Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Three days later in the afternoon, a rainbow light came from the sky, breaking the void and suddenly plunging into one of the Floating Islands of the Heavenly Mansion Island.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother, for eliminating another enemy for our sect. This is the bounty reward, quickly take it."

Half a day later, deep within his cave mansion, Daoist Zhai Kong, with a continuous smile, stuffed a milky-white Space Storage Seal into Zhao Sheng's hands.

Zhao Sheng's Divine Sense probed into it, and he couldn't help but be surprised: "Such a large piece of Innate Geng Metal. I remember the reward wasn't for this. And this... could it be the Karma Fire Lotus Crystal?"

As he spoke, in the palm of his hand appeared a crystal pill glowing red, resembling a jade lotus seed.

Seeing this, a flicker of eagerness crossed Zhai Kong's eyes, yet he nodded and smiled, "You, for some reason, have caught the eye of our Ancestor Master. This treasure was personally gifted by the old gentleman."

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng showed a grateful expression, yet his heart remained as calm as still water.

For a cultivator who had practiced the Red Lotus Karma Fire Scripture, the Merit Lotus Crystal, though not a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, was more precious than ordinary Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects.

Because this item must come from the hands of a Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, and specifically from a Great Sacrificial Rite practitioner of the Red Lotus Scripture at Great Perfection.

The Karma Fire Lotus Crystal, integrating the essence of Karmic Fire and the previous practitioner's Divine Intent comprehension, was like a precious treasure crystallizing cultivation insights.

The gatekeeper elder had brought out this item as a reward.

To tell the truth, the reward exceeded the merit, which was not a good sign!

Zhao Sheng pondered within his heart, then suddenly asked, "May I know if the Ancestor Master left any message for me?"

Zhai Kong's eyes showed approval. "Junior Brother indeed has a meticulous mind. The Ancestor Master indeed entrusted a message, saying that you should continue your efforts and achieve more for our sect!"

After speaking, he couldn't help but admonish again, "Junior Brother, our Ancestor Master has extremely high standards and seldom favors others. Such an opportunity is rare in a thousand years. You must cherish it! Never let the Ancestor Master down, and don't disappoint the Master either!"

"Mm, what Senior Brother says makes perfect sense. I understand!" Zhao Sheng's eyes flickered slightly as he nodded and bowed his head in agreement.

...

More than ten days later, Zhao Sheng had refined the Karma Fire Lotus Crystal, causing the power of his Karmic Fire Red Lotus to surge immensely, already faintly showing the characteristics of an eighteen-grade lotus.

At the same time, his understanding of the scriptures had greatly improved. He had completely grasped the Golden Core Chapter of the Red Lotus Scripture, and even glimpsed eight parts of the essence of the Nascent Soul Chapter, only waiting to reach the Perfect Golden Core before attempting a breakthrough.

That day, Zhao Sheng was about to descend into the Sea Eye for deep cultivation, but Daoist Zhai Kong pulled him to attend a gathering of fellow Daoists.

Daoist Zhai Kong had been in the position of Deputy Mansion Master for just two months, his authority not yet stable, and it was crucial for him to establish his prestige.

Zhao Sheng had just slain the Wind Waterfall Old Monster, gaining fame in the Wanhua Heavenly Mansion for a while, which was perfect for bolstering his presence.

Late at night, the Floating Island finally quieted down a bit, the clouds scattered for ten thousand miles, and the clear moon perfectly pure, with stars filling the sky.

The cold wind was biting, the moonlight bright, and the scenery on the island offered a different charm.

At that moment, on a mountain peak of Liantian Island, serene and tranquil, in an ancient pine Jade Table, Zhao Sheng, Zhai Kong, Hong Qingqiu, and eight or nine other Golden Core cultivators were scattered around, sitting casually before the Jade Table that displayed exotic fruits and various kinds of Spiritual Wine, engaging in idle chat.

Hong Qingqiu just emptied a flask of wine, casually throwing it off the peak, and burst out laughing, "Brother Zhao, you truly are a True Immortal in disguise! Your first strike actually beheaded Old Monster Zhu. With your strength, you could definitely be ranked in the top ten within our Wanhua Heavenly Mansion... eh, Little Zhen, wouldn't you agree?"

Daoist Zhen cursed under his breath, clearly dissatisfied with that nickname, but how could he seriously argue with a half-drunk Hong Qingqiu?

"What Brother Hong says is true," said Daoist Zhen, who seemed like a vision of a transcendent Daoist but was in fact the weakest among them, having barely crossed the Golden Core threshold.

After muttering a vague agreement, he immediately changed the subject: "Recently, Zhen has learned of a great secret and specially wished to share it with fellow Daoists! Speaking of Wuzhou sinking, we must talk about the realm-crossing expedition from a thousand years ago… the realm they crossed, heh, fellow Daoists likely also know, it was the Tianzhu Realm. But today let us not dwell on those disheartening matters, and just mention the incident of Wuzhou sinking. I dare ask you all, does anyone know why such a vast continent could just sink like that?"

A large man with ancient golden skin scoffed, "Heh, you bring that up to show off? Old Daoist Zhen, you truly seem to be regressing with age. It's clearly recorded in the secret scrolls. Wuzhou's sinking was due to the Star God going into a Fallen Demon state causing loss of control, leading to an unprecedented space-time disturbance, making Wuzhou's land collapse due to the power of space-time, ultimately sinking into the Ten Thousand Feet Sea Abyss."

At this time, a Crown Feather Taoist, with continuous emergence of void lotuses behind him, couldn't help but sigh, "Speaking of the realm-crossing expedition from a thousand years ago, it truly was a golden age for cultivation, favored by the Heavenly Dao, with dragons and snakes arising from the land, allowing many outstanding cultivators to seize the opportunity and rise, with even Divinity Transformation True Monarchs emerging in great numbers. Why couldn't we have experienced that splendid era!"

"Junior Master Wu said it perfectly. I too have perused many records by our predecessors... A million cultivators, starting from Wuzhou, crossing countless miles of void, occupying the Shattered Star Sea, launching a counterattack on Central Continent, ascending Heavenly Pillar Mountain, crossing Dragon Valley, swallowing tens of millions of miles of mountains and rivers, hoping to make an entire great realm submit under the heavenly might of our sect… What grand ambition!"

"Ha ha, what grand ambition!"

At these words, Zhao Sheng suddenly burst into laughter, emphasizing his statement, repeating it once more, then unexpectedly added, "A million cultivators, exhausting the resources of several continents, crossing endless void, and what was the result? Heh, nothing but their efforts buried beneath the sands, barely one in a thousand managed to escape back to the Netherworld. Even Wuzhou was lost... what kind of grand expedition victory is that?"