Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1514: 819: Twenty-Nine Years of Pioneering, Breaking Through to Nascent Soul (Part 2)

“Don’t worry! There’s enough for you. Not just for you, but for everyone who’s part of us. However, the price is rather high.” Zhao Sheng made a point to stress the phrase “part of us.”

Zhao Yongxian got the hint right away and thumped his chest firmly, “Very well, our Zhao Family will definitely not let you down. Moreover, I will absolutely keep this matter secret and won’t reveal your secret.”

With the war on the horizon now, if word got out that he could craft the Thousand Miles Escape Sky Talisman, it would surely draw in plenty of crafty old experts trying to snatch him away in secret.

The worth of a Talisman Master capable of crafting the Thousand Miles Escape Sky Talisman was obvious without question.

“Brother Xian’s reliability, I naturally wouldn’t question.” Zhao Sheng gave a slight nod and flicked his hand to release a Blood Talisman.

Treating it like a priceless find, Zhao Yongxian quickly tucked the Life-saving Talisman into his robes, then unfastened the Storage Bag from his waist, pulling out seven or eight Jade Boxes and sliding them across.

“These are the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures I’ve gathered. You take them first, and later…”

Without even glancing, Zhao Sheng swept his hand to collect all the Jade Boxes.

Right then, two streaks of tunneling light dropped down outside the entrance, followed by an elderly man and a youth stepping inside.

The elder had thinning hair, gaunt cheeks, and slit-like eyes sharp as a wolf’s; a single look revealed his scheming nature.

The youth appeared unremarkable and average, carrying a solemn and composed air, he was the Mountain and River Sect’s True Inheritor, Zhao Chongnan.

The elder, without doubt, was the Three Extremes Zhao Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestor Zhao Zhuanggong.

For this Outer Domain Expansion, the Zhao Family had rallied one Nascent Soul and four Golden Core cultivators, along with around thirty Foundation Establishments, plus various hidden aces.

Apart from Family Head Zhao Huaji and Jue Ying Zhao Zhenzhen holding down Yuewu Mountain, there was also the Golden Core Guest Minister Master Ming Yue, though she had left the city to see friends and wasn’t present.

Spotting the Ancestor’s return, Zhao Yongxian hurried over to pay respects, offering a deep bow.

Zhao Sheng lagged a touch behind, simply cupping his hands in greeting.

Zhao Zhuanggong brushed off such trivial rituals and quickly directed all to sit.

Once seated, Zhao Zhuanggong dove into the key topic.

The launch date for the He and Wei Families’ three clans had been tentatively fixed.

As Zhao Sheng had predicted without surprise, their three clans fell into the third wave of the auxiliary forces, poised to move to the Outer Domain battlefield when the timing aligned.

Drawing from endless past lessons stained with blood and tears in Outer Domain Expansions, the conflict generally unfolds in five phases: The initial phase stands as the riskiest assault to breach the lines, spearheaded by the vanguard troops storming into the Barbaric territories to carve a “path” deep into the Barbaric realms for the following primary forces.

What’s termed a “road” is in truth a vast strip spanning hundreds to thousands of miles across, stretching unknown tens of thousands of miles in length.

Usually, the vanguard forces pause only when hitting a stronghold or unbeatable territory held by the Demon Clan troops, then pivot to clashing directly with the Demon Clan’s mighty powers.

This phase’s length fluctuates, often enduring about seven or eight years.

The next phase launches a massive campaign, where the core army boards countless Floating Giant Ships, soaring tens of thousands of miles to the frontline before spreading out to push forward, setting up bases at key Spiritual Vein sites and clearing nearby rogue threats.

The second phase carries no fixed duration, typically persisting for over a thousand years.

The third phase focuses on defending territories and developing the land; by the auxiliary forces’ entry, the battlefield dynamics have stabilized.

The richest Spiritual Vein Blessed Lands brimming with Spiritual Energy have already been claimed by the vanguard and main armies, leaving scraps and edges for the auxiliary troops to mop up.

In tactical views, the auxiliary forces act as scattered pins, tasked with fortifying tough landscape outposts, fending off Demon Clan counterstrikes, and swiftly signaling with “Fenghuo.”

