Ascension Day

In the midst of his grief, Yuan Wuji suddenly sensed something. He looked up at the Abnormal Phenomenon in the sky and his heart stirred. The sorrow vanished from his face, replaced by a glint in his eyes.

“So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is!”

He burst into laughter and declared, “So the Nine Tripods were hidden here! No wonder I couldn’t find them after searching for so long!”

His Divine Sense erupted from between his brows. Suddenly, Profound Yellow Qi emerged behind him, and his Nine Great Grotto Heavens appeared like bottomless earthenware urns, poised to devour heaven and earth!

The nine earthenware urns suddenly merged into one, leaving only a single urn-shaped Grotto Heaven. The Profound Yellow Qi formed the surface of the urn, on which intricate patterns began to appear.

The sky of the Lishan Mausoleum, which was already tilted, actually began to fall into that urn!

Lady Yuan cried out in alarm, “Ancestor!”

She was filled with shock and doubt. The power Yuan Wuji displayed was too terrifying. Although he was still using the Primordial Dao All Heavens Sensing, the Yuan Family’s ancestral version was definitely not this tyrannical!

In truth, the Primordial Dao All Heavens Sensing required a Cultivator to be cautious and meticulous. One had to sense the Grand Thousand Worlds hidden in the Void, perceive the Great Dao contained within it, and use this to enhance one’s own comprehension of the Dao.

And yet, the Primordial Dao All Heavens Sensing that Yuan Wuji was displaying seemed poised to devour all the heavens and the Void itself!

‘Could this be the effect of his Cultivation of the Yellow Court Daoist Skill?’

‘But isn’t this change a bit too drastic?’

‘Why did the old matriarch tell me to leave just now?’

At this thought, a chill ran down Lady Yuan’s spine, and she stared at the back of Yuan Wuji’s head. She had once heard that some Nuo Immortals would suddenly become empty shells, devoid of all flesh and blood, after entering a Hidden Land.

If one looked at the back of their head, one would be able to see an impossibly thin line of light, like a fine thread with no width, that had sliced the person open to remove their flesh and blood.

‘What if Ancestor Yuan Wuji has also been devoured by some evil? Is there a thin line on the back of his head, too?’

Her gaze fell upon the back of Yuan Wuji’s head, searching for that thin line. However, she saw no such gleaming thread.

‘Perhaps I’m overthinking things.’

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she saw Yuan Wuji sense her gaze and turn his head to look at her.

The hair on the back of Lady Yuan’s neck stood on end. Without moving his shoulders in the slightest, Yuan Wuji had rigidly twisted his head all the way around to face her directly!

His neck looked like a paper cylinder that had been twisted, forming dry, shriveled folds, as if it were hollow beneath the skin!

The Heart Method of the Primordial Dao All Heavens Sensing took effect, and Lady Yuan’s heart became as placid as ice, unshaken even if the sky were to fall. In a soft voice, she said, “Ancestor, please do not grieve any longer.”

“I’m fine.” Yuan Wuji twisted his head back around and looked up at the sky, a hint of agitation in his eyes. With a great shout, his Mysterious Domain materialized behind him, and his incomparably vast Primordial Spirit emerged as well.

The urn-shaped Grotto Heaven’s ability to devour heaven and earth grew even more terrifying!

‘No matter what, I have to help Weiyang escape!’ Lady Yuan silently vowed upon seeing this scene.

Yuan Wuji grew restless and shouted, “The Nine Tripods created this Grotto Heaven world! Its current distortion is clearly the result of an external force. Who is it that opposes me? Show yourself!”

He roared again and again, pushing his Cultivation Power to its absolute limit. Behind him, within his Mysterious Domain, the Celestial River churned and broke through the Three Gates. The Jade Capital appeared, the Divine Bridge faintly shimmered with Immortal Light, the Twelve-Storey Tower shone with blinding radiance, and the Five Peaks Immortal Mountain erupted with countless rays of light that soared to the heavens!

He could clearly feel another terrifying power pulling on the Nine Tripods, fighting against him!

This power was unfathomably mysterious and exceedingly potent, forcing him to reveal his true Cultivation!

The sky grew increasingly distorted, and the upheaval became ever more violent!

“Stop hiding and come out!” he roared like thunder.

Suddenly, the sky tore open from east to west. The Celestial Curtain of this subterranean Grotto Heaven was ripped asunder, splitting to either side to reveal a single, gigantic eye that blotted out the heavens!

VMMMM!

The pupil swiveled, its gaze focusing on Yuan Wuji.

A cacophony of sounds surged forth, pouring into Yuan Wuji’s mind.

Yuan Wuji’s white hair billowed as he laughed maniacally. “You cannot affect my mind! Whatever you are, you are overestimating your own strength! In the entire Mortal World, there is no power left that can stand against me!”

The great eye that blotted out the sky suddenly trembled. Yuan Wuji reeled as if struck by a heavy blow. Blood trickled from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and his chest caved in, making him look like a paper effigy.

And yet, the urn only grew brighter. Flames blazed furiously around the urn-like Grotto Heaven—this was the Thunder Fire created as space itself collapsed into it. It looked as if it would swallow even the giant eye from the Abyss!

A violent tremor ran through heaven and earth. The mountains of the Lishan Mausoleum shook intensely, and the outermost wall of a Great Cauldron gradually began to appear!

The outer wall of that Great Cauldron was engraved with a landscape of mountains and rivers. The light from this engraving had been projected into the interior of the Lishan Mausoleum, forming the majestic landscape of one of the provinces of Kyushu!

Now, this projection of mountains and rivers suddenly vanished, allowing the Great Cauldron to be revealed!

Zhu Chanchan was astonished and cried out, “It really is Emperor Zhou’s Nine Tripods! That’s the Liangzhou Cauldron!”

As Emperor Zhou’s Celestial Artisan, she was very familiar with the Nine Tripods. She had once even considered prying off a few scraps for Refining Treasure, but she never had the opportunity.

Light spewed forth from the Great Cauldron, forming a brilliant radiance that pushed back against Yuan Wuji’s urn-like Grotto Heaven, contending with it and the giant eye of the Abyss in the sky.

The Lishan Mausoleum, in constant turmoil, began to collapse.

One after another, great mountains and rivers vanished from sight. As everyone watched in shock and confusion, a second Great Cauldron emerged where the landscape had disappeared, its walls engraved with the magnificent mountains and rivers of a second great province.

More of the mausoleum’s landscape vanished.