Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

"If that's the case, then forget it! Then... did you manage to get the Golden Core Formation Pill recipe?" Zhao Sheng waved his hand in resignation and asked for the next best thing.

Hong Yuanliang scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not daring to meet Zhao Sheng's gaze.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng sighed inwardly, thinking that things were indeed not that simple.

In a way, the value of the Golden Core Formation Pill recipe was even more precious than that of a magic artifact, and it was not inferior to any Golden Core Level Cultivation Method.

Noticing Zhao Sheng's disappointment, Hong Yuanliang quickly tried to make up for it, "Daoist, don't you want a talisman treasure to protect yourself? I just happen to have three different talisman treasures for you to choose from."

With that, he eagerly took out three palm-sized talisman treasures that flickered with intense blood light and appeared to be made of jade-like material, and placed them in front of him.

The surface of the talisman treasures displayed three typical blood cultivator magic artifact patterns: a Blood Sword, a Blood Shield, and a Blood Bone Knife.

Zhao Sheng looked at the three talisman treasures in front of him and couldn't help but show a tempted expression.

Hong Yuanliang saw this and smiled smugly to himself.

...

An hour later, Zhao Sheng, draped in a black robe, left the Red Light Tower satisfied.

After leaving the Red Light Tower, he immediately changed his appearance and wandered around the workshop, entering and exiting more than twenty shops.

After emerging from a store selling talismans, Zhao Sheng's expression became very grave.

In just half a year, the prices of pills, artifacts, talismans, and other items in the workshop had uniformly surged by thirty to fifty percent.

Hong Yuanliang hadn't deceived him after all; the new round of the Sea Demon Tide was about to begin.

Earlier in the Red Light Tower, Hong Yuanliang had told him that in the past half a year, there were signs of large numbers of demon beasts assembling on the periphery of the Shattered Star Sea and in the far seas. Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire

During voyages in the far seas, incidents of treasure ships being attacked by demon beasts had become increasingly frequent.

The Blood Demon Sect, with its Blood Demon Pirate Group rampaging across the far seas, had far more informed sources than ordinary powers.

A year ago, the Blood Demon Sect had first noticed the clues. A few months back, after multiple verifications, they confirmed the inevitability of the Sea Demon Tide.

At the same time, the Star God Island also issued a decree, announcing the Star God Divine Sacrifice and their plan to close off the Star Algae Sea in the near future.

In the history of the Shattered Star Sea, the Star God Divine Sacrifice could almost be equated with the Sea Demon Tide.

Whenever the Star God Palace holds the Divine Sacrifice, the Sea Demon Tide might not always arrive as scheduled, but in ten times, it would occur five or six times.

Over time, the cultivators of the Shattered Star Sea realized it was no coincidence, but premeditated.

As for why the three major overlords of the far seas always chose to launch their attacks on the Human Clan territories during the Divine Sacrifice, the lower-ranked loose cultivators had various speculations, while the Golden Core Masters who knew "the truth" opted for silence.

Information monopolies exist in any world, and they are particularly severe in the Cultivation World.

For thousands of years, in the face of repeated Sea Demon Tides, the Human Clan of the Shattered Star Sea had already summarized an extremely comprehensive set of countermeasures.

The first and second island defense chains were specifically designed to deal with the Sea Demon Tide.

To the cultivators of the Shattered Star Sea, the Sea Demon Tide was not only a tribulation but also a once-in-a-century opportunity.

After every tribulation, numerous powers and individuals would vanish into thin air, yet many new emerging powers and outstanding figures would stand out.

Through the repeated trials of the Sea Demon Tide, countless heroes emerged in the Shattered Star Sea. Thus, a Divinity Transformation True Monarch once praised, "The Star Sea always produces outstanding figures, each leading the era for hundreds of years!"

...

Three months later, Dome Turtle Island.

Dome Turtle Island was located on the edge of the Outer Star Sea, more than six thousand sea miles away from Dragon Head Island, to the south-southeast, and was one of the one hundred and eight Dragon Scale Level Spiritual Islands.

The island's shape resembled that of a turtle, spanning over a hundred miles. Its terrain rose high in the west and sloped low in the east. The Ao Shou Cliff to the west was vertically steep, while the entire eastern side along the island was covered with White Sand Beach. The central terrain of the island was flat, the fields were fertile, and nearly a hundred thousand direct clan members lived there. In addition, around two hundred thousand relatives of the clan lived on the twelve affiliated islands nearby.

The Zhao family on Dome Turtle Island established their clan through artifact refining, being most adept at creating defense magic artifacts, especially famous for their Turtle Shell Shields.

The reason for this was that every summer, thousands of iron-armored turtles crawled up the white sand beach and buried their eggs there.