The auxiliary forces also spark like embers that, if nurtured right, could blaze into a widespread inferno.

The He and Wei Families’ three clans, limited in power, had poured great energy just to snag auxiliary army spots, still unsure of their future garrison assignments.

After Zhao Zhuanggong briefly outlined the ongoing circumstances, Zhao Chongnan revealed some inner workings from the Mountain and River Sect, stressing over and over that with him around, the family would surely avoid any harm.

Half a day passed, and the He and Wei Families’ Golden Core experts reached the main hall, reuniting the three clan powers once again.

Zhao Sheng also encountered the He Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestor, a man with decent looks, but his cultivation sat at Nascent Soul Middle Stage only, his skills fairly average.

To be fair, if he went all out, taking down a Nascent Soul Middle Stage foe wouldn’t pose much trouble.

The He and Wei Families together fielded four Golden Core cultivators, barely matching the Zhao Family’s numbers.

Yet in the Nascent Soul realm, Zhao Zhuanggong’s advance to Late-stage Nascent Soul outshone the He Family Ancestor by far, positioning the Zhao Family as the guiding force in the three-clan pact.

With the He and Wei Families’ cultivators settled, Zhao Zhuanggong recapped the scenario anew, skipping over plenty of specifics.

The He Family Ancestor posed a handful of queries before dropping the pursuit, handing the details to the junior Golden Core experts to hash out.

The two Nascent Soul Ancestors paired up to network with fellow Daoists.

Left behind were the three clans’ Golden Core True Immortals, who clashed heatedly over various issues, while Zhao Sheng, as Guest Elder, stayed detached and offered few views.

…

Two months onward, on the ninth day of the ninth month, a day of exceptional fortune that year.

That day saw the vanguard army finally depart, with hundreds of massive ships bound for the Barbaric lands eight thousand miles off, their presence blotting the skies like a colossal shadow, a display of overwhelming might.

The months that followed witnessed nonstop launches of Floating Giant Ships from Demon Vibration City, racing off into the horizon.

Over the years ahead, the vanguard army sent back waves of triumphant dispatches, their advances unfolding without hitches.

Though minor defeats cropped up now and then, the campaign’s overall thrust remained a clear win.

Days blurred into one another, battle updates streaming in from the frontlines, easing the mood in Demon Vibration City bit by bit, filling the backline hub with high spirits, as the main army kept pressing for orders to surge ahead.

Luckily, the Mountain and River Sect’s leadership stayed ultra-cautious, refusing any hasty moves by the main army.

Eleven years deep into the expansion, the vanguard army arrived at the Great Wilderness Swamp, where Demon Country forces camped across from it, halting the vanguard’s momentum.

As a result, the vanguard army’s Commander, the Divinity Transformation Peak Abyss Sea True Monarch, commanded the troops to dig in and stretch their lines along the Great Wilderness Swamp.

In that same year, the main army, led by a fleet of a thousand Giant Ships, set sail for the frontline. Demon Vibration City’s crowds thinned by half, leaving nearby settlements eerily quiet too.

Thirteen years into the expansion, the main army suffered a sudden ambush by a demon beast horde, costing more than two hundred Giant Ships.

This clash highlighted the Green-winged Roc Clan’s fearsome prowess, leading to the Human Clan’s loss of three Divinity Transformation True Monarchs and sixty-seven Nascent Soul Ancestors, alongside uncounted Golden Core True Immortals and lower juniors slain.

In that very year, Zhao Sheng ventured into Burial Immortal Ruins on two occasions, silently refining his cultivation to Perfect Golden Core, while fully tempering his Lifebound Magic Treasure Five Directions Mirror.

Twenty years into the expansion, as spring’s opening thunder rumbled, the Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation struck on cue; Zhao Sheng plunged into the Tribulation Cloud upstream, his body immersed in bolts of lightning, harnessing the Thunder Tribulation’s force to temper his physique.

Once the tribulation cleared and clouds vanished, the Giant Spirit Battle Body smoothly reached Small Success Realm.

Twenty-nine years into the expansion, the third batch auxiliary army got the True Monarch’s command, set to push into the Barbaric lands amid the harsh winter.