After Zhao Sheng withdrew, the Netherworld Ancestor also suddenly disappeared, as if he had only gone to see the new junior.
At this moment, Elder Lingxu turned his head and nodded slightly to Elder Lingyuan beside him. His body suddenly became blurry and disappeared in a flash, leaving only an empty jade chair in the place.
Seeing this, Ancestor Lingyuan couldn't help but smile slightly, knowing that the two had already tacitly agreed to the matter.
However, many high-ranking members of the Spirit Clan did not understand their ancestor's actions.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the main hall of the spirit palace was tense and somber.
After a moment of silence, someone finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Nebula King slammed his hand on the back of his chair, and suddenly a patch of starlight appeared behind him.
He complained, "Ancestor, why are you so biased towards a bastard? Can't you see that this person has a rebellious bone in his head and will surely be a scourge in the future?"
snort!
Upon hearing this, the Ice King sitting opposite him sneered, "A menace? I think you're a menace too, specializing in harming the promising young talents of my clan."
"Ice King, don't make false accusations! I have never harmed any of my people!" King Nebula roared in fury.
At this moment, Ancestor Lingyuan raised his hand, and a vast and powerful pressure immediately spread out, suppressing the two Golden Core Great Perfection cultivators.
"Nebula, may I ask you, how old are you this year?"
Upon hearing the question from the ancestor, King Xingyun dared not be negligent and hurriedly replied respectfully, "Ancestor, Xingyun has been around for 537 years."
After listening, Ancestor Lingyuan nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Hmm, you're already over five hundred years old. How many children do you have now?"
King Xingyun's heart skipped a beat, and he forced himself to say, "Ancestor, please forgive me. I devoted myself to ascetic cultivation in my early years and have no offspring to this day!"
"Hmm, let me ask you again, how many members are in the main line of our clan? How many are in other branches? And how many are of foreign descent?"
"Reporting to the Ancestor, our clan has a total of 182 direct descendants, over 100,000 members of other branches, and 3.4 million descendants from outside the clan." King Xingyun said, his forehead covered in cold sweat, but he dared not wipe it away.
At this moment, the main hall was already enveloped by the immense pressure of Ancestor Lingyuan. Apart from Ancestors Mingwu and Lingxu, everyone else was solemn.
After answering the ancestor's question, King Nebula awaited the ancestor's reprimand.
However, Ancestor Lingyuan fell silent and did not speak for a long time.
This made the atmosphere in the main hall even more somber.
At this moment, Nebula King secretly sensed a series of gazes coming from both sides, filled with various emotions such as sympathy, mockery, schadenfreude, and sighs.
After a moment of silence, Ancestor Lingyuan slowly withdrew his aura and suddenly sighed, "It's so difficult to have offspring! After ten thousand years of reproduction, the clan's population is still less than two hundred thousand. How unfair is this to my Ling clan!"
These words immediately resonated with everyone, who showed expressions of sorrow, anger, and resentment.
At this moment, Ancestor Lingyuan's piercing gaze swept over the group of juniors below, and he said in a deep voice, "How could I not know that little fellow does not wish to join our clan? You are all indignant about this, thinking that he is ignorant of his place. But I disagree. His attachment to his human identity is clearly an excellent quality!"
If it were someone else, what do you think they would choose?
King Tianhe suddenly realized and said first, "Of course! He can't wait to join our clan. Even a fool would know that returning to the Spirit Clan will surely bring him a bright future. With his status as a second-generation member of the Spirit Clan, let alone reaching the Golden Core stage, he has a great chance of even advancing to the Nascent Soul stage."
"The ancestor is absolutely right. That little fellow is extraordinary! Few in the world can resist the temptation of such a meteoric rise. With such a firm will, his resolve in the Dao must be equally strong. Excellent, very good!"
"But this little fellow doesn't want to return to his clan. What should we do!"
"Are you stupid! What can he do if he doesn't want to now? Wait until we send him back to Lingyuan, and then, hundreds of years later, you'll see what choice he makes."
A tall, imposing middle-aged man with silver hair and a jade-like face sitting below the Ice King's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed with delight, "That's right! It would be best to have a bunch of children. With the little guy's bloodline purity, the offspring will surely be exceptionally gifted. I have a daughter named Wang Zhenyin, whose bloodline purity meets the standard of a fourth-generation Spirit Clan member, and she is perfect to be betrothed to him."
"Grandmother, I have a presumptuous request. Why don't you arrange this marriage? Xiao Yin, after all, is your great-great-granddaughter!"
As he spoke, the middle-aged man immediately turned over and knelt down, pleading with Ancestor Lingyuan to make the decision.
Before the ancestor could speak, someone nearby exclaimed impatiently, "You wish! Our clan has at least ten women of marriageable age who meet the standards of a fourth-generation spirit clan. If you wish to form a marriage alliance, you must follow the ancestral rules. A matchmaking meeting!"
"I have a suggestion. The little fellow shouldn't have any bloodline curse! So, marrying only one would be too wasteful! We should marry several more. In addition, we should arrange for at least several dozen concubines and maids."
