Ascension Day

Zhou Qiyun's voice rang out, "Two more experts? But what have I to fear?"

Another red-clothed woman leaped away, but the world spun around her, and in the next moment, she was dragged back. The woman tried to jump away again and again, but it was as if she were tied to an incredibly elastic rope. Each time she was pulled back, she was forced to confront Zhou Qiyun head-on.

After this happened more than ten times, the red-clothed woman was coughing up mouthfuls of blood, looking utterly wretched.

The sorrowful-faced elder mustered all his strength and attacked Zhou Qiyun, finally forcing him to make a mistake. The three seized the opportunity, transforming into three streaks of light as they fled.

Zhou Qiyun did not give chase. The turbulent aura around him gradually calmed, and a trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He stood silently on the mountaintop for a long time before his Qi Blood finally settled.

'It's still not working. The Immortal Technique still can't fully connect my Secret Treasuries. There are still flaws when I circulate my power.'

He swallowed the blood that rose in his throat and thought, 'Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang must decipher the Immortal Book as soon as possible! I can't wait any longer!'

He sat at the chess table, looking at the half-finished game before him. He flicked a game piece casually, a fierce look in his eyes. "Ever since I found Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang, I've run into all sorts of obstacles. I wouldn't have met this many experts in a decade, or even a century, before. But in the past few days, they've been coming out of the woodwork!"

He looked up at the sky and thought silently, 'Could it be that the heavens have sensed I'm about to face my tribulation, so they've sent this Human Tribulation first to ruin my Immortal Fate of Ascension? Even if the heavens themselves send a tribulation, I have no fear!'

Zhou Qiyun stood up, put away the chessboard, and pocketed all the pieces. Once everything was packed, he headed for Jiuyi Mountain, thinking, 'This board and its pieces are all Magical Treasures. I can't let them go to waste.'

Meanwhile, the sorrowful-faced elder and his two companions fled for thousands of miles before they could go no further and stopped to rest. The three looked back and saw that Zhou Qiyun hadn't pursued them, and only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.

They exchanged glances, their hearts still pounding with fear.

"To have cultivated to Zhou Qiyun's level... he must have developed his Secret Treasuries to their ultimate realm, right?"

The white-robed elder frowned. "Back when the Nuo Technique system was developed to replace Qi Refining, did anyone ever imagine it could become this powerful?"

The sorrowful-faced elder shook his head. "The Secret Treasuries are certainly powerful, but what's more powerful is Zhou Qiyun himself. He has already cultivated the Nuo Technique to a level on par with our own, and then he switched to Qi Refining. Now, he's advancing on both paths simultaneously and has already achieved considerable success."

The red-clothed woman carefully wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and said, "More importantly, he learned the top-tier Magic Skills from the Qi Refining path. He's robbed far too many graves."

The white-robed elder suddenly cried out, "My Cyan Cloud Chessboard is still on that mountain!"

The sorrowful-faced elder said nonchalantly, "Just leave it on the mountain. We can go back for it later. It's not like anyone's going to steal it, right? There's something more important right now."

He sighed. "Ten bowls of Meng Po's Soup only bought us a fleeting dream. Everyone, the Meng Po's Soup... has lost its effect."

The white-robed elder and the red-clothed woman were deeply shaken. The woman blurted out, "Could it be that Meng Po is watering down the soup?"

The sorrowful-faced elder said, "Even if it was soup watered down, ten bowls should have been enough to knock him out. The Meng Po's Soup is no longer effective on him. It can't reinforce his seal. If things continue to deteriorate at this rate... heheh, I'm afraid it won't be long before he breaks through the seal entirely!"

The other two's expressions changed drastically, their faces even showing a hint of terror.

The three of them fell silent, not speaking for a long time.

After a while, the red-clothed woman said bitterly, "So, Zhou Qiyun has become his Guardian? No wonder he kept blocking you. What is Zhou Qiyun's goal?"

The white-robed elder's expression was grave. Judging from Zhou Qiyun's recent actions, he did indeed seem to be acting as Xu Ying's Guardian, protecting him from being eliminated by powerful enemies!

If a genius-level expert like Zhou Qiyun was protecting Xu Ying, they would have a very hard time making a move against him.

"What should we do now?" he muttered.

The sorrowful-faced elder said, "There's no other way. We can only report this up the chain. You two will come with me!"

The white-robed elder and the red-clothed woman exchanged a look. The white-robed elder said hesitantly, "My Cyan Cloud Chessboard... Alright, this matter is more urgent. We'll go with you first and come back for the chessboard later!"

The three traveled as fast as lightning and soon arrived in Daozhou.

