Chapter 818: Achieving Second Rank, Meeting the Ten Thousand Demons Palace

Beyond Banluo Cliff, within the endless mountains.

Shen Yi found a secluded spot and sat down on the ground.

Chi Yun Da Xian’s sudden appearance was unexpected, but he felt no guilt over it.

From the very moment this great calamity began, Shen Yi and these great sects stood on utterly opposing sides.

Though Chi Yun Cave appeared to have been humiliated by Qingguang Mountain, in truth, before the eyes of the Divine Dynasty’s people, both were monsters that preyed upon men.

Even if he could relive it, Shen Yi would show no mercy to Mao Feng and the others.

Don’t forget: Ling Su had borrowed demons from these Chi Yun Cave disciples to seize the imperial aura.

“Huh.”

Shen Yi exhaled slowly, suppressing the lingering dread—this was likely the closest he had come to death since leaving Nanzhou.

But he had survived.

That meant he was now only one step away from securing his life forever.

Just take that step, and he would reach the realm of deathless, boundless freedom!

Previously, with the aid of those Bodhisattvas, Shen Yi had amassed over fifty thousand calamity-years of demonic lifespan and imperial aura; later, in You Yao’s Daoist domain, he slew seven more third-rank demons, plus the Deer Child from before—bringing the total to a terrifying one hundred twenty thousand calamity-years.

As for the remaining eighty thousand calamity-years…

Shen Yi lifted his gaze to the sky, where imperial aura poured endlessly from the Four Prefectures toward him.

The statues he had placed were devouring incense offerings day and night without pause.

The seven demons had not truly harmed anyone; their sheer demonic power merely frightened the people, which was far less effective—but Shen Yi had deliberately unleashed boundless black clouds, which, combined with the efforts of the Lingxu Cave disciples, somewhat made up for it.

The main issue was the sheer scale: five prefectures altogether, including Kaiyuan, equaling one-sixth of Beizhou, all dedicated to sustaining just one person.

Had it not been for this great calamity, which immortal would have ever dared dream of such a thing in the past?

Shen Yi closed his eyes as golden pills unfolded within his ring, filling his entire field of vision.

He swiftly counted them with his spiritual sense.

Combined, demonic lifespan and imperial aura totaled exactly two hundred thousand calamity-years.

The golden pills continued to coalesce, but Shen Yi opened his eyes, clenched his fist tightly, and, following the method recorded in the Yu Chen Bao Gao, looked upward once more.

That terrifying “ice mountain,” which stirred the soul, revealed another corner of itself.

The patterns spanning the entire heavens—the Dao paths of this world—slowly unfolded before Shen Yi; two faintly glowing threads were his own stairway to heaven.

Two hundred thousand calamity-years of foundation had bought him this chance to ascend.

If he failed, it might take countless years to gather them again.

Even Shen Yi, who had walked from obscurity upward with a steady mind, could not help but feel nervous before this heavenly gate.

He regulated his breath and carefully summoned forth his Dao fruit and position.

In the space visible only to Shen Yi, the golden body shrouded in black clouds opened its eyes and surged upward, following the two glowing threads, finally taking its first step toward the Dao of Heaven!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Each step of the golden body felt like a heavy hammer striking Shen Yi’s third eye, filling his mind with a deafening hum.

Yet he kept his eyes wide open, straining to fix his gaze on the endpoint tied by the countless threads.

Whether the Dragon-Taming and Tiger-Subduing Position or the Shen Xu Dao Fruit, each alone possessed the power to overturn seas and destroy heavens.

But now, combined, climbing the Dao patterns felt like a mortal walking a thin rope across a cliff—each step perilous, as if any moment he might fall and be shattered to dust.

Gurgling—

Suddenly, the sound of rushing water filled Shen Yi’s ears. He thought it was a change in the black-cloud golden body, but the next instant, searing pain across his skin made his face twitch.

He looked down: his body was now entwined in black water, his fair skin dissolving rapidly within the flow.

Water dissolves flesh and blood!

With all his cultivation now expended, Shen Yi could only watch as his body melted into a skeleton, even seeing his pulsing internal organs.

Yet his Dao path proved far more stable than he imagined; though entangled by the foul water, the black water simply flowed into the black clouds, never touching the golden body’s true form.

As the flood passed, wind howled forth!

Amidst the furious gusts, Shen Yi watched his jade-like bones slowly scatter like sand in the invisible storm.

Wind erodes the bones.

When the bones vanished and organs scattered across the ground, invisible flames leapt up, reducing everything to ash.

In this final conflagration,

A lifetime of arduous cultivation turned to nothing.

“…”

When Shen Yi opened his eyes again from his daze, he stood atop the highest point of the heavenly patterns, gazing upward—he was now inside the “ice mountain.”

