Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Chapter 1713 - 923: When the Sea Catastrophe Arrives, the Remains Appear_2

"What Brother Yu Yan said makes total sense. I’m still young and hope to break through to the Return to Void Realm in the future. If I lose the great opportunity below in advance, how could I possibly make the breakthrough!" Zhao Dianmiao’s words might be blunt, but the reasoning is sound.

The batch of ice mountains below indeed concerns their future Taoist path.

Though the four of them have already collected countless treasures, no one ever complains about having too many of them.

While the other Divinity Transformation True Monarchs haven’t discovered the "heaven-sent opportunity" deep in the East Sea, collecting treasures as much as possible is the best plan. Uneven distribution and internal strife would undoubtedly ruin their paths.

Zhao Bai Zhen actually understood this principle, but she couldn’t stand Zhao Zhongzhi’s excessive greed, as last time he crossed the line and secretly scavenged treasures on the ice mountain of others.

Seeing Zhao Bai Zhen’s anger slightly subdued, Zhao Dianmiao seized the moment and said, "I’ve just counted, there are still twenty-one ice mountains left below. Let’s follow the old rule and choose one by one. Last time it was Brother Zhongzhi who chose first, this time it’s your turn, Brother Yu Yan."

Zhao Yu Yan, seeing the moment, pointed at the ice mountain protruding nearly two hundred feet above the sea surface and said, "I’ll choose that one."

"Alright, Sister Bai Zhen, it’s your turn." Zhao Dianmiao said as he looked at Zhao Bai Zhen.

Zhao Bai Zhen swept her eyes over the ice mountains below, and after observing for a moment, she selected an ice mountain about seventy to eighty feet tall. Although this mountain wasn’t large, it contained a considerable number of sealed "items," including a mostly intact bronze tripod, which looked quite extraordinary.

She chose this mountain because of the tripod.

After she finished choosing, Zhao Dianmiao quickly picked out an ice mountain of his own.

Finally, it was Zhao Zhongzhi’s turn to choose. He chose an ice mountain sealed with numerous corpses, which matched perfectly with the Corpse God Path he cultivated.

After the first round of selection, the pace of the subsequent choices grew notably faster.

In the short span of a cup of tea, the twenty ice mountains were distributed, leaving only the final one, a small ice mountain about thirty feet high.

Even though this ice mountain seemed insignificant, no one knew what kind of treasures were sealed within it, hence none of the four dared to underestimate it, all eager to bid on it.

"One piece of Top-grade Spirit Stone!" Zhao Zhongzhi, with the least patience, naturally made the first bid.

Zhao Dianmiao quickly followed with, "I bid one piece plus two hundred top-grade spirit stones."

"One piece plus five hundred top-grade spirit stones!"

"One piece plus eight hundred..."

...

While Zhao Yu Yan and the others were bidding over the last ice mountain, Tu Zha, having finished his task, had already followed his master back to Jixian Island.

This time around, Zhao Sheng did not continue carving tunnels but instead toured all the workshops on the island one by one.

At each workshop, he left a Heart Light Seal, intending for other high-level Immortal Ruins Guests to sense his presence.

Moreover, within the seal, he left hints that those high-level guests who knew the "truth" about Jixian Island would surely seek him out.

Sure enough, his expectations were met.

After waiting on the island for three Ruins Years, someone finally triggered the Heart Light Seal he left behind.

At the center of Jixian Island stands an imposing ice peak, nearly three thousand feet high, with a gigantic cavern carved out within, serving as the largest Immortal Ruins Market on the island.

On this day, a wave of scorching, flame-like will suddenly surged in from afar, startling Zhao Sheng out of his meditation.

"Hmm? The seal has been broken, who on earth could it be?" Zhao Sheng raised his head sharply and looked northwest, his keen gaze seemingly piercing through the thick ice walls to see the figure darting over like lightning.

The next moment, his figure flickered and vanished from the cave mansion.

...

One breath later, Zhao Sheng stood atop the ice peak, gazing northwest as a wave of scorching will spread across the sky, growing more imposing and powerful.

Within just two breaths, the northwestern sky suddenly turned fiery red as if it were about to ignite.

Next, a fiery cloud rushed in from the horizon, arriving swiftly at a distance of a thousand feet before abruptly halting.

Atop the fiery cloud stood a giant Fire Man, three feet tall, engulfed in dazzling white flames, appearing to be of some exotic fire-based being rather than from the Human Clan.

