Chapter 149: Ascension

Suddenly, a sliver of silvery-white light pierced through the massive, mountain-like piles of auspicious clouds.

Immediately following, more and more rays of light shot out. The fiery-red auspicious clouds seemed to transform into a gigantic, blindingly brilliant sieve.

Feng Ke'er quickly averted her gaze. Such powerful energy could easily sear a person's eyes blind.

Yet, she could not help but watch—in this situation, even a fool would know that the passage was opening.

Her heart stirred. Covering her forehead with both hands, she looked toward Hu Li.

At this sight, she was startled: hovering three feet above his head was a massive sphere of light. It was nearly three meters in diameter, radiating a soft, creamy-white glow.

Hu Li stood respectfully within the soft light, his hands hanging at his sides, his mouth moving as he conversed with the sphere.

Feng Ke'er subconsciously picked at her ear—despite being only a few dozen feet away, she could hear absolutely nothing!

This was incredibly frustrating and difficult for someone accustomed to having sharp hearing and clear sight to accept.

Before long, Hu Li closed his mouth. The light sphere pulsed noticeably twice, then rapidly flattened its shape.

There was a protocol before ascending: the "Heavenly Inquiry." Put simply, before ascending, cultivators had to answer a question posed by the heavens.

Hu Li had, of course, asked the demon immortal who informed him about this regarding the content of the inquiry. Unfortunately, he had pressed three times, and the senior had dodged the question each time, refusing to reveal even a hint.

In the world of cultivation, higher cultivation levels commanded absolute authority. Each time Hu Li inquired, he was essentially risking his life. After the third time, he caught a glimpse of the demon immortal’s expression, which had already turned slightly displeased. He dared not ask a fourth time and hurriedly changed the subject to suit the senior's mood.

However, that demon immortal truly favored Hu Li. Before leaving, he suddenly patted Hu Li on the shoulder and hinted, "Do not worry; it is merely a routine inquiry." Pausing, he added with a smile, his eyes crinkling, "Little silver fox, I perceive that you have a great affinity for the immortals. Perhaps in the near future, we can chat like this again in the Spirit Realm."

With that said, the stone in Hu Li's heart finally fell to the ground, and from then on, he stopped worrying about the Heavenly Inquiry.

Facts proved that the demon immortal senior had not deceived him. While the name "Heavenly Inquiry" sounded intimidating, it really was just a "routine inquiry."

If Feng Ke'er could have heard it, she would surely have scoffed: "Who are you? What is your cultivation age? What is your true form? What are your elemental attributes?"

Wasn't this just identity verification?

After Hu Li answered each question truthfully, the light sphere hummed "Mm," and commanded: "Nine-Tailed Silver Fox, I am Guide Number 1034, responsible for escorting you to the Spirit Realm."

Having said this, the light sphere began to transform. Three breaths later, it had become a glowing, disc-shaped object—sunken in the middle and slightly upturned at the edges, still about three meters in diameter.

Where was his master? Hu Li looked back anxiously.

Seeing Feng Ke'er standing lost several dozen feet behind him, he became frantic.

"Master, I am here..."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he spoke, Guide 1034 interrupted him with a drone: "What are you shouting about? You’ll have time to speak later."

Then, Hu Li felt himself gripped by an invisible suction force. By the time he regained his senses, he found he was already standing atop 1034.

"Stand steady!" the thing beneath his feet roared, and its entire body erupted with blinding white light.

The next moment, his vision blurred, and Hu Li heard the sound of rushing wind in his ears. At the same time, his glabella grew intensely hot, and a familiar divine sense slipped through his Qinglian mark and into his sea of consciousness: "Fox, it's me."

Master! Hu Li shivered with excitement.

"Don't make a sound!" The communication continued within his sea of consciousness. "Once this thing beneath you starts glowing, I can't get close. Just now, when it was distracted and interrupted you, it dimmed its light, which allowed me to slip this strand of consciousness in."

Hu Li understood immediately and replied through their mental link: "Understood. I will find a way to distract it again."

Feng Ke'er’s consciousness responded with a firm "Mm," and added, "One breath is enough!"

The words were crisp and filled with absolute confidence. Hu Li nodded: "Understood."

At that moment, 1034 came to a halt.

Hu Li blinked, discovering that he was already high in the air.

"Look, look! What is that?"

"Ascension! Our King is ascending!"

"What kind of treasure is our King stepping on?"

"That is a Flying Immortal Artifact!"

"Oh my, another demon immortal is ascending!"

...

During this time, due to the disturbances at the Heart of the Barrier Sea, many high-level cultivators and humans had rushed to the scene. The onlookers were filled with excitement to witness an ascension. The outskirts of the Heart of the Barrier Sea had never been this lively.

Unfortunately, the two parties in mid-air had no interest in enjoying the people's admiration.

Hu Li was entirely focused on the object beneath his feet. Clearly, the so-called "Guide" was merely a flying treasure that had developed a spirit. Since it had a spirit, it had self-awareness. He wondered how he could make it lose focus for even a single breath.

