After the Great Dao died

Chapter 100: Victory on the Second and Fifth Floors

As Chen Lingxi gazed at the surging spiritual energy deep within the river, his guesses became increasingly clear.

"Using a coffin as the array's core, and rivers as its network... the scale of Emperor Daye's schemes is truly astounding... Is he also a cultivator from the vast world who has come to seek truth and reach the pinnacle?"

He silently pondered this, then frowned slightly: "But the imperial court has countless powerful figures, and I'm afraid there are at least a handful of them who have reached the Xuan realm! With so many powerful individuals under their command, wouldn't it be as easy as taking candy from a baby to compete for the cauldron?"

"Or perhaps... he's under the control of Consort Chun?"

As he pondered, his Qi observation technique once again focused on the giant coffin that had sunk to the bottom of the river.

The two streams of spiritual energy inside the coffin were still flowing gently, though weak, they had never ceased.

The person inside is not dead.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Lingxi decided to go to the river to take a look first.

"Let's check the cultivation levels of these two cultivators. If their cultivation is weaker than mine and Xi Mu's, then we'll rescue them."

"Why did the eunuch sink the cultivators to the bottom of the river? What is the purpose of this formation? These questions cannot be answered by mere speculation. If we can pry some information out of those two cultivators, we might be able to glean some clues."

Without further hesitation, he changed into black clothes and a mask, then took a step forward, lightly touching the pebble beach with his toes, and his figure swept towards the middle of the river like a wisp of green smoke. While in mid-air, he stretched out his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread, and the pool of spiritual energy in his dantian suddenly surged, a powerful suction force emanating from his palm, which was the "Delta Qi Vortex" of the fifth level of Qi cultivation.

The river water was stirred up by this suction force, and then the waters collided with each other, turning into whirlpools.

The whirlpool grew larger and larger until the water surged and churned.

Chen Lingxi jumped into the hollow of the whirlpool and dragged the giant coffin that had sunk to the bottom of the river onto the riverbank.

The coffin was covered with intricate array patterns. Now that it was out of the water, those patterns emitted a faint, subtle blue light, shimmering in the night.

Chen Lingxi stepped forward, placed his right palm on the coffin lid, and channeled his spiritual energy into it.

"Although this sealing formation is exquisite, it is not particularly profound, and it is far inferior to the Pure and Subtle Qi Array."

After a moment's thought, he found the key point of the formation. He released his inner energy from his palm, and with a crisp "crack," the flowing blue light on the coffin lid shattered inch by inch and dissipated in the night wind.

He lifted the coffin lid.

A strong medicinal smell wafted over.

Chen Lingxi frowned slightly and looked down into the coffin.

Two people lay in the coffin. A man and a woman.

The woman was in her early twenties, with a slender waist that seemed to bend in the wind, a fair complexion with a slight bluish tinge, and an air of gentle grace that was hard to describe.

She wore a plain white dress with some dark water stains on it, and her black hair was spread out below her, making her face appear even whiter.

The man was completely different.

He was extremely muscular, with broad shoulders and a back as thick as a wall; even lying there, he was more than a head taller than the woman.

He wasn't particularly handsome; he had thick eyebrows, big eyes, high cheekbones, and a square jaw, but he was undeniably dashing.

At this moment, his eyes were closed, but his breathing was extremely long, with his chest rising and falling.

Chen Lingxi's gaze fell on the two of them. Under the Qi Observation Technique, the few strands of spiritual Qi in their meridians were still slowly circulating, weak but continuous.

However, the way in which this spiritual energy circulates is quite peculiar.

Ordinary cultivators' spiritual energy circulates continuously throughout their body, forming its own cycle. However, these two can only circulate it weakly. Once too much energy is gathered, it will dissipate and cannot form a complete cycle.

"These two cultivators are at the fifth level of Qi cultivation; they are the materials for setting up the formation."

Chen Lingxi was surprised and looked down at their chests, where she saw two talismans. The talismans were only about an inch square, dark yellow in color, with intricate patterns drawn on them in some kind of dark red ink, and were affixed to their chest acupoints.

The red patterns on the talisman were still glowing faintly, and with each flash, they dispersed the spiritual energy that had just gathered in the bodies of the two people.

