Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1615: 689: Borrowing the Nine Nether Tower, The Secret Realm Finally Appears (Part 2)

Every detail within thirty thousand miles lay exposed in crystal-clear view.

After a quarter of an hour, Zhao Sheng lightly furrowed his brows, his pure white eyes shifting back to their sharp black-and-white distinction.

“There’s nothing here either… This is troublesome!” A weight settled in his heart as he grasped the challenge ahead.

He had assumed locating the Golden Wind Cave ruins would be straightforward, yet mortal schemes paled against the whims of fate!

Billions of years had elapsed, and the Sea of Storms had undergone countless changes.

Time remains the mightiest force, capable of wiping away all traces from existence!

Zhao Sheng’s determination flickered briefly before steeling once more.

The next instant, he streaked off as a beam of light, hurtling toward another region of the sea.

Thus, he devoted a full month scouring every inch of the vast three-hundred-thousand-mile sea expanse.

In that period, he uncovered dozens of “spiritual realms”—some teetering on collapse, others harboring harsh conditions barren of life.

Yet eight spiritual realms stood firm, brimming with vitality and claimed by hidden cultivation sects.

Zhao Sheng avoided detection, slipping covertly into those eight realms and probing them multiple times, but to no avail in the end.

A month on, one day amid the brooding thunderclouds shrouding the Sea of Storms, Zhao Sheng perched cross-legged atop Qingyun, his face lost in contemplation.

Lately, he had revisited his exchange with the Golden Crane Great Saint time and again, unearthing a vital insight at last.

Though the Golden Crane Great Saint never foresaw the Innate Divine Continent’s submersion or the Golden Wind Cave’s ruin,

it had insisted its Shuangling’s Remnant Soul lay concealed in the Golden Wind Cave.

So the puzzle emerged?

The Golden Wind Cave lay in ruins for billions of years. Across that eternity, myriad Unification Realm Experts and Tribulation Crossing Venerables surely prowled the Sea of Storms.

Even if remnants of the Golden Wind Cave lingered, they’d long been stripped clean.

If so, did the Golden Crane Great Saint not fear some mighty power seizing its Shuangling’s Remnant Soul first?

Unless… it feared neither discovery nor theft!

How then could the Great Saint be certain he’d locate its Shuangling’s Remnant Soul?

Suddenly, inspiration struck Zhao Sheng like lightning, his thoughts snapping to the Great Saint’s hair strand within the Nine Nether Tower.

“That’s it, that’s it, exactly that! I should’ve seen it earlier.” Enlightenment dawned, mixing thrill with frustration.

The hint dangled right before him, yet he’d overlooked it like a tree lost in the forest for a single leaf.

With that realization, Zhao Sheng leaped to his feet, vanishing in a blur.

…

In the Taiyi Spirit Realm, across the Four Holy Continents in the Ancestral Divine Land.

That day, the barrier cloaking Hualong Island finally lifted, and a silhouette materialized above the isle.

Before the lurking “dark lines” could discern the figure, it winked out of sight once more.

“… Hurry and inform the Young Master—could that be emerging from seclusion?”

“Trouble—alert the higher-ups at once, no matter what!”

“…”

…

Meanwhile, Zhao Sheng chained “Instantaneous Movements,” arriving straight at the Nameless Sea’s heart in the Divine Continent’s core.

Below stretched a secluded islet dotted with jagged boulders, dominated by a thousand-foot stone peak.

Zhao Sheng descended gently to the summit, scanned about, but spied no Old Stone Mason.

Hmm?

A spark of surprise mingled with delight in Zhao Sheng. He inferred Zhao Xuanjing had begun refining the Small Wind Stabilizing Pearl, pulling back the stone mason avatar.

Without the Old Stone Mason, Zhao Sheng turned to the next option.

He drew a Jade Talisman from his sleeve and shattered it in his grip.

Instantly, a yellow gleam lanced through the void, bound for parts unknown.

Zhao Sheng lingered atop the peak, time drifting by as he waited.

