At this moment, Yuan Qi's Mud Pill secret depository was completely different from everyone else's, including Xu Ying's.
For most others, the Mud Pill secret depository had been pried open by a Grand Nuo, leaving the first-layer cave-heaven beyond their own control. Xu Ying had forged his own path; being a Qi Refiner, he had breached his first-layer Mud Pill cave-heaven with sword qi, an achievement worthy of a grandmaster.
Yet for Yuan Qi, it had been his very first time attempting to breach a cave-heaven, and the strike had veered off course, producing that first cave-heaven. Xu Ying had then held him aloft, mobilizing both Yuan Qi's own power and his own to assist him in forcing open a second.
These two cave-heavens—one a dragon, one a snake—intertwined in an uncanny harmony, and the speed at which they reeled in longevity qi from the Sea of Chaos was faster even than Xu Ying's!
Yuan Qi's foundation could truly be said to be forged with incomparable solidity; nowhere under heaven could another like it be found!
The sole drawback was that lingering traces of Xu Ying's strength remained within his Mud Pill cave-heaven.
Seeing that Yuan Qi's life was out of danger, Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. The bronze bell vibrated, helping Yuan Qi sort through his scattered divine sense. When Yuan Qi came to, a wave of lingering fear washed over him.
Yet when he considered how he had survived such an ordeal and even turned a disaster into a blessing, a sudden epiphany struck his heart: *I must be a child of destiny, a snake chosen by Heaven! Good fortune naturally smiles upon an auspicious serpent. But... what has Heaven chosen me to do?*
He could not come up with an answer.
Xu Ying resumed his own cultivation and swiftly entered a state of complete selflessness. He went without food, water, waste, or sleep, persisting in this manner for many consecutive days.
Before he even realized it, he had ascended to the second heaven of the Pass-Breaching stage. Looking up, he saw the waters of the Heavenly River clashing against a sea of fire. Water and fire assaulted each other with tremendous fury, blanketing the sky above the third heaven.
Xu Ying attempted to soar upward toward that third heaven, but violent astral winds suddenly howled, and water and fire lashed out at once, sweeping him back down. Xu Ying could not stop himself from shivering violently, feeling one half of his body scorching hot while the other was freezing cold.
Only after working diligently to regulate his breath did he recover somewhat, though his face remained rather pale.
*On the path of cultivation, one truly cannot rush forward out of greed,* he mused inwardly.
Jarred from his state of selfless trance by the internal blast of astral wind, Xu Ying thought, *Lord Bell isn't here. Otherwise, I would have asked whether one needs to consume a great medicine to break through from the first heaven to the second.*
Since he had already broken through, the question was no longer so pressing.
*I'll ask it clearly when the next breakthrough comes.*
Xu Ying looked all around, only to find the ascension site completely empty. Not only were Yuan Qi and the bronze bell gone, but even the brothers Niu Zhen and Niu Qian had not remained here to cultivate.
Stepping out of the ascension site, Xu Ying suddenly heard the echoing clashes of divine powers and Nuo arts. Looking up, he saw Niu Zhen locked in combat with someone.
Niu Zhen and Niu Qian had only recently broken through the mystic pass, stepping from the Qi Harvesting stage into the Pass-Breaching stage. Xu Ying had taught them the Taiyin Primordial Nurturing Technique and passed down the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing without holding back in the slightest.
The two brothers had indeed lived up to high expectations, quickly mastering the Taiyin Primordial Nurturing Technique to a respectable degree. Complemented by the ascension site being a grotto-heaven and blessed land where heaven and earth's yuan qi was extraordinarily abundant, their cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds.
When Xu Ying helped them dissolve their incense smoke qi and expunged them from the divine registry, stripping them of their status as Netherworld spirits, their strength had temporarily waned. But after all these days of cultivation, their power had fully returned to its peak, and had even surpassed it!
Cultivating at Xu Ying's side had also strengthened their souls day by day, to the point where they could freely wield the Netherworld treasure, the white bone soul-thrashing whip.
