Chapter 226: The Ancient Path of Xuanyou

The arrival of Venerable Dongyou was something Xu Qing learned of immediately.

Although she did not land at the 176th Port, Xu Qing's arrangement for all the Homicide Department branches to search for the Night Dove meant his intelligence network was highly efficient.

This search for the Night Dove had also eased the friction between the Seventh Peak and the other six peaks caused by his previous jurisdictional overreach.

After all, the task of capturing Night Dove members brought both great merit and significant profit, especially since the Night Dove members were quite wealthy.

This was the most important reason why the Homicide Department heads of the other six peaks were willing to follow Xu Qing's orders.

Otherwise, even with Xu Qing's combat prowess and fame, the other peaks could easily have refused to give him face.

After all, in this world, no one owes anyone anything.

Even though Xu Qing was a Sequence, it wasn't as if Sequences hadn't died inexplicably before. Everyone had crawled up from a sea of blood to reach the position of Department Head; they were not lacking in intellect or means.

However, when profit was at stake, everyone became good friends, and passing along information became a matter of course.

Xu Qing was highly vigilant upon hearing the news, but after analyzing the situation, he felt that while caution was necessary, it wouldn't affect his daily life.

Meanwhile, amidst Xu Qing's vigilance, Blood-Refining Master had already invited Venerable Dongyou into the Fourth Peak.

Blood-Refining Master hailed from the Fourth Peak, so he usually resided there. After dismissing his attendants, the two powerhouses, both at the level of Great Experts, discussed official business.

As they finished, Venerable Dongyou mentioned casually:

"I heard my little granddaughter made a friend named Xu Qing during her time in Seven Blood Eyes. He seems like a fine child, so I shall give him a gift." Venerable Dongyou's wrinkled face revealed a faint smile as she produced a jade box and handed it to Blood-Refining Master beside her.

Blood-Refining Master laughed heartily. He didn't pretend to be ignorant; at their level of cultivation, many things were handled with finesse. This gift alone was a clear statement of her stance. Blood-Refining Master accepted it, and though he made no specific arrangements, the two chatted for a while longer before a whistling sound came from outside. Soon, the recently released Yan Yan rushed in.

Her minor injuries had long since recovered, and she showed no sign of grievance. Seeing her grandmother, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over to hug Venerable Dongyou's arm, speaking coquettishly:

"Grandmother, why are you here?"

Venerable Dongyou's gaze fell upon her granddaughter. Seeing that she was perfectly fine, she smiled slightly, though she still felt a pang of heartache for the suffering the girl had endured. She felt some dissatisfaction toward Xu Qing, but as she raised her hand to stroke Yan Yan's head, she was about to speak when Yan Yan preempted her with a shocking statement:

"Grandmother, I want to marry Xu Qing!"

Venerable Dongyou froze. She knew her granddaughter's temperament, and the more she knew, the more unbelievable this sudden declaration felt.

Blood-Refining Master was also stunned. This was completely beyond his expectations. He naturally knew about the girl's issues, but he never imagined that after being beaten by Xu Qing and locked up for months, she would come out and say such a thing.

"I feel that only he is worthy of me. Grandmother, I want to marry him. I will marry no one else!" Yan Yan shook Venerable Dongyou's arm, her expression filled with unprecedented seriousness.

"Presumptuous! How can you behave like this in front of your elders!" Seeing this, Venerable Dongyou snapped, and Yan Yan lowered her head in grievance.

Despite her words, Venerable Dongyou was deeply shocked and turned to look at Blood-Refining Master.

"Fellow Daoist Blood-Refining, if you have time later, could you arrange for me to meet this child, Xu Qing?"

Blood-Refining Master hesitated. He felt the situation was a bit bizarre, but if this marriage could truly be facilitated, it seemed like a good outcome. He laughed and agreed, though he didn't set a specific time.

Somehow, this news spread throughout the sect within a day, reaching all seven peaks. Ding Xue's reaction was the most intense, as if she were about to explode, while Zhao Zhongheng was overjoyed.

Additionally, in the Second Peak, Gu Muqing's cave dwelling saw several pill explosions.

Xu Qing naturally heard the rumors. He frowned, feeling the whole thing was absurd. Moreover, regarding matters between men and women, Xu Qing felt it was a waste of cultivation time and offered no benefits.

He had heard the village teacher mention the feeling of "heart-fluttering" between men and women when he was young, but to this day, he had never experienced it and didn't know what it felt like.

In his memories of the slums and the scavenger camp, most people lived alone.

"Inexplicable." Xu Qing's expression remained calm, his heart undisturbed.

Over the next few days, he repeatedly declined Yan Yan's invitations.

For Xu Qing, who was immersed in refining the Wish Boxes and dealing with the Night Dove, time was precious, and he didn't want to concern himself with unimportant people or matters.

Furthermore, as time passed, the ports of Seven Blood Eyes became extremely lively with the arrival of foreign envoys and allies. For the first time, cultivators from the Wanggu Continent appeared!

The visitors from the Wanggu Continent were three women in green dresses wearing veils.

They moved with grace, and a faint mist drifted around their bodies—clearly a miraculous technique, vastly different from that of the Seven Blood Eyes cultivators.

Their dresses were embroidered with a mountain, and the hazy appearance seemed to contain a certain Dao rhyme, making them feel aloof and untouchable.

In particular, the "heterogeneous quality" (impurities) in their bodies was extremely low—so low that unless one sensed them very carefully, it was almost impossible to detect.

All of this drew the intense attention of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples.

