Ascension Day

The snake’s head rose thirty to forty feet high. Its body was coiled in dense Demon Qi, its profound gaze fixed upon the rising sun.

It faced the sun, breathing in and out as it practiced its Guiding Skill. With each inhalation, its massive body swelled, and its scales scraped together with the crisp sound of clashing metal.

Countless particles of light swarmed from the sun, forming a vortex that streamed into the great snake’s mouth.

A great sun could be seen moving within the snake’s body. The light was so bright it shone through its scales, revealing its Five Viscera.

In just a few moments, that great sun traveled from its throat to the tip of its tail. Every part of its body bulged and swelled as it passed, growing two or three times thicker than a farmer’s water cistern.

When the great snake exhaled, sand and stone were sent flying. A cloud of toxic gas erupted from its mouth, catching the sunlight and transforming into a colorful, rising mist.

Xu Ying had encountered his fair share of Demon Kings and Demon Gods, but none possessed an aura or Demon Qi as potent as this giant snake’s.

"You’re... Yuan Qi?" Xu Ying asked tentatively as he approached.

The giant snake looked at him with its profound gaze and did not speak.

Xu Ying said, "The Yuan Qi whose venom is ranked seventh in the world?"

The giant snake opened its mouth, and the voice of a child, no older than three or four, emerged. "I was ranked fifth in the world before my transformation!" it said angrily. "How did I drop to seventh after? I should be in the top three by now, at least!"

Xu Ying asked, bewildered, "Yuan Qi, weren’t you trying to transform into a human? How did you end up like this?"

The giant snake closed its mouth, its profound gaze remaining silent.

Xu Ying stared at him. After a long moment, the giant snake had no choice but to speak, its clear, childlike voice explaining, "I thought I was going to transform into a human, too. The Power of Transformation was building inside me, which is the right sign. But after I went into seclusion, I didn’t expect the power to gather at the back of my head and... well, I grew two horns."

Xu Ying had noticed it too. The giant snake was fine when it didn’t speak, but the moment it did, its voice was as clear and high-pitched as a child’s. ’No wonder he’s always so quiet,’ he thought.

Yuan Qi’s cultivation had been a great success. During his seclusion for his Transformation, he hadn’t just cultivated the Elephant Power Ox Demon Fist to the Seventh Layer and become a Demon King. He had also succeeded in Inner Observation, developed his Divine Sense, entered the Mysterious Domain, and regulated his Five Qi to achieve Five Qi Chaoyuan.

His cultivation accomplishments over the past few days were truly extraordinary.

Xu Ying stepped forward. "Yuan Qi, show me how much progress you’ve made!"

He surged his Qi and Blood, and the Elephant King Divine Body materialized behind him. He threw a punch, and a storm of wind and thunder erupted!

In the past few days, Xu Ying had slain Zhou Yang and whipped the Plague God. His experiences had been extraordinary. Though this punch contained the essence of the Elephant Power Ox Demon Fist, it had already changed significantly.

The intent behind his fist had shed the frenzied will of the Ox Demon, taking on some of the sharp elegance of the Sword Dao instead.

Yuan Qi surged his Qi and Blood as well, forming an Elephant King Divine Body over ten feet tall behind him. However, compared to his own colossal frame, the Divine Body looked quite petite.

He struck out with the tip of his tail, using it like a fist to meet Xu Ying’s own.

The tip of his tail was blunt, like a great counterweight. The power of his strike was in no way inferior to Xu Ying’s—in fact, it might have even surpassed it!

BAM!

As fist met tail, power erupted in a surging shockwave. Xu Ying’s robes whipped about violently, while the long mane on Yuan Qi’s back billowed like a string of feathery banners.

Only then did Xu Ying notice the row of flowing hair on the back of Yuan Qi’s head. It resembled both feathers and a horse’s mane and looked quite soft.

’Could it be because he drank those few mouthfuls of Dragon Blood? Is that why he failed to transform into a human?’ Xu Ying wondered.

He recalled Yuan Tiangang once saying that Yuan Qi’s greed for a few sips of Dragon Blood had created obstacles for his transformation into a human. This must have been the situation Yuan Tiangang was referring to.

Yuan Qi struck again, using his tail as a fist. Xu Ying met the attack with his own fists and feet. As man and snake exchanged blows, their Qi and Blood surged, kicking up a storm of dust and stones outside Qinyan Cave.