"Right, didn't our ancestor just—uh!"
Ancestor Lingyuan glared at the reckless fellow and sealed his mouth with a thought.
...
Zhao Sheng was unaware that he had become a highly sought-after man, and that he might very well live the life of a harem with three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines in the future.
After leaving the main hall, he immediately returned to his residence and secluded himself there.
Just as Zhao Sheng was in seclusion refining his newly acquired Chongtao Sword and talisman, the outstanding members of the new generation of the Spirit Clan arrived at the Spirit Palace in batches from the rear, under heavy protection.
Three days later, Zhao Sheng was cultivating with his eyes closed in the cultivation room when suddenly the room shook and the ground trembled slightly.
Zhao Sheng opened his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in them.
At this moment, the Spirit Palace is rising.
"What is this? Could it be that we are setting off for the Star Algae Sea?" he wondered in surprise.
Zhao Sheng guessed correctly.
As the Star God was about to awaken, once all the descendants of his clan had arrived, Ancestor Lingyuan activated his command, lifting up the ten-thousand-year-old camel-mountain tortoise in the Spirit Palace and slowly extending its four pillar-like limbs and a towering, massive head like a mountain peak.
With a slight movement of its limbs, the ancient tortoise's enormous body rose high from the seabed, instantly creating an underwater storm. Powerful undercurrents spread rapidly in all directions, stirring up large amounts of seabed dust and making the seawater within dozens of miles extremely turbid.
The Camel Mountain Turtle slowly floated to the surface of the sea. At this moment, in the square in front of the Spirit Palace, the two ancestors, Ling Yuan and Ling Xu, stood at the forefront, while the Nether Mist Ancestor was nowhere to be found.
Behind the two were eleven Golden Core Spirit Clan members, led by the Ice King, the Heavenly River King, and the Nebula King.
Behind them stood two rows of clansmen: over thirty Foundation Establishment members and over sixty Qi Refining juniors.
Apart from the two Nascent Soul Ancestors and the three Golden Core Kings, the Three Kings and other members of the Spirit Race all obtained core circle quotas and prepared to try to pay homage to the Star God.
The sea tribe has 300 slots.
Ba Haizhang possesses extraordinary talent but lacks intelligence, and has never been favored by the Star God.
The Jiaolong race is too arrogant and proud of its true dragon bloodline. They don't even take miraculous life forms like the Star Gods seriously.
Therefore, the Jiaolong clan doesn't value the quota too much.
In the end, nearly two hundred slots ended up in the hands of the Eldar.
However, the Eldar race will have to allocate half of their quota to other uses.
On the one hand, some places should be allocated to the alien races and monster groups that follow, in order to appease the people.
On the other hand, a portion of the quota will be allocated to recruit promising candidates, such as alien prodigies, exceptionally talented demon beasts, and Golden Core demons.
Therefore, the Spirit Race, with only a few hundred thousand members, was able to lead hundreds of millions of sea beasts and become one of the three major overlords of the ocean.
It's not enough to rely solely on one's own strength; skillful tactics and far-sighted planning are equally indispensable.
...
A moment later, a large shadow appeared on the sea.
Suddenly
A straight "mountain peak" suddenly pierced the sea surface, and seawater flowed down its surface like a waterfall.
The mountain peak rose rapidly like a towering pillar, exceeding a hundred feet in height in the blink of an eye.
As the Camel Mountain Turtle lowered its house-sized head to look down at the sea, a five-mile-wide expanse of seawater suddenly receded in all directions, revealing a circular hole in the center, from which the Spirit Palace slowly rose from the sea.
Russia
The sea surface within a ten-mile radius of the Ling Palace suddenly rose sharply, and large amounts of seawater cascaded down from the edges like waterfalls.
The seawater quickly receded, and a dark blue-green "island" covering an area of about ten miles suddenly appeared on the sea surface.
Standing majestically in the center of the island, the Linggong Palace, bathed in sunlight, resembles a dazzling crystal palace, with every part of its roof, walls, and crystal floor reflecting countless rainbows. From afar, it appears as a dreamlike "fairy palace" on the sea.
Just as the Spirit Palace appeared, the sea within a radius of dozens of miles surged and boiled, with one after another enormous sea beast of different races emerging from the water.
Spirit whales, thunderburst jellyfish, blue demon sharks, transverse sea crabs... each of these giant sea beasts possessed an astonishing aura, and were at least at the third rank or higher.
In particular, the ancient mythical beast, the Henghai Crab, was incredibly large, half the size of the ten-thousand-year-old camel-mountain tortoise that carried the Spirit Palace.
This horizontal sea crab is of the eighth rank and extremely powerful, capable of contending with a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
If the Henghai Crab hadn't been born with low intelligence, it would never have been able to be subdued by the Lingyuan Ancestor and used as a battle pet.
Other sea monsters are also the war pets of the Spirit Race.
