Daoist Master Shangyuan ascended the long staircase of clouds with unhurried steps. With each footfall, celestial music rang out and conch shells echoed loudly. The cloudmist on both sides transformed into immortals boys and girls. They carried baskets of flowers, scattering white jade petals like snow, trailing mist as they gently descended to the earth.
Each illusory maiden bore a unique grace that was exquisitely lifelike. Their garments were perfectly coordinated, as if they were living beings. One or two even looked up with curiosity, gazing toward the gathered Purple Mansion Realm cultivators above.
The white mist spread farther and wider in the sky. Pavilions and towers emerged within it, encircling Daoist Master Shangyuan. Nearby, a few Purple Mansion Realm cultivators watched with puzzled expressions and whispered quietly,n “What is this... no sign of water, fire, or the five elements, no convergence of qi, just white mist? Who breaks through like this...”
“They say it’s the path of illusion and reality...”
While the two whispered to each other, Yuan Su beside Li Xuanfeng also frowned. His expression grew wary, eyes narrowing as he stared into the mist. White jade petals drifted past and released faint mist as they fell into the lake below.
Daoist Master Yuan Su paused for a moment and murmured, “It truly is the Jade True Unified Void... I can’t believe Taiyue possessed such an immortal technique.”
Expressions among the crowd shifted subtly. Yet Shangyuan continued his steady ascent into the clouds. As he climbed higher, the surroundings churned violently. The white mist that was bright and dim, surged toward him from every direction.
Daoist Master Shangyuan spoke softly, “Green Jade Cliff.”
The moment he spoke, the wind and snow of the world suddenly stopped.
In the Northern Sea, where snow storms had raged for a thousand years, all fell silent for several seconds. Then, from the endless range of snowy peaks, large and small white pearls began to fall with a clatter, striking the earth in a downpour.
These white beads rolled and bounced with crisp sounds. Some broke thin layers of ice and sank into the lake, others rolled down the mountain slopes with a rushing clatter, and still others piled up in hollowed-out places.
The snow beneath his feet shifted from pure white to a soft blend of white and pale green, glowing faintly beneath the moonlight. Shangyuan exhaled slightly and intoned, “Patterned Brocade.”
In an instant, the falling beads transformed. The beads stretched and twisted into countless threads of white brocade that were dense and delicate. They drifted like cotton, blanketing the sky and blinding the view. Even a distance of one and a half meters became a vague, misty white.
The Dao lineage of the Jiang Family... Fei Wangbai’s Dao foundation...
Li Xuanfeng pushed his perception technique to the absolute limit, barely managing to make out a vague silhouette. Behind Shangyuan, a long robe had taken form, its silver-white patterns fluttering softly in the wind.
A gentle voice reached his ears, Shangyuan’s tone was light and contented, as if everything was unfolding with effortless ease, “White Jade Disk.”
Li Xuanfeng had heard of this Dao foundation before. Yu Yuxie in his day had cultivated it, but it required Supreme Yin Moonlight and Gao White Jade Essence, and the tradition had long been lost. As expected, it belonged to the Jade True Dao.
At that moment, the moon and stars in the sky dimmed completely, nearly blending into the night. In their place rose a brilliant and dazzling jade disk.
The moment the jade disk rose, the falling jade pearls and silk-like rain in the sky ceased. Daoist Master Shangyuan sat cross-legged in the air with the gleaming jade disk behind him. He was like an immortal or buddha reborn. The mist concealing his face finally dispersed.
His features were handsome, brows long and gentle. But now his eyes glowed pure white, staring unwaveringly into the heavens above.
He slowly turned his head, and white breath streamed endlessly from between his lips and teeth. Like waterfalls, the mist flowed from his hair and vanished into the air.
Yuan Su watched in silence, realization dawned in his gaze. Beside him on the clouds appeared the blue-and-white robed figure of Daoist Master Pu Yu. Pu Yu was full of astonishment as he said, “Marvelous... to think such a path exists! Incredible! This immortal art of Daoist Master Shangyuan’s could raise everyone’s chance of breaking through by at least half!
