Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1353 - 729: Borrowing a Path to Ascension (Part 2)

As a member of the Zhao’s Central Sect, Zhao Changjin naturally prioritized the interests of his own lineage.

Inside Unity Hall, a subtle look was shared between Zhao Daxian, Zhao Dingpian, and the other four Nascent Soul Supreme Elders. Following this silent exchange, they turned their collective gaze toward the commanding figure perched upon the highest seat.

Zhao Dingshan had grown increasingly "taciturn" as the years passed, frequently remaining silent for ten or even twenty days at a time.

Yet, the moment he chose to speak, none of the other five Zhao’s Nascent Souls dared to offer a word of dissent; such was the overwhelming authority of a Primordial Spirit Puppet.

The four Nascent Souls still held a vivid, terrifying memory of that shocking event from years ago.

Zhao Dingshan had once released a mere sliver of his pressure, yet it had been enough to completely immobilize the four Nascent Souls. The sheer dread of facing certain death had been etched into their souls forever.

Following a heavy silence, Zhao Dingshan finally spoke, his voice carrying the cold, unyielding resonance of metal: "The Ancestor... is in seclusion. No one is to disturb!"

The expressions of Zhao Daxian and his peers shifted slightly at this declaration, leaving them momentarily robbed of speech.

...

The Ascension Platform sat abandoned under the cover of the deep night.

Thousands of starlights descended from the heavens, striking the surfaces of the crystal array pillars and refracting into a mesmerizing display of flowing, colorful lights.

Zhao Sheng materialized silently at the base of the Ascension Tower. He ran his hand over the smooth exterior of the tower wall, his senses finely tuned to the Power of Laws that pulsed continuously within the structure.

While the Ascension Tower served as the vital "core" for this Great Ascension Array, it was unfortunately plagued by irreversible internal damage.

This Great Ascension Array was essentially useless unless it was completely dismantled and reconstructed.

Even though he had deciphered most of the secrets behind the Great Ascension Array, building an identical Great Array from the ground up would be an impossible task for him right now.

He simply lacked the necessary Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, most notably the essential Space-time Principle Crystals.

Pulling his hand back, Zhao Sheng looked up at the vast tapestry of stars before shifting his focus toward the east.

He stared toward the horizon where the sun was destined to rise.

In a shimmering flash of light, Zhao Sheng utilized teleportation to vanish from the Ascension Platform, leaving no clue as to his destination.

Billions of miles away from the Tianzhu Realm, a figure emerged within the silent reaches of the Outer Void.

Zhao Sheng hovered in the emptiness, gazing eastward at a colossal, radiant fireball that dominated the view from thousands of miles away.

It was the Sun, the undisputed sovereign of this star system.

A moment later, Zhao Sheng vanished once more through teleportation.

After executing three consecutive Space-Time Teleportations, his entire field of vision was consumed by a boundless sea of shimmering white flames.

No matter where he looked, he saw only a vast and blinding ocean of fire.

Even though he remained millions of miles from the Sun's actual surface, the heat in the surrounding void was beyond imagination—intense enough to turn a piece of thousand-year Mystic Iron into vapor in a single breath.

Rumble～

In the distance, a massive "bulge" of incredible proportions suddenly rose from the turbulent sea of fire.

An instant later, this "bulge" detonated with a deafening roar that defied the vacuum of space, letting out a sound that seemed to tear the void itself apart.

At the same time, a monstrous "tongue of fire" erupted from the solar sea, momentarily blotting out everything else.

Zhao Sheng’s pupils contracted; he vanished on the spot, narrowly escaping the incinerating reach of the solar flare.

He reappeared a hundred billion miles away, yet even here, the endless white sea of fire stretched out beneath him.

Clusters of Golden Crow True Fire would occasionally drift up from the fiery depths, wandering through the air in an unpredictable dance.

Given Zhao Sheng’s current level of Cultivation, the Golden Crow True Fire was of little consequence to him, unless it reached the Divine Fire Level of the Great Sun Divine Flame.

He waited until the fiery sea reached a state of relative "calm."

With a small nod, Zhao Sheng flicked his wrist, sending a pile of damaged Spiritual Weapons tumbling from the sky to bob within the fiery ocean.