However, the Nuo master clashing with Niu Zhen possessed extraordinary skill. The young man appeared to be only in his twenties, yet two cave-heavens hovered behind him.
Those two cave-heavens were exceptionally peculiar, suspended within a realm of colored glaze, drawing boundless power from that glazed expanse.
Xu Ying let out a soft exclamation of surprise, unable to recognize what manner of secret depository it was.
The young Nuo master's yuan qi was abnormally vigorous. With every gesture and stride, his yuan qi surged like a raging sea; whenever his palm shifted, a vision of rolling sea waters churned into motion!
Even though Niu Zhen was immensely formidable and naturally belligerent, he could not land a single strike with his white bone soul-thrashing whip. The moment the whip grazed the young Nuo master's yuan qi, it rebounded as if struck by lightning!
Long ago, Xu Ying had realized the fatal weakness of the bull demons' combat prowess: the white bone soul-thrashing whip struck only the soul and could not injure the flesh. If an enemy's cultivation was too deep, the whip could not reach them at all.
In fact, even if an opponent's cultivation was not particularly high, they could simply trade blow for blow. You might damage my soul, but I can wipe you out with a single divine power.
The bull demons ran rampant in the Netherworld solely by exploiting the fact that Nuo masters did not cultivate their souls. Once an opponent saw through that flaw, victory was easily attained.
*Still, this young man's yuan qi is astonishingly profound.*
Xu Ying was filled with surprise and suspicion. To suppress Niu Zhen with a cultivation of merely two cave-heavens was truly no small feat!
Although Niu Zhen had yet to master all Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing, his yuan qi was already remarkably dense. Moreover, he stood in the Pass-Breaching stage; ordinary Nuo masters with two cave-heavens were no match for him whatsoever.
Yet Xu Ying also noticed a pile of people sprawled across the ground in disarray, likely Nuo masters who had already been struck down by Niu Zhen.
These Nuo masters did not possess the immortal bodies of the Zhou clan; once injured, recovering in short order was next to impossible.
Xu Ying looked past them toward the distance, and his heart gave a slight jolt. Two to three hundred Nuo masters had arrived at Mount Wuwang. Dressed in splendid garments, they were accompanied by various divine beasts—likely demon kings who had attained godhood through incense, now reduced to mounts for men.
He also spotted several Nuo masters behind whom a glaze-like sky flickered into view from time to time, anchored by five or six cave-heavens. They were undoubtedly Grand Nuo.
Should anything go awry for that young man, they would step in immediately to rescue him.
Suddenly, the young man stamped his foot, and ocean tides surged all around him. As he unleashed his stance, towering waves rose on every side, engulfing Niu Zhen!
Xu Ying praised inwardly, *Not a bad divine power!*
The young man's divine power summoned sweeping seawater that completely submerged Niu Zhen. No matter how the bull demon struggled, he could not break free of the ocean.
The young man's palm strikes carried the roaring fury of the sea, slamming into Niu Zhen time after time, battering the bull demon until blood seeped from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
From not far away, Yuan Qi's voice rang out loudly, "Hold your hand! We concede this match!"
Yet the young man showed no intention of stopping, his divine power growing ever more ferocious.
All at once, an overwhelmingly violent aura erupted. Yuan Qi sprang forward like a released arrow, manifesting his true form of over twenty zhang. Unleashing his full momentum, he bellowed, "We have already surrendered! Why drive him to utter ruin?"
The young man smiled faintly and drove his palm strikes forward without hesitation, intending to sweep Yuan Qi into his divine power as well and vanquish both the bull demon and the serpent in a single stroke!
His clan had mobilized immense forces to come to Mount Wuwang, yet before they could even lay eyes on their true target, two bull demons had injured dozens of their Nuo masters, dragging their family's dignity through the mud.
His intervention today was meant precisely to win back face for his clan!
*Boom!*
Yuan Qi's aura exploded with near-volcanic fury, churning the young man's boundless sea until it roiled incessantly, as though on the verge of boiling over!
