Ascension Day

The stoic-looking youth and the black-clad youth dared not show any disrespect and quickly rose to their feet.

The black-clad youth said, "With you still living, Imperial Uncle, how could we dare to die first?"

The stoic-looking youth said, "Indeed."

The youth in the yellow shirt seemed unconcerned. "Of our generation, Elder Zhou always had the most impatient temperament, and his abilities were the best of ours as well. I thought he might have mellowed out after all these years, but I should have known he'd be the first one who couldn't hold back."

The black-clad youth chuckled. "If he didn't take the plunge first, how would we know if this path is even viable?"

Just then, a laugh echoed from the sky. "Thirteenth Lady, this is the best place for us to land. It's the highest point around, so we'll have a perfect view of everything that happens on Jiuyi Mountain."

Hearing this, the group looked up to see a painted pleasure boat sailing toward them. It moved through the air as if drifting on water, perfectly steady.

A woman's voice drifted from within the vessel, chuckling. "Young Master Xiang is right."

The pleasure boat descended. A man and a woman, a pair so beautiful they were a dazzling sight, emerged. The man, Young Master Xiang, was dashing and debonair, with a timeless grace like a jade tree standing against the wind. The woman, Thirteenth Lady, was tall and willowy, her eyes full of the promise of spring. Her gaze seemed to ripple like water, and wherever it swept, it was as if flowers bloomed in the warm spring air.

This perfect pair had just disembarked when their gazes swept the surroundings. Seeing the odd group of old and young people with their inscrutable origins, they each gave a small smile, paying them no mind.

But when the two of them saw Xu Ying, their expressions changed drastically. Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads, and they grew restless and anxious.

They were none other than the two experts Xu Ying had soundly thrashed with a Copper Basin on the night he was "sending off the Plague God"—Young Master Xiang and Thirteenth Lady!

The Cultivation Power of these two was unfathomable, yet they had been utterly crushed by Xu Ying, who had simply poked his fingers into the Copper Basin to beat them. They had nearly died!

After a long time spent recuperating, they had finally healed. To see Xu Ying here now filled them with terror. They exchanged a glance, wishing they could slip away that very instant.

That night, they had been under orders to intercept the person "sending off the Plague God." They had blocked Xu Ying's path, assuming they could capture him with ease. They never expected Xu Ying to display a level of power and techniques that they simply couldn't comprehend.

Even now, the memory sent a shiver of fear down their spines.

Xu Ying gave the pair a small smile, gesturing for them to make themselves comfortable.

Young Master Xiang and Thirteenth Lady exchanged a look. Young Master Xiang whispered, "We'll play it by ear."

Thirteenth Lady gave a slight nod.

The Li Family's young Imperial Uncle Li glanced at the newcomers, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He turned to the black-clad youth. "Elder Shi, forgive my ignorance, but are those two Nuo Masters or Demon Cultivators?"

The black-clad youth, Elder Shi, studied the pair, his expression a mixture of surprise and doubt. He shook his head. "I can't tell. They seem like Demon Cultivators, yet they also seem like Nuo Masters."

Just then, another person ascended the mountain, laughing heartily. "I could smell the stench of you old fossils from a mile away! I knew you'd all show up!"

At these words, the various ancestors in their youthful guises all rose, laughing. "The old brother from the Guo Family is here!"

Xu Ying looked over and saw Guo Xiaodie walking up Wuyang Mountain with a burly old man whose presence was naturally imposing. The old man's hair and beard were snow-white, and his gaze was like lightning. When he glanced their way, everyone's vision went white, blinding them completely. Only after his gaze moved on could they see again.

'Could that be the Guo Family Ancestor?' Xu Ying thought in surprise.

When Guo Xiaodie saw him, she was pleasantly surprised. She immediately abandoned the Guo Family Ancestor and ran over, whispering, "Xu Demon King, what are you still doing in the New Land? Where's Brother Weiyang?"

Xu Ying briefly explained how he and Yuan Weiyang had parted ways, then asked, "And what brings you and your family's ancestor here?"

Guo Xiaodie laughed. "Elder Zhou is Crossing the Tribulation! Is there anyone under the heavens who *doesn't* know about it? To prepare, he fought, killed, and injured countless masters. He took on every expert in the New Land and even battled his way into the Underworld. Of course an event like his Tribulation Crossing would attract all the masters to come and watch."

Xu Ying grunted in frustration. He had chosen Wuyang Mountain as his resting place precisely because it had already suffered a terrible calamity, thinking that surely no one else would come here.

He never imagined that Zhou Qiyun would remember this place, and that his Tribulation Crossing would attract countless more masters here.

