Chapter 200 - Sealed Away for Three Thousand Years

“Ah Ying, Xiao Fengxian!” whispered Dazhong.

Xu Ying nodded slightly. He, too, had thought of Feng Xian’er.

Yan Kongcheng’s ordeal mirrored Xiao Fengxian’s. She too recalled a sudden, catastrophic upheaval shortly after her birth, when an unknown force sealed her away. When she finally awoke, three thousand years had vanished.

She had no recollection of those three millennia, as if it were merely a night’s sleep.

Xu Ying looked at Yan Kongcheng. Had he also suffered the same fate?

Were there other secrets behind that great sealing three thousand years ago, beyond the folding of heaven and earth caused by Heaven-Man Resonance?

Yan Kongcheng radiated vigor, divine light shining in his eyes, his aura as sharp as a blade. Without warning, he thrust a finger toward Xu Ying. His fingertip trembled, and hundreds of index fingers stabbed toward Xu Ying!

Some surged ahead while others lagged, their erratic rhythm weaving the deep mysteries of the Great Dao. This was the Immortal-Slaying Finger, Fu Yi’s signature divine ability!

Though Yan Kongcheng’s Immortal-Slaying Finger was far less powerful than Fu Yi's, his execution was far more exquisite.

It was as though he had received the true teachings!

Unfazed, Xu Ying gathered his primordial qi and unleashed the Heavenly Dao Finger, which he had developed by studying the Heavenly Dao runes of the Dragon Abyss heavenly god.

But he had also incorporated the Dao of Heaven’s Fate into this strike, hiding the force of the entire Heaven’s Fate behind a single strike.

The Immortal-Slaying Finger drew upon the Immortal Dao, while the Heavenly Dao Finger harnessed the Heavenly Dao. In principle, the Immortal Dao transcended the Heavenly Dao. However, Yan Kongcheng’s technique was merely Emei’s supreme grandmaster interpreting the Immortal Dao, not the actual Dao.

Xu Ying’s Heavenly Dao Finger, by contrast, fused several kinds of Heavenly Dao runes at his fingertip. His power was far purer!

As their fingers collided, terrifying shockwaves shrieked through the air, punching holes through the void ahead and behind them!

Xu Ying flickered like a phantom. His feet seemed rooted to the spot, yet his ghostly images appeared everywhere before and behind him. Only after the Immortal-Slaying Finger's full power had spent itself did those hundreds of images ripple and merge back into one.

Meanwhile, immortal light enveloped Yan Kongcheng, resembling floating gauze. Countless streams of force concealed within the Heavenly Dao Finger struck the gauze, and strange characters in bird-worm seal script appeared across its surface. They blazed with golden light, blocking the Heavenly Dao Finger's force!

The bird-worm seal script on the floating gauze flared incessantly, absorbing Xu Ying’s assault.

Yuanqi stared, transfixed. He quietly raised his tail, nudged Dazhong, and whispered, “Master Zhong, Ah Ying has met his match.”

Dazhong murmured, “Ah Ying hasn’t used the six Secret Troves. If he did, his combat strength would soar.”

Lowering his voice again, Yuanqi said, “The other fellow is holding something back, too. His cultivation realm is higher than Ah Ying’s. He’s at the second Gate-Knocking Stage. His higher realm can easily make up for having less mystical power.”

Dazhong was, after all, knowledgeable and experienced. He said, “Yan Kongcheng used a divine ability to block Ah Ying’s Heavenly Dao Finger, while Ah Ying relied on his movement technique to evade the Immortal-Slaying Finger. That means Ah Ying has already grasped how the Immortal-Slaying Finger works, but Yan Kongcheng hasn’t grasped the Heavenly Dao Finger.”

Yuanqi considered this, then said, “He was caught up in the great sealing three thousand years ago. That was when the hundred schools were being suppressed in favor of exorcism techniques alone. What if he also learned the exorcism art of the six Secret Troves?”

Dazhong was taken aback, his confidence wavering. “If that’s the case, then Ah Ying really has met his match.”

