Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

"Haha, I won't hide it from you, when I first saw it completed, I too was taken aback. Our ancestors' craftsmanship reached an unprecedented and unsurpassable level. We, the later generations, are in awe and can't even come close!"

When speaking of the ancestors, not only did Zhao Changdu, but Zhou Li and Zhao Jingheng also showed a look of utmost reverence and admiration, as if looking up to towering mountains.

But what was different was that Zhao Sheng noticed that in addition to reverence, Zhao Jingheng's eyes couldn't help but reveal a blazing ambition.

"This man is full of grand ambitions, with top-notch mind and skills, it's just a pity that his talents are lacking. Jing Heng's ambitions are too great for the sky, and this might not be a good thing for the Zhao Family!" Zhao Sheng thought to himself, feeling a trace of worry in his heart.

Just as he was concerned about the trouble Zhao Jingheng might cause in the future, the four had already flown in front of the central tower of the city, and at that moment, the sound of Immortal Music wafted from the building.

At that time, many splendidly dressed people flew out one after another, shouting in unison to welcome the ancestor and so on.

Zhao Changdu nodded slightly, then gestured for everyone to disperse before leading Zhao Sheng and the other two into the uppermost level of the Wuyou Pavilion.

That day, the atmosphere was merry and harmonious, and everyone left in high spirits after the celebration!

Zhao Sheng also collapsed drunk at the Wuyou Pavilion and had to rest on the spot for a day.

The next morning upon waking, Zhao Jingheng came to seek him out on his own initiative, personally accompanying the second elder of his lineage to tour this Mountain City.

Only when he saw the clan members' faces filled with reverence towards Zhao Jingheng did Zhao Sheng realize that Zhao Jingheng was actually the City Lord of Mountain City. No wonder he was the one acting as a guide.

However, Zhao Sheng wondered if Zhao Jingheng had other hidden purposes with this gesture.

Although Zhao Sheng couldn't be completely certain, he roughly guessed some of his thoughts.

As large as the Southern Sky Zhao Family's power may be, and as harmonious and united as the clan members' relationships are, the inevitable conflicts of interest are by no means slight.

Although he had only returned for a short time, just by seeing the scale of Mountain City and the concentration of Spiritual Energy in the Grotto Heaven, he could confirm how important Mountain City was to the family!

It must be known that the city was clearly built on the core spiritual acupoint of the only Fifth-order Spiritual Vein in the Tianzhu Realm.

From this, one could see the exceptionally favorable environment of Spiritual Energy in Mountain City!

Zhao Jingheng, despite being the youngest amongst the Nascent Soul Ancestors of the family, held the position of City Lord.

That not only showed his unparalleled skill in strategy and power, but it also demonstrated Zhao Xuanjing's high regard for him.

However, the situation changed completely after Zhao Sheng's return.

Not only was he of higher status and stronger, but he had also risked his life for the family's great cause, earning distinguished merits.

Just to reward his achievements, as long as he wished or spoke up, Zhao Jingheng's position as City Lord would have to be relinquished!

Zhao Jingheng definitely did not want to give up the position of City Lord, as it was tied to enormously significant interests.

In front of great interests, there are no parents, let alone an uncle of ambiguous origin!

After all, the interests involved here are terrifyingly large and could even determine whether he could cultivate to the Divinity Transformation Realm in the future.

Little did Zhao Jingheng know that he was overthinking the whole situation.

The position of City Lord involves many heavy duties, and while it is indeed very lucrative, it is not something Zhao Sheng would covet.

If he revealed his actual wealth, he would probably astonish all members of the family, including Zhao Xuanjing.

For example, the Primordial Spirit Fruit, Sumeru Ring, Three Suns Intense Fire Banner, Nine Nether Tower, Capturing Sky Basket, and so on.

Any one of these items is a priceless treasure and cannot be measured by Spirit Stones.

Zhao Sheng saw through the other's veiled dark thoughts but did not expose them, pretending as if he knew nothing.

Seven or eight days later, Zhao Changdu and Zhou Li left one after another.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng took the opportunity to request to enter closed-door cultivation, while tactfully declining Zhao Jingheng's kind suggestion to stay in the city for his retreat. He stated that Earth Flame Island was the most suitable place for cultivation.

Zhao Jingheng did not persist in urging him to stay but personally accompanied Zhao Sheng to Earth Flame Island. He watched the second elder enter the Indeterminate Star Cave for seclusion and then returned to Mountain City expressionlessly.

...

A hundred years had passed, and the Star Cave was mostly restored to its original state.

The Indeterminate Star Core was enveloped in red light and columns of fire, resembling a star that was slowly rotating in the Void.

However, at this moment, on the surface of the Magma Lake below, there were conspicuously several Jade Towers standing erect.

Each Jade Tower was cloaked in a red Barrier, suggesting that someone was in secluded cultivation within them.

