Great Flood Grotto-Heaven.
Yang City.
Early morning.
The thin mist carried a trace of chill.
The fluttering beast banners resembled ferocious beasts galloping through the fog, crouched atop the city walls.
Ge Qing stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the high platform before him.
The platform stood nine zhang tall, engraved with intricate patterns. It had been built by Ge Qing according to blueprints exchanged from the Hell secret realm.
It was said that this treasure could open a great gate, allowing one to "ascend" to a broader world.
He took a step.
It landed squarely on the stairs.
"Fellow Daoist Ge!"
Ge Qing slowly turned his head to look at the several hundred cultivators behind him, as well as the solemn, silent True Person Golden Cores.
There were only two Nascent Soul cultivators.
They called him Fellow Daoist, but Ge Qing was not actually very old. He was not yet fifty.
Ever since he had fortuitously obtained a divine object in his thirties, in a mere twenty years, he had gone from an early Foundation Establishment cultivator to forming a Golden Core at a speed like riding the clouds, even shattering his core to form a Nascent Soul.
He had now entered the late Nascent Soul stage.
"Fellow Daoist Ge, this Ascension Platform is unknown..."
The octogenarian elder leaned on his cane as he tried to persuade him, seemingly wishing Ge Qing to stay.
"My mind is made up!"
Ge Qing did not hesitate. He said in a deep voice, "Great Flood's tolerance for me has reached its limit, and so has mine."
"If I do not ascend now, I fear I will cause immeasurable harm to heaven and earth. The spiritual energy of this world is sparse already. If I circulate my profound arts, it