Chapter 373
Chapter 373
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 375
Chapter Title: Sect-Wide Ascension
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Chen Shi and Jade Spiritzi only felt as if the hair all over their bodies was growing wildly, their skin prickling unbearably. They hurriedly turned back to look and saw a bloody Daoist crawling out from the courtyard on all fours, heading toward Qingyang Palace along with Uncle Wen.
"Elder Martial Uncle Zhuo!" Jade Spiritzi cried out in shock.
He was not a disciple of the sect leader but came from Master Yan Daoist's line. Due to his exceptional talent, he was called the Dao Child. Master Yan Daoist's status was not particularly high, nor was his cultivation profound; he had been stuck in the Return to Void Realm for many years. Jade Spiritzi had countless martial uncles and elders, at least eighty if not a hundred.
This Elder Martial Uncle Zhuo was very old, already seventy-two years of age, yet he had shed his entire human skin and was crawling on the ground!
Behind Elder Martial Uncle Zhuo, more than a dozen other Daoists crawled out as well, all bloody and raw, without clothes or skin.
Chen Shi glanced into the courtyard and saw more than a dozen Daoists left inside, reduced to mere skins and clothes, standing there.
Jade Spiritzi said in a trembling voice, "Uncle, I feel like my scalp is itching. Check for me..."
His face was ashen, his legs shaking.
Most of the Daoists in the courtyard were his martial uncles, with a few being his martial brothers and younger brothers. He never imagined they had all fallen victim.
The sight made him itch all over, his scalp tightening, the back of his head aching as if a fiery red line ran from the nape of his neck, down the back of his spine along the midline, all the way to his tailbone.
He felt like he could split open at any moment.
Chen Shi came up to him and said, "Lower your head."
Jade Spiritzi lowered his head and said, "The moment I do, it feels like my nape is about to split open."
Chen Shi looked and saw a red line on Jade Spiritzi's nape, extending from the back of his head down the midline of his back. Touching it, it burned hot.
Chen Shi probed with his finger and sensed a gap between the edges of the red line.
Jade Spiritzi had already begun showing signs of shedding his skin.
Chen Shi's expression remained unchanged, his voice steady as he said, "There's nothing abnormal. Relax, don't let your imagination run wild."
Jade Spiritzi breathed a sigh of relief, straightened his neck, and laughed. "I was scared by our uncles and elders. Their cultivation and strength far surpass mine, and even they fell victim. I was worried I'd be next. Looks like I'm blessed by heaven..."
He saw Chen Shi manifest his nascent soul to inspect his own nape and asked in confusion, "Uncle, what are you doing? Am I really fine? Don't scare me!"
"You're fine, you're fine."
Chen Shi comforted him while checking his own nape. Finding no red line and no cracks upon touch, he finally relaxed, withdrew his nascent soul, and smiled. "Jade Spiritzi, I'll teach you the Yin-Yang Tempering Art. Cultivate it with me."
"Uncle, are you sure I'm okay?"
Jade Spiritzi's voice trembled as he reached to touch his own nape. "I feel like I'm about to split open!"
Chen Shi imparted the full cultivation method of the Yin-Yang Tempering Art, but it required first visualizing the sun and moon—and specifically those of the ancestral Huaxia Divine Continent. Jade Spiritzi had never seen them, making it hard for him to learn the technique right away.
Chen Shi settled for the next best thing and said, "I'll spread out my nascent soul's Dao field. Stay within my Dao field and don't wander out... It's fine, really fine. What you're feeling is an illusion—it's just a strand of hair on your nape, not a split."
In his nascent soul's Dao field, the sun and moon emerged, rotating around each other in ceaseless tempering.
This sun-moon tempering was created by Tianzhen Daoist and had protected him all the way to the Ascension Realm. Though not the pinnacle of techniques, it was extremely effective at refining evil qi. Even just standing in the field, Jade Spiritzi quickly suppressed the evil changes in his own body.
The two followed these splitting Daoists forward. They resembled cicadas awaiting transformation, crawling on the ground toward Qingyang Palace.
Chen Shi had seen golden cicadas shed their shells. They lurked underground, surviving on tree root sap. At the transition of spring to summer, they would emerge at dusk or night, climb up trees to a high place, and remain still, straining to crack open their shells.
A line would split open on their backs, from the head along the midline. The cicada's body would vibrate inside the shell while struggling outward. Once the upper body broke free, it would pause, letting its tender form harden gradually until it fully emerged, spread its wings, and flew off.
This was shedding the shell and emerging fully formed!
"The Golden Cicada Shedding Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram records precisely this shedding and emergence."
