The Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor vanished in an instant!
The shimmering lake before him vanished as well.
Before He Pingsheng, there were once again unbroken mountain ranges.
Hao Cang was still nearby.
As it turned out, that had not been an illusion at all. Rather, the Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor had used his tremendous magical power to temporarily merge a space from elsewhere, or from his own small world, with this world.
The very thought sent a chill down He Pingsheng's spine.
Just as He Pingsheng turned into a streak of light and flew toward the entrance to the Netherworld Emperor Palace, the Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor's voice rang in his ears again.
"You can use heavenly materials and earthly treasures to break through bottlenecks, but this emperor believes that should be your last resort!"
"If you can break through your own bottlenecks by other means, it will bring you immense benefits!"
"Remember!"
"Cultivation bottlenecks are gifts the Heavenly Dao bestows upon all living things!"
What the hell?
He Pingsheng, still flying, almost thought he had misheard.
Bottlenecks?
Gifts?
So having two bottlenecks in every major realm makes me more impressive than everyone else, then?
Heh...
This...
Yet after hearing the Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor's words, He Pingsheng felt an indescribable sense of frustration welling up inside.
Since he had begun cultivating, he had passed through the Qi Refining Stage, Foundation Establishment Realm, Golden Core Stage, and Nascent Soul Realm!
He had encountered eight bottlenecks in total.
To break through those eight bottlenecks, he had used seven kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures: [Water Essence Spirit Apricot], [Red Essence Ginseng], [South Qi Fruit], [Blood-Jade Purple-Skinned Jujube], [Greed and Anger Fruit], [Rootless Grass], and [Dragon Origin Fruit].
Only one bottleneck, in the Golden Core Stage, had been broken through at