Chapter 201 - Domain of Seven Immortality

Sensing the mounting tension between the two men, Dazhong and Yuanqi sensed trouble and quietly slipped out of the golden hall.

Suddenly, the hall shook violently. A streak of immortal light shot out of the door, and Dazhong hurriedly threw himself in front of Yuanqi to shield him.

Clang!

The impact knocked Dazhong backward. Various Dao avatars appeared on his surface, swirling constantly.

Yuanqi was also startled. The fluctuations from the hall were incredibly terrifying. Had that attack struck Yuanqi, he would have been reduced to a bloody mess.

As the bell tolled, Xu Ying and Yan Kongcheng clashed fiercely inside the golden hall at lightning speed. Their forms shifted constantly as they exchanged over a dozen moves in the blink of an eye.

Yan Kongcheng used the Emei lineage's cultivation techniques and divine abilities. Even if they had the same Dao avatars, they would erupt with greater power in Yan Kongcheng’s hands.

Even if they used the same techniques, they would flow from his hands as if following a natural order, leaving his opponent with no way to counter them!

Like a young immortal, he could turn the most ordinary divine ability into something incredible.

However, this golden hall’s space was Xu Ying’s territory.

His physique was simply too strong. Every time he shifted position, the terrifying force struck the space inside the golden hall, making it tremble violently!

Boom!

Xu Ying’s hands blurred, his palms shattering Yan Kongcheng’s divine abilities one after another. He closed the distance between them and thrust his palm upward, targeting Yan Kongcheng’s throat.

Eight Arts of the Combat God, Earth-Shattering!

The force from his foot stance shook the golden hall!

Undeterred, Yan Kongcheng retaliated with his own palm strike. A strange bird-worm seal script character manifested in his palm; it was the Immortal Dao rune for “strength.”

The moment their palms collided, twenty-eight dazzling grotto heavens appeared behind Xu Ying with a loud hum. They warped spacetime, fusing with the otherworldly shores of primordial chaos, immortal fire, the netherworld, and so on.

In just a brief moment, Xu Ying’s mystical power surged, his divine sense expanded, and his strength skyrocketed. His vital energy circulated furiously like a raging tide. Yin and Yang qi even overflowed from his eyes, letting him see different dimensions and bringing both the realms of the living and the dead into view!

Boom!

The force from their palms erupted. Yan Kongcheng let out a muffled groan and was thrown backward, crashing into the wall of the golden hall. Xu Ying pressed forward and punched him.

Xu Ying’s incoming fist grew until it swallowed Yan Kongcheng’s vision. Realizing Xu Ying’s overwhelming vital energy was smothering his sight and divine sense, Yan Kongcheng rushed primordial qi to his eyes.

He read the trajectory of Xu Ying’s punch and dodged frantically. A deafening boom echoed as the fist struck the palace wall, summoning countless tiny Dao avatars that scattered around the strike point to absorb the force.

Yan Kongcheng’s heart skipped a beat. Before he could recover, Xu Ying closed in and unleashed a relentless barrage of punches, forcing Yan Kongcheng to circle the hall’s perimeter.

His movement technique was incredibly fast, letting him circle the entire hall in a split second. Deafening booms rang out as countless Dao avatars flared across the walls in a constant flash!

If he keeps throwing punches like this, even the golden hall wouldn’t stand much longer. He’ll tear it apart! Yan Kongcheng’s heart pounded with fear. He knew the battle would end the instant a single punch struck him. It would punch clean through him.

He flew out of the door with a whoosh. At the same time, he formed the sword-finger gesture and swung backward. “Immortal Sword Mantra!”

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Countless streaks of sword qi shot from his fingertips, carrying supreme, profound Dao sounds, and pierced the hall!

The next moment, the sword qi shattered as Xu Ying burst out of the palace hall, his vital energy surging toward the sky, like a god or a demon.

Yan Kongcheng had already soared into the air. He spun around to face Xu Ying as a blinding radiance flashed before him. A Golden Core rose slowly, floating right in front of him.

“Xu Ying, though you are known as the Ageless Immortal, you’ve never reached the pinnacle in Qi Cultivation. Today, I shall show you the true Great Dao of Golden Core!”

