin had fallen by Emperor Haotian's hand, but those who took part in the siege far exceeded that number.
Their goal was not only to stop Emperor Haotian from returning to the Three Realms with the true heritage of the other shore, but also to seize the opportunity to locate the exact position of the Three Realms.
Leading his eight disciples, Emperor Haotian blocked the final passage and fought desperately against the enemy horde.
The battle was drenched in blood. Immortals from the other shore entered the fray, and only after four were wounded and two perished did Emperor Haotian finally exhaust his strength and life. Seeing that he had died and could no longer bring the supreme arts of the other shore back to the Three Realms—and as if sensing something else—the surviving Immortals abruptly retreated.
Mi Lun and the other seven disciples gathered the broken divine weapons and sharp implements to forge a golden coffin, placed Emperor Haotian's remains inside, and escorted his casket back to the Ancestral Court.
To his dying breath, Emperor Haotian was unable to bring the true teachings of the other shore back to the Three Realms.
With his flesh and blood petrifying, Mi Lun said, "Even so, many aliens still sought to locate the Three Realms and seize this land. We eight fought our way through a bloody path, traveling for six hundred thousand years before we finally returned to our native soil."
Xu Ying was stunned. *Six hundred thousand years ago?* That coincided with the time when the Emerald Rock flew back and threw the Ancestral Court into turmoil. The reason those Immortals had retreated was likely that the Emerald Rock offered by Lu Yiren had flown back to the other shore!
*Lu Yiren offered the Emerald Rock back then, which led Dao Ancestors such as Taiqing, Yuqing, Yuxu, Xuhuang, and Taiyi to take flight toward the other shore! Those Dao Ancestors arrived one step too late.*
Xu Ying felt a pang of regret. If the Emerald Rock had arrived a step earlier, perhaps fewer Immortals would have besieged Emperor Haotian, and he might have found a slim chance of survival.
Yet the moment the thought surfaced, he dismissed it.
The Immortals of the other shore would never have allowed Emperor Haotian to carry their true heritage away. Under any circumstances, they would have made certain he died on the other shore, leaving him no chance of survival whatsoever!
Mi Lun looked at Xu Ying. "Dao Ancestor Xu, His Majesty said before his passing that by merely emulating them, one can never surpass them. To surpass them, one must possess something truly one's own!"
"Possess something truly one's own?"
Xu Ying was taken aback. What counted as one's own? Dao patterns, runes? Or the Great Dao? Cultivation methods? Or perhaps a cultivation system?
Mi Lun said, "Dao Ancestor Xu, since you understand Zangification and the Great Daos of the other shore, study them, and then surpass them! Now, both of you must depart quickly; we are about to seal the imperial mausoleum!"
Xu Ying and Nan Ziyan bowed deeply toward the golden coffin bristling with foreign divine weapons, then turned and departed. As they stepped out of the imperial mausoleum, radiant rays of mist intertwined and danced in the depths behind them, forming layer upon layer of restrictions that sealed the tomb away in dust.
The sight was brilliant yet melancholy, causing Xu Ying and Nan Ziyan to linger for a long time before descending the mountain.
The Ziwei Immortal Court was the court established by Emperor Haotian—this very place. Here, he had laid the foundation for humanity's revival, ultimately allowing humans to stand proud across the heavens and surpass the demon race.
In the end, he was buried here as well.
Putting away the melancholy in his heart, Xu Ying remarked, "Emperor Haotian went to explore the other shore and severed all paths leading there. Combined with the New Dao, no one will practice the method inscribed on the Emerald Rock to summon cave abysses anymore. The only remaining route for beings of the other shore to descend directly is the Heavenly Immortal Realm."
It was now impossible for the other shore to harvest the Earth Immortal Realm directly.
Yet the Heavenly Immortal Realm remained an open path. As long as they descended through the Heavenly Immortal Realm, they could still carry out their harvest.
Xu Ying looked up toward the Heavenly Immortal Realm. The Heavenly Immortal Realm was still cultivating the methods to summon cave abysses, and its inhabitants considered themselves superior to those of the Earth Immortal Realm.
