Xu Ying's technique, Martial Ultimate Attains Dao, required mastering the martial path first. Only by grasping the true essence of martial arts could one achieve a breakthrough upon that foundation and cultivate the Martial Dao Cave Abyss.
Afterward, one could cultivate and integrate other Dao methods to form additional cave abysses.
Such a technique held martial arts as supreme, using other Dao methods as support, unifying the various Daos to surpass all other cultivation techniques and methods.
However, directly imparting Martial Ultimate Attains Dao to Princess Mingman remained rather difficult.
Martial Ultimate Attains Dao had been forged after Xu Ying was harvested by Immortal Emperor Meng Shanming. Resurrecting from his grave five years after death, he had lacked soul and spirit, devoid of the slightest cultivation. His entire being had been hollowed out, leaving only an empty husk, resembling a walking corpse. In that desperate plight, through sheer personal practice, he had comprehended the ultimate realm of the martial path, treading a path of rebirth from the ashes of despair.
Having never endured such dire straits, Mingman would find it exceedingly difficult to master Martial Ultimate Attains Dao. Fortunately, the Far Ancestor bloodline within her was extraordinarily potent, and she was born with a natural Dao body. There was no need for her to walk the same arduous road Xu Ying had taken back then.
Xu Ying simply tailored his teaching to her aptitude, breaking Martial Ultimate Attains Dao down into distinct Great Daos—Taiyi, Taiji, Wuji, Taishang, Taicang, Taiying, and Creation. He had Mingman cultivate each one to see which yielded her greatest achievement.
Cultivating every Great Dao would normally slow the progress of one's cultivation. Luckily, as a natural Dao body born close to the Dao, her pace was not sluggish even when cultivating multiple Great Daos at once, saving Xu Ying much trouble.
Without realizing it, the two reached the end of the dragon skeleton. What greeted their eyes was an ancient dragon city shattered by catastrophe.
Here, the number of primeval dragon experts had been even greater. Their layered Dao realms had propped open a space beneath the earth to withstand the influence of the Emerald Rock.
Dao ash had blanketed heaven and earth, accumulating deeper and deeper until it finally buried this place. The Dao realms those dragon experts had used to guard this sanctuary had also crumbled into layered Dao ash.
Looking up from below, the glow of countless immortal lingzhi and immortal herbs hung against the vaulted ceiling, forming a magnificent spectacle of layered heavenly Dao realms.
The nourishment of those immortal herbs made the spiritual aura extraordinarily dense, creating a splendid Jade Pool within the city whose spiritual energy was overwhelming. Yet Xu Ying knew that, radiant as the spectacle of layered heavenly Dao realms appeared, it only signified that the dragon city had fallen.
All the dragons in the city had perished, reduced to ashes of the Great Dao.
"The dragon race was born close to the Dao, and using the Emerald Rock to extinguish their Great Dao was truly a wicked scheme to wipe them out completely, vicious beyond measure."
He led Princess Mingman into this lost dragon city, deciding to rest here for a few days to cultivate the Dao of Creation until it stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his other Great Daos.
Princess Mingman followed behind him. Though she had been practicing the technique Xu Ying had taught her just moments before, she was soon captivated by the architecture of the dragon city.
In the Heavenly Immortal Realm of today, every architectural style followed that of the other shore. The motifs carved upon them were other shore patterns, and the script was other shore script. Such architecture was rugged, brimming with a sense of raw power and mystery.
Mingman had long grown used to it and even found a certain beauty in it.
Yet when she looked upon the buildings of this lost dragon city, with their intricate and exquisite dragon carvings, ornate brickwork, pavilions, towers, covered bridges, and lingering ancient charm, along with statues in a myriad of lifelike poses—some realistic, some abstract, all brimming with artistic grace—her soul was deeply shaken.
Her instincts told her that these were the true heritage of the dragon race, not the modern architecture of the other shore.
Along both sides of the street, Mingman saw the skeletons of deceased dragon immortals. None showed signs of struggle; all were remarkably serene, as though they had calmly accepted their demise.
The sight held a silent, tragic nobility.
Xu Ying brought her to the side of the Jade Pool within the city, telling her to cultivate there. The spiritual energy and spiritual force here were unimaginably bountiful, rivaling a true cave abyss, which would aid her in comprehending the various realms of the New Dao.
Mingman cultivated with earnest devotion. Xu Ying also quieted his mind, organizing his insights from his battle with Elder Yu Lingcai before resuming his practice of the Creation Mysterious Technique.