The young man was caught off guard, sensing his opponent's blood and qi surging wildly, dozens of times greater than his own! With a single thunderous sweep of Yuan Qi's tail, the entire sea surface formed by the divine power shattered into pieces!
With his divine power broken, the young man coughed up blood. Watching the serpent's thick, city-wall-like body crushing down upon him, despair filled his heart.
Right at that moment, over a dozen Nuo masters from behind rushed forward, each opening their cave-heavens as they shouted in unison, "Vile serpent, how dare you harm our Pei clan's Seventh Young Master?!"
These Nuo masters consisted of men and women, young and old, of varying capabilities, yet most had opened two or three cave-heavens, possessing formidable cultivation and power.
Their cave-heavens were likewise rooted in a peculiar realm like jade-colored glaze, and their yuan qi was dreadfully profound, far surpassing the disciples of the Zhou and Guo clans Xu Ying had encountered before.
"Ganging up on me? You shameless bastards!"
Yuan Qi was enraged. Sword qi suddenly flared around his body, instantly wreathing him in countless gleaming blades. The razor-sharp sword qi sliced through the surroundings, shredding the Nuo arts and divine powers of the dozen-plus Nuo masters to ribbons!
Yuan Qi let out a fierce roar and expanded into a hundred-zhang-long titan serpent. His head and tail soared into the air as he slithered with majestic grace, covered in sword qi as broad as straw mats and shaped like dragon scales. *Swish! Swish! Swish!* Blinding light radiated in all directions, whirling alongside the roll of his massive body, instantly inflicting grave injuries on the dozen-plus Nuo masters!
In the span of a single breath, these ten or so experts were thoroughly defeated, despair sinking deep into their chests: *How can this snake be so ferocious?!*
Just as Yuan Qi was unleashing his terrifying might, intent on slaying all these Nuo masters on the spot, a middle-aged man stepped forward with a smile, drifting before him as smoothly as if sliding across water. "The great serpent raised by Young Master Xu is truly formidable, worthy of one taught by a famed master. Try taking my Tides Meet the Horizon!"
Four cave-heavens manifested behind him. Without another word, his divine power erupted—a thread across the spring river, an angry tide tearing through the sky, surging toward the horizon!
The moment this strike was unleashed, even with Yuan Qi running the True Cultivation of the Ba Snake and transforming into a hundred-zhang serpent, he was swept up by the torrential spring tide, tumbling helplessly within the waters!
Countless forces squeezed him from every direction—the tidal force of the spring river merging with the sea, threatening to grind him into powder and knead him into pulp!
Such a Dao image was nothing less than the raw fury of heaven and earth!
The middle-aged man thought to himself, *Just now, the Seventh Young Master failed to establish our authority by slaying that wild bull. So be it. Today, I shall shed blood and slaughter this snake to make our mark. Otherwise, that country brat named Xu will think my Pei clan is easily bullied.*
Just as he was about to deliver the lethal blow, a figure suddenly stepped between him and Yuan Qi. It was a broad-boned youth with slightly dark skin, raising a hand to meet his Tides Meet the Horizon.
As the youth raised his palm, two cave-heavens manifested behind him, one above the other. One dipped into the Sea of Chaos to draw upon its primordial power, while the other hung suspended high within a sea of fire, shaped like a crescent moon.
The moment the broad-boned youth thrust out his palm, the middle-aged man felt his breath catch. Before his eyes stood a lone, wondrous peak surrounded by eight revolving summits and buttressed by a hundred thousand mountains, carrying the sheer momentum of heaven collapsing and earth tilting!
The instant their divine powers collided, the middle-aged man felt his own technique thoroughly suppressed and shattered.
The moment their palms struck, the opponent's palm force bore down like toppling mountains and overturning seas. It was the power of pure yang—upright and harmonious, yet peerlessly tyrannical—crushing his yuan qi to pieces on contact!
He watched his right hand's five fingers and fourteen phalanges burst apart one after another, the bones pulverized into dust!