"A talisman that seals away spiritual energy," Chen Lingxi murmured to himself.

His gaze shifted from the two talismans and suddenly fell on the bottom of the coffin.

There was a compass at the bottom of the coffin.

The compass was about the size of a palm, cast entirely from some strange metal, with intricate patterns engraved on its surface, which was faintly glowing.

Chen Lingxi recognized it at a glance as the exact same compass that the eunuch had used to set up the formation.

He reached out and picked up the compass, examining it in his palm for a few moments.

When the spiritual energy probed into it, it was discovered that the compass was engraved with dozens of extremely exquisite formations and hand seals, which were quite ingenious and mysterious.

Although it cannot compare to the profound and subtle Qi-manipulating array recorded on the bamboo slip, it is still a rather exquisite array-based magical artifact.

"Not bad." He examined the compass from all angles, familiar with the formations, and knew that this was the key point of the formation. He then casually put it into his Hongdong bag and turned his gaze back to the two people in the coffin.

He reached out and lifted the two men, one in each hand, from the coffins. After walking for a long time, he finally placed them on the riverbank. The pebbles on the riverbank were wet with the night dew, and the wind blowing down from the river carried the scent of water plants and earth.

Chen Lingxi sat down cross-legged beside the two men, not in a hurry, but just waiting quietly.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the burly man's finger twitched first.

His eyelids trembled slightly, and then he slowly opened his eyes.

Like a tiger that had been imprisoned in a cage for a long time, finally seeing the light of day again, the man opened his eyes, his gaze extremely sharp.

A lingering sense of unease remained in the depths of his eyes, yet he was already on high alert.

He saw Chen Lingxi sitting cross-legged beside him, and his body instinctively exerted force, causing his muscles to bulge like blocks of iron.

But then the talisman on his chest suddenly lit up, and an invisible force surged out from it, scattering the power he had just gathered.

He groaned, and his burly body slumped back onto the pebble beach, panting heavily.

Just then, the woman woke up.

She opened her eyes, blinked, and a very faint mist rose in her eyes, which were like autumn water. Then she turned her head and saw the burly man beside her, the ghost mask on Chen Ling's face as he sat cross-legged not far away, and the open giant coffin on the riverbank.

Chen Lingxi and the other man observed each other's reactions but did not urge them. Instead, Chen Lingxi took a water pouch from his Hongdong bag and handed it to the man. The man hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take the water pouch.

He took the water pouch, but instead of drinking from it, he struggled to sit up and brought the pouch to the woman's lips, feeding her a few sips.

Chen Lingxi observed all of this without changing her expression, simply waiting quietly.

After another fifteen minutes or so, the breathing of the two people finally stabilized a bit.

The burly man struggled to sit up, and the woman also gathered her disheveled black hair. The two looked at each other, then struggled to stand up at the same time and bowed deeply to Chen Lingxi.

"My name is Jiang Xing, and this is Xu Qingru." The burly man's voice was deep and resonant: "We were harmed by villains and sealed in coffins. If it weren't for your rescue, we would have been trapped and died in those coffins."

"I am deeply grateful and cannot express my thanks. May I ask your esteemed name?"

Chen Lingxi accepted the greeting, nodded slightly, and said, "I happened to be passing by this place and saw something unusual in this coffin, so I picked it up to take a look."

Xu Qingru raised her eyes, her gaze lingering on Chen Lingxi's face for a moment before she suddenly bowed gracefully, her voice soft and weak: "I will never forget your life-saving grace."

Chen Ling waved his hand dismissively, his gaze falling on the two talismans on their chests. He asked, "Is your spiritual energy sealed?"

Jiang Xing and Xu Qingru's expressions changed slightly as they looked Chen Lingxi up and down.

Jiang Xing smiled somewhat awkwardly: "So you're a fellow practitioner too!" He then gave a bitter laugh, looking down at the dark yellow talisman on his chest, a hint of hatred flashing in his eyes: "A villain's trick! This talisman seals our Qi Sea, preventing the circulation of spiritual Qi. Our Qi Sea is like stagnant water, unable to be activated even slightly."

Xu Qingru bit her lip, and tears welled up in her eyes.

