Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

"Calm down!"

He pressed the man's shoulder, then Zhou Zhongyu looked out through the jade window on the inner side of the flying boat.

However...

His gaze swept around, but he didn't notice anything unusual, which left him feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

"Xiao Si, what are you blabbering about... Oh my god!"

His words were cut off by a curse as Zhou Zhongyu suddenly stiffened.

A gust of wind and sand had blown over, making the visibility significantly clearer.

So he saw it, a giant shadow rolling within the vast expanse of Black Sand nearly twenty li away. It must have been motionless before, but it was now soaring up. Even the thick curtain of sand couldn't hide its massive body, large as a range of mountains.

So huge from such a distance.

"Python? Flood dragon? Or... dragon!"

The size and length, along with the blurred outline, left Zhou Zhongyu with only these three possibilities. Regardless of what it was, such a massive creature had to be incredibly rare. There might even be a "Demon Core."

If he could seize this monster's "Demon Core," wouldn't he have the opportunity for Core Formation!

To not seize the gifts of heaven is but to invite disaster!

Therefore, without any hesitation, Zhou Zhongyu immediately ordered, "Get close to it, now."

At that moment, the man exclaimed strangely, "Uncle Yu, it's gone!"

Zhou Zhongyu was taken aback and quickly looked down and out.

Indeed... By now, there was no longer any trace of the giant shadow in the spread of Black Sand, as if all he had seen was just an illusion.

"Could it be... the Black Sand Mirage!"

Zhou Zhongyu's mind raced as he suddenly recalled a peculiar celestial phenomenon from the legends of the Desolate Domain.

The Black Sand Mirage, much like a mirage over the sea, differed in that the former was a reflection of past time, rather than a refraction of space.

Because of the influence of the Black Sand storms, some areas in the Desolate Domain occasionally experienced an unknown disturbance of the magnetic field, which would project past images into the present.

"Get closer!"

Still not willing to leave empty-handed, Zhou Zhongyu commanded once more.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The flying boat veered sharply off course, gliding quickly low over the ground towards that location.

The distance of twenty li passed in a flash.

Zhou Zhongyu carefully scrutinized the outside world, his gaze passing over uneven patches of sand, clusters of wild thorns that grew close to the ground, and block after block of weathered rocks.

However, everything within sight was a common scene in the Desolate Domain. This place seemed no different from any other boundary.

"Could I... have been mistaken?" Zhou Zhongyu wondered doubtfully to himself.

"Hey, Uncle Yu, look there!"

Someone's surprised shout brought him back to his senses.

Zhou Zhongyu hurriedly looked in the direction the man indicated.

Hmm?

About two li away from the flying boat, on a slope of broken rocks, they saw a great depression forming a massive pit, and at the edge of the pit stood a cave about three zhang high, with the mouth of the cave showing signs of man-made excavation.

"Quick, get closer!"

Zhou Zhongyu's face lit up with joy, and he immediately gave the command.

"Yes,"

At his command, the flying boat swiftly approached the cave.

Upon nearing it, the signs of man-made excavation within the cave were very clear.

"Stand guard outside, I'll be right back!"

Leaving these words behind, Zhou Zhongyu flashed out of the flying boat and in the blink of an eye, he flew into the cave, disappearing from view.

Zhou Zhongyu quickly swept through the passage, and upon seeing room after room filled with dust within the stone chambers, his heart leapt with joy.

Without a doubt, this was the legacy of a cultivator.

The passage was not long, merely a few breaths, and he flew into a spacious stone room at the deepest part of the cave.

Upon a single glance at the scene within the stone room, Zhou Zhongyu's eyes shone with amazement, and his breathing abruptly halted.

At this moment, on the stone bed at the end of the stone room, a skeleton sat cross-legged, leaning against the stone wall at an angle.

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A plain storage bag had fallen from its embrace, and in front of it on the bed's surface, various pill bottles lay scattered haphazardly, while at the skeleton's feet, a small blue sword was half-buried into the stone bed.

The scene before him was quite simple, obviously signifying that an unknown number of years ago, a cultivator had exhausted his life span and ended up sitting down in this place.

