Ascension Day

Xu Ying moved around a bit, breaking out in a cold sweat, and had no choice but to sit down.

'I wonder what Lord Zhong and Xiaoqi are up to,' he thought. 'Aren't they worried a female ghost will eat me if they just leave me here?'

Xu Ying shook his head. After catching his breath, he slowly circulated the Primordial Qi in his body, stimulating his Qi and Blood and activating the functions of his Flesh Body.

At the same time, his two great Secret Treasuries, the Mud Pill and Jiang Palace, opened one after another. Gradually, Xu Ying returned to his peak state, though his head still ached. He wasn't sure if it was from being knocked by Lord Zhong, or if recalling the past had overwhelmed his mind.

Xu Ying performed Inner Observation, inspecting his Mysterious Domain. He was relieved to find that the Mysterious Domain was unharmed. However, Lord Zhong was not in the Mysterious Domain; he had no idea where the bell had run off to.

He tried hard to recall what happened when he fainted, but another series of strange images and sounds flooded his mind. His head felt like it was splitting apart again, so he quickly stopped.

'Someone saw me over sixty years ago... Why don't I have any impression of it, not a single memory?'

He composed himself. 'Could it be Meng Po's Soup? Could that melancholy old man have really given me Meng Po's Soup, washing away my memories from back then?'

'But the tea that melancholy old man brought these last two times tasted great, and I didn't lose my memory after drinking it!'

Suddenly, Da Zhong's cursing voice rang out, "I told you that Qinyan Cave's Mysterious Palace is no Grotto Heaven Blessed Land! It's just a trick to fool people, but you wouldn't believe me and insisted on digging it up! Now I'm covered in mud too! And you just left Ying here! For all you know, he's already been sucked dry by a female ghost!"

Yuan Qi's voice replied, "That female ghost definitely couldn't have drained Ying. I saw she's trapped in a mirror. Besides, the ghost girl in the coffin said this is an Ascension Land. Since it's an Ascension Land, there must be something extraordinary about it!"

Just then, Da Zhong noticed Xu Ying sitting there. Surprised and delighted, it flew over quickly and laughed, "Ying, you're finally awake! Quick, let me take a couple of sips! That bastard Yuan Qi won't let me suck his Qi and Blood. He says it's like being preyed on by a female ghost three hundred times a day. What nonsense! Can a female ghost's methods be as refined as mine?"

Xu Ying quickly said, "Lord Zhong, I was out for so long, my complexion still isn't good. Let's talk about this in a couple of days!"

Da Zhong had to give up. It said earnestly, "You need to step up your Cultivation. Look, you were in a coma for over ten days, which means you've wasted over ten days. Learning is like rowing a boat upstream; if you don't advance, you fall behind."

"You're right, Lord Zhong." Xu Ying accepted the lesson humbly and asked, "What's the deal with the female ghost in the room?"

Yuan Qi slithered over, covered in mud, and chuckled. "She's sealed in a Copper Mirror, so she can't harm anyone. We felt sorry for her, so we kept her around. We were just out looking for the Ascension Land on Wuyang Mountain and were worried that wild beasts might harm you, so we put her in your room."

Xu Ying's face darkened. "Is that something a person would do?"

But then he relaxed. 'Then again, these two aren't people to begin with. I can't hold them to human standards.'

He stretched his limbs and said, "That day, the young woman in the coffin said..."

Xu Ying imitated the girl's tone, reciting softly, "'South of Xiao Xiang, Cangwu Abyss. Below Jiuyi Mountain, the Immortal lives. This Ascension Land... is desolate after all.' Does she mean the Ascension Land is Wuyang Mountain's Qinyan Cave, or Jiuyi Mountain?"

Yuan Qi said, "It must be here! You said it yourself, the Ascension Land in the Chaotian Cave Heaven on Jiuyi Mountain is a fake. That Ascension Radiance wasn't left by an Ascender at all, but by a Qi Refiner being shattered to pieces! So, the Ascension Land the ghost girl mentioned must be Wuyang Mountain!"

Xu Ying nodded slightly. He looked back at the broken Wuyang Mountain and murmured, "But now even Wuyang Mountain is broken. Where on earth could that Ascension Land be hidden?"

Just then, two old oxen were seen slowly walking up the mountain. The two old oxen were covered in injuries. Their wounds, large and small, had already scabbed over but had not yet fully healed. It was impossible to know how many battles they had endured to get here.

Xu Ying looked at the two old oxen, puzzled. He felt like he had seen them somewhere before.

Suddenly, the two old oxen looked up and saw him. Overjoyed, they quickened their pace and rushed up the mountain.

Yuan Qi was ecstatic. He moved forward to meet them, shouting, "I was just getting a little hungry! I'll start with these two oxen to break my fast!"

