Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Half a day later, Wei Ling returned to her cave mansion and approached the door of the talisman room. Before she could knock, the talisman room's door suddenly opened on its own.

"Come in!"

The voice of her master reached her ears, filling Wei Ling's heart with joy. She hurried inside.

Upon seeing her master standing behind the talisman table deep within the room, clad in a plain-colored Daoist robe, hair slightly graying at the temples, and wearing a slight expression of fatigue, Wei Ling reined in her emotions and respectfully approached him.

"Master, you summoned Ling'er. What are your orders?"

As she spoke, Wei Ling placed a porcelain bottle about the height of a palm and two hundred sheets of talisman paper onto the talisman table.

Zhao Sheng didn't even glance at them, but instead extended his Divine Sense to sweep over his disciple's entire body. He noticed that her complexion was rosy, her physical state was excellent, and her vitality within was lively, having increased considerably in the past month.

"Ling'er, come closer!"

Upon hearing her master's command, Wei Ling obediently walked to Zhao Sheng's side and extended her right hand, revealing a section of her porcelain-white, tender arm.

Zhao Sheng nodded approvingly, then reached out two fingers to press on the acupoint on Wei Ling's wrist. He directed his Spiritual Power into her meridians and bloodstream, circulating through her entire body and carefully sensing her physical state.

A moment later, Zhao Sheng withdrew his hand with a relaxed smile and praised her, "Very good, you have not been negligent in your cultivation this month. As your teacher, I am very pleased. What reward would you like this time?"

"Here it comes!"

Wei Ling excitedly cheered inwardly. Her master, despite his cold and eccentric nature, was uncharacteristically generous with rewards.

"Master, Ling'er does not dare to ask for much. If possible, please reward me with some Blood Refining Talismans."

Wei Ling had already considered what she wanted. The Blood Refining Talismans were in high demand within the sect, second only to Merit Points in value, and her own master was especially skilled in creating them. Not asking for Blood Refining Talismans would be foolish.

"Hmm,"

Zhao Sheng casually pulled out a stack of Blood Refining Talismans and handed them to his overjoyed disciple. At the same time, he seemed to nonchalantly ask, "Ling'er, you have been practicing the Blood Refining Body Forging Technique for nearly a year now, have you noticed any discomforts?"

Zhao Sheng didn't care much about the Blood Refining Talismans; he could produce them in large batches. Instead, he was much more concerned about Wei Ling's cultivation progress.

Ling'er hasn't noticed anything wrong. My physical strength and cultivation have improved quickly, but the condensation of essence blood is too slow. The Essence Blood Pills are always out of stock in the sect.

"Master, perhaps you could refine a few more batches of Essence Blood Talismans. My grandfather has been urging me again recently."

Wei Ling's grandfather was Wei Youquan, who oversaw the Spirit Essence Institute, which had been growing larger year by year. With so many disciples, the supply of Blood Refining Talismans could hardly keep up.

Lately, he had sent messages repeatedly, hoping to increase the supply of Blood Refining Talismans, and he certainly offered an abundance of promises in exchange, such as secret techniques, spirit stones, and refining materials.

Zhao Sheng was acutely aware of this, but he had not anticipated Wei Youquan's intense thirst for power, to the point of exploiting his own granddaughter to boost "performance."

"When you return, write back to your grandfather and tell him that the supply will increase by ten percent in the second half of the year. But tell him not to try to fob me off with some commonplace spells; if he doesn't come up with something genuinely valuable by the end of the year, do not blame me for seeking another partner."

"Rest assured, Master. I will make sure to convey your message to my grandfather!"

"Hmm. You can go out now."

With a worried look on her face, Wei Ling withdrew. Zhao Sheng packed up his things and changed into a new robe before leaving the cave mansion as well.

Cliff Mountain was steep and precipitous, and the cave mansions of the cultivators in the sect were mostly built into the cliffsides. Zhao Sheng's cave mansion was no exception, build upon a protruding rock face on the sunny side of the mountain.

Walking to the edge of the cliff, he could see sparse clouds and hear the howling wind below; the palaces and buildings of the sect were spread out beneath him, but from this vantage point, they looked as small as sesame seeds, densely scattered and no larger than the size of a palm.

Zhao Sheng looked up to see the sun hanging in the sky, releasing endless light and heat.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

After considering for a moment, he took out the Spirit Fire Gourd and lightly tossed it into the air. The Spirit Fire Gourd suddenly enlarged to over a person's height, with a belly as large as a vat.

Zhao Sheng jumped onto the Spirit Gourd and thought.

With a flash of brilliance, the Spirit Fire Gourd quickly ascended, soaring toward the sun.

In just a moment, Zhao Sheng, standing on the Spirit Gourd, pierced through the dense clouds and broke through a layer of atmosphere.

In the high-altitude sky, the air was clear and the view was infinitely vast.

