Ascension Day

He tilted his head back, looking around in a daze, and mumbled, "Is this still Wu Wang Mountain...?"

He was familiar with everything around Wu Wang Mountain. But now, Wuyang Mountain was surrounded by towering peaks that looked as if they had been carved by knife and axe. A great river flowed through the mountain range, and in the distance, a vast lake surged like the sea.

The only familiar landmark left was Wu Wang Mountain.

Suddenly, the earth shook and the mountain rumbled. Wu Wang Mountain began to grow upwards, its massive form pushing out from under the ground, rising higher and higher!

A cliff face appeared where Yuan Qi stood, impossibly steep. It grew out from the mountainside right before his eyes!

After a moment, the cliff had grown by about ten thousand feet. Giant boulders constantly broke off its face, crashing down with thunderous roars.

Yuan Qi looked up, his eyelids twitching. He saw a single word written on the cliff face.

Wuyang.

The Wu Wang Mountain he knew was gone. Only Wuyang Mountain remained.

"Qinyan Cave! Right! My Qinyan Cave must still be here!" Yuan Qi hurriedly slithered down the slope, heading for Qinyan Cave.

Xu Ying quickly followed. Before long, Yuan Qi finally found his old home, Qinyan Cave. Bursts of iridescent light surged from the cave’s entrance, carrying with them a powerful vitality, brilliant and dazzling.

Xu Ying walked to the entrance. As the iridescent light washed over him, the already-healed wounds on his chest suddenly began to itch again. He scratched them instinctively.

The more he scratched, the itchier it became. He quickly pulled open his collar to look and was stunned.

He had several wounds on his chest, including three claw marks so deep they had exposed the bone. They were from the Stone Mountain God and had nearly disemboweled him.

After bathing in Dragon Blood on the Wangxiang Platform, Xu Ying’s wounds had all healed, but they left behind a series of shocking scars.

The scars on his chest looked like little red dragons coiled on his skin, raised and bumpy to the touch, and quite unsightly.

But now, these scars were rapidly fading away!

Where the scars had been, the skin was now indistinguishable from the rest.

There was no sign he had ever been injured!

’This Qinyan Cave is brimming with incredible vitality!’ Xu Ying was shocked and uncertain. ’Is this really the place where three generations of the Niu Family lived?’

Yuan Qi’s scars also faded away, leaving no trace that he was ever injured. He hadn’t expected such a change in Qinyan Cave either. Without a second thought, he rushed into the cave.

Worried something might happen to him, Xu Ying hurried after.

Qinyan Cave ran more than three miles deep into the mountain. With the mountain’s transformation from Wu Wang Mountain to Wuyang Mountain, the cave had also become many times wider and even deeper than before!

Xu Ying followed Yuan Qi and saw many Ginseng plants growing on the cave walls, emitting a strange fragrance.

Some of the cave walls looked newly formed, without any patina of age, appearing quite fresh. And yet, huge Spirit Pearls clung to them, emitting a soft glow that lit the path.

"Xiaoqi, your home is huge," Xu Ying said in amazement, looking all around.

Yuan Qi led the way. The cave twisted and turned, full of cliffs, stalactites, and strange, rugged rock formations.

Inside Qinyan Cave, there were caves within caves, all interconnected. Some parts were flooded, requiring them to dive and swim through.

Xu Ying carried Da Zhong as he swam behind Yuan Qi. The surrounding rocks were bizarre and fantastical, and there were massive Stone Walls inscribed with strange characters. But the light was too dim to make them out clearly.

Xu Ying was utterly astonished. Without Yuan Qi leading the way, he never would have imagined that a Grotto Heaven was hidden underwater!

’Qinyan Cave is so complex, our pursuers will never find us here!’

As he thought this, Xu Ying suddenly chuckled. Wu Wang Mountain had become Wuyang Mountain, and the surrounding geography had completely changed. Even Yuan Qi couldn’t recognize the place, let alone the Government and the City God.

’They probably don’t even know where Wuyang Mountain is,’ Xu Ying thought.

