Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1613: 868: Innate Divine Continent, Confirmed! (2)

Armed with a rough timeline hint, Zhao Sheng directed his focus toward the transition from the Hongmeng Era's conclusion to the outset of the Ancient Era.

Transitions between epochs usually represent the world's most turbulent and shadowy phases.

The Taiching Spirit Realm proves no different!

Even within the realm's most thorough chronicles, such as those housed in Book Sea Tower, details from this period remain sparse.

Zhao Sheng scoured the entire floor and scarcely uncovered a few fragmented mentions across five Ancient Scrolls, none of which held much weight.

Four hours in, he reached the seventy-first floor of the History Department.

This level gathers a vast array of chronicles from the early Ancient Era.

Zhao Sheng dove headfirst into the towering stacks of records, his Divine Thought fracturing into innumerable tendrils.

In the instant that followed, countless volumes and ancient scrolls lifted skyward, their pages and surfaces unfurling on their own before flipping wildly.

Zhao Sheng's gaze sparkled like celestial bodies, his mind elevated to its utmost peak, relentlessly devouring and sifting through immense seas of data.

Within a single hour, over seventy percent of the millions of historical tomes and scripture scrolls had been examined.

At that point, raging tempests of data exploded within Zhao Sheng’s sea of consciousness, where billions of “information fragments” smashed and merged furiously, instantly purging the irrelevant while weaving the valuable into strands of “clues”.

With the flow of time, tens of thousands of these “clues” wove and fused together, allowing Zhao Sheng to slowly assemble a patchy “map” of the Innate Divine Continent in his thoughts.

At the same time, a catastrophic darkness sparking the epochal shift, engulfing the whole Spirit Realm, began to “reveal a genuine glimpse”.

This shadowy disaster slashed the Taiching Spirit Realm's races by over ninety percent, cementing the Human Clan as the supreme overlord.

In that age of surging dragons and serpents amid the Ten Thousand Clans' bloodshed, myriad mighty Alien Races ascended only to crumble, birthing untold epic sagas lost to time.

At minimum, thousands of historical volumes document this shadowy disaster's title:

The Era of Ancient Demon God Tribulation!

…

Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.

Over these continuous days and nights, Zhao Sheng pored over every record from the tenth through seventy-fifth floors.

As the ultimate deadline loomed, Zhao Sheng settled cross-legged amid the forty-second floor's expanse, intently studying a weathered ancient scroll.

The scroll's opening boldly displays the inked phrase “Legend of the Demon Saint”.

This document chronicles numerous Demon Clan powerhouses who ascended to the Demon Saint Realm across the eons.

Zhao Sheng understood full well that any Demon Clan powerhouse attaining Demon Saint Realm wielded might rivaling the Human Clan’s Tribulation Crossing Venerable.

In fact, Demon Saints' battle prowess typically surpassed that of Human Race Venerables by a wide margin.

This “Legend of the Great Saints” scroll spans 178 chapters altogether, each detailing a Demon Clan Saint who roamed unbound and ruled through eternity.

As Zhao Sheng turned to the scroll's eighth chapter, his pupils dilated massively, his gaze erupting with blinding Divine Light.

This section details the Ape Clan's Saint, whose true name remains unknown, but billions of years past, the Ten Thousand Clans hailed it as the Golden Sun Demon Saint, with its cultivation Dao Field being none other than the “Golden Wind Cave” in the eastern Innate Divine Continent.

Per pre-Era of Ancient Demon God Tribulation histories, the Taiching Spirit Realm once spoke of “Eight Holes and Nine Orifices”.

“Eight Holes and Nine Orifices” denote seventeen innate “Cave Heaven Blessed Lands” scattered across the Taiching Spirit Realm.

Taiching Nine Palaces Mountain ranked among the “Eight Holes”, whereas Golden Wind Cave stood as the pinnacle of the “Nine Orifices”.

Zhao Sheng recalled vividly that prior to the Golden Crane Great Saint's enlightenment, it bore the title Golden Sun Saint.

It aligned perfectly!