“If the ancient ways no longer apply, then one must seek their own nature. There’s no need to cling to the five elements or the twelve immortal qi. Those who seek clarity, seek clarity. Those who seek illusion, seek illusion...”
Daoist Master Pu Yu’s eyes gleamed, thoughts racing. He glanced at Li Xuanfeng beside him and murmured in praise, “He is just about to fuse his divine ability hence the signs of his immortal body’s fragmentation. A true genius... this immortal art must have been crafted precisely for the Jade True Dao. Such perfect resonance!”
On the other hand, Shangyuan did not pause. Word by word, he intoned, “True Dao Unification!”
In an instant, radiant white light surged. The cloudmist churned and rushed inward, converging around the bright jade disk behind Shangyuan, forming a vast white lake. At its heart, a luminous point of light began to take shape.
The gathered Purple Mansion Realm cultivators stared in awe at the divine light, but Daoist Master Pu Yu’s gaze passed over it and focused instead on Shangyuan himself. He secretly calculated and faint traces of blood began to rise on his fingertips.
Shangyuan subtly formed a hand seal, and streams of divine white light surged forward, striking the growing divine glow.
Above the divine light, a phantom shard of white jade emerged, slowly materializing. As it condensed, it became more solid. Then, it gradually began to fade into illusion again.
Shangyuan’s pale face regained color quickly. His eyes remained shut but glowed faintly like jade. His hands flickered between illusion and substance, and the white glow behind him surged and dimmed, struggling violently.
Jade rain began to fall once more from the sky. The Purple Mansion Realm cultivators fell into silence. Some watched in envy, others in jealousy, and still others in deep unease. They were staring intently at Shangyuan.
Li Xuanfeng turned slightly. Yuan Su’s expression was filled with awe and envy as he remained stunned for over ten seconds, speechless. Beside him, Daoist Master Pu Yu stood silent, his eyes lowered, saying nothing.
Li Xuanfeng waited for a few seconds. Daoist Master Pu Yu glanced his way, then subtly pointed downward.
Li Xuanfeng looked down and saw a sea of pale green and white. Ice and stone had turned to jade and snow had become brocade. The entire Northern Sea ice peak had been utterly transformed into a Green Jade Cliff from top to bottom.
All the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators remained in an eerie silence. It wasn’t until every trace of radiance faded from Shangyuan, his form returning to that of a simple white-robed cultivator, his sword reverting to plain wood, that the silence began to stir.
He opened his eyes. He gave off a pure white aura. His body radiated a soft white glow.
The stars and moon dimmed. Shangyuan’s lips moved gently and his voice echoed from the great void into the present world, carrying far and wide, “I, Shangyuan, today in the Northern Sea have proven the Dao and attained the Jade True Unified Void Essence. I ascend to the rank of True Monarch. The foundation of jade across the world is now established. It may serve as array, as pill, as exalted immortal law, as talisman, as seal and as the cornerstone of the Jade True lineage...
“From the earth’s veins, jade shall emerge. The Jade True Dao may manifest in spirit items, spirit plants and spirit beasts. My Dao shall prosper. I leave behind a Sword Mansion and Jade Cliff as legacy for future generations.”
His voice reverberated, mingling with the soft tinkling of countless jade fragments. No matter what relationship each Purple Mansion Realm cultivator had with him. No matter friendship or enmity, envy or admiration, they now bowed in unison and said, “Congratulations, True Monarch Shangyuan!”
“We pay respects to the True Monarch of the Jade True Unified Void Essence.”
Daoist Master Pu Yu, filled with emotion, turned slightly to Yuan Su and said, “True Monarch Shangyuan... this is a proclamation of immortal achievement. A decree, as in the ancient immortal arts...”
Yuan Su gave a slight nod, lost in thought. Daoist Master Pu Yu sighed softly and muttered, “It’s time to go. With this breakthrough, many things have now been decided... Within the mainland and across the outer seas, who knows how many cultivators will now be tempted to attempt their own ascension.”