Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

As soon as one person made a move, the others immediately objected and began to speak:

"Senior, I have two hundred mid-grade spirit stones here. Please accept them with a smile."

"Only two hundred? That's nothing. I, Wu Yifan, have three sets of spirit stones, hoping Senior will accept them all."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yu was shocked inside—three sets of spirit stones amounted to thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones.

But as everyone knew, the larger the spirit stone, the rarer it was due to its wider application, which made its actual worth far more precious than merely thirty thousand stones.

Gu Yu's thoughts raced, and he shouted aloud, "Senior Wuying, although I only have thirty thousand spirit stones... if Senior has any tasks, I, Gu Yu, am willing to undertake them like a loyal servant. I only hope for a chance from Senior."

Looking at the heaps of spirit stones piled upon the table, Zhao Sheng grinned and laughed, "Haha, such teachable youngsters! It's just foundation establishment, but I, on behalf of the Five Passes God, will accept this directly."

The crowd, hearing this, showed joy on their faces, utterly excited.

Even though some were half-doubtful of his promise, now was not the time to show even a hint of suspicion.

"Before speaking about foundation establishment, I must handle a minor matter first."

Saying this, Zhao Sheng's expression turned cold, and he looked up at the roof, shouting sternly, "Who is spying in secret? Show yourself!"

As these words fell, Zhao Sheng's eyes instantly emitted two beams of divine light, and a terrifying psychic storm flashed by momentarily.

Ah!

At that moment, a scream suddenly came from the rooftop.

Upon hearing this scream, Wu Yifan's expression drastically changed, and he exclaimed, "Uncle Third!"

Bang!

Before his words had fallen, the roof suddenly shattered, and a middle-aged Daoist fell straight down, crashing onto the floor, laying there stiffly unconscious.

Caught off guard and struck by Zhao Sheng's nearly eighty percent strength of Godslaying Sword Intent, not to mention this person being only at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, even a Perfect Foundation Establishment would have been laid flat immediately.

With Zhao Sheng's current strength, battling across higher realms had become viable.

Normally, even False Core Masters might not be able to defeat him, probably only a Golden Core Master going all out could, that is if he didn't escape first.

Such was the horror of a creature who had lived through seven lifetimes!

Wu Yifan quickly stepped forward, scooped up the middle-aged Daoist, and immediately checked his uncle's life signs.

Even though his uncle's face was pale as paper and he was unresponsive, a faint breath still lingered in his chest.

Seeing this, Wu Yifan's heart eased, and he hurriedly took out many healing pills, pouring them all into the middle-aged Daoist's mouth.

After doing all this, Wu Yifan then looked up towards the head of the table, explaining in great fear, "Senior, please forgive us! I can assure you my uncle meant no harm. He loves me the most normally. It must have been these past few days; my borrowing of spirit stones might have inadvertently alarmed my uncle, leading him to secretly follow here."

After strumming his fingers on the armrest a few times, Zhao Sheng spoke indifferently, "Since he is your elder, I will spare his life this time. But if he dares to spy secretly again, I will not show mercy!"

"Thank you, Senior, for your generosity. I am deeply grateful!" Wu Yifan quickly bowed and thanked Zhao Sheng.

The other seven people witnessing all this were utterly shocked.

They all recognized the middle-aged Daoist's identity and naturally knew of this person's strength in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

At this time, Zhao Sheng appeared indifferent as he looked at everyone; his divine sense unexpectedly split into eight, transmitting messages to all eight people simultaneously.

After a while, everyone suddenly realized, casting extremely respectful glances toward Zhao Sheng filled with inexplicable joy.

Merely imparting some experience on advancing their foundation establishment had convinced them so thoroughly, not to mention that someone had also promised to allow them to achieve foundation establishment.

Suddenly, amid Moon Viewing Pavilion's now light and cheerful atmosphere, everyone seemed to see a bright future.

Thinking of some tasks Senior had instructed in their telepathic conversations, Gu Yu and the others tensed up, already secretly making a certain decision.

Sunset in the west, night fell.

By now, Moon Viewing Pavilion was already devoid of people.

Just then, a skinny figure suddenly appeared in the center of the room, looked up at the broken part of the roof, and a highly potent divine sense suddenly enveloped the entire room, starting to scan every tiny corner inch by inch.

