Chapter 25: Inspection

A cliff of ten thousand feet, the wind howling past.

As the words fell, the slightly stagnant atmosphere instantly loosened.

The eldest prince had returned from the ancient abyss.

With the eldest prince’s command, there was no longer any reason for the others to remain and play games with the third prince.

The four figures hovering in the air vanished instantly, leaving only the woman named Ying standing still.

A silence fell.

Xu Ying stared at the crimson figure standing at the cave entrance, and spoke softly once more:

"Third prince, follow me. The eldest prince is waiting for you at the summit."

"........"

Xu Yuan did not immediately lower his hand from his neck. Instead, he continued to gaze at the figure floating in midair, whispering:

"Ran, it's time you went."

"........."

At the sound of his voice, Ran Qingmo stepped slowly out of the cave, silent, holding her sword at her side.

The sudden brightness outside the cave made her eyes struggle to adjust.

Close her eyes.

Open them.

Below the Hanging Sky Cliff,

between the dazzling sunlight and the swirling clouds, the vastness of the world stretched endlessly—yet there, standing by her side, was he.

Her beautiful eyes lowered slightly, and she whispered softly:

"I'm leaving."

"Um, take care."

Xu Yuan glanced sideways, his voice utterly calm. "My previous words remain valid—if you change your mind, you can come find me in Jingjiang City."

He meant the proposed collaboration he had suggested in the temple.

Ran Qingmo's red lips parted slightly, silence settling for several seconds before she merely nodded faintly.

"Alright."

As the words faded away,

Ran Qingmo turned, and without a trace of sound, the Ice Cloud Stairway formed in the air beneath her feet, her steps light and graceful.

"Oh, by the way."

A voice from behind suddenly halted her movement.

Xu Yuan watched her slender silhouette, murmuring softly:

"My name is Xu Yuan."

"........"

Ran Qingmo turned her gaze back to the man behind her, her eyes flickering with a touch of surprise.

Xu Yuan smiled gently, repeating softly:

"I said, my name is Xu Yuan."

"........"

Her sparse reply remained unchanged as it had at first: "...Hmm, okay, I remember that."

She vanished in a trail of black cloth, swiftly dissolving into a single dark dot that faded beyond the horizon.

Only when she was certain he was completely gone did Xu Yuan slowly lower her hand from her neck.

Now that Ran Qingmo has repaid his debt, he has fully settled it.

Turning back to gaze at the figure standing in the void, Xu Yuan spoke in a flat tone, issuing the command:

"Take me up."

........

The mist before him rolled endlessly forward, then suddenly parted, revealing a vast expanse of azure sky.

In a fleeting moment, Xu Yuan was once again carried by the masked figure to the edge of the Sky-Perched Cliff.

With the imminent meeting of Xu Changge, his heart was surprisingly calm—after all, he now bore the memories of the original body, and with the fusion of the Blood Core Heart's destruction.

His identity as Xu Changtian was now unshakable.

After carrying Xu Yuan up, the figure said nothing, simply turning and walking forward without a word.

As he looked at the figure's back, Xu Yuan's dark eyes suddenly shrank to the size of needles.

At the summit of this mountain, he suddenly saw once again a colossal seven-life serpent head.

It was called "again" because, compared to Ji Qingyue, the seven lotus blossoms adorning this serpent head had now fully unfurled, and atop the serpent’s crown, a towering obsidian-green spike had emerged.

Xu Yuan stared at it for a long time before he finally confirmed its identity.

Well, another female lead has been chopped up by Xu Changge.

Based on its features, this serpent head was likely Ji Qingyue’s sister, Ji Fenghua.

The plot of "Cangyuan" had just begun, and within the ancient realm, the entire lineage of the serpent demons—princesses of the clan—had been wiped out.

The Xu Xian storyline from before had vanished entirely.

Yet that moment of mockery passed through his mind like a fleeting breath. Soon, Xu Yuan realized the gravity of what had happened.

