Ascension Day

The disaster at the Phoenix Tree came and went quickly, but the destruction it wrought was by no means small. The Phoenix Tree was nearly stripped bare by the flesh that had crawled up from the Cangwu Abyss, and the Nuo Masters in the tree suffered heavy casualties. Not even one in ten survived; only a few remained alive.

The beautiful woman and her husband were among the survivors. Looking at the others, they saw some Nuo Masters had a leg devoured by the strange flesh, while others had half their bodies melted away. The sight was too gruesome to bear.

The couple’s hearts pounded in fear. Looking up, they saw that the Divine Birds that filled the tree had also suffered heavy casualties, their corpses strewn everywhere. As for the living Divine Birds and the Phoenix, they had already departed, vanishing without a trace.

The Phoenix had used the Phoenix Tree for Crossing the Tribulation. After the tribulation passed, all that remained was a scene of utter devastation.

’The pervert who spied on Xiaodie bathing was right. It really is dangerous here, but how did he know?’

Puzzled, the beautiful woman whispered, "And how did he sneak onto Jiuyi Mountain?"

The Guo Family were part of the Royal Family. This time, the Holy God Emperor had come to Jiuyi to search for the Cangwu Abyss, using the Guo Family’s name as a pretext. An Emperor could not easily leave the Capital, but the Guo Family could. The Holy God Emperor had not brought many members of the Royal Race; most of the people on the mountain were from the Guo Family.

The perilous passes of Jiuyi Mountain were all protected by the Jinwu Guard, making it very difficult for ordinary people to enter. The fact that Yuan Weiyang had managed to run in had already aroused their suspicion. Now that Xu Ying had also shown up, the couple couldn’t help but wonder if there was some secret passage on Jiuyi Mountain that allowed for free entry and exit.

"Also, what exactly is the Cangwu Abyss? How did His Majesty know that it’s a path to the Underworld?"

The couple exchanged a look, a tacit understanding passing between them. They spoke in unison, "Let’s find that pervert and see what he knows!"

The couple went to look for Xu Ying, but he had also disappeared. Not only could they not find Xu Ying, but even Yuan Weiyang, her servant, and Guo Xiaodie were nowhere to be seen.

"We should report to His Majesty first!"

The couple hurried back to the main hall of the Cangwu Sect, only to find the Holy God Emperor was not there. When they asked Eunuch Chen, he also didn’t know when the Holy God Emperor had left.

The couple grew secretly anxious. ’Where have they all gone?’

"So, your name is Xu Demon King? Are you a demon?" Guo Xiaodie asked, looking Xu Ying up and down repeatedly.

Xu Ying thought for a moment, then said, "My name is Xu Ying. I think I’m probably a person."

Guo Xiaodie bumped him with her shoulder and laughed. "Don’t be so sure. What if you’re not? Come on, let me feel if you’ve grown a tail."

Startled, Xu Ying quickly swatted her hand away as it reached for his rear end.

Guo Xiaodie giggled. "He must have a little tail, hidden in his pants!"

Xu Ying felt completely overwhelmed, his face blushing red. "I do not..."

Yuan Weiyang explained to Guo Xiaodie that Xu Ying had been Entering the Dao under the Phoenix Tree and couldn’t possibly have gone to the mountains to watch her bathe, thus clearing up the misunderstanding. Guo Xiaodie was a carefree girl and didn’t dwell on whether someone might see her bathing while Entering the Dao, so she simply let the matter drop.

It also didn’t cross her mind to ask how Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang had entered the mountain now that the Jinwu Guard had sealed it. Instead, she eagerly led the two of them to find the source of the flesh that had crawled up the cliff.

Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang were also extremely curious about this strange flesh. It had previously grown frantically, forming great flesh pythons that attacked everything in their path, only to die suddenly. The speed at which it was now decaying was also astonishing.

Guo Xiaodie found a stick and began prodding the dead flesh. The stench of rot was foul. Puzzled, she asked, "Jiuyi Mountain is a Holy Mountain. Why would these bizarre things appear here?"

On the mountain, the Jinwu Guard were in the process of cutting up the rotten flesh into chunks of various sizes and throwing them off the cliff to get rid of the foul smell.

Xu Ying stepped forward to examine it and saw quite a few tooth-like bones within the rotting flesh. He had no idea what kind of creature this could be.

Da Zhong grew agitated and said, "Ying, the one that attacked the Juvenile Phoenix just now was the Celestial God I suppressed in the Little Stone Mountain Well! He’s in league with the Demoness in the coffin! I scared him off, but I’m afraid he saw that I’m all bark and no bite. He’ll most likely be back!"

Xu Ying whispered, "Lord Zhong, if you could suppress him once, you can surely suppress him a second time, right?"

Da Zhong grunted. "Once my injuries are healed, I can naturally suppress him. But the key is, I’m not fully healed yet. I need a massive amount of Qi Blood to grind away the Demoness’s Palm Power imprint! Where did that Zhou Qiyun go? If he could just let me take one more sip... just one..."

Xu Ying shook his head, walked to the cliff’s edge, and looked down. ’Strange,’ he thought. ’Elder Zhou disappeared after coming up the mountain. With something as big as the Phoenix appearing, how could he be nowhere to be seen?’

Below the cliff, the flesh had crawled up from a lake, and that small lake below was the path to the Cangwu Abyss.

Guo Xiaodie suddenly leaped off the cliff. Using her Cloud Ladder Celestial Soaring, she quickly descended to the lakeside and waved vigorously at them.

Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang exchanged a glance. As their sword lights stirred, Sword Qi enveloped them. They tore through the air, transforming into two streaks of sword light that descended from the sky to land before Guo Xiaodie.

Helpless, the old servant in green, Uncle Xiao, could only use the Yuan Family’s Divine Sense Leaping Technique. He trod upon the air, but his speed was much slower than theirs. ’Young Miss has become so ostentatious lately,’ he thought. ’She’s most likely picked up bad habits from that Xu Demon King.’

Guo Xiaodie’s eyes sparkled, and she bounced with excitement. "What kind of Magic is that? Teach me! I’ll trade you the Guo Family’s Cloud Ladder Celestial Soaring for it!"

Xu Ying was also quite envious of her Cloud Ladder Celestial Soaring. He smiled and said, "This is the Sword Control Technique. You need a deep understanding of Swordsmanship to master it."