The Spirit Race can be said to be the darlings of the sea, naturally favored by sea beasts, making it ten times easier for them to form contracts with sea beast battle pets than for humans.
At this moment, a large group of alien races with different expressions and appearances stood on the back of the Horizontal Sea Crab, each of them possessing considerable strength.
If Zhao Sheng were present, he too would be shocked by the Spirit Clan's formidable strength.
Looking at today alone, the Spirit Clan has as many as three combatants capable of contending with a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator: Ancestor Lingyuan and Hengtian Crab are two of them.
Another often overlooked element is the camel-shaped tortoise that supports the Spirit Palace.
This old tortoise has lived for so long that its strength is simply unfathomable.
People would believe it if you said it had combat power at the Nascent Soul stage.
However, in the last few thousand years, this Camel Mountain Turtle has never unleashed its full power, so that outsiders, apart from the Spirit Clan, have little knowledge of its combat strength limit.
The Spirit Palace and this ancient tortoise are also among the Spirit Clan's most important treasures, second only to the clan's divine artifacts.
Every time the Eldar pays homage to the Star God, they choose to send it out.
On the one hand, it was to ensure the safety of the clansmen, and on the other hand, it was also intended as a deterrent.
...
boom!
A muffled roar suddenly came from underwater. The Camel Mountain Turtle raised its head slightly, and its shell instantly lit up. A large expanse of blue light rose up like a giant wave.
A surge of azure light erupted, and it seemed as if an enormous "azure sun" was rising from the sea.
In an instant, Qingyang carved out a ten-mile-wide "strait" and sped towards the horizon.
A group of battle pets also followed closely along the newly opened "strait".
After the Spirit Clan army left Dragon Head Island, a gray whirlpool suddenly appeared on the sea.
As soon as the gray vortex appeared, countless sea creatures emerged from the sea surface.
In the sky, countless demonic birds formed patches of "dark clouds," and like a herd of sea beasts, they began to slowly "patrol" around Dragon Head Island.
Sirius Arhat, Skeleton Ancestor, and others are hiding on a nearby stretch of sea.
I witnessed the appearance and departure of the Spirit Palace, and saw the Ancestor of the Nether Mist commanding a group of demonic beasts to "protect" Dragon Head Island.
"The strength of the Spirit Race is unfathomable!" the Skeleton Ancestor suddenly sighed.
On the lotus throne, the Bodhisattva of Great Vow sat upright, frowning as he asked, "That Camel Mountain Turtle has probably already reached the tenth level! Why hasn't it chosen to ascend?"
"Hehe! That depends on whether the Spirit Clan is willing or not. What do you say?" A mocking smile suddenly appeared on the beautiful face of the Heavenly Maiden Li Wanru.
At this moment, the Arhat Sirius chanted, "Amitabha! Let us set off!"
"Let's go!" The Sirius King, who had long been impatient, immediately flew away upon hearing this.
With a wave of his hand, Li Wufeng created a blood-red light screen that instantly enveloped the dozen or so people around him. Then, it transformed into a streak of blood-red light and chased after them.
The other Nascent Soul elders also displayed their extraordinary abilities, quickly leading their chosen individuals away.
In the blink of an eye, the sea was deserted.
...
Two weeks later.
In the cultivation room, Zhao Sheng had a pill bottle in front of him containing five Spirit Nourishing Pills, all of which were mid-grade, with one even being a high-grade pill.
He had previously refined more than twenty Spirit-Nourishing Pills.
The lower-grade food has all been eaten; now it's time for the middle-grade food.
He originally wanted to accumulate some more mid-grade elixirs and take them all at once.
But now the situation has changed.
After some deliberation over the past few days, he decided to take all the Spirit Nourishing Pills for himself and try to reach the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible.
After a moment's thought, he poured out his only high-grade Spirit Nourishing Pill and tossed it into his mouth.
The superior elixir truly lives up to its name.
As soon as it entered the mouth, it transformed into a large amount of extremely pure spiritual energy, which rapidly spread from the stomach to the limbs and bones.
Zhao Sheng closed his eyes and, with a thought, guided the spiritual energy to circulate rapidly through his limbs and bones several times before it began to flow into his dantian. At the same time, the twenty-four spiritual energy beads suspended in his dantian also trembled slightly, absorbing the incoming pure spiritual energy into the spiritual energy vortex.
Two hours later, Zhao Sheng felt a refreshing sensation arise within him, and the twenty-fifth spiritual energy bead had already condensed…
Zhao Sheng's face lit up with joy. The effects of this top-grade Spirit Nourishing Pill were equivalent to half a month of meditation and cultivation.
"If I had known that the effects of a top-grade elixir would be so obvious, I should have taken it long ago," Zhao Sheng thought to himself.
Previously, he had been taking low-grade spiritual pills to aid his cultivation, and the results were quite good.
However, as the dosage increases and drug resistance develops, the efficacy of the elixir becomes less and less noticeable.
He tried taking the superior-grade Spirit Nourishing Pill, and to his surprise, its effects were astonishing.