Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1344 - 725: Refining Treasure, Enlightenment, and Heavenly Retribution

Misfortune never arrives alone; it pours when it rains!

Since his Lifebound Divine Banner was forced into self-destruction, the black-robed elder had been paralyzed by a chilling realization. A bizarre, ghostly phantom had somehow manifested within the depths of his Soul Sea, becoming inextricably coiled around his Nascent Soul.

What was even more terrifying was the constant corruption of his mind and consciousness by this spectral shadow. He was becoming increasingly bloodthirsty and savage, frequently spiraling into fits of insanity.

Simultaneously, a persistent summons echoed in his heart. It felt as though he had been stripped of his most vital treasure, leaving him with an agonizing, intense yearning to reclaim what was lost.

Over the last six months, the flickering image of a scarlet Blood Banner had haunted his mind.

Every time this Blood Banner manifested, that eerie ghostly shadow would gnaw at his magic body, an experience that left him paralyzed with dread.

As a high-ranking figure within the Ghost God Sect, the black-robed elder was intimately familiar with the many horrors associated with the sect’s supreme treasure, the Red God Banner!

He had exhausted every possible strategy to repel the corruption of the Red God’s demon shadow, yet his efforts yielded almost no results.

As the days turned into months, the internal compulsions and impulses grew more violent, and his lapses into madness became more frequent.

Despite his desperate struggle against these internal cravings, months of aimless wandering eventually brought him to the fringes of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

By now, Ancestor Jue Xing was certain that the Sect Treasure, the Red God Banner, was located deep within these mountains. He could even perceive a faint, wailing resonance from the Red God Banner, as if it were begging him to rescue it from a sea of suffering.

This sensation filled Ancestor Jue Xing’s heart with overwhelming fear. If he had the choice, he would have fled to the farthest corners of the world rather than set a single foot near the Zhao’s Station.

He was acutely aware that the mysterious Great Ability who had dismantled the Ghost God Sect and shackled the Red God Banner was currently residing within the Zhao’s Station.

Facing such a formidable entity, his solitary Nascent Soul was nothing; even a hundred cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage would be utterly powerless!

Contemplating his grim prospects, a veil of pure despair instantly clouded Ancestor Jue Xing’s features.

...

While Ancestor Jue Xing was drowning in hopelessness, echoes of wailing and profanity rose from the depths of a massive subterranean Dao Field in New Zhao City:

"Aow... This... God... will... never... yield... to... the... lowly... Human Clan..."

Suspended in the center of the Dao Field was a blood-colored Crystal Banner several feet in height. From within its span, a Chi God Giant over ten feet tall had emerged.

This Chi God Giant was bound by nearly a hundred Five-colored Thunder Chains. Flames of five-colored Thunder Fire—shimmering in red, blue, yellow, black, and white—relentlessly licked its form. The giant howled in agony as its spirit body twisted, becoming translucent and shrinking with every passing moment.

Zhao Sheng stood beneath the Red God Banner, his thoughts racing as he observed the fluctuations of five distinct types of thunder law. He watched them weave and stack into incredibly intricate law constructs, manifesting as Thunder Fire that repeatedly struck the True Spirit of the Red God Banner.

It was clear he was utilizing this true spirit as a tool to refine his Taoist Skill.

One had to admit that the Red God Banner was worthy of its status as the Chi Ghost Clan’s Sect Treasure; its true spirit was a perfect vessel for the Chi Clan’s will, harboring a profound animosity toward the Human Clan.

Even after years of being scorched by the Five Elements Thunder Fire, it remained defiant and unbending!

Spiritual treasures are a rarity in any era, and Primordial Yang Spirit Treasures are even more elusive throughout history!

Even though the Red God Banner refused to submit, Zhao Sheng was loath to discard such a hard-won Primordial Yang Spirit Treasure.

Naturally, if all else failed, his only recourse would be to wipe out the current true spirit of the magical treasure and cultivate a brand new one.

However, such an action would inevitably cause the Red God Banner to drop in rank to a True Form Spirit Treasure, rendering tens of thousands of years of accumulated power useless.

The hours drifted by.

Under the relentless heat of the Five Elements Thunder Fire, the Red God Spirit Venerable had condensed into a blood-colored sphere of light, shaped like an egg, in a desperate attempt to preserve its remaining spirituality.

Zhao Sheng paid it no mind. He had already funneled ninety percent of his mental energy into calculating the cycle of birth and death within the laws of the Five Elements and Thunder Movement. He deduced countless law constructs in his mind, though the majority of them collapsed and were discarded almost immediately.

Yet, from this rigorous selection, a handful of law constructs stabilized. In a flash, they were channeled directly onto the Red God Spirit Venerable.

As various Primordial Thunder Skills were birthed, Zhao Sheng’s mind grew exceptionally sharp. A profound sense of enlightenment washed over him, allowing him to catch a fleeting glimpse of a higher, more advanced realm.

Simultaneously, his divine thought and original spirit began to fuse instinctively. The amber-hued Returning Void Power within his body underwent a silent transformation, shifting from a moist purple to a vibrant five-colored radiance.

Deep within the Soul Sea of his Purple Mansion, a magnificent and vivid Thunder Light appeared at the edge of the Heavenly Vault. It was a dazzling display of gold, red, black, blue, white, and other colors.

Beyond the Thunder Light, it appeared as though infinite three-dimensional silken threads were emerging, constantly intertwining, stacking, merging, and splitting... forging one grand Law Heaven and Earth after another.

Zhao Sheng felt as if he had transcended the heavens, gaining a crystal-clear perspective he had never before possessed to survey the boundless Law Heaven and Earth stretching out below him.

In this ethereal state, he felt he had finally brushed against the profound "origin" of the Taoist Law.

Boom!

After an indeterminate amount of time, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the Law "Heaven and Earth."

The sound seemed to resonate from the very dawn of primordial chaos, or perhaps from a future beyond comprehension...

Zhao Sheng snapped awake with a jolt, only to realize with horror that his divine thought and spiritual sense were nearly spent, and the mana in his body was entirely drained.

At that moment, the Red God Banner had tumbled to the floor. The Blood Banner was now dull and devoid of life, its surface unexpectedly encased in a hardened layer of five-colored Thunder Crystal.