Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Chapter 1783: Chapter 961: On the Verge of Immortality (Part 3)

In the following years, a total of thirty-eight Tribulation Crossing Venerables voluntarily offered Immortal Qi, which Zhao Sheng kept in mind.

However, there were eleven Venerables who never visited him, clearly not taking him seriously.

As the saying goes, “I might forget who gave me gifts, but I certainly remember who didn’t.”

Zhao Sheng was the same.

In fact, he was already contemplating how to give those stubborn fellows a heavy lesson.

As time passed, more and more Tribulation Crossing Venerables came with Immortal Qi, leaving shortly thereafter with joyful expressions.

Year after year went by, and the amount of Immortal Qi Zhao Sheng had increased rapidly, but it was just as quickly refined into Mana and flesh.

In the first few years, his Mana had changed significantly, gradually transforming into the legendary Immortal Power.

Meanwhile, the transformation degree of his flesh greatly improved, with his Innate Five Elements Dao Body starting to slowly become an Immortal Body.

However, as the rate of transformation became more apparent, his speed of collecting Immortal Qi soon couldn’t keep up with the consumption speed.

For this reason, Zhao Sheng began eyeing the “Three Immortals.”

Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the courtyard was filled with a fragrant aroma, with a lush and verdant green tree three zhang high rooted in the southwest corner, full of white flowers. The flowers were subtle but not dazzling, emanating a rich fragrance.

Beneath the tree crown, Zhao Sheng was surrounded by a flowing brilliance, his aura ethereal like that of an immortal, with a terrifying and indescribable wave subtly surging within him.

Suddenly, a ball of Yellow Light flew out from underground, landed on the ground, and instantly transformed into a “Stone Snail” over a zhang in diameter, entirely a lustrous white.

This Stone Snail was indeed a Stone Spirit transformed.

Over the past twenty years, the Stone Spirit had evidently grown a lot.

Whoosh!

The Stone Spirit quickly crawled in front of the master, suddenly opened its mouth wide, and spat out a pile of milky white stones.

The sizes of the stones varied, but all emitted faint Immortal Qi fluctuations.

“Master, we’ve gotten thirteen Immortal Qi Stones this time. How do you plan on rewarding us?” After spitting out the stones, the Stone Spirit eagerly boasted.

Zhao Sheng opened his eyes, looked at the Immortal Qi Stones in front of him, and couldn’t help but tease, “Well, the treasures hidden by Wozu are almost dug out by you. Tell me, what reward do you want?”

Delighted by the words, the Stone Spirit said, “Master, let Tu Zha and us go out to play, ‘Snail’ would like to taste other Earth Element Strange Objects.”

Zhao Sheng smiled slightly, then waved his wide sleeve, whereupon a bright yellow treasure mirror shot out and instantly hovered in front of the Stone Spirit.

The treasure mirror hummed, and a delicate face appeared on the mirror’s surface, smiling at the Stone Spirit.

The Stone Spirit stretched out two slender tentacles and placed the Central Earth Mirror on its back.

Then, ripples appeared on the ground, and the Stone Spirit, with Tu Zha, headed into the earth, disappearing without a trace.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng’s mouth curved upward, and then he opened his mouth to suck in, instantly absorbing the thirteen Immortal Qi Stones into his mouth, swallowing them into his belly for refining.

Soon after, he closed his eyes again for meditation, with the brilliance around him suddenly surging…

…

Several months later, on the western side of the Ascension Ancient Array.

Within a thousand-mile radius, the ground was riddled with pits and holes, in a state of disarray.

Near the ancient array, Zhao Sheng stretched out his hand to summon back the Heavenly River Emperor’s Seal, and said to the blood-colored flying sword nearby in a gentle voice, “Taoist Sword Obsession, you let me win!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the blood-colored flying sword flashed, instantly transforming into a young swordsman in blood-red clothes and white hair.

Sword Obsession’s fighting spirit hadn’t diminished in the least, but despite trying numerous sword techniques, he couldn’t break through the defense barrier of the Heavenly River Emperor’s Seal, ultimately ending the spar in a tie.

