But after spending ten thousand years coming out from the Beginner's Village, without receiving enough resources along the way, only consuming what he had, ten thousand high-quality Spirit Crystals become exceptionally important, as they are extremely precious resources.

Nonetheless, everyone harbored a fair amount of doubt towards the words spoken by the middle-aged cultivator with a pale face and no beard.

The middle-aged cultivator glanced at their expressions, let out a cold sneer, and said no more. Whether it's true or false, these Celestial Immortals are no fools, clever like monkeys. He couldn't be bothered to waste any more words.

As time passed, after a full decade, the gates of Border City suddenly became bustling, with countless Celestial Immortal auras transforming into beams of light, passing swiftly to and fro.

As time progressed, those beams of light increased in number. Eventually, the massive city gate was emitting immense luminous entry and exit beams. The escape light of those Celestial Immortals practically formed a colossal horizontal beam, massive as a mountain, a truly magnificent spectacle.

A tall, thin Celestial Immortal cultivator's voice carried a slight tremor, almost sighing as he said, "Damn it, Celestial Immortals aren't even worth dogs here?"

In this Border City, all who came and went through the gates were at the Celestial Immortal Realm. The group had observed for nearly a year now, moving from initial shock and awe to numbness. Their once lofty state of mind, accumulated in the mortal world, was shattered to pieces.

A cultivator nearby said blankly, "In this one year, those coming and going as Celestial Immortals, even without counting repeats, must surely be over a billion."

The female Celestial Immortal known as Spirit Halberd had long lost her previous elegant detachment. Her composure towards all things now felt utterly shaken, her expression somewhat dazed as she said, "Bear in mind, there are nearly a thousand of these smuggling routes like the Path of Success. If each has as many Celestial Immortals as we do, added altogether, there must be tens of thousands of Celestial Immortals, not to mention a grand Border City like this. I wouldn't be surprised if it housed billions of Celestial Immortals within."

Everyone fell silent. In these three years resting on the Path of Success, nearly a thousand Celestial Immortals had continuously gathered at its end. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lu Ren, who usually sat silently at the side, watched all of this. For the past few years, he spent most of his time in cultivation. Despite being at his current realm, where progress came excruciatingly slow, he still practiced daily like a steadfast rock, his cultivation as immovable as a mountain.

Yet, over time, for most Celestial Immortals at this initial stage of Celestial Immortal, entering the next minor realm typically required twenty to thirty thousand years of accumulation.

Ninety-nine percent of Celestial Immortals, without sufficient external resources, would resort to this laborious cultivation method to advance from the initial stage of Celestial Immortal to the middle stage.

Only on the Path of Success, at Xuankong Mountain, are there Spirit Crystals and various cultivation materials available for Celestial Immortal cultivation.

Here, the ideas for further Celestial Immortal cultivation have a suitable environment for nurturing, providing a deeper avenue for progress.

Thus, despite some River System Celestial Immortals promoting conspiracy theories about the Path of Success in the mortal world, once reaching the Celestial Immortal stage, advancing to another minor realm becomes incredibly challenging.

Without other methods, on the Path of Success, at Xuankong Mountain, this Beginner's Village, similar to Ten-Mile Slope and the safety zone beneath the Sea of Clouds, the vast terrain and abundant resources suffice to support thousands of Celestial Immortals' cultivation and habitation.

This is already considered an extremely cost-effective cultivation method.

Although round-the-clock cultivation yields minuscule progress, Lu Ren's main advancement isn't here. After each cultivation cycle, system prompts in his mind highlight insights into the Witchcraft Path, increasing his skill level significantly.

Even in just these two years of seclusion, Lu Ren's cultivation had advanced slightly.

Other Ultimate Celestial Immortals might find themselves at a standstill, hoping to find an opportunity for a Golden Immortal Path Fruit at the end of the Path of Success. But Lu Ren, with the system's assistance, discovered he still has room for further progress.

"It seems the opportunity to achieve Golden Immortal should be within this Border City."

Someone couldn't help but murmur, clearly holding great expectations and desire as they gazed at the enormous, resource-rich heroic city that devoured and expelled so much daily.

Even if this city were set among the stars, it would certainly be a city more expansive than Hantu.

After waiting another ten years, the white-faced cultivator who had kept his eyes closed, Zhu Chengzhi, finally opened his eyes, stood up abruptly, and with sharp eyes, gazed ahead. Watching the diligent traffic of the escape lights at Border City, he suddenly caught a fleeting glimpse of a golden thread splitting off unnoticeably, which vanished into the space immediately.

The traveling cultivators seemed oblivious and continued along their predetermined routes, back and forth.

Lu Ren's eyes glimmered like jewels, intently fixed on that golden thread which had just diverged from the path.

Not just him, all across the thousands of cultivators at the end of the Path of Success, every eye was glued to the slowly approaching golden thread, weaving towards them.

They understood in their hearts that, with this prior example, that golden thread was their only current opportunity.

As the golden thread meandered closer to them, Zhu Chengzhi called out softly, "Dear fellow cultivators, your only chance to enter this Border City is here. If missed, you might have to wait tens of thousands of years for another opportunity."

Everyone felt a chill in their hearts, realizing how much they owed this chance to Zhu Chengzhi's connections—who knew where he came from, backed by someone of great influence, enabling such a clear path.

Not long after his words fell, the golden thread stopped before everyone's eyes, surprisingly in the form of a middle-aged cultivator dressed in light-colored robes, a divine wheel revolving behind his head. His expression was icy, his gaze sharp as lightning, surveying all directions.

His presence was as vast and inscrutable as the starry seas, with an unfathomable aura.

Celestial Immortal Extreme Realm, yet the aura inadvertently released from the other seemed to place him a notch above Ultimate Celestial Immortals, although not yet reaching Golden Immortal, which was truly unexpected.

Zhu Chengzhi stepped forward, cupped his fists in a respectful salute, and said respectfully, "Zhu Chengzhi of the Zhu Family, greets Steward Liu! My father, Zhu Tiancheng, left a message to give you this item upon meeting you!"

With that, Zhu Chengzhi flipped his hand, produced a Jade Scroll, and presented it with both hands to Steward Liu.

Steward Liu took the Jade Scroll, skimmed over it with his divine sense, and his icy countenance finally eased. Looking at the respectful Zhu Chengzhi, he revealed a faint smile and said, "So, you're from the Zhu Zuotang family. Not bad. Didn't expect you to achieve Celestial Immortal Extreme Realm in just one hundred thousand years. You have decent talent, there's hope for further advancement."