Chapter 374
Chapter 374
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 375
Chapter Title: Seekers of the Dao, Seekers of Immortality
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Yulingzi stared in horror at the scene before him, nearly fleeing in panic. But with Chen Shi standing there unmoving, he didn't dare run either. He wailed inwardly: "My Taihua Azure Palace is done for—we're all going to be wiped out."
The Taihua Four Elders were his martial granduncles, and also Changying's martial uncles.
Few people of that seniority remained in the world. Qiongyang Ancestor Master was one of them.
The Taihua Four Elders were even older than Qiongyang Ancestor Master and were also existences at the Great Vehicle Realm, with profound and immeasurable cultivation.
The four of them had been in secluded cultivation for years, keeping themselves in a state of tortoise breath to extend their lives through tortoise breath techniques. This method could prolong their lifespans by decades, preserving peak combat strength for Taihua Azure Palace.
In normal times, even during demonic upheavals, the Taihua Four Elders wouldn't emerge. Only when Taihua Azure Palace faced existential crisis would they be awakened to turn the tide.
Yet this time, the four elders weren't able to turn the tide—they hadn't even had a chance to act before succumbing!
This was why Yulingzi's Dao heart had collapsed.
The Taihua Four Elders held too exalted a status, even higher than Qiongyang Ancestor Master. With them fallen, Taihua Azure Palace had no power left to resist.
The four elders stood outside Qingyang Palace, their muscles twitching block by block, as if accelerating their detachment from their own flesh.
They regarded their skin as the container binding them. Now, it was time to shed their mortal shells and ascend in rosy clouds!
Their upper bodies emerged from their skins, faces alight with joy, as if attaining ultimate freedom.
The sight made Daoist Changying's scalp crawl, an itch prickling the back of his head, as though another self stirred within him, ready to burst forth and shatter his body.
But his expression remained unchanged—calm and unruffled. Clinging to his convictions, he ignored all anomalies in himself and strode straight into Qingyang Palace to confront his master and benevolent teacher.
"Master."
He paid respects to Jinghong, then to Qingyang. "Qingyang Ancestor Master."
Jinghong laughed heartily. "You two little friends outside, come in as well."
Daoist Changying's brows furrowed slightly as he glanced toward the hall entrance.
Chen Shi led Yulingzi inside Qingyang Palace.
Yulingzi stuck close, not daring to stray from his side.
Sun and moon orbited the two ceaselessly, tempering them—one circuit a荡, the clash of yin and yang a炼. Amid the tempering, the invading evil qi dissipated at once.
As they passed the Taihua Four Elders, the four old men stood rigid in their skins, eyes swiveling to fix on them, startling Yulingzi.
The yin-yang tempering disrupted the four elders' evil transformation. One old Daoist cried out, "Fellow brothers, wake up! We've been hit!"
The other three old Daoists roused as well, about to surge their cultivation against the evil change. But as the yin-yang tempering's effect faded, the four supreme experts fell back under the evil transformation's control, smiles returning to their faces as they resumed shedding.
Chen Shi's heart sank, instantly grasping the crux.
The Taihua Four Elders were all Great Vehicle Realm existences. The source of their evil transformation lay in their Void Great Realms. Each elder's Void Great Realm spanned thousands of li, encompassing sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Chen Shi's yin-yang tempering could only illuminate a tiny portion of their Void Great Realms, briefly restoring their awareness before their minds slipped away again.
Chen Shi and Yulingzi hadn't yet opened Void Great Realms. Though their Dao fields were eroded by Jinghong's evil qi,
their fields' scope was small, allowing yin-yang tempering to purge and refine the evil qi within.
"Tianzhen Daoist teeters on the edge of evil transformation, righteous and evil clashing distinctly within him. Though the sun and moon in his Void Great Realm are vast, they're too small compared to the realm itself, preventing full refinement of the evil qi." He thought to himself.
Chen Shi entered Qingyang Palace and scanned the interior. Former sect leader Jinghong sat cross-legged on the floor. He was an old Daoist, extremely aged in appearance—white-haired, wrinkled, short and emaciated, but with luxuriant hair.
His hair was entirely white, trailing to the ground, his eyebrows long enough to drape over his knees.
A technique flashed in Chen Shi's mind: the Elixir Crane Soaring Heavens Art.
This physique was typically the result of cultivating Taihua Azure Palace's Elixir Crane Soaring Heavens Art.
Practitioners of this art tended to be gaunt and could live extraordinarily long lives.
At the head of the hall, atop the offering platform, sat a qingyang goat, legs crossed in meditation, about a zhang tall, its azure wool sleek and smooth. The qingyang goat gazed at its nose, nose at its heart, ignoring him.
