Covering the Sky: I, a mortal, ascended to the throne step by step.

Chapter 46 The Flying Immortal of Yaochi and the Peach Blossom Pattern

The sixtieth day.

West of the ancient Taichu mine lies the vast Gobi Desert.

Li Xian led Zixia as they walked across the cracked earth.

"Why did you bring me here?" Zixia asked.

His voice had regained its clear and crisp quality, no longer the soft and gentle tone he had when he had amnesia.

—She herself didn't seem to notice this change.

Li Xian did not answer.

Suddenly stopped.

"look up."

Zixia looked up.

On the horizon, a beam of moon-white light shot into the sky.

Within the pillar of light, the faint silhouette of a woman could be seen, her robes fluttering as she ascended on the moon, surrounded by countless rays of light, like a celestial being descended to earth.

That aura transcended time and space, carrying the vastness and tragic grandeur of the primordial era.

A fairy descended from the Jade Pool.

According to legend, this is a rare celestial phenomenon that occurs only once every ten thousand years.

It is a remnant of the Daoist essence left behind when the Queen Mother of the West attained enlightenment, which only appears under specific celestial phenomena.

Zixia was completely stunned.

At this moment, the innate Dao embryo resonated intensely, and purple energy surged out uncontrollably from its body, reflecting the moon-white pillar of light.

Her tears flowed down without warning.

It's not because of sadness.

It was the Dao Embryo that instinctively sensed the call from the same source—from the Queen Mother of the West, from Yaochi, from that place called "Immortal Land" tens of thousands of years ago.

A sigh from the woman's dying moments.

"Is Yaochi still there?"

Zixia's knees buckled, and she knelt on the cracked Gobi Desert, sobbing uncontrollably.

She remembers everything.

I remember the Heavenly Demon Palace, I remember the female corpse, I remember the words, "Little girl...alive..."

I remember a man from the first level of the Dao Palace standing up and saying—

"And me."

Li Xian stood behind her, neither speaking nor offering to help.

He just waited.

Wait until she finishes crying.

……

The moonlight pillar lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before slowly dissipating.

The Gobi Desert returned to its deathly silence.

Zixia wiped away her tears and stood up.

"Take me there."

Her voice was calm, and her gaze was clearer than ever before.

It wasn't the innocent clarity of someone with amnesia, nor the aloofness of a saint.

It is the certainty that comes from someone who has made a decision.

Li Xian glanced at her.

"Keep up."

The two traveled thirty miles in the direction where the pillar of light disappeared, and found an ancient jade well in a pile of rubble buried by sandstorm.

The well walls are covered with Taoist patterns.

It still retains its lustrous sheen even after the passage of time.

The well opening was three zhang in diameter and its bottom was not visible. A cold wind continuously blew out from the bottom of the well.

Li Xian probed out with his divine sense.

Three hundred zhang, six hundred zhang, one thousand zhang—

The divine sense was repelled by an invisible force two thousand feet away.

seal.

Moreover, it is an extremely ancient seal, imbued with the aura of an emperor.

"This is the entrance to Yaochi's former residence," Li Xian said.

Zixia walked to the well and leaned down to look down.

Deep within the pitch-black well shaft, a faint sliver of moonlight flickered.

The innate Dao embryo resonated once again.

Zixia closed her eyes, and a tear slid down her cheek.

She knew what lay dormant beneath the well.

That is the place of origin of the Western Queen Mother.

It is also the birthplace of the Great Emperor Wushi.

"Let's go down together," she said.

There was no pleading tone in the voice.

Li Xian didn't waste any words.

The two jumped into the ancient well.

The Dao patterns on the well wall lit up one by one as they were touched by the aura of the innate Dao embryo.

Moonlight, white as it was, surged upwards like a tide, illuminating the entire well shaft.

Two thousand feet away, the seal silently cracked open.

It's like recognizing a master.

Li Xian's pupils contracted slightly.

'The resonance of the Dao Embryo directly broke through the seal of the Emperor's Path? Is this ancient well an entrance specifically left for the innate Dao Embryo?'

He looked up and glanced at Zixia.

