Ascension Day

Yuan Weiyang quickly bowed in return, a little surprised. He couldn’t help but feel a budding sense of kinship with Xu Ying. "I also sense that something is strange here," he said. "You call that Sword Technique ’Breaking the Boundary’? It fits the Sword Intent quite well."

He paused for a moment. "I just heard you refer to Hidden Scenery as a Dao Image. The term ’Dao Image’ is much more fitting. ’Hidden Scenery’ seems far too obscure."

Xu Ying smiled. "Those were the words of a senior; I was just repeating them. Brother Yuan, I’m planning to go behind the temple and see what tricks this Nuo Immortal is up to! Want to come along?"

The green-robed old servant coughed and quietly shook his head, signaling for Yuan Weiyang not to agree.

Yuan Weiyang hesitated. Xu Ying grinned. "It’ll probably be fun."

Yuan Weiyang said, "I’ll go with you."

The green-robed old servant glared at Xu Ying, but Xu Ying paid him no mind. He called out to Lord Zhong and rode Da Zhong, flying toward the back of the great temple.

The old servant said, "Young Master, a gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. This place is exceedingly bizarre. We should leave as soon as possible."

Yuan Weiyang replied, "We’ll just take a look, then we’ll leave."

The green-robed old servant was helpless. He activated his Secret Power, and an incomparably powerful Divine Sense immediately lifted him and Yuan Weiyang into the air. The two of them walked on the Void, following Xu Ying.

Xu Ying glanced back, greatly surprised. "You’re flying with your Divine Sense? How do you do that?"

Yuan Weiyang explained, "My Yuan Family’s Secret Treasury is the Yellow Court Secret Treasury. The Yellow Court contains boundless Divine Sense, and when combined with the Yuan Family’s Cultivation Technique, it allows for flight using Divine Sense. I can’t do it yet, though."

Xu Ying said, "I’ve been trying to fly by standing on my sword for the past few days, but I haven’t succeeded yet. Maybe my control of Divine Sense isn’t as refined as yours. I’m a Demon King on Wuyang Mountain. When you have time, come visit me. We can study it together."

A hint of joy appeared on Yuan Weiyang’s face. He looked at the green-robed old servant, whose expression darkened as he slowly shook his head.

Yuan Weiyang looked crestfallen.

Da Zhong carried Xu Ying to the back of the temple, where the wall was vermilion red. Just as Da Zhong was about to fly up, the wall suddenly split open to reveal a massive mouth filled with sharp teeth, stretching over a hundred feet wide!

The giant mouth opened and spat out a dozen or so human skeletons and beast bones. It then extended a scarlet tongue, licked one of the withered skeletons with seeming reluctance, then dropped it and slowly closed.

Xu Ying’s heart pounded in his chest. He looked at Yuan Weiyang, but Yuan Weiyang’s expression was unchanged, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.

Xu Ying whispered, "Brother Yuan, aren’t you scared?"

Yuan Weiyang said, "My family has always taught me to remain composed even if Mount Tai were to collapse before me. No matter how scared I am, I mustn’t show it."

Xu Ying laughed in spite of himself. "What’s the fun in that? Have you ever gone down to the river to catch fish or dig for loaches?"

Yuan Weiyang shook his head.

"Some other day, I’ll take you down to the river. I’m a Demon King on Wuyang Mountain. When you have time..."

The green-robed old servant’s face was grim. He glared fiercely at Xu Ying, terrified that the Yuan Weiyang the Yuan Family had painstakingly nurtured would be led astray by a few of Xu Ying’s words.

Above this rear wall was the roof of the temple’s Immortal Hall. Da Zhong flew up, and Xu Ying jumped off the Bell, stepping onto the glazed glass tiles to reach the ridge. He clung to the ridge and peered down.

Seeing this, Yuan Weiyang was about to copy him and lie down behind the ridge, but the green-robed old servant quickly stopped him. He spread a bolt of cyan gauze on the ridge before nodding his approval.

Yuan Weiyang lay on the cyan gauze to avoid dirtying his clothes, clinging to the ridge as he looked down.

Below, Immortal Light filled the air, dazzling their eyes. It took a moment for the two youths’ vision to recover. They saw several hundred people inside the great temple, all sitting upright and attentive, circulating a strange Magic Skill.

And below the Immortal Hall, layers of Immortal Light spun like swords, shrouding a magnificent Nuo Immortal.

This Nuo Immortal was as gentle as jade, free and ethereal, possessing a charm that even Divine Demons lacked and a grace unseen in other Nuo Masters.

He gave off a feeling of clarity and purity, like the water in a small stone pond, untouched by anything, unstained by a single speck of dust. With just one look at him, Xu Ying felt that his own heart was like a wild field after the rain, overgrown with the weeds of his own distracting thoughts—filthy and chaotic.

