Chapter 640: 393: Meeting the Ancients on the Ascension Platform_2

Chapter 640: Chapter 393: Meeting the Ancients on the Ascension Platform_2

What appeared to be casual conversation was actually a further exploration of Zhao Sheng’s temperament and how he conducted himself in the world.

With Zhao Sheng’s wealth of life experience, he naturally handled himself with ease, and no matter how Zhao Changdu tested him, he answered without giving anything away.

…

Time slowly passed, and before they knew it, two days had gone by.

The silver-white disc boat flew over half of the Tianzhu Realm and finally neared their destination.

Standing beside the crystal window, Zhao Sheng gazed far ahead and saw, in the distance of thousands of miles, a towering, perilous column that stretched straight up and down, piercing through the nine layers of the Heavenly Gang Atmosphere. Half of the mountain extended out of this world, and against the backdrop of the vast cloud sea, it looked like a colossal peak suspended atop the clouds, ancient and mysterious, vast and boundless.

It was the “Pillar of One Realm,” Heavenly Pillar Mountain.

There is an old saying: “The Heavenly Pillar reaches for the sky horizontally, its might surpassing the Five Sacred Mountains and overshadowing Immortal City; the Heavenly Platform soars 180,000 zhang high, such that even the Southeast would tilt in its presence.”

Therefore, the part of Heavenly Pillar Mountain that extends beyond the heavens is called “Heavenly Platform,” also known as “Ascension Platform.”

Zhao Changdu brought Zhao Sheng to this place because the Zhao Family’s Divinity Transformation Ancestor was presiding over the Heavenly Platform, tasked with guarding the Ascension Array.

Before long, as the disc boat approached within a hundred miles of the Heavenly Platform, it suddenly came to a halt.

Zhao Sheng couldn’t help but be surprised, because although the void ahead of the disc boat seemed empty, it was in fact filled with dense and numerous Ancient Prohibitions. Without permission, even Divinity Transformation True Monarchs would perish upon unauthorized entry—one would die alone or a pair would die together.

After two breaths of time had passed, Zhao Sheng followed Zhao Changdu as he flew out of the disc boat into the Outer Void.

Zhao Changdu released a circle of yellow light to protect Zhao Sheng, using it to isolate the extremely harsh environment of the Outer Void.

Having done this, he threw a yellow jade talisman into the air, which turned into a streak of light and suddenly vanished into the void.

Seeing the curiosity in Zhao Sheng’s eyes, Zhao Changdu explained, “The Ancestor usually cultivates in seclusion within a layer of the void. We’ll need to patiently wait a while.”

Zhao Sheng nodded without making a sound. As he was about to meet young Jing, a hint of excitement stirred within him.

About the time it takes to brew half a pot of tea later, the void before them started to ripple with layers of splendid light, and then a narrow white path unfolded, winding and twisting until it reached the edge of the Heavenly Platform a hundred miles away.

“Stay close, and don’t step out of the light path, or even I won’t be able to save you,” Zhao Changdu alerted him.

No sooner had the words fallen than Zhao Sheng felt himself lifted into the air, being led by Zhao Changdu and flying into the light path.

The moment he entered the light path, everything before Zhao Sheng turned a blinding white, and he could not see the end. Darkness and chaos surrounded both sides, concealing countless dangers.

Zhao Changdu cautiously led him forward, sometimes advancing, sometimes turning, and occasionally doubling back for a stretch.

After half a quarter of an hour like this, Zhao Sheng estimated they had flown much more than a hundred miles, at least seven to eight hundred miles.

From the outside, the light path appeared to be only a hundred miles long, but inside it was several times longer, reminiscent of the “mustard seed Mt. Meru.”

Another hundred breaths of time passed and the end of the light path emerged, and Zhao Sheng’s vision suddenly cleared.

Boom!

He and Zhao Changdu lightly landed on a crystal stone floor. Now in front of them was a colossal circular plaza with a diameter of a hundred miles.

Looking around, Zhao Sheng’s eyes narrowed and he felt a shock that was hard to describe.

The ground of the plaza was paved entirely with huge spirit stone slabs, each three zhang square and all made of mid-grade spirit stones, with densely engraved Taiyi Spiritual Text on every slab.

Besides, there stood crystal columns as thick as ten men could embrace, each one hundred zhang tall and numbering eighty-one in total. Some of the columns were covered with cracks of various sizes, and seven or eight showed clear signs of fracture, but they had been expertly repaired by later generations, managing to remain intact.

Zhao Sheng quickly glanced past these columns, almost stunned by the incredibly rich spiritual environment of the place.

Lingering spirit clouds enveloped the area, and the spiritual energy was so pure and abundant that it was nearly liquefied.

Having been reborn through seven lifetimes, Zhao Sheng felt that only the Yin Yang Planet, where the Cross-border Transmission Array was located, could slightly surpass the concentration of spiritual energy in this plaza.

Zhao Changdu seemed accustomed to such a loss of composure from Zhao Sheng. He did not urge him to move on immediately but waited until Zhao Sheng came back to his senses before leading him deeper into the plaza.

