Master Shangyuan took measured, unhurried steps, gradually rising upon the long flight of vitality stairs. With every step he placed, waves of immortal music swelled and conch horns resounded in great fanfare. The cloud mist on both flanks transformed into celestial boys and maidens carrying baskets and offering blooms, scattering white jade flowers and snow petals that trailed white smoke as they drifted toward the earth. Each phantom maiden had her own distinct posture and vivid grace, her attire matched to perfection, looking just like a real person. One or two even looked up, casting curious glances toward the Purple Palace masters in the sky.
The white qi in the air spread wider and wider. Pavilions and multi-storied towers rose in picturesque disorder among it, clustering around Master Shangyuan. Nearby, a couple of Purple Palace masters watched in bewilderment and whispered among themselves, “What is this… No sign of water, fire, or the five elements, no confluence of various qis—only this semblance of white qi. How can anyone break through like this?”
“Word has it that it is virtual and real.”
As the two conferred, Yuansu, standing beside Li Xuanfeng, also frowned with a startled, suspicious expression. Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the white qi. White jade petals swirled past him, trailing white vapor as they fell into the lake. Real Person Yuansu paused for a moment and murmured, “Truly, it is ‘Yuzhen Sixty-Nine Merging with Void.’ Who would have thought Taiyue possessed such an immortal art?”
Everyone wore varying expressions, yet Shangyuan continued to ascend into the clouds step by step. As he climbed ever higher, everything beside him churned violently. The white qi flickered bright and dim, swarming toward his body.
Master Shangyuan spoke softly. A rush of white noise filled Li Xuanfeng's ears, and he could hear nothing at all. The world seemed stripped of all sound, everything frozen before him as if time itself had stopped. He saw only Ning Tiaoxiao's lips moving, relaying the words: “Earth veins should yield jade… Rosy dawn can serve as spirit items, spirit plants, and spirit beasts. Our Dao shall flourish; prepare sword mansions and jade cliffs to leave behind for posterity.”
Yuansu understood at once and explained in a low voice, “This is the formula of the ancient immortal arts used to proclaim the achievement of immortal status.”
Shangyuan’s pale complexion swiftly returned to normal. With his eyes tightly shut, a jade-like sheen surfaced over his features. His left and right hands shifted between illusion and substance, and the white light behind him flickered in and out of sight, as if locked in an unceasing struggle. The moment that jade plate rose, the jade pearls and drizzling mist in the sky ceased. Master Shangyuan sat cross-legged in the void with that white jade plate resting right behind him, resembling an immortal or Buddha reincarnated, while the cloud mist concealing his face finally dispersed.
His face was handsome, his eyebrows slender, but now his eyes were stark white, staring straight into the void above.
In an instant, dazzling white light flowed forth. The cloud qi in the air surged and converged, centering on the bright, massive jade plate behind him to form an immense white lake, within which a brilliant point of light faintly coalesced.
Above that spiritual light, an illusory piece of white jade slowly emerged, gathering gradually. The more it condensed, the firmer it became, only to fade back into phantom obscurity.
This was the Dao base of Fei Wangbai from the Jiang family’s lineage—the White Jade Plate. Li Xuanfeng had likewise heard of this Dao base; back then, Yu Yuxie had practiced this path, but because it required rare spiritual essences, the legacy had long since been severed. As it turned out, it was indeed part of the Yuzhen lineage.
Li Xuanfeng pushed his ocular technique to its utmost limit, yet he could still only barely make out the rough silhouette of a figure. Behind Shangyuan, there seemed to appear a fluttering robe woven with silver-white patterns, swaying gently in the wind. The object seemed both illusory and real, resembling a robe draped over one's shoulders, a stone held in one's palm, and an empty void all at once. Shangyuan lifted his eyes, looking toward the void ahead.
The snow and wind of the North Sea, uninterrupted for a thousand years, came to a halt for several breaths. Across the thousand-li expanse of snow peaks, white pearls began to clatter down in a deluge, large and small beads pelting down without restraint. These white beads tumbled and bounded with crisp, clear clinks—some piercing the broken ice to sink into the lake, some rolling noisily down the snow peaks, and others piling up within the hollows.
Master Shangyuan uttered: “『Intermediary Brocade』.”
