All of Dusk Province boomed and shook. An enormous mountain of bronze soared into the clouds from the outskirts of Dao City, seated north and facing south from its position by the city. Astoundingly, it came with the influence that’d once graced Mount Exalted, and in fact seemed even more awe-inspiring than the mountain that’d once stunned the land.

In the world of immortals, bronze was reserved for sacrificial rites and most of the altars in the realm were made of this metal. Formation runes crisscrossed and formations overlapped over the growing mountain. The moment it fully took shape, the world trembled and a strange power encompassed all of the facets.

……

“He’s used the tools of sacrifice to forcefully pull together a world on the brink of disassembly!” On Levitating Island, Silverlight gasped in the direction of Dusk Province. The mountain next to Dao City was too enormous and too distinct. No matter where one was in the four great oceans, the first thing they’d see when they looked in the direction of Dusk was that mountain cast from bronze.

“The moment Qing Yu became an immortal, she used her own strength to suppress the immortal dao and compel the shattering world back into one. And now, this mountain concentrates immortal dao with a strange momentum that will fully repair the cracks in the world.

“It won’t be long before our current world is as of the one in the Primordial Era—reborn as one whole, complete world.” Somewhere far in the depths of the South Sea, Qi Hai stared blankly as he muttered to himself.

“All of this is what I’d wanted to accomplish once upon a time, but to think he was one step ahead of me!” He’d reverted to his appearance in the Primordial Era, that of a genteel and refined pill master.

“You wouldn’t be able to do it,” sighed the city lord of Destiny City from his position beside Qi Hai. “The immortal dao is the dao of all and not the dao of the human race. You lack the immortal dao’s acknowledgement and thus you would never obtain the acceptance of the world.”

“The immortal dao of all, is it?” Qi Hai shook his head, a lost look in his eyes. “The three founders of immortal dao were human. Why is their creation a dao of all living beings and not of humans? Did those three luminaries betray humanity as well?”

The city lord had no response to that.

“Junior brother, do you recall the rumors of our time?” Qi Hai suddenly asked.

“What rumors?” The city lord blinked.

“The ones about the battle of Emperors Fall,” Qi Hai said woodenly as he looked at the bronze mountain sharpening into focus.

There were fifty million kilometers between the South Sea and Dusk Province, but he could still see the enormous mountain rising from Dusk. This wasn’t testament to how towering it was, but a sign that the laws of immortal dao had imbued it. Mount Xuanhuang was poised to become the sacred mountain of the world of immortals, a landmark infused with laws of the immortal dao and worshipped by all in the world.

Of course, it wasn’t really a sacred mountain yet. It still needed to receive the worship of all beings in the world before it would slowly gain the holiness needed to anchor the world of immortals. With its appearance in Dusk Province, everyone was clear that Lu Yun was ready to create his sacred land.

“Rumors of the battle of Emperors Fall?” The city lord’s heart skipped a beat.

“Before that battle, every great emperor possessed their own great dao and were the representatives of the almighty dao. They were the sovereigns of all living beings,” Qi Hai murmured to himself. “After that battle and the deaths of countless great emperors, someone took their great dao away.”

Trembling violently, the city lord noticed that a corner of the sky had turned a blood red. Terrifying killing intent locked onto Qi Hai and the city lord. If Qi Hai dared continued speaking further, that killing intent would solidify into real action and destroy them both.

Thus, Qi Hai shut his mouth. He lifted his head with a trace of contempt playing on his lips. “Pathetic worms.”

……

When the soaring bronze mountain fully materialized, it loomed to the north of Destiny City and reached for the clouds. A blurry halo of blue light shimmered into existence on the mountain, as if an enormous consciousness had descended from the heavens to sink into the landmass and gradually settle down into slumber.

This was the will of the immortal dao.

It had directed the first Sovereign Ranking Battle, but that had been when it was newly awoken and been in a muddled, jumbled state. Another entity had even seized control of it in the end.

But now with Qing Yu as the dao sovereign and ascended to immortality, she’d used the strength of the heavenly palace to wrest the immortal dao free of the entity’s control. Sealing it into the bronze mountain for safekeeping, the garden of immortal crystals on the other side of Dao City faded into a hazy image and shifted to become one with the mountain.

“This mountain is greater than even Mount Exalted!” Lu Yun floated up to take in the sight and found himself gripped with solemnity instead. “The heavens and earth are oft referred to as xuan and huang, and the universe is vast and timeless… This mountain shall be named Mount Xuanhuang!”

Boom!

A clap of thunder sounded in the sky with his words as golden smoke billowed into the firmament. Countless bolts of lightning crashed down onto the mountain of bronze in front of him, melting the metal and transforming it into another matter.

The characters Xuanhuang flashed across it before disappearing.

“Lu Yun!” A great yell echoed between heaven and earth. “Do you wish to establish a sacred land?!”

The yell seem to originate from the world, but also from within Mount Xuanhuang as well. Or was it the questioning from all of life?

It roiled through the world of immortals and the Dao Flower blossomed, shadowing Mount Xuanhuang with its petals. Everyone held their breaths and looked silently upon the mighty mountain and the tiny figure of Lu Yun beside it.

“I, Lu Yun, have walked the path of cultivation for only six years. I am but a mere true immortal even now, so by what right and basis do I have to establish a sacred land?” Lu Yun shook his head in midair. “Today, I, Lu Yun, along with the presence of Dao Sovereign Qing Yu, do hereby establish the academy of immortal dao.

“All lives are equal within the Dao Academy. Of the three realms, six paths, and grand multiverse—any who have awoken to intelligence may enter the academy for study.

“I, as headmaster, will offer up all that which I know for the benefit of all.

“I, as headmaster, will teach all those who come and propagate all knowledge that there is.

“I, as headmaster, will…”

……

One distinguished proclamation after another rang from Lu Yun’s mouth, shaking the world with their reverberations. Jaws dropped as everyone stared at him.

The Dao Academy?

A school of dao and enlightenment for the masses?!

While this wasn't a sacred land, it was more frightening than one! A sacred land was holy and sacrosanct, an inviolable existence to be revered. Ordinary people were not to defile it; it was more a spiritual totem than anything.

However, Lu Yun’s Dao Academy spoke of a vision to bring enlightenment to everyone—he would be the guide of all living beings! He really did want to be a saint, even though this path would be filled with obstacles, pitfalls, and be uncommonly hard to traverse.

……

“As the headmaster, you are willing to offer up all that you know, disseminate knowledge, and edify all life?” a dismissive snort traveled through the air as rays of bloody light converged into a humanoid form over Dusk Province. The demon god’s Ichor Bog replica had arrived.

“Then I ask you, are you willing to pass onto me a formation of heaven and earth for dao immortals?” he sneered.

“Those who enter my academy may learn it,” Lu Yun responded calmly with his hands behind his back.