Ascension Day

The members of the Zhou Family were steeped in sorrow. Their pillar of support had fallen, like a great tree holding up the sky suddenly crashing down.

Xu Ying didn't leave. He silently paid his respects to this pioneer.

He didn't know whether to feel grief or relief.

Zhou Qiyun was dead, and the shadow that had loomed over his head was gone.

The man who held his fate in his hands, the one he could never escape, had vanished from the world completely.

Through his contest with Zhou Qiyun, he had grown immensely, learned a great deal, and taken one step closer to the truth of the world.

Zhou Qiyun was no good man. His Noble Family had devastated the livelihoods of the people in Yongzhou and beyond. The populace could barely survive, living in misery. Countless commoners had been driven to their deaths by exorbitant taxes and levies.

Xu Ying had been bullied by the Zhou Family since childhood. He despised people like them.

He held no goodwill toward the Zhou Family whatsoever.

But Zhou Qiyun was a man of great charisma. Their relationship was that of both teacher and friend. Xu Ying was Zhou Qiyun's teacher, having taught him two great Immortal Techniques of the Qi Refiners. In turn, Zhou Qiyun was also Xu Ying's teacher, having taught him how to survive in the world.

Now that this mentor and friend was gone, Xu Ying felt an emptiness in his heart.

"Xu Ying, the Old Ancestor left a letter for you before he began Crossing the Tribulation." The pot-bellied Governor of Yongzhou, Zhou Heng, trudged over and handed a letter to Xu Ying.

"He said that if he met with misfortune, I was to deliver it to Wuyang Mountain myself."

Zhou Heng's expression darkened. "Since you're here, I won't have to make the trip. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter, heh heh. My Zhou Family's greatest patron is gone, and now we are the monkeys. If we flee now, we might save some of our descendants. If we don't, I fear our entire clan will be annihilated."

Xu Ying accepted the letter. "Governor Zhou, why do you say that?" he asked, puzzled.

Zhou Heng said listlessly, "Our family could throw its weight around before because we were backed by the Zhou Nuo Immortal, who was invincible in the Mortal World. But by doing so, we also made countless enemies. The Zhou Family may have squandered a fortune on this Tribulation, but our coffers are still deep. We possess immeasurable wealth. No one ever considered what would happen if the Old Ancestor fell. Now, we have no choice but to face it."

Without the invincible Zhou Qiyun, guarding such immense wealth was a curse, not a blessing.

With Zhou Qiyun dead, all his old enemies and political rivals would move against the Zhou Family. Even those with no prior grudge would seize the opportunity to kick them while they were down.

Only by fleeing now, before the news of Zhou Qiyun's death spread, could they hope to preserve some of the family's bloodline and avoid complete annihilation.

Xu Ying thought for a moment, then said, "I wish you well."

Zhou Heng waved, then leaped from the cliff. A stout Golden-winged Roc materialized behind him, grabbed him by the shoulders, and soared away with a beat of its wings.

The other disciples of the Zhou Family used their own Divine Powers and fled one after another.

Before long, Xu Ying was the only one left on Jiuyi Mountain.

Yuan Qi slithered down from Xu Ying's shoulder, reverted to its true form, and asked, "Ying, what does Elder Bai Mei's letter say?"

Xu Ying unfolded the letter. The first line was achingly familiar: *Let these words be as if we're face to face.* What followed were the usual pleasantries, sounding both hollow and sincere.

In the letter, Zhou Qiyun wrote that he had made every possible preparation for Crossing the Tribulation. However, being human, even the most meticulous plans could have a flaw; there was always room for error.

He had always hoped to transcend the shackles of humanity and reach a non-human state, to examine his every judgment with absolute logic. But he had never succeeded. His human nature always remained.

There were times his foresight was lacking, times his heart would soften. He would grieve for an ant and rejoice at some small insight.

He could admire a talented youth, yet also detest and envy a young man who was more intelligent than he.

A person such as this was bound to make mistakes.