The world is vast, indeed there are many wonders!

As All Universes contain creation spirits like the Sea God and Mountain Spirit, naturally, there exist innate Fire Spirits as well.

Looking at the suddenly appearing Fire Spirit, Zhao Sheng cupped his hands and asked, "I am Zhao Qiongtian, greetings."

"I am King Lu Qing, greetings to Taoist Zhao." The Fire Spirit returned the courtesy, politely cupping his hands in response.

Zhao Sheng glanced at the ice peak below and suddenly suggested, "Taoist Lu, this is not a suitable place to talk. Why don’t we choose another place to converse?"

"That’s exactly my wish!" Fire Spirit Lu Qing responded elegantly.

"Please!"

With that, Zhao Sheng soared into the air, flying toward the edge of the island, and Lu Qing urged the fiery cloud to follow.

Soon, the two great powers arrived at the island’s edge, where the outer black water meets the ice layer, a dangerous area seldom approached by living beings.

Zhao Sheng descended onto a flat ice surface, turning back to face the rapidly descending fiery cloud.

"Taoist Lu, let’s be straightforward. I need a piece of Gun God’s Skeleton, and what about you?"

"Coincidentally, I want the same!" Lu Qing responded bluntly.

"But... the ice layer here is too thick, making it difficult to access the Gun God’s Skeleton," Zhao Sheng said, tapping the ice surface intentionally.

"Haha, if it weren’t so, Jixian Island would have long ceased to exist," Lu Qing laughed, flames around him fluctuating continuously.

Zhao Sheng asked, "I have a question to ask Taoist Lu. May I inquire how one can obtain a piece of Gun God’s Skeleton?"

Lu Qing hesitated for a moment before speaking, "After all, you will know eventually, so there’s no harm in telling you. When the sea disaster comes, the divinity of the Gun God will fall into slumber. At that time, the ice layer will melt, and the skeleton will reveal itself."

Detecting something amiss, Zhao Sheng immediately pressed on, "If that’s the case, acquiring the Gun God’s Skeleton should not be difficult, why then...?"

"Not difficult? You’ll find out soon enough if it’s difficult or not," Lu Qing’s flames flickered, as if hearing an amusing joke.

Zhao Sheng’s eyes flickered, and he asked again, "Taoist Lu, how long until the next sea disaster?"

The reason for this question is that he knew well that beings above the Unification Realm have to pay a significant price to go to and from the Burial Immortal Ruins.

Therefore, high-level cultivators like Zhao Sheng generally won’t frequently enter and exit the Burial Immortal Ruins unless for important matters.

Lu Qing’s sudden appearance today was actually telling her in another way that the sea disaster was imminent.

From now on, Jixian Island would see more enigmatic "old monsters," whose goal, of course, would be the Gun God’s Skeleton hidden beneath the ice.

Lu Qing, having lived for over two million years, undoubtedly possessed deep wisdom and strategy, making it impossible for him not to understand the implication in Zhao Sheng’s words.

"A year at most, a few days at least. The sea disaster will surely come. As I’m extremely weak and solitary, I wish to form an alliance with Taoist to combat other strong enemies. What do you think, Taoist Zhao?"

Zhao Sheng readily agreed, "I’m most welcoming. But you and I must first make an oath."

"Okay!" Lu Qing agreed without hesitation.

Moments later, the two Integration Realm great powers made Taoist oaths, promising not to take action against each other and to cooperate in obtaining the Gun God’s Skeleton.

Whether by intention or oversight, neither mentioned how to distribute the skeleton once acquired.

Acting quite magnanimously, Lu Qing, after forming the alliance, began to recount his previous failed attempt at seizing the Gun God’s Skeleton.

According to him, the Gun God’s Skeleton beneath Jixian Island is enormous and impossible to transport as a whole, with only small fragments cut off each time.

Whenever the sea disaster arrives, numerous old monsters would attempt to sever a piece of the skeleton.

However, the Gun God’s Skeleton, when dormant, behaves peculiarly; the Divinity seems like a mirage, untouched by any means.

Only when the Divinity "reawakens" briefly does the skeleton return from void to reality, marking the best moment to cut off the skeleton.

"Timing is extremely short, success depends on our speed. Swift success, slow failure! Additionally, we must guard against other old monsters’ attempts to snatch it..."

After a while, Zhao Sheng and Lu Qing returned to the cave mansion, and along the way, Lu Qing kept talking, appearing highly sincere.