Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1313 - 710: Salvation Plan and Tianzhu’s Dire Straits

With Zhao Sheng’s current cultivation realm, a single sweep of his gaze was sufficient to confirm that many of these Demon Cultivators carried the Zhao Family bloodline.

Members of the world’s most illustrious clan, once revered by all, had degenerated to the point of consorting with Evil Demons. This was a blatant smear on the reputation of the Heavenly Pillar Zhao Family.

Possessing a sharp and analytical mind, Zhao Sheng instantly understood that major shifts had occurred during his absence.

The reports previously submitted by Zhao Xuanjing were clearly obsolete now; they could only serve as a historical reference rather than current intelligence.

Unwilling to waste time interrogating these insignicant ants individually, Zhao Sheng released dozens of filaments of Divine Thought. Like bolts of lightning, they pierced into the Purple Mansion Soul Sea of every person present.

In a mere heartbeat, he had thoroughly ransacked their memories.

As he processed the information, Zhao Sheng’s expression grew grim, and a sense of irritation welled up within him.

The original intelligence had foreseen an internal schism within the Heavenly Pillar Zhao Family.

Six centuries later, those predictions had manifested. Over the last two hundred years, the Zhao Family had indeed "splintered apart," fracturing into the Central Sect, Southern Sect, Northern Sect, and the Overseas Four Branches, alongside numerous other minor offshoots.

The "Central Sect" asserted itself as the primary lineage, maintaining control over the two premier spirit lands—Heavenly Pillar Mountain and Divine Dragon Valley. They also wielded the greatest authority by covertly directing the mortal Zhao Dynasty.

Meanwhile, the Southern Sect had established its hub in Xinglong City. By forming alliances with the Elixir Cauldron Sect and the Beast Taming Sect, their reach extended across the Southern Yan Continent and the entire Southern Border.

The Northern Sect had chosen to relocate to the Northern Cold Continent. There, they had not only absorbed the Shui Mu Palace to become the continent's new rulers but had also forged a pact with Ancient Buddhism to stand against the tide of the Demon Path.

The Overseas Four Branches were each situated in a different ocean of the Outer Sea; they were barely clinging to survival and lacked the strength to return to the Central Region.

It is often said that the world must divide after long unity and unite after long division—this was a cycle of fate that no man could repair.

Because Zhao Sheng had expected this fragmentation of the Heavenly Pillar Zhao Family, he felt no shock.

What truly grated on him was the fact that several disgraced branches of the Zhao Family had chosen to align with Evil Demons, acting as henchmen who brought ruin to the Human Clan of this world.

Instead of feeling remorse, these failures took pride in their betrayal. They poisoned the minds of their clansmen with fallacies, claiming the rise of demons and the waning of the Dao was an unstoppable destiny, and framing their cowardice as the wisdom of those who adapt to the times.

At Zhao Sheng's level of enlightenment, the distinction between righteous and demonic paths no longer held much weight.

It was hardly shocking that some members of the Zhao family branches would practice Demon Techniques and walk the path of a demon practitioner.

With a clan population numbering in the billions, it was statistically certain that a few Demon Cultivators or Ghost Cultivators would appear.

His anger didn't stem from their cultivation choices, but from the fact that these idiots were being manipulated as puppets without even knowing it.

Zhao Sheng was now certain that the Zhao Family's collapse had been orchestrated by various factions working in the shadows.

He could even identify the primary "culprits," with the Supreme Sensing Sect leading the charge, supported by the Primordial Demon Sect and the Immortal Device Sect as their accomplices.

His certainty regarding the Supreme Sensing Sect being the mastermind was rooted in a complex history.

To explain the full story would require a deep dive into the past!

One would have to go back to the era when the Blood God was executed to find the true beginning.

However, those are "ancient tales" from over six millennia ago, and there is no point in revisiting them now.

The specific catalyst that turned the Supreme Sensing Sect and the Heavenly Pillar Zhao Family into bitter rivals was the "Salvation Voyage" that took place three thousand years ago.

Since many Zhao descendants had successfully ascended to the Spirit Realm, Zhao Xuanjing was intimately familiar with the "Salvation Voyage" and had provided exhaustive details in his reports.

Simply put, the "Salvation Voyage" was a desperate response to the Tianzhu Realm's fading Spiritual Energy, which threatened to turn the world into a "Spiritless Desert."

Three thousand years ago, every major Cultivation force in the Tianzhu Realm realized that the future of their world was bleak.

While many were paralyzed by dread, the Supreme Sensing Sect stepped forward with the "Salvation Voyage" proposal.

The objective was straightforward: transport a select group of elites from each Great Sect to the "Spring Birth Realm" beyond Sixteen Constant Years, thereby preserving the Primordial Qi and the legacy of the realm's sects.

To achieve this, the Supreme Sensing Sect provided the blueprints for a "Supreme Divine Ship."

This vessel was capable of traveling through the Void Realm, which would drastically shorten the trip. Its only major flaws were the extreme difficulty of its construction and a maximum capacity of only three hundred passengers.

Despite these limitations, the Divine Ship was viewed as a miraculous lifeline by those in the know.

Consequently, the "Salvation Voyage" plan received immediate backing from every top-tier power, with the Heavenly Pillar Zhao Family contributing massive resources toward the project.

During the centuries spent building the ship, the Supreme Sensing Sect acted as the "Crownless King" of the Tianzhu Realm. Even the formidable Heavenly Pillar Zhao Family had to yield to their dominance during that era.

It was during this period that the Supreme Sensing Sect quietly consolidated its power. They brought the Primordial Demon Sect and the Immortal Device Sect under their thumb, while the Lingxiao Palace was shattered and Confucian cultivators were relegated to the status of lowly side paths.

Bound by the so-called "great cause of salvation," the Heavenly Pillar Zhao Family was forced to stand by and watch the Supreme Sensing Sect's influence grow, unable to risk a direct confrontation.