On the eve of his Tribulation, he had taken up his pen to write this letter, driven by a sudden premonition and a faint sense of unease. After much thought, he concluded the problem most likely lay with the Master of the Mud Mound Palace.

Xu Ying steadied himself and read on.

*My elimination of the Master of the Mud Mound Palace went far too smoothly,* Zhou Qiyun wrote. *What if all of this was just a trap laid by the Master in advance? What if the one I killed was not the true Master of the Mud Mound Palace at all?*

*I am just a Snake Catcher who has lived for a little over three hundred years, while my foe's lifespan may be ancient beyond measure.*

*In the three thousand years since the rise of Nuo Masters, countless others like me may have already been devoured by the Master of the Mud Mound Palace.*

*Perhaps I had many senior brothers and sisters who also cultivated the Master's legacy, only to end up as his meal.*

*The Master of the Mud Mound Palace exists in some unknown state. As I write this, it is too late for me to arrange any further countermeasures against such an unknown enemy.*

*If I truly die, there can be only one explanation: the Master of the Mud Mound Palace is still in the Mortal World, just as I suspected,* he wrote.

*If that is the case, then by the time you are reading this letter, I am already dead.*

He laughed in his writing. *But if none of this comes to pass, this letter will never fall into your hands, for I will destroy it before my Ascension. That way, I can still preserve my reputation for flawless planning.*

*So, as you read this, I am truly dead,* the letter continued.

*Before my death, I should have killed you. You have killed many disciples of my Zhou Family, all of them my descendants. At the same time, you are exceedingly clever, with a wisdom that surpasses my own. You are also younger than I am, full of potential. All of this makes me jealous. I should have killed you.*

*But I could not.*

He wrote with an easy confidence, as if sharing his innermost thoughts with a dear friend.

*I must have been devoured by the Master of the Mud Mound Palace. There is no one in the Zhou Family who can avenge me. After my death, the Zhou Family will scatter. They once threw their weight around because they had my protection. From now on, they must atone for everything they have done.*

*They will change their names and live in hiding, scurrying from place to place, until not even one in a hundred survives. I will have no descendants left—only a single friend. I cannot kill you.*

*I have a selfish request: I ask that you, Xu Master, avenge me. But I am too proud to bow my head and beg.*

Xu Ying clutched the final page. In the end, Zhou Qiyun wrote that he knew Xu Ying lacked a Nuo Technique and was therefore unable to mobilize the power of the Mud Ball Secret Treasury, preventing him from unifying the Secret Treasury, the Hidden Scenery, and the Mysterious Domain.

Therefore, he had left the original Cultivation Technique of the Master of the Mud Mound Palace in the Demon Suppression Hall of the Chaotian Cave Heaven.

In addition to the Master's original Cultivation Technique, he had also left behind his insights on the Ascension Technique—a technique he'd created by merging the strengths of both Nuo and Qi cultivation.

*I know you will go to see it, and I know your curiosity will compel you to open the Master's original Cultivation Technique. And once you see it, you will be unable to resist cultivating it.*

*The moment you begin your Cultivation, you will have a strange sensation: a pair of eyes opening in the darkness, silently staring at your back. I felt the very same thing the first time I cultivated the Master's original technique.*

*Doing so will put you in grave danger, but you will do it nonetheless. Because all Nuo Techniques are traps.*

*I have searched the world for the Hidden Lands of past Nuo Immortals and never once found a living one. This is all the proof I need. In their twilight years, all Nuo Immortals who retreat into their Hidden Lands meet a grim fate. They become the Great Medicine that fuels the Ascension of ancient Qi Refiners!*

*The history of ancient Cultivation is written with tales of deep bonds between master and disciple, but if you look closer, every page is filled with one phrase: 'devouring men'.*

*If you wish to harness the power of the Six Secrets of the Human Body, if you wish to unify them, you must cultivate the original technique of the Master of the Mud Mound Palace. Once you have cultivated it to its peak, should you fail to defeat the Master, then consider it my posthumous scheme to avenge the disciples of my Zhou Family. But if you win, then I will have borrowed your hand after my death to avenge myself!*

*Xu Master, will you cultivate it? I find myself fraught with uncertainty.*

*With deepest respects, Qi Yun.*

Xu Ying folded the letter, put it away, and exhaled slowly. "That's just like you," he murmured.

