Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension-Chapter 629 - 388 Man’s Calculations Are No Match for Heaven’s Part 2

The first layer of the space-time vortex roared and shook, spiritual energy boiled like the tide, and an indescribable weight descended from above. Heaven and earth seemed unable to bear such an intangible burden, and a fine cracking sound could faintly be heard emerging.

Within just a dozen breaths, Zhao Sheng had "swum" a hundred miles, secretly reaching the bottom of the space-time vortex. More precisely, he had only reached the edge of the vortex, where he was forced to stop.

He could go no further.

For at this time, numerous floating islands, massive disc-shaped boats, and other enormous objects had already arrived under the vortex, the great army standing in stern array, ready for battle.

At this very moment, within a few hundred miles under the vortex, immense divine thoughts swept back and forth unrestrained, not sparing any corner from the sky to the ground.

Woo woo!

Moments later, a vast and elongated horn sound suddenly resonated between heaven and earth.

With the call of the horns, the great war between the two worlds flared up once again.

Zhao Sheng watched with his own eyes as one by one, disc-shaped boats thousands of feet large rushed headlong into the space-time vortex.

Simultaneously, huge floating fortresses bearing the traits of the Tianzhu Realm also crossed the endless space-time, charging over from the other side.

Seeing the formidable enemy descend, numerous Cultivators riding atop gigantic demon beasts burst forth from the floating islands into the sky. Led by Golden Core Main Priests, they formed various Daoist Soldiers Formations and charged at the floating fortresses.

At the same time, legions of mages also continually flew out from the floating fortresses of the Tianzhu Realm, forming different Daoist Soldier Corps to meet the enemy head-on.

Boom boom boom!

Great Divine Power-level spells of extraordinary grades were cast by the Daoist soldiers in unison. Seas of fire, hurricanes, forests of spears, rains of swords, and tides of beasts covered the sky and fiercely showed their might,

For a time, large swaths of blood rained down from the sky, and innumerable dismembered remains fell from the sky into the sea, staining the sea a bloody red.

In the close-quarter combat that lasted but a moment, the war quickly escalated to a fever pitch, countless lives vanishing like bubbles.

At this point, the mighty figures above the Nascent Soul level from both worlds also successively took action, either engaging in direct combat or diving into the Daoist Soldiers’ ranks to create a gory mess.

The war was exceedingly brutal, with people falling every second.

However, to Zhao Sheng, this great war between the two worlds seemed intense, but it seemed to lack seriousness, both in scale and severity, compared to one-tenth of the Golden Wall’s great battle back in the day.

Zhao Sheng always felt that this war was something both sides were performing as part of routine business, as though it was being staged for some entity to watch.

Not to mention, not even a single Divinity Transformation True Monarch had appeared from the start of the battle until now. This further confirmed Zhao Sheng’s suspicions.

As far as he knew, the Star Gate would stay open for varying durations each time it was activated.

The shortest instance happened six hundred years ago when it had only stayed open for four hours. During that event, not a single large war artifact managed to retreat to its homeland in time, resulting in heavy casualties for both the Tianzhu and Netherworld realms.

The longest episode was one hundred years after the conclusion of the great battle; exactly twelve hundred years ago, when the Star Gate stayed open for a total of twenty-three days.

At that time, both realms believed that the Star Gate might stay open permanently. Therefore, they committed all their forces, the scale of the battle was beyond imagination, and its severity was no less than that of World War II.

So when the Star Gate suddenly closed that day, the higher-ups from both worlds were caught off guard, and only then did they realize that they had been played by the Star God.

Perhaps it was all the Star God’s scheme of retribution.

Since that lesson, the higher-ups of both realms had become much more cautious, having tacitly maintained the war at a certain scale, initiating the ongoing infiltration warfare that has continued to this day.

Ding!

As Zhao Sheng scoured the battlefield with his gaze looking for an opportunity, a sound like an invisible clear chime suddenly rose from his mind. At the same time, a Jade Pearl hanging around his neck faintly flickered twice.

A glint flashed through Zhao Sheng’s eyes, his Divine Sense probed into the Jade Pearl, and he immediately sensed an invisible thread extending from dozens of miles away, its end linked to the Jade Pearl.

In an instant, Zhao Sheng knew that at the other end of the thread, a Sky Pillar Spy was evading pursuit.

The pearl was named the Unity Pearl, a single-use Spiritual Artifact used for contact and positioning.

However, as long as the spy’s tracks were not exposed, the Unity Pearl would not activate.

If it truly activated, it would mean that the spy’s conditions were extremely perilous, with the threat of mortal danger at any moment.