“Hunyuan Zi, you merely rely on this Immortal Artifact Emperor Seal. Do you dare to face me without using it in a true fight?” Sword Obsession casually tossed him an Immortal Qi Stone, grudgingly provoking him.

Zhao Sheng reached out to seize the Immortal Qi Stone, chuckling as he said, “I, this poor Taoist, am so weak that I dare not directly receive your God-slaying Sword. If Sword Obsession Taoist is not satisfied, I can humbly spar a few more times. But each time must cost a thousand strands of Immortal Qi, not one strand less!”

After pondering for a while, Sword Obsession shook his head and declined, “Let’s call it a day. I’ll spar with you again after digesting the insights from our exchange.”

Having said that, Sword Obsession wanted to transform back into a long sword and reinsert into the stone pillar.

When Zhao Sheng saw that he wouldn’t take the bait, he immediately thought of another idea.

“Taoist, wait!”

Upon hearing this, Sword Obsession’s form became clear again, and he asked, “Hunyuan Zi, what else do you have in mind?”

“I have a Superior Immortal Technique in my hand, called the ‘Golden Light Ten Thousand Soldiers Technique.’ Would the Taoist be interested in this technique?”

Hearing this, Sword Obsession was momentarily stunned, his eyes suddenly gleaming with Divine Light, and he immediately asked, “Is this technique complete? How many strands of Immortal Qi do you want in exchange?”

Seeing his interest piqued, Zhao Sheng took the opportunity to raise the price, “This Immortal Technique lacks the latter half, but the first half is intact, enough to let the Taoist cultivate to the Great Success True Immortal Realm. As for the price, at least three hundred thousand strands of Immortal Qi.”

“The Immortal Technique is good, but it’s incomplete. I’ll offer at most a hundred thousand, not one strand more.”

With a smile, Zhao Sheng said, “Your cultivation has long been stuck. The Immortal Qi in your possession is of no use to you, so why be stingy with these ‘useless things’?”

“Hmph, easy for you to say. Just because I can’t use it now doesn’t mean I won’t need it in the future.” Sword Obsession snorted coldly, dismissively saying.

After hearing this, Zhao Sheng laughed heartily, “Haha, why deceive yourself, Taoist! If your true self could ascend here, he would have done so long ago. Why would you need to slow your Life Span loss by transforming into a sword body?”

At these words, Sword Obsession fell silent.

Though unpleasant, Zhao Sheng had indeed pinpointed Sword Obsession’s “fatal flaw.”

“Heh, by your reasoning, what use is it for me to exchange for the ‘Golden Light Ten Thousand Soldiers Technique’? If it’s useless, then it’s better not to exchange!”

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng’s smile stiffened, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Since no solution came to mind immediately, he used the price-cutting tactic: “Two hundred thousand!”

“A hundred thousand.”

“Deal!”

As soon as the words fell, Zhao Sheng agreed without hesitation.

He then extracted a strand of Divine Thought from his brow, rolled it into a Divine Thought Crystal Pearl, and flicked it towards Sword Obsession.

Upon receiving the Crystal Pearl, Sword Obsession immediately probed it with Divine Thought, allowing a flood of profound information to surge into his mind.

Moments later, he spat out a fist-sized jade White Pearl, silently tossing it into Zhao Sheng’s embrace.

After verification, Zhao Sheng condensed another Divine Thought Crystal Pearl containing the subsequent content of the Immortal Technique, tossing it to Sword Obsession as well.

Soon after, Sword Obsession transformed back into a sword and inserted into the pillar, and Zhao Sheng returned to his cave mansion with a hundred thousand strands of Immortal Qi.

Over the next two centuries, Zhao Sheng fully concentrated on refining this hard-won Immortal Qi, continuously advancing both his Mana through transformation and his physical body at an impressive pace by the year.

Two hundred years passed in the blink of an eye, with the transformation of his Mana completed first, and the True Immortal Body also reached thirty to forty percent maturity.