Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Chapter 1720 - 922: The Emergence of the Human List, Obtaining the Fire Extinguishing Immortal Technique (Part 2)

"Zhao Xiuyan? Never heard of him! And this Zhao Lian who’s ranked second... he doesn’t even have a generation character in his name, could he be another outsider?"

"Zhao Yan Yun is only ranked fourth? That’s far too unfair. You must know that Young Master Yunlong possesses the Innate Sharp Gold Spirit Body; at only a little over one hundred and seventy years of age, he has already cultivated to the Nascent Soul Perfect Realm. Young Master Yunlong has long been recognized as the number one Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator. What virtues and abilities do the three people in front have, to actually be placed ahead of Young Master Yunlong?"

"Haha, Zhao Huaqing, ranked thirty-seventh, is from the Jueye Lineage. He and I are close kin within five degrees of mourning. I need to hurry back and tell the family about this joyous news."

"Right, right, right! Everyone hurry and copy out the list, then send it back to your elders. Maybe you can get a bit of good luck out of it."

So-called ’one word to wake the dreamer’!

At this moment, no one present cared anymore about "who are Zhao Xiuyan and Zhao Lian and the others," and they all took out their Identity Tokens, recording the entire ranking into the Tokens.

Immediately after, they all poured in Mana and, using the message-sending function of the Identity Tokens, transmitted the list to the many elders of their own main line and branch houses.

In an instant, the news of the Human List’s emergence spread at the speed of light. After countless people learned of it, they all, without prior agreement, personally rushed to the Ancestor Hall just to see the newly emerged Human List with their own eyes.

In just an hour, one Returning Void Elder after another appeared in succession, followed by thousands of streaks of tunneling light swarming over.

In the following months, the square of the Ancestor Hall was undoubtedly the most bustling place in the entire clan, packed with people day and night, the sound of discussion shaking the heavens.

On the very day the Human List emerged, the power holders of the Zhao Family’s ten great main lineages—such as Wu Lei, Chong Yue, Jueye, Red Moon, and the others—mobilized all the spies and manpower of their own lines, beginning to search for Zhao Xiuyan, Zhao Lian, and the others.

With the past examples of the Heavenly List and Earth List as a reference, everyone understood that the Heaven, Earth, and Human Three Lists were not ranked by current strength, but by a comprehensive assessment of potential, aptitude, comprehension, and so on.

It could be foreseen that people like Zhao Xiuyan, who were ranked at the front of the Human List, were bound to be peerlessly gifted, with unfathomably deep cultivation potential.

At the same time, those Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators who had made it onto the Human List were personally received by the elders of their own lines and granted great rewards.

After the Human List emerged, the fates of these favored sons and daughters of heaven had already changed. As for what their future Destiny would be, that would still depend on their own effort and struggle.

......

Because of the emergence of the Human List, the entire Zhao Family, from top to bottom, was thrown into an uproar, countless people running about spreading the news.

This matter quickly spread beyond the Divine Continent Ancestral Land; not only did countless collateral branches learn of it, even Immortal Sects and great teachings such as the Spirit-controlling Immortal Sect, Taiyi Spirit Palace, and the Supreme Sect obtained the news at the first possible moment.

Putting aside for now what arrangements those ancient powers would make, the line of sight returns to the Five Elements Cave Heaven.

Eight hundred years had slipped by; the East Sea was no longer what it had been at the beginning. The sea surface was covered with densely packed, multicolored seaweed, and one enormous sea beast after another would occasionally leap out of the sea, letting out long howls and thunderous roars.

Eight hundred years of bitter cultivation had added a trace of weariness to Zhao Yu Yan’s face, yet his aura had become ever more harmonious and restrained.

On this day, the Four Great Gods of that year once again gathered at the East Sea.

"Fellow Daoists, have you received a decree from the Ancestor recently?" Zhao Yu Yan spoke with a solemn expression, his gaze sweeping across Zhao Bai Zhen and Zhao Dianmiao’s faces.

"Oh? You received one as well?" Zhao Zhongzhi’s eyes flashed as he suddenly asked in return.

"I received it as well."

"So did this old man."

Before the words had even fallen, Zhao Bai Zhen and Zhao Dianmiao also spoke up one after another.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu Yan said in a deep voice, "In that case, it’s not just us; the other Divinity Transformation Fellow Daoists should have received the decree as well."

Zhao Dianmiao shook his head with a sigh. "What a pity! This old man had wanted to cultivate to the Great Perfection Realm, but who would have thought that one decree from the Ancestor would force us to leave the Five Elements Cave Heaven."

"Hehe, since Brother Yu Yan isn’t complaining, what are you complaining about?" Zhao Bai Zhen shot him a glance, speaking with a mocking tone.

Zhao Dianmiao said in a strange yin-yang tone, "Little Brother Yu Yan is a top expert ranked ninety-third on the Earth List. How would a mere ordinary Divinity Transformation Cultivator like this old man dare to compare himself with Little Brother Yu Yan?"

