Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1514: 819: Twenty-Nine Years of Pioneering, Breaking Through to Nascent Soul (Part 2)

“Don’t worry! There’s plenty for you. Not only for you, but for all those who belong to our circle. Still, the cost is quite steep.” Zhao Sheng stressed the phrase “part of us” on purpose.

Zhao Yongxian got the point right away and thumped his chest firmly, “Alright then, the Zhao Family won’t let you down at all. Plus, I’ll make sure to keep this under wraps and won’t spill your secret.”

With the war on the horizon right now, if word got out about his ability to craft the Thousand Miles Escape Sky Talisman, it would surely draw in plenty of crafty old foes trying to snatch him away in secret.

The worth of a Talisman Master capable of creating the Thousand Miles Escape Sky Talisman is obvious enough.

“I wouldn’t question Brother Xian’s reliability.” Zhao Sheng gave a slight nod and flicked his hand to release a Blood Talisman.

Treasure in hand, Zhao Yongxian quickly tucked the Life-saving Talisman into his robes, then unfastened the Storage Bag from his belt, pulling out seven or eight Jade Boxes and sliding them across.

“Here are the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures I’ve gathered up. Take them now, and more will come later…”

Without a glance, Zhao Sheng swept his hand and collected every Jade Box.

Right then, two streaks of tunneling light dropped down outside the entrance, followed by an elder and a youth stepping inside.

The elder had thinning hair, gaunt cheeks, and slit-like eyes sharp as a wolf’s; it was clear at first sight that he was a scheming sort.

The youth appeared unremarkable and average, carrying a solemn and composed air—he was none other than the Mountain and River Sect’s True Inheritor, Zhao Chongnan.

The elder, without doubt, was the Three Extremes Zhao Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestor, Zhao Zhuanggong.

For this Outer Domain Expansion, the Zhao Family had committed one Nascent Soul, four Golden Cores, around thirty Foundation Establishments, plus various hidden aces.

Apart from Family Head Zhao Huaji and Jue Ying Zhao Zhenzhen holding down Yuewu Mountain, there was also the Golden Core Guest Minister Master Ming Yue, though she had left to see friends and wasn’t in the city.

Spotting the Ancestor’s return, Zhao Yongxian hurried over to pay respects with a deep bow.

Zhao Sheng lagged a touch behind, offering only a cupped-fist salute.

Zhao Zhuanggong brushed off such trivial courtesies and quickly directed all to sit.

Once seated, Zhao Zhuanggong dove into the topic at hand.

The launch date for the He and Wei Families’ alliance of three had been more or less fixed.

As Zhao Sheng had predicted, their trio fell into the third wave of the auxiliary forces, biding time until the right moment to march toward the Outer Domain front.

Drawing from endless past lessons stained with blood and sorrow in Outer Domain Expansions, the conflict generally unfolds in five phases: The opening phase stands as the riskiest assault to carve a path, spearheaded by the vanguard troops storming the Barbaric territories to blaze a “route” deep into the wilds for the following main force.

What they call a “road” is really a broad strip spanning hundreds to thousands of miles across, stretching unknown tens of thousands of miles in length.

Usually, the vanguard pushes on until hitting a stronghold or unbeatable spot held by the Demon Clan forces, at which point they dig in for a standoff against the Demon Clan’s mighty experts.

This phase’s length fluctuates, but it often drags on for about seven or eight years.

The next phase launches a massive push, as the core army sails forth on countless Floating Giant Ships, soaring tens of thousands of miles to the battlefront and fanning out to press ahead, claiming spots at key Spiritual Vein areas while clearing nearby rogue threats.

The second phase lacks a set deadline, typically enduring for over a millennium.

The third phase focuses on fortifying territories and taming the land; by the auxiliary forces’ arrival, the battlefield’s shape has sharpened.

Prime Spiritual Vein Blessed Lands brimming with rich Spiritual Energy have already fallen to the vanguard and main armies, so the auxiliaries get the scraps in remote corners to mop up.

In broad strategy, the auxiliary troops act as scattered pins, tasked with locking down tough landscape bastions, fending off Demon Clan counterstrikes, and swiftly signaling with “Fenghuo” beacons.

