Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Chapter 52 Eternal Life Without Death, Transcending a Hundred Tribulations to Become a True Dragon

The beauty had left, and Zhao Sheng turned to return to the cave.

Just then, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise and quickly walked to a rock wall beside the cave.

Zhao Sheng reached his right hand into a crevice in the rock wall and forcefully pulled out a huge claw, "sharp as a knife."

The lower half of the claw was attached to a bloody chunk of flesh, which still had two broken scales hanging from it.

The upper half of the claw, however, was a half-human height, knife-like sharp claw.

Needless to say, this was something left behind by the unfortunate Cloud Dragon.

Zhao Sheng held the claw and looked around.

Only then did he notice that the Cloud Dragon had indeed left behind quite a few "good things."

On the slope and nearby rock walls, one could see patches of thick, crimson, and fragrant Dragon Serpent True Blood.

Between rocks and on the slope, there were also bits of Dragon Serpent Blood and Flesh, hanging in small, varying sizes, and occasionally there were intact or broken Dragon Serpent Scales.

Zhao Sheng was overjoyed by the sight,

For the Dragon Serpent, being one of the top True Dragon Species, every part of its body was a treasure.

The Dragon Serpent Core was a top-grade spiritual item used for refining Golden Cores. Its blood and flesh could be used for alchemy and extracting essence blood, and its scales, claws, and bones could be used for artifact refining. Even dragon feces could deter lower-grade demon beasts.

The value of the blood, flesh, and scales fallen from a Golden Core Level Dragon Serpent can be imagined.

Zhao Sheng toiled for the better part of the day to "cleanse" the slope and the surrounding rock walls.

Without suitable containers, he simply carved out two large tubs from stone to separately store the Dragon Serpent True Blood and broken flesh and scales.

As for the claw, Zhang Sheng used his flying sword, a magic artifact, and spent nearly half an hour cutting the claw and the connected bone and flesh apart.

Only a four-foot-long Dragon Claw could barely fit into the Storage Bag.

After moving the two large tubs into the cave to hide, Zhao Sheng's suppressed injury finally flared up again.

His complexion changed, and after barely sealing the cave entrance, he immediately swallowed a Healing Elixir, then sat cross-legged and began channeling Spiritual Power to gradually repair the cracks in his internal organs.

...

Time flew; in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Now, Heavenly Pillar Mountain grew colder by the day, with frequent cold surges that made numerous herb gatherers wail in distress, forcing them to descend the mountain early and wait for the next year's thaw.

Therefore, Heavenly Pillar Mountain had "cooled down," and almost no one could be seen in the area between the first and second levels of the Cloud Sea.

Conversely, the area from the third level of the Cloud Sea upwards was very "lively."

Occasionally, one could see Golden Core Masters either riding Magical Treasures, taming beasts, or simply arriving at Heavenly Pillar Mountain on Cloud Boats.

Most Golden Core Masters upon arrival would directly fly above the third level of the Cloud Sea.

Only a few would go to Pocket World City to look for acquaintances, gauge the situation, and then prepare to head toward some mysterious realm.

Zhao Sheng knew nothing of the outer world's hustle and bustle, nor did he care to pay attention.

In the tunnel, Zhao Sheng wielded a Crane Pickaxe, each swing chipping off a chunk of stone.

He was vigorously engaged in the work.

Since his internal injury had fully healed twenty days ago, Zhao Sheng had devoted most of his energy to the tunnel excavation.

Over half a month, the tunnel had extended more than double its length.

And the concentration of Spiritual Energy around it had increased at an astonishing rate, already far surpassing the highest level of the Spirit Vein at Dragon Carp Lake.

In the past two days, Zhao Sheng had a growing premonition that they were about to reach the end of the tunnel.

Another four hours passed, and as Zhao Sheng's pickaxe struck the stone wall, he suddenly felt a lightness in his hands. Looking again, he saw that most of the Crane Pickaxe had buried itself into a dark hole.

"Haha, we've finally broken through!"

Unable to contain his excitement, Zhao Sheng hurriedly pulled out the Crane Pickaxe and chiseled away more than a dozen times, expanding the hole in front of him to a size big enough for a person to enter.

Staring into the pitch-black, unknown cave ahead, Zhao Sheng removed a Light Ball from the stone wall and threw it into the cave.

As the Light Ball settled inside, Zhao Sheng, using the light, could clearly see the features of the cave.

What surprised him was that the cave was quite spacious, with a diameter exceeding 30 feet.

The surrounding rock walls, except where tree roots had split them, were very smooth; overall, the cave looked like a cylindrical tunnel that could easily accommodate a heavy truck driving through it.

"This is...!"

Seeing this anomaly, Zhao Sheng slowly furrowed his brows, suddenly recalling a secret he had heard about in Pocket World City.

"The spirit worm has a king, its name Mountain Dragon. As large as mountains, its Nascent Soul is not easily deceived. Immortal yet not undying, through a hundred tribulations, it transforms into a True Dragon!"

Zhao Sheng murmured to himself, "Could this tunnel have been drilled by a Mountain Dragon?"

He didn't believe that this tunnel had formed naturally.

Apart from the Mountain Dragon, Zhao Sheng could think of no other powerful demon beast that could move freely through more than 200 feet of mountain depth and drill such a massive tunnel.

A moment later, Zhao Sheng cautiously made his way along the tunnel.

He was fully armed, holding the Small Circulation Talisman Plate in his right hand, and grasping a dim green little arrow in his left; three Water Vortex Shields floated in front of him, and he was covered by two layers of Golden Light Armor.

The tunnel was not completely horizontal, but sloped downward at a thirty-degree angle.

By then, he had noticed that the mysterious tree roots were markers; they not only grew along the tunnel but their direction was also consistent with that of the Spirit Vein.

After walking about three or four miles, Zhao Sheng suddenly found the scene before him opening up, as an underground cave abruptly appeared in front of him.

This cave covered an area of several acres, with a concentration of Spiritual Energy so high that he had never seen it in his life.

He could confirm that this concentration of Spiritual Energy was comparable to that of a Second Order Spiritual Vein.

However, Zhao Sheng's focus wasn't on this.

At that moment, he was shocked by the sight in front of him.

In the vast cave, countless python-like tree roots burst through the stone walls, hanging densely all around.

All the roots ended up embedded in the body of a huge snake-shaped creature in the center of the cave.

The Golden Core Cloud Jiao he had seen before was already considered a giant creature, but compared to this colossal being before him, it was nothing more than a small loach.

Upon first sight, Zhao Sheng was absolutely certain that this colossal being was the Mountain Dragon, no doubt about it.

Not just because it looked like a countless times enlarged earthworm, not just because he saw nests of spirit worms drilling in and out of its body.

The most important reason was the aura it emitted, very similar to that of the Cloud Jiao, resembling the Dragon Might.

Even though this Mountain Dragon had been dead for countless years, the unique, natural pressure of a High-level Dragon Species still lingered, constantly intimidating his spirit.

Zhao Sheng pushed aside the obstructing tree roots and slowly walked towards the Mountain Dragon.

As he drew closer, he was increasingly struck by the massive size of the Mountain Dragon's body. He also felt profoundly moved, lamenting that a powerful creature favored by the heavens such as the Mountain Dragon could also not withstand the Dragon Transformation Tribulation.

"Immortal yet not undying, through a hundred tribulations, it transforms into a True Dragon!"

Looking at the Mountain Dragon's remains, now transformed into rock, Zhao Sheng's expression was full of regret, murmuring almost inaudibly, "...in which tribulation did you perish?"