Zhao Zhongzhi’s expression turned gloomy as he suddenly barked coldly, "Enough nonsense! Brother Yan, what do you think the Ancestor intends by this?"

After pondering for a while, Zhao Yu Yan said very cautiously, "Perhaps... the Ancestor is disappointed with our performance. After all, being in such a uniquely advantageous place as the Five Elements Cave Heaven, we Divinity Transformation Cultivators only have one person recorded on the Earth List. That truly is..."

"That’s not correct. In my view, the Ancestor simply doesn’t care whether we can make it onto the ranking or not. He might just despise us for curling up in the Cave Heaven and never going out. So he’s forcing us out to temper ourselves; as the saying goes, ’jade must be polished to become a tool’..."

"The old thief’s words make sense. The Returning to Void Thunder Tribulation is no trivial matter. If we go on living so comfortably, it will be almost impossible for us to overcome the Returning to Void Thunder Tribulation. The Ancestor’s intentions run deep; he must hold high expectations for us." Zhao Bai Zhen said as much.

Once these words fell, the others all reacted differently.

Zhao Yu Yan’s brows knit slightly, but he said nothing. Zhao Zhongzhi’s lips held a faint sneer, seemingly somewhat disdainful.

A trace of a smile appeared on Zhao Dianmiao’s face, but no one knew what he was thinking in his heart.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Yu Yan suddenly said, "The final deadline given by the Ancestor is still half a year away. While we still have a little time, who wants to sneak into that place with me?"

The "that place" he spoke of was, in fact, the Sea Abyss where Gun God’s Skeleton lay.

After eight hundred years of evolution, the Sea Abyss had become the place of densest Cave Heaven Spiritual Energy in the Five Elements Cave Heaven. Not only did two Mount-bearing Dragon Turtles dwell there, but there were also many powerful Sea Giant Beasts; the level of danger was extremely high.

However, in the depths of this sea region, there was an endless abundance of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and hundreds of types of Heaven and Earth Strange Objects, most of them Spirit Liquid True Water, Heart Ice, and even Three Lights Divine Water and other Water Element Strange Objects.

Zhao Yu Yan wanted to make a big haul before leaving, and the other three had the same idea.

Thus, as soon as he spoke, Zhao Zhongzhi and the other two agreed immediately.

A short while later, the four Late-stage Divinity Transformation Great True Monarchs quietly sank beneath the sea surface, heading toward the Sea Abyss three thousand miles away.

...

"Main Body, in this recent sea disaster I’ve collected two more pieces of Gun God’s Skeleton. How do you want to deal with them?"

The Avatar happily summoned Tu Zha over and ordered it to take out Gun God’s Skeleton.

Tu Zha obeyed and produced the bones; these two were much larger than the ones obtained eight hundred years ago—one was over a hundred zhang, and the other more than thirty zhang long.

The main body, Zhao Sheng, fixed his gaze on the two pieces of Gun God’s Skeleton. After looking them over a few times, he suddenly said, "Hand the smaller one over to Taoyue Immortal Venerable. It’s been so long with no movement; the Immortal Venerable is probably growing impatient."

"Alright. I’ll make the trip myself." The Avatar nodded, immediately storing the smaller piece of Gun God’s Skeleton into his sleeve.

Then the Avatar’s figure flickered and he instantly left the Five Elements Cave Heaven.

...

After eight hundred years, Zhao Sheng once again arrived in the Vast Sea Realm.

He quickly found the location of the Sea Immortal Mountain, and with a single Space-Time Teleportation he arrived at the foot of the Bluestone Steps.

Zhao Sheng once again climbed step by step, but before he could reach halfway up the mountain, a power impossible to resist suddenly surged out of nowhere.

In an instant, his vision blurred. When the surroundings came back into focus, Zhao Sheng realized that he had returned to the high platform atop the Seaside Cliff.

Taoyue Immortal Venerable was still seated cross-legged at the center of the platform, as if he had not moved for eight hundred years.

Zhao Sheng calmed his mind and hurried forward, bowing deeply. "Junior Zhao Sheng pays respects to the Immortal Venerable!"

"Where is the thing that the main body wants?" Taoyue Immortal Venerable went straight to the point the moment he spoke, catching Zhao Sheng quite off guard.

Zhao Sheng did not dare to be mysterious. He quickly took out a Sumeru Mustard from his sleeve and gently pushed it before the Immortal Venerable.

With a flash of light, the Sumeru Mustard vanished without a trace.

At this moment, Taoyue Immortal Venerable slowly stood up and spoke in a mild tone, "You’ve done extremely well. The main body truly did not misjudge you. The Fire Extinguishing Immortal Technique is here, take it."

Before the words had finished, a palm-sized piece of Warm Jade appeared out of thin air before Zhao Sheng.