The village beside Shuikou Temple lay in ruins. The netherworld's new territory had torn it apart. Several houses now perched on a high cliff face across a massive fissure. Others hung suspended above the chasm. A few balanced directly over the crack.
Su Yan looked up. The cliff was impossibly straight, and on the far side of the fissure stood another cliff, perfectly matched. The two had once been one mountain, split by a single blade.
Cold wind howled through the gap.
The yin energy here was suffocating. Mountains from the netherworld loomed nearby—some made of stacked bones, crowned by skulls the size of houses. A rusted sword hilt jutted from one massive cranium.
*At night, this place will belong to the ghosts,* Su Yan thought.
Shuikou Temple sat directly on the fissure's center line. The temple gate aligned perfectly with the crack.
Su Yan understood the sword stroke instantly. He could see it in his mind's eye—a blade of impossible power, splitting sky and earth, cleaving a mountain in two.
The closer he approached the temple, the denser the sword intent grew. He could almost feel a sword light piercing his Realm of the Subtle.
More people had gathered than he expected—nuo masters in official robes, others in martial wanderer attire.
"Why so many?" Su Yan asked a nearby wanderer.
The man explained that this new territory held treasures and rare herbs. Another added: "The Zhou Clan and the netherworld court are hunting a criminal named Xu Ying. Word got out that he can decipher yao cultivation arts. The great families sent people to capture him. What's your name, kid?"
"Ding Quan."
The wanderer eyed the massive serpent beside Su Yan and decided not to press further.
Green vines formed a bridge across the fissure, leading to the temple gate. Su Yan crossed it. Near the entrance, a young man studied the crack with measuring tools and brush, sketching its dimensions.
Su Yan approached. The young man looked barely older than him, pale and refined, with delicate features. He wore white robes edged in dark blue, embroidered with faint dragon patterns. No jewelry. Nothing excessive.
An elderly servant in plain clothes stood nearby, watching Su Yan and Yuan Qi with sharp suspicion.
From outside the temple, Su Yan could see the same old courtyard and trees he remembered from two years ago. But when he looked through the gate, the view transformed entirely.
Two towering immortal mountains hung in the sky, wreathed in mist. Behind them, a sun burned bright and cool, orbiting the peaks. A translucent barrier separated this inner world from the outside. Stones that fell inside the barrier floated. Stones that fell outside crashed to earth.
The temple gate was a threshold between two worlds.
"How is this possible?" Su Yan breathed.
Yuan Qi whispered, "Is the world regressing to its primal state?"
The inner world shook. A third mountain tore free from the earth inside the temple, rising into the sky.
Su Yan stared upward. "The world really has gone mad."
Then understanding struck him. "The gate! The swordmaster's blade didn't just split the mountain—it opened a portal to another world! The sun and mountains we see are from that other world!"
"Quiet!" the old servant hissed.
Su Yan ignored him. In the distant past, an unmatched swordmaster had cleaved through a mountain and the earth beneath it, piercing the barrier between worlds. Later, someone had built Shuikou Temple at that gateway.
But the world beyond had been sealed away. Another temple had been built nearby to hide it. Now the netherworld invasion had shattered that seal.
"Uncle Bell, is any of this possible?" Yuan Qi asked.
The great bell hesitated. "Theoretically, yes. But since my birth, I've never heard of anyone transcending tribulation to ascend. The path of Ascension has been blocked. No one can reach immortality anymore. Unless... someone actually broke through the barrier between worlds through sword dao alone?"
"If he ascended, what world did he enter?"
The bell's tone grew solemn. "The Immortal Realm."
Su Yan and Yuan Qi shared a look of pure wonder.
Su Yan studied the fissure, the cliffs, the gate. He traced the sword's trajectory in his mind.
As his connection with the sword case deepened, the sword intent from the great crack seeped into his Realm of the Subtle. The case's sword qi danced with joy.
Su Yan stood motionless before the gate. Yuan Qi started toward him, then froze. Invisible sword qi flickered around Su Yan's body.
Yuan Qi edged closer. Scales sheared off his hide without a sound.
He backed away, heart pounding.
The great bell chimed as a stray sword qi struck it. The bell noticed something extraordinary—a sword light now hung in Su Yan's Realm of the Subtle, bright as a rainbow from heaven.
*Self-taught manifestation of the Great Dao?* The bell shuddered.