In the blink of an eye, the falling pearls across heaven and earth stretched and shifted, interweaving into dense white brocade that drifted like catkins. Blotting out the sky and sun, it made it impossible to see even three feet ahead, leaving only a hazy, misty white.
He then chanted: “『Azure Jade Cliff』.”
The ice and snow beneath his feet gradually transformed from bright white to a white interlaced with pale azure, radiating transparent luster beneath the moonlight. Li Xuanfeng looked down and saw a sheet of blue-white: ice and rock turned to jade, falling snow became brocade, and this North Sea ice peak was thoroughly transformed from peak to base into an Azure Jade Cliff.
“『Dao Conforming Truth』!”
Master Shangyuan lightly formed a hand seal, and white light of divine abilities surged forth, crashing toward that spiritual light.
Real Person Puyu looked past that spiritual light to gaze at Master Shangyuan. Calculating in secret, blood seeped from his palm as he sighed with emotion and said to Yuansu beside him, “Only now, as his divine abilities are about to merge, does a sign of his immortal form crumbling appear. A genius indeed! This immortal art was by no means crafted exclusively for rosy dawn, yet it aligns so perfectly! Excellent—so there is still such a path to breakthrough! Excellent! Master Shangyuan’s immortal art will grant all posterity half a tenth greater chance of breaking through!”
The cloud qi beside him dispersed, and two indistinct figures gradually took shape. One of them spoke: “Upper Immortal has transcended the mortal realm. We pray you personally strike out your immortal name; we two are humble and dare not commit such great disrespect.”
Respectfully shaking out a golden scroll from within their sleeves, the two held either side of it and presented it before Master Shangyuan. The person on the right withdrew a brush from his sleeve, speaking deferentially.
Master Shangyuan shook his head slightly, remaining motionless. The two shrank back in trepidation, exchanging glances without knowing what to do, only to hear Shangyuan say, “I am not on the register; there is no need to search.” He waved his hand and added, “Depart swiftly. If a fight breaks out, it will harm you two.”
The two Underworld envoys looked at each other, obliged to put away the brush and stow the golden scroll properly. They nodded repeatedly as if granted a grand amnesty, took their leave with deep reverence, and in an instant transformed into a gust of yin wind, swiftly dispersing into the world.
As soon as he spoke those words, all the cultivators in the sky bowed their heads. Not a single person dared to move, nor did anyone dare speak; they all stood in silent reverence.
Shangyuan, however, did not stop. Emphasizing every word, he proclaimed, “Since ancient arts are no longer viable, each should seek their own nature, without being bound to water, fire, five elements, or the two immortal qis. Let those who seek virtual and real pursue virtual and real; let those who seek clear and turbid pursue clear and turbid…”
The stars and moon dimmed. Shangyuan’s lips moved lightly, his voice rising from the Great Void and transmitting into the mortal realm without cease: “I, Shangyuan, today attain the Dao in the North Sea, achieving the nature of ‘Cai Xia Sixty-Nine Merging with Void’ to ascend as True Monarch! The foundation of jade and stone under heaven has been laid, usable for arrays, pills, supreme immortal arts, talismans, registers, and the Cai Xia lineage…”
His voice echoed outward, mingled with the fine, dense tinkling of shattered jade. Regardless of their prior relationship with him—whether of joy or hatred, entirely unconnected, or filled with envy and jealousy—the surrounding cultivators all bowed low in salute:
“Greetings to Cai Xia Sixty-Nine Merging with Void True Monarch!”
He slowly turned his head. White qi drifted ceaselessly from between his lips and teeth, pouring like a waterfall from the tips of his hair with every movement before dispersing into the air. Yuansu remained utterly silent throughout, merely offering a loud greeting to Shangyuan while staring entranced at that vast swath of white qi.
All at once, the sun, moon, stars, and night sky vanished entirely, leaving behind only an endless expanse of azure water stretching from the far east all the way to the west. Boundless, surging azure water hung suspended overhead, and looking up, one could even spot scattered reefs and islets.
The endless azure waters in the sky pressed quietly against the void. Li Xuanfeng felt a piercing pain in his eyes, seeing golden sparks burst before him, and dared not look any longer. Beside him, Yuansu grabbed his armor in a flash, forcefully turning his head away so that he was facing Yuansu directly.
