Chapter 185 - The Five-Color Immortal Mountain and the Great Tomb of Mount Jiuyi

Xu Ying gazed up at the brilliant light. Some people live their lives as beacons.

He turned toward the great mountain beside him. Heavenly Venerable Wu’s beacon shone so brightly, yet it seemed tiny before that towering mass.

Five-color stones covered the mountain. Above it, the corpses of countless immortals floated motionless in the air, like corpses suspended in water. Something terrible had likely happened here.

As Xu Ying studied the mountain, the floating immortal corpses felt familiar. He had seen similar corpses during Heaven-Man Resonance, floating inside a gigantic eye that filled the abyss.

Perhaps the secret behind the Primordial Beginning Realm’s lack of primordial qi lies on this mountain, he thought.

Suddenly, rosy light erupted from the mountain. Deafening sounds resembling dragon roars and tiger howls rang out from within the light, shaking the earth.

The surrounding primordial qi grew extraordinarily dense. Xu Ying looked up in alarm and saw the floating immortal corpses stir as though awakening from death.

They stood in the sky, emanating an overwhelming aura that suppressed the rosy light within the mountain!

Xu Ying looked up and saw enormous characters emerge within the light. Written in bird-worm seal script, they were immortal Dao runes. Stirred by the aura of the immortal corpses, they shone ever brighter.

The bodies hung in an orderly arrangement, not the haphazard positions he had first assumed. Their placement formed a strange suppressive formation.

Over the past several days, Xu Ying had made considerable progress studying the Demon-Suppressing runes that sealed him. As he peered into the mountain, he found those immortal Dao runes somewhat familiar, but he was too far below them to make them out clearly.

The Five-Color Immortal Mountain shook without cease. The cries of dragons and tigers rang out within it without ceasing. At the same time, the rosy light intensified, erupting outward while the primordial qi grew denser, forming visible currents of five-colored qi that surged down the slopes.

Wherever the qi passed, all things revived. Countless green trees, shrubs, and flowers took root and sprouted across the mountain, bursting into luxuriant bloom. Rare, wondrous plants gathered the spirit force of heaven and earth to produce bright red fruits, their skins patterned with natural Dao avatars.

“Heavenly Venerable Wu, look! Fruits containing Dao avatars! Eating them grants Divine Abilities!”

He raised a hand to point at the Five-Color Immortal Mountain, only to remember that the old man had already passed away. His expression dimmed.

The five-colored currents of primordial qi continued to surge down the mountain until they met the wall of wind sealing off its base. Yet even the trace that seeped through caused flesh to grow over the dry bones beneath it, forcing skeletons to stagger to their feet.

Xu Ying saw one of Heavenly Venerable Wu’s fingers twitch, and his heart jolted.

The five-colored primordial qi pouring from the mountain could restore the dead to life. It even bore some resemblance to the power of the Six Secret Troves, granting vigor to Heavenly Venerable Wu’s corpse!

If I could get some of this primordial qi, could I bring Heavenly Venerable Wu back to life?

His gaze burned with eagerness. Even if this qi could not revive Heavenly Venerable Wu, immortal plants grew on the mountain, and they had already borne fruit within its currents. If not the five-colored qi itself, perhaps its fruits could bring the dead back to life!

Xu Ying looked eagerly toward the immortal corpses in the sky. The mountain’s primordial qi had even revived them. Heavenly Venerable Wu really could come back to life if Xu Ying could bring him up there!

But the wall of wind barred his way.

Just then, a voice came from the distance. “At last! The great tomb of Mount Jiuyi has opened again!”

Startled, Xu Ying turned toward the voice. In the distance, the Hell River came rushing toward him, its waters churning. This great river of the underworld had not originally flowed through this place; for some unknown reason, it had changed course and was now surging their way.

Banners fluttered above the water as a towered ship cut through the waves. Even from afar, he could see a large coffin aboard it.

The deck teemed with ghost gods of every size and kind, along with judges and Ghost Kings, creating a sinister, terrifying sight.

The Emperor of the Underworld Court sat within the pavilion of the towered ship, his divine body immense. His laughter carried across the distance. “Brother Xiaoke, you are my guest. I can hardly neglect you. Now that the great tomb on Mount Jiuyi is opening again, you too will have an opportunity.”

Li Xiaoke’s voice drifted over, somewhat weak. “If I hadn’t carried you out of the great tomb on Mount Jiuyi all those years ago, you would still be drifting around this mountain.”

The Emperor of the Underworld Court replied evenly, “And without my guidance, you would have died on the mountain. Now you are gravely injured, with Qingbi hunting you down. You can barely keep yourself alive. Why not show me a little courtesy?”

“Your rebuke is deserved, Daoist Brother,” said Li Xiaoke. “I understand.”

