Ascension Day

Xu Ying sighed inwardly, knowing he had no chance of escape. The Zhou Family's ancestor, Zhou Qiyun, was a legendary figure—the most powerful being in the world today.

He stood no chance of escaping from him.

A sense of absurdity washed over him. The Zhou Family's ancestor, Zhou Qiyun, had been a Snake Catcher over three hundred years ago. He had stumbled into Qinyan Cave while hunting an Exotic Snake and obtained the inheritance of the Mud Pill Palace.

Over three hundred years later, the Snake Catcher Xu Ying had also entered Qinyan Cave because of an Exotic Snake.

It was as if some strange twist of fate connected them.

Zhou Qiyun waved his hand lightly. The five Ox Demons suddenly floated up silently and landed to one side. Granny Zhou Yu, enduring her pain, struggled to her feet and stood by, not daring to speak.

Xu Ying felt a wondrous power wash over him. The Bean-Sprouting Soldiers Technique restricting him instantly dissolved, and his body returned to normal. Yuan Qi also recovered his original physique.

Zhou Qiyun walked up to Xu Ying, looked him up and down, and said, "You opened the Mud Ball Secret Treasury, but you didn't practice his Cultivation Technique? Ah, that's right. Of the scriptures he left in the Mud Pill Palace, I took all that I could carry and burned what I couldn't. That's why you didn't receive his inheritance."

Xu Ying was slightly taken aback.

This was clearly a shameful act, yet Zhou Qiyun spoke of it so openly, with a sort of brazen frankness.

"Elder Zhou, why did you burn the life's work of the Master of the Mud Mound Palace back then?" Xu Ying asked.

Zhou Qiyun walked ahead and said nonchalantly, "Back then, I was trying to capture an Exotic Snake and barged into Qinyan Cave, where I stumbled into a stone chamber. There, I received the inheritance of the Master of the Mud Mound Palace. I was overjoyed. I kowtowed to the skeleton and took him as my master, thinking my fortune was made and I would never have to be a Snake Catcher again. But the stone chamber was filled with scriptures, an overwhelming collection of every kind of Martial Arts and Divine Power Technique imaginable. I couldn't carry them all, and I didn't want to leave them for posterity. More than that, I didn't want anyone else to come here and learn the same techniques as me. So, I hardened my heart and burned everything I couldn't carry!"

Xu Ying frowned slightly and followed closely behind him.

Zhou Qiyun smiled, clearly not thinking he had done anything wrong. On the contrary, he seemed quite proud of his actions.

He continued forward at an unhurried pace. "I knew Qinyan Cave was too important," he said. "If word got out that a Mud Ball Palace Grotto Heaven with a mysterious, unfathomable inheritance was hidden here, people would inevitably follow the clues and track me down. And so, I left behind a scroll of scripture and a gourd of Spirit Pills."

Xu Ying's heart pounded as he exclaimed, "The gourd of Spirit Pills that Yuan Qi's grandfather found... you were the one who left it!"

"Yuan Qi's grandfather?"

Zhou Qiyun glanced at Yuan Qi in surprise. "You're the grandson of that Exotic Snake? Hahaha, your grandfather and I are truly bound by a deep fate."

Yuan Qi was also deeply shaken and cried out, "So you were the one who chased my grandfather, forcing him into Qinyan Cave? When my grandfather was alive, he often mentioned you. He said that if it weren't for you, the Snake Catcher, he would never have discovered the cave within Qinyan Cave, and he would never have cultivated into a demon."

A smile touched Zhou Qiyun's lips. "Your grandfather became a demon thanks to me," he said. "The Master of the Mud Mound Palace left behind many Elixirs of Life in that stone chamber, which helped me with my Foundation Establishment cultivation. I, in turn, left a gourd of Spirit Pills for the Exotic Snake that led me there. After consuming the Spirit Pills, that snake would gain sentience. I even remember the scripture I left for it. It was called the Great Sun Guiding Skill, one of the few Demon Clan Techniques in the Master's collection."

Yuan Qi quickly said, "The Great Sun Guiding Skill also contained a Martial Arts Technique called the Elephant Power Ox Demon Fist!"

Zhou Qiyun thought for a moment. "That Martial Arts Technique should have been in there, yes," he said. "My intentions at the time were not so pure. I figured if I could find this place, someone else surely could too. If they discovered the treasures of the Master of the Mud Mound Palace had fallen into my hands, they would stop at nothing to eliminate me and claim them. Heh heh... And so, I gave that Exotic Snake the Spirit Pills and the Great Sun Guiding Skill."

Yuan Qi still didn't understand, but the realization dawned on Xu Ying. "A clever scheme, Elder Zhou," he said. "Even if others found this place, they would assume the Exotic Snake had received the inheritance of the Master of the Mud Mound Palace. They would also think the Master's inheritance was nothing special and wouldn't investigate further."

At his words, Yuan Qi finally understood and shouted, "You framed my grandfather!"

Zhou Qiyun said flatly, "If I hadn't left that gourd of Spirit Pills and the Cultivation Technique, would you even exist today?"

Yuan Qi fell silent.

Xu Ying inquired, "Elder Zhou, how old were you at that time?"

Zhou Qiyun looked at him and said, "About the same age as you are now."

Xu Ying remarked with a sigh, "I lack your meticulous mind, Elder, to have thought of so much in such a short period. Your foresight is truly deep and far-reaching."

Zhou Qiyun sighed. "I later discovered that I'd been overly cautious. No one ever went to Qinyan Cave, and no one gave a damn about a snake turning into a snake demon. Meanwhile, I gradually rose to prominence in Lingling. Four years later, when I came of age, I was already the number one person in all of Yongzhou."

Ahead, a dilapidated temple came into view. Xu Ying looked over, and his heart skipped a beat. It was the Water Gate Temple.

At this moment, the Water Gate Temple was no longer on the great fissure where it used to be but had moved thirty li to the south!

Xu Ying's heart lurched. 'This ruined temple is moving toward Wuyang Mountain! It seems the White-robed Nuo Immortal knows I live on Wuyang Mountain. What he doesn't know is that Wuyang Mountain has already suffered an unexpected calamity—a disaster befitting its name!'

Zhou Qiyun walked straight toward the Water Gate Temple and continued, "At the age of fifty-seven, I opened the Eighth Grotto Heaven, and with it, the 8th Floor of the Secret Vault. Back then, I was the most dazzling Nuo Technique prodigy in the entire Divine Land. When Emperor Zhide Da Sheng Ming Xiao met me, he patted my head and praised me for being a true polymath. And I was—once I grasped one thing, I could understand a hundred others. I truly deserved the title."