Ling Tian and Chi Xue's group had been hiding beneath the ice lake, cultivating in seclusion. At last, they could focus on their cultivation without worry. By then, they possessed several more Saint-grade Heavenly Treasures than before, especially the World-Ending Thunder Dragon, of which there was only one in all of heaven and earth. Thanks to this, Ling Tian and the others were making rapid progress. Before long, Shi Meng and the others had successively broken through to the Twenty-second Heaven of Near-Saint, which meant their strength had improved considerably.
As for Ling Tian, after cultivating in seclusion with Chi Xue's group for several thousand years, he finally made a successful breakthrough, reaching the middle stage of the Twenty-second Heaven of Near-Saint. Though he had advanced by only one minor stage, his strength had increased significantly. At that point, he was confident he could fight a cultivator at the Twenty-third Heaven of Near-Saint without the World-Ending Thunder Dragon's help—though only one who had just barely broken through to that realm.
As Ling Tian had said before, once cultivators reached their realm, every minor-stage breakthrough brought an enormous increase in strength. Ling Tian could now easily kill cultivators at the peak of the Twenty-second Heaven of Near-Saint and even fight those in the early stage of the Twenty-third Heaven of Near-Saint. That alone showed just how powerful he was.
As for Xiao Shi, after several thousand years, he had also shown signs of a breakthrough. At his current pace, it would not be long before he reached the middle stage of the Twenty-second Heaven of Near-Saint. His strength would then likely be second only to Ling Tian's; Chi Xue, Po Tian, and the others would be no match for him.
Although their cultivation had advanced—especially with Chi Xue's group successively reaching