Yan Kongcheng said with admiration, “Ageless Immortal, that was a Heavenly Dao divine ability you just used, wasn’t it? Truly exquisite!”

He unleashed no more of Emei’s divine abilities, but that brief exchange alone had shown Xu Ying the exceptional nature of Emei’s legacy. “The legacy is unfathomably profound. Truly admirable. I’ve heard that during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people discovered the Other Shore. Qi Cultivators traveled there, leading to the decline of Qi cultivation. Didn’t Emei decline as well?”

Yan Kongcheng replied, “Of course it did. But Emei has so many inherited teachings that, even in decline, we weren’t greatly affected.”

He raised a hand toward Emei’s towering mountains and smiled. “Every shaft of rosy light you see was left behind by an Emei patriarch who survived the heavenly tribulation and ascended to the Immortal Realm.”

Xu Ying surveyed his surroundings. Hundreds of peaks, great and small, rose around him, with hundreds of shafts of rosy light! Each marked an immortal’s ascension. Hundreds of immortals had ascended from Emei!

Emei’s ascension sites lay hidden in no secret grotto heaven or secluded sanctuary. The entire mountain range formed one colossal place of ascension!

Even Xu Ying was deeply shaken by the sight.

Immense pride filled Yan Kongcheng’s voice. “Though Qi Cultivators now face a twilight age, Emei’s heritage endures, as does its place of ascension. Even if I’m the only one left, I can still restore our lineage!”

Xu Ying said, “I once saw someone use the Immortal-Slaying Finger, one of Emei’s inherited techniques. I hadn’t expected to see you use that same technique, Brother Yan.”

Something stirred in Yan Kongcheng’s mind. He stamped his foot. “The Immortal-Slaying Finger? Now I know how that thief got Emei’s immortal arts! He emptied my grand uncle-grandmaster’s tomb!”

Xu Ying was taken aback. Yan Kongcheng seemed to be talking about Fu Yi, the frowning old man.

Fu Yi had claimed to be a Qi Cultivator from Emei and was skilled in the Immortal-Slaying Finger, the same technique Yan Kongcheng had just used. Xu Ying doubted Yan Kongcheng’s background, so he brought it up to test him.

Yan Kongcheng and Fu Yi clearly belonged to the same sect. Yet Fu Yi had barely perished before Yan Kongcheng emerged, claiming a three-thousand-year slumber. Xu Ying could not ignore the overlap.

Yan Kongcheng let out an angry laugh. “The Exorcist Masters of later generations have no scruples at all! They dug up the tombs of so many Emei patriarchs! I even found their discarded trash inside my grand uncle-grandmaster’s tomb!”

He took out several jade seals and command tokens from his ethereal void. Xu Ying accepted them. One bore the character for “Cao,” with “General of the Household” carved on the back. Another jade seal bore the character for “Zhou,” while its face was engraved with phrases such as “May the heavens bless, and no paths are bound.”

These look like things from the Zhou clan.

Xu Ying felt a twinge of unease. Did Zhou Qiyun dig up the tombs of Emei’s patriarchs?

While investigating the truth behind Exorcist Immortals, Xu Ying had encountered General of the Household tokens bearing the character “Cao” and Mound-Rummaging seals bearing the character “Zhou.” Such items were quite common.

The origins of the Cao tokens could not be traced, but Xu Ying knew where the Zhou Mound-Rummaging seals came from. They were unquestionably Zhou Qiyun’s handiwork!

Yuanqi whispered, “Ah Ying, these jade seals...”

Xu Ying discreetly waved the great serpent into silence. “We’ve opened tombs ourselves, after all. Our hands aren’t clean. If Yan Kongcheng thinks we looted his ancestors, we’ll never prove otherwise.”

Heartbroken, Yan Kongcheng cursed and grumbled, then apologized to Xu Ying. “So many of Emei’s ancestral tombs have been robbed. I lost my composure. Forgive the spectacle.”

