Becoming an immortal against the will of heaven

As the old man had said, after flying for less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, they could vaguely see the remains of buildings in the distance.

Although the distance was still far and the details were unclear, the group was visibly excited, and their flying speed increased noticeably.

Chen Tian silently followed behind the others, his heart also filled with anticipation.

Before long, they finally arrived near the ruins and saw that there was indeed a platform.

This platform was square, with each side measuring several thousand zhang. It had no supports underneath, yet it floated independently in the endless void.

Chen Tian stared at the Ascension Platform, especially the giant handprint, for a moment before slowly looking away and examining other areas of the platform.

Even before Chen Tian and the others arrived, many people were already standing on the platform.

These people were grouped in eights, each group occupying a corner of the platform and keeping to themselves.

Seeing this, Chen Tian's mind raced. He knew that these people were all helpers invited by the Frozen Demon Realm, granted access to the Ruins of the Demon Realm as a reward.

Seeing them standing in groups of eight, it was clear that they, like Chen Tian and his group, had entered together.

"Alright, let's find a place to settle down."

Unlike Chen Tian and the others, the old man remained remarkably calm throughout, acting as the leader of their group.

After searching the platform for a moment, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and he flew towards an open space in the southeast corner.

Chen Tian and the others hesitated for a moment after seeing the old man's actions, but they quickly flew down and stood in a line with him.

The place the old man chose was about two hundred zhang away from the handprint at the center of the platform, making it difficult to see clearly. They had to stand on tiptoe and crane their necks to catch a glimpse of it.

However, the old man was calm and composed, not looking at the handprint like everyone else, but stroking his beard and closing his eyes to rest.

"Eh? Could that handprint have fallen from the Upper Realm when the Ancient Immortal Realm collapsed?" After staring at the handprint for a while, He Busi seemed to have thought of something and asked the old man.

The old man slowly opened his eyes, smiling and nodding: "Exactly!"

Hearing this, the crowd immediately erupted. The middle-aged man, who had been showing a melancholy expression, couldn't help but become excited: "In that case, this handprint must contain the Heavenly Dao intent from the Ancient Immortal Realm, right?"

"That's right!" The old man nodded again, smiling and explaining: "Although there is no definitive conclusion as to why the Ancient Immortal Realm suddenly collapsed, it is certain that an extremely tragic battle erupted at the time.

The power and scope of this battle were so great that it not only burst out of the Ancient Immortal Realm but also affected the Lower Realm.

This handprint was formed when the great figures of the Ancient Immortal Realm fought each other and were blasted down from the Upper Realm. It contains some of the divine abilities and immortal techniques comprehended by the ancient immortals. If anyone can comprehend some of it, it will be of great benefit to their future cultivation, and perhaps they can rise to prominence and break into the Zhutian realm in one fell swoop!"

"What? Break into the Zhutian realm!"

Initially, the crowd seemed quite calm, but after hearing the words 'break into the Zhutian realm' from the old man, they could no longer remain calm and became excited.

Cultivating to the Ninghai realm had already made them suffer and exhaust their energy, so they naturally knew how distant a goal the Zhutian realm was. Unless they possessed extraordinary talent and opportunities that were difficult for ordinary people to achieve, it was simply impossible!

Moreover, after breaking through to the Ninghai realm, the daily increase in their cultivation became extremely slow, but in contrast, their lifespan was being exhausted at an extremely fast rate.

In the cultivation world, for some unknown reason, all the Zhutian realm cultivators had disappeared, so Ninghai realm cultivators became the pinnacle of existence in the cultivation world, enjoying the admiration of all cultivators.

But only the Ninghai realm cultivators themselves knew that while they were enjoying this glory, they were also enduring a torment.

And the source of this torment came from their lifespan.

Although cultivators have always defied the heavens and can obtain powerful strength, they still cannot escape the constraints of the Heavenly Dao.

Regardless of the realm, cultivators all face the same problem: their lifespan.

Although nominally belonging to cultivators, Qiling stage cultivators are not much stronger than mortals. Their lifespan can only reach a maximum of two hundred years.

After cultivating to the Yinling and Juling stages, cultivators are considered to have truly opened the door to cultivation. At this time, their lifespan also increases significantly, reaching a maximum of five hundred years.

After breaking through from the Juling stage to the Huaquan stage, not only will their strength be qualitatively improved, but their lifespan can also reach more than a thousand years.

Until the Ninghai stage, after cultivators possess the ability to mobilize the power of the Heavenly Dao, they can also steal the lifespan of the heavens, allowing their lifespan to increase again, reaching three thousand years!

However, in inverse proportion to their lifespan, the speed of cultivation begins to slow down after cultivators break through to the Ninghai stage.

The speed at which a Ninghai stage cultivator wants to increase their cultivation can truly be described as a turtle crawling or a snail walking.

So even if they have thousands of years of lifespan, if they cannot break through to the Zhutian realm, there will still be a day when they run out. And by that time, no matter how strong your cultivation is, you will not be able to escape the cycle of the Heavenly Dao and will eventually turn into a pile of bones.

But who would be willing to end up like this?

Thinking of this, greed appeared in everyone's eyes as they all looked at the giant handprint!