Chapter 525: Jade True Sixty-Nine Harmony Void

Shangyuan Zhenren ascended slowly, his steps light, gradually rising on the long staircase made of clouds. With each step, waves of celestial music rose, the conch horns blared, and the clouds on either side transformed into immortal boys and girls, holding baskets of flowers. They scattered white jade flower petals, which drifted down to the ground, trailing white smoke.

Each of the ethereal maidens manifested with unique, graceful postures. Their garments were perfectly matched, making them appear lifelike. One or two even looked up, curiously observing the various Purple Mansions in the sky.

The white mist in the sky spread wider and wider, with pavilions and towers scattered within, surrounding Shangyuan Zhenren. One or two Purple Mansions nearby observed with confusion, whispering softly:“What is this? There’s no sign of water, fire, or the five elements, no convergence of various energies—only this white mist. How can one achieve a breakthrough like this?”“They say it’s about virtual and real…”

As the two whispered, Elemental, standing beside Li Xuanfeng, also frowned, his face filled with surprise and doubt. He squinted at the white mist. White jade petals swirled past him, emitting white vapor as they fell into the lake.

Elemental Zhenren paused for a moment, then murmured:“This truly is the Jade True Six-Nine Confluence of Emptiness. It’s astonishing that Taiyue possesses such an immortal art.”

Everyone wore different expressions. Shangyuan continued to ascend into the clouds step by step. As he climbed higher, everything around him churned violently. White mist, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, surged towards him.

Shangyuan Zhenren softly spoke:“Green Jade Cliff.”

As soon as he spoke, the wind and snow in the world immediately ceased.

The snow and wind of the North Sea, which had not ceased for a thousand years, stopped for several breaths. The entire thousand-mile-long snow peak began to shed white beads, large and small, raining down on everyone.

These white beads rolled and bounced, producing crisp, bright sounds. Some shattered ice and sank into the lake, others tumbled down the snow peak, and still others accumulated in hollows.

The ice and snow beneath his feet also slowly transformed from brilliant white to a light green interwoven with white, emitting a transparent luster in the moonlight. Shangyuan sighed softly and recited:“Interwoven Brocade.”

In an instant, the falling beads in the world expanded and contracted, intermingling into a fine, dense white brocade. It drifted like cottony flakes, obscuring the sky and sun, making it impossible to see even three feet ahead. Everything appeared hazy and misty white.

‘The Jiang family’s lineage… Fei Wangbai’s foundation.’

Li Xuanfeng strained his vision, pushing his eye technique to its limit. Even then, he could only barely discern a rough figure. Behind Shangyuan, there seemed to be an additional flowing long robe, its patterns silvery white, gently fluttering in the wind.

A soft voice reached his ears; Shangyuan’s tone was joyful, as if everything was coming to fruition naturally:“White Jade Plate.”

Li Xuanfeng had also heard of this foundation. Yu Yuxie, in earlier times, practiced this very path. Because it required the Essence of the Lunar Moon and the Bright Jade Essence, its lineage was now severed. It was indeed a path of Jade True.

At this moment, the bright moon and stars in the sky instantly dimmed to their extreme, almost merging with the night sky behind them. In their place, a dazzling, glowing white jade plate rose.

No sooner had the jade plate risen than the jade beads and fine rain in the sky ceased. Shangyuan Zhenren sat cross-legged in the air, directly behind him the white jade plate. He looked like an immortal or Buddha reborn, and the cloud mist on his face finally dispersed.

His face was handsome, with long, graceful eyebrows. However, his eyes were now completely brilliant white, staring intently into the void above.

He slowly turned his head. White mist incessantly wafted from between his lips and teeth, and white vapor, like a waterfall, flowed from his hair as he moved, dissipating into the air.

Elemental watched silently, his eyes showing a look of sudden realization. A young man in blue and white robes appeared beside him in the clouds—it was Puyu Zhenren, his face filled with awe:“Excellent… So there’s a method of breaking through like this! Excellent! Shangyuan Zhenren’s immortal art can grant future generations an additional half a percent chance of breaking through!”“Since ancient methods are no longer useful, one should seek their own nature, not cling to water, fire, the five elements, or the twelve immortal energies. Those who seek virtual and real should seek virtual and real… those who seek clear and turbid should seek clear and turbid…”

Puyu Zhenren’s eyes sparkling, as if filled with countless thoughts. He looked at Li Xuanfeng beside him and praised softly:“His divine abilities are about to merge now, which is why there’s a sign of his immortal body breaking apart. He truly is a genius. Could this immortal art have been specifically crafted for Jade True practitioners? It fits so perfectly!”

Shangyuan, however, did not stop. He uttered each word distinctly:“Dao Merges with Truth!”

Instantly, dazzling white light flowed. The clouds in the sky surged and gathered, centering around the bright, enormous jade plate behind him, forming a colossal white lake. Within it, a bright speck of light faintly coalesced.

The various Purple Mansions gazed at the spiritual light in astonishment. Puyu Zhenren, however, merely glanced over the spiritual light, instead carefully observing Shangyuan Zhenren. He secretly calculated, and blood faintly appeared on his hand.