As he got closer and closer to the two old oxen, he felt that they looked somewhat familiar. His heart skipped a beat. 'Could it be them?'

His expression changed instantly. He hastily tried to turn back and run up the mountain, but his body was too large, making it difficult to change direction quickly.

As the two old oxen charged, black smoke suddenly billowed around them. A ghostly aura flared, and they transformed into two Ox Demons standing in a sinister wind. Wielding Bone Soul-Beating Whips, they struck the approaching Yuan Qi without a word, knocking him to the ground.

The two Ox Demons surrounded Yuan Qi and flogged him relentlessly until Xu Ying ran over and ordered them to stop. Only then did they cease.

Xu Ying was utterly astonished. He looked the two Ox Demons up and down and said, "Lord Zhong, is it them?"

Da Zhong replied, "They're the Ox Demons that followed you before. But weren't there five of them?"

Back at the Water Gate Temple, five Ox Demons had followed him to Wuyang Mountain. After Wuyang Mountain collapsed, these Ox Demons had followed him all the way back to the Water Gate Temple.

When Xu Ying boarded Zhou Qiyun's Dragon Chariot, these Ox Demons couldn't get on and were left behind at the Water Gate Temple. The Dragon Chariot flew for a long time to the Big Locust Tree. Xu Ying stayed at the Big Locust Tree for many days, then went to Ghost Ridge, visited the Yin Court, and then proceeded to the Cangwu Abyss. Through the Cangwu Abyss, he reached Jiuyi Mountain, and then he made his way to Qiyang.

After that, Xu Ying fell into a coma, and Yuan Qi brought him back to Wuyang Mountain!

Xu Ying had originally thought that these Ox Demons would have left for good. He never expected them to remain so loyal, crossing mountains and ridges to catch up to him!

There were originally five Ox Demons following Xu Ying, but now only two remained. The other three had most likely died along the way. Judging from the wounds on these two Ox Demons, they had definitely endured immense hardship on their journey!

The New Land was now extremely dangerous, not just for living beings from the Mortal World like Xu Ying, but also for creatures from the Underworld like the Ox Demons.

Xu Ying was quite moved and walked forward.

"Since you have followed me, I will not abandon you again. From this day forward, you two shall be the first disciples of me, Xu Ying, the Xu Demon King!"

Xu Ying laughed heartily. "As Demon Cultivators, you strayed onto the Divine Dao. I will teach you the Qi Refining Technique, help you open the Six Secrets of the Human Body, and practice Qi-Nuo Dual Cultivation!"

Yuan Qi scrambled to his feet, looked at the two Ox Demons, and said, "I get the feeling they're not too bright. You're not starting off your sect by accepting two idiots as disciples, are you?"

Xu Ying's heart skipped a beat. Recalling the past actions of these two Ox Demons, he too had a bad feeling.

Da Zhong said, "These two Ox Demons used to be herdsmen in the Underworld. They'd attack anyone on sight. They tried to whip you, failed, and got whipped by you instead. After that, they just stubbornly started following you. Their minds... do indeed seem a bit off..."

A vein throbbed on Xu Ying's forehead. He cleared his throat and said, "Don't panic. They've just been poisoned by the Divine Dao, absorbing Incense Smoke Qi and losing their true Nature! Once they cultivate my Qi Refining Technique, they can definitely change back into Cow Demons!"

Yuan Qi whispered, "Why don't you expel them from the sect?"

Xu Ying said guiltily, "I've just started. If I expel them right after accepting them and before teaching them anything, I'm afraid my reputation will be ruined."

He paused, then lowered his voice. "We'll expel them after some time has passed. By the way, Lord Qi, you're well-read. Help me give them some impressive names."

Yuan Qi pondered and said, "The I Ching says that Wuyang means 'Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen,' with Zhen below and Qian above. Since we've returned to Wuyang Mountain and reunited with them, why not call them Niu Zhen and Niu Qian?"

Xu Ying was delighted and laughed. "Lord Qi, you really are a man of culture."

He sized up the two Ox Demons, then said to the one missing an ear, "From now on, your name is Niu Zhen."

The other Ox Demon's facial features were intact, but its body was crisscrossed with shocking wounds. Xu Ying said, "And your name is Niu Qian."

Hearing this, the two Ox Demons glanced at each other. Standing in the swirling, sinister wind, they bowed with their hooves clasped before their chests and said, "Thank you, Master, for bestowing upon us our names!"

Xu Ying was surprised.

Yuan Qi was also greatly shaken and cried out, "They're not idiots!"

Niu Zhen said in a booming voice, "We were originally Cow Demons from the Mortal World who cultivated to become Demon Kings. How could we be idiots? We were just worried our lifespans would run out, so we had no choice but to become monstrous enforcers for the Yin Court. Now that we have met an enlightened master and been given names, of course we no longer need to pretend to be fools."