After the Great Dao died

Two bright mirrors hang high in the sky.

After killing three thousand people, Chen Ling let the black banner devour the thick blood energy in the battlefield, then rode the clouds and mist, heading straight into the distance.

Heading far away to Qinghua Prefecture!

The reason he never returned to the Twelve Mountains of Nanju was that the Purple-Clad Marquis had somehow discovered his whereabouts.

The remaining mysterious power around him is getting weaker and weaker. Once he returns to the fighting strength of the Ninth Floor of Qi Circulation, he may not be able to resist if the imperial court makes a comeback.

The Eastern King of Qinghua Prefecture was still alive. Unlike the last time when he underwent the transformation of Chejue, Chen Lingxi did not make a high-profile trip by breaking through the clouds with the Longevity Bridge, but instead quietly left using the Concealed Edge Technique.

The Eastern King was unaware of his presence.

If the imperial court wants to take action in Qinghua Prefecture, it also needs to consider Xiao Changlu and the many powerful figures under his command.

More importantly... Qinghua Prefecture is much closer to his next target.

And so, Chen Ling returned to Qinghua Prefecture, found a desolate mountain, carved out a cave dwelling, and sat cross-legged there.

His consciousness slowly descended into the black banner, where extremely mysterious and unfathomable filth and mystery still flowed slowly.

The mysterious man with an air of otherworldly grace sat cross-legged within this filthy mystery. This filthy mystery was also imbued with a thick aura of blood, which likely originated from the three thousand people Chen Lingxi had just killed.

At this moment, the mysterious man smiled as he sensed Chen Lingxi's divine sense flowing towards him. He remained silent and suddenly snapped his fingers.

Immediately afterwards, a series of profound and indescribable messages slowly flowed into Chen Ling's mind.

Chen Lingxi's expression changed slightly.

A profound and mysterious technique lies within it.

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged, carefully comprehending the profound technique in his mind, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

"[Imperial Edict to Daozhen]!"

"A method for physical reshaping."

Chen Ling's spiritual potential, coupled with the spiritual light bestowed upon him by the mysterious person, has not yet completely faded.

His aptitude was extremely high at this moment, and he was able to digest this profound technique very quickly.

More importantly, this method of physical reshaping is extremely extraordinary, yet it seems remarkably easy to understand.

It possessed the grandeur of the four characters "The Great Way is in the Book of Changes." Thus, Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged, comprehending the profound methods contained in the Imperial Edict of the Dao.

The imperial edict to the Daoist master, upon examining the name, appears rather obscure and difficult to understand.

Although this technique is extremely profound, it is not difficult to understand. The so-called "Imperial Edict to the Daoist Master" means to pay homage to the Daoist Master and transform oneself.

"This method records that one can construct one's own skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and internal organs into a series of inner divine palaces."

Within this palace complex, one can visualize and enshrine a powerful being or a mythical beast.

Using the aura of this powerful being and spirit beast, he transformed his own body, making it as formidable as that being and spirit beast.

"The more detailed one's understanding of that powerful being and that spirit beast, and the more detailed one's visualization, the greater the benefit to oneself."

Chen Lingxi's eyes flickered.

"It's as if there's a real dragon right before me right now. The real dragon soars through the nine heavens, roars through the void, its mouth burns with dragon flames, and its eyes shine with divine light."

I visualized this true dragon, and its skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and internal organs underwent a qualitative change. It could also ignite dragon flames in its mouth and emit divine light from its eyes. Without needing to use any cloud-riding techniques, it could control the clouds and soar through the nine heavens.

As Chen Lingxi pondered this, she felt that this technique was truly too profound.

If one can cultivate this method and achieve some success, one's physical strength will inevitably become incredibly powerful. At that time, it will not be difficult for someone at the ninth level of Qi cultivation to fight against someone at the eleventh level of Qi cultivation. Chen Lingxi was pondering this.

But the mysterious Taoist priest, with his otherworldly air, seemed to have already absorbed enough blood and energy.

The smile on his face slowly faded, and he lightly flicked his sleeve.

In an instant, everything around seemed to turn into an illusion, just like ripples rising in the water, flowing and undulating layer by layer.