Unwittingly, he drifted into the profound mysteries of Creation. After an unknown span of time, he was suddenly startled awake by the sound of splashing water. Looking toward the source, he saw the dragon girl bathing in the Jade Pool, the shimmering ripples dazzling to the eye.
Suddenly noticing he had awakened, the girl let out a startled cry and scrambled frantically from the water, leaving Xu Ying with a brief view of dazzling fair skin.
Xu Ying burst into hearty laughter. "What are you scared of? It's not like I'd jump in to bathe with you!"
Neatly dressed, Mingman walked back over with flushed cheeks.
Xu Ying said with grave earnestness, "I am your master. How could you be on guard against your master when bathing? Where is the trust between master and apprentice?"
Princess Mingman gave him an indignant glare.
After a string of fierce battles over recent days, combined with catching sight of the maiden bathing just now, Xu Ying felt a touch flushed and restless. He promptly stripped off his clothes, intending to hop into the Jade Pool for a wash.
Seeing him undress right in front of her, Princess Mingman took fright and fled in a panic.
Behind her came the carefree, booming laughter of her barbarian master once more.
Princess Mingman suddenly came to a realization. *Wait a moment! Is the barbarian master's bodily structure the same as ours? The teachers at the Qianyuan Academy and the Other Shore Academy said they were an inferior race, but they never mentioned their anatomy...*
Impelled by some inexplicable urge, she halted, hid behind an artificial rock, and secretly peeked toward the Jade Pool.
*His anatomy is pretty ordinary too, nothing peculiar about it. His skin is rather smooth, though he has some strange hair. Shouldn't he have scales?*
Princess Mingman compared it with what she had learned in the academy regarding male and female anatomy, feeling quite baffled.
Xu Ying leapt into the water, splashing up a spray that rippled outward.
"A young maiden, sweet eighteen, bathing bare where she can be seen..."
As the snatches of song drifted over, Princess Mingman spat in embarrassment. *He truly is a barbarian, talking as smutty as those ruffian dragons!*
Even so, she stole two more glances.
Suddenly, a bank of mist rolled in from nowhere. Once the mist swept past, the subterranean dragon city miraculously regained its vivid brilliance.
The murals on the architecture and the surrounding city scenery had previously lost all color under the effect of the Emerald Rock. Now, as if time were reversing, they grew vibrant once more.
Princess Mingman was utterly astonished, followed immediately by dread. "The rumored vengeful spirits of the dragons who died wrongful deaths down here... are they really appearing?!"
Xu Ying's voice sounded behind her, laced with gravity. "The Primeval Heavenly Dao is reviving?"
Mingman whipped her head around, only to remember he was likely naked, and hurriedly turned back. Yet from the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Xu Ying fully dressed, his hair neatly tied and adorned with a delicate purple-gold crown. He carried an air of refined scholarship, showing no trace of a ruffian dragon. A trace of disappointment rose in her heart. *The barbarian master gets dressed fast!*
Walking to her side, Xu Ying said, "These are not vengeful dragon spirits. It is the Primeval Heavenly Dao beginning to revive under the oppression of the other shore's Heavenly Dao! Strange, very strange..."
Mingman felt that her little barbarian master looked considerably more pleasing to the eye after cleaning up. She asked, "What is strange about the Primeval Heavenly Dao reviving?"
Xu Ying walked forward, following the aura of the Heavenly Dao. "The Heavenly Dao of the Mortal Realm revived because, after the great extinction, many humans and demons survived in the darkness, multiplying endlessly. They kept the Mortal Realm's Heavenly Dao from dying out, continually iterating to contend with the dark Heavenly Dao formed by the Emerald Rock."
It was precisely discovering this that had led him to believe indigenous Dao methods were not necessarily inferior to those of the other shore.
Mingman hurried after him, listening as her little barbarian master continued, "But the Heavenly Immortal Realm is different. The Heavenly Immortal Realm has already been transformed and assimilated by the other shore. An awakening of the Primeval Heavenly Dao should be impossible! For it to awaken here, something must have happened!"
Mingman followed at his side, glancing left and right, her heart thumping with inexplicable excitement.
As an imperial princess, when had she ever had the chance to venture out for trials? She felt that the most thrilling experiences of her life had all happened right here.
The two soon caught up with the mist. Low dragon roars echoed from within it—ancient, vast, and sorrowful, yet harboring an intense yearning for life.
With a thought from Xu Ying, Mingman floated upward involuntarily, landing at the entrance of his Martial Dao Cave Abyss. The dragon girl sat down, dangling her legs outside the cave abyss as she looked around.
