The disaster at the giant parasol tree had come swiftly and ended just as quickly, but the destruction it wrought was catastrophic. The tree had been nearly stripped bare of its bark by the flesh crawling up from Cangwu Abyss, and the Nuo masters on its boughs had suffered horrific casualties. Less than one in ten survived; only a handful remained.
The beautiful woman and her husband were among the survivors. Looking around at the others, they saw some Nuo masters whose legs had been eaten away by that bizarre flesh, while others had half their bodies dissolved—a truly gruesome sight.
Their hearts pounded with lingering dread as they looked up toward the canopy. The divine birds filling the branches had suffered just as grievously, their corpses strewn everywhere. As for the surviving divine birds and the phoenix, they had vanished without a trace, gone who knew when.
The phoenix had used the parasol tree to undergo her tribulation. Now that the tribulation had passed, nothing remained but a scene of devastation.
"That perverted scoundrel who peeped at Xiaodie while she bathed was right—there really was danger here. But how did he know?"
Doubt gnawed at the woman's heart as she whispered, "And how did he sneak onto Mount Jiuyi in the first place?"
The Guo clan was related to the imperial family. When Emperor Shengshen Zhangwu came to Mount Jiuyi in search of Cangwu Abyss, he had actually traveled under the Guo clan's banner. An emperor could not easily leave the capital, but the Guo clan could. Emperor Shengshen had brought very few members of the imperial family with him this time, so the mountain was mostly populated by members of the Guo clan.
All the treacherous passes of Mount Jiuyi were guarded by the Jinwu Guard, making it exceedingly difficult for ordinary people to enter. Yuan Weiyang slipping in had already aroused their suspicions. With Xu Ying barging in as well, the couple could not help wondering whether an unknown passage into Mount Jiuyi allowed free transit.
"Besides, what exactly is Cangwu Abyss? How did His Majesty know that one could enter the Netherworld through it?"
The couple exchanged a look, their minds aligned. In unison, they said, "Let's find that scoundrel and see what he knows!"
They set out to look for Xu Ying, but he had vanished as well. Not only was Xu Ying nowhere to be found, but Yuan Weiyang, his servant, and Guo Xiaodie were all gone without a trace.
"Let's report to His Majesty first!"
The two hurried back to the main hall of the Cangwu Sect, only to find Emperor Shengshen missing as well. When they questioned Eunuch Chen, the old eunuch had no idea when Emperor Shengshen had departed either.
Anxious unease gnawed at the couple. *Where on earth did they all go?*
"So your name is Demon King Xu, and you're a monster?" Guo Xiaodie scrutinized Xu Ying from head to toe, her tone inquisitive.
Xu Ying thought for a moment. "My name is Xu Ying, and I'm probably human."
Guo Xiaodie nudged his shoulder with hers and laughed. "Don't be so sure. What if you aren't? Come, let big sister feel if you've grown a tail."
Xu Ying jumped in fright, quickly swatting away her hand as it reached toward his backside.
Guo Xiaodie giggled. "You definitely grew a little tail and hid it in your pants!"
Xu Ying found her antics utterly overwhelming, his face flushing crimson. "I did not..."
Yuan Weiyang had already explained to Guo Xiaodie that Xu Ying had been entering the Dao beneath the parasol tree and could not possibly have wandered into the mountains to watch her bathe, thus clearing up the misunderstanding. Being a careless, straightforward young woman, Guo Xiaodie never stopped to wonder whether entering the Dao might allow someone to perceive her bathing, and let the matter drop with a wave of her hand.
Nor did she ponder how Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang had entered the mountain while it was locked down by the Jinwu Guard. Instead, she eagerly led the two of them off to trace the source of the flesh that had scaled the cliffs.
Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang were equally curious about the bizarre flesh. Earlier, it had grown at a frenzy, turning into a colossal serpent of flesh that attacked everything in its path, only to die abruptly. The shocking speed at which it rotted and decayed left everyone stunned.
Guo Xiaodie picked up a stick and poked at the dead flesh. Wrinkling her nose at the foul stench, she said in bewilderment, "Mount Jiuyi is a sacred mountain. Why would such bizarre things appear here?"
The Jinwu Guard stationed across the mountain were hacking the rotting flesh into chunks of various sizes and hurling them off the precipice to keep the foul odor from spreading.
Xu Ying stepped forward to inspect the remains. Within the rotting mass lay numerous tooth-like bones, far too many to count. He could not tell what manner of creature this had been.
The bronze bell sounded somewhat uneasy. "Ah Ying, the entity that attacked the fledgling phoenix just now was the heavenly god I suppressed in the well beneath Little Stone Mountain—the one allied with the demonic woman in the coffin! I scared Him off, but I'm worried He might have realized I'm putting on a brave front. He will likely come back!"
Xu Ying whispered, "Lord Bell, since you suppressed Him once, you can surely suppress Him a second time, right?"
The bronze bell grunted. "Once I recover from my injuries, suppressing Him will naturally be no trouble. But the problem is, I haven't fully recovered. I need a vast amount of blood qi to grind away the imprint left by the demonic woman's palm! Where did that Zhou Qiyun go? If only he would let me take another sip—just one more..."
