Covering the Sky: I Prove the Great Dao Through the Gate of Immortality

"You've had more than enough time."

"It's wise," Zhisheng said softly.

His figure was ethereal and illusory, surrounded by a hazy radiance unique to the Great Wisdom Technique. It was a manifestation of Li Chenzhou's magical power.

Li Chenzhou's decision to open the Eternal Life Trial Tower to forces such as the Fire Kingdom and the Stone Kingdom ahead of schedule was certainly not just a matter of goodwill.

Whether that door opened a day earlier or a day later was of little consequence to him.

For the Fire Kingdom, however, these few months ahead of schedule are an invaluable buffer period.

But there's an even deeper consideration behind this.

The most obvious point is that those who enter early have a higher "drop rate" in the trial.

This is not a casual promise, but a setting engraved in the core laws of the Tower of Immortality.

The first group of cultivators to enter the tower faced the most complete inheritance, the most abundant spiritual energy, and the most active fluctuations of laws. Despite the same level of difficulty in the trial, the treasures, magical artifacts, and elixirs they gained were far more plentiful than those of later arrivals.

In other words, the early bird catches the worm, and it gets to eat the fattest worm.

Once the Tower of Immortality is officially opened to the world, the situation faced by those who come after will be very different.

The resources in the tower are not inexhaustible; those who arrive first take a portion, and naturally, less remains.

By then, when completing a trial of equal difficulty, those who come later may only receive 70% or even less of the benefits that those who came before them would.

This is not unfair, but the rule of heaven and earth. When faced with opportunity, first come, first served; it has always been so.

In addition, there is a hidden benefit—bartering.

Inside the Eternal Life Trial Tower is an exchange hall where cultivators can exchange unused treasures for other useful items. Those who enter early enjoy discounted prices in the exchange hall.

They can get more by exchanging the same things; they want to exchange them for less.

This offer is not temporary, but permanent.

Even if it's another ten or a hundred years, as long as this tower still stands, the identity of the first group of people to enter will not change, and that privilege will never be revoked.

Li Chenzhou gave Huoguo and his people not just a few months, but a track where they were ahead from the very beginning.

Those who are watching, probing, and coveting from the outside will never know how far the people inside the tower have already gone while they are still racking their brains over how to get in.

Zhisheng withdrew his gaze, turned around, and pushed open the door of the Eternal Life Trial Tower.

Inside the door, it was brightly lit.

"It's like the difference between pioneers and latecomers."

Zhisheng stood with his hands behind his back.

Those who were the first to step into the Tower of Trials for Immortality were the pioneers.

They tasted the benefits: higher success rates, richer rewards for completing levels, and permanent exchange discounts—advantages that later entrants could never catch up with.

But there's no such thing as a free lunch. While enjoying these benefits, they must also bear the corresponding costs.

The most direct point is that they were "tortured" quite a bit.

Although the Eternal Life Trial Tower had been repeatedly refined by Li Chenzhou, this was, after all, its first official operation.

Whether the rune connections are smooth, whether the restrictions are triggered sensitively, whether the trial difficulty is reasonable, and whether the rewards are distributed accurately... all of these need to be tested, fed back, and corrected in actual combat.

The pioneers faced not only the test of the trial itself, but also various minor problems and flaws that might appear in the tower during its break-in period.

Some encountered rune lag, some experienced reward delays, and some were nearly trapped by an unwanted restriction. Although they all escaped unscathed in the end, only they themselves knew the feeling of trepidation.

They were helping Li Chenzhou with the final adjustments.

In a sense, they were both the first beneficiaries of the Tower of Immortality and the last testers before the tower was officially opened to the public.

They got the benefits, and they also suffered the hardships.

Fair and reasonable, each getting what they need.

The discussions surrounding the Tower of Immortality among the wise sages not only did not subside, but intensified.

Those who couldn't get in were so anxious they were scratching their heads and trying every trick in the book to find out what was inside; those who had been inside kept their mouths shut, but the occasional words they let slip only made those outside even more eager to know more.

The news caused an uproar in the Realm of the Gods, spreading more and more outrageous and mysteriously.

As Zhisheng listened to the noisy sounds, a smile slowly curved his lips.

That wasn't mockery, nor was it smugness; it was the composure of having everything under control.

The groundwork has been laid, the fermentation has been completed, and public opinion has been sufficiently heightened.

When that door truly opens to the world, this long-brewing frenzy will sweep across the entire Lower Realm.

The heat was just right.

As Zhisheng stood outside the Tower of Eternal Life, listening to the clamor of discussions, the smile on his lips deepened.

From the whispers of independent cultivators to the overt and covert investigations of major forces, from initial suspicion and probing to the current anxious anticipation, the momentum has been almost fully established.

Almost everyone was talking about the tower, and everyone was extremely curious about it, eager to rush inside and find out what was going on.

Those who can't get in feel like a million ants are crawling inside them.

Zhisheng did not delay any longer.

He turned around and strode towards the tightly closed wooden door. His steps were unhurried, his clothes fluttering, and under the watchful eyes of countless people, he walked in.

There was no obstruction, no prohibition, not even a door was opened.

The moment his figure touched the door panel, he vanished without a trace, like water merging into the sea.

The voice of the primordial place suddenly fell silent at that moment.

