From far away, the cane-wielding old man could already hear Xu Ying and his companions. The youths were chatting and laughing, interspersed now and then with the ringing of a bell and the hissing laughter of a giant snake.
The old man sneered inwardly. *The happier you laugh now, the more terrified you'll be in a moment. I'm keeping this feast all to myself this time, so I have to end it fast before the other old ghosts come swarming over!*
Xu Ying was the first to cross the threshold. Guo Xiaodie had just said something, and the youth turned back with a laugh as he stepped through the doorway. "In the middle of the night, who could stomp two footprints onto your chest? A ghost, maybe?"
Even as he spoke, the bronze bell suddenly manifested behind him, its might surging violently. *Clang!* The deafening toll left everyone completely disoriented!
Across the bell's surface, heavy, unadorned patterns floated into the air and began to revolve. The carvings of all creation on its inner walls seemed to spring to life at that very moment—every creature flourishing with vibrant vitality, harboring immense power!
Xu Ying was just as bewildered, having no idea why the bronze bell had suddenly erupted. Then he heard a muffled groan. Hurriedly looking over, he saw the cane-wielding old man—the very one who had warned them of ghosts in this place—slapped flat against the wall of the Demon Suppression Hall by the bell's concussive force.
Xu Ying blurted out, "Lord Bell, it's that elderly gentleman with the cane, not an evil spirit!"
The bronze bell quickly reined in its surging aura and mumbled sheepishly, "I sensed yin qi rushing toward you and caught the scorched stench of a lightning tribulation. In my panic, I feared my meal ticket—er, feared you'd be harmed by a fierce ghost, so I struck. Who would have thought I'd hurt our benefactor!"
The old man had nearly been blasted into scattered wisps of soul. Hearing this, he hastily stammered, "I am a ghost, so of course I carry yin qi! When I underwent my tribulation back then, my Primordial Spirit was shattered, which is why I still carry the scorched smell of lightning tribulation even as a ghost. Why have you youths returned? Hurry, pry me off!"
Xu Ying leaped forward and peeled him off the wall.
Seeing Xu Ying within arm's reach, the old man was seized by malice. The moment Xu Ying turned his head, sharp claws reached straight into the youth's body, intending to wrench his soul out and devour it first.
To his shock, the instant his claws touched Xu Ying's skin, he collided with Xu Ying's soul. It was completely solid and entirely immovable. The recoil snapped all five of the old man's fingers.
Xu Ying looked back at him in puzzlement, then turned away again to continue chatting with Guo Xiaodie.
"It happened the night Fengxian'er came looking for you. I was sleeping soundly, and when I woke in the morning, I found myself wearing someone's old clothes, with a footprint on each breast," Guo Xiaodie marveled, recalling the events of that night.
His face twisted in agony, the old man hurriedly popped his broken fingers back into alignment, filled with shock and doubt. *My physical body and Primordial Spirit were destroyed by the Heavenly Tribulation. Though my remaining soul is far weaker than before, it still retains a shred of my Primordial Spirit's might. Let alone a little brat, even a ghost king would have died to that strike! How can this kid's soul be so tough?*
Xu Ying remembered that one of the footprints on Guo Xiaodie's chest had been his own doing. Feeling a twinge of guilt, he changed the subject and said with a smile, "Xiaodie, how is your comprehension of the Sword Control Formula coming along? If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me. I guarantee you'll master it."
Guo Xiaodie gave a cheerful reply.
Yuan Weiyang looked up at the sky and urged, "It's almost dark. We should leave quickly. Who knows what kind of underworld this place turns into at night? If we delay, we won't be able to get away!"
Xu Ying agreed and turned back to the old man. "Thank you for looking after us, venerable sir. We juniors shall return tomorrow!"
One after another, the group leaped into the water vat, vanishing beneath the splashing water.
The old man's eyes flashed with savage light. Seeing the snake demon lagging behind, head already thrust into the vat, he rejoiced inwardly. *Look at this snake—chubby and adorable, brimming with vigorous vitality. It must be packed with yang qi! I'll break my fast on this big serpent first!*
He sprang forward, fingernails extending wildly, and thrust toward Yuan Qi's tail!
Right at that instant, Yuan Qi's tail whipped upward, clutching a green paper umbrella. With a soft pop, the umbrella unfurled. Within it seemed to dwell a blazing sun, hotter than fire.