The Emperor of the Underworld Court laughed heartily. “Xiaoke, you are like a divine dragon, capable of bending or standing tall, growing large or small, vanishing or revealing yourself.

“You are truly a dragon among men. Why should we stand in ceremony? If you help me get the herb of immortality, I will gladly join forces with you against Qingbi...”

Their voices gradually dropped.

Li Xiaoke is in league with the underworld emperor? They came to this Five-Color Immortal Mountain together for the herb of immortality?

Xu Ying was stunned. Wasn’t this like a weasel paying another weasel a New Year’s visit?

“Isn’t Li Xiaoke’s eight-facet sword behind the wound on the emperor’s forehead? They ought to be mortal enemies!”

He could scarcely believe it. “So, the emperor was once an immortal corpse on this mountain, but Li Xiaoke carried him down. Not only do they bear no grudge against each other, but they’re also friends and allies!”

Xu Ying steadied himself.

The Hell River of the underworld roared and surged against the mountain. The towered ship followed the river toward the mountain, though it still seemed some distance away from him.

The ship had only just moored when a voice rang out. “There’s a light over there. I can just make out someone beside it. Go take a look!”

“That’s an ancient battlefield, full of monsters. What could be there?”

“Careful sailing keeps a ship afloat for ten thousand years!”

A thought struck Xu Ying, and he looked up. Heavenly Venerable Wu’s spirit blazed like a torch, drawing the attention of the ghost gods aboard the towered ship.

A ghost god came floating swiftly toward him. Xu Ying stood in the shadow behind Heavenly Venerable Wu.

The ghost god had a blue face and protruding fangs, making him look like a Ghost King. Indigo skin covered his bare chest and legs, leaving him clad in nothing but a large pair of shorts. His head tapered at the top and broadened at the base, crowned with a fleshy growth. He was hideous.

“Just a dead man. Gave me quite a fright.”

The Ghost King sighed in relief and spoke in a human voice, “I thought there was a ghost.”

He was about to turn away when a fist shot out of the shadows toward his face. Behind it stood Xu Ying, radiant as a divine king ruling over the heavenly gods.

In an instant, the fist filled his vision, blotting out everything else!

The punch conjured thunder from thin air. It never struck him; a slight tremor before his face was enough to shatter his divine soul while leaving his body completely unharmed!

Xu Ying’s punch made no sound and gave off no aura.

This was the fifth of the Eight Arts of the Combat God, the Dao-Hammering Art!

Though that single punch had destroyed the Ghost King’s Divine Soul, his flesh remained entirely intact. His incense qi hadn't changed, and his heart was still beating. Unlike the other ghost gods granted divine titles, he was an underworld creature with a physical body.

Xu Ying sat down at Heavenly Venerable Wu’s feet. His Martial Dao Spirit and soul left his body and entered the Ghost King’s body, leaving only his Golden Core behind to guard his flesh.

He moved the Ghost King’s limbs, adjusting to the body, then started toward the towered ship.

He glanced back at Heavenly Venerable Wu’s corpse and whispered, “Rest assured. I will find the herb of immortality on this journey!”

One who gathers firewood to keep others warm should not be left to freeze in the wind and snow.

He intended to search the mountain for the herb of immortality, even if it meant venturing up the mountain with Li Xiaoke and the underworld emperor right beside him!

Xu Ying took two brisk steps, then rose into the air and flew to the foot of the towered ship. A host of ghost gods were disembarking. Apart from the judges, who still retained human form, none of the other ghost gods had human shapes.

Li Xiaoke and the Emperor of the Underworld Court had already come ashore. Both were poised and elegant, with the bearing of cultivated masters.

That was only natural for the underworld emperor. As its exalted ruler, he commanded all the ghost gods under heaven—or at least those within his prefecture. Those beyond its borders were outside his control. Still, he bore an emperor’s majesty and nobility.

Li Xiaoke looked somewhat unwell, but he still possessed the bearing of a transcendent recluse and master of the immortal sword. His youthful appearance lent him the air of a Confucian scholar from the Han dynasty.

To ascend the mountain, they first had to breach the wall of wind surrounding it.

Li Xiaoke and the emperor had clearly come prepared. The emperor produced a battered doorframe; it was ancient, scuffed, and worm-eaten. Li Xiaoke drew a door from his ethereal void. The door and frame were clearly a pair.

The emperor beckoned to Xu Ying, who stepped forward, picked up the frame, and set it upright before the wind wall.

Li Xiaoke summoned one of his disciples. “Yan Liu, fit this door into the frame.”

Although he had fled Mount Jiulong, quite a few disciples still followed him.

Yan Liu came forward and fitted the door into place.

“Yan Liu, open it,” Li Xiaoke said.