Suddenly, Yuan Qi executed the White Elephant’s Trunk Swing. The tip of his tail tore through the air, creating a rumbling Thunder Sound. Xu Ying hastily dodged, not daring to block it directly.

Yuan Qi’s tail slammed into a boulder, which instantly shattered into a pile of rubble.

This was Yuan Qi’s most powerful move. The tip of his tail broke the sound barrier, and the force it contained was simply too immense. Xu Ying didn’t dare block it for fear of injury.

"Xiaoqi, the Elephant Power Ox Demon Fist isn’t suitable for you anymore," Xu Ying said, glancing at the small Elephant-headed God-man behind the giant snake.

Yuan Qi nodded. He also felt a disharmony between himself and the Elephant Power Ox Demon Fist. The Elephant King Divine Body formed by the Fist Technique couldn’t contain all of his Qi and Blood; instead, it restricted his ability to unleash his full power.

"Ying, where’s Da Zhong?" Yuan Qi asked.

Xu Ying gestured down the mountain with his chin. "He’s over there, spacing out for some reason. He seems to have something on his mind. Why don’t you go talk to him?"

Yuan Qi slithered down the mountain. His body, over a hundred feet long, crushed thorns and flattened grass, forcing the trees of the forest to bend. All the beasts fell silent, and the other demons prostrated themselves, not daring to look up.

Yuan Qi glided silently past the beasts and demons until he reached Da Zhong. He looked down at the large bell for a moment before speaking. "Lord Zhong, why are you wallowing in self-pity?"

Da Zhong’s Divine Sense wavered. "I do not know if I am good or evil, and I find myself overcome with emotion... Huh? Oh, it’s you! Yuan Qi, why does your voice sound like a child’s?"

Yuan Qi was both humiliated and furious. "Ying said you had something on your mind and sent me to talk to you, and this is how you treat me? Just what is it that’s bothering you?"

Da Zhong explained his worries. Yuan Qi, being well-read, replied, "If you suspect you’re the villain, why not go ask that female ghost in the coffin? Explain the situation to her, and you’ll have your answer. What’s the point of wallowing in self-pity here?"

Da Zhong was hardly about to bow his head and admit fault to the girl in the coffin. He sneered, "I was ordered by my master to suppress her. That makes her the villain. My master is never wrong. Besides, I’m heavily injured. If I went to see her, what if she just killed me on the spot? That’d be a terrible way to go."

"So you’re just a coward," Yuan Qi stated.

Enraged, Da Zhong slammed the giant snake’s head into the ground. "A coward? Me? I’m just injured! If I were in perfect condition, do you think I’d be afraid of her? Just wait until I’ve recovered. I’ll suppress her myself and stuff her right back into that ancient well on Stone Mountain!"

Despite the dozen bloody welts now swelling on his head, Yuan Qi remained defiant. "Even when you weren’t injured, she still beat you half to death and sent you fleeing in disgrace! Even if you recover and go looking for revenge, she’ll just beat you up even worse!"

Da Zhong was incandescent with rage. "You damned snake! Today, I’ll send you to the Underworld myself, right here on the banks of the Naihe River!"

"We’re already in the Underworld! No need to send me!"

"You wretched snake, I’ll kill you!"

"Lord Zhong, spare me!"

In front of Qinyan Cave, Xu Ying was practicing his breathing exercises and cultivating the Taiyi Guiding Skill. Hearing a commotion from below, he looked down the mountain. He saw Da Zhong and Yuan Qi roughhousing—one moment, Da Zhong was smashing Yuan Qi’s head into the ground; the next, Yuan Qi was coiled around the bell, trying to squeeze it until it burst. They were clearly the best of friends.

"The spring sun feels just right." Xu Ying smiled, his heart at peace. The sunlight gathered above his head, gradually forming a luminous field half a mu in size.

The air was warm, and all of nature seemed to relax and unfold.

Zhou Yihang was walking toward Wuyang Mountain. He saw the towering peak from a distance, his expression grim.

The old man was covered in injuries. For two days, he had traversed over twelve miles of the Underworld, walking from Yilin Temple to this very spot. He had faced all manner of dangers and encountered the strange, unbelievable phenomena of the Underworld, but he had finally made it to Wuyang Mountain alive.

"Yang’er, today your father will cut off Xu Ying’s head and place it on your altar! It will be the first offering you enjoy after becoming a god!"