Eternal Ascension

Failure...

That was the word that continuously echoing inside the mind of a man, who was lying helpless on the ground while he was gazing upward to the sky with a blank look.

The man's clothes were in tattered, his once peerless appearance was now completely haggard and messy. Many bloody wounds and hideous burn scars decorating the entirety of his weak body. He was someone who was waiting for his impending death with his heart filled with nothing but a mixed feeling of regret and unwillingness.

Heavenly lightning tribulation!

A horrifying and frightening trial, which must be experienced by every cultivator who steps on the path towards immortality. One of the natural laws that absolutely cannot be defied.

It was precisely the reason why the man was lying on the ground now.

He had challenged the tribulation, getting himself struck by terrifying heavenly lightning strikes and failed in the end.

During his youth, fate brought him to meet a certain expert from the east. Under that expert's tutelage, the man strode into the path of cultivation and grew up to become a genuine cultivator, who seek the way of eternal life.

His talent and tenaciousness were unmatched. As time passed, his cultivation keeps rising to the point he finally surpassed his own teacher and most of the older cultivators.

After hundreds of years of tedious efforts and an uncountable number of sacrifices, the man managed to be the number one expert under the heaven. His own name has become the epitome of peerlessness itself.

The strongest man in the world.

The man closest to gods.

The immortal on earth.

The literal son of heaven.

There were so many titles or nicknames attached to him, and cultivators throughout the world couldn't help but admire and respected him greatly, including his enemies.

It cannot be helped, the man has succeeded in achieving the highest, legendary cultivation stage that many cultivators before him have failed to. He was basically just a step away from becoming an immortal.

It was such an unprecedented achievement.

At his peak, the man able to command the wind, divide the sea, and shatters the earth with his god-like strength.

His master once told him that there was a world known as the Divine Realm, where immortals, gods, and other divine beings reside. It was a fabled and mythical realm that was constantly mentioned in many history books and tales.

Cultivators who have reached the peak of the mortal cultivation stage could hear the call of the Divine Realm. But they still could not gain the access to enter that legendary realm, unless if they were able to break through the constraint of mortality and became a true immortal.

Heavenly lightning tribulation was the trial that hindered and blocked many peak mortal powerhouses from achieving immortality.

Since the day the man learned about the existence of the Divine Realm, he always longed for it and desired to see it with his own eyes. To him, Earth was nothing more than a cage and a huge prison. This wish was precisely the reason that motivated him to pursue eternal life.

Unfortunately, the man has failed in resisting his tribulation. Even with his powerful god-like strength, the heavenly lightning strikes still damaged both of his physical body and soul beyond repair.

All of his efforts and sacrifices were in vain. His hundreds of years cultivations were all gone as he became a cripple. His dream of seeing and ascending to the Divine Realm was shattered, and it was nothing more than a pipe dream now.

The storm that was raging on since earlier began to subside. The rain has stopped completely, and the sound of thunders has finally retreated.

The warm and glowing sunlight penetrated the ominous gray sky and illuminated the area surrounding the man.

The man finally breathed his last breath before closing his eyes.

Soon, his body slowly turned into ashes and then scattered by the winds towards every direction.