Ascension Day

Chapter 257: Chapter 121: The Truth of the Nuo Technique

Dong Meiqing shook his head. “I have never consumed any immortal-like Spirit Medicine.”

Xu Ying was surprised. He pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up as he said with a smile, “You’re a Nuo Master!”

Dong Meiqing’s expression changed drastically. He quickly glanced left and right, and only after seeing no one around did he say, “Ancestor, your insight is unparalleled. During the era of Emperor Wu, Celestial-Human Communication was all the rage. Although I am a Qi Refiner, I couldn’t escape the trend and cultivated a Nuo Technique. Qi Refiners generally don’t like Nuo Masters. Even though some among us opened a Secret Treasury and cultivated Nuo Art, we were all very careful about it.”

Xu Ying was unconcerned. “I’ve opened a Secret Treasury as well. Did you open the Mud Ball Secret Treasury?”

Dong Meiqing confirmed that he had.

“That explains it. The Mud Ball Secret Treasury can steal Immortal Elixirs. The Samadhi Divine Water hollowed out your body, causing a large amount of Longevity Immortal Elixir to accumulate within you. That’s how you’ve managed to live until now.”

Xu Ying found it strange. “Then why weren’t you eaten?”

Dong Meiqing was completely bewildered. Realization dawned on Xu Ying, and he asked urgently, “The Mud Pill Palace Nuo Technique you cultivate, who taught it to you?”

Dong Meiqing said, “Back when it was ‘Exclusive Nuo Art,’ many Cultivation Techniques for the Six Secrets were circulating and could be learned freely. Later, something went wrong with Celestial-Human Communication, and people gradually stopped actively passing down the Six Secrets Cultivation Techniques.”

Xu Ying was puzzled. “‘Something went wrong with Celestial-Human Communication’? What went wrong?”

Dong Meiqing recalled his childhood. “I was still young back then. I had my family’s Ultimate Skill and had already refined a body full of Primordial Qi, so I learned a Nuo Technique and opened a Secret Treasury. In those days, everyone opened their own Secret Treasuries, and Celestial-Human Communication was extremely popular. But as more and more people performed it, they began to see the sky warp and the land float up into the air.”

Not only did the land float in the sky, but even a Long River, ten thousand miles in length, also drifted among the clouds!

Standing on high ground, you could reach out and touch the mountain peaks in the sky!

A Qi Refiner could leap into the oceans in the sky with a single bound!

Celestial-Human Communication twisted the entire world. In Dong Meiqing’s childhood memories, a great Abyss began to devour heaven, earth, and all living things. He spent his youth constantly on the run, hiding, living in a state of perpetual dread.

When heaven and earth finally fell silent, the world had changed into what it is today.

The Divine Land had shrunk on a massive scale. The Yuan Shou Continent was also incomparably smaller than before. As for the other Qi Refiners, they had vanished without a trace at some unknown time.

Those powerful beings had simply vanished from the Mortal World. The world had changed, becoming strange and unfamiliar.

Gradually, Qi Refiners became extinct, while Nuo Art flourished.

After hearing all this, Xu Ying fell into deep thought. From Dong Meiqing’s experience, it was clear that during the era of Great Han Emperor Wu, the circulating Nuo Techniques were the real deal—they could actually steal Immortal Elixirs!

It was just as the opening of the *Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Longevity Technique* that Zhou Qiyun had obtained said: “Collect Qi in the Mud Pill Palace, and fish for Immortal Medicine!”

The Nuo Techniques of that era could steal Immortal Elixirs and also refine them. Dong Meiqing had relied on this genuine Nuo Technique to survive until now, avoiding being scoured to death by the Samadhi Divine Water.

But why did the genuine Nuo Techniques circulating in that period disappear along with those vanished Qi Refiners?

And why have the Nuo Techniques passed down to the present day become man-eating traps?

“What exactly went wrong with Celestial-Human Communication?” Xu Ying looked up at the sky, completely baffled.

In the final days of antiquity, Celestial-Human Communication was popular and must have been practiced with fanatical fervor. However, there are far too few records of that era, as if history was deliberately erased to keep it from future generations.

Xu Ying extracted the Magic Skill for cultivating Samadhi Divine Water from the *Five Lamps Divine Water Guide*, corrected several errors in the Cultivation Technique, and learned to use Samadhi Divine Water in the process.

He returned the *Five Lamps Divine Water Guide* to Dong Meiqing and said, “Spread the methods for Samadhi Divine Water and Sanmei True Fire that I have deciphered and corrected. Tell the Qi Refiners to practice them diligently. Those who have already formed a Golden Core or a Primordial Spirit must use the Water and Fire Inter-refining skill to once again purge the impurities from their Golden Core and Primordial Spirit. Only then can they advance further! Also, write down a copy of your Nuo Technique and bring it to me.”