All of it aligned!

A wave of exhilaration surged through Zhao Sheng as he hastily scanned the ancient scroll in his grasp.

Unlike other Demon Saint entries, the Golden Sun Demon Saint's legend spans a mere eight thousand words, rendering it tragically brief.

From this chapter's account, one can approximate that the Golden Sun Demon Saint's era of dominance fell at the dark cataclysm's tail end.

Immediately after the Golden Sun Demon Saint's enigmatic vanishing, the dark cataclysm halted suddenly.

From then on, the Human Clan solidified its reign over the Taiching Spirit Realm, a supremacy enduring to the present.

The Ancient Era stretched nearly ten million years from start to early phase, yet records from such an extensive duration are remarkably few.

As though this vast temporal expanse was intentionally scrubbed from history.

Furthermore, from the Ancient Era's midpoint onward, no chronicles mention the Innate Divine Continent.

In that same timeframe, the Yin Sha Ocean materialized from nowhere, absent from any prior accounts.

Zhao Sheng had solid grounds to believe the Innate Divine Continent's submersion stemmed from that ancient clash.

With the Innate Divine Continent's plunge, countless billions and trillions of lives perished in its wake.

Picture the colossal grudge born from the mass extinction of billions and trillions of souls!

This likely spurred the Yin Sha Ocean's creation indirectly.

Yet what baffled Zhao Sheng deeply was why the near-omnipotent World Venerable, capable of reforming the Innate Divine Continent or ferrying departed souls with mere intent, refrained from acting.

Harboring this question, Zhao Sheng departed Book Sea Tower with grave resolve.

…

Several months whisked by in no time.

On this day with dawn's arrival, purple clouds slowly dissipated from the sky.

In Late Sun Pavilion's seventh floor, Zhao Sheng silently ended his cultivation and rose steadily.

“…It’s time!” Zhao Sheng murmured, eyes fixed on the ascending sun at the horizon.

With those words, he abruptly summoned, “Where is Wood Spirit?”

His voice barely faded when the petite, lithe Wood Spirit burst from the earth, bowing deeply, “I’m here, sir, what are your orders?”

Zhao Sheng replied icily, “I will be gone for a while. Take good care of the spirit field in the valley. If anyone visits during my absence, just say I’ve gone out for a journey, understand?”

“Don’t worry, sir! I’ll surely tend to the spirit field properly.” Wood Spirit’s eyes darted about as he nodded vigorously, beaming with sycophantic cheer.

Hmm.

Zhao Sheng gave a nod, opting not to bicker semantics with a mere Wood Demon.

In a flash, he morphed into a streak of tunneling light, rocketing heavenward and vanishing beyond the horizon instantly.

Soon after, Zhao Sheng had traversed eight thousand miles; savage Gang Wind howled around him amid boundless clouds.

Confirming solitude, he triggered his Talent, “Infinite Universe Gate,” vanishing without trace.

Once he blinked out of existence, the nearby clouds churned ferociously, coalescing into a massive visage.

The face bore distinct traits, with flowing white hair and beard, exuding benevolence free of malice.

At that instant, its shut eyes snapped open, unveiling orbs brimming with intellect and sagacity.

Those eyes swept the area, flickering with bewilderment and astonishment.

“Huh, strange, very strange! What technique did that youth employ to depart?”

This current Sect Leader, guardian of Taiqing Cave Heaven for almost twenty thousand years, brimmed with shock and uncertainty, nearly convinced a breach had marred the Two Forms Microdust Void Realm.

After meticulous checks, it found the Two Forms Microdust Void Realm utterly undisturbed, ruling out any breach.

“…True Immortal? Impossible! Perhaps… an Immortal Ruins Guest? Quite probable!”

“Hehe, interesting, very interesting indeed!”

With laughter resounding through the clouds, the colossal face shattered apart, swiftly reverting to an expansive cloud veil.

…

“Hehe, interesting, very interesting indeed!”

With laughter resounding through the clouds, the colossal face shattered apart, swiftly reverting to an expansive cloud veil.

…