After the Great Dao died

Chapter 19 Smash an Ant

Chen Ling squinted and continued walking.

The sky darkened and it started raining again.

The spring rain in March should be gentle and moist, like "apricot blossoms about to be wet with rain," but today's rain is as cold as snowmelt in the dead of winter.

The number of pedestrians on the street gradually decreased.

Chen Lingxi mingled with the few scattered people leaving the city and headed towards the north gate.

They walked a short distance before arriving at their destination.

It was an empty execution ground.

The terrain here is low-lying, with bare earthen slopes on three sides, and only an official road to the north provides access.

The surrounding area was barren, not even a single common foxtail grass could be seen.

Chen Lingxi stood silently before the execution ground.

The rain fell harder and harder, pattering on his shoulders and trickling down his temples, but he didn't bother to wipe it away.

He remembered this place most clearly.

More than two years ago, on that day, the execution ground was surrounded by onlookers.

His father, Chen Yanzhi, was kneeling in this execution ground when the executioner beheaded him with a single stroke.

The mother followed closely behind, but before she could even utter a cry, she too collapsed onto the same patch of yellow mud.

That day was also a gloomy, rainy day.

The rain washed away the blood on the ground, creating a long red channel that flowed all the way to his feet.

Later, he was made a government slave and eventually transferred to the residence of Marquis Baosu.

This place seems to be colder than other places.

He stood quietly for a moment, the rain soaking him to the bone.

"Consort Chun..."

"The art of listening through mirrors..."

He recalled it in his heart.

Just then, a soft laugh came from behind.

The laughter wasn't loud, but it was clearly heard by Chen Lingxi amidst the patter of the rain.

Chen Lingxi turned around abruptly.

Not far away, a person was standing on the branch of a crooked old locust tree.

He was a boy who looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, with rosy lips and white teeth, and a handsome face that seemed otherworldly.

He wore a moon-white long robe, the fabric of which remained dry in the rain. Rainwater bounced off within three feet of him, as if an invisible shroud enveloped him.

A long sword hung at his waist, its scabbard entirely silver-white, and a jade-green gem inlaid on the hilt, gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the dim light of the day.

The boy had one hand behind his back and the other on the hilt of his sword, looking down at Chen Lingxi.

His eyes were extremely bright, as bright as two cold stars.

But there was no warmth in that starlight, only a condescending indifference, as if it were scrutinizing ants.

It was as if, in his eyes, Chen Lingxi standing below was not a living person, but an interesting toy.

Who is this person?

Chen Lingxi only needed to make eye contact with him once, and her blood and qi suddenly froze.

The man finally spoke.

"Seeing that you were able to withstand the calamity of the Time Candle, I followed you for a long time."

The boy spoke, his voice clear and bright like the striking of jade chimes, his tone lazy and casual, yet every word struck Chen Lingxi's heart.

"But now it seems you're nothing special."

Chen Lingxi's pupils constricted slightly.

"Time may be fleeting, but disaster will follow."

"This person was spying on me just now."

He saw that Chen Lingxi did not seem as surprised as he had imagined.

The boy tilted his head: "So, what's your background?"

Before he could finish speaking, another unexpected event occurred.

Suddenly, the rain curtain in the direction of the bridgehead seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand, and thick fog surged in from all directions like a tide. The bluish-gray fog was so thick that it almost solidified.

Footsteps could be heard through the thick fog.

The footsteps were neither hurried nor slow, each step on the same beat, steady as a drumbeat, as if they were stepping not on muddy ground, but on some kind of invisible staircase.

A figure slowly emerged from the thick fog.

The figure was tall and slender, with his hands behind his back.

He wore a black brocade robe, his face was extremely pale, and his eyes were very dark, like two ancient wells, unfathomable.

——Lin Suri.

There was no mist surrounding him, but the raindrops fell three feet above his head and quietly turned into water vapor and dissipated, as if an invisible barrier surrounded him.

Lin Suri's gaze fell on Chen Lingxi, just for a moment.

That glance was extremely calm, yet it seemed to pierce through flesh and bone, reaching the deepest spiritual energy channels.

Chen Lingxi felt the dormant spiritual energy in his dantian tremble slightly, then return to calm, as if something had been easily parted by that gaze.

Lin Suri frowned slightly, a faint look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"The Six Qi True Method," he spoke, his voice calm and even. "I have not practiced any special techniques, only the way of breathing and circulating qi."

He paused, his deep, well-like eyes staring directly at Chen Lingxi's frail, aged face.

Even though his face was covered with wrinkles like old tree bark, and his eyes were cloudy as if they were covered with a veil, Lin Suri still recognized him at a glance.

"The government slaves in the rear quarters of the north courtyard?"

These were government slaves who should have lived a life of ignorance and were destined to exhaust themselves in hard labor.