It wasn't quiet, it was suffocating.

The voices that had been so loud and assertive just moments before suddenly ceased, as if an invisible hand had choked them. Pairs of eyes stared blankly at the wooden door, pupils dilated, mouths slightly agape, their entire bodies frozen in place, like stone statues under a spell.

"Am I seeing things?" A cultivator rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again, his voice trembling. "That person... went in?"

"Impossible, right? Isn't this tower only accessible to people from the Fire Kingdom?" The person next to him swallowed hard, his voice dry like sandpaper rubbing together.

"But I saw him go in with my own eyes! He didn't even open the door, he just... went in!"

"Hallucination, it must be a hallucination. I haven't slept well these past two days, my eyes are blurry." Someone slapped their cheeks hard, trying to wake themselves up. But the door still stood there quietly, the scene from just now was so clear as if it were engraved in their mind, no matter how hard they slapped it, they couldn't shake it off.

"Do you think... that person might be from the Fire Country?" another voice weakly asked.

"Fire Kingdom? We've seen people from the Fire Kingdom before, how could there be such a person?"

"Am I seeing things? That person just went in?" A cultivator rubbed his eyes hard, his voice full of uncertainty. How could he have gone in? Wasn't that door only people from the Fire Kingdom allowed to open?

"If your spiritual body can still get blurry-eyed, then you might as well find yourself a good burial spot, dig a hole, and lie down in it," someone nearby remarked casually, their tone a forced, mocking calmness, though their own voice was weak and unsteady. A spiritual body isn't made of flesh and blood; how could it be blurry-eyed? He clearly saw that person walk in, lift their foot, take a step, and just go in, without even pausing.

Yeah, how did they get in? They got in so easily?

There were no restrictive counterattacks, no flashing runes, and no guards to stop him. The person simply walked into his own backyard, disappearing effortlessly behind the closed wooden door. This scene, witnessed by everyone present, was like a dull thud to the heart, leaving them stunned and speechless for a long time.

After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in chaos.

With a whoosh, a dense crowd surged towards the entrance of the Tower of Eternal Life Trials like a tidal wave. Some flew, some ran, some even lost their shoes in the crush and didn't bother to pick them up. They all had only one thought in their minds—maybe it's open now? Maybe anyone can go in now?

Those who had been watching from a distance were now rushing forward faster than anyone else. Even the scions of prestigious families who prided themselves on their humility and refused to associate with rogue cultivators were now disregarding their pride. Pairs of eyes gleamed, and hands reached for the door, as if they wanted to tear it down.

Then, they were all stopped.

The door remained tightly shut, as if nothing had happened. The first person to rush forward was repelled by an invisible force, falling flat on their back. The second, the third, the fourth… without exception, all were blocked outside. Some frantically pounded on the door, but it didn't budge. Some tried to circle around to the back of the tower to find another entrance, but the entire tower was a single, solid structure, without even a crack. Some even used magical techniques to bombard it, but the runes landed on the tower like mud sinking into the sea, without even a sound.

One by one, they could only stare helplessly.

They stood in front of the door, panting, exchanging bewildered glances. Some, unwilling to give up, tried again, only to be bounced back once more. Some began to doubt if what they had just witnessed was a collective hallucination—but so many eyes had seen it, how could it be a hallucination?

The door still stood there quietly, silent, cold, keeping people at arm's length.

The figure of the man in white had already disappeared into the light behind the door, leaving the group of people outside who couldn't get in scratching their heads, itching with desire.

However, news that someone had entered the tower still spread like wildfire.

There was no one from the Fire Kingdom carrying it, no special token, and no secret code.

The person lifted their foot and walked in with such ease. This news was like a pebble thrown into a pot of boiling oil, instantly causing a worldwide uproar.

The entire Void God Realm was abuzz with discussion, and spies from various factions were frantically sending messages back. Those cultivators who had been observing were now burning with even greater fervor.

The wise sage did not care about the changing circumstances of the outside world.

All the noise, speculation, and greedy glances were nothing but fleeting clouds in his eyes.

When this tower officially opens its doors to the world, all the winds and clouds will revolve around it.

It's not that he revolves around the winds and clouds, but rather that the winds and clouds revolve around him.

His figure passed through the Tower of Immortality and stepped into the boundless void.

There is no earth, no sky, only endless darkness and stars.

The stars were not far away; they were right beside him, floating quietly and emitting a soft light.

As he approached, the stars twinkled in unison, as if bowing or cheering to welcome the ruler of this place.

This is the world of the spirit.

The Realm of the Void Gods is itself woven from spirit, and this boundless void is the core domain that Li Chenzhou opened up using the Great Wisdom Technique.

Here, he can do things that far exceed what is possible outside.

Those methods that require a great deal of effort in the outside world are merely a thought away here; those powers that require a long period of time to accumulate in the outside world are readily available here.

In my spiritual world, I am God.

It's not a metaphor, not an exaggeration, but a statement of fact.

He writes the laws, he sets the rules, and anyone who enters this realm must follow his will.

It wasn't through brute force or spiritual attainment, but because this world itself was an extension of him.

The Sage of Wisdom stood in the void, his robes fluttering, surrounded by starlight.

His gaze pierced through layers of void and landed in the direction of the Tower of Eternal Life Trials.