Yan Kongcheng activated his Golden Core, raised his hand, and drew down lightning with a pointed finger. “Heavenly Lightning Summon!”

The sky churned violently as a thundercloud materialized. Though it wasn’t huge, only several mu wide, the might it radiated was extremely terrifying. Countless lightning bolts intertwined, crashing toward Xu Ying in a blinding deluge!

The lightning struck with blinding speed, engulfing Xu Ying in a thunderous roar!

Yet, a moment later, Xu Ying burst out from the lightning with terrifying speed. Blurring into a streak of rainbow light, he leaped from the golden peak and materialized before Yan Kongcheng.

Meanwhile, the thundercloud moved just as fast and trailed behind him, unleashing more lightning bolts!

Yan Kongcheng stood suspended in the sky, fingers spread. The Dao avatars behind him churned and transformed, manifesting dragon fire. Nine dragons flew out, circling Xu Ying as they charged back and forth to attack him, spewing divine flames that could refine everything.

Emei Dao art, Nine Dragons Heavenly Conquest!

Astonishingly, the nine dragons gained flesh-and-blood bodies. As they clashed against Xu Ying’s bare fists, scales shattered and dragon blood sprayed through the air!

Meanwhile, the might of the Heavenly Lightning Summon’s thunderclouds also erupted. Lightning slammed into Xu Ying with a deafening crash, blasting him out of the sky and sending him plunging toward the mountains below.

The impact caused a section of the mountain cliff to crack and slide diagonally downward, producing a deafening roar that shook heaven and earth and sent a cloud of dust into the air.

Yan Kongcheng stood in the sky like a youthful immortal. The Great Dao of heaven and earth around him seemed under his command. He unleashed a barrage of terrifying divine abilities, raining them down on the wreckage!

“Kongtong Demon-Suppressing Seal!”

He flipped his palm, and a palm seal descended from the sky. The bottom was a palm print, while the top was Mount Kongtong, pressing down with supreme force. Its howling winds caused the surrounding peaks to tremble and collapse!

Xu Ying bolted away, channeling the Extreme Intent Freedom Art to the limit. Like a fleeting shadow, he wove through the mountain ranges with blinding speed to dodge the massive Kongtong Demon-Suppressing Seal.

However, a giant sword gate plummeted from the sky and suspended itself between two massive mountains. An immortal sword hung at its center, radiating beams of sword light in all directions.

The sword light pursued Xu Ying relentlessly, swelling into a torrential flood that chased him down.

Meanwhile, the thundercloud Heavenly Lightning summoned still hung over Xu Ying. Lightning and thunder rumbled along the way as lightning struck down continuously, chasing after him!

Suspended in midair, Yan Kongcheng unleashed the full might of Mount Emei’s mystic arts and immortal techniques, including Immortal Dao arts!

Yuanqi and Dazhong stared, eyes wide open. Inside the golden hall, Yan Kongcheng struggled to keep up, but outside, his techniques and divine abilities swept the field!

Yuanqi raised his tail and nudged Dazhong quietly. “Master Zhong, let’s divide the assets. You return to your Little Rocky Mountain, and I’ll head back to Mount Wu Wang. I think Ah Ying is done here. Once he stops, Yan Kongcheng will surely blast him into smithereens.”

Dazhong grunted in a muffled voice, "How many of his assets do you have?”

Yuanqi suddenly came to a realization. “N-nothing. When you were broken, Ah Ying told Old Ancestor Chanchan to use whatever she wanted, so she used everything. Now Xu Ying has only a single blade of grass and a sealed insect left. Do you want the grass or the worm?”

Dazhong groaned. Neither was useful to him.

During their quick exchange, Yan Kongcheng’s divine abilities filled the sky, swelling into an unstoppable force.

Dazhong sighed. “Such exquisite divine abilities! No one compares to Yan Kongcheng. Even my fallen master couldn't match this level of refinement."

Yuanqi’s gaze followed Xu Ying’s figure closely, and he couldn’t help but remark, “Emei’s chosen prodigy sealed for three thousand years. Everyone else, even Emei's Ascension Stage Qi Cultivators, have perished, yet he alone survived. The supreme patriarch believed Yan Kongcheng alone could restore Emei to its full glory!”

They grew less and less confident in Xu Ying, as Yan Kongcheng's unstoppable momentum had already taken complete control.

