Day of Ascension

Xu Ying became alert. Framed behind the girl was an immaculate blue sky, its tranquil expanse adorned with a few wandering clouds.

“You lecher! You peeked at me while I was bathing!”

She gave a sharp cry and unleashed a palm strike. The white clouds swept toward Xu Ying. Before they even reached him, they turned into dark, oppressive storm clouds amid roaring wind and thunder. A raging storm engulfed the area within four to five zhang of him!

“I will beat you to death!”

The girl’s sharp voice came from within the storm. The moment the white clouds gave way to howling wind and driving rain, the power of her palm strike surged. It grew strong enough to alter heaven and earth itself.

It was a level of power Xu Ying had never seen before—the ability to change the phenomena of the heavens already qualified as a divine ability.

“Miss, you’ve misunderstood. I didn’t peek at you! I was standing under the tree the whole time and never went down the mountain!” Xu Ying hurriedly argued.

He retreated, only to find a parasol tree right behind him. He had nowhere else to go. Xu Ying immediately used the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing to unleash Dragon-Python Twin Flight. He leaped onto the tree and met the attack with both palms.

Magu!

A dragon’s roar and a serpent’s hiss rang out as the avatars of a dragon and a snake surged into the storm-tossed sky!

Their palm forces collided, and both Dao avatar powers erupted. Xu Ying felt that the girl’s primordial qi wasn’t particularly powerful, but her palm force was simply too tyrannical. It was absurd!

He could overpower her with his primordial qi cultivation; the instant her palm struck, the raw strength erupting from her overwhelmed him, blasting him into the air.

Xu Ying was startled. “She’s an expert on my level! Master Qi, if I get beaten to death someday, the top reward is yours! Carry my head to the county magistrate’s house to collect the reward!”

The scenery behind the girl shifted back to a brilliant blue sky. An instant later, it became a star-filled night. She sneered. “You didn’t peek? Then how did you know about m-my... black mole on my lower left side? Even my mother doesn’t know!”

Her face flushed crimson. “You actually peeked at m-m-my private parts? How long did you look?”

Although it was broad daylight, utter darkness stretched behind her like a starry sky filled with countless stars.

What kind of Exorcist technique is this? Xu Ying watched the starry sky begin to spin as it rushed toward him with the girl’s attack. The same unmatched force bore down on him. Before it even reached him, his palm trembled, turning numb and sore as his every muscle threatened to cramp.

He activated the ang syllable from the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing. His pure yang primordial qi surged, and with the Dao sound resonating through him, he threw a punch to match it. Their fists and palms collided. Xu Ying scattered the girl’s primordial qi, but the impact left his right arm hanging limp. He could no longer lift it.

How can a woman have such strength? This power is too pure, even purer than the Vajra Indestructible Body of the Zhou family!

Xu Ying was secretly shocked. This was pure physical strength.

Even if she was slightly plump, a young girl should not possess such terrifying raw power. Yet her strength was absurdly overwhelming.

More importantly, her martial techniques manifested near-divine phenomena of heaven and earth, and their power was truly rare!

Could it be a Secret Trove? Within the Six Human Secret Troves, there’s probably one Secret Trove that can store power!

Just as the thought crossed Xu Ying's mind, the young girl’s surroundings transformed into green fields beneath a blue sky. The world seemed to spin as heaven and earth inverted.

When the upheaval subsided, the crushing force of Xu Ying's primordial qi had been completely neutralized. The technique was exquisitely subtle, truly astounding to behold.

After dispersing his power, the girl shouted, “You’re not an Exorcist of the Cangwu Sect. It doesn’t have martial arts as exquisite as yours. Who exactly are you?”

Xu Ying retreated several steps up the tree, using the True Cultivation of Ba Snake to dissolve her power. He was about to speak when he saw a bright moon rising in the blue sky behind the girl, followed by a sun leaping up from below the horizon.

He suddenly felt an overwhelming force bearing down on him. His vital energy was already being suppressed, his blood no longer flowed smoothly, and even breathing became difficult.

“It really is some strange Secret Trove power. It can unlock the latent strength of the human body!”

Xu Ying no longer hesitated. He Visualized Mount Jiuyi, his body like a mountain.

