"Has she arrived?"
The moment he saw the message.
The first thing Wang Mu thought of was that Little Kun Kun was about to leave, and he actually felt a bit reluctant to part.
[Wang Mu: When and where?]
[Mr. Lee: Seven days from now. The location should be the Ascending Immortal Platform in your Lower Realm. The Upper Realm has sensed your Lower Realm; someone down there is about to Ascend, and according to the timing, we're also coming down to guide the Crossing Tribulation.]
So the Upper Realm also knows about this grand Ascension ceremony?
It's just that in the past, no one ever came down?
[Wang Mu: Okay]
[Mr. Lee: You have helped the Upper Realm this time; when the time comes, you may go with her… and cultivate in the Upper Realm together.]
Wang Mu's eyelid twitched.
How could that be?
He'd finally waited until Heroine Yan and the others were going to Ascend; what would he be running up there for?
Isn't it better to stay honestly in the Lower Realm, cultivating leisurely?
[Wang Mu: That doesn't follow the rules, does it? That Immortal official only tried to bring his own descendant up to the Upper Realm and already violated your Upper Realm laws, didn't he? How could I go up there? No, no, I can't let you, Mr. Lee, break the Upper Realm's rules on my account!]
[Mr. Lee: …]
[Wang Mu: As for a reward, I actually didn't do much. How about this: I have a few friends who are just about to Ascend. I hope when the time comes you can look after them a little…]
[Mr. Lee: You don't want any other reward? Cultivating in the Upper Realm is much faster than in the Lower Realm, and the opportunities you can get are far more…]
Wang Mu firmly refused, saying that the Nine Provinces were his homeland, and as a mere Cultivator, he ought to rely on his own strength to Ascend.
How could he rely on such a shortcut?
If his Taoist Heart was damaged, that would absolutely not do.
In the end, Mr. Lee said nothing more, tacitly agreeing.
"Xiao Muli… From the sound of it, could she be related to Xiao Li?" Wang Mu pondered inwardly.
The same surname.
Even if not, she should still be someone from the Immortal Dynasty, right?
From the sound of it she's even a Female fairy.
"It shouldn't be anything major…"
"It's just returning two items. And for this trip down to the Lower Realm, her main duty should still be to guide those about to Crossing Tribulation and Ascend…"
"As for my side, those Magic Treasures are just something to pick up on the way back…"
Wang Mu nodded slightly, affirming his own speculation.
It had been a thousand years; a Lower World Outer World Immortal Crossing Tribulation to Ascend—that was a major event among major events!
The Upper Realm had already sensed it!
That meant this time, they were really going to Ascend and leave!
Wang Mu sighed inwardly. Did this count as having completed his mission?
He rose and looked outside the house.
Under the azure blue sky with clouds rolling for ten thousand miles, in the distance Gu Yun Mountain was wreathed in Immortal Energy, and at the same time, many Flying Sword-shaped Immortal Boat Magical Artifacts appeared.
This was clearly a large-scale expedition by the Sword Sect.
And the entire sect was going.
"Looks like this Ascension ceremony is no ordinary matter…"
"It's even more over the top than the last Magpie Bridge Festival…"
Stepping out of the wooden hut, two streaks of flowing light descended from the sky right on cue. Wang Mu fixed his gaze and saw that they were disciples of the Sword Sect.
The two disciples cupped their hands and said:
"Senior Brother Wang, the Sect Leader sensed you were cultivating in seclusion here and sent the two of us to greet you, and to invite you to go to Qianzhou's Ascending Immortal Platform to attend the Ascension ceremony."
Wang Mu nodded, first saying his goodbyes to the village chief and the others, then followed the two of them onto Master Cheng's Sword Heart Mysterious Boat.
Cheng Fengshou stood at the very front of the Immortal Boat, hair white as snow, lightly stirred by the breeze filtered by the boat, exuding the aura of an unmatched Sword Immortal.
Ever since Heroine Yan failed her last Crossing Tribulation, the Sword Sect's Qi Fortune had shifted, and the strength of the major Peak Leaders had all successively reached the Divinity Transformation Realm.
For the generation that inherited the Sword Sect, their strength could already be considered formidable.
"Master Cheng." Wang Mu walked forward, glancing left and right. "For this Ascension ceremony, is the whole sect going?"
Cheng Tianyong nodded slightly:
"Of course. This concerns Elder Yan standing atop the Nine Provinces. Besides, during Ascension discussions, if we can comprehend even a little, we will benefit greatly."
At this point, Cheng Tianyong paused, a hint of reminiscence in his gaze.
"I remember back at the last Ascension ceremony, I had just entered the sect and my cultivation was only at Qi Cultivation Peak. Yet I was able to witness Elder Yan's peerless bearing once. Not long after I returned, I established Foundation and comprehended my Sword Heart."
"Qi Cultivation Peak?" Wang Mu was puzzled. "With that Realm, could you see the battles between Ascension Experts clearly?"
He had seen Ascension Experts fight once; that was simply heaven and earth turning, sun and moon hanging upside down. At most he could sense some residual waves of aura; seeing clearly was out of the question.
"Naturally not." Cheng Tianyong said, "However, the residual waves scattered during the fight, even a single strand of spilled sword light, Sword Intent, are already enough."
"…" Wang Mu.
"Actually, the Ascension ceremony at the beginning…" Cheng Tianyong suddenly said, "was only a gathering of Ascension Experts. Those below Ascension had no qualification to participate, nor to watch. They sat and debated the Dao, hoping to use battle to break through bottlenecks, climb another step higher, or even suddenly comprehend Ascension and cross that final threshold."
"That is the origin of the Ascension ceremony."
"At that Realm, normal cultivation already makes it very difficult to have any further breakthroughs. And Ascension Experts tug one hair and the whole body moves; even making a move easily draws suppression from the Heavenly Dao Rules. Thus they simply agreed on a time to all gather together, and in this way set aside factions, Dao lineages and all sorts of prejudices, purely as Ascending Immortal Cultivators, to fight and comprehend the Dao. To grasp that thread of Tianji…"
"After an Ascension ceremony, there will often be Ascension Experts who comprehend the Dao and attempt Crossing Tribulation."
Cheng Tianyong pondered a few seconds before saying, "It's just a pity that up to now, there have been quite a few who comprehended the Dao, but not a single one has successfully Crossing Tribulation and Ascended. As things stand, the ones with the greatest hope are still those few…"