Ascension Day

Shi Longzi sneered, "Golden Body and Vajra Indestructible Body—which is superior is still undecided. Besides, County Magistrate Zhou is still young. To what layer could he have possibly cultivated his Vajra Indestructible Body?"

Zhou Yang smiled faintly. "The Second Layer!"

Shi Longzi’s pupils slowly contracted. He felt the pressure.

If Zhou Yang had only cultivated the Undying Body to the First Layer, he could still have won easily. But with it at the Second Layer, it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top!

A fight between them would most likely result in both sides being grievously wounded, or even mutual annihilation!

Zhou Yang didn’t want to burn his bridges either, so he proposed, "Since Xu Ying has entered the Wangxiang Platform and we don’t know if he’s dead or alive, why should we fight to the death? Shi Longzi, let’s bypass the Wangxiang Platform and wait for him on the road ahead."

Shi Longzi nodded. "Then it’s a matter of luck who gets their hands on Xu Ying!" With that, he led his entourage away.

Zhou Yang watched him go, his gaze flickering. He looked toward the heavily mist-shrouded Wangxiang Platform and said in a low voice, "The Wangxiang Platform... legend says it’s a place that allows one to exist between life and death. I’ve heard that many terrifyingly powerful experts hide here when their lifespan is about to end, taking refuge within the Wangxiang Platform. But once you enter, you can never leave..."

An official behind him asked in a low voice, "Sir, are the legends about the Wangxiang Platform true?"

Zhou Yang’s expression was grimly uncertain. He chose to circle around the Wangxiang Platform from another direction. "I once thought they were just stories, too," he said, "but then I heard a rumor."

He paused. "This rumor circulates within my clan. It’s said that an old ancestor of my Zhou Family once faced a trial that meant certain death. Back then, he considered entering the Wangxiang Platform to put himself in a state between life and death and escape his fate. In the end, his genius was unparalleled. Relying on his extraordinary talent, he overcame the trial and extended his own life, so he never had to hide in the Wangxiang Platform. Only then did I realize that the legends were all true."

The officials exchanged glances, their eyes drawn to the mist-shrouded place. One of them murmured, "The fugitive Xu Ying went in there... can he really come back out?"

Zhou Yang shook his head. "His lifespan isn’t over yet, so he might have a chance to get out. But on the other hand..."

His face darkened. "...he might get his body possessed by one of those beings whose lifespans are spent—creatures that are neither human nor ghost!"

A shiver ran down the officials’ spines.

Within the Wangxiang Platform, the mist was thick and growing ever denser. The path under Xu Ying’s feet grew more twisted and treacherous. Below lay a bottomless abyss, and overhead, jagged rocks stood like a forest of blades and halberds. A single misstep meant a fall to a gruesome, shattered death!

After the cliff path came a single-log bridge, stretching between two fortress-like peaks. It was just one round log, requiring extreme caution to cross. The slightest roll of the log would send one plunging into the abyss!

Xu Ying took off his shoes and regulated his breathing. He walked barefoot across the log, using his focus to sense the shifting pressure on the soles of his feet, inching forward bit by bit.

Behind him, Snake Demon Yuan Qi coiled around the great log, slithering forward inch by inch.

They looked down. Clouds and mist swirled below, revealing a green river at the bottom of the abyss. Green bubbles went GLOOMP GLOOMP to the surface, and rotting corpses drifted on the water.

Each bubble that swelled up took on the shape of a human head. It would be blown larger and larger, gradually lifting off the river’s surface and floating up.

"Where did you come from, young man?" The face on one bubble was that of a lovely young maiden, who posed coquettishly as she questioned Xu Ying.

Xu Ying didn’t answer.

Yuan Qi blew a puff of air at the bubble. The maiden’s face on it began to distort horribly. "I’m dying! I’m dying! Aaaah—" she shrieked.

POP! The bubble burst, splattering green river water all over Yuan Qi’s face.