Still doubtful about his origins, Xu Ying said, “Brother Yan, just call me Xu Ying or Ah Ying. There’s no need for ‘Brother Xu’ or ‘Ageless Immortal.’ Could you tell us where you appeared after your seal was broken? Would you take us there for a look?”

“Why not?” Yan Kongcheng led Xu Ying toward Emei’s main peak, talking as they walked.

Yan Kongcheng added, “Perhaps I wasn’t sealed away along with the world as my uncle-masters were because Emei’s patriarchs, dwelling high above in the Immortal Realm, preserved my life so I could shoulder the burden of reviving Emei.

“With so many immortals throughout our history, surely they could have foreseen the great calamity and made preparations before it came.”

Xu Ying considered the idea. The conjecture was not without merit.

Hundreds of Emei masters had ascended to the Immortal Realm, undoubtedly forming a formidable faction above. The upheaval in the Yuanshou Realm could hardly have escaped their notice, so making a prearranged contingency plan was entirely plausible.

With a pool of light beneath his feet, Yan Kongcheng walked through the air at an unhurried pace, yet covered ground swiftly, as if he were strolling through a courtyard. Xu Ying used the Extreme Intent Freedom Art to match his pace, though he could not mirror his companion’s casual grace.

Xu Ying had learned several mystic arts for traversing the air, including sword flight and the Cloud-Ladder Heavenly Bound, yet few let him stroll through the sky as if traversing flat ground. Emei’s mystic art accomplished exactly that. Emei’s legacy is extraordinary. Nothing like Li Xiaoke’s unorthodox methods.

Li Xiaoke was a genius of a caliber rarely seen in the world. He had devoted himself to restoring lost mystic arts and divine abilities and deciphering immortal methods. His achievements were monumental, yet he still paled beside an ancient giant like Emei. Even during its past decline, Emei had commanded an incredible legacy.

Yan Kongcheng led him to Golden Summit Peak on Mount Emei, where they began climbing the steps.

Yuanqi hastily lowered his voice. “Ah Ying, look over there!”

Xu Ying looked where the great serpent’s tail pointed, and his heart lurched.

On the other side of the cliff, someone had forced open an immortal’s grotto residence. Its doors lay on the ground, broken into seven or eight pieces. Skeletal remains lay sprawled before the entrance. Judging by the condition of the bones, these people had died only a few years ago.

Their clothes had not yet rotted away. From their attire, they were clearly Exorcists from southern and western Hunan!

Yan Kongcheng said indignantly, “That is the tomb of our supreme grandmaster! Those vile scavengers trespassed into Emei’s sacred grounds willy-nilly! They even dragged our supreme grandmaster’s remains out of his tomb. When I gathered his remains, he didn’t have a stitch of clothing left!”

Xu Ying whispered to Yuanqi and Dazhong, “It wasn’t Zhou Qiyun. He wouldn't have settled for just stripping clothes and would have stolen the bones, too.”

As they made their way up the mountain, they encountered more desecrated mausoleums, all belonging to Emei’s renowned Ascension Stage Qi Cultivators. With their path of ascension collapsed, these masters had remained trapped in the mortal realm, doomed to die of old age.

Then Exorcists, driven to desperation, had dug up and plundered their graves.

“Ah Ying, look!” Yuanqi discreetly gestured with his snout.

The corner of Xu Ying’s eye twitched. “Master Qi, we’ve gone straight...”

Where Yuanqi pointed stood several pristine, untouched tombs. The upheaval three thousand years ago had folded heaven and earth, hiding this stretch of the mountain so grave robbers had never found it.

Yuanqi was puzzled. “When did we go straight?”

Xu Ying wrestled with himself. After all, when Yunmeng Marsh had first appeared, they had still been searching everywhere for the Radiant Vestige sites of Exorcist Immortals. And only a short while ago, they had slipped into the great tomb on Mount Jiuyi.

At last, they reached the Golden Summit of Emei’s main peak. An exceptionally conspicuous shaft of rosy light left behind by an ascension shone there. Unlike the others, this shaft pierced a hall and reached into its interior.

