Ascension Day

Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang exchanged a glance, secretly overjoyed.

As the saying goes, attending a monarch is like accompanying a tiger. Although Zhou Qiyun wasn't a king, he was dangerously unpredictable, and they never knew when he might suddenly decide to kill them.

Now that Zhou Qiyun was surrounded by the Yin Court Emperor and a host of Ghost Nuo Immortals, he would be gravely injured even if he managed to fight his way out. It would be nearly impossible for him to capture them again.

This was, without a doubt, the perfect opportunity to escape!

Suddenly, another terrifying shockwave slammed into Da Zhong. With a tremendous DONG, the falling bell was flung high into the air, tumbling end over end before plummeting toward some unknown location.

"It's fine, it's fine."

Xu Ying put on the air of a seasoned veteran, comforting the others. "I've seen much worse. Lord Zhong will definitely make it through. Right, Lord Zhong? Lord Zhong? Lord Zhong! Wake up... Don't worry. It just faints a lot. It'll be fine soon."

Da Zhong soared over mountain ranges for an unknown distance before crashing to the ground with a CLANG. It bounced, crashed again, and then tumbled and rolled for countless rotations before finally shuddering to a halt.

Inside Da Zhong, Yuan Qi was the first to tumble out. It lay on its back, completely limp—its bones had been shaken out of place again.

Xu Ying's whole body ached with numbness, and his legs felt weak. He barely managed to stumble out of Da Zhong.

Behind him, Yuan Weiyang had just emerged from Da Zhong when she lost her footing and collapsed to the ground. She tried to get up, but her legs were so sore she couldn't stand, so she resorted to pounding on them with her fists.

Leaning against Da Zhong, Uncle Xiao was retching violently.

To protect them and carry them away from the Yin Court, Da Zhong had grown immense—its opening a hundred feet wide. Because of this, it had absorbed more of the impact and was now severely injured.

It lay unconscious, unable to shrink back down.

Xu Ying tried transferring some of his Qi Blood, but the bell showed no signs of waking.

"Lord Zhong was gravely wounded by a Qi Refiner who was an expert in Spatial Magic," Xu Ying said to Yuan Weiyang. "The external wounds have healed, but the internal injuries have never fully recovered."

"It's always stealing my Qi Blood to heal itself..."

Yuan Qi chimed in, "Lord Zhong said the word is 'pilfer.'"

Xu Ying walked over and, with some effort, began helping the Big Snake pop its dislocated bones back into place. "It's always 'pilfering' my Qi Blood to heal," he said. "This coma probably isn't a big deal. I just need to train hard and supply it with enough Qi Blood, and it'll wake up."

Yuan Weiyang came forward to help move the Big Snake's body. "If Lord Zhong doesn't wake up," she asked, "how are we going to take it with us?"

Xu Ying shook his head. "Don't worry about that. Lord Zhong should have already taken care of it before he passed out."

He finished setting the snake's bones, and Yuan Qi regained its strength. Xu Ying then walked more than thirty paces forward, but there was no sound or movement from behind him. He was puzzled. 'Did Lord Zhong forget?'

Yuan Weiyang was also puzzled, not understanding what Xu Ying had meant. Xu Ying took another step, and suddenly, Da Zhong let out a CLANG and shuffled one step forward after him.

A delighted Xu Ying laughed. "Lord Zhong didn't forget after all!"

He started running, and the giant bell chased after him, CLANGING loudly and kicking up a rolling cloud of dust. Yuan Qi, Yuan Weiyang, and Uncle Xiao, who were behind him, found themselves choking on the dust and quickly scrambled to get in front.

This place was, after all, the domain of the Yin Court, teeming with all manner of ghouls and demons. Hearing the commotion, creatures from all over the Yin Mountain Ghost Stream raised their heads to see what was happening.

They saw an absurdly large bell viciously chasing three people and a snake. The ghouls and demons were astonished. "Who knew there was such a thing as a Bell Ghost!"

"The world is descending into chaos. All sorts of strange ghosts are coming out of the woodwork," an old ghost lamented.

The ghouls and demons craned their necks, wondering, "Where are those three people and that snake going? Are they newly dead? That way leads to parts of the Underworld even the Yin Court doesn't rule. Are they running there because they have a death wish?"

"Why not stay and become our food?"

But Xu Ying and his companions had never been here; how could they know where they were? Focused solely on escaping Zhou Qiyun's control, they headed in what they thought was the direction of the Celestial God Hall. However, the Underworld was a maze of mountains, and before long, they were completely lost.

Xu Ying looked up at the sky. The Underworld night was at its deepest, and their surroundings were shrouded in darkness. A fog had rolled in at some point, a thick white carpet of it spreading across the ground, obscuring any path.

The fog was heavy, clinging to the ground. It came up to their thighs as they walked, and soon the cuffs of their pants were damp. Xu Ying circulated his Primordial Qi to evaporate the moisture, then looked up at the sky. He saw a crescent moon hanging near the tip of a Willow Branch.

He activated his Sword Qi. Instantly, Sword Qi flowed from the Sword Box on his back, wrapping around his body and circulating with increasing speed.

WHOOSH!

Xu Ying shot into the air, and with a great roar, Da Zhong rose up behind him, soaring into the sky!

Below, Yuan Qi and Uncle Xiao looked up just in time to see Xu Ying streak upward like an afterimage, the great bell trailing behind him as he flew higher and higher.

Suddenly, another streak of light shot up from beside them—it was Yuan Weiyang, flying in pursuit of Xu Ying.

The glow from their Sword Qi dimmed slightly as they paused in the sky. The energy continued to flow rapidly around them, forming a shuttle-shaped ring.

Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang gazed out at their surroundings. They saw nothing but a sea of white-capped mountains shrouded in fog. It was impossible to get their bearings; even the Yin Court had vanished from sight.

Yuan Weiyang descended and said, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that there's no way Zhou Qiyun can find us now. The bad news is that we can't find him either. We're lost."

Xu Ying descended from the sky. As he touched down, Da Zhong slammed into the ground beside him with a deafening CRASH.

Suddenly, the sound of the bell seemed to startle something in the fog, causing it to scatter in every direction. There appeared to be a huge number of them, but they were short and had been completely hidden by the mist.