Before him lay countless Dao fruits and positions, each representing the great figures who had once reached this place.

Now, it seemed, it was his turn to place his own.

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Shen Yi floated free from his body—he looked down to see his golden body and black clouds transformed into two streams of light, still inseparably intertwined.

After a long while, the golden light changed first.

A true white jade hand emerged from within, followed by a head, shoulders, and five remaining arms.

He stood taller than an ordinary man, with broader shoulders; long ribbons wrapped around his arms—made of white jade, yet fluttering like silk.

Every muscle was perfectly sculpted, truly carved by heaven and earth, flawless.

Finally, a white jade moon disc rose and hung behind him.

The entire jade being stepped fully out of the golden light, his eyes like jade pills—no pupils, just pure luster—radiating an inhuman aura of nobility.

Shen Yi held his breath.

The Dao patterns he had glimpsed fleetingly before reappeared—once he had seen only “immovable,” now the full inscription was revealed.

Immovable King…

Great Freedom Immovable King Bodhisattva!

This jade creation was his vessel for walking the mortal world; with its manifestation, he had transcended the two realms and entered the deathless, boundless freedom.

“But the problem is—”

Amidst his joy, Shen Yi suddenly froze.

Walking the world in this form—never mind whether he looked human—how could he possibly continue blending into the Three Immortal Sects?

As this thought arose, the remaining black light stirred.

First, an arm emerged, then flowing sleeves; a magnificent black robe appeared in Shen Yi’s vision. On a face nearly identical to his own—sharp nose, thin lips, cold gaze—

Hair bound with a jade hairpin, waist girded with a jade belt.

When he stood still in the chaos, Dao patterns surged forth.

Jade Void Cosmos…

Primordial Great Luo Jade Void Cosmos Golden Immortal.

The two figures stood back-to-back, straight and unyielding—the jade being bathed in golden light, the Daoist hidden in shadow, one body, two aspects, inseparable.

“Tch!”

Shen Yi stared for a long while before finally shifting his gaze to the other Dao fruits and positions around him.

With his sharp perception, he sensed each contained varying amounts of calamity-force—the foundation for reshaping a vessel.

Even the smallest among them far exceeded his own two hundred thousand calamity-force.

If only he could find a way to extract these…

As Shen Yi pondered, he suddenly sensed something wrong—he was within chaos, yet still cast in shadow?

He looked up suspiciously.

Before him loomed five black cities he knew all too well, crashing down upon him.

Wan Yao Palace…

“No! I’ve become an immortal! Don’t mess with me!”

Shen Yi stared, dumbfounded—how could something that had once only battled a single White Rhino Seal now follow him into the Dao’s chaos?

He instinctively reached out to stop it—but in an instant, he watched helplessly as the five cities crushed his Dao fruit and position, dragging them straight back down into the mortal realm.

After an indeterminate time…

In the Lingxu Mountains, a Dao Lord clad in magnificent black robes rose to his feet, his gaze vacant, fixed on the empty air ahead.

His handsome face held no trace of coldness—only deep, burning rage.

Shen Yi wanted to smash the black palace before him with a single punch.

The five cities once used to suppress the myriad demons now contained the golden radiance born from his Dao fruit and position.

One must entrust one’s cultivation to the Dao of Heaven to attain deathlessness.

Even the leaders of both sects lacked the power to break the Dao and harm a cultivator’s root.

So what is this?

“You put me inside? Do you think you’re the Dao?!”

Shen Yi gasped for breath—his long-cherished deathlessness had become this nightmare.

Never mind whether others could break open Wan Yao Palace.

He didn’t even know if his vessel could be remade from calamity-force if this one were destroyed.

“Fine, take me—but why only me?”

Shen Yi struggled for a long time to accept this reality, swinging his fist violently—those other Dao fruits held so much calamity-force; if only he could take a few more down, it would be enough for him.

Shen Yi’s old master and the Southern Emperor, among other demons, had already prepared to congratulate their master on ascending the Dao and achieving the Second Rank, Great Freedom realm.

Now, seeing this situation, everyone fell silent, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Fortunately, Shen Yi merely sat dazed on the ground for a while, then quickly stood up with a gloomy expression and staggered forward.

“My Lord, are we leaving Beizhou?”

Shen Xu Lao Zu mustered his courage to ask, for the Master’s every prior plan had been aimed at breaking through to the Second Rank; no matter how difficult, once the breakthrough came, things would improve.

Only with the power of immortality could he continue stirring up trouble beneath the eyes of those gods, buddhas, and immortal sovereigns.

Now, with this turn of events, all guarantees are gone… If we stay, as our status rises, we will inevitably come into contact with those Patriarchs and Emperor Lords—and sooner or later, trouble will come.

“Return to Huishan. Go into seclusion.”

