The Detailed Explanation of the True Dao Mechanism was not a demon art—Yuan Qi couldn't understand it. Frustrated, his tailtip scratched his face. He could only commit it to memory, but his memory wasn't great either.
By the time the white-robed immortal finished reciting the entire text, Yuan Qi was still staring blankly.
The immortal finished speaking and fell silent, waiting for everyone to contemplate.
Yuan Qi summoned his courage, raising his tail high. "Immortal Master, I can't learn that mechanism explanation. Do you have any simpler techniques? Martial arts would work too. I'm not destined for immortality—something basic will do."
The white-robed immortal gazed at his nose with half-closed eyes, unmoved.
Yuan Qi was determined to gain immortal fortune and refused to let the opportunity slip. He clamored and pleaded, disturbing everyone else's meditation.
The immortal finally opened his eyes: "You wretched snake, stop making noise. I'll give you a martial technique suitable for your kind." He tossed down a scroll. "We have no destiny together. Begone."
Yuan Qi hurriedly picked up the scroll, flipped it open with his tail, and saw the title: True Cultivation of the Ba Snake. "Immortal Master, the Ba Snake and I are different species. It's a Ba Snake, I'm a Yuan Snake. If I practice Ba Snake techniques, my kin will mock me."
The immortal's lips twitched in irritation. He tossed down another scroll. "Here—Dragon Snake Hibernation Art. Take it and leave."
Yuan Qi accepted the Dragon Snake Hibernation Art, found it perfectly suited him—far superior to his ancestral Elephant-Force Ox-Demon Fist—and was overjoyed. "Immortal Master, I love reading. Could you also give me that True Cultivation of the Ba Snake?"
The immortal waved his sleeve dismissively.
Yuan Qi kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming: "No one has ever been so kind to me. Immortal Master, you are my second parent. Let me kowtow a few more times as a formal greeting."
The immortal quietly clenched his fist, then unclenched it. "You are dutiful. Good. Now go."
Yuan Qi wiped his tears with his tailtip and slithered toward the exit.
The immortal exhaled in relief—then watched the shameless snake slither back.
Rage flared in the immortal's chest. He barely restrained himself from killing the creature: "What now?"
Yuan Qi grinned apologetically: "Immortal Master, I just remembered I have a good friend outside who couldn't get in. He's clever and sharp—you'd surely like him. I took the liberty of accepting him as your disciple on your behalf. Could you give me another scroll of scripture? I'll bring it to him so he can cultivate and remember your kindness."
The immortal nearly leaped to his feet but held himself back, chuckling: "You wretched snake are quite loyal. Fine—I'll grant you a destiny today. Anything you don't understand in the Detailed Explanation of the True Dao Mechanism, I'll explain to you personally. I'll make sure you learn it!"
Yuan Qi was overjoyed and kowtowed: "Disciple understands nothing at all."
The immortal suppressed his anger, determined to teach the creature—to lead it to its own death. He smiled: "Then I shall begin from the very start!"
* * *
On the immortal mountain, Xu Ying insisted on heading to the great temple. The Great Bell relented and followed.
Ahead, the sounds of violent combat echoed. Xu Ying quickened his pace and saw a revived deity statue on a killing spree.
Several Yongzhou officials lay dead. Others were fighting the statue desperately.
These were prefectural officials after all—their cultivation was formidable, their Nuo sorcery profound. What surprised Xu Ying was one official carrying a large mask on his back, behaving most strangely.
The mask was bizarre—its face was deathly pale, with large eyes, a long tongue, and rows of sharp teeth. It resembled the Wuchang Ghost of Nether legend.
The official donned the Wuchang mask. The moment it touched his face, countless flesh tendrils grew from its edges, burrowing into his skin and fusing with his flesh!
His body was seized by the power flooding from the mask. He grew rapidly, becoming toweringly thin and tall—over a zhang six, emaciated but filled with extraordinary strength!
A tongue dangled from his mouth, drooping two or three feet long!
Once the mask was on, a wave of yin wind radiated outward from him. He was no longer human but something like a Nether spirit—the Wuchang Ghost!
His Nuo sorcery transformed as well, now carrying a chilling ghostly aura that targeted the soul. He struck the deity statue, wounding its spirit, forcing it back.