At this moment, Zhao Sheng sensed that the other side was rapidly moving towards his location.

"What a pity..."

Zhao Sheng sighed softly and then, with a thought, the Unity Pearl around his neck abruptly turned into a pile of fine powder and merged into the surrounding seawater.

The next second, a ripple formed on the sea surface, and Zhao Sheng had vanished from his original spot.

Twenty li away, Fang Xiping sensed that the nearest light point had suddenly disappeared, and he was overcome with rage.

But the next second, an extremely intense killing intent approached from behind, and this elite Foundation Establishment member of the Purple Sun Sect suddenly turned pale and couldn’t help but crush his life-saving Heavenly Escape Talisman.

In an instant, he transformed into a stunning rainbow, fleeing at an unbelievable speed toward the location of another Unity Pearl.

...

A day later, the fierce battle was still ongoing, but the intensity and shouting were much weaker than they were at the beginning.

At this point, hundreds of li of the sea surface had been stained blood-red, with numerous broken bodies floating on the sea and some severely wounded yet still living individuals lay in the water, whimpering from time to time.

Just then, a pale-faced Taoist High Crown wearing a Crimson Robe from the Elixir Cauldron Sect and emanating the aura of the Foundation Establishment Realm slowly rose from the sea and, controlling a Pill Furnace, flew towards the battlefield above.

He seemed to be looking to rejoin the combat.

A dozen breaths later, the Taoist High Crown flew up to the high altitude, where within a hundred li, thousands of cultivators were engaged in a life-or-death struggle.

At this moment, a joyous exclamation came from a hundred zhang away, where a middle-aged man in a crimson robe loudly called out,

"Brother Shouhe, come quickly! Join us to form the True Fire Great Array."

Taoist High Crown turned his head to look, and without any hesitation, he immediately flew over and converged with the four people in crimson robes.

Soon, the five cultivators from the Elixir Cauldron Sect jointly supported a hundred-zhang Fire Cloud, treading upon rolling flames and battling fiercely with the enemies from the Netherworld.

With the addition of a certain someone, the four cultivators in crimson robes found the fight increasingly comfortable, as the enemies they did battle with fell consecutively into the sea.

After a full four hours, not one of the five had suffered a serious injury; they had only exhausted a significant amount of their spiritual power and had to withdraw back to the Floating Fortress for recuperation.

Zhao Sheng, along with the four, discreetly flew into a Floating Fortress with a diameter of over three thousand zhang.

By its size alone, this Floating Fortress could accommodate two Mountain Shifting Level Cloud Boats.

It goes without saying that, throughout history, war has always been the best catalyst.

Compared to over a thousand years ago, the war fortresses in Tianzhu Realm had clearly seen huge progress.

In Zhao Sheng’s eyes, this Floating Fortress was enveloped by three layers of Array Light Shields, and its exterior was startlingly covered with hundreds of dark holes about a zhang thick, from which the wide mouths of cannons extended – they were all Spirit Stone Cannons.

Besides that, with just a cursory glance, Zhao Sheng saw no fewer than six different formations, and each was of at least Second Order Grade.

What surprised him, however, was that the Spirit Stone Cannons on the fortress didn’t seem to fire often, only occasionally emitting thick pillars of light when the nearby cultivators faced life and death crises.

Yet, Zhao Sheng quickly realized that Tianzhu Realm seemed to be facing a severe shortage of spirit stones.

This wasn’t just the case for this fortress, but the same was true for the three smaller fortresses nearby as well.

However, these were not his concerns at the moment.

Zhao Sheng had successfully infiltrated their ranks and was planning to stay put on the fortress, waiting for the Star Gate to close and then to retreat with the grand army back to Tianzhu Realm.

His scheme couldn’t be said to be anything less than meticulous; in fact, other Tianzhu spies were returning to their realm in much the same way.

But there was one saying he hadn’t considered.

The common saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes!"

In Zhao Sheng’s eyes, this Floating Fortress was enveloped by three layers of Array Light Shields, and its exterior was startlingly covered with hundreds of dark holes about a zhang thick, from which the wide mouths of cannons extended – they were all Spirit Stone Cannons.

Besides that, with just a cursory glance, Zhao Sheng saw no fewer than six different formations, and each was of at least Second Order Grade.

What surprised him, however, was that the Spirit Stone Cannons on the fortress didn’t seem to fire often, only occasionally emitting thick pillars of light when the nearby cultivators faced life and death crises.

Yet, Zhao Sheng quickly realized that Tianzhu Realm seemed to be facing a severe shortage of spirit stones.