Before his eyes, the shattered armaments began to melt, turning into glowing pools of silver "liquid metal."

Any impurities within the metal were instantly burned away by the extreme heat the moment they surfaced.

In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, the "Liquid Spirit Gold" had condensed by more than half, leaving a platinum-hued mass roughly the size of a human head.

Sweat drenched Zhao Sheng as the protective force field around him grew increasingly dim and fragile.

That short span of time had drained eighty percent of his origin will; he was reaching his absolute limit.

Realizing this, Zhao Sheng quickly grabbed the "Liquid Spirit Gold," stashing it within his Sumeru Space to cool before teleporting away.

Another teleportation sent him a hundred billion miles back into the freezing, silent Outer Void. From this distance, the Sun once again looked like a mere giant fireball.

Safe from the Sun’s surface, Zhao Sheng exhaled sharply, his face pale with lingering dread.

He had not expected that even as a Half-Immortal of Returning to Void, he would be unable to actually set foot on the Sun. The sheer intensity of the surrounding heat alone had forced a hasty retreat.

"...Terrifying!" Zhao Sheng whispered, his eyes fixed on the Great Sun for a long moment.

Following two weeks of recovery, Zhao Sheng returned to the solar environment. He repeatedly cast various spirit gold ores and numerous Magic Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts into the sea of flames.

The majority of the spirit gold was vaporized instantly, leaving behind only a tiny "essence" that he had to retrieve immediately; a moment's delay would result in the essence vanishing as well.

After several cycles, his Sumeru Space was nearly twenty percent empty, yet the resulting materials formed only a "small mountain" a few feet in height.

Through these repeated journeys, Zhao Sheng slowly grew accustomed to the Sun’s brutal heat, allowing him to edge closer to the surface with each trip.

Three years passed by in an instant.

On this day, a colorful circular disc drifted silently above a "quiet" patch of the Sun's fiery sea.

Seated at the center of the disc, Zhao Sheng's hands moved in a blur of seals, directing his power toward a mountain-sized Big Cauldron floating before him.

The Immortal Awakening Tripod had been expanded to a massive scale, looming like a peak.

A glob of liquid platinum was fused to a broken leg of the cauldron. Under the pressure of his will, it began to reshape itself, slowly forming a sturdy new support.

Countless ancient symbols crowded the surface of the new cauldron foot, weaving together in a mysterious pattern that resonated with the fluctuations of the Law.

After more than a hundred breaths, the repair of the broken foot was complete. The Immortal Awakening Tripod suddenly erupted with a brilliant light, sending a humming vibration echoing through the void.

His face turning ghostly pale, Zhao Sheng hurriedly gestured toward the Treasure Tripod. The Immortal Awakening Tripod shrank instantly, turning into a streak of white light that vanished into his sleeve.

Having secured the Treasure Tripod, Zhao Sheng did not linger. He quickly reclaimed the Five Metal Treasure Plate beneath him and triggered a Space-Time Teleportation to escape the area.

...

Two years later, Zhao Sheng stepped back into the Spring Birth Realm.

He bypassed the Cloud Mist Mountain Range this time, heading straight for the Central Continent. The Ascension Array of this world was hidden at the bottom of Infinite Lake in the eastern region.

Unlike the one in the Tianzhu Realm, the Ascension Array beneath Infinite Lake was clearly in perfect condition. Its Ascension Tower shimmered, swirling with more than two thousand strands of Mystic Crystal Origin Qi.

Zhao Sheng’s sudden appearance immediately alerted the Guardian Divinity Transformation True Monarch.

However, the guardian was quickly suppressed by Zhao Sheng’s overwhelming aura, leaving him with no choice but to retreat from the array’s perimeter.

Before long, the guardian's face twisted in shock as a blinding pillar of light erupted from the array, piercing toward the sky.

It tore through the vast shadows of the void.

The beam vanished in less than a heartbeat, followed by a series of sharp cracking noises echoing from the Ascension Array.

The Divinity Transformation True Monarch turned pale with fright and rushed onto the Ascension Platform. He was met with the sight of thick cracks spider-webbing across nearly a third of the array pillars.

The Divinity Transformation True Monarch was paralyzed with terror as he surveyed the damage to the pillars.

Furthermore—