Day of Ascension

Yuanqi’s Mud-Pill Secret Trove was now different from others, including Xu Ying’s.

Great Exorcists unlocked most people’s Mud-Pill Secret Trove, so the first level of the grotto heaven never fell under their own control. Xu Ying had taken a different path. As a Qi Cultivator, he opened his first Mud-Pill grotto heaven with sword qi. That was a masterstroke.

Yuanqi had missed the mark on his first attempt to open a grotto heaven, so he formed his first grotto heaven. Xu Ying hoisted him up and circulated both their powers to help him open a second grotto heaven.

The two grotto heavens, one dragon and one snake, entwined with each other and produced a wondrous effect. They drew on the longevity qi in the sea of primordial chaos even faster than Xu Ying did.

Yuanqi’s foundation was incomparably solid; no second one like it existed in the world.

The only flaw was that his Mud Pill grotto heaven still carried remnants of Xu Ying’s power.

Seeing that Yuanqi’s life was no longer in danger, Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. Dazhong tolled to help Yuanqi gather his scattered divine sense. When Yuanqi awoke, he couldn’t help but feel lingering fear.

Once he realized that he had survived the ordeal and even turned disaster into a blessing, he had a sudden realization. I must be the chosen son of Heaven’s mandate. Fortune favors the lucky snake. But... what am I chosen for?

He couldn’t figure out the reason.

Xu Ying continued his cultivation and soon entered a state of deep immersion, foregoing food, drinks, bodily needs, and sleep. He remained in that state for several days.

Before he realized it, he had already ascended the Gate-Knocking Stage’s second level of heaven. Looking up, he saw the waters of the heavenly river meeting a sea of fire. They clashed fiercely, shrouding the sky above the third level of heaven.

Xu Ying attempted to fly toward the third level of heaven, but a fierce gale suddenly struck him, sending a torrent of water and fire that blew him back down. He shivered involuntarily, half of his body burning hot and the other half freezing.

He worked hard to regulate his condition and recovered slightly, though his complexion remained somewhat pale.

Xu Ying lamented in his heart, One truly cannot be greedy for quick success or recklessly advance even a single step on the path of cultivation.

Blown by the fierce gale, Xu Ying awoke from his state of immersion. Master Zhong isn’t here; otherwise, I would have to ask him whether one needs to consume great elixirs to break through from the first heaven to the second.

Now that he had already broken through, the question was no longer as important.

I’ll ask him clearly when it’s time to break through again.

Xu Ying looked around but found the place of ascension empty. Yuanqi and Dazhong were not there, and even the Niu brothers had not stayed behind to cultivate.

He stepped out of the ascension site and heard the clashing sounds of divine abilities and exorcism techniques. Looking up, he saw Niu Zhen battling someone.

Niu Zhen and Niu Qian had just broken through the mystic gateway, advancing from the Qi-Gathering Stage to the Gate-Knocking Stage. Xu Ying had taught them the Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing Art, and he had also imparted the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing to them without holding back in the slightest.

The brothers did not disappoint. They quickly mastered the Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing Art to a respectable degree. Moreover, the place of ascension was a spiritual sanctuary with exceptionally rich primordial qi from heaven and earth, which allowed them to advance rapidly.

Xu Ying had helped them refine away their incense qi and stripped them of their divine status, so they were no longer gods of the underworld. Consequently, their cultivation and strength had temporarily fallen from their previous levels. After several days of cultivation, though, their strength had returned to its peak and even surpassed it.

As they cultivated under his guidance, their souls grew increasingly strong day by day. Now, they could use the underworld artifact, the white bone soul-striking whip.

However, the Exorcist fighting Niu Zhen was incredibly skilled. He was young, only in his twenties, yet two grotto heavens had manifested behind him.

The two grotto heavens were very peculiar. They hung suspended within a glaze-like realm, drawing power from it.

Xu Ying let out a soft exclamation of surprise, not knowing which Secret Trove it was.

The young Exorcist’s primordial qi was unusually robust. With his every move, his primordial qi surged like the sea. When he moved his palm, the seawater swept.

Despite possessing immense combat prowess and a combative nature, Niu Zhen simply couldn’t land a blow with the whip. Whenever the whip even grazed the young Exorcist’s primordial qi, it would bounce back as if struck by an electric shock.

Xu Ying had noticed the bull demons' weakness long ago. The whips could only injure the soul. It could not harm the body. If their opponent's cultivation were too high, the whip couldn’t touch them at all.

Even against opponents with lower cultivation, they could deal with the bull demons by adopting a simple strategy: "You fight your way, and I'll fight mine.” While they could damage their soul, they could kill you with a single divine ability.

The bull demons of the underworld ran rampant because they relied on the fact that Exorcists didn’t refine their souls. Once someone understood this weakness, however, defeating them became much easier.

But this youth’s primordial qi is truly too robust.