Xu Ying shook his head, walked to the edge of the cliff, and looked down. He thought to himself, *Strange. Old Ancestor Zhou vanished after coming up the mountain. With something as momentous as a phoenix appearing, why hasn't he shown his face either?*
Below the cliff, the flesh had crawled up from a lake. That small lake at the mountain's foot was the path leading toward Cangwu Abyss.
Guo Xiaodie suddenly leaped from the cliff. Using the Heaven-Soaring Cloud Ladder, she quickly touched down beside the lake and waved vigorously at them.
Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang exchanged a glance. Sword light surged around each of them as sword qi swirled about their bodies. Tearing through the air, they transformed into two streaks of sword light descending from the sky, landing right in front of Guo Xiaodie.
The green-robed old servant, Uncle Xiao, had no choice but to execute the Yuan clan's divine sense leaping technique, treading on empty air. His pace was far slower than theirs. He thought to himself, *The young master has grown much more flamboyant lately. He must have picked up bad habits from that Demon King Xu.*
Guo Xiaodie's eyes sparkled with excitement as she bounced on her heels. "What art is that? Teach me! I'll trade my Guo clan's Heaven-Soaring Cloud Ladder for it!"
Xu Ying, having long envied her Heaven-Soaring Cloud Ladder, smiled. "This is the Sword Control Formula. It requires a profound understanding of sword arts to master."
Guo Xiaodie beamed. "Our Guo clan is one of the rare lineages of martial Nuo, and plenty of us practice swordsmanship. Naturally, I'm an expert at it too. However, to practice our Heaven-Soaring Cloud Ladder, one must first cultivate the Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens. And to cultivate the Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens, one must locate the dragon and pinpoint the position to open the Crimson Palace secret depository and unleash its power. Do you still want to trade?"
Xu Ying answered without hesitation, "I do!"
Guo Xiaodie pulled out a thick volume of scriptures and slapped it directly into Xu Ying's hand, laughing. "I won't take advantage of you. This is the Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens. It contains martial cultivation techniques, and the eighth stance is the Heaven-Soaring Cloud Ladder. If you manage to master it, I'll take off my hat to your skill."
Xu Ying retrieved a crumpled sheet of paper with only two hundred-odd characters written on it. "This is the Sword Control Formula. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."
Both got what they wanted, thoroughly delighted.
Seeing one hand over an ancestral secret without hesitation and the other casually offer up the Sword Control Formula, Yuan Weiyang felt a pang of melancholy. *If only I didn't carry the burden of the Yuan clan, I could be just as open and carefree as them.*
Xu Ying flipped through the thick scroll of the *Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens*. After reading just a few pages, his brows furrowed. Every step of cultivation in the Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens required mobilizing the heart power of the Crimson Palace secret depository.
Without formidable heart power, cultivating the Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens would lead to exhaustion of the heart, resulting in a slow death!
When he clashed with Guo Xiaodie earlier, he had noticed that her physical strength was outrageously terrifying. That must have been the effect of the Crimson Palace secret depository.
Seeing his furrowed brows, Guo Xiaodie could not help smirking proudly. "The Crimson Palace sits within the ventricles, hidden in the heart chambers. The heart is the wellspring of strength and vitality, so the Crimson Palace stores heart power. The reason our Guo clan produces so many valiant generals and brilliant strategists is largely due to our extraordinary heart power. Without opening the Crimson Palace secret depository, even if you possess my Guo clan's Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens, you won't be able to cultivate it!"
She chuckled. "Meanwhile, I got a sword control technique for free!"
She looked down to study the two-hundred-word formula. She stared at it intently, her eyes wide, until her chest flushed red with frustration. Pouting angrily, she muttered, "Is this even written for human beings? I can't understand a single word!"
A smile played at the corners of Yuan Weiyang's lips as he thought, *That formula was co-authored by Demon King Xu and me. We strove for utmost conciseness and precision; every word embodies the profound subtleties of swordsmanship, bordering on the Dao itself. Without comprehension in sword arts, it would be a miracle if she could understand it.*
Xu Ying continued leafing through the *Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens*. Its mental cultivation method began with refining the heart, treating the heart as the source and refining it like an elixir. The heart chambers were treated as a furnace, with six apertures functioning as six vents to unleash immense physical strength to the greatest extent possible!
The purity of this physical strength far surpassed the Elephant-Strength Bull Demon Fist and even exceeded the True Cultivation of the Ba Snake. Even the Zhou clan's Vajra Indestructible Body would fall far short of it. It was truly a top-tier physical method!
As for the martial techniques of the Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens, they relied on visualizing the azure sky above, harnessing the Dao images of the shifting sun, moon, stars, wind, and clouds to cultivate Hidden Sceneries, thereby unleashing immense might.
In addition to the cultivation chant, there were eight extraordinarily subtle martial stances. The eighth stance was the Heaven-Soaring Cloud Ladder, which could only be mastered after completing the first seven.
However, forcing oneself to cultivate it without opening the Crimson Palace secret depository was pure suicide.
