Although Ling Tian had broken through to the Near-Saint Twentieth Heaven, the higher his cultivation, the harder it became to advance again. Back when he was at the Near-Saint Nineteenth Heaven, each minor breakthrough had taken hundreds of thousands, even a million years. It went without saying that advancing again after reaching the Near-Saint Twentieth Heaven would be even harder. Barring any surprises, he would need at least a million years to break through.
The gap from the early stage of the Near-Saint Twentieth Heaven to the middle stage, late stage, and peak spanned many minor realms. The Twenty-first Heaven was an entire major realm away. Under the circumstances, breaking through would likely take tens of millions of years, or even longer—a very long time for any cultivator. Ling Tian's bloodline was still in good condition and could even continue to improve, but whether he could live that long remained unknown.
More importantly, even if Ling Tian could hold out for that long, there was no guarantee Chi Xue and Po Tian could delay things until then. That remained true even if they sealed themselves away. Once Po Tian and Chi Xue reached their limits, Ling Tian would have to face the tribulation alongside them. In that case, it would be even less possible for him to break through to the Twenty-first Heaven of Near-Saint. Ling Tian had already decided to join forces with Chi Xue and the others, and there would be no changing his mind. So the time for the tribulation would be determined by when Chi Xue and Po Tian reached their limits.
Ling Tian knew that breaking through to the Twenty-first Heaven of Near-Saint would be extremely difficult. Still, he also knew that each minor breakthrough would greatly increase his strength. As long as he could