Xu Ying was baffled. Despite having only two grotto heavens, the youth had already suppressed the bull demons. He was truly extraordinary.

Although Niu Zhen hadn’t fully mastered the eight sounds of the Supreme Yin Primordial Nurturing, his primordial qi was already extremely robust. On top of that, he was in the Gate-Knocking Realm. Ordinary Exorcists with only two grotto heavens would have stood no chance against him.

Xu Ying also noticed a group of people sprawled across the ground. They were likely the Exorcists Niu Zhen had defeated.

These Exorcists didn’t possess the Zhou clan’s undying body. Once injured, they couldn't recover quickly.

Xu Ying looked past them, and his heart skipped a beat. He saw that two to three hundred Exorcists had come to Mount Wu Wang. They were dressed in fine clothes and had brought all kinds of divine beasts. These beasts were likely Demon Kings who had ascended to godhood through incense offerings, only to end up serving as mounts.

He also saw glaze-like skies manifesting behind several Exorcists from time to time, with five or six grotto heavens suspended within. They were Great Exorcists. If the youth faced any danger, they would immediately intervene to save him.

Suddenly, the youth stamped his foot, and sea waves surged around him. As he unleashed his moves, the towering waves surged, engulfing Niu Zhen.

Xu Ying silently praised, This divine ability is pretty good!

The youth’s divine ability had engulfed Niu Zhen. No matter how hard the bull struggled, he could not escape from the sea.

Each palm strike carried the overwhelming force of the ocean, battering Niu Zhen again and again until blood poured from his seven orifices.

Yuanqi’s voice rang out from nearby, crying out loud, “Stop! We lost this fight!”

Yet, the young man showed no intention of stopping. His divine ability grew increasingly ferocious.

Yuanqi shot forward, revealing his true form that stretched more than twenty zhang. He unleashed his full strength and shouted, "We've already admitted defeat! Why must you keep pressing us?"

The young man smiled faintly and continued to channel his palm force, intending to sweep Yuanqi into his divine ability and defeat both the bull demon and the snake demon in one go!

Their clan had mobilized a large force to come here. Before they had even met their target, two bull demons had injured dozens of their Exorcists, bringing disgrace upon the clan.

By stepping in, he intended to restore some of their honor.

Boom!

Yuanqi’s aura radiated almost like an explosion, churning the young man’s boundless sea until it seemed ready to boil over.

The young man's expression changed dramatically. He sensed Yuanqi's vital energy surging to a level dozens of times greater than his own. The giant swept his tail heavily, shattering the entire sea formed from his divine ability!

The young man coughed up blood from the backlash. As the snake demon's enormous body came crashing down like a city wall, despair filled his heart.

Just then, about a dozen Exorcists rushed forth from behind. They each unleashed their grotto heavens and shouted in unison, “Snake demon, you dare injure our Pei clan’s seventh young master?”

The group included men and women, young and old. Their cultivations varied, though most had opened two or three grotto heavens and possessed extraordinary strength.

All their grotto heavens were rotted in a peculiar, glaze-like realm, and their primordial qi were terrifyingly robust, far deeper than the members of noble clans Xu Ying had encountered, like the Zhou or Guo clans.

“You want to gang up on me? Do you have no shame?”

Yuanqi flew into a rage. Sword qi flickered around him, and countless streaks instantly swirled. The sharp sword qi cut through the air, shattering all of these Exorcists’ techniques and divine abilities.

He let out a furious roar and transformed into an enormous snake a hundred zhang long. His head and tail soared into the air and glided through the sky. Sheets of sword qi, as massive as mats and resembling dragon scales, radiated brilliant light. They moved as he twisted, heavily wounding the Exorcists in the blink of an eye.

In that brief moment, the dozen or so experts were defeated. Despair filled their hearts.

How could this snake be so ferocious?

Yuanqi's ferocious might erupted as he prepared to kill them. At that moment, a middle-aged man glided out from behind the group with a smile.

He smiled. “The giant snake raised by Young Master Xu is indeed formidable. You truly learned from a famous master. Try taking on my River Tide Sea Alignment!”

Four grotto heavens materialized behind him, and he silently unleashed his divine ability. The spring river stretched into a single line as a furious tide tore through the air, surging toward the horizon.

Although Yuanqi circulated the True Cultivation of Ba Snake and transformed into a giant serpent more than one hundred zhang long, the overwhelming spring tide still swept him away. He rolled helplessly within the crashing waves.

Countless streams of forces squeezed him from all directions. That was the power of the tide, born of the spring river merging with the sea, intending to crush him to dust and roll him into a ball!

Such a Dao avatar was worthy of being called the might of heaven and earth!

The middle-aged man thought, The seventh young master failed to kill that bull to establish his dominance earlier, but no matter. I shall go on a rampage and kill this snake to do so! Otherwise, that bastard surnamed Xu would think our Pei clan is a pushover.