For many years, visitors from the Wanggu Continent had been almost non-existent. To the disciples of Seven Blood Eyes, the Wanggu Continent was filled with vastness and mystery, and many instinctively felt that cultivators from there were superior.

In reality, this was indeed the case. Whether in terms of spiritual energy, techniques, vision, or Dao lineage, the Wanggu Continent far exceeded Seven Blood Eyes, and the sects and cultivators there naturally possessed an air of transcendence.

In particular, these three women not only possessed an ethereal aura but also carried a delicate fragrance, appearing refined and otherworldly. Their cultivation bases were astonishing.

Among the three, two had opened about 100 meridians, clearly on the verge of charging toward the Fourth Fire.

The tallest one, who possessed the most graceful figure, had 120 meridians shining with starlight within her body. Even without entering the Profound Radiance state, she still exuded an aura as if the world were being tempered by star-fire.

Their arrival was like a brilliant moon, making countless stars appear dim, and they immediately became the focus of intense discussion within Seven Blood Eyes.

As for the specifics, Xu Qing only knew what was in the intelligence reports; he hadn't seen them in person, so he couldn't probe them.

However, the reports also stated that these three women represented a power called the Taisi Dao Gate.

At the same time, Seven Blood Eyes suddenly disclosed some secrets and information regarding the Wanggu Continent to all Foundation Establishment disciples.

Usually, the sect wouldn't easily divulge such matters, and disciples generally knew little, but with the arrival of the Wanggu Continent visitors and the sect's disclosure, the mysterious veil over the Wanggu Continent was lifted for the disciples.

The Wanggu Continent was vast and boundless, divided into several Great Domains, within which were Prefectures, and within Prefectures were States. It was home to ten thousand races and filled with anomalies.

Almost no one could traverse the entire Wanggu Continent; it was an impossible feat.

Its sheer scale was beyond imagination.

The origin of the human race lay deep within the unfathomably majestic Wanggu Continent, an immense distance from the Forbidden Sea outside Seven Blood Eyes.

That was the location of the Imperial Capital founded by the last Human Ancient Emperor. It was a sacred place for the human race on the Wanggu Continent.

That Ancient Emperor was named Xuanyou.

Not only did he suppress the ten thousand races and found an era, unifying the Wanggu Continent, but he also constructed a road from the Imperial Capital to the Forbidden Sea. This road traversed thirty-seven Great Domains and reached the coast.

In those years, it was called the Xuanyou Imperial Road, but after many eras, its name changed to the Ancient Path of Xuanyou.

Although the human race had declined, the ten thousand races had risen, and countless forbidden zones had formed, causing the human race to lose its halo and vast territories, they still managed to preserve this ancient path.

The continuation of the race revolved around this ancient path.

Along this ancient path, seven human Prefectures had formed over the years. The human sects and powers within them rose and fell, their overall strength declining with each passing day. Yet, even so, the human race, possessing seven Prefectures and one Imperial Capital Great Domain, remained one of the powerful races on the Wanggu Continent.

As for the seven human Prefectures on the Ancient Path of Xuanyou, they were located in different Great Domains. The terminus of the ancient path, the Seventh Prefecture of the human race, was in the Shenglan Great Domain, near the Forbidden Sea, and was named Fenghai Prefecture.

Though it was called a "Prefecture," its scope was incredibly vast compared to the Nanhuang Continent; each of its five States was more than ten times the size of the Nanhuang Continent.

The one closest to the Forbidden Sea was the Yinghuang State of Fenghai Prefecture.

Legend had it that the Ancient Emperor Xuanyou attained the Dao overseas and landed here, launching his hegemony to unify the Wanggu Continent, hence the name of the State, which had been used ever since.

Within Yinghuang State, powers were mixed, multiple sides stood in opposition, and countless alien races had established cities there. After many wars and changes over countless years, six powers had emerged as the top tier, famous in all directions.

They were...

A behemoth formed by the gathering of hundreds of small and medium sects, led by seven major sects: the Seven Sect Alliance.

The Litu Sect in Yinghuang State, which fanatically revered the Ancient Emperor Xuanyou, frequently engaged in fanatical acts and stirred up bloody storms with their sacrificial rituals: the Litu Dao Altar.

The local cultivators of Yinghuang State, possessing mysterious inheritances and the nominal leaders of Yinghuang State: the Taisi Dao Gate!

The fourth power, which gathered countless anomalies, fed on flesh and blood, drank souls, and possessed a terrifying reputation that struck fear and despair into all cultivators. They kept 137 human cities in captivity, with corpses strewn everywhere and the ground turned into sludge by rotting flesh, leaving the other sides helpless: the Three Spirits Suppressing Dao Mountain.

As for the fifth power, they were even more transcendent, almost never participating in any interest disputes in Yinghuang State. They gathered around a "Taichu Liyou Pillar," a legacy left behind by an unknown Half-Step Sovereign from many eras ago.

This Taichu Liyou Pillar was actually a legacy; its height reached into the clouds, and few could truly reach its peak. It was said that those who reached the peak could obtain its inheritance.

To this day, only two people had reached the very peak, and countless names were carved on the Taichu Liyou Pillar. Anyone qualified to carve their name here would receive a protection from Taichu Liyou on their divine soul.

And the final power was a terrifying ghost body, ten thousand feet tall, wearing armor, holding a giant blade, and carrying two worlds on its shoulders. Its origins were mysterious, and it was like a god of evil. It sat cross-legged within Yinghuang State, its momentum shaking the heavens and its aura swallowing the ages, resembling a giant mountain.