Yuan Qi swam towards a Stone Wall, only to see cracks appear across its surface. A section of the wall collapsed. They swam through the opening and surfaced to find a flight of White Jade Steps laid out on the water before them.

Xu Ying followed Yuan Qi out of the water. A White Jade Bridge rested on the water’s surface, extending forward.

Only then did Yuan Qi let out a sigh of relief, murmuring, "My home is still here, my home is still here..."

He led the way. Xu Ying walked along the White Jade Bridge for some distance until the water ahead suddenly opened up into a bright, wide expanse. A covered pavilion bridge arched over the water, and a palace carved from white jade came into view.

Yuan Qi smiled. "This is where I cultivate. Without me to lead the way, no one could ever hope to find this place!"

Xu Ying surveyed his surroundings, too shocked for words. Who could have imagined that such a magnificent and beautiful palace was hidden inside a karst cave in the mountain?

Moreover, the vitality here was even more potent. His cultivation improved noticeably with every breath. It was truly like an Immortal Mountain Blessed Land!

Suddenly, Xu Ying stopped. His eyes were fixed on what lay ahead, and his heart began to pound erratically.

In the center of the White Jade Palace ahead, there was a pitch-black coffin.

Not far from the coffin, a young girl stood with her back to them, her head tilted up as she gazed at a tall Jade Disc before her.

"Xiaoqi, didn’t you say no one could get in without you leading the way?" Xu Ying whispered, quietly backing away.

Snake Demon Yuan Qi also saw the Black Coffin and retreated, whispering bitterly, "For over three hundred years, the Niu Family has lived here, and no one else has ever come. Who knows how this female ghost found this place?"

The changes to Wuyang Mountain had already driven him mad. He never expected his old home to be taken over by a female ghost!

The "female ghost" they were talking about was the girl from the coffin in the old well at the Stone Mountain Deserted Temple.

The coffin in the White Jade Palace was the very same Black Coffin from the well!

Xu Ying would never forget what happened the night the Naihe River changed its course. He was certain he wasn’t mistaken; the girl beneath the Jade Disc was the "female ghost" who had come out of the coffin!

Xu Ying still remembered being controlled by the strange eye in the well, forced to drag the chains against his will as bloody water bubbled up from the depths!

He also remembered this girl sitting on the edge of the well, combing her hair!

’Da Zhong was injured by her too!’

Xu Ying suddenly realized something. Da Zhong had been injured by the girl from the coffin, and the girl from the coffin had been suppressed in the well by Da Zhong for who knows how many years. The enmity between them was so deep, they couldn’t exist under the same sky!

But right now, he was holding Da Zhong in his hands...

At this thought, he immediately tossed the bell in his hands off the bridge.

DONG.

The Copper Bell plunged into the water.

In the White Jade Palace, the girl from the coffin was startled by the sound. She turned to look, and her appearance made Xu Ying’s eyes light up and his breath catch in his throat.

The girl from the coffin seemed to recognize him. She looked slightly surprised, as if wondering how he could have found this place. But her interest in Xu Ying quickly faded, and she turned back to gaze at the Jade Disc.

Xu Ying continued to back away. Da Zhong floated on the water’s surface as if it were made of wood, following wherever he went.

Xu Ying’s scalp tingled with fear. He pleaded silently in his mind, ’Sink to the bottom! Lord Zhong, just sink already!’

Da Zhong seemed to be sulking, floating stubbornly on the surface without sinking, as if determined to take them both down together.

Just then, a faint sigh came from the White Jade Palace. A gentle, beautiful voice echoed, as serene and mysterious as a lone orchid in a deserted valley, filling the grotto in the mountain.

"South of Xiaoxiang, in the Cangwu Abyss. Beneath Jiuyi Mountain, an Immortal resides. But this Ascension Land... has been abandoned after all."

The girl in the White Jade Palace murmured, "Even one as powerful as you couldn’t escape old age, sickness, and death? So powerful, yet your Grotto Heaven could only become a den for a lowly demon?"

Upon hearing this voice, Da Zhong trembled and slowly sank to the bottom of the water.

——My deepest thanks to Alliance Leaders Taishu Zhengya and Shang Nu for their generous support!