Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Chapter 1608: Chapter 866: Wisdom Born of the Treasure Mirror, Centennial Day Arrives (Part 3)

Zhao Sheng looked him over and couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart.

In less than a hundred years, this avatar had astonishingly broken through to the Perfect God Transformation realm all at once, advancing at a pace beyond imagination.

Zhao Chonghe rose to his full height and laughed heartily, "Main body, you’ve come at the perfect time. Two months from now is the day to return to the mountain. If you hadn’t come, I would have taken the risk to go in your place."

Zhao Sheng clapped his hands and laughed, "Wonderful! Wonderful! How far has your Mixed Element Qi cultivation reached now?"

Zhao Chonghe shook his head, showing a bit of regret, "I’ve barely cultivated to the union of Five Elements, still not reaching the realm of Mixed Element Primordial Spirit."

Zhao Sheng nodded, "Hmm, your progress isn’t slow! Come back!"

As soon as the words were spoken, "Zhao Chonghe" froze, and another "Zhao Sheng" stepped out from the middle of his forehead.

The "Zhao Sheng" lunged at the primary body, immediately merging into the brow’s Purple Mansion, disappearing without a trace.

With a slap sound, that flesh became expressionless and suddenly fell softly to the ground.

Zhao Sheng did not rush forward to reclaim the body but closed his eyes, silently digesting the memories of the avatar from the past century.

A moment later, he reopened his eyes with a hint of understanding in his gaze.

He slowly walked over, summoned the Mirage Cloud Treasure Mirror, and absorbed the body into the mirror.

Next, he donned a Heavenly Blue Taoist robe, placed the Mixed Element Flat Sky Crown on his head, and once again became the master of Lingbi Temple.

As the sun set and the moon rose, days and nights fleetingly passed, seven days went by in a blink.

The following morning, in the ancestral master hall of Lingbi Temple, a multitude of Taoists stood solemnly, from elderly Taoists to Daoist children, none missing from the entire temple.

As the temple master, Zhao Sheng stood before the crowd, holding three incense sticks, bowed respectfully to the divine statue of the ancestral master.

After the three bows, he inserted the incense of ten thousand years into the incense burner on the offering table, slender clear energy floated from within the burner, quickly forming clouds of mist that enveloped the divine statue.

With the ancestral ceremony finished, Zhao Sheng turned to the western side of the hall.

The wall on the western side of the hall also hung an ancient painting, depicting green mountains and rivers, clouds rising like colorful rosy clouds, nine elegant peaks scattered among the clouds and waters, a few ancient temples nestled on the mountains, hidden amidst misty ancient forests.

Zhao Sheng gazed at the ancient painting for a moment, then turned to the Taoists behind him and suddenly said lightly, "The hour is almost here! Zhong Ji, Zhong Dao, Zhong Yi, you three come to me."

At these words, the expressions of the Taoists varied, those young Taoists who were not chosen looked utterly dejected, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

However, three young Daoists emerged from the crowd with excitement, quickly reaching the temple master’s side, their spirits soaring high.

These three possessed Heavenly Spirit Root attributes, considered the most outstanding in Lingbi Temple in terms of aptitude and enlightenment for the past century.

This time, Zhao Sheng, with perfect cultivation, returned to the mountain to fulfill his mission and brought these three to Nine Palaces Mountain to participate in the Taiqing disciple selection grand meeting.

If they succeed, they will join the sect; if they fail, they will be relegated to servants, their future destiny reliant entirely on their fortune.

Under Taiqing Sect’s command, there are 100,000 Descendant Temples, each spiritual temple having three spots.

Therefore, every hundred years, over 300,000 Daoist children of exceptional aptitude and enlightenment participate in outer sect selection.

And each selection, the inner sect quota will not exceed 500, and the outer sect only 3,000.

As for True Disciples?

Unless one is a Demoted Immortal reincarnated, none has often emerged for dozens of generations.