The woman in purple was surrounded by a purple aura intertwined with moonlight, and her face was so holy that she seemed untouched by the mortal world.

At this moment, she didn't seem like a wife with amnesia.

It's more like a key that has been forged for 100,000 years, finally finding its own lock.

The bottom of the well suddenly opened up into a bright and clear space.

An underground world, silent for countless years, appeared before the two.

Surrounded by mountains, with nine peaks guarding it.

In the center is a vast lake, sparsely populated with life.

In the distance, the dilapidated celestial palace was shrouded in deathly aura.

Amidst the broken walls and ruins, one can still vaguely discern the magnificent grandeur of this once-famous fairyland.

And at the farthest point—

In the center of the nine peaks, a relatively well-preserved palace radiates a faint moonlight in the darkness.

Above the palace gate, three ancient characters were faintly visible in the moonlight.

Yaochi Palace.

Li Xian took a deep breath.

'Found it.'

However, his expression changed drastically the next moment.

From the direction of Yaochi Palace, an aura of utter decay suddenly exploded.

Zixia's face was deathly pale, and she whispered:

"Something... has woken up."

Yaochi Sacred Lake.

The once vast Fairy Lake has shrunk to less than one-tenth of its original size. The lake surface is shrouded in thick fog, a purplish-gray color, obscuring the depths.

The water was very still.

It was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat.

Zixia used her divine sense to probe the bottom of the lake, just touching thirty feet below the surface—

Her pupils contracted sharply.

There are people underwater.

Several blurry figures glided slowly in the depths.

Her black hair was loose, she was dressed in white, and her movements were ethereal, like water plants swaying with the waves.

"Don't move."

Li Xian grabbed Zixia's shoulder.

The voice was extremely soft, yet the divine sense had been completely concealed, not a single trace leaking out.

Zixia stood frozen in place.

She saw it.

Those are not living people.

Beneath the white robes, his skin was as white as wax, his eye sockets were deep-set, and his mouth was split to the roots of his ears.

It's a corpse.

female corpse.

Countless female corpses lay buried in the silt at the bottom of the lake, layer upon layer, their black hair intertwined and spread out like seaweed, covering the entire lakebed.

They were dressed in matching white Taoist robes, with a peach blossom embroidered on the chest.

Disciple of Yaochi.

As a chill exploded down Zixia's spine—

At the bottom of the lake, amidst a pile of corpses, a pair of deep blue eyes slowly opened.

look at each other.

Those eyes had no pupils.

There was no white in its eyes, only a pool of stagnant, green water.

It looked at Zixia.

To be precise, it is looking at the origin of the innate Dao embryo within Zixia's body.

"Walk!"

Li Xian grabbed Zixia and retreated thirty feet backward.

Too late.

The lake surface exploded, and three white shadows shot into the sky!

With black hair flying wildly and white clothes fluttering, three female corpses pounced on Zixia with unbelievable speed. Their withered fingers were spread open, their nails as black as ink, and they carried a strong corpse aura.

Purple light flashed in Zixia's palm as she instinctively activated the Purple Mansion Great Handprint—

No need.

The moment the three female corpses burst out of the lake, their bodies came into contact with the air, like ice meeting boiling water.

Starting from the extremities, the skin rapidly became transparent, the muscles dissolved, the bones softened, and the entire person turned into three pools of grayish-white viscous liquid, which spilled onto the ground with tiny bubbles.

A rotten, sweet smell filled the air.

Zixia covered her mouth and nose, her face turning pale.

Li Xian stared at the three puddles of liquid on the ground and remained silent for three breaths.

'The sacred lake of Yaochi is the burial place of the Western Queen Mother and the entire Yaochi. The corpses at the bottom of the lake are former cultivators corrupted by the curse of the underworld; they are preserved in a liquid environment to prevent them from disintegrating. Once released, they will immediately collapse.'

'The allure of their innate Daoist embryos is too great; they cannot linger by the lake.'

"Walk."

"Those are—"

"Dead people, ignore them."

Li Xian turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Zixia glanced back at the fragments of peach blossom patterns that had settled in the grayish-white liquid, pursed her lips, and quickly followed.