"The Rhapsody of the Azure Heavens isn't hard to cultivate, but forcing it without heart power carries massive perils." Xu Ying closed the scroll, intending to return it to Guo Xiaodie.
The bronze bell's voice spoke up. "Ah Ying, you are already a Qi Refiner of the Pass-Breaching stage and have scaled the first heaven. Your heart power is more than strong enough. Even without opening the Crimson Palace secret depository, cultivating this technique shouldn't cause any major harm."
Xu Ying's heart stirred, and he reopened the scroll to examine it again.
Guo Xiaodie tucked the Sword Control Formula away and smiled. "Stop looking. Even if you look, you won't learn it. Let's jump into the lake and see where this flesh came from!"
She vaulted into the water and swam downward along the trail of flesh.
The lake appeared deep, but the water was actually a shallow layer. In the next breath, they plunged through the water, plummeting toward a terrifyingly colossal chasm.
The fissure stretched beyond sight, its depths glowing with an eerie red light, bottomless and unfathomable—it was Cangwu Abyss!
Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang leaped down after her. Yuan Weiyang employed his divine sense leap, visualizing a foothold in the void, and stood hovering over Cangwu Abyss without falling.
Xu Ying activated his sword qi, clouds of sword light swirling around him to suspend him in midair, while Guo Xiaodie stood firmly atop her cloud ladder.
Uncle Xiao jumped through the water as well, following closely behind them, thinking to himself, *Nothing must happen to these three young masters and miss!*
Looking upward, they saw the mass of flesh spreading out like an enormous blood-red fan, extending from the lake above and growing along the underside of the water.
Beneath the surface of the lake, numerous flesh-toned strands branched out like bundles of nerve fibers.
With a light spring, Guo Xiaodie traversed thousands of zhang, following the fleshy fan.
Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang hastened after her. The fan of flesh at the bottom of the lake stretched along Cangwu Abyss. After traversing more than ten li, there was still no end in sight.
After another ten li, they saw the fan of flesh turn upward.
Xu Ying looked up and spotted another shimmering lake.
Guo Xiaodie took the lead and vaulted out. Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang leaped upward as well, breaking through the water's surface.
As the three landed, each gasped in astonishment.
Hearing their cries, Uncle Xiao swiftly burst through the water, landing with a loud splash.
Without pausing to shake the droplets from his robes, he surged his cultivation to its peak, opening all five layers of his Yellow Court cave-heavens and bracing himself to protect Yuan Weiyang.
Yet when he took in their surroundings, he too let out a cry of disbelief.
Directly behind them stood a massive water vat—they had just leaped out from this very vat!
And before them was a grand hall embedded into the mountain rock, adorned with vermilion pillars, blue-glazed eaves, and jade-green double doors.
Tendrils of flesh crawled out from the vat like tentacles, slithering across the stone floor toward the hall. Many of these fleshy tentacles clung to the door leaves and threshold, dried up like desiccated earthworms, devoid of any vitality.
Mustering her courage, Guo Xiaodie approached the grand hall. Xu Ying asked under his breath, "Lord Bell, is there danger?"
The bronze bell sounded grave. "Yes. I sense two experts in this hall... No, three!"
Guo Xiaodie's voice called back from ahead: "Your Majesty, why are you here? And who is this white-browed youth?"
Xu Ying started at her words and walked forward. Inside the hall stood a middle-aged man with a gloomy, brooding demeanor, while on the other side stood a youth with white eyebrows.
Both stood before the divine statue enshrined in the hall, utterly silent and motionless.
*He's the middle-aged man who was popping spirit pills like food!* Xu Ying recognized him.
The middle-aged man was enveloped in thick incense smoke qi, with auspicious clouds billowing above his head. His aura was magnificent, carrying the majestic bearing of dragons and tigers and a profound, solemn dignity—the sovereign ruler of Shenzhou, Emperor Shengshen Zhangwuxiao!
Emperor Shengshen glanced at Xu Ying, startled for an instant, then let out a cold snort, clearly recognizing him as well.
The snort was not loud, yet it exploded like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky within Xu Ying's mind. At the same moment, the bronze bell chimed, dispersing the force of the snort.
"Trying to smash my rice bowl?"
The bronze bell fumed with rage. "That old emperor is no good!"
Xu Ying looked toward the enshrined divine statue, and his breath caught. He blurted out, "Is that... a living flesh-and-blood god?"
The statue enshrined in the grand hall depicted an ordinary-looking middle-aged man holding a fly whisk, sitting cross-legged in the lotus posture inside the shrine. He wore a gentle smile as he looked down at them, exuding an air of profound compassion. He was made of living flesh and blood, not carved from wood or molded from clay!
Those earthworm-like tentacles of flesh were emerging directly from the space between his brows.
The fleshy tentacles that had attacked the phoenix came from this very man's body!
All along the surrounding walls, countless talismans and incantations had been inscribed. Even beneath his feet, dense layers of talismans covered the floor.
And plastered across the man's body were sheet after sheet of paper talismans!
"Your Majesty, this is an ancient Qi Refiner who has already died," the white-browed youth, Zhou Qiyun, said in an indifferent tone.
Chapter 69