An hour quickly passed, and at this moment, the landscape painting on the wall suddenly emitted strands of Divine Light, and the scenery in the painting came alive in an instant.

The soaring spiritual mountains and rippling lake waters, with flowing light streams from the painting, rapidly transformed into a rainbow bridge, landing before everyone.

When the rainbow bridge finally solidified, Zhao Sheng was the first to step onto it, walking towards the landscape painting.

The three, Zhong Ji, hurriedly followed suit.

At this moment, the crowd of Taoists within the hall bowed together ceremoniously, voicing loudly, "We bid farewell to the temple master as you return to the mountain in triumph, wishing you eternal prosperity and longevity..."

...

After several breaths, Zhao Sheng crossed the long rainbow bridge, arriving abruptly in a fresh new world.

Cloud mist curled before him, with treasured trees and spirit birds faintly appearing in the distance, beneath his feet, large crystal stone slabs were abundant, composed entirely of Top-grade Spirit Stones.

Looking around, he realized he was in a colossal square, surrounding continuously flashing brilliance.

Daoists wearing Heavenly Blue Taoist robes emerged from the void, each followed by three young Daoists.

At this moment, over ten thousand people had already gathered in the square.

But as time passed, the number of people on the square continued to increase.

During this period, the square silently expanded several times.

Half an hour later, the square was packed, nearly an endless sight.

Buzz...

At this moment, the sky suddenly resounded with a clear and long bell sound.

In the instant the bell sound entered his ears, Zhao Sheng’s Spirit cleared, his mind becoming extraordinarily active.

Buzz... buzz... buzz...

After nine consecutive bell rings, the square’s ground suddenly exploded with dazzling brilliance, the underground surging with endless torrents of Spiritual Energy, submerging everyone in an instant.

And in the torrents of Spiritual Energy, there were countless "Tao Spirit Mechanisms."

These "Tao Spirit Mechanisms" resembled fish swimming happily in the torrents, sometimes attracted to a person, transforming into spirit lights, drilling into the body.

Seeing this miraculous sight, everyone sat cross-legged and released their Divine Thought and consciousness, exerting every effort to attract nearby floating Tao Spirit Mechanisms.

Of course, Zhao Sheng was no exception, though he secretly contained most of his Divine Thought and Will Heart Light.

However, he, after all, was a seasoned Demi Immortal with cultivation breaking through to the Returning Void Eighth Layer.

Within a ten-thousand-feet radius, the Tao Spirit Mechanisms were all attracted to him, like moths to a flame, rushing into his body.

Strikingly, Zhao Sheng not only contained the Five Elements, his flesh was transparent and immaculate, especially enticing Five Element Tao Spirit Mechanisms.

It did not take long before a Tao Flower had already successfully condensed above Zhao Sheng’s head.

Currently, the fastest progress was merely the initial shape of Tao Flower. Plenty of people had no phenomena above their heads.

Zhao Sheng sensed a problem and hurriedly suppressed his Divine Thought and Will Heart Light, secretly dispersing the approaching Tao Spirit Mechanisms.

He had never expected this disciple selection process to be so "original," he wondered which old grumbler devised this method, truly "not acting decently."

While Zhao Sheng silently criticized, high above the square, a Taoist of immortal demeanor gently laughed, "Heh, this probe did expose the flaw. Fa Xin junior brother, this time the bet is won by senior brother. The Green Lotus Treasure Color Pill is now mine."

As soon as the words fell, an elder Taoist’s voice sounded in front of him, "Just a Seven-Turn Golden Pill, I’m not bothered by it. However, sect leader senior brother, how should we handle that person below?"

"Go by the old rules, let it be," the elder Taoist replied calmly.

"You’ve been controlling Taiqing Sect in the past ten millennia. If you say not to manage, I won’t care. Should anything happen, you’ll handle it yourself. Don’t blame me," the voice said before diminishing into silence.