Ascension Day

Chapter 252: Chapter 119: Yin and Yang, Person and Shadow

Young Master Xiang let out a muffled grunt. His fingers contorted, his shoulder wrenched, and his whole body began to spin and twist.

He couldn’t regain his balance. At that moment, with a twitch of his shoulder, Xu Ying unleashed a beam of Sword Qi. It shot down like a rainbow from the heavens, slashing downward. The Golden Crown flew from Young Master Xiang’s head, erupting in a brilliant light that formed the phantom image of a Palace.

It was an Immortal Palace, containing a Dao Image of profound significance.

And yet, it was just a flawed imitation.

Xu Ying’s Sword Qi descended, cleaving the Immortal Palace in two. The Golden Crown was also split apart, falling to the ground with a CLANG!

Shocked and enraged, Young Master Xiang violently shook his head. His Hairpin shot out, splitting with a series of ZINGS into hundreds of Silver Needles that flew toward Xu Ying. He yelled, “Ancestor Xu Fu, I’ve made immense contributions to the revival of the Qi Refiners! Aren’t you going to save me? If you don’t step in and stop him, I’m really going for the kill!”

He possessed a great many Magical Treasures, but none were particularly powerful. He had also cultivated many Divine Powers, but every one of them was flawed in some way.

This was an era of decline for Qi Refiners. This decline was not just in the perception of the common world; it was a reality for the Qi Refiners of this age as well.

Profound Divine Powers had not been passed down through the generations. Even those that had survived, no one could comprehend well enough to master!

The Divine Powers everyone practiced were just flawed imitations, scarcely better than those of the Nuo Masters.

Xu Ying, however, cultivated a complete Immortal Daoist Technique and also practiced Nuo Art. Before the Silver Needles could even reach him, the Yuan Yu Eight Sounds emanated from within his body, and a single vibration shattered them all to dust!

Shocked and furious, Young Master Xiang roared. A Golden Core suddenly leaped from his Dantian, its light flooding the sky and revealing every speck of dust in the air!

This was the Golden Core of a Qi Refiner.

It is said that with a Golden Core, my fate is in my hands, not the heavens’!

Cultivating a Golden Core greatly increases one’s lifespan, allows one to sense the heavens and resonate with humanity, and to know the marvels of Creation.

Young Master Xiang summoned his Golden Core, which pressed down on Xu Ying like a mountain, pinning him in place!

Seeing that Xu Fu still refused to intervene, malice bloomed in his heart. He deployed his Golden Core—he didn’t care if this was Ancestor Xu Ying or some Immortal, he would kill him first and ask questions later!

Young Master Xiang summoned a Flying Saber and was about to take Xu Ying’s head when, from behind Xu Ying, a massive Stone Axe swung up and then down, striking the Golden Core with a loud CLANG!

Young Master Xiang, having just summoned his Flying Saber, looked up to see his Golden Core spiderwebbed with cracks.

Blood instantly gushed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His body swayed, and as his Golden Core shattered, he collapsed to the ground, dead.

The mountain was filled with Qi Refiners, all of whom watched this scene with bewildered expressions.

Xu Fu’s voice drifted over, calm and unhurried. “Everyone, did you see that? This is the true power of a Qi Refiner! The Immortal has personally acted to demonstrate the true power of the Gate-Knocking Realm. Even if you forge a Golden Core, you cannot withstand a single blow!”

The Qi Refiners on the mountain erupted in cheers.

Xu Fu raised his arms, his voice ringing out, “The Immortal will pass this power on to us, allowing our Cultivation to become flawless, so that we may overcome the Celestial Tribulation and achieve Ascension to Immortality!”

The Qi Refiners on the mountain erupted in another, even more fanatical, cheer.

Xu Ying put away the Stone Axe and walked back to him. Xu Fu smiled. “Feeling better? Xu Master, come stand beside me and bask in their adulation.”

Xu Ying shook his head and remained at the foot of Fangzhang Immortal Mountain.

Xu Fu smiled faintly and didn’t press the issue. Standing alone on the Immortal Mountain, he basked in the Qi Refiners’ cheers. “Back then,” he said, “you always flew into a rage with me over the deaths of those Child Maidens and Boys. You would beat me, punch after punch, and I never once resisted. I simply let you do it. This time was no different. I went along with your wishes, letting you kill Young Master Xiang so you could vent your anger.”

Xu Ying’s eyes flashed. “But I know the person who ordered Young Master Xiang to make a blood sacrifice to the Celestial God was you. And the person who spread the plague, causing the Naihe River to change its course… that was you, too.”

Xu Fu smiled faintly. “You’re afflicted with misplaced compassion. You feel pity for the weak, but I don’t. I’ve been cold-hearted since birth.”