She was already beautiful, and now, with tears welling up in her eyes, she looked even more pitiful.

She raised her head, looking at Chen Lingxi, her voice pleading, "Brother Dao, we have been trapped for so long, our spiritual energy sealed, it is truly unbearable. I wonder if you... could use your spiritual energy to remove this talisman for us?"

As if afraid Chen Lingxi would refuse, she quickly added, "If you can help us, we would like to offer a spirit stone as a token of our gratitude."

Spirit stone.

These two words touched Chen Lingxi's ears and stirred something within him.

He remained expressionless, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.

Jiang Xing clasped his hands and said, "We have nothing left on us, but we have some savings in our cave in Lunan Prefecture. We are willing to ask you to lend us your strength."

Chen Lingxi narrowed her eyes slightly.

Now that the coffin was no longer a cover, his Qi observation method allowed him to clearly see through their Qi seas.

"Both of you are at the fifth level of Qi cultivation..." Not far away, Xi Mu lurked in the shadows.

"They won't cause any trouble. If they harbor ill intentions, they can take a look at what I've been working on for days..."

Chen Lingxi snorted inwardly and nodded slightly: "Okay."

He stood up, walked to Jiang Xing, extended his right hand, his index and middle fingers joined together like a sword, the tips of his fingers flashing with a blue light.

He used the Azure Edge Technique to condense that incomparably sharp spiritual energy into an extremely fine and minute form, like an invisible needle, and carefully pierced the center of the talisman on Jiang Xing's chest.

The dark red patterns on the talisman suddenly lit up, emitting a very faint hissing sound, as if it were putting up a stubborn resistance.

But the sharpness of the Azure Edge Technique was so keen that in just a few breaths, the red light on the talisman was torn apart inch by inch by the azure light, and the talisman itself turned into a clump of fine ash, which was blown away by the night wind and disappeared without a trace.

As soon as the talisman was removed, Jiang Xing's body suddenly trembled.

The severed spiritual energy within his body surged wildly in his dantian like water bursting its banks.

His aura surged at a visible speed, and in an instant, he regained some of the composure befitting a cultivator from a severely injured person who could barely sit up.

Chen Lingxi then did the same thing again, removing the talisman from Xu Qingru's chest.

A sliver of color finally returned to Xu Qingru's face. Her spiritual energy circulated around her, and her beautiful face appeared even more radiant and jade-like in the moonlight. Their spiritual energy gradually increased, and they slowly recovered.

Jiang Xing stretched his muscles and bones, which cracked and popped.

Xu Qingru took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and carefully wiped the water stains and dirt off her face, behaving like a wealthy young lady.

The two bowed to Chen Lingxi again, this time with even greater formality than before.

Xu Qingru's beautiful eyes sparkled as her gaze swept over Chen Lingxi, then she suddenly asked, "Brother Dao, may I ask where you come from?"

Chen Lingxi rolled his eyes, relaxed his concealment technique, and revealed his cultivation level, saying only, "I come from a small clan, not worth mentioning, and am not some great immortal clan."

He deliberately relaxed his spiritual energy a bit, releasing a little of the energy from the pool of spiritual energy in his dantian.

A faint glimmer of light flashed in Xu Qingru's eyes. She smiled, and her beautiful face became even more radiant and captivating.

She seemed to sense the fluctuations in Chen Lingxi's spiritual energy and knew Chen Lingxi's cultivation level.

A glint of light flashed in Jiang Xing's eyes.

The three sat down, and Jiang Xing and Xu Qingru circulated their spiritual energy until they recovered.

Suddenly, Xu Qingru burst into tears. Chen Lingxi remained unmoved, only slightly frowning, and asked, "Why is Fellow Daoist Xu weeping?"

Xu Qingru covered her face while crying, her voice broken: "Brother Dao...you don't know...Jiang Xing and I have our own unavoidable difficulties."

She raised her tearful eyes and looked at Chen Lingxi, her eyes filled with shame: "In the realm of Qilessness, opportunities are hard to find."

My senior brother Jiang Xing, from the Jiang family of Chu Tianxing, and I have wasted many years in this grotto, yet we have never had the chance to ascend the tower.

