Ascension Day

As Xu Ying approached the altar, his Divine Sense was instantly assailed by the prayers of a vast multitude. The sound of their chanting echoed in his ears, creating an overwhelming urge to kneel and become a faithful worshiper of this Four-Armed Divine Statue!

’If I hadn’t cultivated my Divine Sense, I would have died here, just like the four dragons from the Confucius Temple!’

Xu Ying steadied his Divine Sense. No matter how powerful the endless chanting in his ears became, he kept his will firm and unmoving, pressing forward!

The benefits of his years spent practicing the Taiyi Guiding Skill were now on full display. Even the incredibly dense Incense Smoke Qi from this Four-Armed Divine Spirit could not suppress his Divine Sense!

Xu Ying reached the foot of the Divine Statue and looked up. The idol was resplendent with golden light and wreathed in dense Incense and Candlelight. ’This Divine Spirit...’ he thought, ’it must have more than five hundred years of Dao Practice! Eight hundred, or even a thousand years, is possible!’

In the Divine Land, one could certainly find temples that had received five hundred years of continuous Incense and Candlelight. But grand temples with eight hundred or a thousand years of unbroken worship were few and far between.

Just a moment ago, in a fleeting glance from the sky, he had seen dozens of altars. Each altar held a Divine Statue, which meant dozens of Divine Statues in total!

Factoring in the parts of this mountain he hadn’t seen, plus the other four Immortal Mountains, the total number of Divine Statues was likely even greater!

’So, where did all these Divine Spirits come from?’

With a light leap, Xu Ying landed on the altar.

Suddenly, the chanting of the masses erupted into a chaotic din, causing Xu Ying’s head to throb and swell as if it were about to explode.

DONG!

The toll of a bell reverberated, its lingering, melodious sound shielding Xu Ying’s mind and making him impervious to the external assault.

The swelling in Xu Ying’s head subsided, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He moved to the center of the altar, plucked the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill floating there, and asked, "Can a normal person eat a Ten Thousand Spirits Pill?"

"I don’t know either," Da Zhong said. "Ying, I have a bad feeling about this. We should leave, quickly."

Xu Ying also felt like he had overlooked something. He tilted his head back and swallowed the Ten Thousand Spirits Pill. But before he could even register its taste, he saw the fingers of the Four-Armed Divine Statue’s massive hands, which were gripping the edge of the altar, twitch slightly!

Xu Ying instantly understood what he had missed.

’The Ghost Souls of the two Stone Dragons... they were absorbed into the Four-Armed Divine Statue!’

He scrambled into the air just as a loud SMACK echoed out. The Four-Armed Divine Spirit had slammed its two massive hands together, but Xu Ying had managed to leap from between its palms the very instant they met!

’The Four-Armed Divine Statue originally had no Divine Soul! By absorbing the Ghost Souls of those two, it now possesses one!’

While still in mid-air, Xu Ying saw the Four-Armed Divine Spirit’s other two hands swatting at him as if he were a fly, and he had nothing to push off of.

Xu Ying pushed off Da Zhong with his toes, launching himself higher into the air to evade the attack.

As Da Zhong fell, it was about to curse Xu Ying for his faithlessness, but then it saw him stomp hard on the Four-Armed Divine Spirit’s face. Inverted, head-first, he shot downwards like an arrow loosed from a bow, plummeting toward the altar!

He landed on the altar just as Da Zhong came down. Xu Ying grabbed the bell’s crown and dashed off the altar in a single bound.

The series of movements was so swift and clean that it left the Four-Armed Divine Spirit bewildered. Its four hands flew about wildly but failed to even touch Xu Ying as he escaped the altar with Da Zhong in tow.

Xu Ying activated his Elephant Power Ox Demon Fist, and the phantom of the Elephant King Divine Body materialized behind him. His legs now possessed the might of a ten-thousand-jin Divine Elephant. Each stride covered seven or eight zhang, and with every step, rocks shattered and the ground burst open as he sprinted madly forward.

Behind him, the Four-Armed Divine Spirit roared in fury. It gripped the enormous altar with two of its hands, lifted the incredibly heavy structure, and swung it in a full circle.

WHOOSH—

The altar flew through the air, spinning rapidly. In an instant, it broke the sound barrier, unleashing a deafening, thunderous boom as it hurtled toward Xu Ying!

Xu Ying glanced back and saw this, his blood running cold. He sprinted for his life. With a tremendous BOOM, the massive altar crashed down behind him. The powerful shockwave flung both him and the bell high into the air, surrounded by a storm of shattering boulders!

Xu Ying’s body trembled violently. The Elephant King Divine Body behind him flickered and went limp from the impact, his Qi and Blood scattering like dust.

The young man hit the ground, tumbling and rolling, but immediately bounced back to his feet and continued his desperate sprint.

Behind them, the Four-Armed Divine Spirit crouched low, then pushed off with explosive force, whistling through the air in pursuit. Da Zhong’s voice was hoarse as it yelled, "Ying, faster! Faster! That monster is catching up!"

Xu Ying tore ahead at full speed when suddenly, a series of whistling sounds, SWISH SWISH, came from behind. They were long swords, each seventeen or eighteen feet in length, slicing through the air toward him. The Sword Qi they radiated was terrifying; wherever they passed, trees toppled and boulders split apart without a sound.

Xu Ying dodged one of the long swords and watched as it skimmed past, carving a deep trench in the ground with irresistible force!

