Chapter 73: The Strange Ascension (On Sale Tonight—Requesting First Subscriptions)

“Lord, disaster has struck! The Young Master… the Young Master is gone!”

“What?”

“The ruins somehow allow entry but not exit—the Young Master offended a disciple of an immortal sect and was surrounded. He tried to retreat, but as he emerged from the mountain, he turned to black ash right before my eyes!”

In Yongzhou’s Shen family, the current patriarch was admiring the surging immortal light beyond Qiling Mountain when he heard the dreadful news—his face instantly turned pale.

Wasn’t the price of receiving immortal fortune supposed to be transformation into a demonic seed? Once ascended, one sheds the mortal form—why did he vanish outright?

Lord Shen widened his eyes in disbelief, then remembered his ancestor, younger brother, and daughter were still inside the mountain—he immediately ordered no one permitted to exit.

At that very moment, another thunderous roar erupted from within the mountain.

But what emerged was not the immortal light seen in recent days—it was countless swaying black flames, like writhing black serpents, instantly igniting the entire range of mountains.

Nishan, Huangyun Mountain, Lingjian Mountain, Wenda Mountain, Xuan Yuan Mountain, Danshan, Wushan.

Upon these seven immortal sects’ grounds, countless piercing gazes converged toward this place.

Deep within the ten thousand mountains of the barbarian lands, an ancient, withered elder as massive as a mountain slowly opened his eyes—his gaze pierced the night, fixed on the Central Plains.

In the western demon realm of the Northern Plains, a towering figure emerged above the clouds, terrifying energy surging relentlessly through the night.

At this moment, Qiling Mountain was the focus of the entire world.

Yet the cultivators within the ruins and immortal mountain could no longer sense external messages—they were lost in boundless profundity.

Shen’s ancestor was now one hundred and thirty years old, having long remained at the Boundless Realm.

With his formidable cultivation, he was the first to ascend the immortal mountain and had sat there for three days, drinking immortal dew and refining heavenly light daily.

He seemed to have entered a state of supreme freedom and profundity, as if ascending, drifting endlessly through boundless void, carried by immortal qi.

Then he saw a towering figure.

It was an elder.

His aged face was crisscrossed with deep wrinkles, his white hair fluttering.

His hands rested folded at his sides like dried branches, yet his entire body radiated vibrant immortal essence.

Beneath his faded yellow robe lay a writhing, massive flesh mass—a thick, obese tail formed from chaotic, piled flesh, coiled atop a floating mountain suspended in void.

Shen’s eldest daughter, Shen Yan, watched as her ancestor’s body slowly dissolved within the swaying black flames, leaving only a brilliant golden core.

To those outside, a blood-red aura now erupted from the mountain, piercing through layers of clouds.

By time, it should have been dawn—the red sun rising.

But no red sun appeared; instead, thick blackness spread outward from Qiling Mountain in all directions.

Zuoyang, Lord of Zizai Hall atop Nishan, emerged from mist and clouds, gazing at the reverberating energy across the heavens, his expression grim.

“Someone is ascending?”

“How is such a thing possible?”

As one of the Five Hall Lords of the Heavenly Book Academy, Zuoyang knew that to ascend to immortality in Qingyun Realm required recognition of one’s lineage and guidance from a sacred artifact.

Thus, this opportunity for immortality could arise in any of the Seven Immortal Sects—but never within the Qiling Mountain range.

Unless that place lay beyond the constraints of Heaven’s Dao, allowing direct ascension.

At that moment, another crimson light surged upward, slamming directly into Huangyun Mountain.

The Chen Clan’s protective formation rose instantly—but shattered under the blow.

Only when a hunched elder emerged from deep within Huangyun Mountain, his gaze blazing, did the crimson light dissipate.

This was defiance. A warning.

Zuoyang watched the sudden strike, his brow instantly furrowed.

Inside the mountain was a genuine Linxian cultivator—but his aura continued climbing, endlessly approaching immortality.

Zuoyang had felt such an aura only once—when his master was drunk.

He fell silent for a long while, then flew away from Zizai Hall to the deepest forest of Nishan.

The world assumed the Heavenly Book Academy’s headmaster dwelled in a palace rivaling heaven’s halls—but no one knew he lived in a simple bamboo-fenced garden nestled within the forest.

As Zuoyang arrived, the Longsheng Hall Lord Chaihu and the Wuyu Hall Lord Lu Fengchuan were already waiting before the fence garden.

So too was Feishe, Lord of Budeng Hall—he had hit a bottleneck in his attempt to reach Linxian and had not re-entered seclusion after emerging.

Seeing Zuoyang drift in, Chaihu spoke first: “Brother, someone is ascending.”

“I’ve seen it. Black flames burn within Qiling Mountain—the aura of ascension comes from there.”

“Could it be… someone truly obtained the chance for immortality?”

At these words, the four men fell silent, gazing at the horizon, solemn.

Lu Fengchuan could not help speaking: “I’ve never seen such crimson immortal light—evil intent surges skyward, making my spiritual sense uneasy.”

After a long silence, Feishe spoke: “No need to debate—ask the Master for his decision.”

Lu Fengchuan and Chaihu exchanged glances: “The Master isn’t in the bamboo hut.”

“Not there?”

“He always obscures heavenly signs before acting. My brother and I searched long and hard—we couldn’t find him. Just now we were guessing he’d gone down the mountain for more wine.”

Zuoyang then realized only the four of them were present: “Is Younger Sister You not here either?”

The Longsheng and Wuyu Hall Lords both nodded.

At that moment, the three Directors of the Administration Hall arrived on Nishan, riding the wind.

Qin Rong bowed deeply: “Qiling Mountain has suffered an incident—disciples who entered have lost their auras and no longer respond to messages. The same is true for disciples of other immortal sects and clans…”

Meanwhile, across the vast sea of clouds, an old wooden boat sailed with the wind.

An old man holding a wine flask wore loose white robes, gazing at the distant sky with grave expression.

Yu Yingqiu, Lord of Jixiang Hall, stood behind him; after watching for a long while, she spoke: “Master, what is it inside the mountain?”

“Something already dead.”

“If it’s already dead, why is it causing such commotion?”

“After the ruins stirred up demonic disturbances, I thought it was merely an accidental overflow of the fallen clan’s immortal path—but I never imagined a living person would try to use that dead thing to validate the Dao.”

The old man stroked his long beard, muttering, then handed her a jade box.

Yu Yingqiu took the jade box, her expression suddenly startled.

Inside the box was the Heavenly Book Academy’s sacred artifact—the legendary Tian Shu, said to have awakened humanity’s spiritual potential.

Yet now, the Tian Shu held no spiritual essence whatsoever—not even a whisper of fluctuation—as if… it had died.

But when she became Lord of Jixiang Hall, she had paid homage to the Tian Shu’s true form and witnessed its profound, majestic aura.

At that moment, the wooden boat suddenly entered a patch of darkness, then rapidly descended.

Below them lay a county town, still distant from the blazing Qiling Mountain range.

“Master, aren’t we going into the mountain?”

“It’s useless now—we must find Ji You first.”

“?”

(On sale at midnight tonight—requesting first subscriptions or2)

(End of Chapter)