Ascension Day

The sorrowful-faced old man sighed. He knew he wouldn't be able to get Xu Ying to drink tea today. With a flick of his sleeve, he packed away the table, chairs, teapot, and cups, then slowly departed.

His movements looked slow, but he was actually incredibly fast, disappearing from Wuyang Mountain in no time.

Just then, Wuyang Mountain let out an earth-shattering roar. Its midsection lurched, sending countless rocks flying as the mountain began to slowly topple to one side.

The mountain was so immense that even as it collapsed, it would take some time before it crashed to the ground.

Xu Ying was still sprinting frantically under the ever-expanding silk scarf. But having been shrunk to the size of a bean, he couldn't escape the scarf's coverage no matter how fast he ran.

"Ying, is that you?" a big snake suddenly appeared ahead and asked.

The big snake had one black and one white dragon horn on its head, and its body was covered in scales as reflective as bright mirrors. It was Yuan Qi. Although he seemed as large as before, that was only relative to Xu Ying.

Xu Ying had been shrunk to the size of a bean, and Yuan Qi had been shrunk as well. He was now only about a foot long, but that still made him over a hundred times larger than Xu Ying.

The man and the snake were in the same boat, both shrunk by Granny Zhou Yu's silk scarf.

Xu Ying leaped onto Yuan Qi's back. "Xiaoqi, pick up the pace! We need to get out of here as soon as possible!"

Yuan Qi carried him and slithered away, asking, "What kind of technique is this old woman using? How is she so powerful?"

The Big Copper Bell's voice rang out, "It should be the Nuo Art of Scattering Beans into Soldiers, but she's using it in reverse. Scattering Beans into Soldiers can turn beans into Golden Armored God-men that grow larger than normal people the moment they touch the ground. The old woman is using it in reverse to shrink people down to the size of a bean. Qi Refiners have similar Magic as well."

A glint appeared in Xu Ying's eyes. "I've already opened my Mud Ball Secret Treasury, so I comprehend Life and Death, and Yin and Yang. I can control the body's Activity. Her Nuo Art may be exquisite, but it won't be able to trap me for long. I can restore my body to its normal size. Yuan Qi, if you can master the size-changing techniques recorded in the *Ba Snake Cultivator* and the *Dragon and Snake Awakening Skill*, you can also break her Nuo Art."

Yuan Qi slithered forward at high speed, recalling the transformation techniques from *Ba Snake Cultivator* that Xu Ying had taught him. Indeed, there was a Magic Skill concerning the transformation of the Flesh Body. He was overjoyed. 'Ying is really reliable. With just that little hint from him, I know how to break this now.'

Suddenly, they looked through the silk scarf and saw the toppling Wuyang Mountain. Despair filled their hearts. Wuyang Mountain was crashing down right toward them, and it wouldn't be long before it crushed them to pieces!

Under normal circumstances, they might have had a chance to escape. But now, with their tiny arms and legs, there was no way they could flee the mountain's massive shadow!

At that very moment, a large hand suddenly pinched the silk scarf. Underneath, Xu Ying and Yuan Qi were swept up along with it, flying uncontrollably into the sky.

The Zhou Family's old matron, Granny Zhou Yu, let out a sinister chuckle. She held the silk scarf over a basket slung on her arm and gave it a shake. Xu Ying and Yuan Qi felt the world spin as they fell from under the scarf and tumbled into the basket.

"I have invited Young Master Xu, so I'll be on my way!" Granny Zhou Yu called out with a laugh, though it was unclear who she was speaking to.

The basket was about half full of beans. When Xu Ying and Yuan Qi landed among them, the beans cried out, "OW! OW!"

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi jumped in fright. They saw the beans stand up one by one, as if they were people. They wore Golden Armor, Golden Helmets, and held Cyan Swords. Their faces were brimming with heroic spirit, each one handsome and distinguished.

Startled, Yuan Qi asked warily, "Who are you people? Were you also captured by that demoness?"

A Golden Armored man closest to him put his hands on his hips, a look of contempt on his face. "Demoness? That's the Dangtian Heavenly Lord! You ignorant Lying Snake! Haven't you ever heard of Scattering Beans into Soldiers? We are the Dangtian Heavenly Lord's..."

Thousands of Golden Armored men turned their heads toward them in perfect unison and declared as one, "Bean Soldiers!"

Yuan Qi's eye twitched. He whispered to Xu Ying, "They aren't human?"

Before Xu Ying could speak, Da Zhong's voice interjected, "They're the beans from Scattering Beans into Soldiers. That Granny Zhou Yu is truly remarkable to have been able to grant these Bean Soldiers intelligence. This kind of Magic isn't something you can achieve just by using the Activity from a Secret Treasury. The Zhou Family's Nuo Technique has probably been greatly refined from its original form, making it far more exquisite than similar Magic used by Qi Refiners."

It had always considered the Nuo Technique to be inferior to the Magic of the Qi Refiner era, so for it to admit that this Nuo Art of Scattering Beans into Soldiers surpassed similar Magic was a rare occasion indeed.

The leading Golden Armored man asked, "Which one of you is Young Master Xu? The Dangtian Heavenly Lord has ordered us to look after the Young Master and ensure he comes to no harm."

Xu Ying didn't answer. He immediately stepped on a Bean Soldier's head and started climbing, trying to escape the basket.

"Don't go out there!"

The Golden Armor Bean Soldier grabbed his legs and shouted, "There's a terrifying two-legged divine spirit out there! Its claws are dozens of times bigger than you, it has an iron beak and a golden throat, bright red flames shoot from its head, and it has sharp, steel-like wings! It swallows clouds and spits mist, and its cry is like thunder! Many of our brothers have died in the mouth of that two-legged god!"

Yuan Qi thought for a moment and said, "Are you perhaps talking about... a chicken?"

Xu Ying, focused solely on escaping, kept climbing upward. A crowd of Bean Soldiers pulled and tugged, dangling from his feet, trying to drag him back down. With great difficulty, Xu Ying finally reached the edge of the basket, lifted the silk scarf, and peeked outside.

He saw that they were now high in the sky. The old woman was carrying the basket, and behind her was a massive Peng Bird, soaring on powerful wings, carrying them swiftly through the air.

The Peng Bird was likely a manifestation of the old woman's Hidden Scenery, carrying her and her captives through the heavens.