Chapter 150: The Immortal Ascension Platform

Number 1034 was moving faster and faster, making Hu Li feel as though a massive boulder were pressing down on his chest, growing increasingly suffocating. The howling wind felt like tiny blades, preventing him from opening his eyes, and his ears felt as if they had been sealed shut by something. For a moment, he could neither hear nor see clearly, and his stomach churned violently; the discomfort was beyond words.

"Master..." he gritted his teeth, steadying his posture, and asked Feng Ke'er within his sea of consciousness, "Are you alright?"

Feng Ke'er was, of course, doing better than ever. At that moment, she was soaking in the hot spring of her mustard-seed space, scrubbing herself vigorously—a fox is a fox, after all. Although he had taken human form, his ear canals were still densely packed with fine silver fluff, and they carried a pungent, lingering scent of fox musk.

Feng Ke'er had only sat deep within the ear canal for a moment before the foul odor made her dizzy and breathless.

Good heavens, this was torture. One more second, and she would become the first "stowaway" in the history of cultivation to be suffocated to death by fox body odor!

Driven to her limit, she gritted her teeth and resolutely attempted to escape into her space orb. To her surprise, she succeeded!

When she drilled back out, the stench surged in again—she had returned to the dead fox’s ear canal.

Feng Ke'er couldn't help but weep—if she had known this would work, she would have ducked into the space orb the moment she entered the ear canal.

However, hiding in the space orb meant she was covered in that wretched, lingering scent.

Was she really going to land in the Spirit Realm carrying this soul-crushing odor? Heavens, just smash me to death with a brick! The greedy girl thought of the hot spring in her mustard-seed space.

With a flick of her intent, she found herself standing by the pool.

Another flick, and she was back in the depths of the ear canal.

After repeating this three times without a single hitch, Feng Ke'er finally felt bold enough to retreat into the mustard-seed space to scrub-a-dub-dub.

Hearing Hu Li’s telepathic inquiry, she replied while continuing to scrub, "I’m fine. Fox, Number 1034 is accelerating too quickly; it’s only natural to feel uncomfortable. You could try practicing the first form of Qigong." In the modern world, she had once been lucky enough to accompany the old dean on an official trip and taken her only plane ride. During takeoff and landing, the rapid change in speed had made her feel dizzy and tight-chested—it was miserable. Since the journey began, Number 1034 had been constantly accelerating; the rate of increase was faster than any plane, or even a rocket or horse. Therefore, it was normal for the fox to feel unwell. Based on her experience, it was best to take a few deep breaths. However, this journey would last much longer than a takeoff or landing, so she suggested he practice the first form of Qigong—the first layer of the Heart-Clearing Mantra. The first three of the eight Qigong forms were simply copied from the first three layers of the Heart-Clearing Mantra. The Master of Tongtian had not passed the final two layers of the mantra to her. She had organized her own insights on cultivation after forming her core into five forms and combined them with the first three layers of the Heart-Clearing Mantra to create a complete cultivation technique. Because the Master of Tongtian was very protective of the intellectual property of the Heart-Clearing Mantra, she named this technique the "Eight Qigong Forms." When it came to regulating one's breath and nourishing the spirit, she believed there was nothing better than the first layer of the Heart-Clearing Mantra, which was the first form of Qigong.

Hu Li listened and did as he was told, sitting cross-legged, regulating his breath, and practicing the first form. Sure enough, he felt much better.

After half an incense stick of time, Number 1034 called out, "We've arrived!"

Hu Li opened his eyes and was momentarily stunned.

At that moment, Number 1034 was moored at the foot of a massive, brownish rock surrounded by auspicious clouds. The boulder stood over ten zhang high, looking as if it had been cut by a blade or an axe; it was perfectly square with distinct, sharp edges. Standing at its base, Hu Li felt like nothing more than a tiny ant. A sense of powerlessness he hadn't felt in a long time swept through his meridians. He felt a baseless dread, his hands grew weak, and his legs trembled.

On the side facing them were three gleaming golden characters. Unfortunately, they were not in the common script of the lower realms. Hu Li could not recognize a single one!

This was just great—he had ascended to the Spirit Realm only to become blind! The fox felt even more panicked and uneasy.

Poor child! Look, this "welcoming gift" had really crushed him. Feng Ke'er had cleaned herself up long ago. However, arriving in a strange place, she didn't dare to put herself at risk, so she remained sitting cross-legged in her space orb. Because a sliver of her consciousness remained in Hu Li's mind, she saw what he saw and felt what he felt.

"It’s fine, it’s just the 'Ascension Platform.' Give Number 1034 some spirit stones and ask him about the method to ascend," she said. She recognized the golden characters as Seal Script.

She didn't expect her master to know the scripts of the higher realms. Hu Li felt as if he had just woken from a dream, admiring her to the point of prostration. He murmured an "Oh," and haphazardly pulled a large handful of high-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, placing them at his feet as he had done before, and asked, "May I ask..."

