Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1561 - 843: Qinghuang Bell, Reunion with an Old Friend in the Rift Valley (Part 3)

Within a mere two days, Zhao Sheng managed to craft and hand over seven spiritual treasures all at once. The majority consisted of low-grade spiritual treasures, save for a single Wandering Dragon Sword Pill that exhibited exceptional vitality following its refinement, boasting a sixty percent likelihood of evolving into a mid-grade spiritual treasure down the line.

Zhao Sheng had assumed the task was finally wrapped up, yet to his astonishment, the influx of treasure seekers grew even larger, each one outranking the previous in prestige.

In the midst of these events, the Returning Void Practitioner Yao Yue made his return.

Faced with no escape, Zhao Sheng reluctantly consented to forging a Peach Cloud Robe for him.

This commitment provided him with a solid reason to turn down the demands from the rest of the seekers.

With the formidable "Half-Immortal of the Void" Yao Yue on site, no one else dared to push their luck and they departed in disappointment.

Time flew by over the ensuing months.

That particular day, within the Haoyang Mirror Realm, three blazing "Great Suns" dominated the heavens.

The Golden Crow True Fire raged with intensity, while three bundles of Treasure Lights danced within the depths of the Great Suns, radiating profound liveliness.

Perched on the brink of a jagged cliff, Zhao Sheng gazed intently into the emptiness before him.

Opposite the precipice, a fractured bronze bell floated suspended, enveloped entirely in a subtle Divine Light.

Waves of Divine Light pulsed outward, morphing ceaselessly into archaic Immortal Seals and Tao True Texts.

These True Texts struck the bronze bell like relentless hammers, erupting into dazzling radiance upon impact.

The Qinghuang Bell quivered faintly yet stayed completely mute.

Zhao Sheng's gaze pierced like lightning, meticulously tracking each subtle shift in the Qinghuang Bell.

Beneath the veil of his Divine Thought and Will Heart Light, the Qinghuang Bell began to dissolve from view, supplanted by a network of fragmented "Star Rivers."

These "Star Rivers" represented the spirit prohibitions in their raw essence, where every star was forged from myriad runes. Regrettably, the stars had dimmed, many already vanished into nothing.

To Zhao Sheng's discerning eye, the spirit prohibition "Star Rivers" teetered on the edge of total disintegration, riddled with "loopholes."

"One, two, three..." Zhao Sheng tallied them mentally once more, only to be startled by the discovery that the Qinghuang Bell harbored nine spirit prohibitions.

His forehead creased in concern, grasping the sheer complexity of the challenge.

From time immemorial, cultivators have held the numbers three, six, and nine in sacred esteem, nine standing as the pinnacle, carrying boundless importance.

Indisputably, the Qinghuang Bell qualified as an exceptional top-grade spiritual treasure.

Had it been in perfect condition, it would have ignited the greed of even a Unification Realm Expert, prompting them to claim it through sheer might.

Alas, its ruin was so profound that it risked utter dissolution into something ordinary.

The nine spirit prohibitions intertwined with masterful precision, woven through an advanced arcane technique.

Repairing it demanded the revival of every one of those nine spirit prohibitions, all while preserving "balance" at every turn.

It resembled "pulling one thread and moving the whole body," any error spelling potential catastrophe beyond recovery.

It was at this moment that Zhao Sheng abruptly understood the magnitude of the burden he had shouldered.

Without ascending to the Returning to Void Realm, mending the Qinghuang Bell lay beyond his present capabilities.

Looking back, Zhao Sheng perceived the layered motives of Praying to Heaven Ancestor.

Across seventy thousand years, it seemed implausible that Praying to Heaven Ancestor, leveraging his vast "connections," failed to locate a Refining Master surpassing the Returning to Void Realm.

For the sake of his bond with Red Cloud Venerable, a Unification Realm Expert would gladly embrace such a "favorable relationship."

Yet Praying to Heaven Ancestor chose otherwise, passing the Qinghuang Bell to a mere Divinity Transformation Realm Practitioner.

Zhao Sheng's mind whirled with surging ideas, swiftly evaluating a multitude of scenarios.

Eliminating the bulk of those scenarios, he suddenly recognized his underestimation of this Primordial Yang True Spirit.

Thinking back to his prior incarnation, the True Form Spirit Treasure Chun Jun Pot had mentioned possessing nine sworn brothers, the foremost among them the Heavenly Spirit Treasure Immortal Slaying Sword...

Zhao Sheng firmly believed that Praying to Heaven Ancestor was backed by a profoundly covert organization.

