Chapter 526: Yuzhen Liujiu Hexu

Chapter 526: The Jade True Unity of Six and Nine

Immortal Shangyuan’s steps were unhurried, yet he gradually rose atop the cloud-wreathed long steps; each footfall stirred surges of celestial melody, conch horns blaring, while the cloud banks on either side morphed into celestial boys and maidens, bearing baskets of flowers to scatter white jade petals and snowflakes, which drifted earthward trailing wispy white smoke.

Each of the conjured maidens had a distinct, lively bearing, their attire perfectly matched as if they were flesh and blood; one or two even looked up, curious about the Purple Mansions in the sky.

The white mist in the air spread wider and wider, with pavilions and terraces nestled within it to cluster around Immortal Shangyuan; a couple of Purple Mansion beings watched in confusion, murmuring privately:

“What is this… no signs of the five elements of water and fire, no convergence of various qi—only this white mist… who breaks through like this…”

“I hear it has to do with the virtual and the real…”

As the two whispered back and forth, Elemental Immortal beside Li Xuanfeng frowned, his face marked with doubt and surprise, squinting at the white mist; white jade petals swirled past him, trailing smoke as they fell into the lake.

Elemental Immortal paused for a moment, muttering:

“This is truly the Jade True Unity of Six and Nine—Taiyue actually has such a celestial formula.”

The crowd wore varied expressions, but Shangyuan continued climbing step by step into the clouds; as he ascended higher, everything around him churned violently, the white mist flickering bright and dim as it swarmed toward him.

Immortal Shangyuan spoke softly:

“Jade Green Cliff”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the wind and snow in heaven and earth ceased abruptly.

The North Sea’s wind and snow had raged unceasingly for a thousand years, but now it halted for several breaths; the thousand-li stretching snow peak suddenly showered down white beads, large and small, pelting all in their path.

These white beads rolled and leaped, emitting clear, crisp sounds—some shattered the ice to sink into the lake, some cascaded down the snow peak, and some piled up in hollows.

The ice and snow beneath his feet faded from bright white to a white interwoven with pale green, glowing translucent in the moonlight; Shangyuan exhaled slightly and chanted:

“Interpath Brocade.”

In an instant, the falling beads contracted and transformed, merging into a dense white brocade that drifted like floss, blotting out the sky and sun—so much so that he could not see three feet ahead, only a hazy white fog.

The Jiang Clan’s orthodoxy… Fei Wangbai’s foundational dao.

Li Xuanfeng strained his eyes to the limit, pushing his eye technique to its peak, and only barely made out a vague figure; it seemed Shangyuan had an additional fluttering robe behind him, its silver-white patterns dancing gently in the wind.

A soft voice reached his ears; Shangyuan’s tone was joyful, as if everything had fallen into place:

“White Jade Plate”

Li Xuanfeng had also heard of this foundational dao—Yu Yuxi had practiced it in the past, but its inheritance had been severed because it required Lunar Moon Essence and Gao White Jade Essence; indeed, it belonged to the Jade True lineage.

At that moment, the moon and stars in the sky dimmed to the extreme, nearly merging with the night sky behind them; in their stead rose a dazzling, brilliant jade plate.

No sooner had the jade plate risen than the jade beads and silk-like rain in the sky ceased; Immortal Shangyuan sat cross-legged in the air, the white jade plate directly behind him like a reincarnated immortal or buddha, and the mist on his face finally dissipated.

His features were handsome, his eyebrows long and gentle, but his eyes were now a solid bright white, staring fixedly at the void above.

He turned his head slowly; white mist billowed unceasingly from his lips and teeth, and a waterfall of white mist flowed from his hair with his movement, dissipating into the air.

Elemental Immortal watched quietly, a look of sudden realization in his eyes; a young man in a blue-white robe emerged from the cloud bank beside him—it was Immortal Puyu, his face filled with admiration:

“Wonderful… so there’s such a way to break through! Wonderful! Immortal Shangyuan’s celestial technique will give all future generations an extra half-chance of breaking through!”

“Since the ancient methods are no longer useful, we should each pursue our own nature, not be bound by the five elements of water and fire or the twelve celestial qi—those who seek the virtual and real should do so… those who seek purity and turbidity should do so…”

Immortal Puyu’s eyes sparkled with endless thoughts; he glanced at Li Xuanfeng beside him and praised in a low voice:

“His divine powers are about to coalesce, which is why his immortal body shows signs of shattering—he is truly a genius; was this celestial technique specially crafted for the Jade True lineage? It fits so perfectly!”

Shangyuan, however, did not stop; he spoke slowly, word by word:

“Dao Unites the True!”

In an instant, dazzling white light flowed, and the cloud qi in the air surged and converged, centering on the large, bright jade plate behind him to form a massive white lake, from which a faint, glowing spot vaguely coalesced.

The Purple Mansion beings marveled at the divine light, but Immortal Puyu glanced past it to gaze closely at Immortal Shangyuan, secretly calculating; a faint red glow appeared in his hands.