Unexpectedly, Number 1034 cut him off unceremoniously, scolding him loudly and righteously: "Nine-Tailed Fox, this Guide has been dispatched by the Reception Bureau to oversee your ascension. I have safely delivered you to the Ascension Platform and completed my mission; the Bureau will naturally add to my merit. What is the meaning of this behavior?"

What was going on? Hu Li was incredibly embarrassed. The pile of high-grade spirit stones at his feet was an eyesore.

"Pfft!" Feng Ke'er laughed in anger. Why was this scene so familiar? It was a blatant case of "setting up a memorial archway for one's own chastity!" It seemed the waters of the Spirit Realm were even deeper and murkier than those below!

"He’s just complaining it’s too little and wants to maintain a good reputation. Since he doesn't want them, just take them back," she scoffed disdainfully.

Hu Li gritted his teeth and crouched down, pretending to be flustered while picking up the stones, whispering apologies: "Forgive me, forgive me. My storage bag is of poor quality and has fallen apart, which is why the stones spilled out. Your grace is noble and incorruptible, and I would never dare to soil it!" As he picked up each stone, he took two more out of his bag.

In this way, more and more stones "spilled" out.

Number 1034 withdrew the white light covering him, his tone softened significantly, and he stopped using official jargon: "Forget it, you lower-realm cultivators are ignorant, and I won't lower myself to your level. However, Nine-Tailed Fox, don't say I didn't warn you. There are two prohibitions for False Immortals climbing this platform for the first time. First, you cannot use a single bit of spiritual power; second, you cannot use any flying immortal artifacts. The platform may look only nine point nine zhang high, but it is slippery. For a demon immortal with low magic power like you, who knows how long it will take to climb up!"

Climbing it by hand? Hearing this, Hu Li’s attractive fox eyes turned into spirals. Heaven, he was a silver fox, not a spirit monkey; how was he supposed to climb that!

With a shake of his hand, the amount of "spilled" spirit stones doubled.

Number 1034 was finally satisfied and lowered his voice to a mosquito-like buzz: "Nine-Tailed Fox, do you see that white stone beast on the shore? It’s called a Cloud Crane. If you put a hundred spirit stones in its mouth, it will come to life. Put in another hundred, and it will grant you one request. Cloud Cranes are excellent at flying; they are the best for reaching the top of the Ascension Platform. But if it asks, don't you dare say I told you." Then, he loudly added, "Time is running out, and I must return to the pier to report. Nine-Tailed Fox, hurry up and climb. I wish you a successful ascent, hahahaha—"

There were three tiers of white jade steps surrounding the Ascension Platform. The third tier was three times as wide as the others. Every zhang, there stood a life-sized stone carving of a Cloud Crane. They were in various poses—some spreading their wings to fly, others standing on one leg... However, with a little observation, one could see they all shared one characteristic—every single one of them had its mouth wide open!

It must be for the convenience of False Immortals tossing in spirit stones! Feng Ke'er curled her lip. Just to climb a platform and it costs two hundred high-grade spirit stones; it seemed the cost of living in the Spirit Realm wasn't low at all.

"Many thanks, Envoy!" Hu Li let out a sigh of relief. Being too excited by the sight of the Ascension Platform, he waved his hand in a rush, turned around, and leaped onto the first tier of white jade steps. He had no time to worry about picking up the pile of "spilled" spirit stones.

Almost the moment he jumped onto the steps, a flash of white light occurred, and Number 1034 vanished in a blink. It was clearly in a hurry to report back.

Hu Li stood before a stone crane that appeared to be in deep thought and tossed a hundred high-grade spirit stones into its large mouth.

With a flash of green light, the stone crane came to life.

"Why do you summon me?" Its voice was cold, lacking the chatter of Number 1034.

Hu Li cupped his hands and requested, "I wish to ascend the Ascension Platform and ask for your assistance."

The Cloud Crane eyed him up and down: "Who told you about this?"

Hu Li shook his head: "No one told me. I cannot climb the platform and had no other choice, so I dared to try. I did not expect to awaken the crane. Please forgive my offense."

The Cloud Crane snorted: "One hundred spirit stones."

This one was much more straightforward than Number 1034. Hu Li quickly took out another hundred high-grade spirit stones and offered them with both hands.

The Cloud Crane swallowed them without hesitation, spread its wings, and glared at him: "Are you not getting on?"

Hu Li stepped up and sat on its back.

"Chirp—" The Cloud Crane let out a long cry and shot upward like an arrow released from a bow.

In the blink of an eye, they reached the top of the Ascension Platform.

Hu Li jumped off the crane's back. Before he could even offer a word of thanks, the crane flapped its wings, dove down, and plummeted off the platform.

"Hey—" A haughty voice called out from behind him.

Hu Li turned his head and saw two young women wearing black gauze round hats standing with their hands tucked into their sleeves about ten zhang away.

One of them hooked her finger at him and gave a devious smirk: "Hey, you there, the newly ascended False Immortal, come over here!"