That was right. Over the years, Ling Tian and the others had made qualitative leaps in strength, giving them the confidence to stand against the Lord of the Universe. But the past years hadn't been all good for them. There had been setbacks too: as their cultivation advanced, they could clearly feel their progress slowing. In particular, it now took them nearly a hundred thousand years to break through a major realm.
Take Ling Tian, for example. In the past, he would have broken through a major realm long ago. But after spending so much time, he had only reached the peak of the Twenty-ninth Heaven of Near-Saint. He still hadn't broken through to the Thirtieth Heaven of Near-Saint, and there wasn't even a sign that he might. At this rate, he would likely struggle to reach the Thirty-second Heaven of Near-Saint in the remaining two hundred thousand years. That fell short of their earlier expectations, and left him a long way from the Thirty-sixth Heaven. With such a huge gap, he had little chance of reaching Sainthood—or even getting infinitely close to it.
As they had said before, unless Ling Tian and the others reached Sainthood, they had little confidence of standing against the Lord of the Universe. They weren't even sure they could withstand his suppression of the universe. And if they couldn't resist that suppression, they had no chance of rescuing their loved ones.
Fortunately, Ling Tian had already shown some willingness to delay their plans if circumstances allowed. That would give them more time to grow stronger, so they weren't entirely without hope of opposing the Lord of the Universe. But that depended on their learning more about the situation in the God Realm. For instance, if they learned that their loved ones held hostage there