Xu Ying stepped into the mist, speaking in the ancient dragon Dao language. "Which Dao friend is reviving the Primeval Heavenly Dao here?"
The dragon roars abruptly ceased. Total silence fell over their surroundings.
Suddenly, Xu Ying felt his hair stand on end. Deep within the mist, a pair of eyes seemed to fix upon him.
The owner of those eyes radiated an overwhelming power, staring and scrutinizing him, filled with doubt, speculation, and mistrust.
It was the silhouette of a dragon head upon a human body, carrying an extraordinary presence.
*He is still looking over here, but his gaze is definitely not on me. Could it be...*
Xu Ying looked up to see that Mingman had nearly been blown away by the blast of Dao force and immortal spirit qi surging from the Martial Dao Cave Abyss; the hem of her skirt was still fluttering. The dragon girl no longer dared sit by the edge and hurriedly stood, rallying the power of her Far Ancestor bloodline to brace against the surging immortal spirit qi at a moment's notice.
She was filled with bewilderment, completely unaware of what had transpired.
Xu Ying's heart stirred. *She didn't feel that terrifying pressure!*
At that moment, the dragon-headed, human-bodied figure ahead let out a soft sigh, turned, and walked away.
The mist accompanied him, and the Primeval Heavenly Dao of the Heavenly Immortal Realm revived in his wake, bringing vibrancy back to the dead silence around them.
"Senior!" Xu Ying called out in the dragon Dao language, rushing forward. "I am Xu Ying, a human from the Earth Immortal Realm. I wish to inquire about the Heavenly Dao of this place. Please grant me your guidance!"
Ahead, though the dragon-headed figure did not seem to take hurried steps, he moved with remarkable speed, gradually leaving Xu Ying behind.
Wherever the figure passed, the thick Dao ash transformed back into the Great Dao of heaven and earth, causing the heavenly and earthly Dao force to grow increasingly rich.
Xu Ying was filled with astonishment. *Could someone truly possess such earth-shattering methods to revive the Primeval Heavenly Dao? No, that's not right! Something is wrong here!*
He came to an abrupt halt, stepped back out of the mist, and looked behind him.
Sure enough, the dragon city that had been so radiant moments ago swiftly lost all its color, returning to a dull gray. Before long, the revived Great Dao turned back into thick Dao ash, settling once more beneath the earth.
"Hahahaha!" Xu Ying laughed aloud. "I thought a dragon senior would possess profound attainment capable of reshaping heaven and earth and reversing decay. I never expected Senior still hasn't achieved true immortality—unable to change the heavens or earth! Your meager ability is inferior even to a human like me!"
"Barbarian master, stop talking!" Mingman called out in a low voice.
Xu Ying took a sudden fright, instantly sensing danger, and moved to retreat.
Yet at the very same instant, the space around him turned into a gelatinous zone, time and space growing viscous until he felt like an insect trapped in amber.
Without hesitation, Xu Ying pushed his cultivation to the limit, driving Martial Ultimate Attains Dao. Immortal spirit qi and Dao force poured from his eight cave abysses like a torrent of the Heavenly River as he fought with all his might against the presence in the mist!
Yet the moment his aura erupted, the surrounding time and space locked down even tighter, as though chains were binding every bone, sinew, flesh, and primordial spirit throughout his body!
*How could there be such a terrifying creature beneath the Heavenly Immortal Realm? Could there really be an evil spirit?!*
Xu Ying struggled to move, but every motion became unimaginably sluggish. An unprecedented, intense sense of danger surged over him!
The entity in the mist was drawing near!
Xu Ying's throat rattled. Though frozen in time and space, his technique circulated frenetically. In this instant, the Supreme realm became clearer than ever before—attaining the Dao of a Supreme was right within reach!
Yet it remained just an inch away!
That inch of separation lay in his Dao of Creation.
Because he had cultivated the Creation Mysterious Technique and formed the Creation Dao scenery and cave abyss, he could not achieve Dao attainment through Creation and completely step into the Supreme realm.
To attain the Dao meant imprinting the Great Dao upon heaven and earth, allowing the cave abyss to form a complete Great Dao world—a Dao realm!
Under this immense, terrifying pressure, every other Great Dao Xu Ying possessed could have crossed that threshold, but his Dao of Creation held him back.
*If I hadn't cultivated the Dao of Creation, I would definitely have attained the Supreme realm and escaped this place!*
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the crushing pressure receded like an ebbing tide. The frozen time and space returned to normal, and the surrounding mist seemed to thin considerably.
