Seeking the Dao at the Beginning of Time

The world was not formed naturally.

The entire cultivation world is actually one gigantic magical artifact.

The spiritual energy absorbed by all cultivators comes from an existence that died millions of years ago.

And ascension...

is not becoming an immortal.

It is entering an even larger prison.

Only the protagonist eventually discovers the truth: the so-called immortals are nothing but "prisoners" who keep the world running.