Ascension Day

Xu Ying waited until he had cursed himself tired before saying, "Old Master, you should focus on your Cultivation. By the way, do you have any Elixirs of Life for healing? I remember some Qi Refining Skills include Elixir Recipes for creating Spirit Pills that can treat injuries."

"What’s the damn point of healing? We still can’t beat that Celestial Demon!"

Despite his words, Beichenzi still took out a few Jade Bottles from his Mysterious Domain, poured out some Spirit Pills, and swallowed them. He closed his eyes and focused, activating their medicinal power to heal the wounds on his Primordial Spirit and Divine Sense.

However, the Celestial Demon had possessed an Immortal Corpse’s Flesh Body and was simply too tyrannical. The injuries it had inflicted on him were not limited to these; his Dao Image and Hidden Land had also been damaged.

Such injuries could not be cured by mere Elixirs of Life. They required seclusion and deep Cultivation, constant Contemplation, and in severe cases, even seeking out various Dao Images to comprehend before he could return to his Peak.

But where would Beichenzi find such an opportunity now?

Beichenzi sighed, his will wavering. He said to Xu Ying, "If the Celestial Demon catches up, we’re all dead. I’m definitely not going to make it. At most, I can withstand two or three more hits before that Celestial Demon devours me. This Bell is a lost cause, too."

Xu Ying looked at Da Zhong. The great Bell had been repaired by Zhu Chanchan, but it lacked the strength to unleash much of its power.

Beichenzi said, "I’m out of options now. Either you throw this little girl into the Abyss, or we all die together."

His eyes flickered as he stared at Zhu Chanchan. "Or perhaps... just let me have one taste of this little girl. Just one..."

Zhu Chanchan quickly hid behind Xu Ying, peeking out to glare fiercely at him.

Xu Ying smiled. "Old Master, you must have other options, right? Let me help you think..."

He paced back and forth on Yuan Qi’s head. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he said with a grin, "Old Master, you’ve lived since the Martial Emperor Period. You must have a lot of friends, right?"

Beichenzi laughed in exasperation. "Are you suggesting I screw over my friends? Let me tell you, people in my line of work don’t have friends! Even if I wanted to screw someone over, there’s no one to screw!"

Xu Ying’s eyes gleamed. "Old Master, do you know of any dangerous places that can suppress a Celestial Demon?"

Beichenzi shook his head. "In those dangerous places, I would have died even at my peak. Going now would just be a faster death."

Xu Ying pondered, "Then is there anywhere we can hide from the Celestial Demon’s perception?"

Beichenzi’s heart stirred. "Well, there is one such place..."

He whispered, "It’s an Earth God Temple... Where are we now?"

Xu Ying didn’t recognize the terrain either, so he had Yuan Qi carry them up into the sky. Beichenzi looked around in all directions and said in despair, "We’re too far from that Earth God Temple. It’s in Daozhou. We’ll never make it in time."

Suddenly, a Phoenix Tree standing tall on a peculiar peak caught their eyes.

Overjoyed to the point of tears, Beichenzi pointed at the mountain and shouted, "That’s Tongbai Mountain! There’s a Cyan Phoenix Divine Tree on it! Feng Xian’er might be hiding there!"

Xu Ying, Zhu Chanchan, and the others all breathed a sigh of relief. Yuan Qi descended from the sky and headed for Tongbai Mountain. For a colossal creature like him, Sword Flight consumed too much Magical Power. Slithering was more energy-efficient and not much slower.

A short while later, they arrived at Tongbai Mountain, ascended the peak, and came to the base of the Cyan Phoenix Tree.

The Wutong Flowers on the tree had long since withered, leaving behind many green fruits. Xu Ying’s Divine Sense swept out, quickly scanning the entire Divine Tree, but he didn’t find any trace of Feng Xian’er.

Still, Xu Ying didn’t give up. He performed Sword Control, flying in circles around the Cyan Phoenix Divine Tree, continuously tapping its trunk to see if there was a Grotto Heaven hidden within.

At the base of the Cyan Phoenix Divine Tree, the Big Snake Yuan Qi suddenly said, "I know another way to survive. But it will require the Old Master’s cooperation."

Beichenzi frowned. "You’re just a lowly Snake Demon. What kind of plan could you have?"

Yuan Qi said, "There must be a seal within Ying. The astonishing feats he sometimes performs are the result of that seal leaking, allowing him to awaken a portion of his memories. I was thinking..."

Beichenzi cut him off. "Impossible! Don’t even think about it!"

Yuan Qi replied, "If we don’t take this step, we’ll all die here. Beichenzi, what is the one thing you’ve wanted to do most in your life? Is it to be forced to watch over an ageless boy forever? Don’t you want to do the things you truly desire?"

’An ageless boy?’

Hearing this, Zhu Chanchan seemed to recall something. Her expression changed slightly as she hurriedly looked up at Xu Ying on the Cyan Phoenix Divine Tree. ’Could that myth actually be true?’ she murmured to herself.