Chen Shi's eyes flickered as he thought, "These Daoists must be influenced by Headmaster Jinghong. During his cultivation into a ghost immortal, he must have begun this evil transformation."
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he suddenly saw more crawling Daoists ahead, increasing from a dozen to seventy or eighty!
Each was crawling forward on hands and feet!
As they crawled naked, their originally raw, bloody bodies gradually grew new skin!
These powerful Daoists seemed oblivious, crawling onward as if Qingyang Palace were a towering tree. By climbing it and transforming, they could emerge and ascend to immortality!
Chen Shi walked with them, growing more shocked by the moment.
Jade Spiritzi was even more shocked. Among the crawling Daoists were many of his martial uncles and elders, including some at the Soul Refining Realm and Return to Void Realm—yet even they were entranced, crawling forward heedless!
"Master!"
Jade Spiritzi spotted an old Daoist and shuddered.
The old Daoist was Yan Changtian, of the same generation as Changying Daoist, with profound cultivation. He was Jade Spiritzi's master. At thirty-eight, he had reached the Return to Void Realm, a genius by any measure. Unfortunately, he failed to break through to the Great Vehicle Realm by forty-eight and thus focused on the century breakthrough.
Now at the peak of Return to Void Realm completion, he had been stuck there for less than a century, unable to advance further. Even so, his profound energy made him one of the top in the realm!
Some even said that without the century limit, Yan Changtian could have broken through to Great Vehicle long ago.
Yet now, Yan Changtian was crawling on all fours!
At that moment, the Daoists ahead suddenly stopped moving. Those crawling behind gradually slowed as well. Reaching the plaza before Qingyang Palace, they came to a halt.
Overhead, the bright moon hung high.
Before Qingyang Palace, lanterns blazed and decorations festooned the area.
Crawling sounds came from other mountain paths too—Daoists from other palace halls arriving here, all on all fours.
Soon the plaza was filled with these crawling Daoists. Some climbed trees, others palace walls, even the tall sacrificial platforms.
It was hard to imagine how they clung to the smooth walls, hanging there.
Rustling sounds came from their bodies, followed by faint popping cracks.
They were like a swarm of cicadas awaiting maturity, collectively shedding and emerging here!
Chen Shi and Jade Spiritzi felt their hair stand on end. Suddenly, Jade Spiritzi shouted, "Master! Uncle Guan! What's wrong with you? Wake up! Wake up!"
The crowd of Daoists ignored him.
Suddenly, with a crisp snap, the lead Daoist's muscles rustled and vibrated at extreme speed. His back bulged, his skull and face separating from scalp and skin, slowly drawing his bare head from the skin sack.
The other Daoists did the same, extracting skulls and skinless faces from their own skins.
Their muscles vibrated with a whooshing sound, like hidden laughter.
Mocking these Daoists for cultivating orthodox methods and gathering heaven-earth righteous qi, yet utterly defenseless against evil transformation!
At that moment, Blackie Pot poked his head out from the underworld. Seeing the scene, he was about to retreat when Jade Spiritzi said in a trembling voice, "Lord Pot still has it easy. It's too terrifying here..."
"Hoo—"
Blackie Pot summoned阴风, pulling Chen Shi and Jade Spiritzi into the underworld together.
In Taihua Mountain's underworld, twenty-eight peaks hung inverted in the sky, magnificent beyond compare, like an immortal realm.
This place was worthy of a sacred land—even its underworld was extraordinary. But the sky was overcast, suffused with eerie evil qi.
Chen Shi and Jade Spiritzi looked up to see countless nascent souls climbing the firmament, limbs gripping tightly, like giant and small golden cicadas.
The large ones spanned hundreds of zhang, the small just a zhang and a half—precisely the Daoists of Taihua Qing Palace!
Whooshing sounds came from the firmament as these nascent souls vibrated madly!
The backs of these powerful nascent souls split open, new nascent souls peeling from the old ones, heads emerging!
The sight made Chen Shi and Jade Spiritzi's bones go soft. Jade Spiritzi said in a trembling voice, "Uncle Pot, please, send us back to the yang world..."
This scene was even more terrifying than in the yang world—it was gods and demons shedding skin!
Chen Shi looked into the distance. On those inverted great mountains, many shed nascent soul shells already littered the ground!
"Those shed nascent soul shells are much larger than the nascent souls themselves." Chen Shi noticed something and paused slightly.
Blackie Pot sent them back to the yang world.
Chen Shi carefully wove through the plaza, observing these transforming Daoists. Jade Spiritzi hurried after him, trembling in fear of touching them and getting infected.
"Indeed, after these Daoists transform, their bodies shrink and age greatly!"