Shangyuan gently formed a hand seal, and white light from his divine abilities surged forward, striking the spiritual light.

Above the spiritual light, a faint point of illusory white jade slowly emerged and gradually converged. The more it condensed, the more solid it became, yet it also gradually faded into illusion.

Shangyuan’s pale complexion rapidly returned to normal. His eyes were tightly closed, displaying a jade-like luster. His left and right hands were sometimes illusory, sometimes solid, and the white light behind him flickered in and out of existence, as if in constant struggle.

Jade rain began to fall from the sky again. The Purple Mansions remained silent, staring at him with envy, jealousy, or unease.

Li Xuanfeng turned sideways. Elemental’s expression was a mixture of awe and envy; he stood stunned for more than ten breaths, unable to speak. Puyu Zhenren, beside him, lowered his gaze and remained silent.

Li Xuanfeng waited for a breath. Puyu Zhenren, who was nearby, looked over and subtly pointed to the ground beneath their feet.

Li Xuanfeng looked down and saw a landscape of green and white. Ice and rock had turned into jade, and fallen snow into brocade. The entire North Sea ice peak had utterly transformed from top to bottom into a Green Jade Cliff.

The Purple Mansions maintained an eerie silence until all the radiance on Shangyuan’s body vanished, returning him to his ordinary appearance in fluttering white robes. The sword on his waist also reverted to wood.

He opened his eyes, which were pure white, and his body emitted a white glow.

As the stars and moon dimmed, Shangyuan’s lips moved slightly. His voice, emerging from the Great Void into the present world, continuously spread. He declared:“I, Shangyuan, have today attained the Dao in the North Sea, achieving the Jade True Six-Nine Confluence of Emptiness. I have ascended to the rank of True Monarch. The foundation of all jade and stone in the world is now complete. It can be used for formations, elixirs, supreme immortal arts, talismans, spiritual scripts, and the Jade True lineage… Veins of the earth shall yield jade and stone… Jade True can serve as spiritual objects, spiritual plants, and spiritual beasts… My path shall flourish. I have prepared the Sword Mansion and Jade Cliff to remain in the world, to benefit future generations.”

His voice echoed, interspersed with the fine, dense sound of shattering jade. The surrounding Purple Mansions, regardless of their prior relationship with him—whether of joy or hatred, indifference or envy—all bowed deeply:“Congratulations, Shangyuan True Monarch!”“Greetings, Jade True Six-Nine Confluence of Emptiness True Monarch.”

Puyu Zhenren heard this with emotion. He turned to Elemental beside him and said:“Shangyuan True Monarch is performing… an ancient immortal art’s proclamation of achieving immortal status…”

Elemental nodded slightly, lost in thought. Puyu Zhenren sighed, murmuring:“It’s time to leave. His successful breakthrough has confirmed many things. Who knows how many practitioners, both within and beyond the seas, will be unable to resist attempting their own breakthroughs now!”

Elemental remained silent throughout, merely bowing softly to Shangyuan, gazing distractedly at the white mist.

Shangyuan tilted his head, listening. Faintly, a blurry object seemed to appear before him.

This object appeared both illusory and real, like a robe draped over one’s shoulders, or a stone held in hand, or even a void. Shangyuan raised his eyes, looking instead at the void ahead.

The clouds beside him dispersed, and two blurry figures gradually materialized. One of them spoke:“Congratulations, Immortal.”

The other person also respectfully bowed, then took out a golden scroll from his sleeve, gently shook his arm, and unfurled it.

Each holding one end, they presented the scroll before Shangyuan True Monarch. The person on the left then took out a brush from his sleeve and respectfully said:“You, Immortal, have transcended the mortal realm. Please, kindly erase your immortal name yourself. We are of humble status and dare not commit such disrespect.”

Shangyuan True Monarch shook his head slightly, remaining motionless. The two seemed somewhat timid, exchanging glances, unsure of what to do. Then Shangyuan said:“I am not on the list. No need to search.”

The two underworld officials exchanged glances, then had no choice but to put away the brush and the golden scroll. Only then did Shangyuan wave his hand and say:“Hurry and leave. You might get hurt if there’s a fight.”“Thank you for your consideration, True Monarch. We take our leave.”

The two nodded repeatedly, as if granted a great pardon, and respectfully took their leave. In an instant, they transformed into a gust of ghostly wind, quickly dispersing and vanishing into the world.

Shangyuan slowly rose to his feet, the white light behind him gradually receding into his body. He placed his hand on the Azure Edge sword at his waist and said coldly:“Fellow Daoist Du Qing, there’s no need to wait any longer!”

As soon as he spoke, all the Purple Mansions in the sky collectively lowered their heads. Not one dared to move or speak; they stood in silent stillness. Li Xuanfeng only felt his vision fill with an azure expanse; everything before him had changed.

“The sky is gone…”

The sun, moon, stars, and night sky had all vanished, replaced by a vast, boundless expanse of azure water. It stretched from the distant east to the west, an endless, surging blue expanse suspended above. Looking up, one could still see scattered islets and reefs.

