Chapter 186 - Ninety Thousand Layers of the Innate

At the foot of the Five-Color Immortal Mountain, Li Xiaoke and the Emperor of the Underworld Court swore relentlessly, abandoning all dignity. But the Ghost King had already vanished, well beyond earshot of their abuse.

After a long while, the two exchanged a glance.

Li Xiaoke cleared his throat. “We found that door on the mountain all those years ago. If we could find one, we should be able to find another.”

The emperor said, “We weren’t even particularly strong back then. Three millennia have passed. We’re much stronger now.”

Li Xiaoke looked at the emperor’s corpse and said nothing. The emperor looked at Li Xiaoke’s pale face, and desolation settled over them both. In their current state, they were likely no stronger than they were back then.

“Who was that fellow with the lump on his head?” Li Xiaoke asked.

The emperor shook his head. “I don’t know. Judging by the radiance of his soul, he should be an old acquaintance of mine. But he shouldn’t be here.”

His expression shifted; the supernatural aspects of Xu Ying’s Soul made no sense to him.

Li Xiaoke said, “Funnily enough, he also reminds me of an old acquaintance too. One who helped injure me.”

His face darkened. It’s one thing for Qingbi to hunt me down, but that brat dares try it too!

He was utterly incensed. Throughout history, Xu Ying was a nobody: exploited, bullied, and powerless. Though he bore the title of Ageless Immortal, he was only a mortal, after all, with little strength to speak of. Every time Li Xiaoke saw him, someone was treating him like meat on a chopping block.

Li Xiaoke himself had once secretly captured Xu Ying to research eternal youth. Yet in the Land of Heavenly Retribution, Xu Ying turned the tables, destroying Li Xiaoke's three-thousand-year legacy, ruining his reputation, and crippling his cultivation.

And now, Xu Ying had dared to pursue him here!

The underworld emperor led his followers up the mountain. “Brother Xiaoke, once we find the herb of immortality, let me take it first. If it heals my physical body, I can re-enter it. My immortal body's strength will easily secure our escape.”

Li Xiaoke shook his head. “If you could escape alone, you wouldn’t have needed me to carry you out three thousand years ago. Your Majesty, my cultivation and strength are greater. I am only fleeing because Qingbi and her allies severely wounded me. If the herb restores my strength, I will bring you out safely.”

The emperor laughed. “We’re still a long way from obtaining any immortal herbs. Besides, none may exist here.”

Li Xiaoke’s eyes flickered, and he smiled. “You’re right, Daoist Brother. Immortal herbs are priceless, and this is merely a great tomb. Why would they be here? If an herb here granted true immortality, wouldn’t the tomb's owner have consumed it himself?”

They exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

Xu Ying sat beneath Heavenly Venerable Wu’s corpse, motionless for a long time. Then the Five-Color Immortal Mountain shook violently once more.

Intrigued, he peered into the distance. Five-colored qi billowed from the mountain, cascading down the slopes and nourishing the lush vegetation.

Five-colored light surged from the summit. Enormous chains emerged from within the mountain, coiling around it like dragon bodies and gradually tightening.

From afar, Xu Ying spotted a jade coffin rising through the glowing mist, its lower half still hidden from view.

Above the coffin, the reawakened immortal corpses grew ever more powerful. Their battle formation churned, seemingly suppressing the corpse within to prevent its resurgence.

Around the coffin, the enormous seal formed from immortal Dao rune inscriptions hummed as well. The Great Dao thundered, forcing even more five-colored qi out of the mountain!

Does that coffin hold the great emperor who was supposedly buried on Mount Jiuyi?

Xu Ying watched in shock and uncertainty. Legend claimed that when the emperor died, every mountain peak tilted toward his tomb, creating the spectacle of a thousand peaks paying homage to Jiuyi.

Had the emperor been buried in the Five-Color Immortal Mountain all along?

This was no ordinary burial site. Someone feared the emperor's return and had eternalized his suppression, even sacrificing countless immortals to hold him down.

I can’t wait any longer!

Gritting his teeth, Xu Ying hoisted the battered door onto one shoulder and headed straight for the Five-Color Immortal Mountain.

He murmured, “The imperial coffin has emerged, and it will surely be suppressed again. It’s been gathering power to break free. The tightening chains and airborne immortals prove this struggle is reaching its peak.”

He strode to the foot of the mountain, talking to himself. “They have likely already fought countless times. If the coffin fails to escape now, it will sink back inside and fall dormant. The five-color primordial qi will recede, and these rare plants on its slope will wither.”