Standing atop the parasol tree, he inspired an overwhelming sense of awe. It was as though one towering peak stood unmoving while eight others guarded it, and all ten thousand mountains paid homage. This was the divine ability he had comprehended during his latest Dao immersion.

Xu Ying raised a hand to meet the girl’s technique. Behind her, the blue sky shook violently, then shattered. The bright moon turned to dust, the sun split apart, and blazing true fire poured out in all directions!

The girl felt tens of thousands of mountains spinning with Xu Ying’s palm as they ground toward her. Before that palm even landed, it had already crushed her primordial qi, throwing the power throughout her body into disorder.

The force of this strike was too great. Wherever the palm force reached, it formed a mountain-like enclosure that left her with no room to retreat, no way to evade, and no path to escape.

Shocked, she hastily sprang upward, and a ladder of clouds descended from the sky!

The girl stepped onto the cloud ladder and leaped again, rose higher into the air, and landed on another cloud ladder.

Light on her feet, she bounded across several cloud ladders before disappearing into the clouds. Her voice drifted down from above.

“You lecher! You peeked at me while I was bathing. I’ll definitely tell the empress and have you sent into the palace to become a eunuch! Second Aunt, someone peeked at me while I was bathing!”

A surprised woman's voice drifted down from above. “Is there such a thing? Don’t panic, Xiaodie. Later, we’ll have Eunuch Chen castrate him and send him into the palace as a eunuch.”

Another voice said, “Xiaodie, you came at just the right time. These divine birds are vicious. Come over here. Let me introduce you. This is Young Master Yuan of the Yuan clan...”

Xu Ying had already held back on his attacks. Hearing the discussion, he flew into a rage. “Yuanqi, if the Jiang family and Xu family end up with no descendants, it’ll be all your fault!”

Yuanqi stammered, “Master Zhong said it too...”

Dazhong said, “I’m using Divine Sense to transmit my voice. Others can’t hear it. Don’t panic, Ah Ying. You’ve opened the Mud Pill Secret Trove. Even if you really did get castrated, it could grow back.”

Yuanqi nodded repeatedly as well. “A trivial injury, nothing worth mentioning.”

Xu Ying ignored these idiots, looked up, and said softly, “Brother Yuan once said that among flying techniques, the Cloud-Ladder Heavenly Bound art of the Guo clan is the most exquisite. Could this be that?”

Suddenly, a miserable scream rang out, and someone fell from the parasol tree, crashing to the ground. More voices shouted from above, “Don’t try to capture the Young Phoenix! Those Divine Birds will kill people!”

A few more people fell. They didn’t struggle as they fell—they were clearly already dead.

“Don’t capture the phoenix! Damn it, you’re making it impossible for everyone to comprehend anything!” said another.

The tree quieted down again. Xu Ying silently climbed up the parasol tree. Though this parasol tree was not as magnificent as the great locust tree, it was still huge, with broad branches stretching in every direction.

The parasol blossoms were trumpet-shaped and already in full bloom. Clusters of a dozen or more looked as though they had gathered to sound their horns, creating a lively scene.

The flowers were enormous. Xu Ying saw several people seated inside the blossoms, sketching the divine birds in the distance.

Those divine birds had two necks, two heads, and four wings. A primordial, savage aura enveloped them, making them extremely rare. When they spread their feathers, intricate patterns appeared across their feathers, lending them a mysterious aura. This was a manifestation of the Great Dao!

“Divine birds possess Dao avatars. By comprehending them, one can awaken divine abilities.”

Dazhong said, “They’re like Yuanqi, divine creatures whose bloodlines have awakened. They may have once been unremarkable, strange birds, but their ancient bloodlines have recently begun to awaken, transforming them into Rocs, Horned Eagles, Bifang birds, and other divine birds!”

Xu Ying quickly lowered his voice and said, “Master Zhong, I’ve been in Lingling County for so long. Why have I never encountered these divine birds with awakened bloodlines? Why have so many suddenly appeared recently?”

Dazhong speculated, “It’s most likely related to the phoenix’s appearance in the world. A fledgling phoenix is still weak and needs divine birds to protect it. Once it reaches adulthood, it has no natural enemies and no longer needs guardians.

“It’s likely because of this phoenix. Sensing that it’s in danger, it awakened the ancient bloodlines of these strange birds so they would come protect it. I once heard my master say that phoenixes have this ability to awaken the bloodlines of other strange birds.”

