The Path of Ascension Has Been Severed

Lingxu Sacred Land.

Deep within the Sacred Land's main peak, all cultivators above the Spirit Transformation stage had sealed themselves away or entered seclusion.

Ever since several thousand years ago, Evil Demons had continuously emerged, and an invisible blockade had descended upon everyone above the Spirit Transformation stage.

Once one broke through Spirit Transformation and reached the Nascent Soul Stage, allowing the Divine Soul to roam beyond the body and come into contact with heaven and earth, strange occurrences would follow: invisible shackles, ever-present inner demons, and signs of the Five Decays.

Heavenly fire and lightning tribulations might descend, along with invisible winds and bizarre thoughts from Evil Demons. These circumstances had completely restricted cultivators above the Spirit Transformation stage from appearing in the world.

Thus, whether demon sects or Sacred Lands, most cultivators above the Nascent Soul Stage had sealed themselves away. They acted only when absolutely necessary.

The more they acted, the deeper they would sink into that strange state.

Eventually, it even spread to Tribulation Transcending Stage cultivators. From then on, no one ascended, and contact with the upper realm had already been cut off for over ten thousand years.

Because of this, rumors had circulated for a time that the path of ascension had been severed.

For this very reason, the major factions had joined hands to suppress such news while secretly seeking every possible means to resolve these abnormalities.

After cultivating for thousands of years, countless cultivators were all imprisoned above the Spirit Transformation stage, unable to advance any further.

Within the main peak, a faint restlessness could be felt inside one sealed territory, as though something was about to churn forth from within.

Before long, a figure appeared above the sealed territory. He wore purple robes, with white hair and the face of a youth, yet his eyes were filled with strange confusion. Then a streak of light flashed past, and he seemed to regain his reason.

"I have awakened again as well."

"A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator?"

The man stood where he was, suddenly muttering to himself, the confusion in his eyes growing deeper.

"A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator killed a peak Nascent Soul cultivator by force? This world has already weakened to the utmost limit, yet it still struggles like a dying beast."

"To prevent another accident like before, we must cut off all future trouble."

"I cannot act now, or suspicion will arise."

Zhang Linmo sensed the ceaseless stream of information conveyed by the Evil Demon Tong Gensheng and had already begun calculating how to complete this task.

As a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator—and in truth an Evil Demon—the abnormalities of heaven and earth had no effect on him whatsoever.

Yet because of those abnormalities, he had obtained the identity of an absolute upper echelon member of a Sacred Land. If he were discovered acting freely, he would certainly be suspected of being an Evil Demon.

"Then this is the only way. I'll send the news to Baiyang Sacred Land and several other Sacred Lands. I'm sure they will be very interested in this Foundation Establishment Realm disciple."

"He is currently in the Taixu Forbidden Land. If nothing unexpected happens, with his talent, he will certainly comprehend a Divine Ability and may even break through to the Golden Core Realm."

"To guard against trouble before it arises, three Spirit Transformation cultivators must be deployed."

Zhang Linmo calculated.

"However, Bai Muxu must be lured back. Otherwise, given his strength, even three Spirit Transformation cultivators likely won't be able to stop him."

Having made his plans, Zhang Linmo rose and headed toward the main peak.

Meanwhile, within the Taixu Forbidden Land, Li Tianwei had already made a full circuit with the Sacred Soul Banner in hand, until he could no longer find any trace of an Immortal Soul.

After successfully converting the Immortal Souls, Li Tianwei had also comprehended more than a dozen additional Dao intents, directly inscribing them onto his Golden Core.

Under the effects of fusion, Li Tianwei's Golden Core possessed not only the pressure and mass of a star, but also more than a hundred Dao intents, along with an almost inexhaustible supply of energy for Li Tianwei to squander.

His strength had increased tremendously, but in Li Tianwei's view, that was only natural.

Just think about it—he was so persistent, outstanding, and confident. Most importantly, he was kindhearted, possessed great love, and understood so many principles.

He had earned all of this bit by bit through cultivation and effort, so there was naturally a reason for him to be this powerful.

"A Golden Core like this has surely attained its fruit of realization."

"I wonder whether the other Heavenly Spirit Roots are as powerful as I am. Since we all possess Heavenly Spirit Roots, they are probably inferior to me, but they should have some ability."

"I truly am too modest. Once I leave, perhaps I can find a few fellow cultivators to exchange insights with. Then we can join forces against Evil Demons."

"They must surely be like me as well, possessing unwavering will, kind hearts, and peerless talent."

Li Tianwei sighed as he planned, as though, in his eyes at this moment, everything in the future would be wonderful.

After thinking it over, Li Tianwei sat down cross-legged once more.

Li Tianwei intended to use the power of the Taixu Forbidden Land to evolve the Heavenly Absolute Yin Fiend into a Divine Ability.

Yet the moment he began cultivating, the chaotic energy that should have flowed toward Li Tianwei was instantly restrained, as though it had encountered some kind of restriction.

"What's going on?"

Li Tianwei immediately noticed that something was wrong. Since arriving in the Taixu Forbidden Land, he had never encountered such a problem. His cultivation had been smooth sailing all the way, with no restrictions whatsoever.

Even the Immortal Qi of the Taixu Forbidden Land had been exceptionally obedient. This time, however, it seemed different.

"Could it be that the Taixu Forbidden Land is about to open again? Otherwise, why would this happen?"

Feeling this strange phenomenon, Li Tianwei furrowed his brows.

"I still want to evolve the Heavenly Absolute Yin Fiend into a Divine Ability!"

"No, I must finish before the Taixu Forbidden Land opens."

Li Tianwei muttered.

After saying that, Li Tianwei directly summoned his Golden Core. That terrifying Golden Core, covered in countless intents and filled with endlessly wandering, revealed nebulae, shone forth from within Li Tianwei's body.

In an instant, a twisted and terrifying gravitational force swept through the surroundings. Around the Golden Core, a sense of distortion was visible to the naked eye.

Not to mention the scorching, explosive energy within it.

It truly seemed capable of dragging the surrounding heaven and earth entirely into the Golden Core's orbit and completely taking control of them.

At this moment, to the Taixu Forbidden Land, Li Tianwei was a completely naked locust.

Because of his fusion, it had no choice but to awaken the Spiritual Dragon and have him stop this situation.

Yet unexpectedly, the Spiritual Dragon was utterly useless and allowed Li Tianwei to continue ravaging the place.

Later, it had thought Li Tianwei would stop there, but unexpectedly, this fellow even released the Sacred Soul Banner to continue squeezing the Taixu Forbidden Land's energy dry.

During the time Li Tianwei had remained in the Taixu Forbidden Land, it had suffered enough. It was nearly drained dry.

Now, it had decided to open the forbidden land ahead of time and throw Li Tianwei straight out.

Very soon, a gigantic scarlet eye slowly opened within the Taixu Forbidden Land, its bloody aura piercing directly through the forbidden land.

Under such a tremendous disturbance, the Spiritual Dragon, who had been lying flat and preparing to sleep, had no choice but to awaken once more.

The moment he opened his eyes, he met that eye suspended in the Taixu Forbidden Land's sky, an eye that seemed to pierce through everything. He could not help but see a trace of displeasure and contempt within it, as if it were saying, How do you handle things? How can you not even deal with a single cultivator?

Feeling the meaning conveyed by that scarlet eyeball of the Taixu Forbidden Land, the Spiritual Dragon did not even know how to respond.

He could hardly get angry with something that possessed not the slightest consciousness, could he?