"Wrong! How did that boy vanish into thin air? I can't spot any flaws—impossible, I must have missed something due to my old eyes. Let's search again; there must be some clue," the person muttered to himself.

However, the more he tried to find clues, the more elusive they became, to the point where the Divine Thought storm in the room became more and more overwhelming, almost transforming the void into reality and solidifying.

At this moment, if any Golden Core Main Priest from Diancang Province were here and saw this person, they would be utterly astonished.

For this person, known by the Taoist name Daoist Que Yue, was a true Great, standing at the Absolute Peak of Diancang Province, a real Nascent Soul Great Sacrificial Priest.

The Grand Sacrificial Priest of Dao Que was the supreme temple priest of the provincial temple in Diancang Province, responsible for maintaining the rule of the Heavenly Dao Sect while covertly monitoring the situation across the province.

Today, he inadvertently released his Divine Thought over Chu State City, intending to see if there were any "rats" stirring in the shadows.

By sheer coincidence, he saw the incident at the Moon Viewing Pavilion.

Daoist Que Yue had no intention of caring about such trivial matters, but Zhao Sheng's manner of vanishing truly shocked him.

Divine Skills, trickery, or instantaneous movement?

If it were merely an unknown Divine Skill, it would be one thing, but if it were really instantaneous movement,

Que Yue began to doubt if his own Tao heart could be shaken by this.

One must know that instantaneous movement is a Taoist Divine Skill not even achievable by those at the Nascent Soul or even Divinity Transformation stages.

This is, according to legend, a Divine Skill that one can only begin to grasp after breaking through the realm of Refining God and Returning to Void and advancing to the Unification Realm.

A mere cultivator, who hasn't even formed a Golden Core, could not possibly comprehend such an esteemed Divine Skill.

A moment later, Daoist Que Yue withdrew his Divine Thought, and secretly speculated, "Could it be due to some fragment of the Heavenly Dao? Does that lad truly possess such an incredible boon?"

"I must investigate!"

As the words fell, he had already disappeared without a trace.

...

Ten days had passed, and Chu State City remained undisturbed, as if Daoist Que Yue had no intentions of causing any upheaval.

However, in the past few days, many bookshops in the city started displaying a novel titled "Eastern Travel Record."

At the same time, many storytellers in the restaurants and teahouses began unexpectedly telling various strange and curious stories, most of whose protagonists were a Taoist named Zhao.

Upon its release, "Eastern Travel Record" became an instant hit, the likes of which ordinary people had never seen before—humorous and entertaining yet profoundly moving.

Thus, most people were captivated by the stories in the book after just reading a few pages, unable to put it down.

It wasn't long before some people noticed the practical alchemy and martial arts techniques listed at the end of "Eastern Travel Record."

From the moment the first person boldly experimented with the techniques described in the book and found them to be effective,

one after another, people came forward to testify, all proclaiming the true usefulness of the spells and martial arts described in the book, thereby causing an even greater sensation.

Within half a month, the bookshops in the city had sold out completely, the printing workshops were ablaze with lights all night, and the printers worked tirelessly, yet still couldn't keep up with the demand.

In the marketplace, a large number of loafers loudly promoted "Eastern Travel Record," greatly accelerating the spread of the book.

Needless to say, there must be major families in the city secretly fueling this trend.

People like Gu Yu and Wu Yifan, who had witnessed Zhao Sheng's formidable strength and gained great benefits, naturally went out of their way to support the book.

Despite the sensation caused by "Eastern Travel Record," it was temporarily only affecting the commoners at the base of society, with few cultivators paying attention to this mundane book.

Even if some cultivators read it, they also noticed the secret techniques hidden within the book.

But... what did that have to do with them?

Without any conflict of interest, only a fool would delve into the truth behind this book.

Moreover, "the wise" had already realized early on that this book was specially written to promote the Five Passes God.

The Five Passes God was also a powerful force among the Wild Gods, so few cultivators would interfere with a good thing, lest they suffer repercussions afterward and die without knowing how.

As for the Heavenly Dao Sect and the city government,

the government was easy to handle, with major families blocking the front, thus temporarily avoiding any troubles.

Also, perhaps due to the brief time the book had been published, it seemed that the Heavenly Dao Sect had not yet noticed it.