The Dao Flower had melded back into the immortal dao the moment Lu Yun had ascended to the void realm, and from the flower’s feedback, they’d learned that Wu Tulong, Mo Qitian, and Zi Chen were dead.

The marks the flower left on them were transferred to Qing Han, but somehow, the three youths had appeared yet again and were traveling to Life Province of Nephrite Major to attend the Sovereign Meet.

There was something fishy going on, and Lu Yun intended to get to the bottom of it.

Just when he’d decided to set out for Life Province, he received two messages, one from Lu Daoling and the other from the lord of Panorama Pavilion. They both asked for Lu Yun to attend the True Sovereign Meet!

“The nine majors, ten lands, and four immortal seas jointly organized the tournament because a great opportunity has emerged in Life Province,” said Lu Daoling. “The implications are great. You and Qing Han must attend the Sovereign Meet!”

The pavilion head’s message was simple and blunt: Hurry to Life Province. Regret it for the rest of your life if you miss the Sovereign Meet!

Then, the great sovereign of the Star Demon Sect personally visited Dusk Province to request an audience with Lu Yun. Although Dusk Province had been sealed off from the world, no faction would dare prevent a Star Demon sovereign from entering.

……

“Just what is going on here?” Lu Yun looked upon a thin, shriveled old man whose eyes shone with the light of blood. When Lu Yun had first met the man, he’d almost knee-jerked into leveling the Judgement of Life and Death on the sovereign.

The retribution on the elder was so thick that it’d almost consolidated into karmic fruit. He’d killed at least eighty million people, if not more!

The Star Demon Sect was a demonic sect through and through. There were other demonic sects in the world, but they didn’t consider themselves demonic. They opted for names playing off of variations like the Sacred Sect, Immortal Sect, or Divine Sect.

The Star Demon Sect, on the other hand, proudly wore their notoriety like a badge. Being called a fiend was a wonderful compliment to them, so of course they’d have to do things that befitted their self-image.

By this point, Lu Yun was subtly questioning his decision to become their sect head.

“In response to the sect head!” The great sovereign retracted his aura to show Lu Yun deference. “The will of the immortal dao has given its blessings to the True Sovereign Meet commencing in ten days.

“The day the tournament begins, a secret realm from the ancient world of immortals will open! All clans and sects in the world are welcome and allowed to enter and search for fortuitous opportunities.”

Lu Daoling and the pavilion head had refrained from giving Lu Yun the full explanation, since the message had come from the immortal dao. Likewise, the greatest elites of the major factions followed the instructions, but didn’t dare leak the orders.

The great sovereign however, didn’t care. Lu Yun was the head of the Star Demon Sect. He would never hold anything back from the young man.

“Blessings given by… the will of the immortal dao?” Lu Yun and Qing Han exchanged a look of disbelief.

“Is the immortal dao… sentient?” Lu Yun asked subconsciously.

“It is,” answered Empress Myrtlestar from the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals. “The ancient immortal emperors were able to rule over so many worlds because they’d earned the approval of the immortal dao.

“The will of the immortal dao is ephemeral and undefinable, but it holds sway over everything between the heavens and earth. Where the immortal dao is, its will can reach.”

“What is the will of the immortal dao then? Is it the will of someone who controls the dao?” Lu Yun followed up.

“The will of the heavens is the will of the people, and the will of the immortal dao is the will of all lives under the immortal dao.” After a pensive pause, Empress Myrtlestar continued, “The dao of immortals was established by living beings. Naturally, its will is derived from the will of all lives. However, if my guess is correct, that will dissipated when the immortal dao was severed in the great war a hundred thousand years ago.

“You and Qing Han have recently restored the path of cultivation, which was part of the immortal dao. After the Dao Flower bloomed and was reintegrated into the immortal dao, its will was resurrected as well.

“The Sovereign Meet was approved by the immortal dao because the gathering follows its rules and is conducive to its development. But do not fear it. The will is merely… a pattern that the immortal dao follows.” Empress Myrtlestar finally found the right words to explain what the nebulous will was.

Lu Yun nodded faintly.

“With the immortal dao reawakened, the world of immortals is on the cusp of a period of great progress,” Empress Myrtlestar said in a lighter tone. “We will be seeing a great number of additions to the ranks of void realm cultivators.”

It was clear from her tone that she was delighted by the turn of events.

“Why didn’t the immortal dao approve of the tournament in Dusk, then?” Lu Yun asked with a frown.

“Because there’s a restriction against immortals here,” responded the empress. “The restriction against golden immortals is essentially a ban on immortals. If my guess is correct, all of the immortals in the world died in the ultimate battle a hundred thousand years ago. Any possible survivors still fell from immortality, and it was all because of the restriction.

“Someone set up a great restriction over the entire world of immortals to sever the immortal dao. That restriction… should now reside in Dusk. More precisely, the one we all know from the ancient tomb.” Empress Mytlestar presented her theory with great certainty.

She’d been observing the world through Qing Han ever since they’d left the Skandha Extinction Tomb, and had even snuck away to travel the world for a while before returning. That was how she came to these conclusions.

Lu Yun and Qing Han shared another stunned look. Was the Dusk restriction responsible for the destruction of the immortal dao?

“There was a restriction in Life Province?” Lu Yun asked quietly.

“That’s right.” Empress Myrtlestar nodded. “The restriction originated from Life Province, but was then confined to Dusk Province.

“The world is very vast…. I couldn’t even see it for what it was when I was the immortal empress of the east. Never did I foresee that someday, someone would shatter the world into twenty-four facets. Even the immortal emperors of my time couldn’t do that.”

Since the restriction was in Dusk Province, the immortal dao would never approve of Dusk. In fact, it considered the province an enemy of the world because of it.

Meanwhile, the portion of the original restriction hidden in Life Province had been dispersed the moment the Blood Sea had emerged. The Dusk restriction was now the only one left in the world.

……

Three days before the True Sovereign Meet, Lu Yun and Qing Han left Dusk Province. With its isolation, it was impossible to enter the province. Meanwhile, immortals and cultivators who wished to leave had to undergo a series of interrogations, since the important paths had been blocked by checkpoints.

Thanks to Lu Yun’s shapeshifting death art, their departure was an easy one after changing their appearances and constitutions.