Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1606: 866: Wisdom Born of the Treasure Mirror, the Centennial Deadline Arrives

In the courtyard under the peach tree, Zhao Sheng sipped his tea leisurely, silently observing Zhao Tianyi who sat with eyes closed, circulating his energy.

At that instant, a massive fire cloud surged up behind Zhao Tianyi, churning violently like a gigantic beast rampaging inside, desperately battering its chains in repeated attempts to burst forth into the world.

Yet it fell short by the barest sliver of chance, and no matter how fiercely the fire cloud roiled for ages, it failed to fuse his Divine Thought with his Will Heart Light.

After an eternity, the fire cloud's spectacle gradually faded, Zhao Tianyi snapped out of his trance, a flicker of regret appearing in his eyes.

Zhao Tianyi's resolve stood firm, shaking off failure's shadow in moments.

He sprang to his feet at once and bowed low, saying gratefully, “Thank you, sir, for bestowing—”

“Enough!”

Before the words left his mouth, Zhao Sheng cut him off sharply.

“It’s only a cup of tea. No issue giving you the full pot!” Zhao Sheng replied flatly, shoving the teapot toward him offhandedly.

At this sight, Zhao Tianyi's cheeks burned with thrill, eager to politely decline, yet his lips clamped shut tight, refusing to budge.

Zhao Sheng eyed him briefly, then abruptly demanded, “Where’s the item I asked for?”

Zhao Tianyi jumped up promptly, pulled a Sumeru Ring from his chest, and offered it forth with both hands.

“Sir, it holds three thousand six hundred and twenty Golden God Statues altogether, all matching your criteria perfectly. Over seven hundred eighty surpass ten thousand years old, more than three thousand are…”

Zhao Sheng took the Sumeru Ring, sending a thread of Divine Thought sweeping inside.

In a flash, light gleamed across the ring's surface, and golden god statues popped into existence throughout the courtyard from thin air.

Varying in size and visage, every statue brimmed with extraordinarily thick incense aura.

Those steeped in incense beyond ten thousand years even displayed wondrous visions: some draped in golden glows, others pulsing with fearsome divine might, halos ringing their heads, Divine Light lancing into the void, brows and gazes alive with vigor, auras thrumming dynamically—verging on rebirth from inert stone into living Divine Spirits.

Eyeing the courtyard brimming with statues, Zhao Sheng nodded faintly before flicking out a strand of flame.

The flame hit the closest statue, exploding into a roaring blaze like a spark plunged into an oil vat.

The inferno raged hungrily, leaping swiftly to nearby figures, swallowing several in the wink of an eye.

Unleashed, the conflagration swept through every statue in no time.

The courtyard swiftly became a vast sea of fire.

Amazingly, for all its proximity, the fiery ocean brought zero sensation of heat.

Zhao Tianyi stared transfixed at the blazing courtyard, eerie lights shimmering in his eyes, his focus soon lost in rapture, blind to the world beyond.

In the flames' embrace, the statues melted visibly into pristine molten gold.

Divine Light beamed from Zhao Sheng's forehead, innumerable Divine Thought strands like floating silk threads slipping unseen into the liquid gold.

All at once, the Divine Thoughts morphed into myriad intricate runes, spawning ancient talismans one by one in a heartbeat.

Soon enough, heaps of gold liquid reshaped into fresh incense money pieces—round without, square within—drifting skyward while emitting soft Divine Light.

Zhao Sheng swept his broad sleeve, sucking thousands of incense money inside instantly.

Next, he tossed another load of statues into the blaze, forging batch after batch of incense money.

Time flowed on, and over three thousand Golden God Statues met their turn in the forge, birthing a vast trove of incense money.

As evening fell, the final flame thread winked out, leaving the courtyard peaceful once more.

Turning to Zhao Tianyi again, he looked utterly renewed, his aura circulating in flawless harmony, merged seamlessly with Heaven and Earth.

Every motion flowed instinctively along the Fire Path, radiating innate Taoist Skill, vitality surging with arcane profundity.

Zhao Tianyi rose quietly, bowing deeply to Zhao Sheng and holding the posture long without straightening.

On this occasion, Zhao Sheng made no move to stop him, receiving the salute squarely.

“Sir, the grace of your art today—Tianyi will etch it forever in his soul. Should I ascend to Returning to Void henceforth, I shall return to repay this favor.”

Zhao Sheng curved his lips in a mild smile. “The ancients spoke of yesterday’s cause yielding today’s result! Absent your devoted labor on my errands, I’d not have deployed my technique today. Gratitude is unnecessary.

Oh, and I’ll need further Golden God Statues—that bounty task must keep running… It’s late; be on your way!”

“Tianyi won’t let your commission down.” Zhao Tianyi bowed once more, retreating step by step till outside the door, then unleashed his tunneling light and streaked away from Hualong Island.

Moments after he vanished, Zhao Sheng slipped out under darkness, departing Ancestral Divine Land toward the Lower Realm’s assorted Spirit Domains.

In the half-year that followed, he roved the Zhao Family’s Ten Great Spirit Domains, targeting cities swelling past a million residents, steadily infusing the incense money into the Red Dust Sea to erode incense pollutions bit by bit.

To dodge mishaps, Zhao Sheng would covertly locate each city’s paramount cultivator upon arrival, charging them with managing the incense money.

Certainly, tossing them a modest perk was par for the course—no need to dwell.

Half a year on, Zhao Sheng came back unscathed, plunging directly into the Scripture Pavilion for several years of seclusion before reemerging and sailing to Hualong Island.

…

“…Only those harboring true True Spirit essence can claim the supreme realm. Awakening the Wisdom Light True Spirit demands three vital steps: First, nurture the spirit. Bathe the Magical Treasure in your Primordial Spirit ceaselessly, honing and polishing like a sculptor’s toil, gradually breathing soul into it until awareness dawns with time.