'I can't enter the Ascension Land for the next few days,' he thought. 'If these people find out about it, I'm afraid I'll lose my chance to claim it.'

Guo Xiaodie leaned in and whispered right in his ear, "For anyone from the Noble Families who has cultivated to the Peak Realm, Zhou Qiyun Crossing the Tribulation is an incredibly rare opportunity to observe. If you miss it, an opportunity like this will never come again. That's why anyone who got the news rushed over."

Just then, ancestors from several other Noble Families arrived and settled on the southern slope of Wuyang Mountain. Some were acquainted with the others already present, chatting and laughing. Others, however, were faces so unfamiliar that not even these ancient ancestors recognized them; upon asking around, it turned out no one had ever seen them before.

Xu Ying scanned the crowd. 'Will Brother Yuan show up?' he wondered. 'His family's ancestor is called Yuan Wuji, I think. He was defeated by Zhou Qiyun, so he'll definitely come to watch the spectacle, right?'

"The Yuan Family Ancestor is here!"

Guo Xiaodie's expression lit up with excitement, but then immediately fell. She shook her head, crestfallen. "Brother Weiyang didn't come."

Xu Ying looked over. The Yuan Family's Yuan Wuji was an old man with a magnificent beard; he had not maintained a youthful appearance, instead allowing himself to age. But the Yuan Family was known for its beauty, and though he was old, one could still see traces of the dashing and elegant man he must have been in his youth.

When night fell, the Naihe River manifested once more. A Tower Ship was seen drifting on its waters, flying the Emperor's Banner as it sailed to the foot of Wuyang Mountain.

A chariot emerged from the Tower Ship, carrying a large coffin up the mountainside.

The crowd watched this procession in silence.

When the coffin reached the summit, it opened on its own. Lying within was the Immortal Corpse of the Yin Court Emperor, while his Primordial Spirit stood in the air, gazing toward Jiuyi Mountain.

"In the world today, anyone who dares to step within Qianli of Jiuyi Mountain will suffer Elder Zhou's thunderous wrath."

The Yin Court Emperor sighed. "And so, we too can only stand here and watch his Tribulation Crossing from a distance."

Imperial Uncle Li's voice was not loud, yet it carried to everyone's ears. "Zhou Qiyun will verify for us whether this path is the right one."

Someone whispered in a low voice, "This combined cultivation with Nuo Qi... does it lead directly to Longevity?"

Just then, a great RATTLE and CLANK echoed from the sky. Two thick chains dragged through the air as a behemoth arrived under the cover of darkness, landing on a precipice of Wuyang Mountain that stretched between two peaks.

From a distance, the crowd could not make out what the behemoth on the precipice was. They could only see the thick Chains dangling from the cliff's edge, swaying back and forth.

Xu Ying tilted his head back to look, silently activating his Celestial Eye. As he gazed at the behemoth, he saw a barefoot giant wrapped in Chains, sitting on the edge of the cliff.

The giant seemed to notice his gaze, and its eyes swept toward him.

Xu Ying's heart leaped in alarm, and he hurriedly deactivated his Celestial Eye. He was surrounded by the ancestors of the great Nuo Master Families; they would never tolerate being spied upon. Sensing the giant's gaze fall upon their group, they all looked up, their own powerful gazes crisscrossing like lightning as they stared at the cliff!

BOOM!

The giant on the cliff leaped into the air and vanished into the clouds, leaving no trace.

On Wuyang Mountain, the assembled ancestors were left shocked and uncertain.

Xu Ying was also filled with shock and doubt. 'That giant… could it be the Master of the Mud Mound Palace?'

At that moment, the sound of Chains rattled through the air again. He followed the sound with his eyes and saw a Black Coffin traveling through the night sky. It landed on the very same cliff where the giant had just been.

The Black Coffin stood there, perfectly still.

The host of ancestors, thinking the behemoth had returned, all looked toward the cliff. But seeing only a Black Coffin and the quiet, demure girl standing before it, they each looked away.

The girl seemed not to mind their rude stares, her temperament apparently quite placid.

'It's her!'

A flicker of joy passed through Xu Ying, and he started walking toward the cliff, intending to catch up with the girl with the coffin. But just then, another person landed on the mountain, their face a mask of sorrow.

Xu Ying was startled. He recognized the newcomer—it was the same sorrowful-faced old man who had made him drink Meng Po's Soup.

The sorrowful-faced old man had just landed when two more figures descended behind him: an old man in white robes and a woman in red clothes. They, too, wore faces etched with deep sorrow.

Xu Ying braced himself and walked past them. As the trio saw him approach and walk by, their expressions grew even more sorrowful.