Shivering, Yuan Qi followed Xu Ying across the log bridge to the other side.

They continued along the mountain path until they saw someone standing motionless by the roadside. It had three legs.

As they drew closer, they saw it wasn’t three legs at all, but a person who had been nailed to a wooden stake.

The sight made Xu Ying’s and Yuan Qi’s skin crawl. They started to walk quietly past, but the person wasn’t dead yet. "Save me..." he cried out, trembling.

Yuan Qi couldn’t bear it. "How can we save you?" he asked.

"Give me two years of your life!" the person cried.

Yuan Qi turned to Xu Ying. "We can save him by giving him two years of our lives. We have plenty of years left, why don’t we save him?"

He had barely spoken when suddenly, the trees on both sides of the road twisted around. They were all three-legged freaks, each with a wooden stake for a third leg. "Give me two years of your life and save me!" they all cried in unison.

Yuan Qi jumped in fright. Only then did he realize they hadn’t been nailed to stakes at all. Their bodies were rooted in the earth; they had fused with the trees.

Yuan Qi scrambled to catch up with Xu Ying, never mentioning the idea of saving anyone again.

With their hearts in their throats, they continued on. They saw a person sitting by the roadside, head tilted to the sky, a vigorous flower stalk growing from his open mouth. Further on, someone stood in a field like a scarecrow, sprouting branches in a human shape. A beating heart was visibly pulsing within its branch-like ribs.

And on it went.

These people used strange Nuo Art to prolong their lives, often through lignification, turning themselves into bizarrely shaped plants.

After walking for a long time, they finally spotted a house. A normal person stood in front of it—a burly, bearded man. He sized up Xu Ying and Yuan Qi, his eyes filled with surprise.

Xu Ying mustered his courage and stepped forward to ask for directions. The bearded man said in astonishment, "You’re from the Mortal World? Who guided you to this place? This is the only path to survival in all of Wangxiang. You couldn’t possibly have made it here without a master’s guidance!"

Xu Ying hesitated for a moment before explaining that he had come to Wangxiang and seen his parents. "If not for their guidance," he said, "we never would have made it here."

The bearded man was even more astonished. "Wangxiang, ’gazing upon home’... of course you would see your hometown here! Young man, you were seeing things from your childhood. But your parents, seven or eight years ago, they saw you in the future and pointed out this path to survival for you! They are two great masters! Remarkable, truly remarkable!"

Xu Ying was completely stunned. ’My parents in my memories were buried at Xu Family’s Field,’ he thought, ’and they were just two ordinary people. How could they possibly be masters?’

He tried to recall the faces of the parents he had seen on the Wangxiang Platform, but his memory suddenly grew hazy. His father’s and mother’s faces blurred, becoming indistinct. They stood there in his memory, but their faces were two blank sheets of paper, completely featureless.

The bearded man said, "I can send you away from Wangxiang. However, an old enemy of mine has tracked me down and will be here soon. Before I died, I challenged him to a duel. Not long ago, he also came to Wangxiang. Today is our appointed day. You two can rest in my house for a bit. Once I’ve killed him, I’ll send you away."

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi were utterly astounded.

To arrange a duel in life and fight it after death... this bearded man had a truly extraordinary sense of honor.

Xu Ying and Yuan Qi went into the house. They saw the bearded man take out a Sword Box that was over half his height. He stood it upright in front of him, resting one hand on it as he stood there proudly.

A few moments later, Wind and Rain as Dark as Night descended. A violent squall suddenly swept through the Underworld, with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder as the sky went black.

Faintly, a towering Divine Being could be seen standing amidst the dark clouds. "Yuan Tiangang!" it boomed. "You severed my dragon’s neck on Panlong Mountain and ruined my cultivation! Today, I will cut you down and have my vengeance!"

———Book recommendation (a "sacrifice"): *Rebirth ’85: Profiteering Starting from Fixing Sewing Machines*. It’s a pretty good quality book!