Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1446 - 783: Beastification (2)

"What are we going to do?" Qi Wu Yan asked in a panicked tone, "The Sky-reaching White Tower stays accessible for merely seven days. Once that period ends, we'll be forced out. Without managing to secure the ancestor's remains, I simply couldn't confront the Ancestor."

A look of despair crossed Yao Lan's face as he dropped into a squat on the ground. Upon hearing those words, uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

Noticing this, Zhao Sheng inquired, "Is there something on your mind?"

Yao Lan offered a meek grin in response, "I don't have much to add, only a gentle warning—rumors speak of immense dangers emerging here after dark. Though the three esteemed ones possess great strength, please remain on guard!"

Hearing this caution, a cold shiver ran through Zhao Sheng, prompting him to scan the surroundings instinctively.

Everywhere lay verdant mountains and flowing streams, with floral scents and avian melodies permeating the breeze—a serene scene that betrayed no sign of menace.

Right then, Zhao Sheng abruptly felt his Will Field stir to life, detecting through his awareness three streaks of Flowing Lights hurtling closer.

His eyes sharpened as he whipped his head toward the western horizon.

Kuimu Xiao and Qi Wu Yan picked up on the disturbance too, swiveling their attention westward.

After the span of half an incense stick, tiny black specks dotted the distant skyline, expanding steadily until two silhouettes took shape.

A hundred breaths passed before the trio of Flowing Lights touched down a few miles off, shifting into the forms of an elderly man and a young lad.

The old man bore an unsightly visage, stood short and stocky, gripped a Green Jade Bamboo Stick in his right hand, and donned a Purple Feather Crown, radiating a potent aura of decay as if his days were numbered.

The youth, around eleven or twelve years old, featured rosy lips and pearly teeth, with skin as flawless as polished jade—resembling an elegant little noble.

Yet his eyes gleamed with orange-yellow slit pupils, casting a detached and icy stare that seemed far from human.

Cough, cough!

Having glanced over the gathered folks, the elder broke into a fit of coughs before speaking mildly, "I am known as the Green Stick Elder. Greetings, Fellow Daoists."

With those words out, he pivoted to the topic at hand, gesturing toward the boy next to him as he presented, "Allow me to introduce my disciple, Zhong Balang."

The slit-pupiled youth kept his face impassive, offering a cupped-fist salute to the assembly without uttering a word.

Witnessing this, the Green Stick Elder gave the ground a soft tap with his bamboo stick and went on, "My disciple tends to be untamed and boisterous. Should he act impolitely, I ask for your understanding."

Zhao Sheng responded with a warm smile, "I go by Zhao Wuming. Greetings, Taoist."

Following his lead, Qi Wu Yan and Kuimu Xiao chimed in with their own introductions.

Once the pleasantries wrapped up, the tension in the air eased considerably, dialing back the wariness between the groups.

Seizing the moment, the Green Stick Elder struck up a chat with Zhao Sheng and his companions, exchanging courteous remarks that soon blossomed into animated discussion.

In the end, without any pressing clash of interests, no one in their right mind would leap straight into combat upon first encounter.

When the talk concluded, both parties felt a twinge of letdown, as the routine back-and-forth yielded no noteworthy insights.

Moments later, Qi Wu Yan sent a private voice transmission, "Senior Zhao, it looks like they don't know much beyond what we do. Why not strike now and seize those two?"

"Hold off on any rash moves," Zhao Sheng replied through a hidden channel.

Qi Wu Yan's eyes wavered for a second before he retreated a couple of paces behind Kuimu Xiao.

Right then, the Green Stick Elder spoke up unexpectedly, "Fellow Daoists, here's an idea—shall we join forces to venture through this realm side by side?"

Zhao Sheng mulled it over for a moment, then grinned and inclined his head, prepared to consent.

Hmm?

In a flash, Zhao Sheng's features twisted in alarm, his gaze shooting skyward.

Qi Wu Yan and the rest caught on with a slight lag, sensing the shift in the heavens and tilting their heads up.

At that very second, the Sun's glow faded, and the sea of clouds gradually dissolved from sight; an endless void of shadow surged from the edge of the world, racing to blanket the Sun.

Wherever the gloom advanced, it devoured the skies, the lands, the lush hills, and the rippling waters.