Yan Kongcheng raised his right hand. All manner of bird-worm seal script burst from his palm, undoing the seals on the golden hall layer by layer. The breadth of his learning was admirable.

He approached the resplendent golden hall and pushed open its heavy doors.

A mysterious aura washed over Xu Ying from within, striking his skin and hair and seeping into his internal organs. Even his ethereal void resonated, as if brushed by immortal light!

His grotto heavens unfurled as well, drawing out immortal herbs at a substantially greater rate!

Xu Ying realized at once that the shaft of rosy light inside the golden hall possessed an inconceivable power. Beneath the other shafts of rosy light from ascensions, primordial qi was exceptionally dense. This one not only held extraordinary primordial qi but also seemed to reveal faint traces of power filtering down from the Immortal Realm!

Yan Kongcheng said, “When I woke, I found myself floating in the rosy light. It felt as though time and space had gone still, and time had stopped flowing. Only when I came out of it did that feeling fade.”

Yuanqi cried out in shock, “Someone sealed you inside this rosy light for three thousand years!”

“Perhaps someone used this rosy light to send him three thousand years into the future,” Dazhong suggested.

Both explanations made sense. The outcome was the same, but the processes were different. Xu Ying gazed up at the rosy light. At its far end, he could even faintly make out the contours of another world. A thought stirred in his mind.

“Brother Yan, whose ascension left this rosy light behind?”

Yan Kongcheng’s expression grew solemn. “This rosy light was left behind when Emei’s founding patriarch, the supreme grandmaster, ascended.”

“When did the supreme grandmaster ascend?” Xu Ying asked.

Yan Kongcheng shook his head. “It was so long ago that there’s no way to verify it now. But hundreds of patriarchs ascended after the grandmaster. The Heavenly Path must still have been intact then, and super heavenly tribulations had yet to appear.”

Xu Ying was startled. This supreme grandmaster predated even the super heavenly tribulations. He was likely a figure from forty-eight thousand years ago! Perhaps this supreme grandmaster had intervened to preserve Yan Kongcheng, Emei’s sole surviving heir!

Then who saved Feng Xian’er? Xu Ying wondered.

Yan Kongcheng said, “After I emerged from the rosy light, I went outside in a daze, with no idea what had happened. Mount Emei had already declined from its former glory, but every peak had still been home to a Qi Cultivator. A thousand streams of auspicious qi rose above them, and ten thousand rays of light shone. Yet I flew through all the mountains without finding a single familiar face.”

Xu Ying could understand that bewilderment and helplessness. For Yan Kongcheng, it had been like waking from sleep to find Mount Emei utterly deserted, with not a soul to be found. It had to be a nightmare!

“Just as I was about to break down, I met someone.”

Yan Kongcheng smiled. “He was the one who led me out of my despair and rekindled my fighting spirit, inspiring me to shoulder the great task of revitalizing Emei and restoring the glory of the Qi Cultivators!”

At his tone, Xu Ying’s heart jolted. A familiar face sprang to mind. Could it be him again?

Fervor lit Yan Kongcheng’s face. “It was Xu Fu, an immortal living in this age! We sat down for a long, intimate talk, and he helped me realize my true mission! Qi Cultivators will reclaim their rightful place!”

Xu Ying said, unable to hold back, “Brother Yan, the old ways of the Qi Cultivators are already doomed to fail. Combining Qi cultivation with Exorcist cultivation is the true path—”

Yan Kongcheng’s face darkened. He said coolly, “Daoist Brother Xu Fu told me you were stubborn, a blockhead. I never believed him. Now that I’ve seen it for myself, I finally do, Brother Xu.”

He stood straight as a spear, fighting spirit radiating from him.

“Daoist Brother Xu Fu entrusted me with making certain you understood what a true Qi Cultivator is. Our earlier sparring never settled which of us was stronger.”

Anger rose in Xu Ying’s heart. He stuffed the seal bearing the character “imprison” into Yuanqi’s mouth.

“I’d very much like to see Emei’s true teachings for myself!”