Daozhou had also been affected by the New Land, with countless new mountains and rivers appearing, drastically altering the geography. The three arrived at an unremarkable mountain of crumbling rock, Rotten Stone Mountain, which was less than two hundred feet high. At the foot of the mountain was an Earth God Temple, a small structure only half a person's height.

On either side of the Earth God Temple's entrance was a couplet that read:

Though the temple is small, its divine power is great;

Though the sky is high, the sun and moon shine bright.

The sorrowful-faced elder wrote about the failure of Meng Po's Soup on a piece of paper, rolled the paper into an incense stick, lit it, and placed it before the Earth God Temple. The three of them then bowed and stood waiting for a response.

This tiny Earth God Temple looked unremarkable, but it was an Ascension Land. As the incense stick burned, its fragrant smoke curled upward, drifting to the temple's roof. The roof was connected to another space-time, and the smoke passed through a thin barrier into that other reality.

When the incense paper had completely burned away, an Earth God hopped out of the temple. Unlike other Earth Gods, this one had no aura of Incense Smoke Qi about him.

"You can go back now."

The Earth God held a sheet of yellow paper, a formal reply, and called out, "The higher-ups have received your report. Take this reply slip. When the official decree comes down, words will appear on this yellow paper. Then you will know how to proceed."

The sorrowful-faced elder said, "This matter is of grave importance. May I ask what arrangements the higher-ups are making? So that we can be prepared."

The Earth God said impatiently, "Such a nag. When the higher-ups handle things, don't they have to follow procedure? Where does it say that your matter gets resolved the moment you submit the slip? Besides, I don't even know if your documentation is complete. If it's not, you'll have to come back a few more times. Go back for now. You'll have to wait for the approvals to come down level by level. Won't that take a few years?"

"A few years?" The three exchanged a look, despair filling their hearts.

The red-clothed woman said, "This is an exceptional case and requires special handling. Please, we implore you to hurry it along!"

The Earth God sneered. "There are so many matters to handle, which one am I supposed to rush? Who am I qualified to rush? Get out, get out!"

The three had no choice but to leave, dejected. "Well then, we'll just have to wait."

The white-robed elder said, "Let's go back to the mountain first and get my Cyan Cloud Chessboard."

The three rushed back to the mountain, but where was the Cyan Cloud Chessboard? Not even a single game piece was left.

The three stood there as a cool breeze blew past. The white-robed elder's lip twitched, his clothes still stained with blood.

The sorrowful-faced elder comforted him, "I don't know who swiped my Cyan Paper Umbrella, either, and there's no one to complain to. You lost your Cyan Cloud Chessboard, so just refine a new one."

At Wutong Palace on Jiuyi Mountain, Xu Ying still felt a little dizzy and sluggish. It was as if he hadn't been drinking tea, but strong liquor. 'That sorrowful-faced elder,' he thought, 'did he drug the tea?'

Da Zhong noticed he didn't look well and said, "I'm afraid it was more like putting tea in the drug. What happened?"

Xu Ying recounted the series of events from the previous night. Da Zhong and Yuan Qi, who was coiled on the bell, were both astonished. They hadn't expected so much to have happened in the short time they were gone.

Every single incident sounded fascinating.

Da Zhong inquired, "So you really saw that black mole on Xiaodie? Was it on the left or the right? The left, you say..."

It mused, "In that case, what you saw when you were Entering the Dao was real, and the stupid snake saving you in his sleep was also real. That's strange. Why would one encounter a great terror upon Entering the Dao?"

Xu Ying recalled the scene from his own experience Entering the Dao and offered his theory, "I think the great terror in the Abyss is meant to stop people from Entering the Dao. If you go too deep, it will devour you, and you'll meet a violent end!"

Yuan Qi jumped in fright. "Good thing I don't know how to Enter the Dao. Ying, why did Guo Xiaodie show up in your bed? And without any clothes on? Something's fishy about that."

"That's not important!"

Xu Ying's expression was grave as he said, "The important thing is the second matter. Little Fengxian also couldn't break the seal in my body. She said my seal has loosened, but I don't feel anything. We need to shake off Zhou Qiyun as soon as possible!"

Da Zhong remained silent. Yuan Qi also said nothing, but kept blinking at him urgently.

Xu Ying's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued, "So, we have to decipher the Tuo Yu Immortal Book as quickly as possible! We need to translate the Tuo Yu Immortal Book completely and accurately to help Elder Zhou achieve Enlightenment and ascend to immortality. Once he ascends, we'll be free!"

He turned his head and saw Zhou Qiyun, who had entered Wutong Palace at some unknown point and was now standing right behind him.

Xu Ying asked in surprise, "Elder Zhou, when did you arrive?"