Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

He vaguely recalled that his ancestors also had the surname Zhao, but that was the affairs of old generations hundreds of years ago. Even though the elders of the family always reminded the younger generations not to forget their ancestral surname and frequently mentioned how illustrious their ancestors were,

but no matter how impressive the ancestors were, they couldn't compare to a growling stomach, let alone a coarse grain pancake.

By his generation, the origins of the ancestral surname had long been forgotten.

Now that someone had suddenly brought it up, Wu Sanliu, driven by an impulse he couldn't explain, began searching through his home upon his return.

"Ah, you foolish old man, the ancestral tablets are sealed behind the wall, behind the rice jar. What are you searching for so frantically?"

Wu Sanliu smacked his forehead upon hearing this and suddenly remembered.

After moving the jar and chiseling the wall, Wu Sanliu held a tablet with black background and golden characters, stepped into the sunlight, blew the dust off its surface, and squinted his eyes to carefully inspect the writing on the tablet.

He stared for a long while, but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"Old lady, come take a look, is our ancestor's surname Zhao?" Wu Sanliu, holding the tablet, stretched it out in front of the old woman and asked nervously.

"Ptooey! You can't read, and the old lady is even less literate. Whether it's Zhao or not, what's the use!" said the old woman with a hint of feistiness in her speech.

No sooner had she finished speaking than she changed her tune and began to complain, "I'm telling you, husband, we haven't received our monthly allowance yet, and it's already the end of the month. There's almost nothing left to eat at home, what are we going to do! It's okay for us to eat less, but poor my grandchild, has never had a full meal since he was born."

"What… There's no reward from the masters, what can I do? No, I must go to Liu Heilai's house again and borrow some spoiled rice to get us through half a month,"

"What? Borrow again? I'm telling you, what we borrowed before hasn't even…"

Outside the room, Zhao Sheng's gaze was deep, "Ancestor... Zhao Xiuchan's tablet, indeed..."

After one last look at the two people sighing, Zhao Sheng's figure flashed and he disappeared instantly.

…

Nightfall, Furen Square.

In a hall of Wu Mansion, Mr. Wu sat with respectful propriety at the lower end, not daring to take a deep breath.

An ordinary-looking young man with a sallow complexion occupied the seat of honor with regal assurance.

Zhao Sheng glanced at him, waved his hand, and immediately three rows of low-grade Spirit Stones, translucent and lustrous, appeared on the table.

"I've just come to Chu State City and am in need of a place to stay. Your courtyard is quite nice, I'll take it!"

Mr. Wu caught sight of the Spirit Stones and, with a forced smile said, "Honored sir, your interest in the humble abode is a blessing for my family. However... "

Land in Chu State City is worth its weight in gold, and the Wu family's estate, with its three sets of three courtyards, cannot be bought for three hundred Spirit Stones.

"I'll give you another three hundred Spirit Stones, and the servants in your courtyard will also be mine, to avoid trouble."

As he spoke, another three rows of Spirit Stones appeared on the table.

Mr. Wu's eyes were momentarily dazzled by the Spirit Stones, and his greed swelled within him. He was about to haggle further when an icy, stern voice said, "That's the price. If one more stone is added, I'll stand up and leave!"

"Deal, as you say, sir. We'll go to the government office to transfer the property tomorrow, and the contracts of the servants will also be transferred into your name," Mr. Wu said, trembling inside and hurriedly nodding and bowing.

A night passed without words. The next morning, Mr. Wu promptly took Zhao Sheng to the government office.

With the limited time to clear the way and using Spirit Stones, what normally took ten days or half a month to process was completed astoundingly fast—in just one day.

After leaving the government office, Zhao Sheng gave Mr. Wu's family two days to vacate the property.

But the servants had to meet their new master first.

So, that very afternoon, over thirty households of the Wu family's servants were gathered in confusion and stood in a courtyard that was filled with nearly two hundred people.

Wu Sanliu, his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandchildren—a total of nine—were squeezed into a corner of the yard, craning their necks and looking upwards.

In the span of one day, a new master had replaced the old, and not just for Wu Sanliu's family. Even the steward, Wu Da, was confused.

Mr. Wu accompanied Zhao Sheng out and announced the new master to everyone in person, then he consciously excused himself from the scene.

