Several days later, Qing Muling returned to the floating lands and began his closed-door cultivation to prepare for his breakthrough to a new realm.

From the Qi Refining Realm, mortals embark on the path of cultivation, followed by the Understanding Mystery Realm, Condensing Elixir Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, Divine Soul Realm, True Person Realm, True One Realm, Heart Demon Realm, and Destiny Realm—a total of nine major realms. Each realm is more difficult than the last, and countless cultivators find themselves stuck at these major thresholds.

Even the elite disciples from the Supreme Dao Lineages, with their top-tier techniques and divine abilities, would typically need over a thousand years to methodically progress through these nine realms and lay the foundation for Ascending to Immortality. And that's assuming everything goes smoothly.

To significantly shorten this process, one would need exceptional innate talent, a vast trove of rare resources, guidance from a powerful master, or some heaven-defying opportunity. Of course, the vast majority of cultivators don't have such conditions.