Outside Xianyang.
At the Ascension Golden Court.
Yi Xiaochuan raised his head and watched Xiang Yu step onto the Sky Ladder and charge into the clouds like a fierce gale. Xiao Yue's eyes held envy, longing, confusion, and helplessness.
Both Xiang Yu and Xiao Yue had left.
His backer was gone.
From now on, he would have to rely on himself.
Fortunately, this helplessness lasted no more than three breaths before gradually fading.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he murmured:
"Twenty years! Even Xiao Yue has become a Transcendent First-Class General and was able to follow Xiang Yu in ascending. I should be close too."
Twenty years had passed since the day Ding Ling ascended.
A full twenty years!
Over those twenty years, Xiang Liang, Fan Zeng, Xiao He, Zhou Bo, and even Meng Tian had all ascended!
As for why they had ascended...
Once, when he was chatting with Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu had told him this:
"Xiaochuan, do you know why my uncle and the others are so determined to ascend?"
"I don't."
"Then I'll tell you. The Map Spirit of the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram said so. The Map Spirit said that to make real progress, one had to keep ascending. Once you entered a cultivation world, abundant spiritual energy would cleanse your body. As long as your aptitude and comprehension were sufficient, living for several hundred or even a thousand years wouldn't be difficult!"
Of course, Yi Xiaochuan had heard of the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram.
Back in the modern world, Yi Xiaochuan had read novels and mythological stories. He knew that it was Nuwa's treasured artifact.
And Ding Ling actually possessed the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram!
A single scroll containing an entire great world—it was simply astonishing!
"A cultivation