Chapter 370 - 262: The Profound [Illuminating the Dark and the Light], Ascension is a Hoax

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Upper Yuan Lantern Festival.

The vast capital was a dazzling sight, like "fiery trees and silver flowers blooming, with star-like bridges and iron locks opening." It was a scene of utmost liveliness and prosperity.

Tonight, dignitaries and nobles celebrated alongside the common people. The city guard’s curfew was lifted, and night travel was permitted. Those releasing lanterns and those watching them gathered like a tide of mountains and seas.

"The fifteenth of the first month, shatter the void! Refine the spirit and ascend, the entire world becoming Immortal!"

Fang Buying’s face was grim. Those words echoed in his mind. Even for a man like him, who had commanded the Embroidered Uniform Guard for years and was inured to life-and-death struggles, the thought was a profound shock.

’After tonight, I’m afraid the world will be turned upside down!’

’Without Her Majesty’s Great Enterprise, I don’t know what will become of things...’

Fang Buying sighed. As a man of the Martial Dao, he naturally understood the temptation of "ascension."

Throughout history, countless peerless geniuses had stumbled at the Twelve Transformations of the Mortal Realm, unable to advance further in their entire lives.

Even if they awed the world, roamed the four seas, and were revered by millions, in the end, they all returned to a handful of yellow earth.

’Her Majesty’s civil achievements and Martial Arts are enough to rival the founding emperor’s. Her attainments in martial studies have even earned the sincere admiration and respect of the Four Holy Lands.’

Fang Buying passed through gate after gate of the palace, arriving before a nine-story-high, five-colored Magic Altar.

The moment he drew near, he felt a boundless Qi Mechanism that filled the heavens and the earth.

It was as if stars hung suspended in the air, radiating a terrifying, surging pressure that pushed and squeezed away the very atmosphere.

’All the world’s masters are gathered here.’

Fang Buying took a deep breath. He did not challenge this Qi Mechanism. Instead, he slowly bent his waist, bowed his head, and stood about thirty feet away, announcing in a deep voice:

"Chancellor Xiao has ordered 749 ever-burning lanterns to be lit and raised into the sky to bless Her Majesty."

Atop the five-colored Magic Altar, which soared into the clouds, Yao Yun stood in a circle with a group of Spirit Refining Grand Masters.

Her gaze remained fixed upon the large character for [Dao], never wavering. Her voice was faint as she spoke:

"Xiao Feibai is truly making a fuss over nothing. The will of the Upper God is the will of Heaven; the heart of the Upper God is the heart of Heaven.

As long as the Upper God is willing to show mercy, I will naturally succeed in my ascension and become Feathered.

If I should fail by a small margin, it only means my heart was not sincere, and I deserve this tribulation."

Ever since attaining the Dao in a dream and diligently studying the "Arts of the Six Voids’ Universal Flow" day and night, Yao Yun seemed to have been cleansed of all worldly vanity.

The aura of a ruler who held the power of life and death and whose words were law had vanished, replaced by an ethereal, transcendent, and otherworldly disposition.

"Radiant as an Immortal... Her Majesty’s attainments in martial studies are unfathomable, even surpassing Si Jiancan, who shattered the void."

Yan Fei, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, sighed with emotion. The mysteries of an Immortal opportunity were truly beyond comprehension.

He was the current successor of Zhixuan Temple, gifted with remarkable intelligence from a young age, and looked down upon his peers.

When he had first entered the martial world and made a name for himself, Her Majesty the Empress was still a little girl without the strength to truss a chicken.

But in just a few short years, Yao Yun had slain the famous Twin Dragons of Liyang and the Grand General of the North, Jin Wushu, who was hailed as the number one expert below the Spirit Refining realm.

Afterward, her Martial Arts and Power advanced by leaps and bounds, placing her among the ten strongest experts of the generation, in no way inferior to the leaders of the Four Holy Lands.

All of this was because Yao Yun had once served an Upper God from beyond the heavens and received guidance.

"A single Opportunity is worth more than ten lifetimes of arduous cultivation."

Yan Fei sighed. He glanced around. Aside from himself and Xuzhu of Lingjiu Palace, the rest of the Spirit Refining Grand Masters were all nearing the end of their lives, their longevity all but exhausted, hoping to stake it all on one last gamble.

’In this grand "World-Wide Ascension," the number of people who can actually shatter the void will likely be few and far between.’

"Ascendant Liuyun passed on one step ahead of us. Before he entered his final meditative state, he left behind a question: ’May I ask the heavens, can one ascend to become an Immortal?’

Amitabha Buddha. I hope this humble monk can answer that question later."

Compared to Yan Fei, whose temples were frosted with white, the monk Xuzhu still maintained a handsome appearance, though his eyes betrayed a world-weariness born of ages.

Yan Fei fell silent. Although he had not been on good terms with Ascendant Liuyun of Motian Cliff, watching a Spirit Refining master die at the end of his lifespan inevitably filled him with a certain sorrow.

Time is a blade that cuts down geniuses; no matter how great a being one was in life, none could overcome the finality of death.

Only by shattering the void and achieving Feathered ascension to become an Immortal could one possibly escape this fate.

"The hour has come. I shall go first."

A light flashed in Yan Fei’s eyes. His long-tempered Heart Spirit was like a sharp sword, cutting away all distracting thoughts and delusions.

The most outstanding successor of Zhixuan Temple in several hundred years abruptly stood up, his green robes whipping in the wind.

"Since I was a child, I practiced the sword. My masters and elders often praised my talent for the art, and my peers in the martial world did me the honor of giving me the title ’Sword God.’

But it was not until I reached the age of sixty that I finally comprehended the wondrous state of ’no sword in hand, but a sword in the heart; where grass, wood, bamboo, and stone can all be a sword.’

My entire life, I was shackled by those two words, ’innate talent.’ I sought only the most exquisite sword techniques, the most powerful divine weapons... Had I not seen the character for [Dao], I’m afraid I would have remained unenlightened until my death."

Yan Fei tilted his head back to look at the sky. In the vast night, a bright moon hung high above.

It was like a cold, indifferent eye, looking down upon the mortal world for thousands of autumns and myriads of ages.

"The Great Dao is fundamentally formless, so why should I be constrained by external things?

Let the heavens bear witness, I have a sword that dares to make heaven and earth lose their color!"

Yan Fei stood with his hands behind his back. The moment his voice fell, a heavenly sword seemed to erupt from within him, shooting toward the heavens. Myriad rays of sharp light burst from his body, piercing through the layers of clouds and stabbing straight at the bright moon!

"Master Yan has honed this sword for a full sixty years. Tonight, he has finally shown it to the world, allowing us all to witness it."

A trace of admiration rose in Yao Yun’s bright eyes. Yan Fei’s act was clearly a choice to sublimate his own martial studies to its absolute peak, seeking the Dao through death, just like Si Jiancan!

A hurricane howled and the flowing clouds churned, as if thousands of long dragons were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, blowing against the 749 ever-burning lanterns.

The candle flames flickered, alternately bright and dim. It looked as if a river of light was flowing slowly through the night sky, causing the people of the capital to raise their heads one after another to admire the magnificent sight.