But the statue was extraordinarily powerful. A third eye sat in its forehead, it rode upon a black tortoise, wore golden armor, and its incense energy—converted to divine power—was incredibly vast, even denser than the deity that had chased Xu Ying earlier!
Incense energy coiled around it. The thoughts of ten thousand faithful hummed and resonated, forming physical golden characters that merged with the incense energy and transformed into flowing ribbons!
It retreated a few steps, and its third eye shot forth divine light—*pfft*—nearly bisecting the Wuchang-masked official.
The tortoise beneath it was equally savage—moving at astonishing speed, utterly unlike a typical sluggish tortoise. It carried the deity into battle, unstoppable!
The tortoise's massive jaws snapped shut, cutting through metal and stone, crushing both person and artifact!
Using his Celestial Eye, Xu Ying could detect numerous discontinuities in the deity's divine power—many weaknesses. The tortoise had them too.
"But even if I can see these weaknesses, I'd be killed before I could get close enough to strike." The gap between them was too vast—technique alone couldn't bridge it.
Suddenly, an official was sent flying, crashing near Xu Ying.
It was the Wuchang-masked official—now only half a body. The mask had fallen from his face and rolled to Xu Ying's feet.
The official lay on the ground, staring blankly at Xu Ying, barely breathing. His lips moved: "Save me..."
*SPLAT!*
A massive foot descended, crushing him to paste!
The tortoise carried the three-eyed deity forward, having stomped the half-dead official.
The tortoise's face was savage. Following the official's dying gaze, it spotted nothing and snorted before marching uphill.
Xu Ying and the Great Bell hid in a nearby ravine. Xu Ying clutched the Wuchang mask, eyes wide, holding his breath until the tortoise and three-eyed deity disappeared before gasping deeply.
The Great Bell was trembling too.
Xu Ying stood and climbed from the ravine. Bodies lay everywhere—every official had been slaughtered. Not one had escaped!
"Strong—too strong!"
Xu Ying frowned. Many statues had revived, and they were terrifyingly powerful. Reaching the great temple would not be easy.
"Also—what is this mask? Why does it change one's body shape when worn?"
Xu Ying examined the Wuchang mask, remembering how the official had transformed into a Nether spirit upon donning it. He thought: "Yuan Qi is well-read. If he were here, he'd know what this is."
He strapped the Wuchang mask to his back and looked skyward. Several of the boulder-chains were patrolled by spirits.
Xu Ying looked into the distance—another boulder-chain lay ahead, though he couldn't tell if spirits guarded it. He headed that way, but another wave of terrifying Nuo sorcery erupted, more devastating than before—the shockwave toppled entire groves!
Xu Ying crept closer. The three-eyed deity on the tortoise was fighting again—this time against a middle-aged man!
"One of the Governor's top officials!" Xu Ying's heart jumped.
Governor Zhou Heng had sent this man to hunt him down, so Xu Ying remembered him well.
The official was named Zhou Zheng. He released a roar that shook mountains and charged at the three-eyed deity—suddenly transforming into a golden-winged great roc! Feathers became blades, slashing at the deity!
His cultivation far surpassed Zhou Yihang's. Zhou Yihang had received the Zhou family's true teachings, but not the supreme transmission. Zhou Zheng clearly had.
In his golden roc form, he could wound the deity. Soaring overhead, wings beating, he struck from above—wings, golden feathers, and talons raining down!
His wings, feathers, and talons were devastatingly fierce!
After several exchanges, the three-eyed deity bore multiple wounds. Its third eye suddenly opened—a blinding radiance slashed out, severing the golden roc's wings with a hiss!
Zhou Zheng plummeted, golden feathers scattering. Mid-fall, muscles erupted across his body—he transformed into a towering golden ape over several zhang tall, descending from the sky!
The ape was covered in golden fur, with copper sinews, iron bones, and a steel forehead. In close combat, it battered even the tortoise, breaking its bones and forcing it back!
The three-eyed deity tried its third eye again, shooting divine light at the ape.
Zhou Zheng suddenly dispersed the ape form. He shook his body—golden scales burst from beneath his skin, and he became a dragon-headed giant, feet treading lightning, carrying the azure sky upon his back.
The deity's divine light struck him but was reflected in all directions by his gleaming dragon scales, shredding the earth and forest but failing to cut him.