Behind the qingyang goat, incense smoke curled upward. The censer held many lit sticks, before which was enshrined the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword.
The immortal sword was absorbing the incense qi.
Chen Shi averted his gaze and looked to Daoist Changying.
Changying sat opposite Jinghong. Seeing the two reach this place without shedding, surprise flickered in his eyes.
Chen Shi bowed. "Greetings, Senior Jinghong."
Jinghong's gaze fell on the sun and moon orbiting Chen Shi's body, equally astonished. "You're no Daoist? Wait—your appearance reminds me of an old acquaintance.
Daoist Changying eyed Chen Shi and subtly shook his head, signaling him not to reveal his true origins.
Chen Shi ignored it. "My grandfather once studied the Dao at Taihua Azure Palace. His name is Chen Yindu. Does that ring a bell, Senior Jinghong?"
Daoist Changying's expression shifted slightly, his gaze locking onto the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword behind the qingyang goat. At any sign of hostility from Jinghong, he would summon the sword!
At the same time, the qingyang goat on the platform subtly tensed its back muscles—its target the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword as well!
This immortal sword's power was unmatched. If Jinghong attacked Chen Shi, it would seize the sword first and slay him!
But Jinghong didn't erupt as expected. Instead, he eyed Chen Shi with keen interest. "You're Chen Yindu's grandson? No wonder you look so much like him. I thought Chen Yindu had grown young again and come back to find me."
He reminisced. "When Chen Yindu came up the mountain, I was Taihua Azure Palace's proud son of heaven—a first-grade Divine Embryo with profound cultivation. I mastered any Dao art instantly. The entire sect revered me, many junior sisters vied for my favor, scheming to become my Dao companion. The Taihua Four Elders? Mere defeats under my hand. Qiongyang, Qionghua, Qiongyu—they all adored me. Even my master said I was to be the next sect leader. Back then, I was unrivaled in glory."
Outside the hall, voices issued from the Taihua Four Elders' mouths as their transformations completed, bodies now airing out.
Their skins stood in place, lifelike as ever.
Two of the old Daoists had truly sprouted cicada wings, thin and delicate. They flapped and flew to a great tree left of the hall entrance, clinging like cicadas and chirping.
Another old Daoist vibrated his cicada wings and flew to the opposite hall, hanging upside down from the eaves.
The other two gazed enviously. "Two senior brothers have attained the Dao!"
Oddly, they soon grew new skin and stiffened again, continuing their transformation.
Beyond them, other Taihua Azure Palace Daoists crawled on all fours like golden cicadas toward Qingyang Palace, halting midway to shed their shells!
Many Daoists shed until they resembled three-chi children, yet their faces remained wizened as centenarians.
Yulingzi's Martial Uncle Mei was among them—a plum blossom deer with some attainment. It shed its hide too, thrusting out a bloody deer's head and calling, "Yoo—yoo! Shedding to ascend is nigh! Yoo—yoo!"
Jinghong shifted tone. "But after Chen Yindu arrived, it all changed. I'd never seen anyone so brilliant, so unbound—talent so overflowing it sparked my envy. When Chen Yindu reached Qingyang Palace, I felt the attention on me wane, admirers dwindling. Many junior and senior sisters soon turned their hearts to this newcomer. Chen Yindu had the worst Divine Embryo, inferior realm to mine, mediocre talent. Yet he drew people in. He was too clever, too handsome."
"Pa!"
A skin-splitting sound came from outside. One old Daoist pulled his head from his skin's back, crying joyfully, "I see—this is the secret of metamorphosis and ascension! I've attained the Dao!"
Chen Shi smiled. "Senior Jinghong, why should a Dao cultivator care about such things? Shouldn't one be detached and desireless?"
Jinghong sighed. "I wanted to be, but I was young and arrogant then, couldn't let go. Now my state of mind is far loftier. Back then, Qiongyang fancied him too, grew close. In short order, he learned nearly every technique and art in Taihua Azure Palace, then innovated—creating new spells, even overhauling originals into unrecognizable forms, yet more effective. He even said our Taihua Azure Palace inheritance was all show, undeserved reputation."
Qingyang said coldly, "Chen Yindu went too far, didn't he?"
Jinghong nodded. "He really did—snatching all the glory that was mine. Enraged, I challenged him. I said if I lost, the next sect leader seat was his; if he lost, he leaves Taihua Mountain. He was mild-tempered, wouldn't agree. I forced his hand, then lost—nearly died to his spell."
Qingyang said, "You nearly died by his hand. You hated him."