However, the spiritual energy flowing through his body was exactly the same as that of the "Six Qi True Method" he cultivated.

"You are..." Lin Suri slowly began, "a disciple of the Daoxia Academy?"

Before he finished speaking, the boy in the locust tree suddenly smiled.

The laughter was very soft, yet it sounded exceptionally clear in the silent execution ground.

The boy tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping between Chen Lingxi and Lin Suri.

"Lin Suri."

He spoke, his voice clear and melodious as ever: "You intended to lure me here with this fragment of the cauldron, and I deliberately took the bait. The journey has been quite interesting."

His gaze returned to Chen Lingxi, and the smile on his lips deepened.

"I thought it was just a common trap to lure me out, but I never expected it to turn out to be such an interesting fun."

"Since it's for fun..."

He paused, his eyes carrying an extremely natural and undisguised disdain.

"...Once you've seen it, that's enough. Why bother about its origins?"

The boy grinned as he finished speaking.

His smile was clean and bright, like a young man on a spring outing, but there was no extra emotion in his eyes.

There was no murderous intent, no anger, not even disdain.

What it has is only a pure, almost naive, condescending attitude.

It's like a child squatting under a tree, watching ants move their nest.

After looking at it, I gently crushed it with my finger.

For no reason.

He flicked his finger.

Chen Lingxi's pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw it clearly.

The boy's finger-swiping motion was extremely slow, even elegant, as if he were simply brushing a fallen flower off his shoulder.

But in that instant when the fingertip snapped straight!

A deep thunderclap echoed in the void!

This thunder did not come from the sky, but rather it was a thunderous sound that erupted from the air itself, right at hand!

A thin, pale golden bolt of lightning shot out from the boy's fingertip!

Lin Suri frowned at this moment: "Lu Baizhong!"

He revealed the boy's name, but did not stop him.

The lightning bolt tore through the rain curtain; raindrops vanished the moment they touched it. The air twisted and shattered along its trajectory, producing a piercing tearing sound.

Chen Lingxi was unable to move.

"Such power..."

The power contained in this lightning was too strong; Chen Lingxi felt like an ant.

At this moment, he, like an ant, was like an ant standing in front of a flash flood. He didn't even have time to think about escaping before he was swept away, crushed, and swallowed up!

next moment.

The pale golden lightning bolt shot into his brow without any obstruction.

"boom--"

Chen Lingxi felt a chill between his brows, followed by an overwhelming force exploding in his skull.

He seemed to hear the sound of his bones shattering, the sound of his blood boiling and evaporating, and the sound of every inch of flesh and every wisp of spiritual energy being torn to dust at this moment!

Even at this moment, Chen Lingxi could still see the boy's eyes.

Clean and tidy, without hatred, anger, or even murderous intent.

I just watched it and then casually killed it.

He wanted to kill, so Chen Ling was killed.

"Click—"

Above the divine dome, the two bright mirrors suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.

Two beams of light, one blazing gold and the other silvery white, fell simultaneously, illuminating Chen Lingxi's shattered body.

As the light swirled, the entire world began to distort, crack, and disintegrate.

The water surged backward, the locust trees fell, and the stone bridge turned into shattered stones that scattered into the air!

-

Chen Lingxi suddenly opened her eyes.

He lay on the hard bed in the servants' quarters, panting heavily, his clothes soaked with cold sweat, and his head throbbing with pain.

He pressed his temples, his fingertips trembling slightly. The spiritual energy in his dantian began to circulate, rising in wisps to the top of his head, slowly suppressing the intense pain.

It took him a good while to sit up, supporting himself on the edge of the bed, his chest heaving violently.

Outside the window, the moon had not yet fully set.

Chen Lingxi pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard.

The peony in the courtyard is in full bloom.

Chen Ling thought for a moment, then walked out of the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard wall, several servants from the Marquis's residence walked away chatting and laughing. One of them saw Chen Lingxi standing in the courtyard and approached him with a smile, asking, "Brother Chen, do you have any clothes that need washing?"

Chen Lingxi slowly shook her head without answering.

He looked up and saw the real, half-hidden behind the west wall.

The two bright mirrors disappeared.

He took a deep breath, the cool night air filling his lungs.

He returned to where he had been four days earlier.

To be precise, it was he who left the divine chamber under the power of Chejue Shentong.

It all felt like a dream.

"No, this is not a dream."

Chen Ling took another deep breath.

This was because in his mind, the energy channels, breath-concealing techniques, and vital energy gates of the Concealed Edge Technique, as well as the spiritual energy guidance, sword energy condensation, and external projection methods of the Azure Edge Technique, were all clearly visible and perfectly accurate.

"The memories within the shrine will return to the present world with me!"