Chen Shi observed closely, his heart stirring. "This evil transformation is completely different from the demonic changes I've encountered before. The range is small, but the threat immense—even Return to Void existences fall victim! If they keep transforming, it won't take many times before they're exhausted and die untimely deaths!"
At that moment, the completed transforming Daoists began crawling toward Qingyang Palace again.
Chen Shi and Jade Spiritzi hesitated, then followed the crowd. The Daoists crawled a short way into the palace before stopping again to transform.
This transformation's frequency was much faster than before!
Once finished, all had aged greatly but continued crawling—some up walls, some onto beams, some to the roof—then transformed again.
"Their transformation frequency is accelerating, meaning we're nearing the pollution source! Headmaster Jinghong must be in Qingyang Palace!"
Chen Shi steeled himself and entered Qingyang Palace, thinking, "No matter what, I must rescue Uncle Qingyang!"
Jade Spiritzi wanted to avoid it, but he hadn't yet mastered Yin-Yang Tempering. With Chen Shi advancing, he had no choice but to follow.
Along the way, they saw many Daoists who had entered earlier, leaving behind countless skin sacks. Some had shed down to infant size.
A familiar figure caught their eyes. Jade Spiritzi was deeply moved. "Honored Headmaster Changying!"
Changying Daoist turned, looking surprised to see them.
Beside him were four terrifyingly aged old Daoists, faces etched with crisscrossing wrinkles. Not only their hair was fully white, but even their eyebrows and nose hairs.
Jade Spiritzi was thrilled. "Uncle, these four are the Taihua Four Elders! Ancestral figures! They always come and go like dragons unseen—never thought we'd see them tonight!"
The Taihua Four Elders were expressionless. Changying Daoist frowned slightly and said, "Why are you two unaffected?"
Chen Shi said, "This junior was taught by Tianzhen Daoist and cultivates Yin-Yang Tempering, which refines evil qi, so I'm unaffected."
Changying Daoist said, "Something unknown has caused evil transformation here—extremely dangerous. That's why I awakened the Four Elders to subdue the evil thing causing it! You two withdraw, lest you get caught in the crossfire."
He and the Taihua Four Elders continued forward. Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the hall ahead. "With Ancestor Qingyang returned, this disciple is overjoyed. When Ancestor left Taihua Mountain back then, I grieved for a long time. In a fit of anger, I changed Taihua Qingyang Palace's name to Taihua Qing Palace. Now that Ancestor is back, we'll change it back."
Jade Spiritzi's body shook slightly. He looked at Chen Shi and whispered, "It's Headmaster Jinghong's voice!"
Changying Daoist's body trembled. He took a long breath and walked toward the grand hall.
Headmaster Jinghong was his master!
Headmaster Jinghong had passed away despondently in recent years, instructing him to definitely find Ancestor Qingyang!
Qingyang's voice came: "Jinghong, what evil method have you cultivated?"
"Evil method? Heh heh heh, Ancestor, how could the Golden Cicada Shedding Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram be an evil method?"
Jinghong's voice rang out. "This is a proper Daoist orthodox technique. Didn't Ancestor and that thief Chen Yindu dig up many ancestral graves and see many empty coffins? They cultivated the Heavenly Immortal Diagram and transformed into ghost immortals. My method is the same. This is immortal law!"
Qingyang said, "Immortal law? And you turned yourself into this ghostly state? Jinghong, you've gone astray!"
Changying Daoist shouted, "Master! If you don't stop, Taihua Qing Palace will be destroyed by your hands!"
His emotions surged; he quickened his pace.
But the Taihua Four Elders beside him suddenly froze in place, bodies trembling uncontrollably as they desperately resisted the evil qi.
"It's Changying."
Headmaster Jinghong's laughter came. "Have your four martial uncles come too? Ancestor Qingyang, our sect-wide ascension is imminent. Let me show them first the wonders of ascension."
The Taihua Four Elders showed terror. Above each head floated their Void Great Realms, nascent souls seated within, straining against the evil transformation, foreheads drenched in cold sweat.
"Three martial brothers!"
One old Daoist suddenly showed joy and cried, "I've suddenly sensed the mysteries of creation—the wondrous state of shedding and emergence!"
He stood still, muscles vibrating violently. Popping sounds came from within. A line cracked from his nape, his back splitting with pops. Back muscles arched; his bloody skull yanked free from his head as he laughed. "I'm ascending!"
"Hahaha!"
The other three Daoists' faces twisted into smiles, eyes rapidly whitening as they cried, "We've seen the wonders of immortal flight too! Headmaster Changying, drop your resistance and ascend with us!"