Chapter 21: The Ancient Dao

The heavenly light in the Awakening Ground was vast and boundless; Fang Ruoyao stepped inside, then her gaze trembled.

She had thought Zhao Yun, who had sensed the Heavenly Book, was now standing at the edge of the Awakening Ground, clutching his chest as if severely wounded.

The noblewoman Lu Qingqiu gripped the hem of her skirt, bit her thin lips, and her eyes brimmed with complex emotion.

Both of their gazes were fixed on Ji You.

At this moment, Ji You sat in a position slightly west of the grounds, surrounded by surging heavenly light, as if he had entered a profound mystery; his brow slightly furrowed, mysterious radiance flickering in and out.

It was precisely this frown that pierced the heart like a blade.

For if his face showed only confusion, it would mean he saw nothing—but this frown meant he was learning, and still learning!

A fellow cultivator’s confusion lets me sleep soundly; a fellow cultivator’s frown keeps me tossing and turning—that is the reality of the cultivation world!

“Ji You…”

“The one who sensed the Heavenly Book is Ji You…”

Fang Ruoyao murmured softly, frozen in place.

At that instant, atop Nishan, two grand halls hidden within the mist suddenly shimmered with spiritual light and shot skyward, trailing long fiery tails.

The next moment, a venerable Daoist in a golden-threaded cloud-patterned robe and a middle-aged woman adorned with floral hairpins and an eight-panel silk skirt appeared on the Awakening Platform.

Disciples immediately recognized them as the Inner Court Hall Masters Zuo Qiuyang and You Yingqiu, and bowed respectfully.

The Heavenly Book Academy had five Sacred Halls: Zizai, Jixiang, Changsheng, Buchen, and Wuyu; Zuo Qiuyang oversaw Zizai, and You Yingqiu oversaw Jixiang.

They managed the cultivation of Inner Court disciples and rarely came to the Outer Court except during initiation rites—only when an Outer Court student sensed the Heavenly Book would they appear.

“How long?”

Ban Yangshu replied respectfully: “Three quarters of an hour.”

Zuo Qiuyang frowned: “Exactly?”

“Indeed, three quarters of an hour.”

You Yingqiu felt a flicker of surprise and turned to look at Zuo Qiuyang.

After a moment’s thought, Zuo Qiuyang asked Ban Yangshu: “Were you beside him when he sensed the Heavenly Book?”

“Your Holiness, I was present.”

“Tell me in detail.”

Ban Yangshu recounted everything about Ji You’s sensing of the Heavenly Book, including how the heavenly light still poured down despite Ji You not being in a state of awakening.

After listening, Zuo Qiuyang showed no expression; he exchanged a glance with You Yingqiu, and both vanished from their spot.

The next instant, they had returned to the summit of Nishan, entering the depths of the boundless sea of clouds.

“Sensing the Heavenly Book has become incredibly difficult in recent years; it’s been a long time since any disciple could observe it for so long.”

“Didn’t you notice, Sister You? Time isn’t the biggest issue—it’s the state.”

Zuo Qiuyang folded his wide sleeves behind his back, his brow deeply furrowed: “How can one sense the Heavenly Book without being in a state of awakening? Could the Heavenly Book be sensing him? This concerns the Dao lineage—I feel this is no good omen.”

You Yingqiu was about to speak and join the discussion, but she suddenly stopped, bowing respectfully forward.

Zuo Qiuyang was startled, then immediately bowed with her.

“Master.”

On the black cliff facing Lin Hai and the cloud sea stood an old man with his hands clasped behind his back, his gray-sleeved robe fluttering in the mountain gales.

This old man was the Heavenly Book Academy’s Master, who had lived for over two hundred years in the Linxian Realm yet never ascended.

You Yingqiu couldn’t help but sniff slightly, catching the scent of alcohol, and was startled: “Master drank?”

“A small cup.”

“Didn’t you say you’d never drink again?”

The old man smiled warmly at them: “What happened in the Outer Court?”

Zuo Qiuyang replied immediately: “An Outer Court disciple sensed the Heavenly Book while not in a state of awakening—very strange. My sister and I were about to report and ask whether we should monitor him closely.”

“No need, no need. It’s merely sensing the Heavenly Book—why make such a fuss?”

“Sensing the Heavenly Book without being in a state of awakening—isn’t that unusual?”

The old man stroked his long beard and let out a drunken burp: “I just summoned the Heavenly Book to manifest—it’s merely that this boy had extraordinary fortune, catching the easiest moment to sense the Heavenly Book.”

Zuo Qiuyang suddenly understood: “No wonder it was like this—it’s not his ability, but Master’s doing.”

You Yingqiu frowned, thinking: Master just said he was drinking heavily—how could he have summoned the Heavenly Book to manifest? Strange.

Master is the longest-lived immortal among mortals; after all his old friends passed away, he swore he’d never drink again…

Ji You had no idea the Inner and Outer Courts were in chaos because of him.

He was now, carried by a stream of divine light, entering a dark void—vast, trembling, and abyssal.

After a long stretch of nothingness, his spiritual sense slowly opened his eyes, gradually making out what lay before him.

There stood an endless mountain on a barren plain, surrounded entirely by primordial darkness; atop it, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning intertwined in chaotic disorder, like a completely formless world.

The evolution of the Dao seemed right before his eyes.

Feeling the boundless grandeur within that chaos, Ji You was profoundly shaken.

It was an indescribable sensation, striking directly at his spiritual sense.

The Dao…

So the Heavenly Book recorded the oldest Dao.

Because it was primal, because it was ancient, it was also the most powerful Dao in the world.

Yet as he was deeply awed, a fleeting glance revealed he was not alone.

At the foot of the mountain stood a woman clad in a crimson silk robe embroidered with golden thread, barefoot with snow-white, delicate soles; her long hair, unbound, fell to her waist, also gazing at the peak.

Sensing someone behind her, the woman withdrew her gaze and turned slowly.

Among her loose hair was a refined, pale oval face, with rose-pink lips, slender willow-brows, and beneath curled lashes, eyes like deep, still lakes.

She was not old—perhaps Ji You’s age—but the blood-red gauze robe accentuated her cold, majestic beauty.

Just as Ji You was still confused, her delicate, pink-soled feet lightly touched the ground.

Amid faint spiritual radiance, her crimson robe fluttered gently as she floated before him.

Had he not been in spiritual form, Ji You felt he would have been brushed by a fragrant breeze.

(End of Chapter)