Ascension Day

’Lord Zhong is a magnificent coward! After all, he’s an ancient bell that’s thousands of years old. He really knows how to live!’

Xu Ying secretly praised Da Zhong’s worldly wisdom and thought, ’The female ghost knew the master of Qinyan Cave? In that case, she didn’t come here to kill us, but to remember an old friend.’

He blinked. ’The female ghost said this is an Ascension Land. What does that mean? And what about the Cangwu Abyss and the Immortal she mentioned?’

From within the palace, the young woman’s voice drifted out, ethereal and distant, as if from among the clouds. "Are you alive or are you dead? If you live, where have you gone? I have searched the entire Divine Land, so why can I not find any trace of you?"

She stepped into the Black Coffin. The lid closed, and it flew whistling out of the White Jade Palace, Chains and all, heading out of Qinyan Cave, leaving only a mournful voice echoing in the Grotto Heaven.

"Did you achieve Ascension, or did you pass away? Why, after waking up three thousand years later, am I the only one left in this world...?"

Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. If the young woman in the coffin had been just a little more observant, she would have discovered Da Zhong submerged at the bottom of the water. In a fit of anger, she might have annihilated both Xu Demon King and the Ox Demon King.

Suddenly, Xu Ying remembered Da Zhong and hurried to retrieve the large bell.

However, the great bell seemed to be in a temper. It sank back into the water with a GLUG, stubbornly refusing to come up.

After several failed attempts to retrieve it, Xu Ying’s temper flared. "If you’re so tough, go fight the female ghost!" he shouted angrily. "What’s the big idea, picking on me?"

Da Zhong, ever the coward, didn’t dare fight the young woman in the coffin to the death. It flew out of the water and, with a great SPLASH, dumped all the water from inside it onto Xu Ying’s head.

This act seemed to drain all of its accumulated energy. It fell back down and followed behind Xu Ying, clanging and clattering.

Xu Ying didn’t bother arguing with it. He circulated his Qi Blood to steam his clothes dry and followed Yuan Qi toward the White Jade Palace.

In front of the palace, Xu Ying stopped and looked up.

He saw that characters were carved into the lintel above the White Jade Palace’s entrance. They were unlike any script in the world today, looking like the trails left by tadpoles wriggling in the mud, or like the chaotic claw prints of birds in fresh snow.

Yuan Qi said, "Don’t bother looking. Three generations of my family, from my grandfather down to me, haven’t been able to recognize those characters. I have no idea what this place is called."

Xu Ying had a strange expression on his face. "It says five words: Mud Pill Palace Grotto Heaven."

Yuan Qi asked doubtfully, "You can read this script?"

He was utterly astonished. Three generations of the Niu Family had been well-read and profoundly learned, yet they had never been able to decipher the characters on the lintel. Xu Ying was just a commoner. How could he possibly recognize such a script?

Xu Ying’s expression was peculiar. "I’ve never seen this script before," he said. "But strangely enough, as soon as I saw these characters, I naturally knew what they meant, how to read them, and how to pronounce them. It’s like..."

He frowned. ’It’s as if this script was carved into my brain long ago!’

But he racked his brain and was certain he had never learned or even seen this script before!

Yuan Qi, completely baffled, recalled Xu Ying’s various oddities and asked, "Ying, have you ever lost your memory?"

Xu Ying burst out laughing. "I’ve definitely never had amnesia! How could I possibly lose my memory? I’ve been clever since I was a child, with an incredibly clear memory. I can even recall things from when I was ten months old!"

His heart ached faintly. He could remember every detail of the great fire at the Xu Family’s Field, even the sight of his own parents perishing in the sea of flames!

He wanted to forget this memory, but he never could.

Yuan Qi blinked and thought to himself, ’You can’t even remember your parents’ names correctly, so your memory clearly isn’t reliable. Did someone scramble his brains before?’

Da Zhong rolled on the ground once, clearly also skeptical of Xu Ying’s memory.

Xu Ying studied the strange characters on the lintel when a thought suddenly struck him. He took out the *Mud Pill Hidden Scene Qi Refining Method*, glanced back up at the characters on the lintel, and wondered aloud, "Mud Pill Palace Grotto Heaven, and the Mud Pill Hidden Scene Qi Refining Method... Both contain ’Mud Pill.’ Is there a connection?"

The Mud Pill Secret Treasury was one of the Six Secrets of the Human Body. Unlocking any of the Six Secrets would allow one to become a Nuo Master. And the Secret Treasury mastered by the Nuo Master Zhou Family was precisely the Mud Pill!

The allure of the Mud Pill Secret Treasury was simply too great for Xu Ying; it was on the verge of becoming his obsession!

Yuan Qi, who was ahead, called for him to enter the palace. Xu Ying cleared his mind of stray thoughts and walked inside. He saw that the White Jade Palace was filled with bookshelves, all lined with neat rows of books.

Yuan Qi had claimed to be from a scholarly family with a profound intellectual heritage, and he was certainly not wrong!

"Three generations of my Niu Family have lived here for over three hundred years, collecting countless ancient texts," Yuan Qi said with great pride. "Every ancient text that could be found in Lingling is here, and I’ve read every single one."

Xu Ying felt a mix of admiration and shame. Compared to this Snake Demon, he was truly an unlearned man.

Suddenly, the color drained from Yuan Qi’s face. "Ying!" he cried out. "I suddenly feel the Qi Blood in my body turning into the Power of Transformation! I think I’m about to transform into a human!"

His vision was blurring, and a film of dead skin was covering his pupils, making his eyes look white—a sure sign of his impending metamorphosis.

Yuan Qi scurried into a room in the White Jade Palace and shouted, "Don’t wander around while I’m in seclusion! Wu Wang Mountain has become Wuyang Mountain, and I’m not familiar with the lay of the land on Wuyang Mountain today!"

He had to find a safe place to shed his old skin in order to complete his Transformation. If he delayed, he might suffocate to death inside it!

Xu Ying walked over to the Jade Disc and looked up at it.

The woman from the coffin had stood in this very spot, remembering her old friends as she gazed at the Jade Disc.

Carved upon the Jade Disc was a magnificent mountain. It was steep and majestic, soaring into the clouds with an air that seemed to surpass every other peak in the world!

As a Snake Catcher, Xu Ying was constantly on the move, chasing after Exotic Snakes. What mountain hadn’t he seen? And yet, he had never seen the mountain carved on this Jade Disc!