“This is… this is…”

The sea in the sky reflected the snowy peaks, jade mountains beneath their feet, and the North Sea at the very bottom. Above and below, all was water, making it almost impossible to distinguish up from down, or left from right.

The boundless azure water in the sky pressed in silently. Li Xuanfeng felt a sharp pain in his eyes, golden stars exploding in his vision; he dared not look anymore. Elemental, beside him, had already grabbed his helmet and forcibly turned his head away, directly facing Elemental’s own face.

Ning Tiaoxiao’s right eyeball was already empty, having transformed into azure seawater flowing down. His other eye was also a soft, collapsed mass in its socket, similarly transformed. His face looked as if it had been splashed with water, with streams of green liquid running down.

His vision went black. Faintly, he saw a glittering comet fall into the seawater. A colossal, boundless, body-like entity was traversing from the sea in the sky to the sea underground, its ink-black scales shimmering.

A profound silence filled his ears; he heard nothing. The world seemed to have lost all sound, everything frozen before him as if time had stopped. He merely saw Ning Tiaoxiao’s lips moving:“Green Waters.”

Mount Xun in the East Sea.

Mount Xun is a large mountain in the sea north of the Heishui Sea. It is a resting place for the East Sea’s auroral light. Auroral lights rising from both the northwest and northeast directions would pause at this high mountain to rest before continuing their journey across the firmament.

The duration of these stops varied; sometimes just a few breaths, other times several hours. Those arriving from the northwest generally proceeded to Qunyi, while those from the northeast would eventually descend back onto the Great West Plain of the State of Wu.

Located in the Heishui Sea, this place was naturally the domain of the Dragon Clan. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators would certainly be courting death by coming here, but the Dragon Clan widely extended goodwill to various Purple Mansions. Thus, they could settle here to gather auroral light for cultivation, and the Dragon Clan would treat them well.

As the auroral light rose, a young man flew through the mountain clouds, riding the mist. He had handsome features, bright eyes, and an elegant demeanor. In his hand, he held a gourd.

He lightly drifted to a stop on the peak. After calculating the time, he frowned slightly in confusion. A woman flew to his side on the wind, holding colorful auroral light in her hands, and asked with arched brows:“Husband, how is it?”

This pair was naturally Li Xizhi and his wife. Li Xizhi was here healing and gathering auroral light, and Yang Xiao’er had come to find him. She had crossed the East Sea alone to search for him, only arriving the previous night. It was only because she was a member of the Yang family, with family escorts, that the journey here wasn’t extremely perilous.

Li Xizhi was observing the auroral light. He was nominally here to gather light for Changxi Zhenren, so he naturally had to perform this task well. He calculated with his fingers and asked with confusion:“Strange… What happened in the North Sea? Not a single ray of auroral light has come through… Could a Purple Mansion have fallen, disrupting the celestial phenomena?”

He calculated for a moment:“But there are clearly no celestial phenomena in the northwest direction, yet no auroral light is flowing through…”

Yang Xiao’er immediately understood and said softly:“Husband, being secluded here, you wouldn’t know. These past few days are when Shangyuan Zhenren is supposed to break through in the North Sea. He must have unintentionally blocked it.”

Li Xizhi grew worried. Since no auroral light was coming, he was free to act. He and his wife flew down into their cave dwelling.

The cave dwelling, prepared by the Dragon Clan, was quite spacious. He sealed the stone door tightly and quietly asked:“You arrived in such a hurry yesterday, I didn’t have time to ask you… This place is quite safe, so we have time now.”

Li Xizhi took out the feather robe from his storage pouch. It was tattered, and a deep blue palm print was clearly visible on its back. Seeing this, Yang Xiao’er’s expression became flustered as she asked:“How did it get like this!”

Upon hearing her husband was at Mount Xun, Yang Xiao’er, missing him dearly, had immediately flown over on the wind. She had felt some apprehension when she saw her husband wasn’t wearing the feather robe she had given him. Now, her thoughts raced, and she quickly realized something was wrong:“What happened?!”

Li Xizhi generally recounted the events, then softly asked:“Your feather robe, though clearly of the Qi Refining level, actually hid this golden light contingency…”

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao’er first meticulously confirmed that his injuries were fine. Then she pursed her lips and hummed:“Oh, that’s what it was.”

She chuckled:“I have two such feather robes. One was obtained by the direct lineage of the Yang family, and the other was part of my dowry… I was worried about you constantly traveling outside, especially with so many enemies, so I kept an eye out.”

Li Xizhi, being astute, immediately understood and said gently:“So you swapped the robes.”“Of course I swapped them. I don’t need to fight for my life outside, and no one can bully me.”

Yang Xiao’er smiled:“So the one you’re wearing is actually the feather robe of the Yang family’s direct lineage, and the one I’m wearing is the one from my dowry!”

Special thanks to the Alliance Masters:Cangyue Fan ClubInk Thunder PhantomFellow Daoist Ink Thunder Phantom also created a family tree for this book, for which I am very grateful.

(End of this chapter)