Xu Ying spotted Yuan Weiyang and Uncle Xiao. He was about to go over when he noticed the plump young girl he had just fought was also beside them, so he immediately abandoned the idea.

Beside Yuan Weiyang was a beautiful middle-aged woman and a handsome young man. They looked like husband and wife. The woman should be Xiaodie’s second aunt.

Xu Ying turned around and left, keeping as much distance from them as possible. Although the Mud Pill Secret Trove possessed boundless bodily vitality, what if they had some secret art that prevented it from growing back? That would truly leave him crying without tears. He had no intention of taking that risk.

Yuan Weiyang also noticed him and was somewhat surprised. “Why isn’t Demon King Xu coming this way? I was planning to introduce a few acquaintances to him.”

The beautiful woman noticed Xu Ying looking over, nudged Xiaodie, and asked softly, “Xiaodie, is that that lecher?”

Seeing Xu Ying, her anger surged again. She was about to charge over when the beautiful woman hurriedly said, “Don’t act rashly. There are too many hostile divine birds here. If you make a move here and they mistake it for an attack, they’ll come after you. With so many divine birds around, we can barely protect ourselves.”

The handsome man smiled. “Let’s wait until he gets down from the tree.”

Yuan Weiyang heard this and felt even more puzzled. Uncle Xiao whispered, “Young Master, it’s best if you put aside any thoughts of clearing up the misunderstanding.”

Yuan Weiyang also lowered his voice. “I’m just wondering how Demon King Xu managed to commit another crime in such a short time. He works fast.”

Xu Ying continued climbing upward. The divine birds above grew more numerous and increasingly ferocious. They remained perfectly still while one enormous head after another turned to watch him climb. Each radiated a savage aura and looked exceptionally difficult to deal with.

Fewer and fewer people dared come this high. Many Exorcists hid in the flower chambers of the parasol blossoms, not daring to show their faces.

Xu Ying was puzzled, and then he saw a divine bird lift its claw. Underneath it was the corpse of an Exorcist from the Cangwu Sect. The divine bird had impaled him on a broken branch. The sight alone was enough to make anyone wince.

Judging by their size, however, these divine birds should have been like Yuanqi. Their bloodlines had only recently awakened.

The difference was that Yuanqi’s bloodline had naturally awakened after cultivation, and even then, only partially. The phoenix, however, had awakened their bloodlines fully!

Moreover, Yuanqi was a demon with spiritual sentience, more human-like. These divine birds were powerful and ferocious, driven by a wild, untamed nature.

“Ah Ying, something’s not right.”

Dazhong hurriedly resonated. “There are too many divine birds guarding the path, and they haven’t awakened spiritual sentience. They only know how to protect the phoenix! If the phoenix had enough time to awaken their spiritual sentience, that would only mean the phoenix had encountered an enemy.

“This enemy is too strong, forcing the phoenix to do everything possible to find these exotic birds and awaken their bloodlines!”

Xu Ying’s heart stirred, and he immediately stopped in his tracks. The phoenix was using its remaining strength to awaken more exotic birds’ bloodlines. This was a move to preserve its own life. And it had gathered so many divine birds atop the parasol tree, choosing the most advantageous terrain to fight its enemy to the death!

In that case, this place would definitely become a battlefield soaked in blood!

“Retreat! We can’t get dragged into this mess!”

Just as Xu Ying thought this, a clear, melodious voice suddenly sounded in his ear. “Was that you? Earlier, you rode the wind to my side. Please, lend me your aid, Sir.”

Xu Ying’s heart jolted. He looked up. High among the layers of parasol leaves and blossoms stood a seven-colored young phoenix on a branch, its head tilted as it looked at him. Its gaze was lively, full of wisdom.

Xu Ying shouted, “I can’t even protect myself, much less aid you. Farewell.”

He turned and leaped downward. Suddenly, the fledgling phoenix’s voice came from behind him, distant and sorrowful. “Three thousand years ago, just after I hatched, I saw you.”

Xu Ying landed on a parasol branch, freezing. He turned back with great difficulty and said hoarsely, “Three thousand years ago, you saw me?”

“Yes. Your face hasn’t changed a bit.”

Those intelligent eyes looked at him.