Overjoyed, Dong Meiqing hurried away.

Yuan Qi watched him leave and couldn’t help but remark with emotion, “Ying, that man must be a Celestial Talent, right? To have cultivated to the Ascension Stage relying on an incomplete Cultivation Technique and a single Nuo Technique… If a person like that lived in the age of the Ancient Qi Refiners, I’m afraid he would have been destined for Ascension!”

Da Zhong also commented emotionally, “It’s a pity Dong Meiqing was born in the End of Dharma Era for Qi Refiners, wasting his talent. Moreover, he took the wrong path. He only opened the Mud Ball Secret Treasury and none of the other Six Secrets. In this life, he is destined never to reach the pinnacle!”

A few days later, Dong Meiqing delivered the Mud Pill Palace Nuo Technique he had written down. Xu Ying read through it carefully. The Cultivation Technique indeed contained a Magic Skill for the Refinement of the Longevity Immortal Elixir, allowing it to be completely converted into one’s own Activity, extending one’s life!

In contrast, the *Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Longevity Technique* only described how to “fish” for Immortal Medicine, but contained no information on its Refinement.

‘Zhou Qiyun’s death was unjust,’ Xu Ying thought to himself. ‘If he had been able to perform Refinement on the Longevity Immortal Elixir, he would have had a long life and wouldn’t have been so desperate to achieve Ascension. If he could have lived a few more years, he would have been able to make his arrangements calmly. In that case, it’s hard to say who would have prevailed between him and the Master of the Mud Pill Palace.’

Over the next few days, a steady stream of Qi Refiners visited, bringing their treasured secret Cultivation Technique manuals for Xu Ying to decipher and explain. Some were ancient, fragmented texts with only a few lines of writing remaining. Repairing such manuals was a difficult task even for Xu Ying.

It took him several hours just to restore one fragmented text.

Although it was hard work, Xu Ying’s rewards were substantial. He learned all sorts of Qi Refiner Divine Power Techniques. Before, he only knew a few Nuo Arts, but now, unleashing various Divine Techniques and Arts was no problem for him at all!

More importantly, he had now filled in the missing Magic Skill in the *Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Longevity Technique*. He could perform Refinement on the Longevity Immortal Elixir, causing his Cultivation to soar. As immense Vitality was refined into his body, his Flesh Body and soul grew stronger and stronger!

“Xu Master, we have made all the preparations. It is time to go and resurrect the First Emperor,” Xu Fu said, having sought him out.

Xu Ying asked, “Where is the First Emperor?”

Xu Fu replied, “He is sealed within Lishan. I have already spread the news that a Heavy Treasure will emerge at Lishan. We’ll let those Nuo Master Families clear the way for us. After they have offered their own blood as a sacrifice, it will be much less dangerous for us to enter. Moreover…”

He paused slightly, invited Xu Ying aboard the Fangzhang Immortal Mountain, and said with a smile, “Resurrecting the First Emperor will require many lives. I only need to release the news, and those lives will go there of their own accord. There is no need for me to get my own hands dirty.”

The Fangzhang Immortal Mountain sailed northwest. Xu Ying thought, ‘Has Chanchan found her Magical Treasure? If she doesn’t show up soon, it’ll be too late!’

「Haojing Ruins.」

Zhu Chanchan was traveling through the mountains outside Haojing when she suddenly spotted a peak. Overjoyed, she rushed toward it.

Before she even reached the mountain, she saw hundreds of Nuo Masters fighting to the death at its base, all vying for treasure. The mountain was a peak that had emerged from the New Land. It had been unremarkable when it first appeared, but after a thunderstorm, some Magical Treasures, mostly cast from bronze, had been washed down from its slopes.

There were treasures like a Bronze Cauldron, a Bronze Tree, and a Bronze Sword, all of which were extremely powerful. This matter had alarmed the nearby Noble Families, who had come to seize them.

When the crowd saw Zhu Chanchan flying over, they all went on guard. But seeing that she wasn’t there to snatch the treasures and was instead flying toward the mountain itself, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Chanchan arrived at a cliff face at the foot of the mountain. She looked up at the peak, her face filled with excitement.

She reached out and gently stroked the cliff face, whispering, “I’m back… It’s been six thousand years, but I’m back. Do you still remember me? Do you remember all the imprints I placed on you? Come out. Today, I will break your seal!”

Suddenly, the entire mountain began to shake violently. Huge boulders fell from its surface, gradually revealing the bronze patterns of its interior!

The entire mountain was a single, colossal Magical Treasure!

This was the very Flying Peak that Zhu Chanchan had refined from “scrap materials”!

——Book reviews and comments on this chapter are currently restricted by Qidian and will be enabled after the holiday. Reviews posted now will become visible then.