Looking up, Zhao Sheng saw a captivating sight against a deep blue backdrop: a stone pavilion with green tiles and jade columns, octagonal in shape, defying the biting Gang Wind and quietly suspended in the high heavens.

This pavilion was known as Open Pavilion, symbolizing open-heartedness and absence of malice.

It was a public place where Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Origin Return Sect often came to conduct transactions.

Zhao Sheng smiled slightly and the Spirit Gourd suddenly picked up speed, swiftly flying towards the stone pavilion.

Ten or so miles flashed by in an instant, and Zhao Sheng arrived at the edge of the stone pavilion. He retracted the Spirit Gourd, passed through a layer of faint white light, and, with a smile, walked into the stone pavilion.

The stone pavilion wasn't large, with just a square White Jade table and three round stone stools placed beside it.

At that time, inside the stone pavilion, Qian Zhenzi, a youth with crane-like hair, had already taken a seat early on one of the stools, watching with a smile as Zhao Sheng arrived as agreed.

"Junior Zhao, please take a seat!" Qian Zhenzi beckoned Zhao Sheng, and he pointed to the stone stool opposite him.

Zhao Sheng gave a slight nod, took two steps forward, and sat opposite Qian Zhenzi.

"Senior Brother Qian, have you invited me here today to bring news about the Primordial Heavy Water?"

"Let's not rush into that. First, I would like you to taste and see how you find this Calming Tea," replied Qian Zhenzi.

With those words, Qian Zhenzi waved his long sleeve and instantly added two White Jade tea cups to the table.

Next, Qian Zhenzi took out a palm-sized Black Spirit Wood Box.

Upon opening the lid, he carefully took out two tea leaves the size of melon seeds, emerald green like jade, and placed them at the bottom of the tea cups.

After completing these actions, Qian Zhenzi said with a smile, "Junior Zhao, they say good tea must be paired with good water! I've heard you have a bottle of Purple Mist Jade Dew."

"Senior Brother Qian, you truly are..." said Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng laughed and made a few feigned points in the air towards the other person before taking out the White Jade Purifying Bottle and tilting its mouth downward,

Instantly, a stream of water flowed from the bottle's mouth.

The stream of water carried a faint purple halo and in the blink of an eye split into two streams, precisely landing in the two tea cups.

As the water in the tea cups rose to about eight-tenths full, Zhao Sheng immediately retracted the White Jade Purifying Bottle.

"Junior, you're being a bit stingy!"

Although he said this, Qian Zhenzi's hands moved quickly, flicking two white spirit flames towards the bottom of the tea cups.

The spirit flames flew beneath the tea cups, then lifted them off the table surface, suspending them in the air between the two of them.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng's face changed as he exclaimed in surprise, "Is this... the Great Sun Spirit Fire?! Senior Brother, you've only reached Mid-stage Foundation Establishment and have already successfully refined it! Congratulations, congratulations!"

The Great Sun Spirit Fire was one kind of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire that could be extracted from sunlight, making it one of the most easily collectible types of Spiritual Fire in the world.

Qian Zhenzi was cultivating the Golden Crow Burning Sky Technique, and Zhao Sheng didn't expect his cultivation to be progressing so smoothly.

Recalling that he hadn't even seen what Primordial Heavy Water looked like, Zhao Sheng couldn't help but feel somewhat envious.

"It was just luck, mere luck!" Qian Zhenzi said with an appearance of modesty, though pleasure was evident on his face.

As they spoke, the water began to boil with a bubbling sound, and a rich tea fragrance quickly filled the stone pavilion.

Zhao Sheng inhaled the tea aroma and immediately felt his spirit clear, his thoughts accelerating by a margin of threefold.

What a fine thing!

Qian Zhenzi waved his hand lightly, and the two tea cups descended, each flying towards one of them.

"Please!"

"Please!"

Zhao Sheng caught the tea cup, raised it in a toast towards Qian Zhenzi, and then drank the entire cup in one go.

No sooner had the tea entered his stomach than a clear energy suddenly rushed up from his abdomen, through his chest, neck, and into the Purple Mansion in an instant, turning into a veil of green spirit rain, falling into the vast Soul Sea.

In an instant, Zhao Sheng's spirit was extremely clear, his Divine Sense extremely active, and suddenly it burst out of the Purple Mansion, releasing freely into the surroundings.

Seventeen zhang, seventeen zhang two, seventeen zhang four... it continued to grow until it reached eighteen zhang far, with his Divine Sense range expanding to its limit.

"What excellent tea!"

After a while, Zhao Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, exclaiming in delight.

"Haha! While the Calming Tea is indeed good, the Purple Mist Jade Dew is also extremely wonderful," replied Qian Zhenzi with a face full of smiles.

After exchanging a few more words of mutual praise, they finally turned to serious matters.