Chapter 416: The Destination of Ascension

Chapter 416: Chapter 169: The Destination of Ascension

Even after a successful breakthrough, the rejuvenation effect had its limits.

‘So this is what the Bodhisattva Realm feels like?’ Xu Lei mused.

He could feel that the Magical Power in his Lower Dantian was indeed several times more potent than before.

But just then, before Xu Lei could think any further, another beam of light shot down. It wrapped around him completely and began pulling him up into the sky. The force was so immense that Xu Lei realized he might not be able to break free.

After ascending to the Bodhisattva Realm, he found he was still rather weak. He had reached this new Realm, but only just. He hadn’t yet brought his Magical Power to the level of Perfection for this stage. In fact, the breakthrough had consumed all the energy he had previously accumulated.

The mysterious Flame from before had tempered his Origin, refining it into a smaller, but higher-quality, droplet.

He would have to cultivate further, slowly restoring his Magical Power to Perfection. Only then would he be able to unleash the true combat strength of this Realm.

“I don’t want to just ascend like this!” Xu Lei struggled. “Let me go!”

But it was no use. Xu Lei found he couldn’t break free.

The reason he didn’t want to ascend so directly was, of course, because of that Fat Buddha.

The man already knew what Xu Lei looked like, and Xu Lei hadn’t altered his appearance. Although he had become younger, he now coincidentally looked about the same age he was when the Fat Buddha had first seen him.

Therefore, Xu Lei was genuinely worried. If he ascended just like this, would he run right into that Fat Buddha?

After all, in all these years, Xu Lei had only ever seen two visitors from the heavens: one was Bodhisattva Guan Yun, and the other was that Fat Buddha.

When Hui Ming ascended, Bodhisattva Guan Yun had even come personally to guide him. So, it was hard to say whether he would encounter the Fat Buddha after going up.

And if he was spotted, Xu Lei’s secret of being able to resurrect could be exposed.

That was why Xu Lei didn’t want to ascend so directly.

But he couldn’t refuse now, not unless he killed himself on the spot, which would just be a waste of a life.

Besides, even if he did commit suicide, his corpse might still be taken up, and he would be discovered all the same. After thinking it over, Xu Lei stopped struggling.

‘Might as well just ascend and see what happens,’ he thought. ‘It doesn’t matter, even if the secret of my resurrection is exposed.’

‘My secret of being able to reincarnate, however, probably won’t be revealed.’

‘Bai Ling wouldn’t say anything, would she? Can Bodhisattva Guan Yun control Bai Ling’s mind? No, that’s probably impossible,’ Xu Lei thought.

‘At most, she could probably imprison someone’s physical body. To completely control another person’s mind… something like that is too heaven-defying. I’ve never heard of it, not even in the ancient records.’

‘Even if an Ancient Spirit Immortal were to control someone, they would only place a Restriction on the person’s Soul Origin, just like the contract Xu Lei had with Qing Lian back then.’

‘But even then, Xu Lei couldn’t completely control Qing Lian’s mind; he could only kill her with a single thought if she ever betrayed him.’

‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘I started with ten thousand lives, and I’ve only used a few so far.’

‘When I first transmigrated, I was bitten to death by a poisonous snake in the forest. That’s one life gone.’

‘Lived a full lifetime. That’s another life gone.’

‘In my second life, I was killed by Mei Xiong and the other Enchantresses, and my resurrection cost me a life.’

‘When that second life ended, that was another life gone.’

‘Then I was killed by that Fat Buddha, and resurrecting cost me another life.’

‘All in all, I’ve only used five lives so far. I still have nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-five left.’

With this thought, Xu Lei wasn’t so afraid anymore.

As his body continued to rise, Xu Lei looked down. He watched the mountain peak he’d been on shrink into the distance. Looking out to the sides, he saw cities become tiny specks, and the people bustling within them looked no different from ants.

At the same time, the astral winds in the sky grew more ferocious.

There is a zone high in the sky where these winds are terrifyingly powerful, which is why ordinary Cultivators don’t dare to fly too high.

Of course, the power of reception shielded Xu Lei, preventing him from being harmed by these astral winds.

After passing through this ferocious region, he arrived in a relatively calm area. Here, white clouds swirled about, and Xu Lei was completely enveloped in a white mist.

‘I’m getting close to the altitude where I saw Bodhisattva Guan Yun and the others disappear!’

Xu Lei’s heart leaped into his throat as his eyes scanned his surroundings warily. ‘Where do you actually go after Ascension? Is it outer space, or another dimension? Am I finally about to get the answer?’

He had been plagued by this question ever since he watched Bodhisattva Guan Yun vanish with Hui Ming all those years ago.

He had no way of finding the answer back then. He never imagined that after several hundred years of fleeting time, he would also cultivate to this stage and be guided upward himself.

The power of reception continued to carry Xu Lei ever higher. Soon, however, he discovered that it wasn’t taking him into outer space. After reaching a certain altitude above the clouds, he seemed to pass through a thin membrane, and his vision instantly changed.

Previously, as he was being pulled upward, he could look up and see the depths of space, even catching the light of distant planets in the vast, starry sky.

But now, when Xu Lei looked up, he could no longer see space. He had entered a world of boundless white, and before him stood an incredibly majestic palace.

The pulling force guided Xu Lei to a massive plaza in front of this palace.

This plaza was also filled with white mist. The mist was just clouds from the sky, not some so-called immortal Qi.

After landing, Xu Lei found that the plaza was solid beneath his feet.

‘So Ascension doesn’t lead to outer space after all, but to another dimension high above the sky? Was that power of reception being emitted by this Celestial Palace? Is this Celestial Palace a powerful Magical Artifact? Was it left behind by the Ancient Immortals and Buddhas?’

Xu Lei stared at the palace before him, then glanced left and right as he wondered, ‘So Hui Ming, Xin’er, and Qing Lian… they all came here? But why haven’t they ever descended to the world below in all these years?’

‘It’s understandable that Hui Ming wouldn’t come looking for me, since he wouldn’t know what I look like after reincarnating—he might not even know I can reincarnate at all. But Zhao Xin is his daughter. Shouldn’t he have gone down to see her at least once? And yet, in all the years that passed, Hui Ming never appeared!’

‘When Xin’er ascended, she was also very reluctant to leave me. If she could have gone back down, she wouldn’t have just waited for me to come up. But she never came looking for me! The same goes for Qing Lian!’

‘So why can’t you leave after ascending here? Why can’t you return to the Mortal World below? But if that’s the case, how can Bodhisattva Guan Yun and that Fat Buddha go down?’

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Xu Lei did not head directly into the Celestial Palace.

The moment he felt the pulling force around his body disappear, Xu Lei immediately turned, intending to leave the Celestial Palace and return to the world below.

But as he tried to turn and leave, Xu Lei felt an invisible barrier outside the Celestial Palace. It trapped him there, making it impossible to get out.

‘So this is why Xin’er and Qing Lian never came back to find me?’

Xu Lei’s brows furrowed. ‘Why does this Celestial Palace trap Ascenders? What was the “great matter” Bodhisattva Guan Yun spoke of back then? Was she being kind, or is this all some conspiracy? Are Hui Ming, Xin’er, and Qing Lian, who are trapped here, even still alive?’

Just as Xu Lei was pondering this, a voice boomed from within the Celestial Palace. A figure flew out, speaking as he came, “Hahaha! To think another person has ascended. Looks like our Sun Palace is about to get a little more lively!”