Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

It was untold years ago that all major sects in the Cultivation World simultaneously issued an indefinite task: They would purchase the uniquely found Purple Qi Mushroom from Heavenly Pillar Mountain in unlimited quantities, regardless of quantity or age, and set a substantial reward for it.

The rewards included gold and silver treasures, Magic Artifact Talismans, and various Elixir Pills such as the Foundation Establishment Pill.

A five-hundred-year-old Red Fire Ganoderma could be exchanged for a Foundation Establishment Pill or a Mountain Gate Token. Anyone possessing the token could unconditionally join a Cultivation Sect, even if they had Five Spirits Roots.

If one were fortunate enough to find a thousand-year-old Purple Qi Mushroom... an ordinary person would definitely be doomed. Without cultivation above the Foundation Establishment, one simply couldn't secure such a heavy treasure.

You must realize that this was a third-tier treasure medicine that even Golden Core Masters would fight over.

This unlimited bounty task inspired countless people to dream of making a fortune and cultivating to immortality.

For thousands of years, countless Martial World Knights, Qi Refining Practitioners, Foundation Establishment Purple Mansions, and even Golden Core Masters have flocked to the vicinity of Heavenly Pillar Mountain. Regardless of its steep heights, they climbed up and down the cliffs and precipices, risking their lives to obtain the treasures they desired.

As Zhao Sheng's thoughts wandered, suddenly a furious shout came from above: "Shameless old thief, I've finally found you! Where will you run to today?"

Zhao Sheng looked up and saw a burly man around forty years of age, with twining beard and brown hair, suddenly come into view.

The burly man, his face filled with anger, was standing on a sword as wide as a door and rapidly diving toward the cliff.

Upon seeing the incoming man, Zhao Sheng couldn't help but smirk and stepped closer to the edge of the cliff,

facing the oncoming fierce wind. His eyes narrowed as he suddenly leaped downward.

His body freely fell through the void, accelerating as he quickly disappeared into the cloud mist, with shadows of branches and bizarre rocks dimly visible between the mountainsides.

Zhao Sheng moved like an agile eagle, effortlessly dodging the protruding branches and rocks.

After falling for about ten thousand meters, Zhao Sheng suddenly spread his arms wide, and two pieces of canvas stretched out from his hands and waist, forming wings that billowed high with the wind.

The next second, Zhao Sheng's descending speed drastically reduced, and he finally aimed for a protruding rock beam on the cliff and lightly landed on it.

With no intention to linger there, Zhao Sheng hesitated not a moment longer, his feet tapping rapidly as his body shot like an arrow into the side mists.

Without needing to rely on the cliff walls for support, he hovered through the air, crossing hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye.

Upon finding a crevice large enough to accommodate himself, Zhao Sheng immediately stopped his momentum, pressed against the rock wall, and easily slipped inside, then began the Turtle Breath Technique to enter a state of feigned death.

Simultaneously, the surrounding area howled with a strong wind, causing the nearby clouds and mist to rapidly swirl around.

The next moment, a thunder-like roar carried by thewind hit his ears: "Cloud Entering Dragon Gongsun Sheng, I remember you now. Sooner or later, I will catch you, you shameless old thief."

Moving through the Martial World, caution is paramount!

Hence, Zhao Sheng never used his real name but introduced himself as Gongsun Sheng, nicknamed Cloud Entering Dragon.

Hearing this voice, Zhao Sheng sighed inwardly: "Alas, it was just me transforming your three-hundred-year-old Green Ganoderma with Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations, no need to relentlessly chase me like this. Han Xuanwu, Han Xuanwu, you are too stubborn!"

For fear of being ambushed, Zhao Sheng hid in the crevice for an entire day.

It was not until the mountain wind changed direction and night fell that he stealthily poked his head out, looking around cautiously, like a timid mole.

Don't fault him for being so timid, for it is said that caution helps one sail the sea for ten thousand years!

Having braved over twenty years of blood and stormy ordeals, ambushing, lying in wait, and battling for treasures, he'd seen plenty.

The medicine collectors, over a single Spiritual Medicine, would fight to the death, a scene so ferocious and tragic that one could hardly imagine it without experiencing it firsthand. It's true what they say—whether for wealth or mere survival, people, like birds, often meet their end.

If Zhao Sheng hadn't been extremely cautious, he would have perished in some nameless corner twenty years earlier.

Peeking his head out and twitching his nose, he sniffed the mountain breeze, feeling the air was free of "human scent," only then did he relax. He then stepped on the void, his body shooting out like an arrow, quickly speeding in a certain direction.

His landing spots were ever-changing; the place he had arranged the day before was dozens of miles away, which would take about half an hour just going back and forth on the road.

Two quarters of an hour later, Zhao Sheng suddenly stopped; the cliff under his feet had sparse vegetation replaced by rugged rocks, lean and dark, looking exceedingly desolate in the night.

That was why, at nearly a thousand feet away across the mountain cliff, the huge spherical Light Flame Talisman hanging in the air was exceptionally conspicuous.

"Haha, a Light Flame Talisman from the Purple Sun Sect? What a coincidence."

Zhao Sheng grinned, not expecting to encounter a trade meeting on his "return to the nest."

He was lucky.

Because of its particular terrain, Heavenly Pillar Mountain was inconvenient for the medicine collectors to navigate, which is why many Major Sects of the Cultivation World would send numerous disciples to Heavenly Pillar Mountain to hold temporary trade meetings. This facilitated the medicine collectors in timely exchanging goods and cultivation resources.

This was somewhat like the relationship between gold prospectors and the merchants who sold mining tools. The 'Gold' mined by the prospectors at great personal risk ended up filling the pockets of the 'merchants' who sold the tools.

While countless prospectors died or were harmed, very few made a fortune, whereas the 'merchants' earned a great deal.

As he approached within a mile of the trading spot, the people there also spotted Zhao Sheng.

A mile away? Even in the darkness, a Qi Refining Immortal Cultivator could see very clearly.

Seven or eight breaths later, Zhao Sheng stepped onto the stone platform that jutted out beyond the mountain cliff, where a pile of bonfires was already lit.

Around the bonfire gathered a group of medicine collectors, each wearing a different expression and visibly weather-beaten.

The two parties faced each other.

Seeing Zhao Sheng's arrival, the crowd was stunned at first, but it didn't take long for someone to spring up energetically.

"Haha, Gongsun, you dare show your face here!"

Seeing the ferocious look on Han Xuanwu's face, Zhao Sheng cursed his luck, lamenting that he hadn't checked the calendar before leaving home, as this fool had caused him trouble yet again.

Han Xuanwu was originally a Martial World Knight but later met a master who discovered he possessed a Spirit Root. After receiving a Qi Refining Method from the master, who then vanished, Han Xuanwu discovered his cultivation talent was incredibly high. He managed to reach the Sixth Level of Qi Refining all by himself in just twenty years.

Although he had become a Cultivator, Han the Martial Enthusiast, always considering himself a Martial Artist, loved collecting various Martial Arts Masterpieces.

Three months prior, at a trade meeting, Zhao Sheng had "traded" a 300-year-old Green Ganoderma from Han Xuanwu using his unique mastery, the Cloud Dragon Nine Transformations.

Later, upon realizing he had been deceived, the fool had relentlessly pursued Zhao Sheng for a full three months, up until this very evening.

"Han the Martial Enthusiast, you should check where you are before you try anything!"

Zhao Sheng, not intimidated in the least, strode confidently to the fire and faced Han Xuanwu.