Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1362: 734: Great Saint's Hair

Crack!

Zhao Xiandu was shaken to his core. In a moment of overwhelming excitement, he had unintentionally applied too much pressure with his grip. A sharp snapping sound rang out as several spiderweb fractures spread across the surface of the blue Crystal Stone.

In the next heartbeat, rays of azure spirit light erupted from the stone’s core. It began to "burn" violently within his palm, the spirit light expanding rapidly until it transformed into a massive bonfire of blue flames, spanning several meters in every direction.

Hmm?

The phenomenon unfolded with such speed that Zhao Xiandu had no time to move. He was instantly swallowed by the azure blaze, his vision saturated by a deep blue radiance.

In a trance-like state, he perceived countless enigmatic "fluctuations" manifesting within the void. A deluge of raw information flooded into his consciousness from nowhere, and a sequence of vivid "scenes" began to play out within his heart.

At that precise moment, Zhao Xiandu felt a flash of divine inspiration. Guided by an invisible Will, he dropped into a cross-legged position. His released Divine Thought immediately fused with the surrounding Law Fluctuations vibrating through the air.

Within a ten-zhang radius centered on him, a miraculous spectacle took shape.

The grass nearby began to grow at an impossible rate, blooming into flowers, producing seeds, and then withering away into yellow decay before crumbling into ash…

A moment later, the scorched earth sprouted thick green blades once more, initiating a fresh cycle of existence.

Thus, within the domain of the Wood Element Law Flames, the flora underwent an unending "cycle of life and death, decay and flourishing."

Zhao Xiandu "witnessed" these countless botanical cycles, and his comprehension of the Wood Dao surged forward. This allowed him to effortlessly cross that formidable threshold, quietly achieving a breakthrough to the Seventh Layer of the Nascent Soul stage.

Who could say how much time had slipped by!

Zhao Xiandu eventually opened his eyes, his heart overflowing with profound emotion and triumph. A single thought echoed in his mind: "Hear the Dao in the morning, die content in the evening."

Surveying his surroundings, he saw the vast, lush green grasslands. The world before him appeared "reborn," perpetually demonstrating a supreme "Dao and reason" to his senses.

After watching for a while, he began to feel that something was slightly amiss. The world was too tranquil and flawless—so perfect that it felt "illusory."

It was like staring at a breathtaking "painting"; the more intensely one scrutinized it, the more stagnant and hollow it felt, as if it lacked essential "changes."

Suddenly, a spark of insight struck Zhao Xiandu’s mind. He began to guess the Ancestor’s true, painstaking purpose behind creating this realistic Illusion Realm.

If his suspicions were correct… No, he still required more "Principle Crystals" to confirm his theory.

With that resolve, Zhao Xiandu suddenly vaulted into the sky, morphing into a bolt of Thunder Light as he streaked toward the horizon of the grassland.

“Good lad, you’ve grasped this old man’s intent so quickly. In terms of sheer enlightenment, this boy is ranked third. That top-ranked little girl possesses truly frightening talent, but… let us see how it unfolds.”

On the ninth floor of the tower, Zhao Sheng murmured to himself, appearing somewhat conflicted.

Hovering before him were hundreds of "light screens," each projecting a different "scene."

In some screens, cultivators had just stumbled upon the secret of the "Principle Crystal." Others were beginning to "sketch" the world using their Spirit as a brush, while some were already "correcting" the various "flaws" of the world.

Only Zhao San Yue alone had bypassed these distractions, relentlessly "climbing" toward the higher levels.

Zhao Sheng couldn't help but admire the "firmness of her Taoist heart." There are always a rare few in this world who can resist the allure of the "Outer Path," staying true to their own Dao and understanding their inner spirit.

The Immortal Sage once remarked: “His Dao is not my Dao. It is said, those who imitate me die, those who resemble me live!”

The reason Zhao Sheng had arranged this trial was twofold: first, to identify "worthy talents," and second, to harness the collective wisdom of many through the Spiritual Illusion to patch the "void" in his own Dao.

The third and most vital reason was to discover a candidate capable of "triggering" the Great Saint’s hair.

In his previous life, while he had successfully entered the "Great Saint Thought Realm," the entire ordeal had been a blur, leaving him completely uncertain of how it was actually accomplished.

In this life, after acquiring the Nine Nether Tower, he had spent decades in arduous study but still could not find any "trace" of the Great Saint’s hair.

It was as if he failed to meet the necessary conditions, causing the Great Saint’s hair to remain hidden from him!

Left with no choice, he had gathered this group of juniors under the pretense of a test, while his true goal was to find a fated person.

Thus far, not a single "fated person" had appeared!

“Oh Great Saint, Great Saint! You have already been reduced to such a state, yet you still act with such ‘pride.’ This old man… truly cannot understand you!” Zhao Sheng looked around the empty pavilion of the tower, chuckling quietly to himself.

…

“Haha, I have it! I’ve found it!”

On the fifth level of the high tower, a red-haired Elder stood atop a massive sand dune. Gazing out over the boundless desert, he suddenly erupted into laughter. Torrents of scorching flames surged around him, liquefying the sand beneath his feet into glowing red magma. From the molten heat, clusters of brilliant yellow light flew rapidly into the Elder’s body.

Visibly, the red-haired Elder’s aura began to skyrocket. The sky was suddenly choked with vast fire clouds, and from the heavens, a deluge of Heavenly Fires began to pour down…

…

“Heaven and Earth is the formation, the formation is me, and I am the ‘Heaven and Earth!’ Taiji Yin-Yang Formation, rise!”

Before the shout had even faded, mountains collapsed with a deafening roar, sending plumes of smoke and dust into the sky. In an instant, pillars of black and white light shot up from the earth, arranged in the pattern of the Tai Chi Bagua. Upon reaching the high heavens, the beams dispersed and swept outward in every direction, forming a colossal "Tai Chi" symbol that spanned hundreds of miles.