Jinghong said, "I did hate him—for taking everything from me. After defeat, I fell into despair,
drifting aimlessly for years, hatred growing fiercer. But he didn't take the sect leader role—instead robbed ancestors' tombs and was expelled from Taihua Azure Palace. After leaving, he even abducted Qingyang Ancestor Master. I hated him so—hated him for trampling my dignity, for grave-robbing in pursuit of immortality, for abandoning Qiongyang and the others. I inherited the sect leader position, yet still couldn't stop hating him. Until one day, I realized I was old."
He said softly, "I found white hairs, my five viscera inexorably decaying, my primordial spirit ever stronger while my flesh grew frailer, barely containing it. Then I understood Chen Yindu. Suddenly, I no longer hated your grandfather."
He looked at Chen Shi with admiration. "On the contrary, I came to respect him deeply, even revere him.
He was so far ahead—even unaged, he pursued immortality, while I only grasped his actions in my dotage and began seeking it myself. I fell far short of him."
Chen Shi shook his head. "My grandfather didn't pursue immortality. He sought the mysteries of the Dao. Sect Leader Jinghong,
you misunderstood."
Jinghong laughed heartily, shaking his head. "You don't understand Chen Yindu, but I do. Compared to immortality, what are women? What is love? What is the sect leader seat? He cast them all aside—he was a true seeker of the Dao!"
Qingyang sneered coldly. "Jinghong, you misunderstand Chen Yindu. He was a seeker of the Dao, not immortality.
His mind was on developing Dao arts, reviving True King era civilization—even surpassing predecessors and ancients. His obsession with the Grand Dao captivated Qiongyang, made me abandon status to follow him."
Jinghong pondered, then smiled. "Perhaps you're right. But later, Chen Yindu disappointed me. For his grandson's sake, he abandoned the path to immortality, the path to ascension, to fight to the death in Western Capital. He cast everything aside for his grandson, forsaking immortality, forsaking the Dao. He was a failure."
He sneered coldly. "Such a Chen Yindu disgusts me! I will personally verify the path to immortality, personally ascend!
Not only will I ascend—I will lead all of Taihua Azure Palace's Daoists to ascend together! Back then, I lost to him,
but after these years, this time, I won't lose!"
He brimmed with heroic spirit, laughing long and loud. "I found a scroll of Chen Yindu's notes, recording the Golden Cicada Shedding Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram, unearthed from an ancestor's tomb. He compiled this lost art with annotations. His eight-character verdict: 'Side door art, yields false immortals.' He was wrong—utterly wrong."
"Yoo—yoo! I'm one step closer to metamorphosis and ascension!" Martial Uncle Mei's voice came from outside.
It had shed to fawn size; further shedding might erase it from the mortal world.
Daoist Changying looked outside, his primordial spirit peering into the underworld.
These Daoists' flesh transformed, and so did their primordial spirits—shrinking fractionally with each change!
Continued thus, they'd soon shed into nothingness, ceasing to exist!
Yet bizarrely, after five or six transformations, the Taihua Four Elders sprouted cicada-like wings, their shedding pace slowing dramatically—as if truly sloughing impurities toward immortal bodies!
Daoist Changying saw this, and even his steadfast Dao heart wavered. He thought: "Is Master's path truly right? Can he lead our entire sect to ascension?"
Jinghong laughed. "Cultivators shed time and again, purging impurities from flesh and spirit, gradually evolving immortal bodies. Immortal spirits can then merge with the Dao! This was what Chen Yindu missed, but I saw—the knack to becoming immortal. Changying, your master has done greater than Chen Yindu! I will lead you all to merge with heaven and earth, ascending to the immortal realm!"
Daoist Changying frowned, gazing out to see a weaker Daoist shed to infant size—still shedding!
Suddenly, Chen Shi smiled. "Then, Senior Jinghong, having grasped ascension's method, why seek Tianzhen Daoist? Did you perceive flaws in the Golden Cicada Shedding Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram and seek his yin-yang tempering to avert your own evil transformation?"
Jinghong faltered. "Tianzhen Daoist? Who is that?"
Chen Shi's mind reeled, blurting, "The one who burned away the Golden Bell Seal with immortal fire—wasn't that you?"
Jinghong looked puzzled. "What immortal fire?"
Chen Shi pressed, "Tianzhen Daoist was Zhenyang Ancestor's fire-tending boy. He'd cultivated to late Ascension Realm, using yin-yang tempering against evil qi, on the verge of Dao-merger and ascension when slain. You knew nothing of this?"
Jinghong was baffled. "Does Taihua Azure Palace have such a formidable figure?"
In that moment of distraction, Qingyang didn't hesitate. It whirled, seized the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword, and slashed down, shouting, "Changying, Qiongyang—aid me in slaying evil!"