The auxiliary forces are also like scattered embers that, if nurtured right, could blaze into a vast wildfire.

The He and Wei Families’ three clans, hampered by their limited power, poured in huge efforts merely to snag auxiliary army spots, with no clue yet on their future garrison assignments.

After Zhao Zhuanggong laid out the present state in brief, Zhao Chongnan revealed some inner workings from the Mountain and River Sect, stressing over and over that with him around, the family would face no harm.

Half a day on, the He and Wei Families’ Golden Cores showed up in the main hall, reuniting the three clan powers once again.

Zhao Sheng finally encountered the He Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestor, a man with decent looks, though his cultivation sat at Nascent Soul Middle Stage, his skills middling at best.

To be fair, if he went all out, wiping out a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator wouldn’t pose much trouble.

The He and Wei Families together fielded four Golden Cores, barely matching the Zhao Family’s count.

Yet in the Nascent Soul realm, Zhao Zhuanggong’s recent advance to Late-stage Nascent Soul outshone the He Family Ancestor by a wide margin, positioning the Zhao Family as the guiding force in the three-clan pact.

With the He and Wei cultivators settled in, Zhao Zhuanggong recapped the scenario anew, skipping over finer points.

The He Family Ancestor posed a handful of queries before dropping the matter, handing off the details to the junior Golden Cores for debate.

The pair of Nascent Soul Ancestors then paired up to link with fellow Daoists elsewhere.

Left behind were the three clans’ Golden Core True Immortals, clashing hotly over various issues, while Zhao Sheng, as Guest Elder, stayed detached and aloof, voicing few thoughts.

…

Two months onward, on the ninth day of the ninth month, a day of rare fortune that year.

That day saw the vanguard army finally depart, with hundreds of massive vessels bound for the Barbaric wilds eight thousand miles off, blotting the skies in a grand display of might.

The months that followed witnessed a steady stream of Floating Giant Ships lifting off from Demon Vibration City, racing into the far reaches.

Over the years ahead, the vanguard army sent back wave after wave of triumphs, advancing with notable ease.

Even with sporadic defeats, the campaign’s overall drive remained a triumph.

Days blurred into one another, front-line dispatches arriving often, easing the mood in Demon Vibration City as the backline hub buzzed with high spirits, and the main army kept pressing for orders to charge forward.

Luckily, the Mountain and River Sect’s leadership stayed ultra-cautious, refusing any rash moves by the main forces.

By the eleventh year of the expansion, the vanguard army arrived at the Great Wilderness Swamp, where Demon Country troops on the far shore halted their advance.

As a result, the vanguard’s Commander, the Divinity Transformation Peak Abyss Sea True Monarch, commanded the forces to hold position and stretch defenses along the Great Wilderness Swamp.

In that very year, the main army, led by a fleet of a thousand Giant Ships, surged to the front. Demon Vibration City emptied by half, leaving nearby settlements thinly peopled too.

Thirteen years in, the main army suffered a sudden raid from a demon beast horde, costing them more than two hundred Giant Ships.

This clash highlighted the Green-winged Roc Clan’s fearsome prowess, claiming three Human Clan Divinity Transformation True Monarchs and sixty-seven Nascent Soul Ancestors outright, alongside uncounted Golden Core True Immortals and lower juniors.

That same year, Zhao Sheng ventured into Burial Immortal Ruins on two occasions, silently refining his cultivation to Perfect Golden Core, fully tempering his Lifebound Magic Treasure, the Five Directions Mirror.

Twenty years into the expansion, as spring’s inaugural thunder rumbled, the Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation struck on cue; Zhao Sheng plunged into the roiling Tribulation Cloud, his body immersed in bolts of lightning, harnessing the Thunder Tribulation’s might to temper his form.

With the ordeal cleared and mists vanished, the Giant Spirit Battle Body fluidly reached Small Success Realm.

Twenty-nine years deep in the expansion, the third-wave auxiliary army got the True Monarch’s command, set to push into the Barbaric lands amid the harsh winter.