Shangyuan made a subtle hand seal, and the white light of his divine powers surged toward the divine light.

A wisp of virtual white jade slowly emerged above the divine light, converging gradually—becoming more solid before fading back into virtuality.

Shangyuan’s pale face quickly returned to normal; his eyes were closed, taking on a jade-like hue, his left and right hands flickering between virtual and solid, and the white light behind him fading in and out as if struggling unceasingly.

Jade rain fell again from the sky, and all the Purple Mansion beings fell silent, staring at him with envy, jealousy, or unease.

Li Xuanfeng turned sideways; Elemental Immortal’s face was a mix of admiration and envy, and he stared blankly for more than ten breaths without speaking, while Immortal Puyu beside him lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Li Xuanfeng waited for a breath, and Immortal Puyu beside him looked over, pointing gently at the ground beneath them.

Li Xuanfeng looked down and saw a mix of blue and white—ice had turned to jade, snow had turned to brocade, and the entire North Sea ice peak had been completely transformed into a Jade Green Cliff from top to bottom.

The Purple Mansion beings remained in a strange silence until all the radiance on Shangyuan faded, and he returned to his ordinary appearance in flowing white robes, his sword turning back into wood.

He opened his eyes, which were a solid white, and his figure emitted white light.

The moon and stars were dim; Shangyuan’s lips moved slightly, and his voice drifted from the void into the mortal world, spreading endlessly:

“I, Shangyuan, have verified my dao here in the North Sea today, achieving the Jade True Unity of Six and Nine, and ascending to the rank of True Lord; the foundation of jade in the world is now established—it can be used for formations, elixirs, supreme celestial techniques, talismans, registers, and the Jade True lineage……”

“Jade should emerge from the earth’s veins…… the Jade True can be used for spiritual objects, spiritual plants, spiritual beasts…… my dao will flourish; I have prepared a Sword Mansion and a Jade Cliff to remain in the world for the benefit of future generations.”

His voice echoed, mingling with the dense sound of cracking jade; regardless of their previous relationship with him—love, hatred, indifference, envy—all the surrounding Purple Mansion beings bowed deeply:

“Congratulations to True Lord Shangyuan!”

“We pay our respects to the True Lord of the Jade True Unity of Six and Nine.”

Immortal Puyu listened with emotion, turning to Elemental Immortal beside him:

“True Lord Shangyuan’s words… they are the proclamation of achieving immortalhood through an ancient celestial technique…”

Elemental Immortal nodded slightly, his thoughts unknown; Immortal Puyu sighed and muttered:

“We should leave now—his successful breakthrough has confirmed many things, and I don’t know how many beings at home and abroad will be unable to resist breaking through themselves!”

Elemental Immortal remained silent, only bowing to Shangyuan in a low voice and staring blankly at the white mist.

Shangyuan listened carefully, and a vague object faintly appeared before him.

The object was both virtual and real—like a robe draped over the body, a stone held in the hand, or an empty hollow; Shangyuan looked up, but his gaze was fixed on the void ahead.

The cloud qi beside him dissipated, and two vague figures gradually conjured themselves; one spoke:

“Congratulations to the celestial being.”

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

The two held one end each to present it to True Lord Shangyuan; the one on the left took a brush from his sleeve and said respectfully:

“You have transcended the mortal realm; please erase your celestial name yourself—we are too lowly to dare commit such a great disrespect.”

True Lord Shangyuan shook his head slightly and did not move; the two looked at each other nervously, unsure of what to do, when Shangyuan said:

“I am not on the list—there is no need to look for me.”

The two beings from the Underworld looked at each other, then put away the brush and rolled up the golden scroll; Shangyuan waved his hand and said:

“Leave quickly—if a fight breaks out, you will be harmed.”

“Thank you for your consideration, True Lord; we take our leave.”

The two nodded repeatedly, as if granted a reprieve, bowed respectfully to take their leave, and instantly turned into a wisp of cold wind that dissipated rapidly into the world.

Shangyuan stood up slowly, the white light behind him gradually sinking into his body; he placed a hand on the green sword at his waist and said in a cold voice:

"Fellow Daoist Du Qing, there’s no need to wait any longer!"

The moment he spoke, all the Purple Mansion cultivators in the air bowed their heads in unison; none dared to move or speak, all standing in silence, while Li Xuanfeng only felt his field of vision drown in a wash of turquoise, everything before his eyes having shifted into an unrecognizable shape.

"The sky is gone…"

The sun, moon, stars, and the night veil in the sky had all vanished without a trace, leaving only a boundless expanse of turquoise water that stretched from the far east to the west; the endless, surging water hung overhead, and when one looked up, they could still spot scattered islets and reefs.

"This is… this is…”

The sea in the sky reflected the snow-capped peaks and jade mountains beneath their feet and the Northern Sea at the very bottom; water filled both the heavens and the earth, making it nearly impossible to distinguish up from down or left from right.