He had to harvest the mountain's immortal herbs while the two forces locked horns.

Xu Ying rushed to the foot of the mountain, set the battered door across the wind wall, and pushed it open. A moment later, he was inside the Five-Color Immortal Mountain. The five-colored primordial qi here was unimaginably dense. As he inhaled, hair sprouted wildly across his body, instantly turning him into a hirsute savage.

What kind of primordial qi is this? It’s too pure, too potent!

Xu Ying was both startled and delighted. Here, even without an inner mantra, simple breathing could strengthen someone, making them dozens of times stronger than an ordinary person! Anyone who knew how to cultivate would thrive like a fish in water!

Is this the primordial qi of the Primordial Beginning Realm? It shouldn’t be this dense. Someone must have gathered the primordial qi of the Primordial Beginning Realm, refined it into five-colored qi, and sealed it here.

Xu Ying drove the Extreme Intent Freedom Art to its limit. Surging past the speed of sound, he accelerated to more than ten times sonic speed, racing up the mountain.

Behind him, the withered skeletons sprouted more flesh from the nourishment of the five-colored qi and gave chase, but they could not keep up.

Wait, I forgot to close the door!

Reaching a hollow in the mountainside, Xu Ying remembered that he had left the doorway open. But then an immortal herb ahead caught his eye. With no time to dwell, he rushed forward.

At the foot of the mountain, five-colored qi surged out through the battered door.

Besides keeping intruders out, the wind wall surrounding the Five-Color Immortal Mountain prevented the mountain’s five-colored qi from escaping. No one had expected Xu Ying to set a door here and open a gap in the wind wall.

The five-colored qi spread. Wherever it passed, the withered skeletons lying around the immortal mountain clattered to their feet and began moving like puppets on strings. Some reattached their own arm bones. Others retrieved bones from different skeletons and tried to attach them to themselves. Still others grappled over a single bone.

The five-colored qi flowed farther, reviving everything in its path. The desolate ancient battlefield grew lush and green, filled with trees, flowers, and grass.

Even bird skeletons burrowed out of the earth and flapped their bony wings. Flesh gradually grew over those wings, followed by feathers. Soon, they took flight as birdsong, and the fragrance of flowers filled the air.

The five-colored qi spread ever farther until it reached a pair of feet.

Those feet stirred.

Before the battered door, a withered skeleton that had grown flesh peered outside with lidless eyes, looking this way and that. A large hand clamped over its face and lifted it off the ground.

The other skeletons behind the door recoiled in terror.

Heavenly Venerable Wu’s expression remained as still as the waters of an ancient well. He tightened his grip a fraction, and the skeleton’s head burst, splattering blood in all directions.

The other skeletons scattered in fear, fleeing with strange, shrill cries.

These were the remains of Qi Cultivators who had ventured here in search of treasure. They had tried to enter the Five-Color Immortal Mountain but failed to cross the wind wall and died here.

The five-colored qi had not truly brought them back to life. Their souls and divine sense had long since dispersed. Even with flesh growing back and hearts beating again, they were nothing more than walking corpses, devoid of self-awareness.

Influenced by the underworld and the ancient battlefield, they knew only how to slaughter and steal souls and Yang qi. Confronted with something far more vicious than themselves, they fled in terror.

Heavenly Venerable Wu strode through the battered doorway, a rasp rising from deep in his throat.

“Xu Ying.” He uttered the simple syllables and raised his head toward the summit.

Xu Ying reached the hollow and saw an immortal tree wreathed in strands of auspicious qi, with several red fruits hanging among its branches.

Several enormously swollen corpses lay beneath the tree. One was human, seemingly a disciple of Li Xiaoke.

Half his body had expanded at tremendous speed while the other half had failed to grow with it, causing him to burst. Yet the enlarged half was immensely powerful, taking the form of an archaic beast’s Dao avatar.

The energy in these immortal fruits is too terrifying, and the power of their Dao avatars is too strong. The bodies of Qi Cultivators and ghost gods can’t withstand it, so they burst and die. Xu Ying thought as he examined the other corpses.

Innate Dao avatars flowed within the red fruits. Anyone who consumed them would naturally comprehend their divine abilities.

One fruit contained lightning. Amid the lightning stood a figure with a bird’s head, a human body, and a pair of wings on its back. Eating the fruit would allow one to transform into a bird-headed divine being, command lightning, and wield extraordinary divine power.