Yuan Qi asked cautiously, "Ying, are you going to cultivate it?"

Da Zhong grew tense as well. "Ying, it's a trap! In three thousand years, it's likely not a single Nuo Immortal has survived! They all died in their own Hidden Lands!"

「Chaotian Cave Heaven, Demon Suppression Hall.」

Xu Ying stood silently before the Shen Kan. On it rested a thick stack of books. At the bottom were Zhou Qiyun's personal notes on his dual cultivation of Nuo and Qi. They contained the experiences of a true pioneer who had merged the Nuo Technique and Qi Refining Techniques.

These insights were the greatest treasure of his life, perhaps even more valuable than the dual-cultivation technique itself!

And placed at the very top of the pile was a volume of Scriptures—the original Cultivation Technique the Master of the Mud Mound Palace used as bait.

A line of text was written on the cover: the name of the technique.

*Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Longevity Technique*.

He could almost see the white-browed young man standing on the other side of the Shen Kan, smiling at him, his eyes filled with a wisdom that seemed to pierce through everything.

"Xu Master, will you cultivate it? I find myself fraught with uncertainty," the vision said with a smile, his voice and appearance startlingly clear and real.

THUMP, THUMP!

THUMP, THUMP!

Xu Ying could hear his own heart pounding, could hear his own ragged breaths.

He was nervous. It was difficult to remain calm when faced with such a life-altering choice.

Yuan Qi moved forward and shouted, "I'll destroy these cursed books! Ying, you can achieve Longevity through Qi Refining! We don't need to open any Secret Treasury. We can just be pure Qi Refiners!"

Da Zhong chimed in, "That's right! That's right! The stupid snake is usually just a bookworm who follows texts blindly, but it's not wrong this time. If all Nuo Techniques are harmful, then just don't practice them, right? Why can't Qi Refining also lead to Longevity?"

Suddenly, Xu Ying held up a hand to stop them. "If a man cannot live freely, repaying his debts and settling his grudges," he said softly, "then how is he any different from dust and dirt?"

His other hand reached out and opened the first page of the *Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Longevity Technique*.

The words in the book filled his vision.

A Disciple asks: The Mud Ball Secret Treasury—can its nine revolutions grant Longevity?

The Immortal Master replies: With nine revolutions of the Mud Pill, Longevity can be achieved. If you consume the Heaven and Earth Qi, you can plunder the Sea of Chaos. Gather Qi in the Qi Gathering Mound Palace, and fish for the Immortal Medicine.

...

As Xu Ying read on, word by word, the Activity within his Grotto Heaven inside the Mud Ball Secret Treasury began to stir of its own accord, "fishing" for the "Immortal Medicine" from the Sea of Chaos.

This "Immortal Medicine" was none other than the body's own Activity!

As this "Immortal Medicine" was fished out, Xu Ying felt an endless stream of Activity being refined into his Flesh Body and his soul. Both began to strengthen at a noticeable rate!

At the same time, he felt an endless darkness sweeping over him, threatening to swallow him whole.

In the darkness behind him, a pair of eyes was slowly opening. They stared at him from the gloom, making his hair stand on end as a chill crept into his heart.

'I've been marked,' Xu Ying thought to himself.

The moment he began to cultivate the *Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Longevity Technique*, he was branded as the next prey.

'When you gaze at me, I am also gazing at you.'

Xu Ying smiled and spoke to the non-existent illusion of Zhou Qiyun. "You may rest now, Senior Brother Zhou. I am stronger than you, and smarter. I will avenge you."

The vision of Zhou Qiyun vanished, leaving only the books upon the Shen Kan.