Ascension Day

"It must be that their natural enemy has descended upon the world, forcing the Celestial Demons and Celestial Gods to join forces and eliminate it first." With that, Zhou Qiyun leaped into the vat.

He was cautious by nature. Although his injuries this time weren’t too severe, he didn’t want to suffer any harm before Crossing the Tribulation. If he was injured, he had to heal it immediately!

After he left, the Holy God Emperor also approached the vat and said, "My royal library’s *Chronicles of Gods and Demons* says that Celestial Gods and Celestial Demons are natural enemies, but they are evenly matched, so neither can usually defeat the other. However, if a Phoenix were to grow to maturity, it could devour them both. That is why calamity often strikes when a Phoenix is born, making it very difficult for a Juvenile Phoenix to survive."

He jumped into the vat and vanished with a splash.

Yuan Qi poked his head out from Xu Ying’s collar and said wistfully, "The royal library has books of strange tales, too? I’d love to go have a look."

With the two great masters gone, Xu Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief. He felt a chill on his back; though he had appeared calm and composed before Zhou Qiyun and the Holy God Emperor, cold sweat had long since soaked his shirt.

They exchanged a look, a lingering fear in all of them.

Uncle Xiao said worriedly, "Since the Emperor took the throne, he has tried to strip the vassals of their power several times, aiming to weaken the Noble Families, but Elder Zhou has blocked him every time. The enmity between them runs deep and cannot be resolved. If the Emperor is still in Yongzhou, I fear Elder Zhou won’t be able to resist assassinating him."

Xu Ying said, "The world wouldn’t necessarily be any worse if the Emperor died."

Uncle Xiao, Yuan Weiyang, and Guo Xiaodie looked astonished. They couldn’t believe he was so audacious as to utter such treasonous words.

They were all from Noble Families—even a servant like Uncle Xiao belonged to a great house like the Yuan Family. They had absolutely no contact with the lives of common people.

Xu Ying, however, grew up in the countryside of Yongzhou Lingling. He had struggled through the mud since he was a child and had seen more than enough of the doings of Officials and Divine Spirits. He had never held Imperial Authority, or the Emperor, in high regard.

Xu Ying looked up at the plaque of the Chaozhen Taixu Cave Heaven Demon Suppression Hall and suddenly thought, ’What place is this mountain?’

His spirits lifted at once. He released Yuan Qi and said with a smile, "Let’s go climb the mountain!"

Yuan Qi transformed into a colossal snake, over two hundred feet long. A pair of black and white horns grew from his head, his whole body shimmered with iridescent scales, and a draconic mane flowed behind his head.

Guo Xiaodie’s eyes lit up, and she eagerly clambered onto Yuan Qi’s head.

The group sat on Yuan Qi’s forehead as the great snake scaled the cliff, slithering toward the summit.

Da Zhong flew out from behind Xu Ying’s head and said to Yuan Qi, "Lord Qi, did you ever imagine this day would come? You’ve been reduced to a mere mount!"

The great snake, however, was perfectly composed. "If I’m a mount for carrying them up the mountain," he said, "then what about when I ride on Ying’s neck every day? Is he my beast of burden?"

Da Zhong was left speechless.

This mountain was no less imposing than Jiuyi Mountain. With Yuan Qi carrying them, it still took them a little over half an hour of slithering upward to reach the summit. Xu Ying stood up and gazed into the distance. He finally saw the true face of this world, and he was shaken to his core. "This place is..."

Uncle Xiao had unknowingly walked ahead of him, his eyes glazed over in confusion as he murmured, "What is this place?"

Seeing that the two men were occupied, Guo Xiaodie discreetly tugged her bustier down a bit, glancing from her own chest toward Yuan Weiyang’s for a quick comparison. Yuan Weiyang, however, failed to notice. She simply turned her head, her expression lost as she stared into the distance.

Annoyed and a little embarrassed, Guo Xiaodie snapped her head up to look, only to freeze in astonishment as well.

On the far side of the mountain, one sun was just peeking over the horizon. Another already hung high in the sky, while directly above their heads, a third sun blazed hotter than fire.

Behind them, a fourth sun glowed red, about to set behind the peaks.

In the distance, a mountain range began to tremble, sending boulders flying. The range slowly rose into the air as an unbelievably colossal beast stood up from among the peaks. The trembling mountains were the bony plates on its back.

The people on Yuan Qi’s head grew dizzy. The great snake beneath them was already enormous, but compared to the behemoth among the mountains, he was utterly dwarfed.

Suddenly, the very mountain beneath their feet began to vibrate, and the ground shook.

An immense body scraped against the side of the mountain as it slowly rose. It was an enormous creature, built like an ox with a roar like a dragon’s. Its body was covered in rough, gnarled scales that resembled bony plates.

It seemed to be scratching an itch against the mountainside, sending sparks flying, before it slowly ambled away.

WHOOSH—

Its tail swung up, a vast, dark mass that passed over the mountaintop, whipping up a scorching gale.

"This is definitely not the Divine Land... Just where in the world are we?" they murmured.

Da Zhong vibrated, its voice a melodious chime. "Everyone, this is a Grotto Heaven."

Xu Ying had a sudden realization. "This is the Chaotian Cave Heaven!"

He looked down at the mountain beneath him, and his heart skipped a beat. This cliff was like the other side of the Cangwu Abyss!

When he was fished out of the Cangwu Abyss, he had looked around and discovered that the cliff on one side of the abyss was Jiuyi Mountain. But he had never known where the cliff on the other side of the Great Abyss was.

Seeing this cliff now, he instantly realized—this was it! This was the other side of the Great Abyss!

This cliff and Jiuyi Mountain were actually one and the same, merely split apart by the Cangwu Great Abyss!

Da Zhong’s voice also grew excited. "Ying, do you see that radiance hanging down from the sky? That’s the Ascension Radiance, left behind when an Immortal achieved Ascension."

Xu Ying looked and saw, in the sky dozens of miles from their peak, an eternal, unfading radiance hanging down from above, its light falling upon the mountains.

The colors of that radiance were even more vibrant and distinct than in the Mysterious Domain. It was an unforgettable sight.

This was the Chaotian Cave Heaven. An Immortal had once achieved Ascension here.