Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

A streak of flowing light gently rose from the vast land, seemingly slow but actually swift, as it broke through the invisible boundary membrane and leapt into the vast, empty, and mysterious boundless void.

A Fire Shield, condensed from True Fire, enveloped Zhao Sheng, as he hurtled forward along the endless dome of the sky, heading in the direction of the rising sun. From a distance, he appeared like a shimmering meteor, as fast as lightning.

Without the hindrance of the atmosphere, as if shedding layers of heavy shells, Zhao Sheng's escape speed became even more exaggerated, quickly surpassing the speed of sound by tenfold, a hundredfold, and even slowly continuing to rise.

In just half a day, he had crossed the Boundless Endless Sea, flown over half the world, and arrived right above the Heavenly Curtain Continent.

At this moment, Zhao Sheng's spirits lifted, and he saw an irregular meteorite about two hundred zhang in size suddenly come into view.

The Nameless Star Meteor quietly floated in the outer layer of the void. Its protruding side had been flattened by someone into a platform nearly a hundred zhang large, covered with a thick, bright yellow Light Shield. Inside stood a jade palace—not too big, not too small—bathed in the faint sunlight, its surface reflecting shimmering waves of light, cold and silent.

A few moments later, Zhao Sheng flew above the meteorite, directly in front of the Light Shield.

At that instant, the Light Shield silently split open a passage; Zhao Sheng flashed into it and in the blink of an eye, landed at the entrance of the palace.

"Haha, Brother Tianqiong, why the late arrival?"

No sooner had these words fallen than a flash of black light passed by the doorway, and the sharp-faced, rat-eyed Xian Kong Ancestor suddenly appeared.

"Trivial matters; let's not talk about them!" Zhao Sheng's expression remained unchanged. As he stepped towards the palace, he asked, "Has Taoist Jiuming arrived?"

Xian Kong Ancestor chuckled, his eyes narrowing into slits, and he sneakily said, "Jiuming has already arrived. That chap recently suffered a small loss and now spends all day with a ghostly expression, avoiding strangers. Brother, you'd best be careful."

Uh-huh,

Zhao Sheng casually nodded his head.

In just a few steps, the two had entered deep into the palace, approaching a lavish and magnificent hall.

Inside the hall, spirit clouds floated ethereally, with over a dozen treasure-lit Magic Platforms hanging in the air. Most were empty, but three of them had Nascent Soul Ancestors sitting atop, each with a distinct demeanor—all recognized "acquaintances" from Yellow Ancestor's birthday celebration.

As soon as Zhao Sheng entered, the three immediately stood up and greeted him with smiles.

Zhao Sheng returned the smiles and responded one by one.

He chose an unoccupied Magic Platform and sat down, looking around, but Jiuming Ghost King was nowhere to be seen.

Zhao Sheng remained composed and started making small talk with the other Nascent Soul Fellow Daoists.

The Divine Ruins Meteor Sea and the Mingye Realm were separated by countless billions of miles, far exceeding the distance between the Ghost God and Nether Night realms. Not to mention the time spent on the journey, just the expenditure of Spirit Stones along the way was frighteningly substantial.

In his previous life, Zhao Sheng remembered traveling with Fox Immortal, Qingmu Monster, and a few others; the one-way toll alone amounted to a staggering fifty Top-grade Spirit Stones.

It should be noted that one top-grade spiritual stone is equivalent to a hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, roughly equal to ten Top-grade Spirit Stones.

Fifty top-grade equals five hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones, which, when converted to Top-grade Spirit Stones, is also worth seven, eight, or nine pieces (the exchange rate between top-grade and the top-grade fluctuates greatly).

The Spirit Stones consumed just for a round trip were enough to bankrupt most Nascent Soul Ancestors.

From this, one can see the exorbitant cost of voyaging through the void!

Therefore, to reduce travel costs, Nascent Soul Ancestors often traveled in groups of four or five, sometimes even as many as seven or eight.

"I've heard that fellow Daoist Zuo Yan discovered half of a Third-Order Spirit Stone Remnant Vein in the Divine Ruins last time, which must have been quite a haul. How about we travel together to the Divine Ruins this time? It's always good to have company."

"What Spirit Stone Remnant Vein? Those are just wild fabrications. How could someone like me be so lucky? To venture into the Mystical Spirit Domain and be able to break even would already be fortunate."

"Brother Tianqiong, the Divine Ruins are unpredictably dangerous, and Fallen Beasts roam freely. This is my first time going there, and I'm quite nervous. Could I possibly follow you along the way? I am willing to share any findings..."

At this moment, Xian Kong Ancestor suddenly coughed and said to an Alien Species Nascent Soul with scales all over his forehead, "Cough, cough, my apologies Po Lin. Tianqiong and I, along with Jiuming Ghost King, have other important matters and cannot accommodate you joining us."

The Green Scale Nascent Soul's expression faltered, then showed displeasure, and he closed his mouth, not speaking again.

Time slowly passed,

After waiting for more than an hour, the expressions of the five Nascent Soul Ancestors in the hall shifted in unison, and they all looked up towards the outside of the hall, as if they could see the outer situation.

"Hehe, Brother Zhou's Mayfly Palace has finally arrived. Let's head out!"

Having said that, Xian Kong Ancestor was the first to rise into the air, flying out of the hall in an instant.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng also transformed into Mystic Light and flashed out. The other three followed closely behind.

Once out of the palace, Zhao Sheng flew up into the air and saw a structure completely forged from Wind and Fire Copper; its front end a hundred zhang wide ellipse resembling a sphere, and trailing behind was a long, sharp tail like a giant sword. At first glance, it looked like an oversized tadpole, hovering above everyone's heads.

Whoosh!

Just then, a pitch-black ghostly figure unexpectedly appeared behind everyone—its pale face, grayish white pupils, and a chill of keep away from all life radiating from its body. It was the Nine-Life Ghost King, who had been hiding until now.

Upon seeing Jiuming's appearance, Zhao Sheng's eyes moved slightly, and he sent a casual greeting through Divine Thought, then paid no further attention to him.

At that moment, a passage opened up on the huge "head" of the Mayfly Palace, about one zhang wide and two zhang high, with a hint of light coming from the end of the passage.

Seeing the others look over, Zhao Sheng was spurred to action and immediately rose into the air, heading for the Mayfly Palace first.