The first thing Zhao Sheng did as the new master was to change the surname of the servants from Wu to Zhao.

Changing the servants' surnames to the master's was a common practice in such households, unquestionable and usual for servants.

Zhao Sheng immediately announced his second act, and upon hearing that their monthly allowance of rice would be doubled from now on, the freshly minted Zhao family servants were overjoyed.

However, this wasn't the end. Zhao Sheng personally promised, "In celebration of moving to a new home, he's directly rewarding each person with three months' worth of provisions. It's one for each person, to be divided per head."

In no time, the courtyard was filled with thunderous cheers, and everyone was beaming with joy.

Wu Sanliu, no, it should be Zhao Sanliu, was so excited that he was moved to tears, and he shouted loudly, "The heavens have eyes! Our good days have finally arrived. Our new master is so kind; he will surely live a long and prosperous life!"

The family beside him was incredibly excited as well, for they totaled nine members.

If the provisions were completely delivered, not only could they pay off all their debts from over the years, but they would also have two months' worth of food left over.

At this moment, they had no idea that their real good days were still to come.

To make vinegar, someone went to great lengths to prepare a pot of dumplings, truly a significant effort.

Before long, the servants gradually dispersed.

Zhao Sheng called over the housekeeper Zhao Da and gave many orders with decisive swiftness, including rearranging the servants' positions.

Without drawing much attention, he arranged for Zhao Sanliu and his two sons to be placed in some easy and lucrative positions.

The fate of Zhao Sanliu's family was to change slowly; they could not be rushed.

Before revealing his true identity, he didn't want outsiders to make any connections from Zhao Sanliu and the others to... the Zhao family of Tianzhu Realm.

On the third day, Zhao Sheng changed his appearance continuously, wandering around Chu State City and its surroundings.

As for the four major satellite cities, especially Miao City, he left countless traces, as well as numerous imprints.

Dusk settled, and night fell.

Qi Peng, tipsy from his drinking, returned from outside. Seeing Zhao Sheng waiting by the Flying Car, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Little brother, you have no idea how spectacularly your elder brother here has rampaged in the past three days. Next time we go out, I'll take you to the Red Building of Chu City to show you what true bliss is... uh, to show you what it means to truly live life to the fullest..."

"Big brother is right, but it's getting late now. If we miss the roll call, that... Leader Xiao's ugly face..."

"Oh no, I nearly caused a big issue! Hurry, get on, let's go!" Hearing this, Qi Peng was so frightened that he sobered up instantly, hurriedly pulling Zhao Sheng into the carriage.

In an instant, the Rune Flying Car shot off the ground, speeding towards Miao City.

...…

An hour later.

Xiao Moluo arrived late, holding the roster in his hands and casting a cold gaze over everyone. Seeing that everyone had returned, his expression relaxed slightly.

"Today, the prison received a batch of convicts, and everyone will be busy for a while. Get the prisoners into their respective levels in the prison."

"Ding Ershi, Ding Sanchi, levels five and six, eight prisoners."

"Bing Shisan, Ding Shi, the ninth layer of prison, two prisoners."

"..."

Zhao Sheng listened as Xiao Moluo assigned duties. Generally, C-class Prison Guards were responsible for escorting prisoners to the seventh level and below, with D-class Prison Guards taking over above that.

"Bing Yi, Bing Liu, Ding Siqi, Ding Jiwu, the Sixteen-layered Prison, one prisoner."

Upon hearing this, the prison guards immediately began whispering to each other, abuzz with discussion.

What a situation! The Divine Prison hadn't received a "big shot" in a long time. Now, one had arrived for the sixteenth level.

Such level prisoners were at least at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage or might even possess Golden Core Level strength.

"Silence!"

Xiao Moluo's voice boomed like thunder, quieting all chatter. He stared blankly at the crowd, radiating a dangerous aura.

After making the arrangements, Xiao Moluo turned and walked away.

The crowd also excitedly headed to the Armor Changing Room and changed into red Prison Armor.

After suiting up, Zhao Sheng quietly followed behind Bing Yi, heading to the first level of the prison,

Bing Yi was a gloomy and indifferent old man, exuding an aura of death as if he'd been deeply corroded by Yin Sha and wasn't long for this world.

This fellow had been in the Divine Prison for decades, second only to Prison Captain Xiao Moluo in terms of length of service.