As they walked, he explained, “This Heavenly Platform is connected to the only Fifth-order Spirit Vein in our realm. The density of spiritual energy here is the highest in our realm. Cultivating here for one year is equivalent to ten years of hard cultivation elsewhere. Unfortunately, very few people are qualified to cultivate in seclusion here.”

Zhao Changdu’s tone was filled with regret as if even he didn’t have the privilege.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng’s face showed a thoughtful expression.

But… as a qualified comic partner, one would never let their lines fall to the ground.

Zhao Sheng curiously asked in time, “Ancestor Du, even you cannot cultivate here, could it be that only Divinity Transformation True Monarchs are qualified for this?”

Zhao Changdu nodded, “That’s right, only Divinity Transformation True Monarchs are qualified to stay long-term at the Heavenly Platform. As for the reason, just take a look at the Array Pillars around you and you’ll understand a bit. Alas, this place can’t endure any more turmoil.”

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng realized the implication, suddenly understanding why Zhao Changdu insisted on breaking the plan and withdrawing the troops ahead of time.

It turned out that it was not only because he received news of the Qingyang Ancestor, but more importantly, it was for the Cross-border Transmission Array!

“No wonder… he abandoned the majority of the troops and then hurriedly brought him here,” Zhao Sheng said to himself.

Just as Zhao Sheng came to this realization, the two had already reached the innermost part of the square. Before their eyes stood a nine-story-high crystal Spirit Stone Tower.

This tower wasn’t particularly tall or massive, with the widest part of its base not exceeding thirty feet. The higher one looked, the narrower the tower became, with the ninth floor so delicate and exquisite that it could only accommodate a child of seven or eight years old.

Yet, it was this tower that left Zhao Sheng once again shocked and astonished.

Who has ever seen a high tower built entirely of top-grade Spirit Stones?

This couldn’t even be described as extravagant; it was downright outrageous!

If Zhao Sheng had already advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm, he could even “see” the threads and strands of Outer Heaven Mysterious Essence of different properties circulating within the tower,

from the bottom to the top, the nine-story tower radiated nine different colors, corresponding respectively to Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Ice, Wind, and Thunder. As for the ninth floor, it represented the colorless color of Space-time.

The more Zhao Sheng looked at it, the more amazed he became, and couldn’t help but rush to ask Zhao Changdu, “Ancestor, this… this Spirit Stone Tower is…?”

Zhao Changdu laughed heartily, teasing, “You’ve been startled by it as well, haven’t you, lad? Actually, when anyone sees such a treasure, their reaction is not much better than yours. In the past… ah, never mind, let’s not talk about that. This Pagoda is also known as the Ascension Tower, the very core of the Ascension Array’s Array Core and the center of Spiritual Origin.

Previously, once the Ascension Tower had accumulated enough source power, it could activate the Ascension Array to send a True Monarch to ascend to the Spirit Realm.”

Towards the end, Zhao Changdu shook his head with a face full of regret and sighed, “Alas, now it is no longer feasible. The will of heaven is unfathomable!”

As soon as his words fell, suddenly a deep, warm voice came from above: “Whether it works or not isn’t up to fate, but one’s own heart. Know that man can conquer heaven! Changdu, you always lack a bit of unyielding will. Otherwise, you would still have a chance to advance to Divinity Transformation.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Changdu immediately showed an excited expression, hurriedly looking up just in time to see a giant with a body towering nearly eighteen feet tall, robust physique like a mountain, skin like gold and jade, emerging from the void above the tower and slowly descending.

Looking at that resolute, well-defined face, Zhao Sheng couldn’t help but be emotionally stirred.

Not easy at all!

Reborn once again, he had finally seen a familiar person.

Xiao Qi, Jing’er, Xuanjing, Ancestor Jing, Great Ancestor… Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, all the way to Divinity Transformation

One could say, Zhao Sheng had watched the person before him climb step by step to the stature he held today.

Good grief! He had been reborn seven times and just barely stepped over the threshold of the Nascent Soul Realm.

And then there was this brat, who had smoothly reached the Absolute Peak of a realm.

The world is damn unfair!

Sometimes, Zhao Sheng doubted who between him and Zhao Xuanjing was the real protagonist?

Could it be that he was that old man passing down treasures and lineage, while Jing’er was the… Child of Destiny, who must not be underestimated for his youth!

Upon seeing Ancestor Jing appear, Zhao Changdu hurriedly bowed and saluted, “Changdu pays respects to the Great Ancestor.”

At his side, Zhao Sheng, coming to his senses, quickly followed suit and bowed in greeting, “Descendant of the Zhao Family with the name Qiong, Zhao Qiongtian, pays respects to the Great Ancestor.”

“Hmm, rise, all of you!”

Zhao Xuanjing habitually nodded and then suddenly raised an eyebrow, “Huh?”

Huh?

Then, with a surprised expression, he exclaimed, “You’re called Zhao Qiongtian, how is it that I have never seen you before? Auras reaching heaven, a future Divinity Transformation in sight. Such a dazzling and outstanding junior I could not possibly be unaware of! Could it be that I’ve been in secluded cultivation for too long and several hundred years have passed by?”

Zhao Changdu