Next, the five metacarpal bones on the back of his hand exploded as well. A terrifying force surged up his right arm, twisting his flesh like hemp rope wherever it passed, snapping bones with sharp, brittle cracks that echoed up through his shoulder and across his entire skeleton!
His body shuddered violently, and nearly every bone in his frame shattered at the exact same moment!
"Impudent! How dare you harm a member of our Pei clan!"
The Pei clan Grand Nuo concealed within the crowd could no longer restrain themselves. Leaping forward, they threw open their cave-heavens and pounced toward Xu Ying!
A bronze bell materialized abruptly, shimmering walls of light swirling around it before descending like a colossal, inverted bell!
Those walls of light spun with frantic fury. No matter how exquisite or terrifying the divine powers of those Grand Nuo were, they were swept away like dead branches in a storm!
With a single toll of the bell, all the Grand Nuo brought by the Pei clan coughed up blood and were sent flying in every direction!
The bell's walls of light snapped back, returning it to its ancient, unadorned form as it drifted above Xu Ying's head, rotating gently.
Before Xu Ying, two crisp cracks sounded from the middle-aged man's legs as his bones snapped. Falling to his knees, he endured the agonizing torment of having every bone in his body shattered, staring up at the youth before him in sheer horror.
In utter disbelief, his voice hoarse and spraying a mist of blood with every word, he rasped, "Pure yang yuan qi! You have refined pure yang yuan qi!"
Xu Ying's expression remained gentle, his gaze warm as he said, "You're quite impressive yourself. I could sense how pure your yuan qi was; you must have cultivated pure yang yuan qi before. Your yuan qi is far purer than that of disciples from other prominent clans."
Terror filled the middle-aged man's eyes. Cultivating under the Pei clan elders, he had gained access to certain family secrets, including the fact that the clan elders and ancestors had been researching ancient demon cultivation techniques. Only later did he learn that those so-called demon techniques were actually the arts of ancient Qi Refiners!
He had been fortunate enough to master the pure yang yuan qi among them, priding himself on possessing a foundation far above his peers. Never could he have imagined that a single clash with Xu Ying would result in total, effortless annihilation!
With a smile on his face, Xu Ying suggested, "You and I met our match today. Why don't we call this battle a draw? We each take a step back so as not to spoil the harmony between us. Besides, I am wounded as well."
The middle-aged man let out a muffled groan, tilted sideways, fell to the ground, and blacked out.
With all his bones shattered and his internal organs ruptured, holding out this long before fainting had already been an extraordinary feat.
Having delivered his polite pleasantries, Xu Ying considered his conduct quite proper and looked back at Yuan Qi.
Yuan Qi looked at him with an encouraging expression, praising, "Ah Ying, you look more and more like a gentle, refined nobleman. That reply of yours let the opponent keep his face while preserving your own grace. A happy outcome for all—everyone saves face!"
Xu Ying replied with delight, "Having spent so much time with Brother Yuan and being influenced by your refined ways, I've naturally learned a great deal."
Just then, a deep, resonant voice rang out, chuckling softly. "Demon King Xu of Lingling truly possesses extraordinary talent. Demon King Xu, our Pei clan of the capital has come to invite you to the imperial capital!"
Xu Ying followed the sound and saw a vigorous, grey-robed elder step out from the crowd. The man had grey hair and a matching beard, his aura vast as an abyss, unfathomably deep.
The instant his gaze swept across, nine cave-heavens flickered into view behind the grey-robed elder, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"This old man is Pei Jingting," the grey-robed elder said with a smile. "I invite Young Master Xu to enter the capital."
Yuan Qi's heart tightened. Shrinking his body, he quietly slithered behind Xu Ying and whispered, "The Pei clan is an ancient Nuo family. Over the past two thousand years, they have produced thirty-one grand generals, seventeen prime ministers, and thirty-eight ministers of state. They are one of the most ancient Nuo lineages in existence."
Chapter 91