Basking in that radiant glow, the old man shrieked piteously. Pinned by the green paper umbrella, he flew helplessly into its canopy, howling in despair, "The Azure Sun Treasure Umbrella! Impervious to all arts, dispelling all evils—it truly lives up to its name!"
In an instant, his soul was pulverized and refined into nothingness. Even his speck of imperishable true spirit was channeled into Yuan Qi by the paper umbrella, nourishing the snake's own true spirit.
*Swish!*
The green paper umbrella snapped shut on its own, returning to normal.
Yuan Qi usually used this umbrella for shade, curling his tail to hold it over his head on sunny days. Never had he imagined it would save his life today.
Sensing a commotion, Yuan Qi pulled his head out of the vat, glanced back, and remarked in bewilderment, "Did I hear something? Wow, that old gentleman sure runs fast! To think he waited here just to ensure our safety and left only after seeing us off."
"There truly is warm sentiment even in the Netherworld!" he sighed wistfully, before plunging into the water vat.
***
Parting ways with Yuan Weiyang and Guo Xiaodie, Xu Ying simply moved into Wutong Palace. Since Xiao Fengxian had fled, leaving the place vacant was a waste anyway.
With Xu Ying moving in, the bronze bell and Yuan Qi naturally moved in as well, and the two immediately darted off to pick their rooms.
A knock sounded from outside. Xu Ying opened the door to find Guo Xiaodie standing there. The young woman fidgeted shyly for a long while without explaining her visit, before suddenly producing a thin booklet and slapping it into Xu Ying's hand.
Xu Ying blinked, slightly taken aback.
Guo Xiaodie declared, "You're teaching me the Sword Control Formula, and I certainly can't take advantage of you. The Dragon-Seeking Locating Art for our Guo clan's Crimson Palace secret depository is forbidden from being taught to outsiders, but every daughter of the Guo clan gets one exception: she may pass it to her husband. My future husband will definitely be an indomitable hero who wouldn't care for my family's techniques, so I'm slapping this part of my dowry into your hands first! That way, I haven't broken the family rules!"
Xu Ying was dumbfounded, then smiled. "Xiaodie, you truly rival any man—a hero among women."
Accepting the Guo clan's Dragon-Seeking Locating Art, he released his sword intent and carefully guided Guo Xiaodie through her training.
Guo Xiaodie was someone who had pushed Xu Ying so hard that he couldn't win without resorting to the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing. Her talent and comprehension were extraordinary, and hailing from a martial family of Nuo Masters gave her a solid foundation in nurturing sword qi, allowing her to learn at an astonishing pace.
However, the Sword Control Formula required not only keen sword comprehension but also immense control over divine sense. The reason Xu Ying had collaborated with Yuan Weiyang to complete the formula was precisely because Yuan Weiyang's attainments in divine sense far surpassed his own.
"Xiaodie, if there's anything about maneuvering swords with divine sense you still don't understand, you can ask Brother Yuan," Xu Ying advised. "He co-created this Sword Control Formula with me, and his skill in controlling swords with divine sense is even greater than mine."
Hearing this, Guo Xiaodie silently lamented, *If I had known, I should have taken my dowry and married into the Yuan clan instead! Why bother playing the hero among women? Wouldn't it be so much better to share tender affections with Brother Weiyang?*
Yet she was forthright by nature, and soon cast the thought aside to devote herself entirely to practicing the sword.
Perched atop the parasol tree, Xu Ying supervised her practice, worried she might fall. But remembering that the Guo clan's Heaven-Soaring Cloud Ladder was exceedingly nimble and swift, meaning she wouldn't fall to her death, he took his leave.
Xu Ying glanced down the mountain. Many more Nuo Masters from the Cangwu Sect had arrived. Donning impermanence masks, they leaped into the turquoise lake one after another, diving into the Cangwu Abyss. He mused, *What kind of technique is the Emperor cultivating that requires so much yang qi every single day?*
Returning to Wutong Palace, he took out the Guo clan's Dragon-Seeking Locating Art. After reading it once, he understood the mysteries of the Crimson Palace.
The Guo clan's Dragon-Seeking Locating Art was designed to pinpoint the Crimson Palace. As the central hub among the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body, the Crimson Palace depository governed heart power. When the heart was strong, strength was abundant. Thus, the Nuo Masters of the Guo clan, men and women alike, possessed extraordinary physical might.