Zhou Zheng raised his hand. Lightning gathered beneath his palm, forming a blade. With a crack, he severed the three-eyed deity's head!
"Killing so many of my Yongzhou sons—death is too lenient!"
Zhou Zheng stamped down, crushing the tortoise to pieces.
Xu Ying held his breath, not daring to move. The Great Bell barely dared to breathe. This Yongzhou Judicial Adjutant was far more powerful than Zhou Yihang.
Zhou Zheng's voice rang out: "Where exactly is this Xu Ying hiding? Five immortal mountains—such a vast area, with numerous revived deities. Tracking him down is troublesome! Grass-and-Tree Soldier!"
He suddenly roared and stamped down, erupting with Nuo sorcery.
Xu Ying heard the shout and knew trouble was coming. A wave of vibrant life exploded from Zhou Zheng's position in all directions—wherever it passed, every plant ripped itself from the earth!
Wild grass, flowers, shrubs, and great trees—all gained life. Grass became small figures in green robes and pointed caps; flowers became thumb-sized girls in straw hats; shrubs grew thorned armor and loped like wolves; great trees became treants crowned with lush canopies.
They surged like a tide in all directions, searching for Xu Ying.
In the next moment, countless green-robed, pointed-cap figures were looking up at him. Straw-hat girls ran over, their dark eyes blinking as they stared.
Xu Ying pointed into the distance, signaling them.
The little figures didn't fall for it, chattering: "Yigu yigu!"
One straw-hat girl produced a tiny portrait, held it up, compared it to Xu Ying twice, then checked the image again.
Xu Ying leaned in and looked—it was indeed him. He whispered: "That person isn't me. See? My clothes have a hole here, but his don't."
The green-robed figures and straw-hat girls chattered briefly, then all turned to look behind him.
Xu Ying's heart lurched. He straightened: "Old Bell, is that Yongzhou official standing behind me?"
The Great Bell sounded a single, muffled tone.
Xu Ying smiled and turned slowly—sure enough, the Yongzhou Judicial Adjutant Zhou Zheng stood nearby, watching him with lazy amusement.
"I thought I'd fooled these little grass and flower folk. I didn't realize all the trees between us had run away," Xu Ying thought bitterly.
Zhou Zheng had deployed the Grass-and-Tree Soldier Art. All nearby vegetation had uprooted themselves. The dense forest that once separated them had vanished—every tree transformed into a treant and marched off. Zhou Zheng could clearly see the suspect Xu, bent over and deceiving the flowers and grass.
"Suspect Xu, what do you have to say for yourself?" Zhou Zheng was leisurely self-satisfied.
Xu Ying burst into laughter and bolted. In an instant, he reached the immortal mountain's edge and leaped off!
Zhou Zheng rushed to the edge and looked down. There was Xu—riding a copper bell nearly as tall as a man, drifting through the air. The bell struggled to fly, inching slowly toward the great temple.
Zhou Zheng laughed. His body transformed—becoming a bird-headed human with golden wings, a celestial roc-deity. He spread his wings lightly and glided unhurriedly after Xu Ying.
Xu Ying desperately activated the Primordial Unity Guiding Art. The half-acre light field above his head blazed ever brighter, swelling to a full acre—a considerable celestial phenomenon.
Zhou Zheng was unimpressed: "Xu Ying, even if you restore your cultivation, you're still nothing to me. Why bother?"
Then his expression shifted. He realized Xu Ying's true intent: "He's not restoring his cultivation—he's using the celestial phenomenon as a beacon, signaling his location!"
The moment he understood, he saw streams of cyan incense energy surging toward him from the sky. Before they arrived, they transformed into razor-sharp flying swords of terrifying power, slashing at him!
Zhou Zheng traced the swords to their source. There stood the City Gods of Ningyuan, Dongning, Daozhou, Jiangyong, and Lanshan, riding auspicious clouds, closing in!
Before the City Gods themselves arrived, their swords reached first—purely to prevent Zhou Zheng from capturing Xu Ying!
Zhou Zheng seethed. Golden wings flared as feathers bristled and flew to counter the City Gods' swords, leaving him unable to extricate himself.
He glanced sideways and saw Xu Ying riding the bell, drifting slowly toward the great temple.
"That bastard's retreating silhouette is infuriating!" He felt a surge of helpless frustration.