Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Speaking to this point, Xian Kong Ancestor's mouse-like eyes swiveled around, and with a sly smile he said, "Why don't I take a few more days to think it over? After careful consideration, I'll give my response to the senior, how about that?"

Zhao Sheng, keeping his composure, replied with a smile, "That sounds good! After all, a melon forced off its vine isn't sweet."

A moment later, the rodent-eyed elder hurried away.

Once only the two of them remained in the hall, a fierce look suddenly appeared on Yama Ancestor's face as he said bitterly, "Hmph, ungrateful! Xian Kong is too slippery, not a good choice. Brother Tianqiong, why not find someone else? I think Daoist Bing Luan would be suitable."

Zhao Sheng's gaze flickered, and he shook his head, "Xian Kong, as the Ancestor of the Ground Squirrel Clan, possesses a very unique Innate Divine Ability. He can be said to be the most masterful at Forbidden Breaking among the Nascent Soul Ancestors in our realm. Moreover, he has been exploring the Divine Ruins for hundreds of years and is very familiar with the environment. Having him join us would save us a great deal of effort."

After pondering for a while, Yama Ancestor said decisively, "That rascal Xian Kong is the most greedy. His such procrastination probably means he wants to secure a larger share of the spoils."

Zhao Sheng laughed, "That's even better! As long as it's not too unreasonable, let's agree to his demands. With the two of us present, he won't be able to turn the sky upside down."

"You make a good point, let's choose him then!" Yama Ancestor thought so too, and immediately changed his mind.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng continued, "In addition to Taoist Jiuming from before, we still lack one Array Master. Does Daoist Yama have anyone in mind?"

Yama Ancestor's eyes shone brightly as he said without hesitation, "Daoist Ou Feng from Asking Dao Sect, who is obsessed with formations. If he hears about the Cross-border Transmission Array, he would join without any hesitation."

"Ou Feng? Is it the one known as 'One Thought Hundred Array', the Array Maniac?" Zhao Sheng's eyebrows raised, and he promptly inquired.

"Who else could it be! Leave the matter of inviting him to me," Yama Ancestor confidently said.

Zhao Sheng nodded his head, accepting the other party's suggestion.

Shortly after, Yama Ancestor left the hall, leaving Zhao Sheng alone, slowly sinking into deep thought.

Two days later, Xian Kong Ancestor took the initiative to come forward, and, as expected, he made an outrageous demand, stating that once the spiritual realm was found, he should have priority in choosing two treasures.

Zhao Sheng pretended to argue with him for a long time before reluctantly agreeing to his request.

A day later, Zhao Sheng, Yama, Xian Kong, and Jiuming, four Nascent Soul Ancestors, gathered, got to know each other, and finally agreed to meet on the outskirts of the Divine Ruins in fifteen years.

It's worth mentioning that Taoist Jiuming was not among the living; rather, he was a Nascent Soul Ghost Practitioner.

This Nascent Soul Ghost Practitioner was quite different from other Ghost Kings of his rank, one could say he marched to the beat of his own drum.

The Nine-Life Ghost King was not only immensely obsessed with ancient and unusual texts but also usually considered himself a Confucian Scholar while extremely opposing all Evil Demons and the Outer Path.

Zhao Sheng chose him because Jiuming truly had "nine lives," making him highly suitable to serve as the pathfinder.

...

Three days later, above the Cloud Sea, Gang Wind howled fiercely.

Boom!

A golden light soared to the sky, and a hundred-zhang tall golden palm suddenly appeared, slamming down fiercely towards Zhao Sheng not far away.

Before the giant palm could reach him, the tremendous oppressive force surged through the fierce winds, causing the Void near Zhao Sheng to rumble, the air almost freezing.

As the figure of "Zhao Sheng" was enveloped by the golden palm, the impact caused his skin to crack, and countless threads of blood sprayed out, turning into layers of blood mist. His entire body looked to be on the verge of being smashed to pieces by the golden palm.

Just then, a clear voice came from afar:

"Ghost God Finger!"

As soon as the words fell, a burst of dark red and black light soared from the blood mist, swiftly transforming into a vast, hazy, blood-red giant finger shadow about two yards long. With a flicker, it easily touched the center of the golden palm.

What happened next was astonishing.

The golden palm trembled violently the moment it was touched by the blood-red finger, cracks spontaneously appearing all over it, and then dispersed in the wind, shattering to pieces.

The next second, the massive blood-red finger twisted and shot towards a spot in the Void.

With a "boom,"

Another figure of Zhao Sheng appeared at that spot, identical to the previous one but with a slightly different look in his eyes.