"Later, we had to sacrifice to the Taotie urn, a fragment of a cauldron, to gain the power to devour life force and consume the Qi of cultivators to aid our cultivation."

The Life-Devouring Divine Power allows one to devour the Qi of cultivators.

These words reached Chen Lingxi's ears, but he remained seated, saying nothing more.

Xu Qingru continued speaking, her voice trembling with tears.

"Brother Dao is our savior, but we have been sealed in coffins by that villain [Yun Jiao] for several months. If it weren't for Brother Dao, we would surely be dead."

However… the Great Dao is one of contention! If we do not contend within this grotto-heaven, we will have no chance to seize the cauldron.

"Brother Dao... For this reason, we two have no choice but to take your life and devour your Qi."

"I...I cried out of shame." Chen Lingxi asked with some curiosity, "Fellow Daoist Xu seems like a lady from a prominent family."

"However, fellow Daoist used magic amidst this crying, deliberately pairing terrifying words with mind-stealing magic to try and disturb my mind. I don't see any shame in that."

Xu Qingru was taken aback, probably not expecting that Chen Lingxi had seen through her magic and seemed completely unaffected by the [Disruptive Mind Technique].

But then, at this very moment!

Jiang Xing, who was standing to the side, made a move in an instant!

Jiang Xing's burly body suddenly swelled up.

He was already more than a head taller than the average person, and now his body swelled up to ten feet tall, his muscles bulging like cast iron, stretching his soaked clothes until they were about to burst.

A very faint, subtle stone-like sheen rose from the surface of his skin, as if he were wearing an invisible suit of rock armor.

He took a step forward, and the pebbles under his feet shattered inch by inch, leaving a deep pit several inches deep in the riverbed.

He was like a stone giant emerging from the mountains, carrying a terrifying aura capable of destroying cities and fortresses, and he charged straight at Chen Lingxi!

Xu Qingru was still kneeling on the ground, covering her face and crying, when a strand of hair fell out and turned into a sharp needle, stabbing towards Chen Lingxi's brow!

Chen Ling's expression remained unchanged. Almost at the same instant Jiang moved, he bent his knees and leaped up!

Pebbles flew up like rain beneath his feet, and he shot out diagonally like an arrow released from a bow. His vortex of qi suddenly erupted, and a thick stream of air surged from beneath his feet, lifting his body up into the air. He leaped more than ten feet and landed lightly on a small sand dune not far away.

He stood on the hill, a sword at his waist, looking down at the stone giant rampaging across the mountain path, a smile playing on his lips.

"It seems the cultivation world is quite cruel, and outsiders cannot be trusted."

As he said this, his right hand was already on the hilt of the legendary sword at his waist.

The moment the blade was drawn from its sheath, the world was suddenly illuminated.

The pale gold patterns on the blade seemed to be ignited, with tiny, hair-like bolts of lightning shooting out from the patterns, hissing and winding along the blade.

After Thunder, comes Azure Edge.

After stepping into the fifth floor of the Qi Circulation, the power of the Azure Edge Technique is no longer comparable to that of the past. The azure light has transformed into a solid, sword-like blade several feet long, emanating from the blade!

Following Qingfeng is Zizhenbaoqi.

Purple light burst forth from his mouth, clinging to the blade and intertwining with the thunder and azure light, condensing into a nearly tangible three-colored blade.

He raised his other hand as well. Jade-colored blood and energy erupted from the depths of his bones, and he pushed the power of the Mountain Collapse Technique to its limit, alternately activating the blood and energy transport techniques of the Sea Stabilizing Stance and the Jade Severing Stance.

At the same time, the spiritual pool in his dantian surged like boiling water, and a mysterious golden aura rose from the pool, merging with the spiritual energy, the sword intent, and every inch of his muscles and flesh.

With the blessing of the profound energy, the Dragon Cry technique has reached the intermediate level.

"Ha!"

He opened his mouth and let out a low hoarse sound.

The sound seemed casual, but it was unusually deep and powerful, as if a true dragon coiled beneath the river was slowly awakening from a hundred-year slumber, letting out a low, dissatisfied roar from its throat!

As the sound passed, visible ripples spread wildly in all directions.

Jiang Xing's mountain-like figure, which was rushing up the hill, suddenly stopped at this sound!

