Ascension Day

On Wuyang Mountain, Xu Ying traveled through the night, rushing back from Wuling.

For the past several days, he had been secretly flying off on his sword in the middle of the night. He would travel thousands of miles overnight to Wuling, only to return to Wuyang Mountain before dawn.

"Ying, you have already repaid your debt of gratitude. You don’t need to go anymore."

Da Zhong was waiting for him on the mountain. Seeing his travel-worn appearance, it said, "You are a Qi Refiner, and they are mortals. What is but a small ripple for a Qi Refiner is a world-ending catastrophe for them. Don’t get them involved."

A chill went down Xu Ying’s spine. "You’re right, Lord Zhong," he said. "I won’t go again."

Yuan Qi slithered over and asked, "Ying, your cultivation is stronger than before. Have you remembered anything from your past?"

Xu Ying had been cultivating on Wuyang Mountain for the past three months. His cultivation had long since recovered and had even reached a new level. He was getting closer and closer to the Fourth Heaven of the Gate-Opening Stage.

Over these past few days, sporadic images from his past had occasionally surfaced in his mind: life in the Jiang Family Field, the days spent fleeing with Yuan Qi and Da Zhong, Yuan Weiyang’s face, and the scene of Zhou Qiyun Crossing the Tribulation.

However, he could never string these images together or fully recall his past.

Zhu Chanchan had grown into a young lady. Her aura was as ethereal as an immortal’s, and her cultivation was profound and vigorous. She was wearing Guo Xiaodie’s clothes, and just as she had said before, they were a bit small for her.

"The last time his memories were unsealed, he must have secretly hidden a portion of his power to fight against the Paper Talisman Seal, leaving a loophole in the seal."

The young girl, brimming with a youthful vitality that belied her worldly-wise air, pushed up her chest to keep her clothes from feeling too tight. She then leaned in close to Xu Ying, studying the spot between his eyebrows.

Sure enough, there was a Thunder Pattern between Xu Ying’s brows, but its traces were so faint that they were hard to notice without looking closely.

She was practically nose-to-nose with Xu Ying. While staring at the Thunder Pattern, she began to practice Contemplation, converting the shape of the pattern into a Dao Image to record it. "This Thunder Pattern must be a clue he left for himself before he lost his memory," she said. "I suspect that the moment the seal was activated, he was already prepared to break it."

Xu Ying sat there obediently. Her breath washed over his face, causing him to blush slightly. He averted his gaze and asked, "Chanchan, how much of the Immortal Elixir in your body have you refined?"

"Only a little..."

Zhu Chanchan trailed off, then suddenly realized something. She stared at him in disbelief and cried out, "You remember me?"

Xu Ying nodded. "On my way back from Wuling just now, I suddenly remembered a little more. Why has your cultivation stagnated? Logically, you should have refined the Immortal Elixir in your body by now."

"I have to suppress my cultivation to practice the Nuo Technique and then unify it with the Qi Refining Technique."

Zhu Chanchan sighed. "I’ve discovered that the Immortal Elixir I stole from Doushuai Temple doesn’t seem to be enough for my Ascension to Immortality. The Qi Refining Techniques of my era didn’t include the discovery of the Six Secrets of the Human Body. And the Doushuai Temple’s Immortal Elixir seems to only be able to raise my Heart Power to an immortal’s level. Even if I completely refine the Immortal Elixir, I won’t be able to survive the Celestial Tribulation."

She straightened up, her eyes flashing. "During the time you were gone, I did some painful soul-searching and decided I must open the Human Body’s Secret Treasuries and cultivate both Nuo Qi and regular Qi! However, my cultivation has already reached the Multi-Storey Tower Realm, and I suddenly discovered something."

Her expression turned grave. "I can’t open the Human Body’s Secret Treasuries."

Xu Ying smiled. "You don’t have the Dragon-Seeking Positioning Technique, so of course you can’t open them."

Zhu Chanchan shook her head. "You left several scrolls of the Dragon-Seeking Positioning Technique in the Big Snake’s stomach. I can enter its belly whenever I want, so of course I can see those texts. I’m also quite gifted, so finding these few Secret Treasuries wasn’t difficult. But after I found them, I still couldn’t open them."

Xu Ying was completely bewildered.

Zhu Chanchan sat down in the lotus position. A young woman flew out from behind her—it was her Primordial Spirit, suffused with a brilliant Divine Light and an inviolable majesty. It reached out and grabbed Xu Ying’s hand.

Xu Ying felt his body move, and he involuntarily flew up with her.

He looked down and saw another "him" on the ground. That version of himself was brilliantly radiant and dazzlingly eye-catching.

"Huh? I grabbed the wrong one. How did I pull out his Flesh Body?"

Zhu Chanchan muttered in annoyance, pushed Xu Ying back down, and then, grasping his soul’s hand, flew up and dove into the back of her own physical body’s head.

Xu Ying’s Flesh Body slumped to the ground, motionless.

