Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

But after this ordeal, its body shrank dramatically, becoming only the size of a small dog.

"Damn it! I can't take it any longer. Boy, do you want to live or die? Agree to my request and you can live. Otherwise—!"

"Junior... agrees!"

"Not agreeing... uh! So you agree? Very well!" The scruffy dog blinked, seemingly very excited, and its entire fur suddenly turned into countless fleshy tentacles, twitching wildly.

Zhao Sheng nodded, thinking to himself, "He agrees, but whether he can actually do it is another matter."

"I will impart to you a Demon Refining Heart Technique. In the future, once you refine the devilish intent from the Immortal Thought, you must find a family with the surname Zhang and infuse the Immortal Thought into a fetus. When the time is right, you will come to take a disciple. Once I unravel the mystery of the womb, I will not treat you unfairly. One day, ascending to immortality will be within reach."

After saying this, the scruffy dog bit off a piece of its paw, held it in its mouth, and sprayed it out, shooting a black light that instantly entered Zhao Sheng's brow and into his Purple Mansion.

In a flash, a mysterious mental method consisting of just a little over a hundred words appeared in his mind.

"The Tao Golden Book contains the Three Thousand True Dao Texts. This is extremely important; you must carry it with you at all times and never lose it... Remember, remember!"

As soon as the words finished, the scruffy dog suddenly transformed into a colorful haze of light and swiftly entered the Yellow Gourd.

The next moment, the Yellow Gourd rose into the air, flashed, and entered Zhao Sheng's body, landing steadily in the center of his Core Energy Sea, taking root there.

Cackling!

Hee hee!

Ha ha!

Boo hoo!

Without the big dog suppressing the devilish thoughts, the entire room instantly came alive, numerous eerie shadows crept out from the cracks, a skeleton head floated into the air cackling eerily, the bed melted like a candle, the walls oozed with rancid mud... all sorts of strangeness revived simultaneously, a demon carnival ensued.

Zhao Sheng had no time to react before feeling a whirlwind sensation, losing all consciousness in an instant.

...

It's unclear how much time passed.

Zhao Sheng suddenly awoke from the darkness, then sat up abruptly and opened his eyes to survey his surroundings.

As far as he could see, a thick layer of ash covered the mountain, stretching as far as the eye could see, pale clouds roiling above, and in the southwestern direction, the enormous skeleton of a giant beast stood out, exuding a faint pressure.

Upon seeing the beast's skeleton, whispers and murmurs suddenly filled his ears.

Just then, a thunderous shout suddenly rang out by his ear: "Hey! Wake up quickly!!"

Zhao Sheng's mind cleared instantly, and the murmurs abruptly ceased.

He quickly turned his head to the left, and saw a very familiar face.

This person had the bearing of an immortal, it was unexpectedly the old Taoist Fengfengzi.

"Fengfeng... Venerable, did we escape? What about the other Venerables?"

Hearing this, Fengfengzi's face was full of emotion, and he sighed: "Thanks to the assistance of the brave Junior, this poor Taoist narrowly escaped. That True Immortal Demon Thought was truly bizarre and difficult to deal with. Fellow Daoist Shi Gong, the Jade Skull, and the others all unfortunately perished, even Fellow Daoist Haoyang's Spiritual Body got corrupted by the demonic thoughts, ultimately falling into demonic ways and dying.

Fortunately, before he died, Fellow Daoist Haoyang exhausted his last strand of Spiritual Sense and joined forces with you to activate the Space-Time Teleportation, successfully breaching the Space-Time Barrier, thus sending you and me out of the Dead Land."

As Fengfengzi recounted the events, countless vivid images automatically surfaced in Zhao Sheng's mind, all about the previous brutal battle's memories.

However, there was clearly another real and untainted memory in his mind.

Yet Fengfengzi spoke with such certainty, as if he personally experienced it, inevitably causing Zhao Sheng to doubt whether his own memory had been artificially altered.

No, it's not him who was altered, but Fengfengzi!

A Tribulation Crossing Realm expert had his memory secretly altered, and he himself was completely unaware.

The only one who knew the truth, Zhao Sheng, felt a chill down his spine!

".....The gratitude for saving my life is beyond words! Why not return with this poor Taoist to the Wuxiang Immortal Sect, where I will take you as my direct disciple and teach you the Supreme Immortal Technique!"

After Fengfengzi finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Sheng with a smile, just waiting for him to kowtow and acknowledge a master.

As a dignified Tribulation Crossing Venerable, it was rare for him to speak so kindly today. Anyone in their right mind would never refuse his recruitment.

Yet... this time, he really encountered a "fool."