For the first time, a hint of horror flashed across his murderous eyes.

This shout contained a power that made his entire spiritual energy tremble.

That level of power was far beyond what ordinary cultivators at the fifth level of Qi cultivation could achieve!

Then, he awoke. He was suddenly jolted awake: "Such a powerful technique... This technique, executed at the fifth level of Qi cultivation, possesses such divine power; it must have transcended the [Initial Realm] and advanced to the [Subtle Realm]!"

He wanted to quit.

However, his spiritual energy had already been shaken into a state of dormancy for a moment by the Dragon's Cry technique, so it was too late.

Chen Lingxi's knife has already struck!

At this moment, the three-colored blade of the Slaughtering Gold Saber shone brightest, with purple, blue, and gold intertwining and swirling, drawing a magnificent yet terrifying arc of light in the night.

The slash was incredibly fast; Jiang Xing didn't even have time to raise his petrified arms to block before the blade had already pierced his chest.

Moreover, the Azure Edge Technique...

Both belong to the realm of "Medium Micro"!

Under the sharp glint of the blade, Jiang Xing's stone armor was silently cleaved open!

The blade continued to advance, cutting through the skin, ribs, and into the internal organs.

Thunder exploded in the wound, burning flesh to charcoal.

The azure light churned within his meridians, shattering his spiritual energy into pieces. Meanwhile, the Purple True Treasure Qi, like an invisible blade, pierced straight into his dantian.

Jiang Xing was trembling violently.

His eyes suddenly widened as he desperately channeled his spiritual energy, but Chen Lingxi's blade had already slashed down again from another direction.

The second blow was aimed at his neck!

With a flash of light, a fine head rolled off the neck, blood spurting out!

Its body collapsed with a thud, crashing onto the riverbank and sending up a spray of pebbles and water.

Xu Qingru's crying stopped abruptly, her spiritual energy already surging.

That head of long, black hair suddenly grew out as if it were alive!

Under the infusion of spiritual energy, the three thousand strands of black hair stretched taut like steel needles, and strangely grew longer, emitting an extremely sharp sound as they shot towards Chen Lingxi in a dense, overwhelming rush.

The force of the attack was so fierce, like a black storm that seemed to be turning Chen Lingxi into a sieve.

At the same time, she opened her mouth, pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and her spiritual energy surged in her throat. A pale green light shot out from between her lips and teeth.

The beam of light was as thin as a chopstick, yet its speed was astonishing. It struck first, arriving before Chen Lingxi's brow. Chen Lingxi, however, didn't even flinch.

His right hand remained on the hilt of the Golden Slaughtering Saber, while his left hand rose and casually made a grasping motion forward.

The vortex in the sea of ​​qi erupted, and the numerous strands of spiritual qi paused slightly in the void.

At the same time, a spirit arrow pierced through the air and collided with the spiritual light that Xu Qingru shot out, creating a loud booming sound!

Chen Lingxi took a step forward.

The vortex in the sea of ​​qi erupted once again, and at the same time, the thick jade qi and blood surged into circulation!

He swept across more than ten feet like an elongated shadow, closing in on Xu Qingru.

Xu Qingru's pupils contracted sharply. She wanted to retreat, but how could her reaction be as fast as Chen Lingxi's knife?

A flash of light.

The Azure Edge Technique was activated once again.

The sixth move of the Slaying Evil Blade Technique: Fatal Strike!

The Demon Slayer's Blade lightly grazed her right arm, leaving a faint trail of blood. Xu Qingru's entire right arm was severed at the shoulder, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

Xu Qingru let out a miserable cry as her spiritual energy dissipated, and she fell backward, crashing heavily onto the pebbles on the riverbank. Blood gushed from her severed arm, staining the pebbles beneath her a dark red.

"This person has also cultivated Qi and Blood!" Xu Qingru was heartbroken: "The micro-realm technique is rich in spiritual Qi, and he has also cultivated a body full of jade Qi and Blood!"

"We are both at the fifth level of the Spiritual Qi realm, yet we cannot defeat him!"

Chen Lingxi sheathed his sword and looked down at her.

But some doubts remained in my heart.

"These two Qi Circulation Level 5 cultivators are rather weak."