Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1444 - 782: Returning to Void Perfection, Entering the Beast Path (Part 2)

Yet in the following moment, Zhao Sheng's face burst into wild joy, and his will force field rushed out at once, greedily drawing in the enigmatic aura that filled the emptiness.

As it happened, the moment that enigmatic aura poured into the Purple Mansion and plunged into the Soul Sea, his Primordial Spirit felt a sudden, overwhelming hunger.

Upon taking in a thread of that enigmatic aura, the Primordial Spirit grew far more solid in an instant, and even his own will and Divine Thought leaped forward by almost ten percent.

Just one thread of enigmatic aura had wiped away the toil of nearly a century all at once—truly astonishing!

Zhao Sheng paid no mind to anything else and hastily dropped into a cross-legged seat on the floor, summoning the Three-headed and Six-armed Thunderclap Dharma Image to rise behind him.

Right away, the enigmatic aura drifting through the void swirled toward him and flowed straight into the Will Dharma Form.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

With the moments ticking by, the Will Dharma Form, once faintly warped, turned sharper and more vivid, until at last it hinted at Returning to the Truth.

The sign of the Dharma Image Returning to the Truth showed that Zhao Sheng's cultivation edged closer to Returning to Void Perfection.

Leaping from Returning to Void Ninth Layer Initial Realm straight to Returning to Void Perfection, this blazing-fast breakthrough rivaled the effects of the fabled Nine-Turn Immortal Pill.

Soon after, Zhao Sheng sensed his Primordial Spirit swelling like it might shatter, as though one more bit of aura would cause it to burst apart.

He jolted in alarm, realizing he'd hit his threshold, and promptly pulled back his will force field while ceasing to pull in the outer enigmatic aura.

Gradually, he lifted his eyelids, and the nearby surroundings came into view.

Unlike earlier, this spotless white chamber now featured six walls, each set with six gateways.

These gateways differed wildly from the previous ones, taking the form of heads that looked holy, savage, or warped, their wide-open mouths serving as shadowy, bottomless entrances.

Over every head floated crimson letters spelling out: Heavenly Human Path, Hell Path, Asura Path, Evil Ghost Path, Human Path, Beast Path.

Zhao Sheng's eyes narrowed sharply, and he murmured inwardly in shock: "Heavenly Human Path, Asura Path... this matches the famed Six Paths of Reincarnation perfectly."

Stunned, Zhao Sheng's gaze sparked with intensity, faintly firing off twin bolts of Electric Light that struck the six enormous heads.

All at once, a swirl and haze twisted across his sight, and once the "sight" sharpened once more.

In a flash, those six massive heads sprang alive, their eye pairs spinning wildly, fixing endlessly on Zhao Sheng.

The instant after, the six heads writhed and thrashed as one, appearing to howl without sound, lament, weep, bellow... each face twisting in unique ways, hinting at some dire portent.

In that span, bursts of vibrant Flowing Light poured from the heads' mouths, twisting together and blending, shifting into wisps of wild and arcane aura that spread across the chamber.

"Immortal Qi? Demonic Qi? Or maybe the storied... Power of Reincarnation?" A storm of ideas raced through Zhao Sheng's thoughts, leaving him more and more in awe of the Sky-reaching White Tower.

Crack, crack...

Right then, a sharp splitting of wood jolted him from his musings.

Tracing the noise, Zhao Sheng watched a lush green tree fracture bit by bit, its foliage yellowing and dropping visibly, while plump jade-yellow fruits swelled amid the limbs.

Those fruits ripened swiftly and burst apart, releasing tiny "infants" no taller than five or six inches.

Most of these infants exploded right after emerging, crushed by an unseen force and crumbling to dust in a heartbeat.

Crack... The tree tore from the top downward and tumbled in pieces, strewing limbs and bole over the ground.

From the remaining stump, a fresh sapling sprouted, surging to several feet high in moments, its top like a coiling dragon and its boughs and leaves sheer and crystalline, as if sculpted from jade.

The instant the jade tree reached full growth, the tiny infants leaped into its frame.

Every merge caused the jade tree's aura to explode upward.

Once every infant had joined the core, the tree's radiating pressure loomed like an endless ocean, rivaling a Half-Immortal of the Void.

Just then, the jade tree unleashed a vast wave of pure light.

Once the glow faded, a lithe and alluring, strikingly beautiful youth stood in its stead.

The youth flashed a captivating smile at Zhao Sheng and abruptly pressed his palms together, declaring, "I am Kuimu Xiao, and it’s a pleasure to meet Friend Nameless."

His tone rang bright and soothing, like a beguiling woman's voice, a total shift from the harsh edge of moments ago.