Watching the Ghost God Finger coming down, Zhao Sheng smiled faintly, his figure instantly disappearing from the spot, causing the massive finger to miss its target.

Over a hundred zhang away, another "Zhao Sheng" suddenly felt the emptiness around him become unbearably hot.

With a booming sound, a surging golden sea of fire instantly covered a hundred zhang radius, submerging "Zhao Sheng" entirely, while a scorching white undercurrent silently pierced his body.

The next second, "Zhao Sheng" exploded into countless black lights.

Just then, a ghostly shadow shot out from the sea of fire below, and in just a blur, it had fled a thousand zhang into the void, recondensing into a young master wearing a Confucian robe, with rosy lips and white teeth.

"Impressive, impressive! If this king hadn't used the Divine Light Transformation technique, I might have indeed fallen under Brother Tianqiong's sea of fire."

The young master was none other than the Nine-Life Ghost King.

He looked at the golden True Fire that was burning on his wrist, and a surprised smile appeared on his face.

To his astonishment, the strand of golden True Fire moved as if it were alive, squirming fiercely as though it was trying to avoid being eroded by Yin Power.

But the next moment, as a black aura flashed between Nine-Life's brows, the golden True Fire flickered violently and was then devoured by a dim black light.

"Daoist Jiu Ming jests. I'm well aware of my limitations. How could such a simple Taoist Skill of True Fire harm your Yin Soul?" Zhao Sheng said indifferently, "Let's call an end to our match! Without using all our might, we simply cannot determine a winner."

"Haha! Although this king held back a bit, I must admit I'm far from matching Brother Tianqiong's depth of reserve. No wonder even Daoist Yama is wary of you."

Zhao Sheng's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this; such obvious attempts at provocation were crude, and he paid them no heed.

Seeing this, the Nine-Life Ghost King was unconcerned. He hadn't harbored much hope to begin with and had merely thrown a casual jab.

He admitted to himself that he was no match for the raw strength of those two Late Stage Great Grandmasters, and thus, he was always on guard against them teaming up.

Luckily, it seemed for now that Yama and Tianqiong weren't particularly close.

With that thought, the Nine-Life Ghost King spat out a miniature triangular ghost banner about an inch tall from his mouth, which instantly enlarged to about a zhang high with a single flicker before him.

He waved his hand over the banner, and the Ghost Banner shone, scattering down numerous Jade White Bone Beads as large as longan fruits.

The Nine-Life Ghost King didn't even look as he flicked his Confucian sleeve, and six Golden Core Realm Ghost King Heart Cores shot forth, flying towards the opposite side.

"Generous, Daoist!" Zhao Sheng praised lightly, raising his sleeve and swiftly storing all the Heart Cores inside.

At the same time, Zhao Sheng flicked his finger, releasing the chilly Ten-thousand-year-old Ice Soul, which was quickly caught by the Nine-Life Ghost King.

"Brother Tianqiong, this king has urgent matters to attend to and should not linger here. Let us part for now, and we shall meet again in the Divine Ruins in fifteen years!"

Having said that, the Nine-Life Ghost King gave Zhao Sheng a slight bow and then turned into a wisp of black light, vanishing into the void.

After watching the other party disappear into the distance, Zhao Sheng's figure flashed and he promptly vanished from the void.

Half a month later, the Han Mountain Wild Rhinoceros bellowed skyward, its hooves treading on rolling black flames, as it soared from above the Yellow Spirit Peak amidst the spirit clouds, speeding towards the eastern horizon.

...

More than twenty days later, a mass of black flames raced from the edge of the sky, plummeting down after flying over Black King Peak.

A massive beast settled onto the temple square atop the mountain, and several Yellow Sky Sect Members quickly dismounted from the rhinoceros's back.

Following that, the Han Mountain Wild Rhinoceros leapt skyward, then descended towards the mountain's rear.

Half a year later.

Inside Black King Cave, Zhao Sheng sat meditating with closed eyes when the Communication Token at his waist suddenly started flashing violently.

Zhao Sheng opened his eyes and sent his Divine Thought into it: "Medicine Master, save my life!"

A massive beast settled onto the temple square atop the mountain, and several Yellow Sky Sect Members quickly dismounted from the rhinoceros's back.

Following that, the Han Mountain Wild Rhinoceros leapt skyward, then descended towards the mountain's rear.

Half a year later.

Inside Black King Cave, Zhao Sheng sat meditating with closed eyes when the Communication Token at his waist suddenly started flashing violently.