Nearly an hour passed before Zhao Dashan ripped open the void from the Dark Sky.

Zhao Sheng bowed deeply at once: “Chonghe pays respects to the Three Ancestors!”

“Skip the formalities, skip them—what’s all this ceremony with me!” Zhao Dashan advanced with a clap on his shoulder, tone blending mock scolding with joy.

Zhao Sheng’s gaze sharpened as he replied gravely, “Three Ancestors, rites must not be cast aside lightly!”

Zhao Dashan waved it off, “You’re no ordinary case. Anyway, trouble in Taiching Spirit Realm prompting this urgent call?”

By “Taiching Spirit Realm,” he meant that realm.

Zhao Sheng dipped his head and murmured, “Yes, a small snag there. I’ve come back just to ask a favor of the Three Ancestors.”

Zhao Dashan cut in firmly, “Ask or not, if the clan holds it, name it and I’ll fetch it now.”

“I seek to borrow the Nine Nether Tower.”

Zhao Dashan’s face tightened briefly.

He mulled it over, then agreed, “The Nine Nether Tower’s with the great ancestor now. I’ll go myself, but it’ll take time.”

Before Zhao Sheng could inquire, he added, “The great ancestor’s in deep seclusion. Only we old timers know the Blood Moon Cave Heaven’s whereabouts.”

The great ancestor was Zhao San Yue, her cultivation path yielding the Blood Moon cave heaven.

As he departed, Zhao Dashan cautioned, “I’ll be gone at most a year. Stay put here—no roaming.”

Zhao Sheng assented with a nod.

In one breath, Zhao Dashan tore into the Dark Sky, vanishing from sight.

Once alone, Zhao Sheng settled cross-legged on the ground, entering meditation and cultivation.

Seven months flew by in an instant.

That dusk, with the sun bleeding crimson, faint voids rippled near the peak.

Zhao Sheng’s head snapped up, catching Zhao Dashan emerge solemnly from the rift before him.

“Here, take it!” Zhao Dashan produced a drab white miniature tower and passed it over promptly.

Clutching the Nine Nether Tower to his chest, Zhao Sheng urged, “Three Ancestors, urgency calls! I must haste back to the Taiching Spirit Realm.”

Zhao Dashan’s brows knit, voice grave: “Go! But heed this: failing to snag the Great Saint’s Remnant Soul soon isn’t dire—never plunge into peril.”

“Chonghe will engrave the Three Ancestors’ wisdom in his heart.” Zhao Sheng bowed earnestly.

After saluting Zhao Dashan, he flickered away tracelessly.

Alone now, Zhao Dashan sighed softly, worry etching his features, though its source remained veiled.

…

Nine months onward, Zhao Sheng resurfaced over the Sea of Storms.

Dark clouds choked the heavens, waves churned wildly, a ferocious tempest poised to unleash.

With grave focus, Zhao Sheng withdrew the Nine Nether Tower from his robes.

Buzz, buzz!

As the Nine Nether Tower appeared, it hummed repeatedly, its form aglow with dim grayish-white radiance.

Zhao Sheng’s right hand clamped the tower’s base, holding it fast against its bid to escape.

The Nine Nether Tower now pulsed with life, straining northeastward without cease.

Excitement surged in Zhao Sheng as he yielded to the tower’s pull, soaring northeast at speed.

A quarter-hour later, he hovered eleven thousand miles distant, at the Sea of Storms’ fringe—once devoid of any spiritual realm.

Yet now, a grayish-white ray shot from the Nine Nether Tower’s spire, piercing the void to an unseen end.

Zhao Sheng’s pulse quickened, his eyes bleaching to pure white.

Heaven and sea drained of hue, reality dissolving into a realm of infinite “silk strings” and “ripples.”

At the heart of that “silk strings” ocean swirled a “vortex,” fringed by vast sweeping “arc strings.”

“That’s… a spiritual realm entrance?!” Shock rippled through Zhao Sheng, the sight utterly bizarre.

Prior searches of this zone had yielded no trace of any spiritual realm.