From a distance, the whole realm appeared to be gobbled up by the unrelenting blackness at breakneck speed.

Nightfall crashed down, abrupt and unforeseen!

Within moments, vast swaths of the world plunged into obscurity, swallowing even Zhao Sheng's senses, until only the "Sun" lingered in his sight.

Could this be some trick of the mind... no, it's no mere hallucination!

As the Sun waned and the infinite darkness cloaked all, Zhao Sheng abruptly grasped that the "Sun" was in truth... an enormous eye.

Shadow formed its lid, brilliance its pupil, now wheeling about and fixing its stare upon the realm beneath.

As that gaze swept across, all things dissolved into nothingness!

The instant after, Zhao Sheng's perceptions cut out entirely, plunging him into utter blackness.

...

An indeterminate stretch of time elapsed before Zhao Sheng stirred back to awareness, gradually parting his eyelids to behold a pitch-black expanse, amid faint rustling sounds.

Out of habit, he extended his Will Field, only to reel in shock as it had evaporated without a trace!

Zhao Sheng bolted upright in haste, stunned by the deep fatigue and frailty overtaking him, his once-mighty body apparently gone.

Lifting a hand toward his face, he stared at a paw cloaked in fur.

Panic surging, Zhao Sheng glanced downward, discovering his frame shrouded in white fuzz, limbs reshaped into simian talons.

He... had become a white-furred monkey!

After some time slumped on the earth, Zhao Sheng grappled with the sheer ridiculousness of it all. A thousand years of cultivation had elevated him to the lofty rank of Half-Immortal of the Void, only for him to inexplicably devolve into a puny, feeble primate.

In that instant, Zhao Sheng truly comprehended the core of this "great terror."

Scanning his environs, the verdant peaks and streams had vanished, supplanted by desolate, shattered terrain where fleshy vines sprouted from fissures, undulating in the breeze while bubbling with "gurgling" sounds.

In the distance, savage howls pierced the dark, hinting at creatures locked in savage combat.

A savage hunger stirred in Zhao Sheng's chest, fueled by the thick metallic tang of blood hanging in the air.

Clamping down on the impulse, he sprang upward, bounding onto a withered tree and hunkering out of sight.

Now stripped of his robust physique and vast spiritual might, he was reduced to this fragile, scrawny monkey form.

Still, resolve burned in him—he would endure, whatever horrors lay ahead.

Shortly thereafter, desperate bleats rang out, drawing nearer from the shadows.

Zhao Sheng froze in place, pressing against the trunk and peering out warily.

A few breaths in, a white goat burst from behind a boulder, dashing in wild panic.

Hot on its heels came a rabbit-headed beast with a humanoid build, saliva dripping as it hunted, driven by an insatiable thirst for slaughter.

Towering over a Yin in height, the fiend's frame rippled with muscle and feral bloodlust, though its gait seemed awkward, as if unused to its own limbs.

Baa, baa!

The goat wheezed in exhaustion, looping around the tree in frantic evasion of its pursuer.

Zhao Sheng edged along stealthily, eyeing the fatal chase unfold.

In mere breaths, the beast adjusted swiftly, lunging forward with sudden speed to pin the goat beneath its weight.

With a sharp crack, it wrenched the goat's neck, then bent to gorge itself.

The following moment brought a nightmarish shift.

In a grotesque twist, the goat reverted instantly to human shape.

This figure, marked by his bizarre features and robust build, turned out to be none other than Yao Lan.

Terror etched Yao Lan's countenance, his vacant eyes locked skyward in perpetual unease.

Zhao Sheng's spirits plummeted, glimpsing his own dire destiny.

Even so, he stayed rooted, observing in silence as the creature tore into Yao Lan's remains.

Upon finishing its feast, as if invigorated by some mighty elixir, the beast's form ballooned to twice its size, sprouting a pair of goat horns while crimson vapor seeped from its maw, inspiring dread.

Only after the beast lumbered off in satisfaction did Zhao Sheng linger a bit longer before slipping down from the branches.

He approached the gore-soaked soil, his eyes narrowing sharply.

Abruptly, a pale shape erupted from the earth, morphing into a white goat.

This one mirrored the earlier goat closely, though slighter in build, with a subtle crimson glint in its gaze and an innate hint of savagery.