Ascension Day

Xu Ying had previously worried that cultivating the Taiyi Guiding Skill would create too obvious a celestial phenomenon, easily attracting the pursuit of the Stone Statue Divine Spirits. Now, he decided to throw caution to the wind and cultivate openly.

The closer he got to the large, floating temple ahead, the denser the Sun Essence Qi contained within the sunlight became. His Qi Blood gradually recovered, and he relaxed a little.

Xu Ying looked back at the Five Immortal Mountains. The five peaks were arranged in the layout of a Mysterious Domain, with varying heights, and their shapes resembled the Five Viscera.

Around the Five Peaks, massive flesh-and-blood boulders drifted about, searching for people to devour. A few more Stone Statue Divine Spirits, riding clouds of Incense and Candlelight, joined the fray between Zhou Zheng and the City Gods from various regions, making the situation even more chaotic.

He looked up. A sun hung in the sky above the great temple. Behind that sun, beyond the sky, was another sun. Outside, the sun was already setting.

"Strange, I don’t feel hungry at all here," Xu Ying said in surprise.

Da Zhong said, "In the Immortal Realm, one can subsist on wind and dew. All sustenance can transform into Primordial Qi, so naturally, one doesn’t feel hunger. This place truly has some of the flair of the Immortal Realm. A pity it’s only a Mysterious Domain."

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Xu Ying, and he cried out, "I know! Lord Zhong, I’ve figured it out! This Evil Sword Immortal isn’t a Qi Refiner, he’s a Nuo Master! We’re not in the Immortal Realm, nor are we in his Mysterious Domain. We’re in his Land of Concealment! He’s not a Sword Immortal, he’s a Nuo Immortal!"

Da Zhong was stunned.

Xu Ying was inexplicably excited. He had once heard the young woman in the coffin say that when a Nuo Master cultivates their Hidden Scenery to the highest level, they can create a Little Immortal Realm within their own body, achieving Stealth and Concealment!

This Broken Temple World matched all the characteristics of the Land of Concealment she had described!

In other words, this place was actually the Little Immortal Realm inside an Evil Nuo Immortal’s body!

This wasn’t the Immortal Realm, and the being living here wasn’t an Immortal at all, but a Nuo Immortal who had cultivated the Nuo Technique to its highest realm!

He used Stealth and Concealment to exist here, coexisting with the world, while enslaving numerous ancient Divine Spirits as his servants and refining the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill for his own consumption!

Da Zhong was silent for a moment before saying, "No wonder there were so many mistakes in that Soul Summoning Ritual Text. So it was a Nuo Immortal. This Nuo Immortal most likely obtained the ritual text from an Ancient Qi Refiner, but being uneducated and unskilled himself, he copied some words incorrectly. Clearly, he’s an uncultured fellow as well."

Xu Ying felt the words "as well" carried a hint of sarcasm. ’Lord Zhong isn’t taking a jab at Yuan Qi, is he?’ he thought.

He pondered, "This Nuo Immortal is ruthless and cruel, treating human lives like ants. His methods are exceedingly evil. If we go to the great temple, I’m afraid we’ll have a hard time escaping."

His eyes flashed as he looked at the great temple ahead. He suddenly had an idea and said, "Lord Zhong, let’s not go through the main gate. We’ll circle around to the back."

Da Zhong suggested, "Since you know how dangerous it is, why court death? Let’s just go back and set up a memorial tablet for that stinky snake. We’ll write the word ’Hero’ on it, make up a few of his good deeds to trick people into worshipping him, and once he becomes a god, we’ll have done our part."

Xu Ying refused.

Da Zhong had no choice but to fly toward the great temple, thinking to itself, ’Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Who else’s Qi Blood can I borrow to heal? That said, even though Ying is an uncultured lout, he’s definitely a trustworthy person. He’d truly risk his life for a friend!’

It suddenly remembered something and asked, "Ying, you took a Ten Thousand Spirits Pill. Do you feel anything unusual?"

Only then did Xu Ying remember that he had eaten a Ten Thousand Spirits Pill. This so-called Elixir of Life, meant to heal an Immortal’s Primordial Spirit, had vanished into his stomach like a clay ox sinking into the sea—not a single ripple!

"Weird. Could it be that this Evil Nuo Immortal even got the Elixir Recipe for the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill wrong? Otherwise, how could it have no effect?" Da Zhong wondered.

It had hung on Little Stone Mountain until now, witnessing the extinction of the Qi Refiners and the rise of the Nuo Masters. However, because it had to suppress the Well Coffin, it had never left Little Stone Mountain and had no idea what had happened in the world during that time.

At last, they arrived at the great temple. The building was magnificent and resplendent in gold and jade. Outside, a waterfall cascaded down from beyond the sky like a torrent of shattered jade. Xu Ying looked up but couldn’t see where the waterfall originated.

"A Dao Image?"

Xu Ying was slightly taken aback, but he immediately saw that something was wrong. "It’s a Hidden Scenery composed of countless Dao Images!"

He observed the waterfall with his Celestial Eye and saw that every single droplet of water in the cascade was formed from Dao Images. These were water-system Dao Images, such as frost, long rivers, lakes, and oceans. They even contained variations of martial techniques, displaying the utmost potential for transformation!

With the Celestial Eye, one could observe these Dao Images and likely comprehend many Daoist Techniques!

"But isn’t the Nuo Immortal hiding here a Nuo Sword Immortal?"

Xu Ying was thoroughly confused. Outside the Water Gate Temple, he had seen world-sundering Sword Qi and Sword Intent that split the earth, broke through space-time, and, with a single strike between Yin and Yang, opened a path to another world.

He had therefore assumed that the person hiding here must be a peerless expert of the Sword Dao.

Yet, upon arriving in this Land of Concealment formed from Hidden Scenery, he was somewhat disappointed. Within the other party’s Daoist Techniques, he found no trace of the Sword Dao.

He turned to look at the flowers, grass, and trees outside the temple. They too were all Hidden Scenery, endlessly profound, but there was still no trace of the Sword Dao.

"You’ve noticed it too?" At that moment, a voice came from the other side of the waterfall.

Xu Ying turned his head and saw the young man named Yuan Weiyang and his green-robed old servant standing on the other side of the waterfall. When Xu Ying had arrived, the Hidden Scenery had blocked them from his sight.

Xu Ying walked forward, bowed in greeting, and said, "Outside the temple, I comprehended a Dao Image called ’Breaking the Boundary,’ which made me think the master of this place must be a Sword Immortal. After arriving here and seeing the Hidden Scenery, I realized the master is a Nuo Sword Immortal who has achieved Stealth and Concealment. However, there is no Sword Intent or Sword Qi within the waterfall. I suspect that the one who unleashed that peerless Sword Technique is not the same person as this Nuo Immortal!"