Only when standing before an unblemished, bright mirror does one realize how foul and stinking one’s own heart is. He now felt his heart was utterly hideous and couldn’t help but feel deeply ashamed.

Xu Ying couldn’t help but feel a surge of admiration. ’This senior Nuo Immortal has such a lofty state of mind, free from worldly thoughts. He has the heart of an Immortal, something far beyond what an ordinary mortal could ever hope to reach. To think I was just badmouthing him with Da Zhong, calling him an Evil Nuo Immortal... What a heinous crime.’

From below, the Nuo Immortal’s refined and easygoing voice drifted up: "You don’t even understand this? How have you been cultivating... You bastard! I meant this one, not that one! Are you trying to piss me off? I told you to reverse the Cultivation Technique, to circulate it for two and a half cycles. How did you circulate it? You circulated it forward for two cycles. Where’s the half? Where is your half? Is this how I taught you? You utter bastard!"

’This Nuo Immortal seems to have quite a temper. Who could have made him so angry?’ Xu Ying leaned forward, trying to get a clearer view of the situation below.

Suddenly, a big snake with horns on its head looked up, its face a mask of confusion. The Big Snake was thicker than a water barrel, its head larger than a banquet table. When it raised its head thirty or forty feet into the air, it came face-to-face with Xu Ying.

Xu Ying made a hushing gesture. Yuan Qi understood, retracted his head, and said, "Immortal Master, my aptitude may be a bit dull, but this disciple is very patient. I will definitely be able to learn it!"

The White-robed Nuo Immortal’s aura fluctuated violently. After a moment, it calmed down, and he continued his lecture.

Xu Ying focused his Divine Sense and quietly activated his Celestial Eye, looking down at the White-robed Nuo Immortal.

The White-robed Nuo Immortal seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head to look up. Xu Ying saw the Nuo Immortal’s face clearly and felt that this was the very picture of a jade-like gentleman.

The White-robed Nuo Immortal smiled at him. Under the gaze of Xu Ying’s Celestial Eye, the White-robed Nuo Immortal was looking at him with a smile when, suddenly, fresh blood began to gush from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose!

The White-robed Nuo Immortal’s originally gentle, jade-like face instantly became savage and terrifying, like a Fierce Ghost from the Underworld!

A Fierce Ghost that had died a terribly tragic death!

Xu Ying immediately felt an overwhelming wave of resentment and malice, powerful enough to twist the mind and drive one mad!

He felt a bone-chilling cold wash over him, as if it would freeze both his Flesh Body and his soul stiff!

Xu Ying’s eyes became bloodshot, his Divine Sense thrown into chaos. In that instant, even the sky of his Mysterious Domain began to surge with torrents of blood, like a series of waterfalls of blood!

Just then, the Pure Yang Anomalous Fire left in his body by the girl in the coffin flared brilliantly. The fire’s light was incomparably bright. Instantly, the filthy blood in the sky of the Mysterious Domain was refined with a SIZZLE, giving off plumes of smoke before dissipating!

Only then did the resentment and malice Xu Ying felt finally dissipate.

"A dead man! He’s a dead man!"

Xu Ying stared at the White-robed Nuo Immortal with wide eyes, a frantic scream echoing in his mind. ’This Nuo Immortal is a dead man! A dead man filled with overwhelming resentment!’

Just then, the White-robed Nuo Immortal smiled and said, "Little friend from the outside, why hide up there? I am holding a lecture to spread the Dao. It doesn’t matter your race or your Cultivation, all are welcome to learn."

Xu Ying composed himself and said, bracing himself, "Immortal Master, this disciple is fine up here. I can hear more clearly."

"Good, good." The White-robed Nuo Master said no more and turned his head back.

The instant he turned his head, Xu Ying saw a gleam of light at the back of his head, extending from the back of his skull down to his neck.

A faint light also seemed to be glowing from beneath the clothes on his back!

Xu Ying peered at the light, and his heart began to pound erratically. He felt dizzy, and his lips went dry.

The White-robed Nuo Immortal was actually an empty shell, with nothing left but a sheet of skin and his clothes!

That gleam of light was from a crack in the skin on the back of his head, where the Sword Light from within his body was seeping out!

Beneath that human skin, there was no flesh or blood. It was as if someone had cut a slit in the back of his head, poured in flesh-eating worms, and let them devour all of his flesh, blood, viscera, and bones until nothing was left!

Or as if someone had captured him, used a sharp blade to slice from the back of his head down to his tailbone, peeled his skin back, removed all his flesh and blood, then dressed the skin again and placed it here, making it look as if he were still alive!

Xu Ying struggled to maintain a smile, his voice trembling as he said, "Xiaoqi, stop learning. Come on out, the sun is about to set..."

"I haven’t learned the Immortal Master’s *Daozhen Xuanji Detailed Explanation* yet."

Yuan Qi raised his head and said, "The Immortal Master said he’s determined to teach me. Ying, you’re smart. Come on down and learn it too!"