Ascension Day

In the sky, the thunderclouds were still churning.

The sorrowful-faced old man and the red-robed woman supported the white-robed old man, transforming into streaks of light. Their speed was immense. They were top-tier Qi Refiners, each with their own specialty, and they knew they were being watched. If they didn't leave now, they feared they would never get the chance.

However, they truly couldn't escape.

A Black Coffin flew over and landed before them. The maiden Qing Bi had not arrived, but her coffin had. The Black Coffin stood upright in the air, two Chains hanging down from it, giving off an incredibly mysterious aura.

The sorrowful-faced old man, the red-robed woman, and the white-robed old man immediately split up and fled. The white-robed old man was the most heavily injured and his speed was slower, yet he still struggled to escape. After a moment, a chill ran through his heart as he saw a Black Coffin appear before him.

On the other side of the Black Coffin, a streak of red light flew in and stopped before it. It was the red-robed woman.

The red-robed woman was filled with shock and doubt when she heard a whistling sound. It was the sorrowful-faced old man, arriving from another direction.

The three exchanged a look, their hearts pounding in alarm, and immediately turned to flee in different directions again.

The white-robed old man mustered his remaining Magical Power and flew for over a thousand li. From a distance, he saw a Black Coffin standing in the air ahead, its two Chains dangling. Terror seized his heart.

He immediately changed direction, but there was another Black Coffin in his line of sight!

He changed direction again, and still, there was a Black Coffin before him!

It was as if in his world, all paths led to that Black Coffin!

"This Divine Power..."

His face fell in defeat. The corners of his mouth twitched as he flew helplessly toward the Black Coffin. "I don't understand."

Opposite him, the sorrowful-faced old man and the red-robed woman appeared, dejected, walking toward the Black Coffin.

Finally, the three met again before the Black Coffin. They exchanged a look, but before they could speak, the maiden Qing Bi's gentle voice sounded out. "The three of you, can we talk now?"

The sorrowful-faced old man's expression was full of misery as he said, "To be able to achieve such a level of Cultivation in the Qi Refiners' End of Dharma Era... your talent is truly terrifying, young lady. I wonder what you wish to discuss?"

The maiden Qing Bi walked out from behind the Black Coffin and said softly, "The Immortal, the rise of the Nuo Masters, and the mystery of the Qi Refiners' disappearance."

The three exchanged a look. The red-robed woman said with a serious expression, "Young lady, the three of us were responsible for the matter of the Immortal. But we have made an oath. Breaking it means the complete annihilation of body and soul. There is not much we can tell you. As for the rise of the Nuo Masters and the disappearance of the Qi Refiners, that has nothing to do with us. We only handle the Immortal; we don't know much about anything else."

The maiden Qing Bi had a gentle nature. She said softly, "I will first tell you what I know. You can listen, and then you can tell me what you are able to. I will not make things difficult for you."

The red-robed woman breathed a sigh of relief. "You two old coots," she said, "in a moment, we'll test it out sentence by sentence. If one of us dies because of the oath, the others shouldn't say anything further on that point."

The sorrowful-faced old man and the white-robed old man agreed.

Qing Bi said, "I first saw him four thousand years ago. Back then, I was just a minor Qi Refiner who had recently begun my training. I followed my master to attend the grand Fengshan ceremony on Mount Tai. Emperor Zulong had unified the Divine Land, his might awing Yuan Shou and bringing the four seas to submission. His power extended across the realm as he performed the Fengshan rites to heaven on Mount Tai. It was at the foot of Mount Tai that I first saw him. He was a young boy."

The sorrowful-faced old man and the others exchanged silent glances. The red-robed woman said, "He did attend the Fengshan ceremony. The reason he went was that he had been chosen as a Cultivator of the Male Path and followed Xu Fu overseas to search for the Immortal Mountains. He was the only one who returned. Emperor Zulong brought him to the Fengshan ceremony hoping to offer him as a sacrifice to communicate with the heavens. But the Ancestral Dragon did not understand the profound mysteries involved and failed to sacrifice him."

Qing Bi continued, "My master told me, 'Look. That person is an undying ghost wandering the Mortal World.' My master said that he had seen him when he was a child, and he was still a boy just like that. He has been wandering the world ever since, his memory a complete blank. Why are his memories blank?"

The white-robed old man chose his words carefully, cautiously avoiding the oath. "The purpose of our existence," he said, "is to keep his memory blank."

Qing Bi asked, "And then?"

The sorrowful-faced old man said, "We cannot say."

Qing Bi asked, "How long has he lived?"

The three exchanged a look and shook their heads in unison. "We cannot say."

"Why did he become like this?"

"We cannot say."

"Who exactly are you working for when you monitor him?"

The trio's faces grew tense. They clamped their mouths shut, not saying a single word.

Seeing this, Qing Bi did not press them. She waved her hand, allowing them to leave.

Only after the three had gone far away did she let out a soft sigh and whisper, "In the millennium that followed, I would sometimes meet him again. By then, my master was gone, his lifespan exhausted, and he had passed away in sorrow. He yearned to attempt Crossing the Tribulation his entire life, but he never dared to take that step. Only the Immortal remained, living on in the world, oblivious. He changed his identity many times, living in this world like an undying ghost."

She leaned against the Black Coffin, quietly lost in thought, and murmured to herself, "On the eve of the great upheaval, I saw him again at the foot of Jiuyi Mountain. He was still that same boy. He didn't remember me, looking at me as if I were a stranger. But he... he carries so many of my memories."

The upheaval occurred. She was suppressed for three thousand years, and the moment she emerged from the well, she saw that boy again.

She still remembered the boy, but after three thousand years, he had once again forgotten her.

She gave a relieved smile and flew away. She searched all over the world, only to find the lands had changed and everyone she knew was gone. In this world, it seemed only she and he were left.

When she stood within her old friend's Mud Pill Palace Grotto Heaven, looking up at the Jade Disc, she sensed that he and a snake had also arrived at the Mud Pill Palace. It was then that she chanted, "South of Xiao Xiang, in Cangwu Abyss; beneath Jiuyi Mountain, the Immortal appears."