Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Chapter 519: Chapter 339 Star Gate_2

Who knew… this person suddenly seemed like he had bridged heaven and earth, with eyes frighteningly bright.

Seeing Zhao Sheng remain silent, Zhao Zhongque could not help himself and tested, “Mr. Xuan, don’t you want to know how my side turned defeat into victory?”

“Of course, I am very interested in knowing, please do not hesitate to enlighten Taoist Zhao,” Zhao Sheng came to his senses and immediately responded.

Zhao Zhongque’s heart relaxed a bit, and he said with a slight reserve, “The truth behind this involves major secrets of our world, which are truly inconvenient to share with outsiders.

Unless… Mr. Xuan chooses to join the Heavenly Rebel Alliance and prove himself not to be a follower of the Heavenly Dao Sect. After all, the Karma Fire Red Lotus is one of the signature Spiritual Fires of the Heavenly Daoists. If it weren’t for Mr. Xuan bearing the Zhao Family bloodline, I would not have taken the risk to meet today, let alone disclosed so many secrets.”

With these words, Zhao Zhongque’s intentions were blatantly revealed.

Zhao Sheng listened silently.

For him, joining the Heavenly Rebel Alliance was not important. It was just that he had multiple aliases and positions, which made him feel somewhat overstretched.

Prison Guard, Mr. Zhao, Wind Carrier Shadowless, Gu Family’s Minister, Zhao Beixuan.

He already held two professions, that of Prison Guard and Guest Elder. If he were to join the Heavenly Rebel Alliance, it would be like adding another layer of constraints.

It seemed… it was time to let Wuying disappear for a while.

Zhao Sheng thought this to himself, but verbally he said, “Concerning joining your alliance, I need to consider it for some time, as I am not a lone individual and have many considerations to uphold.”

Zhao Zhongque saw that the other party did not outright refuse and was overjoyed, for the addition of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was indeed a rarity for the Heavenly Rebel Alliance.

“Haha! Mr. Xuan, take your time to think. The door to the Heavenly Rebel Alliance is always open for Mr. Xuan.”

Zhao Sheng’s face showed a hint of a smile, “Thank you, Taoist Zhao, for understanding my difficulties.”

“Not at all, I was too abrupt earlier. I haven’t even thanked Mr. Xuan for a prior matter. Thanks to your reminder, we avoided another substantial loss. The high-level members of our alliance have decided to reward you, and the reward will soon arrive at Chu State City.”

Zhao Sheng’s interest was piqued and he smiled, “At my age, such material things are already useless. However, I do have an old desire to visit the ancestral lands of Xinglong Origin before I die, to pay homage to my ancestors, and fulfill an unachieved wish of my clan.”

“This…” Zhao Zhongque’s tone faltered.

Seeing the hopeful look of the other party, he hesitated for a moment before saying, “I won’t hide it from Mr. Xuan, the Star Gate opens once every hundred years. It’s been less than five years since it last opened, so it will be nearly a hundred years before it opens again. If Mr. Xuan can wait a hundred years, I am sure I can secure you a passage across the realm.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Sheng couldn’t help but become lost in thought, “Star Gate? Opens every hundred years… intriguing!”

“Alas, it seems I won’t live to see that day.”

After sighing, Zhao Sheng casually asked, “Is the Star Gate located in Wuzhou?”

“Eh, how… how do you know that?” Zhao Zhongque was shocked upon hearing this.

The location of the Star Gate, although not the utmost secret, was not something ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators would know.

The East Gu Divine Continent was dominated by the Heavenly Dao Sect, not only was there a rigid hierarchy, but there was also an excessive monopoly on knowledge, leaving the cultivators in the lower provinces and outer continents largely ignorant – it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that their view of the world was like looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.

The name Wuzhou had long been buried in the annals of history and was seldom known.

The fact that Zhao Beixuan casually mentioned that the Star Gate was in Wuzhou completely exceeded Zhao Zhongque’s expectations.

He couldn’t help but elevate his opinion of Zhao Sheng once more, and when he observed this person again, a profound and unfathomable feeling suddenly arose within him.

…

Moments later, the two parted ways.

Zhao Sheng took a step and his figure abruptly disappeared.

Zhao Zhongque jumped in fright, his Divine Sense instantly swept around a hundred yards, but nothing unusual happened.

In that instant, amidst his shock, his eyes blazed with fervent light.

Zhao Zhongque did not suddenly think of space-time skills like instantaneous movement or Phase Shifting. He had no idea that Zhao Sheng possessed an Innate Divine Ability such as “Phase Shifting,” but was very interested in Zhao Sheng’s mystical means of appearing and disappearing without a trace.

If the people of Heavenly Rebel Alliance could learn this technique, their ability to hide and escape would surely improve significantly.

Simply put, he was enviously eying this capability.