He turned, and the Fangzhang Immortal Mountain carried him toward the main hall. Xu Ying followed at an unhurried pace.

“I’ve been unable to feel human emotions since I was a child,” Xu Fu said. “I was born into the East Sea Xu Family and began learning Qi Refining Techniques at a young age. People praised my intelligence. My father even hired tutors well-versed in poetry and etiquette to teach me propriety. In all my dealings, I never once violated the Rules. When others were happy, I feigned happiness. When others mourned, I feigned mourning.”

His expression was calm, as if he were speaking of someone else entirely.

“One day, my grandmother died. I stood before her coffin, listening to my relatives’ sobs, but I felt no grief. I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t feel what they felt.”

A smile played on Xu Fu’s lips as he continued, “I didn’t feel any joy on my wedding day, either. It was like I was walled off from all emotion. I only knew how to follow the accepted Rules—laughing when others laughed, crying when others cried. It wasn’t until I met you, Xu Master, that I understood my purpose in this life.”

His gaze burned with fervor as he smiled. “I was born to help you, Xu Master, accomplish a feat of unparalleled greatness! Only then did I finally have emotions. Only then did I understand joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness!”

Xu Ying frowned.

“You, Xu Master, are merciful and soft-hearted; I am ruthless. You are naive to the evil in people’s hearts; I am full of cunning. You are the sun, and I am the shadow.”

Xu Fu laughed. “When sacrifices were required, you wouldn’t kill those Child Maidens and Boys, so I did it for you. When we faced danger, you couldn’t bear to let our companions die, so I forced them to their deaths so we could escape! When we were at the end of our rope, you wanted to save everyone, while I butchered them for meat! When we found the Immortal Mountain, you didn’t have the heart to kill everyone to keep our secret, but I did!”

Yuan Qi and Da Zhong listened, their hearts pounding with terror. From his narration, they began to piece together the truth behind the search for the Immortal Mountain so long ago.

Xu Ying, Xu Fu, and the three thousand Children had all been youths, burdened with the mission to cross the seas and find the Immortal Mountain. They were companions and also competitors. Their journey across the sea was perilous, filled with monstrous waves and rampant demons.

It was a terrifying story. Many had perished from the natural dangers, but even more had been deliberately sent to their deaths by Xu Fu’s machinations—all so that Xu Ying could be the one to find and possess the Immortal Mountain!

Countless people were sacrificed, abandoned, or even eaten. Anyone who harbored ill intentions toward Xu Ying was secretly eliminated by Xu Fu, who moved like a shadow.

He had cleared every obstacle from Xu Ying’s path.

They were the closest of friends, and the bitterest of enemies.

“I was like your shadow, dwelling in the dark, doing the things you could not bring yourself to do.”

Xu Fu waved his sleeve, and the doors to the hall CREAKED shut, leaving only them inside.

He stepped down from the Fangzhang Immortal Mountain. “Back then, I helped you kill those Child Maidens and Boys. Now, I am helping you by using a blood sacrifice to the Plague God to create a plague, causing the Naihe River to be diverted and the Underworld to invade. I am helping you open the folded world! And what have you given me in return?”

His feet left the Fangzhang Immortal Mountain, and he came to stand before Xu Ying. “This scar,” he whispered.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the wound on his head began to collapse, caving inward!

A Great Cave tore open in his head, a hole so large you could see straight through from front to back. Within it, his brain was atrophied and twisted.

Xu Fu aged with terrifying speed. In an instant, he became ancient and decrepit, his hair turning white, his Flesh Body withering away, his breath growing faint. Trembling, he let out a dry cackle. “This is what you left me.”

His breathing grew as faint as a silken thread. He staggered back onto the Immortal Mountain, and his breath slowly returned to its normal, steady rhythm. The Great Cave in his head gradually closed, once again becoming nothing more than a centipede-like scar.

He became young again, reverting to his youthful form. “You left me on the Immortal Mountain,” he said. “You didn’t kill me. You told me you were imprisoning me here, that I could never leave this land of Fangzhang! But I knew I would be back!”

He stood tall, looking down on Xu Ying from his superior position. “When I returned, I wanted to find you just as you were before—wallowing in the mud, being bullied, a complete fool. And just like before, I was the one who pulled you from that mud. But this time, things will be different. This time…”

A proud smile lit up his face. “Xu Master, you are going to become my shadow and help me achieve my great restoration!”

————To all my readers, my apologies. I ran into some bullshit today, and it’s really affected my mood for writing. Another author made a huge mess, and I’ve been asked to clean up the comment section for our novel, *Ascension Day*, to protect the image of Qidian and a certain someone. Fucking hell. I’m so pissed. Please don’t start flame wars in the comment section. It’s someone else’s drama; there’s no need to let it ruin our mood. Let’s just focus on writing well and reading peacefully. A note to myself as well.