The three Ascended Stewards of Qingxuan Immortal Sect who heard this were all momentarily stunned.

One hundred people?

Keep in mind, there are only forty-nine divine paths in this world, yet the number of Dao Union realm great powers waiting for Ascension qualification is more than twice the total number of Dao paths.

At present, the total number of Dao Union realm cultivators waiting for Ascension is one hundred.

In other words, among these one hundred cultivators who have perfected Dao Union, at least ninety of them will never ascend in their lifetimes.

The reason is simple.

The lifespan of an Ascension Realm cultivator far exceeds that of a Dao Union cultivator. If dao resonance erosion is minimized, the theoretical lifespan of an Ascension Realm cultivator can reach one hundred thousand years.

But a Dao Union cultivator’s lifespan does not exceed fifteen thousand years at most.

Eight thousand years ago, Pine Silence True Person of Qingxuan Immortal Sect entered the queue starting from forty-second place.

Of the forty-one Ascended Realm cultivators ahead of him, Pine Silence True Person wore down thirty-nine of them.

When Pine Silence True Person finally ascended, he was almost spent, clinging to life by forcibly consuming his natal spiritual energy, and only then did he obtain a single Ascension slot.

Because of that, although Pine Silence True Person is the youngest of Qingxuan Immortal Sect’s three Ascended Stewards, his dao resonance erosion is the most severe.

“If there were a hundred perfected Dao Union cultivators ahead of him…”

Azure Sky True Person hesitated. He knew exactly what that implied.

It could be said that Elder Xu Heng’s chance of advancing to Ascension was almost zero.

“Blame Wind-Stopping True Lord for that.”

Sitting on the main seat of Cangji Hall, a youth in dark-black Daoist robes said.

Immediately after, he stood and walked toward the outside of Cangji Hall.

True Lord is the respectful title cultivators use for Returning to Void Realm practitioners.

Wind-Stopping True Lord holds considerable prestige in this domain, not only because he is one of the mere four Returning to Void Realm cultivators in this world,

but also because he founded the Void Thought method and promoted it selflessly throughout the cultivation community.

This method, used alongside cultivation internal methods, can make training far more efficient.

One could say Void Thought completely transformed the cultivation landscape of this domain.

More than ten thousand years ago, before Void Thought was established, cultivators in this domain advanced from Energy Channeling Realm to Martial Spring Realm at an average age of fifty-seven.

After Void Thought was introduced, the average age for that breakthrough dropped to forty.

At the same time, the proportion of cultivators able to advance from Energy Channeling to Martial Spring rose dramatically.

Not only for that breakthrough, but the number of Upper Three Realms cultivators in this world has increased nearly tenfold compared to over ten thousand years ago.

Because of that, the Ascension slots in this domain are now so tight.

Clang!

From outside Cangji Hall, that world-shattering bronze bell sound rang again.

The neighing of the golden-feathered demon steeds and the empty clatter of hooves sounded as the Sage who presided over this domain strode away.

From his arrival at Qingxuan Immortal Sect to his departure took less than half the time of an incense stick.

…

Chen Yan only felt a slight tightness in his chest.

He watched the two Seven-Colored Flowing Gold goddess statues arrive at the summit of Qingxuan Mountain, followed by the eleven golden-feathered demon steeds and the pitch-black carriage.

Putting aside the fact that those two goddess statues could, with a single chant, obliterate the entire Heavenly Summit Mountain, Chen Yan could clearly feel the terrifying aura exuded by the eleven golden-feathered demon steeds.

Among those eleven ninth-realm demonic beasts, the terrifying aura from any one of them was no weaker than that of the Black Flood Dragon from back at Kongshan Sect.

Although the Black Flood Dragon that later revived by devouring Huo Mu’s soul was far below its peak,

that Black Flood Dragon was, as far as Chen Yan knew, the only beast that had ever come close to the tenth realm.

Before that, cultivators on Chenping Continent believed the ninth realm was the absolute limit for demonic beasts.

Now, the pitch-black carriage was moving away from Qingxuan Immortal Sect.

Yet Chen Yan’s heart still raced.

Even though Chen Yan had lived through thousands of years across countless reincarnations since becoming a cultivator,

when he saw the Seven-Colored Flowing Gold goddess statues, he still felt a chill run through him.

The shadow that those goddess statues cast over his mind was simply too large.

Chen Yan calmed himself and then continued toward his master’s cave dwelling within Qingxuan Immortal Sect.

Chen Yan’s master held some standing in Qingxuan Immortal Sect, a mid-stage Unity realm cultivator named Lang Feng.

In truth, Lang Feng’s cultivation is actually two minor realms lower than Chen Yan’s true cultivation.

The reason Lang Feng had summoned Chen Yan here was simple.

It was time for Qingxuan Immortal Sect’s disciple recruitment, and Lang Feng wanted to send Chen Yan to oversee the assessments and manage the situation.

Lang Feng wanted Chen Yan to go to his place of origin, Nanfeng.

The reason was obvious.

“Now that you have established yourself in the sect and your cultivation has broken through to the late Martial Spring Realm, it’s time you develop some people within the sect that you can call on.”

Lang Feng said as much.

And the cultivators from Nanfeng, Chen Yan’s fellow townsmen, were the easiest option for him to recruit.

Chen Yan had no reason to refuse Lang Feng, so he agreed.

Then Chen Yan asked the question that had been weighing on his mind since earlier.

“Master, on the way here I heard a bell.”

Chen Yan said,

“And then I saw two Seven-Colored Flowing Gold goddess statues floating in the air, and eleven demonic steeds radiating immense aura pulling a pitch-black carriage. May I ask what that was…?”

Lang Feng merely smiled slightly at Chen Yan’s words:

“To see the Sage travel even once in a lifetime is not in vain.”

“Sage…”

Chen Yan murmured. He recalled the information he had gathered from Qingxuan Immortal Sect’s Scripture Repository and various historical records.

Sage is the title cultivators in this world use for Uncarved Simplicity Realm practitioners.

In other words, the cultivator who traveled with two Seven-Colored Flowing Gold goddess statues and eleven ninth-realm demonic steeds pulling his carriage was an Uncarved Simplicity Realm cultivator.

That meant his cultivation level was even higher than Mr. You.

Moreover, a crucial point: this Sage actually commanded two Seven-Colored Flowing Gold goddess statues.

Until today, Chen Yan had always believed those Seven-Colored Flowing Gold goddess statues were not products of the cultivation world, but rather entities formed by the chaotic flow of time or gaps in spacetime, created to oversee the heavens.

But now it seemed that was not the case.