Zhao Sheng did not realize that Zhao Zhongque was scheming against him. If he had known, he would merely say: Son, you are overthinking it; nobody can learn this technique from me.

In a Cultivation Room of Avici Hell, the tenth layer of Divine Prison, a flicker of light and shadow passed, and Zhao Sheng reappeared there.

He formed an intent in his mind, his Divine Sense probing into the Gathering Spirit Array beneath his feet, then his right hand swiftly executed spiritual formulas, casting several beams of spirit light into the surrounding walls.

Hum!

The Gathering Spirit Array slowly ceased its operation, and the Barrier enveloping the stone room dissipated alongside it.

Zhao Sheng exited the stone room, walking along the dark corridor, covering two to three li and turning seven or eight corners, arriving at the cafeteria on the tenth level.

The canteen was spacious, with most tables empty except for four or five Black Armor Prison Guards who were voraciously eating, each table laden with a big basin of bright red demon beast meat and not lacking bottles of Hundred-year-old Primordial Yang Wine.

The Divine Prison was bitterly cold, and without Primordial Yang Wine to expel the cold and the evil spirits, an ordinary Qi Refining Monk couldn’t survive past ten years.

Zhao Sheng glanced around and strode over to sit at a table.

The giant Wei Chong at the next table lifted his eyelids to look at him, then continued to lower his head and eat and drink heartily.

But at that moment, a voice as slender as a mosquito’s reached Zhao Sheng’s ear: “The joint has been cleared; wait for my message in about twenty days.”

“Congratulations, Wei Head, on your early departure from the bitter sea!” Zhao Sheng, appearing stoic, secretly sent a message back.

“Mhm, I will remember your contribution when my wish is fulfilled. But once this is done, our ties of cause and effect are severed, with no further involvement. Also, a word of advice—don’t try any tricks in front of me, or I’ll smash your head with one punch.”

“Understood, rest assured, Wei Head,” Zhao Sheng immediately sent the message back.

…

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed.

That day, after Zhao Sheng had patrolled the twelve-layer prison, he had just returned to the Armor Changing Room when he saw the towering Wei Chong, clad in heavy Black Armor, striding towards him.

“Don’t speak, follow me!”

After dropping these cold words, Wei Chong turned and walked away, and Zhao Sheng silently followed.

The thirteenth layer,

The fourteenth layer,

…

The sixteenth layer.

The two of them walked all the way down, and surprisingly, not a single Prison Guard was visible on the road; clearly, this was Wei Chong’s handiwork.

This was to be expected, given that he was the most senior and powerful Class A Prison Guard.

At the end of the Sixteen-layered Prison, the two stopped before a black barrier.

The barrier was dark and deep like a black hole, seemingly swallowing any light and leaving the scenes behind it invisible.

Wei Chong took out a Hexagram Token, injected several spiritual formulas into it, and recited a spell.

Moments later, as the token emitted a black light beam into the barrier, a small crack slowly formed.

Behind the barrier, along the passageway, stood four formidable Black Golden Armored Puppets, each exuding an astonishing pressure and fierce murderous intent.

Upon seeing these high-level Puppets, Zhao Sheng’s heart jolted in shock.

These were no ordinary high-level Puppets; each of their insides hid a Golden Armored Corpse, combined with the quality of Black Golden Armor, and supported by numerous attack and defense restrictions and formations.

Each Black Golden Puppet could rival a Golden Core Middle Late Stage Expert.

It was astonishing that the Prison God Temple would waste such impressive high-level combat forces on mere prisoner surveillance.

“Move quickly!”

After urging him, Wei Chong stepped through the barrier, and Zhao Sheng closely followed.

Hum!

As they passed, the black barrier immediately closed, and the helmets of the four Black Golden Armored Puppets lit up with eight flickers of blood-red fire, solemn and merciless.

In that instant, Zhao Sheng’s skin crawled, and his heart pounded as if it was about to be torn apart by the puppets.

“Ignore them, just keep following me and make sure you don’t make a single misstep, otherwise… heh heh!”

With Wei Chong’s reminder, Zhao Sheng precisely followed his footsteps without missing a beat.

After crossing about a dozen steps, Zhao Sheng looked around and saw a thick layer of Evil Ice formed from dense malevolent energy filling every corner. Numerous sinister shadows whispered in the corners of the passage, and malicious gazes seemed to be directed at him from all directions.

However, these mere illusory shadows couldn’t shake Zhao Sheng’s resolve in the slightest.

This took Wei Chong by surprise, as he had intended to use the special environment to make Zhao Sheng reconsider his decision.

Seeing Zhao Sheng’s indifferent reaction, Wei Chong steadied his mind and led him to the door of the first cell.

Even in the Seventeen-layered Divine Prison, the cells were similarly structured with two layers of doors, but the material changed from Thousand-year Cold Iron to Spirit Extinguishing Iron, which isolated spiritual power and Divine Sense detection.