The affiliates of this organization were undoubtedly sentient magical treasures that had awakened.

As marginalized entities, they would instinctively seek to "huddle together for warmth" and thrive unbound in the Taiyi Spirit Realm!

This epiphany sent a shiver through Zhao Sheng's core, as if an enormous web had ensnared him.

"No, I can’t stay in Jiuxuan City any longer. I must leave as soon as possible." The idea struck Zhao Sheng abruptly.

In the instant that followed, he extended his hand swiftly, drawing the Qinghuang Bell toward him and tucking it into his spacious sleeve.

With a flicker of his form, Zhao Sheng vanished from the Mirror Realm in a flash.

...

Several months afterward, a colossal figure clad in bronze armor materialized abruptly over the Heavenly Rift Valley.

The giant peered downward at the chasm beneath, his massive frame contracting rapidly until it assumed the stature of an ordinary man.

Boom!

A divine thought expansive as an ocean surged forth, enveloping a thousand miles in its sweep.

Zhao Sheng arched a brow, mildly taken aback, and remarked, "I didn’t expect to run into an old acquaintance right upon my return. Is this fate at play?"

No sooner had the words left his lips than he morphed into a streak of tunneling light, diving headlong toward the depths of the Heavenly Rift Valley.

Shortly thereafter, Zhao Sheng touched down at the valley's floor, where ahead loomed a grand city shielded by a pale barrier ascending skyward.

A faint smile played on Zhao Sheng's lips as he blended seamlessly into the surroundings and faded from sight.

Within a lofty tower situated in the city's southwest quarter, a white-haired, one-armed elder guzzled from a wine gourd.

Crimson liquid trickled from his lips, swiftly drenching half his garment.

Just then, a voice laced with light mockery drifted from behind: "Isn’t drinking alone boring? Why not share a pot with me?"

The one-armed old man's frame jolted, and he hastily set aside the wine gourd, whipping around to peer back.

Zhao Sheng lingered a short distance away, grinning in his direction.

The one-armed old man wore an expression of utter incredulity, rubbing his eyes before staring once more.

"What? You don’t even recognize me?" Zhao Sheng gave a casual shrug, his tone light and playful.

"Big... Big Brother!" Chen Polu shuddered, the exclamation escaping him on reflex.

The instant "Big Brother" passed his lips, the over-century-old Foundation Establishment cultivator's eyes welled up.

Upon witnessing this, Zhao Sheng called out hastily, "Stop! Since when did a grown man become so sentimental!"

Chen Polu froze for a beat, then collected himself: "Big Brother, where have you been all these years? I’ve missed you so much it made me restless!"

"You sneaky brat, there’s not a word of truth coming out of your mouth! I don’t believe a single one." Zhao Sheng approached, clapping Chen Polu on the shoulder with a mock reprimand.

"How am I being slandered! I spoke straight from my heart. Don’t believe me? Dig it out and see?"

"Good boy! After all these years, your talking skills have improved!"

In mere exchanges, the distance forged by decades of separation melted away between the pair.

Following that, Zhao Sheng and his old companion conversed at length, swapping tales of bygone days alongside their personal journeys through the years.

Naturally, Zhao Sheng omitted numerous particulars, disclosing only what was safe to share.

Through Chen Polu, he discovered that the Zhao Family had flourished in recent times, with close to a million kin shifting to settlements near the Heavenly Rift Valley, many in spiritually abundant zones.

Moreover, two decades prior, Ancestor Zhao Zhuanggong had met his end in combat at the Sky-reaching Cliff.

The Zhao Family mourned the loss of a Nascent Soul Ancestor, yet a fresh Nascent Soul Cultivator soon arose.

As Chen Polu uttered the name "Zhao Chongnan," Zhao Sheng's face stayed composed, betraying no hint of shock.

Yet moments later, he halted.

"Wait, say that again?" Zhao Sheng inquired, his features twisting oddly as he cut in suddenly.

Noticing this, Chen Polu restated, "The battle at the Sky-reaching Cliff twenty years ago. Demon Emperor Jun Beiming fled without a fight. Sky-reaching Cliff was taken by our Human Clan’s army, and the Green Peng Demon Country was destroyed."

Zhao Sheng's thoughts churned rapidly, leading him to murmur, "Do you know where Jun Beiming is now?"

Chen Polu chuckled wryly, "How would I know? All I know is that after that battle, Jun Beiming never showed up. Perhaps he ran away long ago."

Zhao Sheng mulled it over in quiet, faintly intuiting a connection to himself in this affair.