"The Venerable's favor, this Junior appreciates it! But I have a wife and children in the lower realm, and consider myself unable to sever worldly ties. I can only say that I am destined to be too shallow and cannot endure such favor from the Venerable!" Zhao Sheng astonishingly refused an opportunity to ascend in one step.

This left Fengfengzi unable to comprehend.

Out of respect for the Venerable's status, Fengfengzi would definitely not repeat his offer.

Since this child does not know "good or bad," it simply means there is no master-disciple fate between them.

"If this is the case, this poor Taoist respects your choice," Fengfengzi said, his attitude suddenly turning cold. After saying this, he took out a ring-shaped jade from his sleeve and handed it over.

"This is a token from me! In the future, if someone holds this token and enters my Wuxiang Immortal Sect, I will personally take him as my disciple to settle the cause and effect between us."

Zhao Sheng carefully received the jade and expressed gratitude, "Thank you, Great Venerable, for the bestowed treasure! This junior will remember."

"Furthermore, if you face difficulties in the Burial Immortal Ruins in the future, you may seek help from members of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect. If that still doesn't resolve it, I will intervene, but only three times," Fengfengzi slowly raised three fingers and said thus.

"Three times is enough. This junior dares not ask for more." Zhao Sheng immediately bowed to express his thanks.

"You... take care of yourself! I shall rest..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fengfengzi rose into the sky and drifted away in an instant.

After Zhao Sheng watched him disappear into the distance, cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead, and he was drenched in sweat, soaking his back in the blink of an eye.

The reason for his loss of composure was that he did not believe that the True Immortal Demon Thought would kindly "spare" Fengfengzi.

Zhao Sheng was certain that this person must have fallen victim to the True Immortal Demon Thought's schemes, yet he remained unaware.

Although he seemed completely normal now, it was only a matter of time before he would fall into demonic ways, at best twisting his will to become a peerless demon, at worst being born from the demon thought, ultimately becoming a walking corpse!

If he had just agreed to take this person as his master, the future outcome would be obvious!

Zhao Sheng even suspected that everything had long been secretly designed by that scruffy big dog.

Anyone else, upon hearing the Tribulation Crossing Venerable personally accepting a disciple, would have already been overjoyed.

How could they think that such dangers lurked behind it all?

Thinking about Fengfengzi's future fate, his face suddenly turned extremely sour.

Four hours later.

Zhao Sheng walked a hundred miles around but was shocked to find that the huge pit had vanished without a trace, leaving no sign of its existence.

Seeing this, he walked down Gray Mountain with complex emotions and then retraced his steps as he came.

Before returning to the long street, to avoid revealing his identity, he adjusted his facial features and body size, disguising himself as Gong Sanzhang.

Only then did he step onto the long street.

After his return, he didn't stay long and quickly "went offline" back home!

...

After a whirlwind, he opened his eyes again and immediately saw the familiar array barrier, with the surroundings unchanged from when he left.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng finally let go of the last bit of tension in his heart.

Boom!

At that moment, a massive surge of nature's spiritual energy erupted from his body like a volcanic explosion, instantly filling his meridians and Core Energy Sea to the brim.

Without time to think, Zhao Sheng instinctively activated the Mysterious Skill, fully refining the spontaneously surging nature's spiritual energy.

Boom boom!

In an instant, a large mass of dazzling Thunder Light erupted from his body, and he slowly floated up.

At the same time, in the depths of his Core Energy Sea, the purple-golden Golden Core shone brilliantly, with pure True Yuan droplets falling like raindrops from above.

However, the influx of nature's spiritual energy was too fast and abundant for Zhao Sheng to refine.

At this moment, the Yellow Gourd suddenly emitted nine-colored radiance, and the gourd's mouth produced an immense suction, as if a rainbow drinking water, absorbing all the surrounding nature's spiritual energy into the gourd.

Not only that, but even the Thunder Origin Pool also poured a stream of faint purple "Thunder Water" continuously into the Yellow Gourd.

As time slowly passed, the nature's spiritual energy that was constantly increasing gradually decreased.

Even so, it still took Zhao Sheng seven days and seven nights to refine all the nature's spiritual energy and adapt to his skyrocketing power.

After this event, his cultivation soared to the Golden Core Third Level, saving over ten years of hard work.

"Hm?!"

That day, Zhao Sheng originally planned to open the Sumeru Space to take out a new robe.

But unexpectedly... a square Golden Plate appeared in the depths of space!

This item was so distinctive that one glance was unforgettable!

Zhao Sheng's face turned serious, and with a slight thought, the Golden Plate instantly fell into his hand.

It felt heavy in hand, with a cold touch!

Looking down, Zhao Sheng saw the smooth, mirror-like Golden Plate, clearly reflecting an extraordinarily handsome face.