Meanwhile, 1034 paused for a moment. Seeing that the fellow on its back was like a piece of wood, completely clueless, it grew furious: "You can only say one sentence! Don't dawdle, you're wasting my time."

That sentence took longer than a single breath! Yet, the white light on its body did not vanish!

The fox felt quite dejected: why did it get distracted when he spoke earlier, but not now?

How did he know it hadn't been distracted? Simple: the blinding white light on its body had remained constant.

Seeing the fox's dull and wooden expression, 1034 didn't say it out loud, but it was cursing internally: "Bad luck. I finally managed to snatch this assignment, only to run into a blind, stingy miser."

To put it nicely, they were "Guides," but in reality, they were just transport tools in the Spirit Realm. It had taken a great deal of effort to develop a spirit and join the ranks of cultivators.

They worked themselves to the bone, yet couldn't earn a few spirit stones a day. Especially for these cross-realm escort missions—not only were they extremely draining on spiritual power, but they didn't earn a single cent, and they even had to pay a tribute of one hundred high-grade spirit stones to the ferry terminal beforehand.

Despite this, whenever an escort mission was posted, all the guides in the Spirit Realm would swarm to snatch it.

Why?

Because they could earn more spirit stones from the ascending cultivators.

1034 had paid the price of one hundred high-grade spirit stones to take this job. Yet, the stinky fox on its back didn't seem to have any intention of paying up. How could it not be irritated?

Fortunately, Hu Li possessed the talent of mind-reading and saw through its thoughts. His heart stirred, and he quickly pulled one hundred high-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, placed them by his feet, and said with a fawning smile, "Thank you for your trouble, Guide."

The white light flashed noticeably. The one hundred high-grade spirit stones vanished. 1034 snorted coldly. This was the capital! It couldn't possibly run to the ferry terminal for nothing, could it?

While collecting the spirit stones, although the thing didn't lose focus, it did dim its white light! Hu Li was overjoyed. He deliberately acted as if he were in pain, pulled another fifty high-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, and tossed them carelessly by his feet.

1034 counted them and took them all. It still snorted coldly, showing no intention of setting off.

The time the white light dimmed exceeded half a breath! The fox was incredibly happy. To be safe, this time, he took out five hundred high-grade spirit stones and deliberately piled them messily at his feet.

"That's more like it." 1034 dimmed its white light and counted the stones, all while urging him with a drone: "Hurry up, the passage won't stay open for long."

Hu Li was overjoyed and quickly brushed aside the clouds around him, leaning over to look down. But, where could the master be in the Heart of the Barrier Sea?

"I've already come up," Feng Ke'er communicated through their mental link. "I'm hiding in your right ear." 1034’s cultivation was not high; without the restriction of the white light, its power was equivalent to that of an ordinary human cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. Therefore, she only needed to use her Shrinking Art and Invisibility Art to handle it easily. Of course, for safety, she had donned her Phoenix Jade Pendant beforehand.

Hu Li nervously reached up and covered his right ear tightly.

Feng Ke'er giggled: "Don't be nervous. Your ear canal is winding; it’s quite spacious in here."

At this moment, 1034 had finished its business and asked out of curiosity: "So, you're about to ascend, don't you want to give any final instructions to your juniors?"

Hu Li reached up to adjust his new silver robe, sighed, and acted as if he were concerned: "Forget it, everything that needed to be said has already been passed down."

"Alright then, let's set off!" 1034 exclaimed happily, its body erupting once more with blinding white light.

By now, the passage was fully open. The fiery-red auspicious clouds that had once piled up like mountains had dissipated. The sky was as clear as blue jade, without a single cloud—what a bright and sunny day!

Hu Li rode atop 1034, transforming into a white meteor, and in the blink of an eye, dove into the boundless sea of clouds.

Below him, the earth receded rapidly.

Above his head appeared a deep blue, transparent, arched barrier.

That was the boundary between the lower realm and the Spirit Realm.

In the past, Hu Li had piloted his cloud-boat into the sea of clouds countless times, trying to approach the barrier. But even though it looked right in front of him, it had always remained unreachable.

Now, after thirty thousand years of striving, his goal was about to be realized. As he looked up at the barrier drawing ever closer, Hu Li’s heart leaped into his throat, and he clenched his hands into tight fists.

"What's wrong?" Sensing his nervousness, Feng Ke'er asked via divine sense.

"Tribulation lightning..." Hu Li frowned.

He had just inspected his Dantian sea. It had more than doubled in size, and a new barrier had formed. In other words, he had indeed succeeded in advancing. His current cultivation was at the first level of the Seventh Tier. However, the phantom image of the demon essence remained within his Dantian. He knew this was because the three bolts of tribulation lightning had not yet descended.

He wasn't afraid in his heart, but he had reservations. After all, his master was currently hiding in his right ear.

Hearing this, Feng Ke'er also thought it was strange: according to the knowledge provided by the Sect Master, the ascension tribulation lightning should clearly descend before the ascension. That was why she had assumed the fiery-red clouds above the Heart of the Barrier Sea were the fox's tribulation clouds. Yet, after a period of rumbling, the clouds had simply scattered on their own. Could the old Sect Master have misremembered?