Xu Ying stood in a daze, sensing that those eyes were no longer fixed upon him.
He looked toward the source of that gaze. Through the thinning mist stood a tall silhouette, faintly visible. Up above, Mingman lowered her voice and called down, "That monster in the mist is coming to kill you!"
As she spoke, she suddenly froze. *Strange, how can I understand the little master's words? What in the world! I'm speaking the same language as him!*
She was thoroughly astonished. For some inexplicable reason, she understood the dragon Dao language and had spoken it without thinking!
It was a tongue branded into her bloodline, awakening alongside her bloodline's power!
Xu Ying turned a deaf ear to the girl's warning. Watching the mist roll back, he remarked leisurely, "Junior also understands a little of the Heavenly Immortal Realm's Heavenly Dao."
He vaulted into the air, circulating his dharmic power and channeling his divine ability to unleash the Heavenly Immortal Seal.
This seal was a divine ability he had created in the Mortal Realm while undergoing the Four Realms Heavenly Tribulation, having comprehended a fraction of the Heavenly Immortal Realm's Heavenly Dao from within the tribulation.
Back then, he had created three seals: the Mortal, Earth Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal Seals, utilizing the Heavenly Dao of each respective realm. Among them, the Earth Immortal Seal was the most complete, while the Mortal Seal was the vastest because it encompassed the dark Mortal Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Immortal Seal was based on the least comprehension, yet it was ironically the most powerful of the three!
Later, as Xu Ying studied the Immortal Mysterious Technique and comprehended the Eight Immortal Arts, he had neglected these three seal arts.
Now, unleashing this Heavenly Immortal Seal deep underground, he overturned the heavens with a single palm, recreating the Heavenly Immortal Realm's Heavenly Dao. Though incomplete, its power was still extraordinary!
Wherever the majestic Dao force of the Heavenly Immortal Seal swept, the subterranean dragon city seemed to travel back ten million years, its colors vibrant as new. Even the layered curtain of Dao ash in the air reverted back into the layered Dao realms of primeval experts under the seal's influence!
With that strike, the mist was blown back and thinned considerably. The dragon-headed, human-bodied figure was briefly revealed before the surging mist obscured him once more.
To Xu Ying, all dragons looked identical, their features indistinguishable. But Princess Mingman saw him clearly, and as a realization struck her, she was struck dumb.
Once the power of Xu Ying's technique faded, the subterranean space returned to normal, becoming as cold and desolate as before.
"Nothing more than this," the figure in the mist sneered in the dragon Dao language.
Xu Ying laughed. "Dao Brother, please instruct me."
He dispensed with "Senior" entirely and addressed him directly as "Dao Brother," thinking to himself, *Lord Seventh always said that like a snake climbing the pole when struck, one must seize any opening to close the distance.*
Hearing him use the address of "Dao Brother," killing intent surged in the figure's chest once more. But casting a glance at Mingman, he suppressed it again and said, "Fine, I shall instruct you!"
He, too, vaulted into the air, overturning the heavens with a single strike and unleashing the Heavenly Immortal Seal right before Xu Ying's eyes. As his palm descended, the radiance of the Heavenly Dao overflowed, manifesting the complete panorama of the Heavenly Immortal Realm, the seal's might swelling over a hundredfold in an instant!
His Heavenly Immortal Seal was far more complete—even more flawless than that of Xu Ying, the original creator. The seal's area of effect expanded more than a hundred times beyond Xu Ying's strike, and its lingering influence lasted far longer!
The figure in the mist lowered his stance and stood tall, the supreme bearing of an unmatched grandmaster radiating from him naturally. He said proudly, "Junior, how was that?"
Xu Ying felt profound respect. Smiling with open ease, he said sincerely, "Dao Brother's attainment in the Heavenly Dao far surpasses mine. Little brother is full of admiration."
Hearing this, the figure's killing intent flared once more. But glancing at Mingman yet again, his murderous urge gradually dissipated. Turning to walk forward, he said calmly, "Follow me."
Xu Ying quickly followed, stepping into the mist.
Only now did Mingman regain her senses. Slipping down from his Martial Dao Cave Abyss, she leaned close to Xu Ying's ear, her breath fragrant as orchids as she whispered, "Barbarian little master, I've seen him in my father's study. My father has him hanging on the wall..."
Xu Ying was taken aback. *Did we run into one of our own?*
"He seems to be my grandfather!" Princess Mingman said.
Chapter 683