Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1696 - 910: Dragon Turtle Lays Eggs, Sea God Awakens

Three days traversed the expanse of the void, a distance measured in billions of miles from the Great Sun Fire Sea. A speck of clear light made its slow descent towards the colossal surface of the Great Sun itself.

Yet, with each crossing of an unseen threshold, a colossal spiritual storm erupted from the Great Sun's direction, forcefully repelling the clear light back across billions of miles.

After enduring these repeated repulsions, the clear light abruptly coalesced, resolving into the form of a youth clad in green robes. His lips were like rubies, his teeth white, and his countenance strikingly handsome.

None other than Mu Zha stood there!

Mu Zha turned his gaze back towards the blazing Great Sun, still billions of miles distant. His eyes reflected a profound sense of sorrow and unfulfilled desire.

Just then, Zhao Sheng materialized silently beside him. Reaching out, he gently touched Mu Zha's head and remarked with a faint smile, "Let it go this time, my disciple."

"Master, why must those insufferable turtles forcefully occupy the sun? I was merely retrieving my treasures, not interfering with their affairs! Why did they drive me away so aggressively? Hmph, their arrogance knows no bounds. Master, perhaps you could drive them off."

Mu Zha voiced his grievances with evident resentment, reaching out to tug at Zhao Sheng's sleeve, hoping his master would intervene.

Zhao Sheng offered a wry, strained smile. He gently pulled his sleeve free before patting Mu Zha's young head, his expression tinged with a bittersweet resignation. "Your master currently lacks that kind of capability."

As he spoke, Zhao Sheng gestured towards the immense, dark masses drifting across the Great Sun Fire Sea. "See them? At least half of them are Dragon Turtles. Even your master cannot defeat them. Especially that largest one; a hundred of me combined wouldn't suffice for it to swallow in a single gulp."

Upon hearing this, Mu Zha's shoulders slumped instantly, his face etched with dejection and defeat.

Zhao Sheng had not deceived him. The truth was, any Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle that surpassed thirty thousand miles in size possessed a true strength that eclipsed his own.

Across all the Universes, a rudimentary yet effective method for comparing the might of Integration Realm Great Powers involves examining the scale of their respective Grotto Heavens. A larger Grotto Heaven generally signifies greater power, while a smaller one suggests comparatively lesser strength.

This principle applies directly to the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle clan.

Those Mount-bearing Dragon Turtles whose size exceeds one hundred thousand miles wield a level of power undoubtedly on par with average early-stage Integration Realm Great Powers.

...

And for those Mount-bearing Dragon Turtles generally measuring around a million miles in diameter, they can be considered comparable to a Peak Integration Realm Human Clan Great Power.

It is important to note that the typical diameter of a Grotto Heaven within a Peak Integration Realm Great Power hovers around a million miles.

When comparing their sheer 'mass,' the two entities are virtually equivalent.

Before them, the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle clan numbered over three hundred individuals, with a significant portion exceeding a million miles in size.

The diameter of that particular Dragon Turtle Commander alone surpassed ten million miles, having already achieved a level where quantitative change begets qualitative transformation.

Mu Zha, being a Primordial Yang Spirit Treasure, possessed a might equivalent to that of a newly ascended Integration Realm Human Clan Great Power.

However, he couldn't even withstand a trivial spiritual storm, let alone stand against the formidable Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle collective.

Mu Zha had, in fact, overestimated his master's actual prowess.

Indeed, even a Tribulation Crossing Venerable would find themselves compelled to retreat billions of miles and wait obediently when faced with that colossal Dragon Turtle commander.

......

Several months swiftly elapsed.

On a Dead Star gravitationally closest to the crimson Great Sun, its surface a churning sea of molten lava, Zhao Sheng assumed a cross-legged position ten thousand feet above the ground. His eyes blazed with divine light, ceaselessly observing the crimson Great Sun shimmering billions of miles away.

Throughout these intervening months, he had witnessed the gradual dimming of this unimaginably vast Sun.

A mortal being could scarcely comprehend the existence of super-life forms like the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtles, nor could they conceive that the Sun, the very symbol of eternal radiance, would eventually fade.

At this juncture, the 'dark flares' dotting the Great Sun's surface had expanded to more than triple their original size.

The Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle clan appeared as a phalanx of celestial beings, systematically devouring the Sun. They continuously absorbed the light and heat radiating from the Great Sun, drawing it from the boundless Fire Sea.

Due to the accelerated rate of absorption, the searing Fire Sea began to lose its luminescence, becoming dim stretch by stretch.

From a distance, these dark patches resembled expanding flares, seemingly intent on consuming the Sun inch by inch.

Having traversed star domains for billions of Constant Years, the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle lineage had already assimilated an immense quantity of Primordial Qi.

Upon their return to their ancestral homeland, it became imperative for them to voraciously absorb the Great Sun's light and heat to replenish their depleted Primordial Qi reserves.

The initial return phase represented the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle clan's most vulnerable state, a fact the clan leader was acutely aware of, leading to his heightened vigilance.

As stretches of time unwound, a full decade after the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtles made their return, the Sun's relentless dimming finally ceased. It settled into a state of being a somewhat dark red orb in the sky.

When observed from the vantage point of the Red Sea Realm, this dark red Great Sun exuded a distinctly unsettling and ominous aura.

Another ten years passed, and the Human Clan within this realm teetered precariously on the brink of extinction. The number of survivors, all of whom were Human Clan Cultivators, barely amounted to ten thousand souls.

Zhao Sheng, naturally, held no concern for the fate of the Human Clan in this territory. His sole focus remained on the fact that after a decade of strategic recuperation, the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle clan had successfully rejuvenated their ancestral Primordial Qi.

In the eleventh year following their return, certain "younger" members of the Dragon Turtle populace, each measuring a staggering million miles in diameter, exhibited an unusual surge of activity. They were observed leaping from the Fire Sea with startling frequency, emitting vocalizations towards their kin.

Merely half a month onward, when the very first pair of male and female Dragon Turtles experienced a sudden, inexplicable attraction towards one another, the mating season for the entire Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle clan officially kicked off.

Swiftly thereafter, a second pair of male and female Dragon Turtles commenced their courtship rituals, rapidly progressing towards copulation.

To Zhao Sheng's profound astonishment, the method by which the Mount-bearing Dragon Turtle clan engaged in mating proved to be exceptionally peculiar.

Their procreation did not necessitate any physical congress; instead, it involved a profound merging of divine souls, a process they termed "divine mating."

During this sacred "divine mating" ritual, the male and female Dragon Turtles would deliberately submerge themselves into the deepest recesses of the Great Sun. For the entirety of this unique mating process, they were rendered almost entirely imperceptible.

Zhao Sheng made several attempts to witness this phenomenon up close, but each endeavor was thwarted by an overwhelming and irresistible spiritual tempest that repelled him forcefully.