At that moment, Chen Lingxi's wisp of divine consciousness dissipated from the black banner.

Chen Lingxi slowly opened her eyes, sensing the black banner in the Hongdong bag.

Then, his expression suddenly changed, and a look of surprise and doubt appeared on his face.

He could clearly sense that the black banner in his Hongdong bag was slowly disappearing inch by inch.

From existence to nothingness, not even scattered into ashes, but simply vanished completely from the Hongdong Bag.

"Breaking through the void, and departing?"

Chen Lingxi was greatly surprised. This mysterious person was too strange. He quietly appeared from the black banner. He had only harvested the blood essence of three thousand people, and this person had already left.

"In that case, wouldn't all my efforts in cultivating the Divine Awakening have been wasted?" Chen Lingxi shook his head with some emotion. "This mysterious person has profound cultivation, yet he is also a person who keeps his promises. It is my good fortune to have met such a person and to be able to cultivate the Imperial Edict of the Dao."

"On the contrary, I was the one who judged the gentleman by my own petty standards."

As Chen Lingxi pondered this, she suddenly frowned.

It's all too coincidental.

As he sought the killing power cauldron, the mysterious figure within the black banner quietly awoke, aiding him with a ray of spiritual light to wreak havoc in all directions.

Now I have so easily obtained the profound physical supernatural power of the Imperial Edict of the Dao, as if... all these opportunities were waiting for him.

"Am I truly one of those people with extraordinary opportunities, as described in historical novels?"

Chen Lingxi touched her chin and smiled.

"I won't think too much about it. I'm just a local from a grotto-heaven, and my cultivation hasn't even reached the Chaotian Realm yet. I still have to struggle for a way to survive."

How could someone as insignificant as me be worth the scheming of that mysterious person?

"However, one should always be wary of others..."

Chen Lingxi looked up at the void, where two bright mirrors still hung high in the sky. "In the Chejue Divine Chamber, I offered three thousand lives as a sacrifice for this mysterious person in order to obtain the True Edict of the Dao."

So what about in the present world?

Chen Lingxi lowered her head and thought for a moment, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.

"Since this person is so mysterious, if he wants to attack me, I have no power to stop him."

If that's the case, in reality, I might as well sacrifice three thousand lives for this mysterious person, but... I might as well try to bargain with him.

In exchange for other opportunities... such as the method to leave this grotto-heaven...

Chen Lingxi made up his mind and closed his eyes to carefully study the imperial edict!

"Among the edicts issued to Dao Zhen, there was also a diagram of a Dharma image."

Chen Lingxi closed his eyes and pondered, but saw that the image of the Dharma was extremely blurry, only a rough outline, and the figure engraved on it was only a back view.

The figure radiated light, and seemed to be filled with profound mysteries.

"The Scroll Inviting the Great Sage to Pay Homage to the Dao..."

Chen Lingxi sensed the extremely blurry Dharma image and slowly nodded. "If there are no powerful beings or spiritual beasts of heaven and earth who can visualize it, then one can visualize this blurry image of the Great Sage Inviting Heaven to Pay Homage to the Dao."

Although the image of the Great Sage was blurry, Chen Lingxi could still sense the immense power hidden within it, which was definitely extraordinary.

If one contemplates this image of the Great Sage, one can also transform one's physical body.

"It is only such a blurry image of a back view that can be used for contemplation of the Daoist edict. I wonder who this Great Sage Inviting Heaven is."

"If I could personally witness such a powerful being, contemplate such a powerful being, and have this Great Sage of Inviting Heaven enshrined in the inner divine palace built by the Imperial Edict of the Dao, my physical cultivation would surely advance by leaps and bounds."

"In any case, I have gained a lot from this competition for the championship."

Chen Lingxi sat cross-legged in the cave.

The ten days of enlightenment have not yet passed in a single day.

This time, Chen Lingxi will naturally have to make a trip to the Ancestral Mountain to activate his Thorough Enlightenment Divine Power.

"Yuanjiang Prefecture is very close to the capital. That's why I killed someone and fled to Qinghua Prefecture."

