Chapter 256

Chapter 256: The Heavenly Ladder Is About To Break, Ascend Quickly
After she finished looking at the Demonic Beast Egg, Yu Zhao did not go back to her room. Instead, she followed Bai Ling to the outside of his nest.

This was forbidden ground of the White Peacock Clan. Other than Bai Mei, no demon was allowed to come near.

Bai Ling looked at her with a gentle expression and a hint of curiosity on his face as he asked: “Young Friend Yu, do you have something you wish to say to me?”

Yu Zhao had been living on Spirit Mountain for more than ten days, and this was the first time she had come to him of her own accord.

She glanced around, then took a wooden table and two chairs out of her Storage Pouch and made an inviting gesture toward Clan Chief Bai Ling.

Bai Ling happily sat down.

Yu Zhao then took out a tea set and, with smooth, practiced movements, brewed a pot of tea for him.

To be honest, Yu Zhao’s tea skills were only average.

But the tea leaves and water were both top grade, and her actions were clean and neat. Very soon, a rich fragrance of tea filled the air.

Bai Ling laughed and said: “I have stayed on Spirit Mountain for so long that I almost forgot the taste of tea. Today I get to enjoy it thanks to Young Friend.”

Yu Zhao replied: “Chieftain is too polite, please.”

She handed him a cup of tea.

He took a light sip. His eyes brightened a little as he praised: “Good tea.”

Yu Zhao waited until he put the cup down before stating why she had come.

She looked at him and said: “Clan Chief Bai Ling, as far as I know, the Demon Race has not had a single Demonic Beast ascend to the Upper Realm in over a thousand years. What do you think about this?”

As she asked, Yu Zhao watched Bai Ling’s expression closely.

Although Bai Ling hid it very well, Yu Zhao still caught the flash of panic and sorrow in his eyes.

Yu Zhao thought to herself: [Sure enough.]

He clearly also knew that something had gone wrong with the path to Ascend to the Upper Realm.

Yu Zhao had had this doubt in her previous life.

No matter how strong Quan Ye’s bloodline was, he clearly was not of one heart with the Demon Race. Bai Ling was not blind. So why did he help Quan Ye again and again, pouring resources into his cultivation?

Only after Yu Zhao saw Senior Chang Sheng fail his Ascension on the Floating Island, and understood the truth behind why no one in the Cultivation World had successfully undergone Ascension for so many years, did she slowly figure out Bai Ling’s motives.

It was less that Bai Ling was helping Quan Ye, and more that he was trying to win a future for the Demon Race.

Quan Ye’s bloodline meant that he was the Demonic Beast in the Demon Race most likely to achieve Ascension.

If he could ascend to the Upper Realm, he could break the curse of there being no Ascension for so many years.

So even though the hope was slim, Bai Ling still willingly became Quan Ye’s stepping stone, only to lift him higher and help him fly farther.

This painstaking effort moved even Yu Zhao, an outsider.

So Yu Zhao felt that they could actually work together.

The Demon Race and the Human Race were enemies, but not to the point where they had to fight until one side was wiped out.

In front of the life and death of their entire races, their grudges could be set aside for now.

Bai Ling asked in a low voice: “What… what exactly do you know?”

His tone did not reveal much emotion, but the hand gripping the teacup gave away his nervousness.

Yu Zhao said: “It is not that no one can succeed in Ascension. It is that the Ascension Channel has a problem, which causes the Ascension to fail.”

Yu Zhao did not keep him guessing.

With a single sentence, she laid her cards on the table.

Clan Chief Bai Ling suddenly looked at her, his gaze burning: “Is this the conclusion your Five Elements Dao Sect reached?”

Yu Zhao shook her head and said: “No, it is only my personal view.”

She had not yet reported the matter of the Floating Island to her sect, and not many people knew about it. If she used her sect as a shield, it would be easy to give herself away.

Besides, Yu Zhao did not plan to lie to Clan Chief Bai Ling.

Bai Ling let out a soft, disappointed sigh: “Then why would you…”

Yu Zhao said: “Because I saw it, and I heard it.”

She looked at him and spoke slowly: “I saw Senior Chang Sheng standing on the Heavenly Ladder, yet he could not take the last step. I heard Senior Chang Sheng cry out in despair, lamenting the decline of the Cultivation World. I was born in the Cultivation World, and its mark is branded in my body. I cannot stand aside, and I will not sit and wait for death. So I came.”