But this scene did not attract the newcomer's attention at all, as Zhou Zhongyu's gaze was completely focused beneath the stone bed.

There lied a round, smooth bead about the size of a head, exuding a faint radiance and resting quietly there.

Next to the bead, the remains of a worm corpse over two Zhang long, dried up with only its skin left and circles of golden rings on its hide, were tightly coiling around the bead, its mouth open like a chrysanthemum's sharp beak, as if it was trying to swallow the bead.

However, this unknown bead actually emitted a faint yet very clear oppressive force, as if it had deterred the worm corpse, ultimately causing its failure!

Seeing this, Zhou Zhongyu felt his spirit tremble slightly under this pressure, his heart was utterly shaken, and he even began to stutter while speaking,

"This... this is... Dragon Might!"

Zhou Zhongyu immediately stepped forward, lifted the bead, and held it close to his eyes.

Indeed, upon touching the bead with his hands, the oppressive force from the Dragon Ball became even clearer. And deep within his blood, an instinctive sense of fear emerged, as if it were the bloodline suppression of a higher being upon a lower one.

Zhou Zhongyu's expression was one of great excitement as he continuously caressed the Dragon Ball.

However, the look of joy on his face gradually disappeared, replaced with an expression of profound sadness and regret.

Because by then, he had noticed that a large portion of the essence within the Dragon Ball, for some unknown reason, had already dissipated.

Perhaps too much time had passed, or perhaps the last owner had extracted the essence of the Dragon Ball. Perhaps...

"Damn it!" Zhou Zhongyu cursed in frustration.

He regretfully put away the Dragon Ball and swept up the worm skin with a wave of his hand.

After carefully inspecting it for a while, Zhou Zhongyu suddenly showed a look of great joy, "This is a Golden Ring Spirit Earthworm! Then... could that bead possibly be the legendary Mountain Dragon Pearl?"

In an instant, Zhou Zhongyu had numerous thoughts darting through his mind, conceiving many possibilities.

An hour later, the stone room was void of human presence, empty except for the heap of disordered bones on the bed.

Just then, at a certain section of the stone room's ceiling, the stone wall suddenly blurred and twisted, and then a person leapt down from it.

This person was none other than Zhao Sheng, who else could it be?

In Zhao Sheng's hand was a True Shadow Ball, and as he looked at the empty stone room, a meaningful smile suddenly appeared on his face.

...

One month later, in Quanxia City, Changsheng Square,

Inside a room within a certain mansion, Zhao Sheng was mixing a new type of blended Spiritual Wine.

At that moment, Zhou Zhongyu arrived in high spirits.

Entering the room, he plopped down across from Zhao Sheng, his face brimming with excitement, "Brother Zhao, I'm heading back to Hongyang State!"

Zhao Sheng's hands paused slightly, then he continued his work as before.

While continuing to blend the wine, he asked nonchalantly, "When will you return? When you're back, I'll let you taste a new wine."

Zhou Zhongyu's face stiffened, and with reluctance in his eyes as he gazed at the wine cup in Zhao Sheng's hand, he said with regret, "I won't be returning this time!"

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Sheng set down his wine cup, "Then... we won't be able to meet often. It hasn't been easy to find a kindred spirit like Brother Zhou in wine. Now... alas!"

"Isn't that the truth! Our interests align, Brother Zhao. It's a pity that family commands are hard to disobey!" Zhou Zhongyu empathized.

Moon Spring is five thousand li away from Hongyang State. In other Boundaries, it might merely be a one or two-day journey.

But in the Desolate Domain, when the Black Sand storm rises and the wind and sand stretch for ten thousand li, the desert plains are fraught with danger. Even Foundation Establishment Cultivators are reluctant to take the risk of traversing the Black Storm.

Zhao Sheng pondered briefly, then suddenly asked, "Is your family still accepting Guest Elders?"

Zhou Zhongyu responded with surprise and delight, "Brother Zhao, what do you mean by that? Could it be...?"

After Zhao Sheng nodded, he exhaled a long sigh.

Alas!