Although Ling Tian and Jie Mie Lao Ren had not become Saints after breaking through major realms and stabilizing their cultivation, their strength had undergone a qualitative leap. Most importantly, they still had plenty of time, so there was still a chance for them to break through. Ling Tian didn't dwell on it and continued cultivating. At the same time, he kept helping Chi Xue and the others practice the secret art that let them join forces to unleash Space Bombardment.
Of course, Ling Tian also often had Chi Xue and the others join forces to use their Externalized Small Worlds to suppress him. With practice, he grew increasingly able to instinctively unleash Devouring the Starry Sky. Although he still couldn't do it instinctively every time, he had improved noticeably. And before the deadline set by the Lord of the Universe arrived, he should have little trouble learning to instinctively use Devouring the Starry Sky and his other techniques whenever he was suppressed.
Just like that, Ling Tian and the others continued their busy training. As time went by, their strength and mastery of their various secret arts improved considerably.
Time drifted by. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred thousand years passed. Over that long stretch, Xiao Yaozi and the other cultivators who had previously stood guard beside the Eastern Emperor Bell successively broke through to the Thirty-fifth Heaven of Near-Saint. In the end, even the weakest among them made the breakthrough. In other words, every one of them had reached the Thirty-fifth Heaven of Near-Saint. Combined with their cultivation of the Sacred Heart Art and the multiple Small Worlds they had opened in the Great Thousand Worlds, their strength had undergone a complete transformation.
Yet after breaking through to the Thirty-fifth Heaven of Near-Saint, not