The direct deaths of two major female characters indicated that the butterfly effect he had triggered had already caused the plot of "Cangyuan" to spiral out of control.

The future began to feel unpredictable.

Taking a deep breath to steady his thoughts, Xu Yuan's gaze shifted once more.

Eventually,

his eyes naturally settled upon a man of striking beauty.

Xu Changge.

He sat quietly beneath Ji Fenghua's massive serpent's head.

Dressed in green robes with dark patterns swirling like clouds, his skin shimmered with a subtle, flowing glow. His deep eyes were as still and cold as a winter lake, and his long hair, flowing gently with the clear breeze atop the mountain, danced softly behind him.

Simply sitting there, he evoked a sense of profound inadequacy in anyone who looked upon him.

As if some people were born like the full moon in the night sky—gentle, not blazingly bright, yet enough to make one recognize their own insignificance.

Yet to Xu Yuan, none of this mattered now.

What matters is,

Why does a man like this, at this very moment, hold a long, thick vine in his hands?

Connecting it to the memory in his mind, a foreboding sense stirred within Xu Yuan’s heart. He immediately spoke in the voice of his original self, loudly:

“Xu Changge, I warn you…”

“Crack!”

Before Xu Yuan could finish his words, the man across from him narrowed his eyes, and the vine in his hand shot out like a coiled serpent, striking toward Xu Yuan.

“...” Xu Yuan.

For heaven’s sake, what kind of big brother is this? At twenty years old, still resorting to violent discipline?

Xu Yuan quickly activated his internal techniques, channeling the source qi into his eyes to finally discern the trajectory of the whip’s strike.

He sidestepped just in time.

"Crack!"

The whip struck the ground beside him, instantly kicking up a storm of dust.

As the vine was retracted, Xu Yuan saw etched into the earth a deep, unmistakable mark.

Turning back, Xu Yuan shouted fiercely:

"Xu Changge, are you really doing this?!"

"Crack!"

Xu Changge's face remained calm as he swung out the second whip, his voice soft and soothing:

"If you believe it's true, then it is true."

This time, the vine moved with greater speed, and Xu Yuan barely managed to dodge it with all his might.

And this time, the whip mark on the ground cracked a small fragment of stone at the edge of the cliff.

Witnessing this scene, Xu Yuan was truly incensed, about to launch into another tirade when Xu Changge's third whip had already descended.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath, his spirit sensing extending forth, and from his hands, strands of crimson source energy began to seep out, reaching up to grasp the whip mid-air.

As the crimson source energy emerged from Xu Yuan’s hands, a blood-red flame ignited upon the vine, surging upward with relentless speed, racing straight toward the end—toward Xu Changge himself.

Yet Xu Changge remained seated, motionless, calmly awaiting the blood flame to reach its peak, allowing it to dance freely within his grasp.

Gazing upon the flame, a flicker of astonishment passed through Xu Changge’s deep-set eyes. With a simple gesture, he crushed the flame into nothingness.

"This technique... is quite impressive."

Xu Yuan opened his mouth, intending to speak, but before he could utter a word, Xu Changge stood up and waved his robe at him.

Instantly, gales of wind erupted from all directions, unbidden and uncontrolled. Xu Yuan’s body instantly became like a flat boat caught in a violent storm, swept helplessly toward Xu Changge.

In the end, he hovered two meters away from Xu Changge, suspended in the air.

Xu Changge stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calm and steady, fixed upon him.

Xu Yuan struggled to speak, but found himself utterly restrained—his fingers locked in place, unable to move a single inch under Xu Changge's unyielding pressure.

Silence. A stare.

After a long moment, Xu Yuan finally averted his gaze.

He sensed, faintly, that if they stared any longer, this elder brother would lift him and beat him senseless.

