2 years later.
Tian Yongheng opened his eyes slowly and stood up, stretching his muscles from sitting for too long.
He wasn't accustomed to sitting in one place and Cultivating for so long. His Cultivation speed had also slowed down considerably, probably because the higher one went, the harder it is to breakthrough.
Right now, he was at the peak of the Fourth Stage of Qi Condensation Realm, about to step into the Fifth Stage at any given moment.
"I'll get back to Cultivation after a couple days of rest, and directly breakthrough to the Fifth Stage." He muttered to himself.
He had no one to talk to, and he occasionally used to speak to himself so that he didn't fall into madness. Powerful Cultivators cultivated for thousands of years in seclusion, but that was only because their Mind and Soul had also sublimated beyond Mortal limits.
A Qi Condensation Realm Cultivator could easily go mad if he Cultivated in seclusion for even 50 years of time without doing anything else.
That's why Tian Yongheng occasionally checked the System Interface, went out of his Cave Abode to look around the Mountain Range and get some food.
After reaching the Fourth Stage of Qi Condensation Realm, he got a Talisman from the System.
The Talisman was called the God-Slaying Talisman refined from the Spiritual Energy of Foundation Establishment Realm.
It could instantly kill a Foundation Establishment Realm expert!
Talismans were rare one-time use items, so having this kind of Talisman as a trump card was definitely a good thing. But Tian Yongheng wasn't too excited about it, after all, he had obtained God-Slaying Talismans that could kill even Immortal Ascension Realm Mighty Figures from the Divine Sovereign's Incomplete Inheritance.
But they were in a limited amount, so having a low level Talisman that was helpful to the current him was also not bad.
Items such as Pills, Talismans, Formations and Arrays didn't have a grade. Their value was deduced from the power of the person who created and/or used them.
A God-Slaying Talisman refined from the Spiritual Energy of a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator could transform into a God-Slaying Talisman that could kill even Immortal Ascension Realm Cultivators if used by a person who surpassed the latter in power.
The same thing also applied to Pills, Formations, Arrays and the sort.
So professions like 'Alchemists' or 'Array Masters' were considered more like Hobbies or good skills that almost every Cultivator had. The only difference was that one was more talented or less talented than another in these hobbies. But that difference was also only limited to the same Cultivation Realm.
But one had to remember that if a mighty figure enhanced a pill meant for breakthrough, unless they had exceptional Alchemy skills, they could only give that pill to someone of a lower Cultivation Realm and not use it for themselves.
Why? it would simply have no effect on them because the pill was enhanced by the power of their own Realm, and to breakthrough to a higher Realm using pills, one needs a pill that surpasses their current realm's essence.
After a couple days of resting, Tian Yongheng got back to Cultivation as he rushed to breakthrough.
He wanted to quickly breakthrough to the Fifth Stage of Qi Condensation Realm!
...
At the same time, Northern Continent.
A Divine and Majestic land stretching out to hundreds of thousands of miles floated thousands of feet above the snow-filled terrain.
It exuded a Divine Light, and was the only place in all of Northern Continent which had grasslands, flowers, trees and other such things which should never have been found in the extreme north that was so cold that one could freeze by just being here for a breath of time.
All the living beings of the Cultivation World knew what this place was.
It was the Ice Mystic Holy Land. A Top-tier First-rate force in the current Second Great Mortal World and one of the 2 Rulers of the Northern Continent.
Currently, there were 24 Major Factions spread throughout the Second Great Mortal World since the start of the current Heavenly Karmic Cycle more than 3 Eras or 300 millions years ago while some of these forces had risen into prominence not long ago. Some factions such as the Tian Family or Qin Family were there even in the past Heavenly Karmic Cycles because of their Upper Realm's ancestors.
Of course there were exceptions in even this. Some behemoths such as Mount Kunlun have been in the Second Great Mortal World since countless years ago that no one can even fathom them.
The 24 Major Factions, or the Top-Tier forces among First-Rate factions, in both Righteous and Demonic Paths were;
The 4 Great Immortal Families. The Great Tian Immortal Family, Great Qin Immortal Family, Great Lin Immortal Family and Great Shen Immortal Family.
Both Tian Family and Qin Family had been there in the Second Great Mortal World for 2 Heavenly Karmic Cycles while the Lin Family and Shen Family had become dominant since this Heavenly Karmic Cycle's beginning.
All the 4 Great Immortal Families' main branches were at the Central Continent.
The 3 Hidden Immortal Families. The Hidden Xun Immortal Family, Hidden Lu Immortal Family and Hidden Tang Immortal Family.
Both the Lu Family and Tang Family have existed since the last Heavenly Karmic Cycle while the Xun Family recently rose 2 Eras or 200 Million Years ago. But not only do they have quite a few people who ascended to the Upper Realm, every single one of these Hidden Families have more than 1 Human Immortals. That's why they are respected equally as the 4 Great Immortal Families, although only high level experts know of their existence.
No one knew their true location as they were hidden, but it was believed they were scattered throughout the entire Second Great Mortal World.
Kunlun Divine Mountain.
It is a force which is said to have come from the Divine Realm and have existed in the Second Great Mortal World since countless Heavenly Karmic Cycles ago. It's undoubtedly the Strongest Faction in all of Second Great Mortal World's history.
It was located at the middle of the Central Continent, at the tallest point of the Second Great Mortal World.
The Great Jiang Immortal Dynasty.
It is the strongest Immortal Dynasty in all of Second Great Mortal World. A Immortal Dynasty was made up of multiple forces residing inside the Dynasty, who had the final say in all its matters. The Imperial Family of the Great Jiang Immortal Dynasty, the Jiang Immortal Family itself was a First-rate force, alongside many other First-rate forces in the Dynasty. Even if they did not have a Human Immortal, they still had hundreds of Immortal Ascension Realm powerhouses. As such they could be considered as one of the 24 Major Factions.
It was also located at the Central Continent.
The 9 Great Immortal Sects. The 7-Star Sword Sect, The Ice Mystic Holy Land, The Celestial Valley of Light, The Thundercloud Sect, The Benevolent Buddha Hall, The Dragon King Temple, The Great Path Holy Land, The Pure Buddhist Monastery and The Grand Sun Sect.
All of these forces except for the Dragon King Temple, Celestial Valley of Light and the Great Path Holy Land had only recently become dominant.
They were all located in different Continents, with the Ice Mystic Holy Land and the Thundercloud Sect in the Northern Continent.
And finally, The Six Great Demonic Sects. The Asura Sect, The Pavillion of Desires, The Forbidden Demonic Valley, The Blooming Flower Sect, The Scarlet Moon Palace and The Evil Calamity Hall.
These Demonic Sects had a mysterious background and always collided against the Righteous Path. They once even provoked Mount Kunlun and were almost eradicated, but they somehow still escaped and revived.
No one knows the whereabouts of these Demonic Sects, otherwise, a war would've long happened between the Righteous Path and Demonic Path.
At this moment, in a small, modest house with only a single room located in the Ice Mystic Holy Land.
A fragile and beautiful girl rose from the bed and looked around, confused.
"Wh-where..where am I..?"