This sort of innate divine ability can’t be controlled at will. Once you transform, you may never change back.

Xu Ying hesitated. To reach the immortal tree and pluck its fruit, he would first have to break through the auspicious qi.

Suddenly, thunderous rumbles came from higher up the mountain. Iron chains rattled, and the entire mountain shook violently. Xu Ying looked up. Five-colored light erupted from the summit again, spewing into the sky like a volcano!

The jade coffin had risen higher. Half of it was now visible!

Through the haze, he could just make out a figure lying inside!

In the sky, the radiance pouring from the immortal corpses pressed against the heavens until alarming cracks split the firmament. Through them, another world was dimly visible!

Xu Ying could even see towering figures shrouded in immortal light in that world beyond the sky. They were channeling immortal power through a strange art, casting spells across the divide between worlds to suppress the jade coffin!

A strange, humming birdsong sounded in Xu Ying’s ears, as though countless birds were calling beside him.

His divine sense, primordial qi, and Golden Core fell dormant, with no sign of activity. Every manifestation of the Great Dao he had comprehended grew dim and indistinct. The grotto heavens of his Six Secret Troves closed in succession, cutting off every last trace of immortal herbs!

The powerful beings in that other world are personally activating the immortal Dao runes to seal the jade coffin!

Understanding dawned on Xu Ying. He looked up. He was not the only one whose primordial qi and divine sense had been suppressed. The mystical power of the Underworld Court’s judges and Ghost Kings had also been suppressed. Unable even to use their incense qi, they plummeted from the sky!

Li Xiaoke’s disciples were also falling into peril. Without their primordial qi, divine sense, and Golden Cores, their strength was nothing impressive. The underworld emperor and Li Xiaoke fared a little better. The emperor had already opened his coffin and entered his own corpse, relying on that immortal corpse to resist the suppression!

Behind Li Xiaoke, grotto heavens of all sizes opened, but their light flickered, and every so often, another was suppressed!

“Look at the jade coffin!”

The emperor's delighted voice rang out. “Is that the herb of immortality?”

Xu Ying looked at the jade coffin. Sure enough, a purple immortal plant grew from a gap in it. It bore neither flowers nor fruit, only a few scattered leaves.

“You want to suppress my cultivation? You can’t suppress the martial Dao!” Xu Ying roared, sending vital energy surging through him.

Tremendous power erupted from him once more. Activating the Extreme Intent Freedom Art, he became a streak of light and shot straight toward the jade coffin on the summit!

At last, the martial Dao principles he had grasped through months of arduous training could be put to use!

Li Xiaoke and the underworld emperor had the highest cultivation. They had already left their disciples and ghost gods behind and were racing toward the summit, almost neck and neck.

A strange whistling sound reached them. Looking back, they saw Xu Ying breaking through successive sound barriers, charging straight at them like a savage dragon in human form!

Both were startled and delighted. The little bastard has delivered himself right to us!

Li Xiaoke quickly gathered his remaining mystical power and transformed it into sword qi. With a slight flick of his wrist, he sent sword qi flooding the sky and raining down upon Xu Ying!

He laughed aloud. “Xu Ying, even with the immortal Dao suppressing me and my grave injuries, killing you is still child’s play!”

Before he finished speaking, a relentless series of explosions rang out. Xu Ying strode through the sky, his fists and feet striking with peals of thunder as he shattered streak after streak of sword Qi.

A moment later, Xu Ying was upon him. He unleashed the Dao-Returning Art, merging myriad Daos into a single flow that formed an earth-shaking palm imprint and struck at Li Xiaoke!

Li Xiaoke’s startled delight turned to horror. With no time to change techniques, he hastily mustered what remained of his cultivation to meet the blow. He felt a strange power within his opponent, something like pure vital energy mingled with indomitable essence, qi, and mind—a power the immortal Dao could not suppress!

It slammed into him like a hundred thousand savage dragons!

The world spun as he hurtled backward and crashed into a cliff with a thunderous impact, sending dust billowing in every direction. Bewilderment filled his mind. “How is he resisting the immortal Dao’s suppression?”

Next, Xu Ying charged toward the Emperor of the Underworld Court. He roared, and martial Dao sounds resounded within him. His sinews and bones resonated together as his aura bore down. His figure loomed, mighty and imposing, radiating a force that could slay a heavenly god!

“Your Majesty, have you ever witnessed the ninety-thousandth level of the martial Dao’s Innate Realm?”