Chen Xuantian couldn’t move.

First, Chen Dachong’s body wouldn’t listen to him at all; second, it was all happening too fast.

In the span of a single heartbeat, before the blood could even rush to his head,

a skinny, pitiful young boy, bare-footed, wrapped in a Daoist robe, hair loose, smiling gently, polite and refined,

and a grotesque creature with iron claws, fluttering wings, dragging tentacles, Devil Breath surging to the heavens, cold and ruthless, sticky and disgusting,

a human face and demonic shadow alternating, flickering, glitching like a broken frame rate—this figure had already stepped out of the night, walked over the black pool,

without stirring up the slightest ripple, and landed right in front of him, opening those pair of bright yellow, inhuman, monstrous pupils,

staring dead at Chen Dachong’s—no, across a whole well of blood-spring, staring dead into Chen Xuantian’s eyes.

"How did you know that in this life, I was planning to call myself Lingxu?"

As he asked, that demon claw shaped like an iron hook came probing toward his forehead, as if wanting to pry open his skull and have a look inside.

Chen Xuantian fought with everything he had to raise his head, to open his eyes, to wake up from this nightmare, but he couldn’t do it.

Right now, this very instant, he was imprisoned in Chen Dachong’s Skin Sack, sunk in this black brine,

all his essence and Qi Refining turning into blood, spraying out of his eye sockets like a fountain, merging into the boundless dark pool.

Gonna die

No way out

Screw it

All in

Any other time, as long as there was the tiniest path, he could find some escape route—but now he was truly driven to a dead end, and Chen Xuantian was going all out.

He instantly focused all his mind, running the Reverse Turbine Divine Skill to forcibly stop Chen Dachong’s Blood Body from collapsing, while also concentrating and recalling the Spirit Void Daoist Collection General Outline he’d gotten from Peng Ju, devoting himself entirely, directly reciting and transmitting it in his heart,

"Union and self-attainment, the truly successive spirit is the reality of True within Void; those akin to spirit are the Truth of Dao, the Void is the body of Dao...

Those who cultivate Dao should nurture the True, refine Qi Refining, cultivate the origin and Body Sculpting; once the heavenly root is penetrated, the spiritual radiance of innate nature will awaken, the Void Bright Mirror of the self will be revealed...

Refine until Bright Mirror and still water, empty and limpid, illuminating the original nature, the realm where spirit and Void are one—that is when one attains the Great Dao Body..."

So the demon claw halted, turning into the slender fingers of a young boy—Netherworld Spring seemed to be stunned for a moment, even a little confused,

"Huh? This Lingxu Dao Book, I came up with it while lying at the bottom of the Netherworld Spring, bored out of my skull, created it in a dream. It clearly hasn’t even come out into the world yet—how do you already know it?"

Teetering on the edge of death, Chen Xuantian was also pulling out every trick he had! In his heart he tilted his head back and howled! Spouting nonsense!

"Ugh ugh ugh~ Alas~ when one man attains Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven!

Because this lowly one is your grand-disciple’s disciple, and you are the Great Dao, you are the heavens themself~

Ah~~ Netherworld Spring~~ Taoist Ancestor~~

Old Ancestor, you are the one who proved the Great Dao! Shattered heaven and earth! Opened up the Great Dao! A being who reaches all the way to the end of all things!

Yi-xu-xi~ how perilously lofty! How perilously magnificent! How perilously Dao!

Your disciple here is the chicken and dog who follows you a thousand years later~ trimming his feet to fit your shoes, treading your Dao to ascend to the sky~

After bitter cultivation, I finally mastered the Dao of traveling through time and space and reincarnating through lifetimes!

So I came back specially to this time, this place, this very moment~ to personally witness you proving the Dao~~

Yaaaaaah~ Ancestor of Nether Spring Dao, I finally see you, I’m so freaking excited~~"

Netherworld Spring was genuinely dumbfounded, apparently hadn’t expected this guy to lick boots this hard. He scratched his head, actually smiled a bit shyly, and said,

"Time-space traversal? The Company over there does indeed have that ability... 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

But I’ve coveted it for a long time, yet no matter how I rack my brains, after thousands of years I still can’t figure it out.

Never thought that in this life, I might actually obtain this Dao fruit?"

Chen Xuantian screamed like a maniac,

"Yeah you can, yeah you can, of course you can! This brat’s rebirth this time is exactly to help Old Ancestor reach the absolute peak! Above and below heaven! Peerless under all skies! Sweeping through the myriad worlds! Unifying the Eight Desolations! Immortal Palace insta-wiped! Mystic Sect all slaughtered! Those petty Divine Sects, smashed into dog-shit paste!!"

"Hahahaha!"

Netherworld Spring roared with laughter, and his palm slapped down on Chen Xuantian’s shoulder,

"Kid, you really can bullshit, lying through your teeth with your eyes wide open. You’re definitely my heir!"

Chen Xuantian’s soul nearly flew right out, but he suddenly found he could move, and his blood wasn’t Beng-ing anymore. He hurriedly dropped to his knees, dunking his head into the black water,

"Congratulations to Old Ancestor! Divine Skill at great success! Enlightenment achieved, emerging from seclusion! Immortal Blessing forever enjoyed! Longevity equal to heaven! Sweeping the myriad worlds! Dominating the Void! Ruling the universe! Commanding the primordial wilderness!"

Too bad when he lifted his face again, he still didn’t see a carp head—only an octopus head. Truly, mad fuck...

Netherworld Spring said modestly,

"That’s too much, too much. We who seek the Dao have no need to play that Immortal Palace game."

Wow, you fucking call this ghostly thing still "people," do you?

Chen Xuantian muttered a tiny complaint, then hurriedly flattered,

"Necessary, necessary, the Ancestral Family rules cannot be changed! You are the Ancestor of ten thousand Dao, you are the Supreme source! In this grand-disciple’s eyes, you are the sky, you are the earth, you are the Dao~~

Oh Old Ancestor, I just made up a little song for you on the spot~ Without you~ there’d be no me~ oh oh~ Only with you~ could there ever be me~ woah woah~"

Netherworld Spring’s whole face started twitching from his singing, as if all the facial tentacles were shaking, all expressing that it was awful, awful,

"Alright, alright, enough, enough. I’m only checking your background, I’m not going to do anything to you. No need to be scared to this extent."

Then Netherworld Spring drew back his hand, pulled Tang Xian’er out of Chen Dachong’s arms, turned around, and Instant Teleportation-ed back into the temple.

Chen Xuantian froze,

"Eh? Uh, Old Ancestor, you’re..."

"Saving her life, of course. A promise is a promise, a life for a life."

Netherworld Spring smiled with narrowed eyes,

"Relax, when I, Netherworld Spring, say a life for a life, it’s one life for one life. I mean what I say, I cheat neither child nor elder."

Then he flipped his hand, stringing cat’s cradle, husking corn—just like that he peeled Tang Xian’er down to blood, flesh, bone, and skin, disassembling her into minced corpse fragments. Then he scooped up black water, kneaded it together with the meat paste, rolled it into balls, molded clay figurines, scrubbing the five viscera and six organs, the Heart Core and head, coloring and scenting all the flesh and blood, working it all up like he was braising meat in marinade.