Locating the dragon was not difficult; so long as one had the method, it could be found. The true challenge lay in unlocking the Crimson Palace depository.
Before ordinary people became Nuo Masters, they knew nothing of qi refinement and were physically weak, making it impossible to breach the depository on their own. They invariably required the assistance of a trusted Great Nuo to break it open.
The reason aristocratic clans could command and control Nuo Masters, and why martial sects could survive, was precisely because they possessed the Dragon-Seeking Locating Art and had Great Nuo at their disposal.
An ordinary person, no matter how gifted, could never open a depository relying solely on their own strength.
Unless they were a Qi Refiner.
And Xu Ying was precisely such a Qi Refiner.
By his own power, he had opened the Mud Pill depository, blasting through the chaotic Mud Pill to turn it into a cave-heaven and angling for physical vitality in the Sea of Chaos.
Opening the Crimson Palace depository this time was familiar ground.
His Crimson Palace depository lay within his left ventricle, concealed inside the Heart Peak Immortal Mountain of the Realm of Xiyi. Xu Ying sent his divine sense soaring into the Heart Peak Immortal Mountain, thinking, *There is an eye hidden inside the heart, called the Heart Eye. The Crimson Palace depository lies within this Heart Eye!*
Following the Dragon-Seeking Locating Art, he penetrated the interior of the mountain. His divine sense navigated through the rock and finally located an aperture of the Heart Eye, which resembled an eye of blazing fire.
He guided his divine sense inside. Before him stretched a vast sea of fire, the brilliant crimson flames obscuring his vision so completely that nothing else could be seen.
*The Dragon-Seeking Locating Art says: 'In the Crimson Palace blazes the Crescent Moon Furnace; on the Spirit Terrace stands quiet the Great Mysterious Altar!' Opening a Crescent Moon Furnace cave-heaven inside the Heart Eye to fuel the heart fire is where one draws forth the power of the Crimson Palace depository!*
Xu Ying stirred his divine sense, visualizing the Dao image of the Ten Thousand Mountains Venerating Jiuyi. Marshaling the Dao image's might, he struck hard toward the heart aperture!
A thunderous crash resonated as the fiery sea within the aperture convulsed violently. Under Xu Ying's strike, the flames blazed ever more furiously, rolling and collapsing into deeper space!
In an instant, a cave-heaven took shape, hanging in the sea of fire like a half-moon, and the flames roared higher still!
This was the Crescent Moon Furnace blazing in the Crimson Palace!
Having unlocked the Crimson Palace depository, Xu Ying felt his heart power surge exponentially. Waves of heat welled from the heart aperture and surged through all his limbs and bones, bringing an indescribable comfort.
Whatever drowsiness he had felt earlier vanished completely. Rising at once, he stepped outside Wutong Palace and lightly vaulted into midair.
Stepping onto the Cloud Ladder, he strode upward, leaped once more into the clouds, and with another bound crossed several thousand paces—moving at a speed comparable to the sword control technique!
Like a nimble ape, Xu Ying darted through the sky, thoroughly exhilarated.
After enjoying himself for a while, he wrapped himself in whorls of sword qi, slipped through a window, and reentered Wutong Palace.
Though the night was quiet, a pair of eyes had remained fixed on the sky, tracking Xu Ying's movements. Only when Xu Ying flew back into Wutong Palace cloaked in sword qi did that gaze shift away.
"A master of both Nuo arts and Qi Refinement, circulating them without impediment—far more brilliant than Zhou Qiyun."
Emperor Shengshen coughed violently, his face flushed red from the exertion. Only after a long while did he recover his breath. Waving a hand, he said, "Eunuch Chen, go invite Xu Ying here. We wish to see him."
Hearing this, the purple-robed Eunuch Chen felt his heart skip a beat. "Invite him?"
"Indeed, invite him," Emperor Shengshen repeated.
Shuddering, Eunuch Chen bowed. "What if Old Ancestor Zhou interferes?"
"We are still the Emperor, after all," Emperor Shengshen said coldly, coughing again. "Besides, he clashed with someone and suffered injuries. Go."
Eunuch Chen acknowledged the order and turned to depart.