As Xu Yuan's thoughts drifted, Xu Changge also shifted his gaze, turning toward Juexing and speaking softly,

"Master Juexing, could you please examine Changtian's body?"

At the mention of Juexing's name, Xu Yuan's scattered thoughts snapped into focus, his mind suddenly sharp with alarm.

Master Juexing was one of the few monks capable of detecting discrepancies between a person's spirit and their physical form.

Claiming it was a physical check-up, Xu Changge was actually suspecting his identity.

Why?

Was it because of his cultivation technique?

Or because of his desperate act of threatening death?

Yet in memory, the original body had once done exactly the same absurd thing—threatening death.

Before he could think further, a kind-faced bald man slowly approached Xu Yuan, who hung suspended in the air.

He slightly bowed, offering a double-handed bow of respect:

"Third Prince, forgive the monk's intrusion."

With a subtle hand gesture, a strange source qi surged and seeped into Xu Yuan's body from afar.

This qi did not travel along meridians, but instead followed a bizarre path, weaving through his very being.

Though he knew that awareness would likely detect nothing, Xu Yuan still began to channel his inner energy to resist this strange source qi seeping into his body.

The result, however, was useless—the strange source qi continued to penetrate his very being.

For a moment, silence fell upon the mountain peak.

As the strange source qi steadily infiltrated Xu Yuan’s body, the expression on Juexing’s face grew ever more astonished.

Beside him, Xu Changge watched Juexing’s expression and his eyes darkened further with each passing second.

After a long pause,

Juexing slowly stepped back, offering another apologetic bow to Xu Yuan.

Turning toward Xu Changge, Juexing hesitated—words forming, yet dissolving.

Xu Changge seemed prepared for something, took a deep breath, and spoke in a flat tone laced with a coldness that cut through the air:

“Master of Awakening, if you have any discoveries regarding Changtian, please speak plainly.”

As he spoke,

he also cast a sidelong glance at Xu Yuan, who hung suspended in midair.

Juexing was momentarily taken aback by the eldest young master's voice, but he instantly realized his own expression had likely caused a misunderstanding. He hurriedly spoke up:

"Eldest Young Master, the Third Young Master’s body is unharmed, it is only that..."

Hearing that he was unharmed, something seemed to settle within the depths of Xu Changge's heart, and the tension in his eyes immediately softened. He asked:

"Only what?"

Juexing glanced sideways at Xu Yuan suspended in the sky, weighed his words carefully for a moment, and said softly:

"It is only that the Third Young Master, well..."

After pausing for a long while, Juexing finally spoke with a touch of uncertainty:

"Right now, the Third Young Master... seems to... well, he seems to have become an Innate Dao Vessel."

"What?"

At the mention of the Primordial Dao Body, the usually composed and refined Xu Changge's face finally flickered with astonishment.

The next instant,

Xu Yuan felt his entire body loosen, and his body immediately began to plummet downward.

Yet before he had touched the ground, a gentle breeze seized him and lifted him up.

Then, a vast, powerful stream of green Qi surged into his body like a flood.

The familiar sensation of intrusion returned, and Xu Yuan no longer resisted.

Now, it seemed that every person he encountered could simply pour their Qi into his body and swirl around for a while.

A moment later,

the green Qi withdrew.

Xu Changge stepped back two paces, staring intently up and down at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan's body had now regained its freedom. He held his neck stiffly, locking eyes with his elder brother, mimicking his original self's tone:

"Xu Changge, what are you looking at? When my cultivation catches up to yours, you'll be dead!"

Hearing this,

Xu Changge's thin lips twitched just slightly—seeming to smile, yet he restrained himself.

In the end, he swept his sleeve aside and emitted a cold snort from his nostrils:

"Really? On your own?

You've only managed to become a nuisance because of a few lucky breaks—your reckless behavior in Jingjiang City has driven Father to send such a large force to rescue you!

...Well, talking to you is pointless, Ying'er! Fetch my whip!"