Though the Ascension Pool and Ascension City were both in “Dusk Province” and the four guides were experts from the Dao Academy, that didn’t impede other factions in the world of immortals from taking up residence in Ascension City.

Immortals from the lower worlds continued to stream into the world of immortals, while those in the world of immortals regarded this new frontier with avid curiosity. Now that a connection had been established and stabilized through the Ascension Pool, the battlefields of the lower worlds were prime trial grounds for their juniors and disciples.

In addition, those who ascended from the lower worlds possessed exceedingly high talent, potential, and maturity that rivaled the greatest geniuses of the world. If given further training and carefully nurtured, it was only a matter of time before they developed into unparalleled powerhouses of the world.

Thus, the new visitors to the world of immortals were hot targets that many factions vied over.

There were only two parties that didn’t have representatives in Ascension City nowadays—Levitating Island and Qingfu Nation of Mist Land.

Qingfu Nation once sent representatives to Ascension City, where they’d been promptly slaughtered by Liu Qingmiao and Zou Longxiu. The nation then sent a delegation to the Dao Academy to demand an explanation, but were met by Liu Qingmiao and Zou Longxiu again instead of Lu Yun. That party was massacred to the last as well.

The ruler of Qingfu Nation almost went out of his mind with fury. His cultivation level of peak grand pure realm placed him at the apex of the world of immortals, but he could do nothing against the Dao Academy. That person’s sword formation protected Dusk Province. Even great emperors beyond grand pure realm would face death if they attacked Dusk, to say nothing of regular grand pure realm masters.

Meanwhile, the two scarlet apes on Levitating Island didn’t take any action from beginning to end, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the world.

Ascension City grew increasingly lively these days. It was an enormous city that spanned ten thousand kilometers across. Appearing more like a cluster of cities, it stretched on without end.

The center of the city—a thousand meters around the Ascension Pool—was a forbidden zone that no one could access. Only those with the headmaster’s express orders could enter this crucial spot and travel to the lower worlds.

The other factions of the world once resisted this control and attempted to overturn the status quo. A massive allied army attacked the defenses around the Ascension Pool, reinforced by Golden Immortals of Grand Unity and Arcane Immortals of the Nine Heavens.

Lu Yun responded with domineering force and almost dyed the city red to pacify the insurrection. The four guides were also revealed to the world at this time.

After this matter, the world finally realized that though Lu Yun possessed an ambitious vision and willingly shared his knowledge to enemies and friends alike, he was also inordinately unyielding when it came to his principles. He killed people like slicing vegetables—unblinking and without hesitation.

The world of immortals gradually calmed down after these events. Lu Yun was still the master of Dusk Province and the Dao Academy in this new world order. Though Primeval Era experts had awoken from their slumber, they wouldn’t be able to knock him off his perch.

However, there was one detail that everyone overlooked, and that was Lu Yun didn’t put in a personal appearance in all of the tumult. Everything was handled by the sovereigns and deans of the academy.

The Dao Academy now operated on its own like a vast and precise machine. Its operations could still be handled in perfect order even in Lu Yun’s absence. His Yama Kings stepped down from their deanships after finding successors for their positions; they were the ones who’d stepped forward to oversee the developments with Levitating Island and Qingfu Nation.

They hadn’t bothered Lu Yun with their problems, and he was now more of a spiritual leader for the Dao Academy.

……

Qing Yu sat at the peak of Mount Xuanhuang, meditating on the Dao Flower in her hands. A joint session of formula dao between Lu Yun and her had surprisingly revealed that her dao fruit was the Dao Flower!

If she could refine the Dao Flower, she would set foot into the dao immortal realm and be the supreme sovereign of immortal dao. As for Lu Yun, his dao fruit was in the lower worlds.

The chaos dao fruit that Fuxi had prepared for him was still growing and removed from the chaos. Time could no longer resolve his problem, so Lu Yun needed to think of another way to break through to the dao immortal realm. Joint efforts between him and his dao partner placed his search in the lower worlds.

The cosmos of the lower worlds was a new region of space formed after the great wilderness. A combination of the energy of a realm and the chaos, it was unexplored territory. No one knew what kind of strange and exotic treasures might appear there.

But no matter how Qing Yu and Lu Yun tackled the problem, the answer was always the same—Lu Yun must head to the lower worlds.

……

Autumn of the thirty-second year of the Xuanhuang Calendar.

The world of immortals now frequently interacted with the lower worlds a decade after the restoration of the Ascension Pool. Immortals often traveled to other realms to help their denizens fight off the dead spirits. They even visited worlds that didn’t send a representative to request help.

Due to the arrival of the world of immortals, the realms scrabbling for survival in the dangerous wreckage of space brimmed with new vitality after ten years. Of course, it wasn’t a purely charitable effort. Immortals who helped the lower worlds naturally did so with their own goals and desires in mind.

The lower worlds were barren, infertile, and lacked resources. Their levels of natural qi were even more pathetically inadequate. But to the visiting immortals, the lower worlds were perfect locations for arduous tempering. The cultivators and immortals of the lower worlds were also fantastic recruitment targets.

These immortals that traveled to the lower worlds were no pampered young masters living off the fat of the land. The dark and dusky tombs of the world of immortals were their goal since day one of cultivation, and many of them understood that they would one day die in those tombs.

In their eyes, there was no difference between fighting dead spirits in the lower worlds and exploring an ancient tomb.

……

“Why are you always following me around?” Lu Yun smiled wryly at the dusty little fox hanging onto his shoulder.

He’d come to a nameless lower star and changed his appearance to avoid alarming anyone. Though he’d repaired the immortal dao and reconstructed the ascent protocol, he was still a major thorn in the side of many. There were many among the creatures of the chaos or immortals of his own world who’d love to take him out of the picture.

Grand pure realm immortals on par with human kings of the Primeval Era walked the world these days. It would be trivial for them to kill him.

“I’m here to protect you, of course!” The little fox stood up and slapped her chest.

“Can you take human form? It’s so weird to always have a fox tucked in my robes.” Lu Yun plucked the sooty fox off his shoulder and addressed her seriously.

“Aiya… looks like you’ve fallen for my beauty too.” A smile curved her lips before dreamy radiance flashed across the little fox. The heaven-toppling beauty of a man who Lu Yun had first encountered in the world appeared in front of him.

The little fox caressed her face with great satisfaction. “Aren’t I good looking?”

Lu Yun rolled his eyes. “Are you worried that people won’t notice you? Turn into Ah Niu’s appearance.”

“Ah Niu?” The little fox blinked and thought back to the simple, honest, and somewhat dumb tribute spirit of the Yan Tribe. She shook her head fiercely. “No, no! I’m not turning into that dumb Niu! How about…”

Dreamy radiance shimmered over her once more as she turned into a thirteen year old girl.

Ah Bao.