"Congratulations to Taoist Kuimu on your great progress in Daoist cultivation!" Zhao Sheng dipped his head and offered a polite clasp in reply.

"Haha, I owe such an opportunity to the great assistance of a friend. This gratitude, I will keep in my heart. Should there be any need in the future, I will definitely be there. This is a token from me, please accept it, my friend."

With those words, Kuimu Xiao snapped off a finger segment and flung it toward Zhao Sheng from a distance.

The finger soared upward, morphing mid-flight into a wooden token that dropped neatly into Zhao Sheng’s grasp.

Zhao Sheng stowed the wooden token away, gave Kuimu Xiao a nod, and then shifted his gaze to Qi Wu Yan nearby.

By now, Qi Wu Yan had unveiled his actual shape, becoming a colossal green creature the size of a Dragon Elephant, heaving in massive gulps of air.

Each inhale pulled strands of enigmatic aura into him, driving his cultivation forward at a blistering pace.

In merely half an hour, the Pixi Giant Beast's bulk had nearly doubled, and intricate runes started etching densely over its azure scales.

Meanwhile, the emerald horn atop its muzzle stretched past three feet, glowing with a faint greenish sheen.

A handful of breaths on, the beast unleashed a mighty bellow brimming with savage delight.

Then it bounded skyward, its form compressing rapidly, reverting in a wink to human shape.

Qi Wu Yan, grinning widely, strode up to Zhao Sheng and Kuimu Xiao, offering his hearty congratulations to both.

In response, Zhao Sheng and Kuimu Xiao voiced their own warm felicitations.

Through this ordeal, the trio's powers had all soared dramatically, pushing each to the brink of their current stages.

Naturally, Zhao Sheng reaped the biggest gains, since his level stood highest and proved toughest to advance.

Sensing his own might surge so fiercely, Qi Wu Yan blurted out in excitement, "Which portal should we enter next?"

"As usual, it’s up to Taoist Qi to make the decision. What’s your opinion, Kuimu?"

With that, Zhao Sheng glanced over at Kuimu Xiao.

"I have no objections," Kuimu Xiao replied, shaking his head with a grin.

"Good, auspicious is in the east! I still choose the portal to the east," Qi Wu Yan declared firmly, jabbing a finger eastward.

The eastern portal shaped like a human head bore the bold crimson words "Beast Path" across it.

...

The heavens stretched vast and bright, with a soft breeze whispering through.

Mountain ranges rolled on without end, rivers snaked along, and verdant woods lined both shores, bursting with blooms and greenery. Now and then, birds and beasts approached the water to quench their thirst, painting a picture of perfect balance.

Stepping through the portal, Zhao Sheng beheld the fresh peaks and sparkling streams ahead, alive with vitality, far surpassing what he'd imagined.

Beams of sun pierced the clouds, spilling warmth over the land, while the breeze carried a subtle scent of fresh grass and timber.

Zhao Sheng extended a hand to pluck a crimson bloom close by, squeezing it to release a sweet red sap.

"Is it really real?!" Zhao Sheng's shock hit him hard, as this realm felt so lifelike he couldn't separate illusion from truth.

Qi Wu Yan stood equally stunned, swiping to fell a tree nearby, which crashed down and flattened a swath of blossoms and weeds.

A sturdy root wrenched free from the soil, upheaving dirt and scattering swarms of snakes, bugs, rodents, and ants in fright.

Zhao Sheng stretched out his hand, and a dashing white rabbit floated up against its will, hovering before him in the air.

A golden gleam swept across the white rabbit, probing it over and over, at last verifying it as nothing more than a plain hare.

Wearing a grave look, Zhao Sheng let the white rabbit drop.

The moment its paws touched ground, the rabbit bolted off in terror, vanishing swiftly into the underbrush.

Right then, Kuimu Xiao piped up: "Fellow Taoists, stop playing around; we have important matters to do. Who knows where the portal is?"

At his words, Zhao Sheng's Will Field flared out, blanketing almost a thousand miles in every direction.

"In the surrounding thousand miles, no portal found."

"I haven’t found anything either," Qi Wu Yan shot back at once.

The next instant, Zhao Sheng's eyes gleamed as he abruptly detected, in a distant valley some eight hundred miles off, a portal flickering into being, from which a figure stepped forth.

This figure cut an odd silhouette, clad in dark armor and gripping a dragon-curved treasure saber, his stance taut with caution.

The second this figure set foot in the strange realm, the portal slipped from Zhao Sheng's senses, fading away like mist.

Witnessing this, Zhao Sheng fell into contemplation.

Maybe... they weren't alone in entering this world; other Immortal Ruins Guests could be streaming into this domain as well.