His Great Dao of Golden Core was truly breathtaking, pushing the application of Dao arts to the limit and leaving Xu Ying with no chance of making a comeback.

Finally, Yan Kongcheng’s overwhelming barrage of divine abilities surrounded Xu Ying, leaving him with no path of escape.

Xu Ying abruptly stopped in his tracks and landed on a mountaintop. Facing the storm of divine abilities surging in from all directions, he unleashed a furious barrage of punches, pushing the Eight Arts of the Combat God to the limit!

“Aaaah!”

An earth-shattering roar echoed across the vast distance, yet the explosions of Yan Kongcheng's erupting abilities drowned it out!

Countless divine abilities surged toward Xu Ying, engulfing him. No matter how powerful his martial techniques or how tough his physique, he could not withstand such crushing force!

Heavenly Lightning Summon, Immortal Sword Mantra, Sword Gate, Kongtong Demon-Suppressing Seal, Nine Dragons Heavenly Conquest, Soul Locking Curse, Supreme Yin Hand...

Countless divine abilities erupted with full force, engulfing the peak of Mount Emei!

Yuanqi and Dazhong could hardly bear to watch. Dazhong muttered, “When we go looking for Ah Ying later, if we find a piece of his flesh, use your Mud Pill grotto heaven to keep it alive while we hunt for his Eternal True Spirit.”

He assumed the blast would obliterate Xu Ying and shatter his soul, leaving only his Eternal True Spirit. With a scrap of intact flesh and his spirit, they could likely still revive him.

Suddenly, all the divine abilities on that mountain peak seemed to freeze in place for a brief moment, even as they unleashed their destructive might.

In the next instant, a series of warped fist forces shattered all the incoming divine abilities. A stream of vital energy surged skyward from that peak, forming a bloody cloud in the sky!

On the mountaintop, amid countless shattered divine abilities, Xu Ying raised his head and gazed toward Yan Kongcheng, dozens of li away, his eyes swirling with Yin and Yang qi.

Whoosh!

He unleashed a punch, and the sky above Emei’s mountain ranges trembled with a deep thump.

The corners of Yan Kongcheng’s eyes twitched violently. He activated his Golden Core and channeled his divine abilities, manifesting a massive city wall before him that stretched from the earth to the stars, complete with deep moats.

The city wall shattered into pieces with a thunderous boom. The martial Dao divine ability from that single punch struck Yan Kongcheng, crushing him as it hurled him toward a golden peak!

The mountain peak shook violently. Yan Kongcheng was driven deep into the mountain, his entire body in excruciating pain. My bones... They’re shattered.

Just as he thought this, Xu Ying appeared before him and unleashed another punch.

I’m finished... Yan Kongcheng was filled with despair. Then, a deafening boom rang in his ears. His body shook violently as he was thrown out of the mountain. Glancing hurriedly out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the punch had blown a tunnel through the mountain peak, shaped exactly like a fist.

The tunnel was ten zhang high and twelve zhang wide. Inside, rocks were still exploding.

Xu Ying withdrew his fist, exhaled stale air, and chuckled. “How about this, Brother Yan? You teach me the Great Dao of Golden Core, and I’ll teach you the six secrets of the human body. What do you say?”

Dazhong and Yuanqi hurried over, their faces filled with shock and doubt.

Yuanqi shrank and flew to Xu Ying’s shoulder. He whispered, “Ah Ying, how did you win?”

Xu Ying’s divine sense rippled as he replied with voice transmission, “I broke through the second mystic gateway by chance earlier and opened the Central Ridge Pass, entering the Second Gate-Knocking Stage. Now, I’m in the same cultivation realm as him.”

Yuanqi was shocked to hear this.

The situation had been extremely dangerous. Xu Ying successfully broke through at that critical moment, bursting open the Central Ridge Pass and raising his cultivation significantly. Only then could he withstand the overwhelming momentum of Yan Kongcheng’s Great Dao of Golden Core and, with a single punch, severely injure him.

Yan Kongcheng had also opened his Central Ridge Pass and was a Qi Cultivator in the Second Gate-Knocking Stage. Though they were in the same cultivation realm, Xu Ying had the six secrets and twenty-eight grotto heavens. Thus, he could break through Yan Kongcheng’s overwhelming momentum.