***
Outside Wutong Palace, Xu Ying was just about to retire for the night when another knock sounded at the door. He rose and went to check, only to find a glamorous, charming woman standing outside draped in a red robe trimmed with white mink fur, her skin luminous as snow beneath the moonlight and lantern light of Wutong Palace.
The woman was alluringly fragrant, tall and graceful, her eyes rippling with charm. Her makeup had clearly been applied with great care. Her collar loosely draped over her delicate shoulders, framing collarbones deep enough to hold wine. Her bustier sat daringly low, a feast for the eyes.
Xu Ying caught her scent—a rich, fragrant aroma like a fully ripe peach.
Leaning slightly toward him, she smiled sweetly. "I am Xiaodie's second aunt, paying an unannounced visit at midnight. Would it be convenient for Demon King Xu to let me come in and sit for a while?"
Xu Ying recognized her. Seeing her lean toward him, he hastily shifted aside to dodge, thinking, *That's exactly how Lord Bell extorted me back then! As if I'd stumble into the same trap twice!*
The woman was none other than Li Yingzhu. Having seen Xu Ying prove completely impervious to persuasion that day—not even taking a single bite of Guo Xiaodie when she offered herself up—she had misunderstood his tastes.
Tonight, sneaking out behind Guo Yue's back, she had visited Wutong Palace at midnight with improper designs, intending to wrap him around her finger so he would be forced to explain the intricacies of the Sword Control Formula.
She had planned it ingeniously: dressing with meticulous allure, showing just enough skin to tease without giving everything away. Every movement, every smile, every frown was calculated to reveal a tiny hint of charm, stirring the heart.
This was true finesse born of practice—something an unpolished girl like Guo Xiaodie could never compare to.
Just as she was about to employ further charms to break down Xu Ying's reserve, Eunuch Chen's voice spoke from behind her: "Young Master Xu, this servant has been ordered by His Majesty to invite you to the hall for an audience. Lady Guo, your business will have to wait. Please excuse us."
Blushing deeply, Li Yingzhu hurriedly wrapped her robe tight around herself, brushed past the eunuch, and bounded into the clouds, vanishing without a trace.
Xu Ying praised generously, "Second Aunt's skills are truly splendid! Even I can't match that!"
Clad in a noble purple robe, Eunuch Chen chuckled. "Lady Guo's skills are naturally superb, though she does enjoy her games. Young Master Xu, this way, please."
Xu Ying smiled. "The Emperor only remembered to look for me today, but it isn't too late. Lead the way, Eunuch."
Eunuch Chen felt a slight tremor in his heart and bowed to usher him forward.
Xu Ying followed him down the mountain. Before long, they arrived at the grand hall of the Cangwu Sect. Eunuch Chen bowed, inviting him inside while remaining on guard outside.
Within the hall burned furnaces—not just one, but more than a dozen. The fires blazed furiously, filling the hall with stifling, dry heat. These furnaces were concocting pills, and the most precious ingredient among them was yang qi!
Although Xu Ying had visited this place before, his consciousness had merely merged with Jiuyi at the time; this was his first time setting foot here in person. Within moments, he felt as though all the moisture in his body was about to be baked dry.
"We have also cultivated demon arts."
Xu Ying suddenly caught the scent of incense smoke, and Emperor Shengshen stepped out from behind a pill furnace. "That is to say, what you people call the arts of a Qi Refiner. Only, Our cultivation has not gone smoothly."
Seeing his irritable, manic expression, Xu Ying's heart leaped in realization, and he gasped, "Your heart fire is too intense—it has crushed your body! You opened two of the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body! One is your Li clan's depository, and the other is the Guo clan's Crimson Palace depository!"
With a dark scowl, Emperor Shengshen was drenched in sweat as though pulled fresh from water. In a raspy voice, he said, "Correct. Our ancestral heritage is the Jade Capital depository. After marrying Empress Guo, We cultivated the Guo clan's Crimson Palace depository as well. Not only that, We are the sovereign of Shenzhou, uniting the faith of the realm. Countless commoners chant Our praises and offer worship—We are the most exalted deity in Shenzhou!"
Xu Ying could not help but remark, "Yet you still couldn't beat Zhou Qiyun."
Emperor Shengshen let out a low snarl, his eyes bloodshot, staring fixedly at him. Only after a pause did he speak: "And so, he went to cultivate demon arts, and We went to cultivate demon arts as well! We want longevity!"
Chapter 77