Just as he was about to deal the killing blow, a figure stepped between him and Yuanqi. It was a broad-shouldered youth with slightly tanned skin. He raised his hand to meet the middle-aged man’s River Tide Sea Alignment divine ability.

As the youth raised his hand, two grotto heavens manifested behind him, one above and one below. The lower grotto heaven plunged into the sea of primordial chaos to draw upon its power, while the upper one hung within a sea of flames, shaped like a crescent moon.

The broad-framed youth threw out a palm strike, and the middle-aged man’s breathing immediately grew rapid. A singular, wondrous peak stood before his eyes, surrounded by eight rotating peaks. Myriad mountains guarded them, as if the heavens were collapsing inward and the earth was tilting.

The moment their divine abilities collided, he felt his attack suppressed from every direction before it shattered completely.

The instant their palms met, his opponent’s palm force crushed down with overwhelming force. It was the power of pure Yang, upright and balanced, yet incomparably domineering, directly shattering his primordial qi.

He watched the five fingers of his right hand explode one after another. All fourteen finger joints burst apart, and the bones crumbled to dust.

The five bones on the back of his hand also exploded. A terrifying force invaded his right arm. Wherever it passed, his muscles twisted like hemp rope, and his bones ruptured, emitting sharp popping sounds. It passed through his shoulder blade and spread throughout him!

His body convulsed violently as nearly every bone snapped at the same time.

“Audacious! How dare you hurt my Pei clan’s people!”

The Great Exorcists, hidden among the crowd, could no longer remain idle. They leaped forward, unleashed their grotto heavens, and charged at Xu Ying.

A great bell suddenly appeared, surrounded by a swirling wall of light. The light transformed into an even larger bell and crashed down.

The light wall spun fiercely. No matter how brilliant or powerful the Great Exorcists' divine abilities were, it crushed them with overwhelming force.

As the bell tolled, all of the Pei clan’s Great Exorcists coughed up blood and fell backward!

Dazhong withdrew his wall of light and returned to his ancient, simple form, floating above Xu Ying and slowly rotating.

Before Xu Ying, the middle-aged man's legs snapped with two sharp cracks as his bones fractured beneath him, forcing him to his knees. Enduring the agony of his shattered bones, he stared at Xu Ying in horror.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. Blood mist sprayed from his mouth as he rasped, “Pure Yang primordial qi! You’ve refined pure Yang primordial qi!”

With a gentle expression and warm gaze, Xu Ying said, “You’re not bad yourself. I sensed that your primordial qi is very pure. You must have refined pure Yang primordial qi before. Your primordial qi is purer than the members of other noble clans.”

Terror appeared in the middle-aged man’s eyes. He had trained under one of the Pei clan's elders and had learned some of the clan's closely guarded secrets. Among them was the elders' and Old Ancestor's research into the cultivation techniques of the ancient demon race.

Only later did he discover that those so-called demonic cultivation techniques were actually those of the ancient Qi Cultivators.

He had been fortunate enough to refine the pure Yang primordial qi within these cultivation techniques and believed his mastery of primordial qi far surpassed that of his peers. Yet, as soon as he clashed with Xu Ying, he was overwhelmed!

Wearing a smile, Xu Ying suggested, “You and I are evenly matched. How about we treat today’s fight as a draw? We can each take a step back and keep things harmonious. Besides, I'm injured too."

The middle-aged man let out a muffled groan. His body finally gave out, and he collapsed unconscious.

All his bones had shattered, and his five viscera were damaged. It hadn’t been easy for him to hold out for this long before fainting.

After saying those pleasantries, thinking he had acted properly, Xu Ying turned his head back to look at Yuanqi.

Yuanqi gave him an encouraging look and praised, “Ah Ying, you’re looking more and more like a gentleman. Your response preserved the other party's dignity while maintaining your own. Everyone walks away with their pride intact."

Xu Ying said with delight, "I've spent so much time with Brother Yuan that I've naturally picked up a thing or two from you."

Just then, a deep, resonant voice rang out, chuckling. “Demon King Xu of Lingling, you are indeed outstanding. We, the Pei clan from the capital, have come to invite you to the capital!”

Xu Ying looked toward the source and saw an energetic gray-robed elder step forward from the crowd. His hair and beard were grayish-white, his aura deep and unfathomable as the abyss.

The moment his gaze swept over, nine grotto heavens manifested behind the gray-robed elder, then vanished in an instant.

The gray-robed elder said with a smile, “I am Pei Jingting. I invite Young Master Xu to the capital.”

Yuanqi felt a chill in his heart. He shrank his form and quietly came behind Xu Ying. “The Pei clan is one of the oldest noble lineages among the Exorcists. Over the past two thousand years, they have produced thirty-one grand generals, seventeen chancellors, and thirty-eight ministers.”