"I still don't know if the Great Li Dynasty knows my location. If I go there rashly, and there are powerful figures lying in ambush, I'm afraid I'll waste this opportunity to awaken."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Lingxi used his Traveling Divine Power. His consciousness entered the divine sense, then transformed into a wisp of smoke, traveling hundreds of miles away, heading straight for the imperial palace.

Deep within the imperial palace, in that magnificent palace complex.

Emperor Daye sat on his throne, his aura somewhat weak, and he seemed to have aged a bit.

Inside the palace, the Purple-Clad Marquis and Yuan Yuan were sitting cross-legged, their eyes closed as they healed their injuries.

From Emperor Daye's perspective, the surrounding spiritual energy threads coiled and intertwined, resembling a grand formation.

The two powerful cultivators sat in the center of the array, their spiritual energy flowing into their bodies, repairing their flesh and replenishing their blood and energy with a unique power.

Although these two did not practice Qi cultivation, Emperor Daye was healing them using a mysterious method.

Chen Lingxi waited patiently until the game was shattered.

Chen Lingxi rested for an hour. At this time, the spiritual power in his body had not completely dissipated. Fearing that he might miss something, he forcibly circulated the Vision and Wandering Divine Power again, letting the needle-like pain in his mind fall into the Vision and Wandering Divine Power.

Chen Ling's consciousness returned to the palace, where she heard Yuan Yuan speaking.

"That Chen Lingxi... has always concealed his abilities. His supernatural powers and techniques are extremely diverse, and his origins are unknown."

Yuan Yuan was not wearing a mask at this moment. Chen Lingxi, seeing Yuan Yuan's face from the perspective of Emperor Daye, was immediately startled.

"Crown Prince Ying Chi?"

Chen Ling took a deep breath.

Chen Lingxi still clearly remembered that Crown Prince Ying Chi died at his hands, at the Twelve Southern Mountains.

At that time, Crown Prince Ying Chi believed himself to be a reincarnated person from the Southern Heaven Domain, and came here to seek the truth and attain the pinnacle.

Chen Lingxi thought that the Crown Prince Ying Chi's mind had been implanted with the memories of Zhuo Fengxiu, a cultivator from the Southern Heaven Domain, by the Great Emperor.

Now it seems there's more to the story.

"Memory is easy to deal with. This Emperor Daye possesses a cauldron that allows him to observe and compile other people's memories, and even integrate the compiled memories into other people's minds."

"But this body..."

Chen Lingxi frowned, looking at Yuan Yuan's extremely young face, and became suspicious.

"Could it be that this Great Emperor can recreate his body?"

As he pondered, Emperor Daye slowly opened his eyes and said, "The spells this person uses all come from those he has killed. He has not yet revealed the supernatural powers inherited from his own sect or the immortal race."

...This person...should be treated with caution.

The white-haired, purple-robed Marquis and Yuan Yuan, or perhaps Crown Prince Ying Chi, should be respectfully bowing.

Emperor Daye then asked, "Where is Chen Lingxi now?"

The Purple-Clad Marquis reported back, "The Beast Fighting Palace is still in the Twelve Mountains of Nanju and has not been moved. It seems that Chen Lingxi left the Beast Fighting Palace in the Twelve Mountains of Nanju."

Chen Lingxi's expression shifted; just as he had expected.

It seems that people in the imperial court used some kind of secret method to set up a tracking array above the Beast Fighting Palace.

Therefore, the imperial court was able to know his location.

If it weren't for the extraordinary abilities of You Shentong, he would probably still be wandering around with the Beast Fighting Palace, and the imperial court would probably still know where he is.

"Knowing that Emperor Daye used the Beast Fighting Palace to determine my location is all the better."

Chen Lingxi breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon hearing this report from the Marquis in Purple Robes, Emperor Daye's aged face remained unchanged. "Just wait another two years..." Emperor Daye said slowly in his aged voice.

Yuan Yuan and the purple-robed marquis listened respectfully.

Half an hour later, the purple-robed marquis and Yuan Yuan seemed to have recovered from their injuries. They stood up and respectfully took their leave.

At that moment, the woman who had been bound to the palace by Emperor Daye and who had created the three Heavenly Boat Women and Consort Chun from her memories slowly opened her eyes.

He then looked at Emperor Daye.