Ascension of The Unholy Immortal-Chapter 413: Ghost Dao

Just as he prepared to leave, a calm voice suddenly echoed from the mist.

"Oh? We meet again, fellow Daoist. What a coincidence."

Tian Shu froze.

That voice—it was him!

His heart jumped. Without hesitation, he activated his Ghostly Illusion Steps, trying to flee like a flickering shadow.

But something was wrong.

The air didn't shift.

The world didn't blur.

It was as if space itself had turned to stone.

Tian Shu's eyes widened in disbelief. He reached for a teleportation talisman, crushing it instantly—yet nothing happened.

No light. No movement. No escape.

From the mist, a figure stepped out slowly. His robes were simple. His eyes calm. But his presence pressed down like a mountain.

It was Liang.

He didn't speak at first. He only looked at Tian Shu, as if weighing something in his heart.

"Why?" Tian Shu's voice trembled with anger. "I did what you asked! I never betrayed you—I never even spoke your name!"

Liang's gaze deepened, as if peering straight into the depths of Tian Shu's soul.

"If I am not mistaken," Liang said slowly, "Fellow Daoist walks the Dao Path… unlike most of us in this era."

Tian Shu's expression remained steady. "So what if I do?" he replied coolly. "Plenty of cultivators still pursue the Dao Path. In fact, among Void Return Realm and Half-Step Void Return experts, it's more common than not."

Liang gave a slight nod, his expression unchanged. "True. But most of them walk only the surface of the Dao. They dabble in the ordinary aspects of the Five Elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Very few step beyond to glimpse a Grand Dao."

His tone was neither arrogant nor confrontational—just a quiet statement of fact.

"But the Grand Daos… the true foundations of heaven and earth… are not so easily grasped. That is why they succeeded—because they did not reach too high."

Tian Shu snorted inwardly. How the hell would he know that? What gives him the right to say who's touched the Dao and who hasn't?

But he kept his tone composed. "That may be true. But what does that have to do with me? I'm just an ordinary early-stage Void Transformation cultivator. Nothing more."

A faint smile tugged at Liang's lips. "Is that so?"

He turned his gaze to the sky, as though seeing through the veils of time itself.

"The Hundred Cultivation Arts once stood alongside Qi Refining as one of the foundations of cultivation. They were paths of equal dignity—Alchemy, Formation, Talisman Forging, Beast Taming, Puppet Arts, Corpse Refining... and Ghost Refining."

The Hundred Cultivation Arts—lost branches of cultivation that once stood beside Qi Refining as pillars of the Path. Arts of alchemy, formation, talisman crafting, beast-taming, soul cultivation, spirit weaving... each a universe unto itself.

"The world now treats them as auxiliaries, tools for convenience. But in truth, each of them leads to a Dao—a complete path of power and enlightenment."

Tian Shu managed a weak smile. "You're reading too much into it."

Keep playing dumb, he told himself. Buy time. Wait for an opening.

Liang's gaze pierced him like a needle through silk.

"And you, Fellow Daoist… You walk one of them, don't you? The path of Ghost Refining."

At those words, Tian Shu's heart turned cold. How could this man possibly know?

He had always been careful—meticulous—when using his Ghost Dao techniques.

So how did Liang uncover the truth?

Though he was reluctant to admit it, the answer was clear. Liang had followed him here. He had come with a purpose.

Now, Tian Shu had no choice but to play along.

He raised an eyebrow and gave a dry laugh. "Ghost Refining? You give me too much credit. I just happened to stumble upon some half-rotted techniques that still work—barely. I wouldn't call it a path, let alone a Dao."

He spread his hands in a self-deprecating gesture. "I'm just a small cultivator doing what I can to survive. That's all."

But inwardly, his thoughts churned like a storm.

He's too sharp. Damn it, how much does he actually know? If he keeps digging, it'll be dangerous. I need to get away—quietly, before this conversation turns into a trap.

Liang, however, didn't seem the least bit concerned.

"Mm. Perhaps," he said lightly, voice indifferent. "Still… you've reached the Void Transformation Realm using techniques others wouldn't even glance at."

Tian Shu's heart skipped a beat. He masked it well, but his fists clenched slightly at his sides.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said flatly.

But he already had most of the pieces. He could more or less guess what Liang was after.

Liang's eyes gleamed. "I've long suspected that what truly hinders the return of the Hundred Cultivation Arts… is not ignorance, nor the loss of scripture."

He turned, looking toward the distant void where the sky met the mountains. "It is the Origin itself."

Tian Shu's pupils narrowed.

Liang continued slowly, as if unraveling a truth even he had yet to fully grasp.

"There is something… within the Origin. Something that rejects the rise of these arts. Even now, I cannot say what it is. A will? A curse? A seal? I don't know."

He turned back to Tian Shu. "But the signs are clear. Among all the Hundred Cultivation Arts, only a few have managed to survive the ages. Artifact Refining. Formations. Talisman Crafting. Alchemy. And even then… alchemy has fallen behind."

Tian Shu said nothing.

Liang's gaze sharpened. "The rest? Vanished. Not due to lack of talent, but because the world itself no longer nurtures them. Most manuals have become lifeless. Techniques that once created miracles are now seen as obsolete—useless. Hollow imitations."

He took a step closer. "Yet you… You cultivated the Dao of Ghost Refining. And you reached the Void Transformation Realm with it."

Tian Shu's eyes darkened. He said nothing—but his silence echoed louder than words.

Liang's lips curved faintly. "That is no small feat, Fellow Daoist. You're either blessed with a fate beyond mortal understanding… or…"