Nan Ziyan's thoughts were on something else. "Is merely opening up a cultivation system and ceasing to blindly copy the methods of the other shore truly what Emperor Haotian hoped for? I don't think so. Yet establishing a cultivation system has already made you Dao Ancestor Xu. As for the rest—the evolution of Dao patterns and runes, the deduction of Great Daos, the advancement of cultivation methods..."
He could not help shaking his head. "The expectations are simply too high."
The obstacles along that path were daunting enough to instill dread; even he felt it was an impossible task.
Only by establishing a new cultivation system had Xu Ying become Dao Ancestor Xu. Before attaining that title, he had endured forty-eight thousand years of trials and tribulations. Even so, when contending with the Immortal Emperor, he had barely scraped through two life-and-death struggles to claim victory.
To completely surpass the other shore—how could that ever be easy?
Xu Ying smiled. "Success depends on human effort. If no one tries, victory will never be won."
Nan Ziyan nodded in silence.
Xu Ying brought out the Wondrous Realm treasure, the Ziwei Demon-Subduing Tripod, and said, "Soon, I will make a trip beneath the Heavenly Immortal Realm to see your master, the Last Lord of Ziwei, and return this treasure to him."
Purple mist coiled within the tripod, the leftover dharmic power from the Last Lord of Ziwei's former life.
Nan Ziyan was startled. "You're going beneath the Heavenly Immortal Realm? Don't tell me you intend to join the battle?"
Xu Ying shook his head. "I want to visit the Heavenly Immortal Realm."
Nan Ziyan jumped in fright.
Xu Ying smiled. "My breakthrough to the Supreme realm is imminent, yet I always seem to lack pressure. Though Elder Long Dai of the dragon race beat me half to death, it still didn't provide that life-or-death pressure needed to shatter my shackles. I want to visit the Heavenly Immortal Realm and see what its true experts are made of!"
He spoke with lighthearted ease, but Nan Ziyan knew full well the danger involved. Once in the Heavenly Immortal Realm, even beings like the Ancestral God or the Far Ancestor could be beaten to death!
Nan Ziyan could not help saying, "Dao Ancestor Xu, if it is pressure you seek, why not look for the Holy Venerable? I hear he has attained the Supreme realm for the second time; his cultivation and strength must be extraordinary, and he is currently going about subduing members of the Twelve Wondrous."
Xu Ying's face darkened, and he shook his head. "Facing me, the Holy Venerable certainly wouldn't take my life. But giving me a sound thrashing is guaranteed."
Remembering how brutally he had beaten the Holy Venerable last time, lingering fear gripped Xu Ying's heart. The Holy Venerable would surely seek equal retribution, perhaps even harsher.
Patting Nan Ziyan's shoulder, Xu Ying said, "Cultivate diligently. In the future, you might need to go to the Heavenly Immortal Realm as well."
Nan Ziyan looked solemn. "Come back alive. If you perish in the Heavenly Immortal Realm, I, Southern Emperor, shall lead the heroes of the Earth Immortal Realm to avenge the Dao Ancestor!"
Xu Ying laughed heartily and waved his hand as he departed.
*The other shore has been searching for the location of the Three Realms all this time. Dao Lord Xuhuang, the Buddha Ancestor, and the others stopped me from ascending to the other shore twice, all to prevent them from discovering that I come from the Three Realms,*
Xu Ying thought quietly, his mind seeming to fly toward the other shore. *That place is the other shore, but it is also hell. Yet Dao Lord Xuhuang and the others went there to win a chance of survival for the Three Realms! In the future, I must go there as well!*
***
In the Tianyuan Realm, Old Ancestor Boshan had crippled his former cultivation and was currently rebuilding his foundation. He had already reached the Dao Scene realm, yet found himself trapped there, unable to achieve a breakthrough for a long time.
Suddenly, a voice rang out: "Boshan."
Old Ancestor Boshan's body shuddered. Looking toward the sound, he saw a green-robed youth walking slowly outside the formations he had laid down.