Dome Turtle Island had a First-rank Middle-grade Spirit Vein running east to west, with the core spirit acupoint beneath Ao Shou Cliff, cutting through the central spirit field in the middle, extending westward to the white sand beach, with part of the vein's end sinking into the shallow sea.

Therefore, the majority of the Zhao family's cultivators were gathered at Ao Shou Cliff.

After generations of development and maintenance by the island masters' families, there were now over one hundred fifty cave mansions constructed on Ao Shou Cliff. However, only two-thirds of them were currently inhabited, while one-third remained vacant.

On this day, "Dianjing Mansion" on Ao Shou Cliff welcomed its new owner.

Dianjing Mansion was built near the spiritual acupoint, where the concentration of spiritual energy was extremely high, second only to "Mystical Manor," the residence of the Family Head, and in no way inferior to the other two Foundation Establishment elders' cave mansions.

Thus, as soon as the news that Dianjing Mansion had an owner spread, it immediately caused a sensation among the Zhao family.

The junior Qi Refining youths with nothing better to do began to inquire everywhere, wanting to figure out who had the capability to "snatch" Dianjing Mansion from the hands of the family head.

After all, their generation's Family Head, Zhao Yunxian, was notoriously stingy; getting any advantage from him was incredibly difficult.

At this moment, in the meeting hall deep in Dianjing Mansion, an elder and a youth were engaged in a cheerful conversation.

"Brother Zhao, what do you think of the environment of this cave mansion? If you feel that anything is unsuitable, just say so. I will definitely meet your demands,"

Zhao Yunxian was the current family head of the Zhao Family, over a hundred thirty years old, with mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, seven feet eight inches tall, striking in appearance. However, with his thin eyebrows and eyes, and his high, hawk-like nose, he sometimes gave people a cold and harsh feeling.

He was witty and enthusiastic in his speech, extremely sophisticated in dealing with people, but at times too calculating, which could lead to a lack of grandeur.

Zhao Sheng quickly reviewed his memories of Zhao Yunxian while showing a satisfied smile on his face, speaking in a mild tone, "Family Head Zhao is too courteous! I'm quite pleased with the arrangements here; there's no need for any changes."

Since learning the news of the impending sea demon tide, Zhao Sheng immediately interrupted his "reclusive" life at the Spring and Autumn Alliance and traveled tens of thousands of miles back to Dome Turtle Island.

If he said he returned out of familial love, that would've been nonsense.

Of course, there was a little of blood kinship involved, but mostly it was motivated by interest.

The better the Zhao family developed, the better for him!

The reasoning was understood by all, so elaboration was unnecessary.

When Zhao Sheng released the aura of the Foundation Establishment Realm and demonstrated his alchemy prowess, Zhao Yunxian considered him a treasure, immediately recruiting Zhao Sheng as a guest elder with great enthusiasm.

Zhao Sheng came for the Zhao family and thus, after making a few modest requests, he readily agreed.

During their warm conversation, Zhao Sheng subtly revealed his "life story" to Zhao Yunxian through casual chat, which served both to be transparent and to show sincerity.

An hour later, Zhao Yunxian left, his interest satisfied.

The next day, he gathered all the Zhao family's cultivators on the island and introduced the new guest elder, Cen Hezi Zhao Tianding, to everyone.

Zhao Sheng had reversed the characters of his name in this life and renamed himself Zhao Tianding, with the Daoist title "Cen Hezi," identifying himself as a loose cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm and also an alchemist.

The Zhao family had sixty-four generational name sequences: Feng Xian Ming Ren Sect, Quanzhen Du Taihe. The Classic of Sincerity and Jade Declaration, Zhongzheng Chang Jinke. Essence of the Mystic Path, Gao Hongding Daluo, Moral Performance, Immortal Cultivation is Valuable for longevity.

The Shattered Star Sea branch of the clan had reached the "Da" generation, and the seniors of the highest standing were two Foundation Establishment elders of the "Han" generation, Zhao Hanqing and Zhao Hanguang.

Originally, the Zhao family had four Foundation Establishment members, but the eldest, Zhao Tongbei, had passed away sixteen years prior, leaving only three remaining.

Moreover, the Zhao family's younger generation wasn't very promising, and the clan was now facing the danger of a break in the lineage of Foundation Establishment. There were only four members who had reached Qi Refining Perfection, two of whom had already failed once in Foundation Establishment, showing limited potential.

Zhao Sheng was acquainted with most of the Zhao family members, with the exception of the younger ones born in the past thirty years, so there was no need for Zhao Yunxian to introduce them.

Just one glance was enough for Zhao Sheng, and the myriad of memories about these people resurfaced in his mind.

Which of them could still be nurtured, and which were utterly useless? A defining glance was all that Zhao Sheng needed to begin forming his plans.