The Four-Armed Divine Spirit’s Incense Fire Flying Swords were terrifyingly powerful, unlike anything he had ever witnessed. Just as he was about to be pinned down by the swords, with the spirit itself closing in, Xu Ying spun around mid-sprint. Gathering Qi into a Sword, he unleashed a beam of Sword Qi that flew like a long rainbow, slashing down at the Four-Armed Divine Spirit!

The Four-Armed Divine Spirit was caught off guard. It immediately threw up two arms to block while mustering its Incense Smoke Qi. But Xu Ying’s Breaking Realm Sword Qi was incredibly potent—it was the same technique that had slain an expert like Zhou Yihang. When the attack met the spirit’s arms, its power exploded, threatening to sever them completely!

The spirit’s forward charge came to an abrupt halt, and it retreated rapidly to evade the sword’s light.

Its Incense Smoke Qi instantly solidified into several large, smoke-blue shields that protected its front and back. But in that brief moment of delay, it looked up to find that Xu Ying had already seized the opportunity to vanish without a trace.

The Four-Armed Divine Spirit flew into a rage. Clouds materialized beneath its feet, and it rose into the sky, running wildly through the air as it searched for Xu Ying. When it still couldn’t find him, it vented its fury on others, turning to ruthlessly slaughter the Yongzhou Officials and the Divine Spirits under Magistrate Ling’s command.

After the spirit departed, a patch of ground bulged slightly, and Xu Ying crawled out from the dirt. He hadn’t actually fled. Instead, he had used the moment the Four-Armed Divine Spirit retreated to dig a hole and bury himself, allowing him to escape.

’This Divine Spirit is too strong!’

Xu Ying let out a sigh of relief and looked up. In the sky, the floating boulders had reawakened and were on a rampage. The Four-Armed Divine Spirit was also mercilessly attacking Inspector Zhou Heng’s and Magistrate Ling’s subordinates, inflicting heavy casualties on both humans and spirits alike!

Xu Ying activated his Celestial Eye and saw that as these people and spirits died, their Ghost Souls left their bodies and drifted down toward the five Immortal Mountains.

Da Zhong said, "So many have died, and they were all powerful cultivators. Their Ghost Souls will probably cause a lot of Ten Thousand Spirits Pills to ripen!"

Xu Ying frowned. "I’m afraid it will also reawaken many more Divine Statues!"

The survivors who had escaped the carnage rushed down the slopes, seeking refuge among the Immortal Mountains. Xu Ying felt a growing sense of dread. "Lord Zhong," he whispered, "we have to get to the great temple and save Yuan Qi."

"Poor Yuan Qi, what a tragic death," Da Zhong lamented. "Ying, let’s just leave. Once we’re out, we can make a Golden Body for him and put it in a village for people to worship. His corpse probably hasn’t even started to stink yet."

「The Great Temple」

This temple floated in the space between the five Immortal Mountains. Precious energies soared to the heavens from within, and the air shimmered with a dense Immortal Light. Just arriving here was enough to refresh one’s spirit, and it felt as if one’s cultivation was slowly rising with every breath.

Yuan Qi was coiled excitedly before the temple’s main hall. Around him were Nuo Masters, demons, Divine Spirits, and even a few villagers from nearby.

Regardless of whether they were human, demon, or Ghost God, all were sitting respectfully before the hall, listening in silence.

The building was a majestic Immortal Hall, so brilliant it dazzled the eyes. A miniature sun floated high above it, illuminating the entire Broken Temple World and making it as bright as day.

Before the hall sat an Immortal. He was clad in white, with a white beard and white eyebrows. His robes and beard drifted as if in a gentle breeze, though there was no wind. He exuded a celestial aura that naturally inspired awe and reverence.

The Immortal Light emanating from his body took the form of countless flying swords, their tips pointing outward as they revolved around him ceaselessly.

The Immortal began to speak. "A disciple of mine once received my Daoist Technique. At the start of his cultivation, he comprehended the flow of Xuanji. He found that when his True Essence flowed along with it, he felt comfortable, but when he tried to reverse its flow, he felt discomfort. Thus, he chose to always follow the path of least resistance. Several years passed, but his cultivation did not advance a single step, while his peers progressed at incredible speeds. The disciple came to me and asked, ’I followed the path, so why have I fallen so far behind everyone else?’"

The Immortal smiled. "To go with the flow of heaven makes one a mortal; to go against the flow of heaven makes one an Immortal. This is the true path of cultivation."

The moment he spoke, an uproar spread through the crowd below the hall. Everyone began discussing it excitedly, filled with admiration.

The white-robed Immortal continued, "Your arrival in my Immortal Realm means that we are bound by fate. Today, I shall bestow upon you an Immortal Technique, the Daozhen Xuanji Detailed Explanation. How much you comprehend will depend on your own talent and fortune."

He closed his eyes and began to recite a True Scripture. The people below frantically committed it to memory, trying to comprehend its depths. It was, indeed, an indescribably profound scripture. Some among the crowd immediately began to cultivate it with intense focus.

As soon as they tried the Cultivation Technique, the Primordial Qi in their bodies began to circulate according to the flow of Xuanji. When it flowed forward, they felt a sense of ease; when it flowed in reverse, they felt immense pain—exactly as the Immortal Master had described.

----Author’s Note: My thanks to Alliance Leaders Ling Xuan Meng Luo Yiran and Ke Zhi He Wu for their support! I wasn’t feeling well the past couple of days and forgot to thank you both, so I’m making up for it today.