"Yuan Yu, have you come to kill me?"
Old Ancestor Boshan laughed loudly, his white hair whipping about as he proclaimed, "I will not sit and await death. Even if I must die, I will tear a piece of flesh from you!"
The Holy Venerable shook his head. "No. I need you."
Old Ancestor Boshan froze, then asked suspiciously, "What did you say? Say it again!"
The Holy Venerable said, "I need a fellow Daoist who can command the starry skies, summoning ten thousand stars with a wave of his hand and bringing forth the sun and moon together. One who can mobilize the boundless astral power of billions of stars, possessing peerless dharmic power to aid me in battling the powerhouses of the Heavenly Immortal Realm. Back when we campaigned against the Ziwei Immortal Court, I had such a companion. Today, I need such a companion once more."
Old Ancestor Boshan's eyes flashed with sharp light. "You intend to go to the Heavenly Immortal Realm, to the place where those two beams of emerald light stand?"
The Holy Venerable nodded slowly.
Old Ancestor Boshan relaxed and smiled. "I will go with you."
A smile appeared on the Holy Venerable's face. Old Ancestor Boshan dismissed the formations concealing his cultivation and started to pack his belongings, then suddenly laughed. "Pack what? From this journey, we might not return alive."
He walked over to the Holy Venerable's side, only then noticing that behind the Holy Venerable stood Dao Lord Ku Yang, Dan Xuanzi, Dao Lord Yuanying, Master Dongshi, Luo Xiao, Fairy Huoling, and several others.
The few survivors of the Twelve Wondrous were all gathered here.
"Fighting for a lifetime, yet I still couldn't defeat the Holy Venerable," Boshan sighed with emotion. "I won't fight anymore. Dan Xuanzi, Dongshi, why did you two scoundrels come along? You should be hiding far away!"
Master Dongshi replied calmly, "Boshan, if you can come forth, why can't we? When this master was leading uprisings, your turn hadn't even arrived!"
Dan Xuanzi laughed. "If we could march onto the battlefield back then, why can't we take the field today? Have we lost our Dao hearts?"
Old Ancestor Boshan spat and snapped, "You're the one whose Dao heart was lost! Back then, after the victory, I was suppressed by the Holy Venerable before I even had the chance to lose my Dao heart!"
Fairy Huoling sneered. "If no one lost their Dao heart, how did Qingxuan die?"
The moment she uttered those words, everyone fell silent.
That was a topic none of them ever wanted to raise.
The Holy Venerable coughed lightly and said, "Let us proceed to the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court."
Just as the crowd prepared to move, a gruff, sinister voice rang out: "Yuan Yu, you found them and now you're heading straight to the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court? Have you gathered all of the Twelve Wondrous?"
The Holy Venerable smiled, turned around, and chuckled. "Brother Jun, if I had gone looking for you, would you have stepped forth?"
Jun Wudao strode forward, burly and imposing, his head of messy silver hair shielding half his face. Glinting eyes peered out from beneath the silver strands as he sneered, "Of course I wouldn't. You're always plotting to harm me. Still, seeing that you sought them out but didn't come for me made this old man wonder if you looked down on me."
The Holy Venerable bowed deeply and said, "Yuan Yu wishes to invite Brother Jun out of seclusion. Six hundred thousand years ago, you turned the tide of battle in the Ziwei Immortal Court, matching Emperor Haocang blow for blow to secure that victory. Today, I humbly beseech you, Brother Dao, to lend us your strength once more!"
Jun Wudao brushed aside the silver hair covering his face and stared at him. The stern old face gradually broke into a smile, then erupted into thunderous laughter: "The Holy Venerable is begging me! Did you hear that? The Holy Venerable actually opened his mouth to beg me!"
The others remained as quiet as cicadas in winter, fearing him as they would a ferocious tiger, not daring to utter a word.
Jun Wudao laughed heartily, brimming with delight. As his laughter subsided, he declared briskly, "Just for this bow of yours, I will accompany you to die!"
Chapter 676