Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1648 - 888: The Player Is Lost, the Bystander Sees Clearly (Part 2)

Yet... family members frequently visited the Heavenly Book Altar to honor their forebears, so nobody suspected a thing.

Zhao Luoxin quickened his pace dramatically, reaching the divine statue of the Second Ancestor, Zhao Hongyun, in mere moments.

In the following instant, a scene beyond comprehension erupted.

Zhao Luoxin lifted his arm and delivered a fierce punch straight into the Second Ancestor's divine statue.

A strike that appeared utterly powerless somehow pulverized the statue crafted purely from Innate Gold Essence.

A deafening crash echoed as the statue exploded into shards, pieces flying in all directions.

Bang, bang, bang...

Having crushed the statue with that initial blow, Zhao Luoxin ramped up his assault, obliterating the divine statues of the Ancestors, the Great Ancestor, and the Third Ancestor all at once.

All witnesses stood stunned in utter shock, eyes wide with astonishment, sharing a single horrifying realization: this guy has lost his mind!

Zhao Luoxin... No, more accurately Zhao Sheng, was far from insane.

He wasn't just sane; his mind remained perfectly sharp. He fully understood the consequences of his actions.

Within those ancestral statues lingered a fragment of their Divine Souls.

These statues functioned like Lifebound Soul Lamps; their destruction signaled the original owners' demise.

Instead, going against the grain!

The moment the statues crumbled, Zhao Xuanjing and his allies would detect it immediately, grasping that a catastrophic event had struck the Divine Land Ancestral Land, prompting their frantic rush back.

After Zhao Sheng demolished the ancestral statues with four devastating punches, a profound sense of peril surged inside him, as though catastrophe loomed right then.

"Indeed..." The instant this notion flashed through his thoughts, an unsettling cackle pierced directly into his mind.

Ha ha!

With that chilling laughter came an overwhelmingly mighty Divine Thought materializing from nowhere, like a tempest shattering the Purple Mansion Barrier and flooding into the Purple Mansion Soul Sea.

But right then, the body of the elderly Zhao Luoxin split open with countless cracks.

In the blink of an eye, it fragmented like shattered glass into innumerable bits, the shards dissolving into countless specks of light that evaporated into nothingness.

Simultaneously, the ghostly laughter cut off sharply, replaced by a cold, detached voice: "Useless!"

The moment those words rang out, a nearby Divine Beast Messenger bearing the Mystic Turtle Treasure on his face dropped to his knees in abject fear, pleading desperately, yet his body rapidly withered away.

His whole "spirit" got sucked dry by the Mystic Turtle Treasure, leaving him to dissolve into oblivion swiftly.

Clearly, Old Ghost Wanxing had planted a "Dark Child" long ago at the Heavenly Book Altar, lying in wait for someone to "take the bait."

It never anticipated Zhao Sheng's arrival, only to discover it was just a Mirror Image Clone.

Barred from revealing itself beneath the Heavenly Dao of the Spirit Realm, the master Immortal Soul retreated to Chongyue Cave Heaven, forcing it to deploy the Divine Beast Messenger for control—and ultimately suffering a loss.

In today's confrontation, Zhao Sheng held a slight edge!

...

"As expected, my speculation proved right... Old Ghost Wanxing made the move, exactly as I foresaw, laying a snare at the Heavenly Book Altar."

Thousands of miles southwest from the Ancestor Hall, concealed inside a mountain, Zhao Sheng's furrowed brows eased somewhat, bringing faint relief.

Reflecting further, he verified another key point: Old Ghost Wanxing truly refrained from exposing its presence, dreading discovery by the Heavenly Dao of the Spirit Realm and the Immortals of the Taiyi Spirit Realm.

As an "unliving" Ruined Immortal, Old Ghost Wanxing embodied the exact "existence" Immortals loathed most.

Zhao Sheng understood perfectly that Immortals resided within the Taiyi Spirit Palace, and the Supreme Sect likely harbored some in the world too.

With this confirmation, the situation sharpened into clearer focus.

Old Ghost Wanxing might "know" the Life and Death Pen rested in his possession.

Fearful of that truth, he chose not to alert the Taiyi Spirit Palace about Old Ghost Wanxing.

Mutual fears on both sides forged a fragile equilibrium for now.

Yet this standoff wouldn't endure; it hinged on whose first strike would shatter it.

Zhao Sheng's emotions churned wildly, plunging him into deep thought.

...

The instant the ancestral statue shattered, somewhere in Divine Palace Heaven, a massive crimson glow ripped through the shadows, birthing a lithe silhouette radiating sky-high killing intent.

At the same time, in the far south of the Taiyi Spirit Realm, a particular Xiankong Island mysteriously disappeared.

In the Inner Mountain Gate of the Spirit-controlling Immortal Sect, a spectacular marvel manifested above the grand Lin Xian Peak, where myriads of Dragon Serpents surged into the Cloud Sky, unleashing thunderous Long Yins that quaked the earth.

Right then, a profound dread surged within the hearts of countless Immortal Sect disciples on Lin Xian Peak, an abrupt wave of anxiety rippling through their midst.

With the Dragon Serpents climbing skyward amid prolonged howls, the Cloud Sea across the Heavenly Vault roiled fiercely, unveiling cataclysmic visions of myriad peaks alongside innumerable beasts in thunderous roars.

Those world-shaking spectacles endured just an instant before vanishing suddenly. After weaving through the Cloud Sea briefly, the vast throng of Dragon Serpents at last descended back onto Lin Xian Peak.

Atop Lin Xian Peak, merely a select few grasped the reality of those world-altering events, yet they held their tongues, betraying not the slightest murmur.

...

Inside Chongyue Cave Heaven, the gaze of "Zhao Dashan" stayed impassive, though his lips twitched faintly at the corners.

"A blunder, truly a blunder!"

Uncharacteristically, Old Ghost Wanxing betrayed emotion from his grave miscalculation.

He had anticipated Zhao Sheng's journey to the Ancestor Hall, but never foresaw such lightning-quick retaliation.

Over the span of only a few days, this foe executed the perfect countermove—the very outcome it most abhorred.

Just a bit more time would have sufficed, even as little as ten days or half a month.

By then, its three premier "slaves"—Yinglong, Bai Ze, and Candle Dragon—would have set foot in the Taiyi Spirit Realm.