Many different emotions flashed through Yu Zhao’s eyes.

She had never wanted to be a Sage.

She did not think she was a Sage either.

Just as the Great Dao is formless and gives birth to heaven and earth; the Great Dao is emotionless and moves the sun and moon; the Great Dao is nameless and nourishes all things.

Yu Zhao was only doing what she felt she should do.

Bai Ling’s body shook.

From Yu Zhao’s eyes, he saw a bright flame.

It was like a scorching fire that wanted to burn the whole world to ashes.

He suddenly felt ashamed for no reason.

Compared to Yu Zhao, he did not seem determined enough.

Because he did not know if his plans would succeed, he hesitated, worried, and sometimes fell into despair.

Bai Ling gave a bitter smile.

He had lived for several hundred years, yet this old peacock was still not as good as a young little girl.

He really was living more and more backwards.

Bai Ling asked: “Yu Zhao, do you know who was the last Demonic Beast in the Cultivation World to undergo Ascension?”

Yu Zhao did not notice that Bai Ling had changed how he addressed her from Young Friend Yu to simply Yu Zhao. Her mind was fully focused on his question.

She thought for a moment and answered: “It was Senior Hong Wei of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan.”

Bai Ling shook his head and said: “No. The last one to ascend to the Upper Realm was our White Peacock Clan’s Ancestral Patriarch, Bai Ling.”

Yu Zhao was surprised.

Whether it was a member of the Demon Race or the Human Race, whenever someone underwent Ascension, multicolored light filled the sky, the Heavenly Ladder descended, and the scene was huge and known to all.

If things were as Bai Ling said, then why was there no record of it in the histories?

Bai Ling narrowed his eyes slightly, as if sunk into memory, and said: “This is actually a secret that is not passed on outside my White Peacock Clan. I only learned of it from the previous chieftain after I took the position.”

As it turned out, over a thousand years ago, when the Great Demon Hong Wei underwent Ascension, the White Peacock Clan’s Ancestral Patriarch Bai Ling happened to summon forth the Heavenly Ladder at almost the same time.

The two Demonic Beasts broke through at nearly the same moment. Their Heavenly Ladders and heavenly signs were almost identical, so aside from the two demon clans themselves, outsiders could not tell them apart.

Hong Wei stepped onto the Heavenly Ladder first and stole all the attention.

Unwilling to let the other clan steal the limelight, Bai Ling made a bold decision.

She suppressed her cultivation level and gave up stepping onto the Heavenly Ladder.

Bai Ling explained: “The Ancestral Patriarch originally planned to wait until the excitement over Hong Wei’s Ascension died down, then summon the Heavenly Ladder again. Who knew that the Heavenly Dao seemed to want to punish those who casually gave up their Ascension.”

“The second time she tried to undergo Ascension, there were no heavenly signs in the sky, and no Heavenly Ladder descended. There was only a single white light that guided the Ancestral Patriarch’s Ascension. The Ancestral Patriarch was angry, but there was nothing she could do. She could only accept Heaven’s second arrangement. But that second time, she also discovered a huge secret.”

Bai Ling looked at Yu Zhao and asked: “Can you guess what that secret was?”

Yu Zhao said each word slowly: “The Heavenly Ladder used for Ascension was broken.”

Bai Ling shuddered in shock: “Y-you really saw it?”

He had thought Yu Zhao’s earlier words were just an excuse, but he had not expected her to guess it exactly.

Yu Zhao did not speak. She only looked at him.

Bai Ling could only continue: “That is right. During her Ascension, the Ancestral Patriarch used a Secret Art to send one sentence back to the clan. She said: ‘The Heavenly Ladder is about to break, ascend quickly.’”

“At the time, the chieftain and a few clan elders did not understand what she meant, so they kept it hidden and did not spread it.”

“Only many years later, when no one in the Cultivation World could ascend to the Upper Realm anymore, did the chieftain’s words come true.”

For many years, the White Peacock Clan had been searching for a Method to Restore the Heavenly Ladder.

However, for some unknown reason, every clansman who cultivated to the Late Divine Transformation Stage could not take another step forward.

They could not even summon the Heavenly Ladder, much less repair it.

So searching for the descendants of the Azure Dragon Clan became their final solution.