The Past: An Ascension Scam?

The white bones were as white as jade, like a piece of jade, rather than bones.

The surface of the skeleton shimmered with a fluorescent light, making the entire skeleton look incredibly sacred.

Just by looking at the skeletons in front of him, Li Yunjing felt his consciousness was greatly impacted, and he was even about to faint.

At the same time, Li Yunjing heard a murmur in his ear.

The murmurs came and went, but Li Yunjing was too deep in thought to hear them clearly.

"Wake up!"

At this moment, Zhang Jianchen shouted loudly.

It was like a hammer blow to Li Yunjing's head.

Li Yunjing's spirits immediately lifted.

The heavy weight of consciousness seemed to be pulled back by someone's hand, and he quickly awoke.

Li Yunjing opened his eyes and shook his head.

Looking at the other four, Xiao Tianxing and the other three were in no better condition than Li Yunjing.

Like Li Yunjing, she was also in a daze.

With Zhang Jianchen's help, all four of them recovered.

Unlike Li Yunjing, who regained consciousness quickly, the four of them were still clutching their heads, feeling a headache.

Just then, the murmured voice appeared in Li Yunjing's ear once again.

"I shouldn't have... the scam... ascension... I hate it..."

Li Yunjing heard it more clearly this time, but the murmurs were intermittent, leaving Li Yunjing confused.

"Ascension? A scam? What does this mean?" Li Yunjing was completely bewildered.

Does this mean that the ascension of cultivators from the Tianyuan Origin Realm to the Upper Realm is a hoax, and that ascension is actually impossible, or that the Upper Realm doesn't even exist?

But this shouldn't be the case.

Throughout the history of the Tianyuan Five Provinces, many cultivators have successfully ascended to immortality.

Even just three hundred years ago, a Tribulation Transcendence True Lord ascended to heaven in the presence of all the cultivators of the Tianyuan Five Provinces.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time.

The entire process was even recorded and has been passed down to this day.

So many cultivators have successfully ascended to immortality; how could ascension be a scam?

It can't be said that all these ascended cultivators were maintaining a scam.

If that's the case, then what is the purpose?

Li Yunjing really couldn't understand it.

"Yunjing, what's wrong?"

At this moment, Zhang Jianchen turned to look at Li Yunjing and asked curiously.

Although he didn't know what Li Yunjing had gone through, Zhang Jianchen noticed something was wrong with Li Yunjing.

Li Yunjing hesitated for a moment, then said:

"Leader, I heard a murmur..."

Li Yunjing recounted his ordeal.

"Oh? Is that so?" Zhang Jianchen was also surprised.

Li Yunjing really wanted to ask Zhang Jianchen what his opinion was on this matter.

But since Zhang Jianchen was the leader of the alliance, Li Yunjing couldn't ask him directly.

But Zhang Jianchen then took the initiative to explain:

"Actually, the idea of an ascension scam is a widely circulated claim."

Generally speaking, some cultivators, through various fortuitous opportunity, witnessed certain events in the upper realm.

What they saw was very strange: all the ascended cultivators were being kept as provisions.

Meanwhile, a group of monsters disguised in human skin roam freely in the upper realm.

This story spread among the group, leading to the claim that it was an ascension scam.

Upon hearing this, Li Yunjing looked puzzled.

This sounds somewhat familiar.

Is the lower realm merely a granary for cultivators of the upper realm?

"Alliance Leader, this can't be true, can it?" Li Yunjing couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Jianchen smiled, "Half true, half false."

"Ah?" Li Yunjing exclaimed in surprise.

"The truth is that some ascended cultivators in the lower realms were indeed treated as reserve food."

As for the fake part, it's that the cultivators used as reserve food were all selected.

"Not all ascended cultivators are like this," Zhang Jianchen said.

Upon hearing this, Li Yunjing was even more puzzled.

Zhang Jianchen continued to explain:

"Actually, I learned about this from the ancestral master of the upper realm."

There is a celestial sect in the upper realm that violates human ethics by secretly placing some Secret Method into the lower realm in order to select certain special cultivators.

After these cultivators practice these Secret Method, they will be marked by this immortal sect.

Once the time for ascension arrives, this immortal sect will take action, capture all these cultivators, and then keep them as pets.

Then, the cultivators of this immortal sect will refine the ascended cultivators into human pills.

Those lower-realm cultivators who witnessed this were those who had practiced Secret Method and had been marked.

They thought that this was the case throughout the upper realms, but that's not true; only they would encounter this situation.

Li Yunjing was deeply shocked upon hearing this.

The matter of human elixir is a taboo among cultivators and even within the entire cultivation Immortal Realm.

The so-called "human elixir" is the process of refining a cultivator into a spiritual elixir.

Humans are one of the most beloved creatures of heaven and earth.

Cultivators absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to cultivate, and contemplate the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth to practice.

It can be said that cultivators are more suitable for refining pills than spirit medicine herbs.

Therefore, some unscrupulous individuals from the Tianyuan Five Provinces have gone astray and turned to Evil Dao.

They captured a large number of cultivators to refine elixirs.

In particular, cultivators at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realm were subjected to large-scale hunting and killing.

These two cultivators, one condensing their essence, energy, and spirit into a Golden Core, are practically perfect alchemy materials.

One can break through the elixir Nascent Soul Condensation the nascent soul, reaching even greater heights, and is also an excellent material for alchemy.

The human pills refined by cultivators at these two levels have surprisingly good effects.

This resulted in a near-complete shortage of Golden Core and Nascent Soul Cultivator during that dark period.

Once a cultivator reaches the Foundation Establishment Perfection, they dare not break through to the next level.

After all, although Foundation Establishment can also be overthrown, they can still survive compared to Golden Core cultivators.

Once you reach the Golden Core, you definitely won't live more than three days.

Fortunately, someone came along and ended that dark period.

And since then, the cultivation Immortal Realm has established many rules.

The practice of refining human pills has also been designated as taboo.

Li Yunjing never expected that an immortal from the upper realm would do such a thing.

"Such a thing... Alliance Leader, could it be that the White Bone Daoist was marked?" Li Yunjing suddenly thought of something.

Zhang Jianchen nodded slowly. "You're right."

"Do you remember why the White Bone Daoist was able to come back to life? It was because he cultivated a Corpse Liberation Immortal Method."

Li Yunjing's head.

"Remember."

"That Corpse Liberation Immortal Method was specially passed down by that immortal sect in the Upper Realm," Zhang Jianchen said.

"After practicing this method, the White Bone Daoist was resurrected from the dead, and his cultivation speed was extremely fast. Before long, he was able to ascend to the upper realm."

However, he keenly sensed that something was amiss and therefore refused to ascend.

But how could he resist the immense power of heaven and earth?

In the end, the White Bone Daoist split his soul in two, one half ascending to the upper realm, while the other half resided within his remains.

Unfortunately, his body was struck by Lightning Tribulation, which severely damaged half of his soul.

Now only a sliver of consciousness remains in this body.

Li Yunjing nodded slowly, never expecting that the events of that year had unfolded in such a way.

"Yunjing, since you heard the murmuring, go forward and bring me the skeletal remains," Zhang Jianchen said.

Li Yunjing pointed to himself. "Huh? Me?"

Li Yunjing was quite taken aback. He was to retrieve the skeletal remains? Such a massive task, and he, a mere Golden Core cultivator, was sent on it? Was that reasonable?

Zhang Jianchen smiled and said, "Go ahead without worry. Would I harm you? This is your fortuitous opportunity, so seize it."