Yuansu’s left eyeball was already gone, melting into azure seawater that flowed down, while the other sat soft and collapsed within its socket. His face looked as though drenched with water, covered in streams of teal liquid.
“How did it come to this!”
“The sky is gone…”
“Lushui,” Yuansu muttered softly, his eyes filled with shock: “What happened!”
Li Xuanfeng’s vision went black. He vaguely saw a glittering star drop from the seawater, while an immense, boundless silhouette shuttled from the sea in the sky to the sea beneath the earth, its ink-white scales flashing.
All the cultivators maintained a bizarre silence until all the radiance upon Shangyuan vanished, returning him to his plain, white-robed appearance, the sword at his waist turning back to wood.
***
Mount Xiashan was a high mountain in the sea north of the Heshui Sea, a resting spot for the rosy dawn qi of the Eastern Sea. The rosy clouds rising from the northwest and northeast would pause here upon reaching this high peak before continuing along the celestial canopy. That duration varied, sometimes lasting only a few breaths, sometimes several hours. Those coming from the northwest usually headed toward the Qunyi Strait, while those from the northeast would travel all the way back to the Great Western Plains of the State of Wu.
Located in the Heshui Sea, this was naturally dragon territory. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators coming here would simply be courting death, yet the dragons forged ties of goodwill with Purple Palace masters of all factions, allowing them to settle in cave dwellings here to cultivate, where the dragonkind would host them hospitably.
Li Xizhi was observing the rosy clouds. He was nominally here to collect rosy dawn qi for Realized One Changxi, so he naturally needed to carry out the task thoroughly. Pinching his fingers to calculate, he murmured in confusion, “Strange… What happened in the North Sea? Not a single ray of rosy dawn has come over. Could a Purple Palace master have fallen, disrupting the celestial phenomena?”
Amid the rising rosy glow, a youth flew in on the clouds, handsome of brow and bright of eye, graceful and elegant, holding a gourd in his hand.
He drifted lightly onto the peak, calculated the time, and frowned in perplexity. Beside him, a woman flew in on the wind cradling colorful clouds, her curved brows smiling as she said, “Husband, there is no need to wait any longer!”
This couple was, of course, Li Xizhi and his wife. Li Xizhi had been healing his injuries and gathering rosy dawn qi here, and Yang Xiao'er had come looking for him, crossing the Eastern Sea alone to reach this place only last night. It was only because she was of the Yang family and had clan members escorting her that she could make the journey, for the risks along the way were immense.
Since no rosy clouds were coming, Li Xizhi felt relieved. Freeing his hands, he descended on the wind with his wife into the cave dwelling.
This cave dwelling had been prepared by the dragonkind and was quite secluded. Closing the stone door tight, he asked gently, “Wife, how are you?”
She smiled. “You were in a rush yesterday when you arrived, and I didn't have time to ask… This place is fairly tranquil, so we finally have the time.”
Yang Xiao'er had heard her husband was at Mount Xiashan and, missing him dearly, had swiftly flown over on the wind. Seeing that her husband was not wearing the feather robe she had gifted him, she had felt some doubt. Musing over it, she had soon realized something was amiss.
Hearing his words, she first checked his injuries thoroughly to make sure he was out of danger, then pursed her lips and snorted softly, “Naturally I swapped it. You don't need to fight life-and-death battles out there, and no one can bully me anyway.”
“Of those two feather robes of mine, one was granted to the Yang family's direct lineage, and the other was part of my dowry… Back then, I was afraid you would be running around outside with so many enemies, so I kept an eye on it.
“So the one you are wearing is the direct lineage feather robe, while the one I am wearing is the one from the dowry!”
“So you swapped the robes.” Li Xizhi understood at once and spoke softly.
He retrieved the feather robe from his storage bag. It was already in tatters, with a deep-blue palm print stamped on the back. Yang Xiao'er’s expression turned anxious at the sight, and she asked, “How did it end up like this! This feather robe of yours was clearly only at the Qi Refinement level, yet it even concealed that golden-light contingency…”
Li Xizhi gave a rough account and asked softly, “What is happening in the North Sea?”
Yang Xiao'er smiled. “Husband, being isolated here, you might not know. These past few days should be when Master Shangyuan breaks through in the North Sea; the rosy dawn was likely blocked by him inadvertently.”
Chapter 525