Advancing one's own civilization is different from advancing an existing civilization. In an existing civilization, once you advance, the path ahead is already paved, and you just need to meet the advancement conditions to unlock related technologies and constructions.
Creating and advancing a civilization from scratch, however, requires first improving technology, then using that technology to upgrade buildings, troops, and Heroes, before finally advancing the civilization.
Take Xu Yang's current Wandao School as an example, he needs to first advance the Heavenly Mechanics Methods and other related technologies to Seventh Rank, then use those Seventh Rank technologies to upgrade the White Jade Capital, Heavenly Craftsmanship Institute, and Mingxiao Taoist Institute, before finally being able to elevate the Wandao School to a Seventh Rank civilization.