The endless turquoise water in the sky pressed in silently; Li Xuanfeng felt a stabbing pain in his eyes, seeing sparks dancing before him, and dared not look any longer. By his side, Yuansu had already grabbed his armor and roughly turned his head away, until his gaze fell straight on Yuansu’s face.

Ning Tiaoxiao’s right eye socket was empty, with turquoise seawater trickling down from it, while his left eye had collapsed limply in its socket and melted into a clump; his face looked as if it had been doused with water, with cyan liquid streaming down all over.

His vision went black, but he faintly glimpsed a glittering comet falling from the seawater, and a colossal, boundless creature weaving its way from the sea in the sky to the sea beneath the earth, its inky black scales glinting.

Silence enveloped his ears; he heard nothing at all, as if the world had lost all sound, everything freezing before him as if time had stopped, and he only saw Ning Tiaoxiao’s lips and tongue moving:

“Turquoise Water.”

……

The Forging Mountain in the Eastern Sea.

Forging Mountain was a great mountain in the sea north of the He Water Sea, a resting place for the glowing clouds of the Eastern Sea; the glowing clouds rising from the northwest and northeast directions would all stop here to rest before continuing their journey along the vault of the sky.

Their rest period varied in length, sometimes lasting a few breaths, sometimes several hours; those from the northwest usually headed for the barbarian tribes, while those from the northeast would finally settle back on the Great Western Plateau of the Wu Kingdom.

Located in the He Water Sea, this place was naturally the domain of the dragon clan; ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators who came here would surely meet their deaths, but the dragon clan cultivated good relations with Purple Mansion cultivators from all quarters, who could thus land here to gather glowing clouds for cultivation and be well entertained by the dragon clan.

As the glowing clouds rose, a young man flew through the mountain mists on a glowing cloud; he had sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and a dignified, elegant bearing, and held a gourd in his hand.

He landed lightly on the peak, calculated the time, and frowned in slight confusion; a woman flew over on a gust of wind beside him, holding a cluster of glowing clouds in her hands, and said with curved eyebrows:

“Husband, how is it going?”

This pair was naturally Li Xizhi and his wife; Li Xizhi was here to heal his wounds and gather glowing clouds, so Yang Xiao’er had come to find him, crossing the Eastern Sea alone and only settling here last night—only as a member of the Yang clan, with escorts from her family, could she do this, for otherwise the journey here would have been extremely risky.

Li Xizhi was observing the glowing clouds; nominally, he was here to gather glowing clouds for True Person Changxi, so he naturally had to do this well, and after counting on his fingers, he said in confusion:

“Strange… what has happened in the Northern Sea that not a single wisp of glowing cloud has come over… could it be that a Purple Mansion cultivator has fallen, disrupting the celestial phenomena?”

He calculated for a moment:

“But there are clearly no unusual celestial phenomena in the northwest either, yet not a single wisp of glowing cloud is flowing over…”

Yang Xiao’er immediately understood and said in a low voice:

“Husband, you are cut off here and unaware—these days should be the time when True Person Shangyuan is breaking through in the Northern Sea, so it must have been inadvertently blocked by him.”

Li Xizhi grew worried; since no glowing clouds were coming, he took the opportunity to free his hands, and flew down with his wife on a gust of wind to their cave abode.

This cave abode, prepared by the dragon clan, was quite spacious; he closed the stone door tightly and asked in a soft voice:

“You came in a hurry yesterday, and I didn’t have time to ask you… this place is still safe, so we have time now.”

Li Xizhi took out the feathered robe from his storage pouch; it was already tattered and torn, with a deep blue palm print on its back, which made Yang Xiao’er look flustered and ask:

“How did it become like this!”

When Yang Xiao’er heard that her husband was at Forging Mountain, she missed him deeply and hurried over on a gust of wind; she had already felt some doubt when she saw that he was not wearing the feathered robe she had given him, and now, after thinking it over, she quickly realized something was wrong:

“What happened!”

Li Xizhi gave a rough account and only asked in a soft voice:

“This feathered robe of yours is clearly at the Qi Refining level, yet it actually hides this golden light backup measure…”

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao’er first carefully confirmed that he was not injured, then pursed her lips and huffed:

“I thought it was something else.”

She smiled and said:

“I have two feathered robes—one is a treasure of the Yang clan’s direct line, and the other is part of my dowry… I was only worried that you run around outside and have so many enemies, so I paid attention to this.”

Li Xizhi was quick-witted and immediately understood; he said gently:

“So you swapped the feathered robes.”

“Naturally I swapped them; I don’t need to fight to the death outside, and no one can bully me.”

Yang Xiao’er smiled and said:

“So the one you are wearing is the Yang clan’s direct line feathered robe, and the one I am wearing is the one from my dowry!”

Grateful thanks to the Alliance Leaders:

Cang Yue Support Group

Ink Thunder Phantom

Fellow Daoist Ink Thunder Phantom also created the genealogy of this book—many thanks.

(End of Chapter)