The two of them first arrived at the Sea of Chaos.

Even though Xu Ying’s soul was powerful and Zhu Chanchan’s Primordial Spirit was not weak, they were both awed by the tempestuous Sea of Chaos. This Sea of Chaos was countless times larger than Xu Ying’s, and the Chaos Mud Pill was like a giant Celestial Sphere, anchored in the center of it!

The moment their gazes landed on it, they felt as if heaven and earth were twisting, as if they were falling endlessly into the Chaos Celestial Sphere. The sensation was extremely uncomfortable!

Zhu Chanchan’s Primordial Spirit held Xu Ying’s hand, her clothes fluttering as they flew over the vast, boundless Sea of Chaos. The sound of the waves here was deafening, filled with a chaotic noise that made it impossible to concentrate.

Zhu Chanchan shouted, "Even with my strongest Divine Power, I can’t open this Chaos Mud Pill! And as my Cultivation Realm increases, the Chaos Mud Pill grows as well! When I re-cultivated my Primordial Spirit, the moment it formed, this Mud Pill was already heavy enough to make the Sea of Chaos sink! Now, this Mud Pill is dozens of times larger than it was then!"

Xu Ying followed her, moving away from the Chaos Mud Pill, his heart pounding in terror as they flew over the Sea of Chaos.

They passed the Twelve-Storey Tower, arrived at the Xinyue Immortal Mountain, entered the Heart Chamber within the Immortal Mountain, and found the Jiang Palace Secret Treasury.

Within the Jiang Palace, the Douluo Immortal Fire raged. Any Divine Power would struggle to maintain its strength here, and Dao Images would be burned to ashes. It was more than ten thousand times harder to open than it had been at the Gate-Knocking Realm!

They then visited the Yellow Court Secret Treasury and the Jade Pool Secret Treasury. The difficulty of opening these two treasuries had also increased by an unknown magnitude. The Profound Yellow Qi was incredibly heavy, suppressing countless worlds of the All Heavens, and the Yu Xu Qing Qi was solidified like jade, making it almost impossible to open!

The two stopped outside the Jade Pool Secret Treasury. Zhu Chanchan sighed and said, "That great villain blocked the path to Ascension. To ascend, the Doushuai Temple’s Immortal Elixir isn’t enough; you also need elixirs from the other five Immortal Palaces. I can’t possibly spend thirty thousand years stealing Immortal Elixirs from the other palaces, so the simplest way is to open the Six Secrets of the Human Body. It’s just that the higher one’s cultivation, the harder it is to open the Six Secrets."

Xu Ying was lost in thought, then a terrifying possibility occurred to him. "If someone cultivates to the Ascension Stage, can they still open the Six Secrets?"

Zhu Chanchan shook her head. "I’ve cultivated to the Multi-Storey Tower Realm, and even using my strongest Divine Power, I can’t open the Secret Treasuries. I’d have to find the Magical Treasures I left behind back in the day to do it. If one cultivated to the Ascension Stage, even the Magical Treasure I refined for Emperor Zhou would be absolutely useless for opening them!"

Xu Ying’s eyes lit up. "I know why the Master of the Mud Mound Palace set up a scheme to devour people! He’s a Qi Refiner at the Ascension Stage who figured he didn’t have enough power to ascend, but he also couldn’t open his own Human Body’s Secret Treasuries. His Cultivation Power couldn’t advance any further, so he laid a trap. He spread the Nuo Technique and had other people cultivate the Secret Treasuries for him!"

Zhu Chanchan said, "But he only passed down the Cultivation Method for the Mud Ball Secret Treasury..."

She came to a realization. "You mean... he passed down the legacies for all Six Secrets of the Human Body! He’s not just harvesting the Mud Pill—he’s going to harvest the Jiang Palace, Yellow Court, Jade Pool, Jade Capital, and Spring too!"

Zhu Chanchan gasped. She muttered, "That guy... he’s actually that ruthless... If my little junior brother were still alive, would that mean he’s this ruthless too?"

She found it hard to believe.

Xu Ying mused, "There’s something strange. Six months ago, when I opened the Yellow Court Secret Treasury and fished for the Divine Sense Immortal Elixir, I didn’t feel like I was being watched. This can only mean one thing: the Yellow Court Master is one of the three Secret Treasury masters who were watching me before!"

He paused, then continued, "This person was already watching me, so there was no need to watch again. I wonder if Yuan Weiyang has completed her Primordial Dao All Heavens Sensing. If she hasn’t, her Old Ancestor Yuan Wuji is in danger."

When he recalled Yuan Weiyang, the image that always appeared in his mind was that of Yuan Rushi. He was therefore stubbornly convinced that Yuan Weiyang was the girl who had made him eat rouge.

Just then, someone came up the mountain. It was a young man who bowed and said, "Are you Ancestor Xu Ying? My master sent me to deliver an invitation."

Xu Ying asked, puzzled, "And your master is?"

The young man replied, "Xu Fu."