The coffin girl had mentioned Visualization and the manifestations of the Great Dao, but she hadn't explained what they were or how to cultivate them. Yet Su Yan had comprehended one on his own, simply by standing before this crack.
Inner visualization was the foundation of cultivation. Su Yan had just taken his first step.
*With just a little guidance, he reached inner visualization. It won't be long before he transforms and shocks the world.* The bell thought, *His talent... compared to my master, he might actually...*
"Little Seven, did you comprehend any manifestation of the Great Dao?" the bell asked privately.
Yuan Qi blinked. "Great what?"
"Never mind. Rest."
The bell rang softly, thinking, *This kid and A-Yan both saw Yuan Tiangang's sword and stood before this same crack. Yet Little Seven sensed nothing. Some people have minds. Others merely possess organs called minds.*
Su Yan's sword intent intensified, spreading outward. A sharp ringing filled the air as his overflowing sword qi collided with another presence.
The refined young man had finished his sketches and was now immersed in his own visualization. His sword qi grew, mingling with Su Yan's. One was wild and domineering. The other was soft and enduring, concealing lethal precision.
Their energies intertwined, clashing and resonating. Neither realized what was happening.
The old servant watched with growing alarm. He saw Su Yan's pressure forcing the young man's visualization to consolidate and deepen. The servant's hand moved toward a concealed weapon, then stilled.
*This boy's comprehension is remarkable. He's actually matching the young master.* The servant's eyes narrowed. *Is he some secretly trained genius from a great clan? His clothes are plain—probably disguised as a country boy. But that bearing... no village child carries himself like that.*
Su Yan wore rough cloth, but his presence was unmistakable—proud as a drawn blade. After killing Jiangjia Village's god and fighting his way through officials, he had shed all fear of authority.
The servant glanced at Yuan Qi. *And that mount. His origins must be extraordinary.*
The two sword intents reached a critical point. The servant prepared to strike, to kill Su Yan before his young master was harmed. Then the great bell rang.
The clashing energies separated.
*A hidden expert!* The servant's hand trembled.
Su Yan opened his eyes. The young man gathered his sketches and turned to enter the temple.
"Wait!" Su Yan called. "I'm Xu Ying. What's your name?"
The young man looked back, bowing politely. "Veyon." He disappeared through the gate with his servant.
"Veyon," Su Yan repeated. He turned to Yuan Qi. "I thought I had grasped the sword dao from this manifestation. But through our exchange, I saw aspects I hadn't comprehended. He's extraordinary."
A bright sword mark now hung in Su Yan's Realm of the Subtle—the manifestation he had comprehended.
"Let's go!" Yuan Qi urged. "While we've been standing here, everyone's gone inside. Wait any longer and they'll strip the place bare!"
Voices echoed from within: "Immortals! There are immortals in the temple!"
Su Yan stepped through the gate. For an instant, he felt something brush against him—unseen, unfelt.
He looked up. Three floating mountains hung in the sky, surrounded by hovering boulders arranged like pearls on a necklace. People were climbing the stones, ascending toward the peaks.
The ground shook violently. Su Yan and Yuan Qi stumbled. Su Yan activated the Titan-Ox Demon Fist, rooting himself like a divine elephant. Yuan Qi wrapped his tail around a tree.
Nearby, spirits and nuo masters caught falling people with vines and roots.
Then the earth beneath them rose. A fourth immortal mountain erupted from the ground, lifting them into the sky!
"We're ascending!" someone screamed. "How do we get down?"
The mountain broke free and soared upward. Floating boulders from the previous mountains collided with it. People who couldn't stabilize themselves were crushed by falling stones or tumbled screaming into the void.
The mountain stabilized at last. Su Yan relaxed his muscles and looked at Yuan Qi, still clinging to his tree.
Below, the ground was impossibly distant. A few falling figures were still screaming, not yet close to landing.
"There's an immortal preaching in the great temple!" a booming voice announced.
Su Yan looked across the floating peaks. Four mountains orbited a magnificent temple complex. People were leaping from stone to stone, racing toward it.
"A-Yan, let's go!" Yuan Qi cried.
Su Yan moved toward the mountain's edge, then stopped.
An old man in purple-black silk stood before him, hands clasped behind his back, face twisted with grief.
"My son died terribly," Zhou Yihang said, his voice cracking between a sob and a laugh.
Su Yan's heart skipped, then steadied. "Old Master Zhou. If your son died so horribly, why don't you go keep him company? I'll send you."