Shen Yi did not look back; his voice still carried traces of resentment, yet he showed not the slightest hesitation, storming toward Banluo Cliff.

…

Beizhou, Xuanwei Cave.

Li Shan, as the senior disciple of Xuanwei Cave, had performed remarkably in recent years and was already showing signs of becoming an independent faction—the most promising among the original three.

Thus, he rarely sought help from his Master anymore.

After all, how could one aspiring to be Lord of Heaven and Earth act like a helpless infant still in swaddling clothes?

Today was a rare occasion when he returned to catch up with Xuanwei Zi.

“Master, what’s wrong?”

He noticed the old man’s momentary stare.

“Nothing.”

Xuanwei Zi furrowed his brows; just now, he had clearly sensed another cultivator of the same realm beside him—yet strangely, this cultivator radiated the essence of two schools: the immovable stillness of the Bodhi Sect, yet also the ethereal freedom of the Three Immortals Sect.

His momentary distraction had been an attempt to peer into the Heavenly Dao for a clearer look.

But to his confusion, the surroundings still held only familiar faces—no new cultivator had entered that chaos.

“Forget it. Perhaps I misperceived.”

Xuanwei Zi carefully scanned the area several more times before finally lowering his gaze to his disciple: “Tell me about your situation—how do you feel now?”

Hearing this, Li Shan let out a bitter laugh: “Master, I won’t hide it—I’m under immense pressure.”

The Tai Xu Zhen Jun’s battle atop Tian Ta Mountain, where he slew three peers including You Yao, had firmly established him as the strongest among the younger generation of the Three Immortals Sect.

Myself and Qi Xian have been stuck in the Third Rank for years, long since reaching our limits; no matter how hard we strive, surpassing Tai Xu’s cultivation in technique is impossible unless Master grants me a more powerful magic treasure…

Not to mention whether Xuanwei Cave even possesses such a treasure—even if it did, my current cultivation might not even unlock its full power. And even if I won by using it, what meaning would it hold? In the end, it’s not about who is stronger—it’s about whose immortal lineage has deeper roots. To admit that would be laughable.

“You’re choosing an Immortal Emperor, not a Divine General. Being strong isn’t the most important thing,” Xuanwei Zi chuckled lightly. His disciple had come this far already—what remained now was largely fortune.

“I understand.” Here, Li Shan shook his head with a sigh and murmured: “But Master, you don’t know…”

Under the interference of Shi Shu Chi, Tai Xu’s brother was only given a perfunctory period of seclusion; though he himself never appeared, the disciples of Lingxu Cave never paused for a single day.

Several months ago, Lingxu Cave had smoothly taken control of the Four Prefectures.

First came the slaying of the Bodhisattva to avenge the sect’s followers, then the infamous killings of You Yao and others—no other cultivators in Beizhou dared intervene; all tacitly accepted these lands as Tai Xu Zhen Jun’s domain.

“But the problem is, they’ve brought the Kaiyuan Prefecture system here,” Li Shan sighed.

“What system?” Xuanwei Zi looked at him with interest.

“It’s about forcing the people of the Divine Dynasty to return to their old ways… The actions themselves are minor, but he’s no longer confined to the remote Kaiyuan Prefecture—he now controls two-tenths of Beizhou, and his influence is vast.”

“The people of other major prefectures have already heard of these changes. Their hearts are all drawn to the Temple of Tai Xu Zhen Jun. Many have risked their lives, sneaking across at night just to migrate there. Many of my junior disciples have come to complain to me about this.”

“… ”

Xuanwei Zi listened in silence, finding it quite intriguing: “It’s interfering with these juniors’ acquisition of Imperial Qi—no wonder they resent him. What do you plan to do?”

This tactic seems effective, but in truth, in the end, others can only be forced to copy it—meaning nothing changes, yet everyone’s share of Imperial Qi shrinks.

“My view differs from others’.”

Unexpectedly, Li Shan shook his head: “When I traveled to Kaiyuan Prefecture, I once held similar thoughts. Now, the Great Calamity arises because the Human Emperor is unjust, defying Heaven, seeking to overthrow the Immortal Court, rejecting the joint rule of Immortal Court and Divine Dynasty, and aiming to become a solitary, autocratic monarch.”

“But the grand scheme is now settled.”

“Why should we act like thieves, desperate to swallow every last bit of Imperial Qi at once? Why rush for ten thousand years of incense offerings? I suspect Tai Xu’s brother isn’t like our fellow disciples think—he doesn’t seek to seize incense offerings this way. He simply has enough confidence to not fear anyone taking anything from him.”

“Broadly speaking, once one becomes Lord of Heaven and Earth, what need is there to divide ‘yours’ from ‘mine’?”

Li Shan bowed deeply before his Master: “This is the bearing of an Immortal Emperor. I ought to emulate it.”

(End of Chapter)