Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Just as everyone flew into the Grotto Heaven, the gray stone gate closed again amid a thunderous roar.

Soon after, the stone gate suddenly radiated pure white light, and a light board over a hundred feet tall appeared on its surface,

Upon examining the board, it too was as white as snow, with a sequence of numbers emerging continuously from top to bottom, the last sequence number at the bottom being: 354.

This meant that 354 Golden Core Masters had entered the Moonlight Cave Heaven.

However, the next moment, five sequence numbers suddenly turned from pure white to pitch black, standing out conspicuously on the white light board.

The group of Nascent Soul Ancestors remained expressionless; every time the Moonlight Gathering began, there were always a few unlucky ones—this was nothing new to them.

At this moment, however, five of the family Nascent Soul Ancestors looked particularly sour, as those five sequence numbers belonged to Golden Core Clan Members from their families.

When a sequence number turned black, it signified that the person had perished.

Then, a significant change occurred again on the light board; sequence number "26" suddenly leapt to the top, surpassing all the preceding numbers, its brightness exceeding the other numbers by a fraction.

"Whoa, number 26! Has someone claimed the first kill so quickly? Which family acted so swiftly?" A slightly surprised Nascent Soul commented among the crowd.

"Perhaps... heh, just happened to land in the same area!"

A few Nascent Soul Ancestors watched the board, exchanging divine communication with old friends.

More Nascent Soul Ancestors, however, promptly relayed the arrival of outsiders to the Lower Realm, warning that this Moonlight Gathering might bring unexpected developments.

...

In the east of the Divine Continent, above a massive mountain peak towering over ten thousand feet high, floats a magnificently beautiful Floating Island, layered with white clouds that obscure the island. Without a Pass Token, few could find this place.

Atop the mountain peak in the island's center sat a secluded stone pavilion with open sides, where two elders were cross-legged in a chess match.

One of them wore snow-white clothes, with white hair but a youthful look. The other wore a brown outfit and straw sandals, with black hair and vigorous energy. Their auras were so reserved, they seemed like mortals, their expressions calm as they played.

Suddenly, a spirit light flashed in the void, and a green beam of light flew in, breaking the tranquil atmosphere. The white-robed elder raised a hand slightly, capturing the green light.

"A Divine Wood Treasure Talisman. Even Jing Hui was willing to use it, which means something significant must be happening." The white-robed elder flicked his finger, and the green light exploded.

The white-robed elder's eyes squinted slightly, and the chess piece between his fingers froze in mid-air.

"What happened?" the brown-robed elder asked indifferently.

"Oh, nothing much, just that a Star Lord from the Ten Thousand Star Palace suddenly appeared in the Moonlight Cave Heaven." The white-robed elder replied calmly.

Bang!

The black chess piece in the brown-robed elder's hand suddenly shattered.

"What?!"

...

At the center of Lichen Island overseas, deep within a palace shrouded in spirit clouds, a Golden-armored man was cultivating to heal himself, surrounded by nature's spiritual energy rushing in like a tide, which was fully absorbed into the Spirit Gathering Array on the ground.

Suddenly, with a quick puff, a mass of golden flame abruptly appeared in front of the Golden-armored man, followed by rows of text emerging.

The Golden-armored man lifted his head, his sharp gaze falling on the golden flame.

"Hmph! How did those mongrels from the Ten Thousand Star Palace suddenly come to this desolate realm? Did they trace the scent, tracking me all the way here? Heh, if you dare to come, I will surely grind you to dust!"

The Golden-armored man let out a beastly roar, causing a massive stir on Lichen Island.

...

In the center of the Divine Continent stood an unimaginably enormous Da Chun Divine Tree, reaching into the Cloud Sky, its crown spanning thousands of miles and inhabited by billions of life forms.

At this time, deep within the tree's core, a sternly dignified old woman in a Confucian robe slowly emerged, resembling decayed wood throughout.

"Alas, they're here again to harvest. I hope more children survive this time..." After a long pause, the old woman sighed lightly, and the aura of death emanating from her grew heavier.

Meanwhile, the same message was received almost simultaneously by the other seven ancient clans, the Heavenly Person Sect, the Divine Wood Sect, and nearly a hundred major forces in this realm.

...

Somewhere in the Moonlight Cave Heaven.

Upon flying into the glow, Zhao Sheng suddenly found the scene before him filled with dazzling radiance.

After a whirlwind sensation, once he could see clearly again, he found himself on a barren Small Mountain bereft of vegetation, standing atop a pile of scattered stones.

"So this is the Moonlight Cave Heaven..." Once Zhao Sheng stabilized himself, he glanced around.

The bleakness hit him instantly; from beneath his feet to the horizon, all was covered in stones and ravines, with sparse vegetation barely clinging to life.

This was actually an endless wasteland!

But... the density of spiritual energy here was unusually high, with most particles being of the metal and earth elements, followed by wind and fire, and the rarest undoubtedly the Water Element Spirit Qi particles.

Looking up at the sky, Zhao Sheng squinted.

The sky was neither a cloud sea nor sun and moon, but an endless blue sea, where the waves and surges of sea beasts could be distinctly seen dancing on the sea surface, like another "world."

At this moment, not far away, a pile of rubble suddenly produced a creaking sound, and a giant stone hand covered in cracks abruptly emerged from the ground, its five gray-white fingers rough as pillars, each as thick as a barrel.