Yan Kongcheng was deathly pale. He barely held himself up by leaning on his Golden Core and choked out, “I lost to you because of my own lack of skill, not because Qi Cultivators are inferior. If you give me a little time...”

“Sure!” Xu Ying agreed steadfastly. With a wave of his hand, the vigor of his Mud Pill grotto heaven surged out and healed Yan Kongcheng’s injuries.

He smiled. “I’ll give you ten days, Brother Yan. We’ll spar again then. If you lose again, then you have to agree to my request.”

Yan Kongcheng felt his injuries heal rapidly, bringing him back to peak condition. He was shocked and delighted inside, and felt deeply envious of exorcism arts. “Since you have shown such magnanimity, Brother Xu, how could I possibly go back on my word? If I lose again in ten days, I’ll cultivate exorcism arts with you.”

Xu Ying added, “And you must teach me the Emei lineage’s Great Dao of Golden Core!”

Yan Kongcheng agreed readily and left in a hurry, his fighting spirit high. He smiled. “I haven’t mastered the Supreme Dao Seeking Art the Supreme Patriarch has passed down. After fighting you today, I have an epiphany. I can definitely master this art within ten days!”

Xu Ying watched him leave.

Yuanqi said anxiously, "Ah Ying, if he really masters the Supreme Dao Seeking Art, I’m afraid...”

Xu Ying chuckled. “I just opened the second mystic gateway, and my cultivation is skyrocketing. Even if he masters the Supreme Dao Seeking Art in ten days, it won’t match the rate my primordial qi increases over those ten days. He’ll only lose even faster in ten days!”

***

Ten days later.

Boom!

Yan Kongcheng tilted his head. Xu Ying’s fist narrowly grazed past his scalp. The mountain peak behind him shook; countless rocks flew out with a clatter as the punch blasted right through the mountain.

All of Yan Kongcheng’s bones snapped. The punch's force threw him out of the mountain, and he crashed to the ground with a thud.

Xu Ying was right. No matter how powerful the newly mastered Supreme Dao Seeking Art was, it could not bridge the massive gap in primordial qi Xu Ying had built over the past ten days. Xu Ying’s punches simply crushed every divine ability in their path!

“As I stand today, I am a lesser immortal in the Domain of Six Immortality. With the addition of the martial Dao, it would be the Domain of the Seven Immortality. It only makes sense that you’re no match for me. No need to feel dejected,” said Xu Ying.

Again, Xu Ying healed Yan Kongcheng’s injuries. When the latter rose to his feet, Xu Ying asked, “Do you still want to compete?”

Yan Kongcheng shook his head. “No need for that anymore, Brother Xu. Your divine abilities, cultivation techniques, movement techniques, and even your understanding of the Dao are inferior to mine, yet you defeated me. It’s clear that dual cultivation of Qi and Exorcism is good!”

Xu Ying felt annoyed. He urged, “Why don’t we have another match? Perhaps you can defeat me this time!”

Yan Kongcheng shook his head frantically like a pellet drum.

Xu Ying felt secretly disappointed. I really want to give him another beating.

Xu Ying asked, “Oh, right, Ah Cheng, you previously mentioned that you’ve seen me at Emei before. What was that about?”

“Oh, that? My Uncle-Master Feng[1] was getting old and knew he had no hope of overcoming his heavenly tribulation. So he captured you, planning to hold you over his head as a human shield when the lightning struck.”

Yan Kongcheng recalled the past. “When my master found out, he reprimanded him for being ridiculous and ordered him to release you, saying that it would be useless. A thousand years ago, Ancestral Dragon had the same plan, but he ultimately gave up.

“After Uncle-Master Feng released you, he secretly captured you again, intending to cook and eat you, claiming that it would grant him eternal life. My master scolded him again when he caught wind of it.”

Xu Ying remained silent for a long time. When his emotions calmed, he finally pressed further, “What happened after that?”

“After that? Uncle-Master Feng didn’t dare to face his heavenly tribulation and died of old age. He’s buried on Mount Emei.”

A strange light flickered in Xu Ying’s eyes. He asked casually, “Hmm, where exactly was he buried?”

1. Uses the character for mad, crazy, or insane. ☜