A look of disbelief crossed her face.

Beichenzi’s expression was stormy and uncertain as he too looked up at Xu Ying. He saw Xu Ying flying on his Sword Control Qi, tapping relentlessly on the Bronze Divine Tree.

Yuan Qi continued, "Right now, if you don’t help him break the seal, we will all die here. You’ll never be able to accomplish the thing you’ve always wanted to do. Help him break the seal, and after we get rid of the Celestial Demon, you can just seal him up again if you have to."

The Big Snake slowly circled Beichenzi, its eyes fixed on him. Its voice seemed to come from all directions—first from the front, then the back, then left, then right—as it coaxed him, "This is the only way out of this deadly predicament. You don’t want to die still playing the part of a jailer watching over a prisoner, do you?"

"In your final moments, when you look back on the most exciting thing you’ve ever done, you don’t want it to just be ’being a jailer,’ do you?"

The Big Snake coiled higher and higher around Beichenzi, its voice growing ethereal. "Perhaps," it whispered faintly, "perhaps the battle with the Celestial Demon will be the most magnificent battle of your life. Perhaps... helping Ying break his seal will be your single greatest masterstroke."

"Enough!"

Beichenzi roared, his face dark. "A lowly Snake Demon dares to try and bewitch me?" he snarled. "Do you think my three thousand years of Dao Practice, my Dao Heart polished over three millennia, are all for nothing?"

As if struck by a heavy blow, the Big Snake’s coiled body collapsed like water, and it slithered away dejectedly.

Beichenzi stood there majestically. But when he turned his face, his expression was once again stormy and uncertain.

Just then, Zhu Chanchan’s voice trembled. "The Celestial Demon is here! It’s close! What do we do?"

Beichenzi’s face paled. He pulled a Yellow Robe from his Mysterious Domain and gave it a sharp shake. The Yellow Robe flew up as if worn by an invisible person, fluttering loudly as it tore through the air and vanished.

After sending the Yellow Robe away, Beichenzi took out an altar. Upon the altar sat a Shen Kan. The old man produced a Peach Wood Sword and stepped onto the altar.

The Shen Kan didn’t enshrine any Divine Spirit; instead, it held a Paper Talisman.

The script on the Paper Talisman was bird-worm seal script, written with a Golden Pen. It was far more complex than any bird-worm seal script Xu Ying had seen before, imbued with a natural Dao rhythm.

An incense stick as thick as an arm burned before the Paper Talisman. Its fragrant smoke drifted straight up, flowing directly into the talisman and being absorbed. A stick of this size wouldn’t burn out for a year or more.

Beichenzi stood on the altar, holding the sword and performing a ritual. He paid homage to heaven and earth, muttering incantations.

At that moment, a young man wearing a hoopoe-feather crown and a golden-threaded feather cloak ascended Tongbai Mountain and appeared before them.

Da Zhong shielded Zhu Chanchan and retreated, shouting, "Ying! Get down here, quick!"

At the same time, Yuan Qi yelled, "Beichenzi, what are you waiting for? Do it!"

Beichenzi gritted his teeth. With a SWISH, he thrust out the Peach Wood Sword in his hand, slicing off the burning tip of the arm-thick incense!

He caught the burning tip on his sword’s point and, with a slight tremor, extinguished it.

On the Shen Kan, the flow of Incense and Candlelight was severed. No more smoke drifted toward the Paper Talisman.

The world fell suddenly silent; not a single sound could be heard.

Then, a light breeze began to stir. It grew stronger and stronger, WHOOSHING as it rustled the grass and trees. In an instant, dark clouds rolled in from nowhere, blanketing the sky.

The sky and earth changed color. The great wind buffeted the Cyan Phoenix Divine Tree, causing it to sway violently!

CRACK!

An immense bolt of lightning descended from the heavens and struck the Cyan Phoenix Divine Tree, splitting the Divine Tree right down the middle!

The Divine Tree crashed to the ground. Amidst the lightning, a figure landed heavily, half-crouched. Slowly, he raised his head. It was Xu Ying. The lightning from a moment ago seemed to have transformed into a crackling pattern that flickered and danced between his eyebrows.

He slowly rose to his feet. The vast expanse of dark clouds in the sky began to spin madly like a vortex, and he was the center of that vortex!

"Beichen, how dare you?" He turned his head to look at Beichenzi, a strange expression on his face.

It was a mixture of excitement, mockery, sarcasm, and wild ecstasy!

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Thank you to Aisin-Gioro Shengjie, Yuanqi Zhonger Shaonian, Fanyu luck, Yihanlu, Guang’an Great Celestial Venerable, Su Jingyan, Jimoruyan01, and Alliance Leader Yilian Hanfeng for the tips! And a special thank you to the great Home-cooked Dishes for the Silver Alliance tip!