Zhao Sheng's gaze swept over the Jade Tower below and, in a flash, his figure descended onto the Indeterminate Star Core.

He sat down cross-legged, holding a top-grade Spirit Stone in each hand, closed his eyes, and sensed the invisible rhythm emanating from the Star Core, his spirit quickly entering a state of profound tranquility.

Boom! Boom!

Waves of Spiritual Energy tides surged from all directions, frantically converging toward the Indeterminate Star Core.

The increasingly dense nature's spiritual energy accumulated more and more, gradually condensing into a thick layer of spirit cloud mist, which under the backdrop of the Destructive God Soul Erosion Divine Light, showed a faint fiery red glow, resembling a fire cloud.

The commotion caused by Zhao Sheng's cultivation swiftly alerted the Golden Core Masters in seclusion within the tower.

The cultivators one by one halted their cultivation, hastily flew out of the tower, and looked up at the fire cloud above the Star Core with astonishment and perplexity on their faces.

Just as everyone stood dumbfounded, a vast Divine Thought Storm suddenly swept over them, and at the same time, a voice, both familiar and strange, echoed by everyone's ears.

Someone quickly recognized the voice as belonging to Zhao Sheng.

In the blink of an eye, everyone became aware of the news that the Sixteenth Ancestor had returned.

Seeing the Sixteenth Ancestor cultivating in the Star Cave, these Golden Cores of the Zhao Family, all very perceptive, did not hesitate to withdraw from the Cave, voluntarily ceding this treasure land of cultivation.

Zhao Sheng originally had no such intention, but he didn't expect his juniors to be so sensible.

He was certainly grateful for the kindness of the juniors, and he silently noted it, sure to return the favor in the future.

Ten days later,

Zhao Sheng's brow emitted a faint Divine Light, and deep within his soul, the Nascent Soul depicted a dignified treasure-like appearance, surrounded by densely bright divine light, as if water.

At this moment, numerous identically "Nascent Souls" phantasms appeared behind his Magic Body, also encircled by Divine Thought's brilliance, albeit slightly dimmer than the main body.

These infant figures were all projections of Divine Split Consciousness, and at a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred.

Thread by thread of Divine Thought's light descended from the Soul Sea, flowed through the meridians in the chest, abdomen, and limbs, and penetrated deep into the Core Energy Sea within the Dantian, where countless streams of Mana torrents circulated endlessly, driven by the Divine Light, forming extremely complex yet meticulously precise Cultivation Technique cycles.

Each moment, massive amounts of nature's spiritual energy roared into Zhao Sheng's body, following the Mana torrents, fell into the Qi Sea of the Dantian, forming a steady drizzle of Spirit Rain.

Within the Dantian, the Mana was like a vast ocean churning and ascending, drinking in countless drops of Spirit Rain and automatically transforming them into even more refined Mana.

As time slowly passed, Zhao Sheng's cultivation level imperceptibly improved slightly.

Half a day later, Zhao Sheng suddenly felt the flow of Spiritual Energy from his hands come to an abrupt end.

Thus, he gradually ceased the operation of his Cultivation Technique, opened his eyes, and looked at his hands, indeed seeing the cores of Spirit Stones, now emptied of their energy, their vortexes dissipated.

Zhao Sheng let out a slight sigh, casually stored the two depleted Spirit Stones into his Storage Bag, and then with a flip of his hand, a yellowish ring appeared in his palm.

After steadying his spirit, Zhao Sheng's brow suddenly emitted a beam of Divine Light that fell onto the Sumeru Ring.

In an instant, endless layers of Space-Time anomalies reflected deep into his spirit, and his Divine Thought branched out into nearly a hundred invisible tentacles, probing each anomaly in Space-Time.

This search, repeated countless times over decades, had almost become an instinct.

Zhao Sheng persisted in searching for the whereabouts of the Sumeru Space, while also treating it as a way to train his spiritual power.

After decades of grinding, the strength of his Divine Thought had grown significantly, and its resilience far exceeded what others could imagine.

After persisting for nearly half an hour, his Divine Thought had now been depleted by nearly fifty percent.

Then, Zhao Sheng habitually stopped, retracted the Sumeru Ring into his chest.

Afterward, he took out a Three-Returning God Elixir and swallowed it, then began to sit quietly and meditate.

Four hours later, Zhao Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze piercing through the Void like Electric Light, his Divine Thought now fully restored.

After some thought, he waved his hand, and suddenly a bright Fire Shield rose around him, blocking external view.

Then, Zhao Sheng took out a Jade Box from his Storage Bag, which was covered with Sealing Talismans.

Carefully peeling off the seals and opening the box lid, inside was a crystal-red fruit, no larger than a chicken egg, its surface pulsating with traces of Essence of the Tao, seemingly containing an unimaginably vast spiritual power.

Zhao Sheng looked intently at the Primordial Spirit Fruit in the box, momentarily undecided.

To eat?

Or not to eat?