The disciple acknowledged the order and pushed hard. Beyond the door, the wind wall that could scour away divine bones had vanished, replaced by a straight path to the other side.

Xu Ying marveled inwardly. The wind wall was undoubtedly formed by powerful seal restrictions laid down by someone possessed of a mighty divine ability. Yet opening this door let them bypass it. This had to be an exotic treasure of unimaginable power.

It even occurred to him that this treasure made the seals protecting any vault in the world useless. Every hoard would stand wide open before him.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a skeleton steeped in five-colored qi lunged from beneath the wind wall. It seized Yan Liu, sank its teeth into the youth’s neck, and dragged him into the Five-Color Immortal Mountain!

Flesh and blood had already grown over the skeleton, and its strength was boundless. Although Yan Liu had cultivated a Golden Core, he was powerless to resist. He screamed as it dragged him away. His cries raced up the mountainside, then soon fell silent.

“What was that thing?”

Shocked and furious, Li Xiaoke’s disciples sent their flying swords through the doorway, only to encounter more reanimated skeletons. The skeletons reached out and struck the flying swords head-on. Sparks flew, but the bones remained undamaged!

Flesh twitched over the skeletons as they charged out through the doorway. Everyone moved to fend them off, while the judges and Ghost Kings brought their artifacts and divine abilities to bear.

Only Xu Ying escaped the reanimated skeletons’ notice because he stood beside the doorway.

There’s something wrong with the five-colored qi here. The skeletons revived by this primordial qi have become monsters. They attack and eat anyone they see!

Unease gripped him. If the five-colored qi revived Heavenly Venerable Wu, he could also end up a monster devoid of humanity. With such a formidable physical body, he could sweep through all opposition and devour people across the world.

The underworld emperor took out a gleaming mirror and shone it on the flesh-covered skeletons. Wherever its light fell, their flesh melted away. The skeletons collapsed in succession, their shattered bones littering the ground.

Putting the mirror away, the emperor smiled. “Xiaoke, after you.”

Li Xiaoke replied with a smile. “We’re friends who have faced life and death together. How could I go ahead of you? We should enter the mountain hand in hand!”

The emperor knew what worried him. Li Xiaoke was simply afraid that once he entered the mountain, the emperor would remove the doorway and leave him trapped there to die. That thought had indeed crossed the emperor’s mind.

“Hahaha! Quite right, Xiaoke. Let us enter hand in hand!”

Holding hands, the two walked side by side through the doorway.

Li Xiaoke’s disciples and the ghost gods serving the emperor filed through after them, entering the mountain.

Xu Ying was about to follow when a judge pressed a hand against his chest.

“Baenhulu, tiantianbayin! (Stay outside and guard the doorway!)”

Xu Ying stopped and scratched his head. Watching the others head up the mountain, he thought, Leaving me here to guard the doorway? Aren’t they just asking the guard to steal it?

He shut the door, hoisted the entire doorway onto his shoulder, and walked off.

Up on the mountain, Li Xiaoke and the Emperor of the Underworld Court chatted and laughed, reminiscing about their time here all those years ago. They happened to glance back and saw a plump, honest-looking Ghost King shouldering their precious, battered doorway and making off with it.

The smiles froze on the two supreme experts' faces. Surprise gave way to astonishment, then pure fury.

Roaring, they charged down the mountain with a crowd of even more enraged ghost gods and Qi Cultivators, shouting curses as they ran.

“You with the lump on your head! Put our door down!”

“You damned wretch! Put that door back!”

A Ghost King and a Controller General had remained aboard the towered ship to guard it. Seeing what was happening, they rushed to attack.

Xu Ying steadied the doorway with one hand and drove his other fist forward. Before his knuckles, layer upon layer of air compressed into walls, piling together before bursting apart!

The underworld sky shuddered. The Ghost King was still in midair when the force of Xu Ying’s punch blasted him to pieces.

The Controller General had profound cultivation. Drawing on several hundred years of attainment, he unleashed a long whip and lashed Xu Ying. The blow failed to knock Xu Ying’s soul out of the Ghost King’s body. Instead, it sent the Ghost King’s body tumbling away, leaving Xu Ying’s soul behind.

The Controller General froze for a moment, staring at the soul in disbelief.

Xu Ying’s soul shone brilliantly. He seized the Controller General’s whip and yanked it hard, sending the god flying.

With a sharp crack, he lashed out with the whip, tearing the Controller General to pieces!

So this is how strong I’ve become!

Xu Ying’s soul hoisted the doorway onto his shoulder and strode toward Heavenly Venerable Wu. He set it upright beside Heavenly Venerable Wu, then returned to his body.

“Heavenly Venerable Wu, let’s wait until they’re dead, then head up the mountain and reap the rewards.”