It’d already been a full year since Lu Yun’s visit to the World Gates. The nine celestial emperors and Violetgrave could keep the gates under control for only ninety-nine more. However, that was a secret known only by a select few. Lu Yun hadn’t expected Zhao Shenguang to so decisively reveal it to the entire world. 

Development of the current world of immortals had begun only eighty thousand years ago. The world hadn’t even established a basic order to immortal dao since then, let alone recover to its peak. Mortals still outnumbered immortals by a great margin.

Though, perhaps it was better to have the cat out of the bag. At least those peak factions will stop picking on me from now on, thought Lu Yun.

Under everyone’s accusatory scrutiny, the immortals from the peak factions departed, shamefaced. Although Lu Yun hadn’t physically retaliated against them, their reputation suffered a great blow on this day.

When the Dao Flower had originally returned to the world of immortals, it’d suffered relentless attacks from the Feng and Jin Clans. As a result, the Jin Clan was eventually exterminated and erased from the map, while the Feng Clan had fallen into obscurity as one of the lowliest clans of the world.

This time, although the thirty-six peak factions and a hundred and eight first-tier factions hadn’t launched a direct attack against Dusk Province or undermined Lu Yun’s efforts to repair the dao immortal realm, their actions had still been recorded into the immortal dao.

It was an undeniable future outlook that the various factions of the world would decline, and that the nine majors would see a concentration of power in their hands.

Just as Lu Yun had said, he’d been theorizing how to save dao immortals under the old system. That was why he hadn’t swiftly gone to the Dao Tree and broken it to incorporate the new dao immortal realm into the immortal dao

According to Ge Long, Lu Yun and Qing Yu would receive the blessing of the immortal dao when they came together as dao partners. That might grant current dao immortals a ray of hope, but that was just a possibility.

Dao immortals were the elites of the current world of immortals and they would play an important role in guarding the World Gates after ninety-nine years. It didn’t make sense for Lu Yun to abandon them, nor was it appropriate.

……

At the foot of Mount Xuanhuang, Lu Yun and Qing Yu sat face to face, jointly pushing the feng shui luopan to its limit to deduce everything they could about the dao immortal realm.

Donglin Taihuang had been dismantled, his cosmic constitution granting Xing Chen’s body a starry radiance after being absorbed. Moreover, the Cosmic Sea, Cosmic Eyes, and Cosmic Skycarver had been fully incorporated into the replica as well. Xing Chen was well on his way to becoming a humanoid treasure.

“That’s it.” Qing Yu suddenly opened her eyes and dismissed formula dao with a wave of her hand. Lu Yun looked at her expectantly.

“Once Xing Chen becomes a humanoid treasure exceeding the level of connate-grade peerless treasures, the cosmos he projects will be the real constellations—a starry sky identical to the one in the firmament of the world of immortals!

“His rules of existence will shine upon all worlds and complete the immortal dao, which will then illuminate the multiverse according to those cosmic rules and reverse the current order. The dao immortal realm today will be transformed wholesale into the new system!” 

Qing Yu’s cheeks flushed red. This was all predicated on them becoming dao partners and receiving the blessing of the immortal dao and all beings in the world.

“Based on our previous thinking, the new void realm is accessible only to immortals of this world. Beyond the gates, space itself has become lifeless ruins of desolation. Still, there resides just as many living souls as in the world of immortals, struggling for hope and survival.”

When the Dao Flower bloomed, it’d granted Qing Yu a bird's eye view over the many worlds in the universe. Although she hadn’t gotten a clear look at the worlds themselves, she’d seen their denizens.

“If we follow the original plan, we’ll abandon them completely and rob them of all hope. But if your replica can reach greater heights than connate-grade peerless treasures and the great emperor realm, he’ll be able to create a real cosmos outside the world of immortals. Even the immortals outside this world will be able to ascend to the new dao immortal realm!” 

Qing Yu levelled an intense stare at Lu Yun. “The five organs of the world are what have accelerated Xing Chen to the great emperor realm. They bear the will of Great Emperor Xuan Yuan, which is why Xing Chen has reached his current cultivation level.”

“I won’t be able to raise Xing Chen beyond great emperor realm or a connate-grade peerless treasure, even with all the time in the world.” Lu Yun smiled wryly. “It’s just not possible, given my limited strength.”

Before Emperors Fall, the world had been a vast and terrifying place, densely populated with connate cultivators who descended upon the world with great power.

There had been countless major worlds like the current world of immortals at the time. If the modern world of immortals was placed back in that era, it’d be no greater than an insignificant particle. In those days, tens of thousands of great clans thrived and each of them counted at least one great emperor in their ranks.

The great emperors had existed because there was such a great denominator in population number. Thousands of major worlds just as great as the world of immortals, if not greater, answered to their command.

Even then, there had been no more than twenty individuals who exceeded this realm. They were the true elites, dominating over the pecking order of the world.

The great dao and rules of the time were superior to those of today as well. Countless wars had shattered the world, and the living souls then could reach tremendous heights despite primal cultivation methods. Even crude and unfinished combat arts and techniques wielded power that could threaten heaven and earth.

Combat arts and battle techniques were improving nowadays because the world was changing, and the primal methods were eliminated for their inability to adapt to the new world order. As the times changed, cultivation methods had grown increasingly intricate.

Failure to adapt to the evolving world meant elimination—such was survival of the fittest.

In other words, there could be no great emperors in this world before the dao immortal realm was repaired and the immortal dao returned as the pillar of the world.

Xing Chen had become a great emperor only due to the heritage of the underworld’s holy kings and the five world’s organs. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve the feat on his own, even in the kingdom of hell.

Qing Yu must have deduced a way to exceed the realm of great emperors, or she wouldn’t make such a suggestion.

……

“There are two conditions to fulfill!” Qing Yu met Lu Yun’s eyes. “First, the five peerless treasures! Corpsefire, Dusk River, Traceless, living soil, and the zombie tree! Second, the nine connate spirit roots in the world!”

Originally, there’d been nine on the list. The tenth spirit root, Emperor Sunflower, had emerged afterwards to bear the immortal dao’s Sol Truefire. Its own flame didn’t completely ignite until the sunflower devoured the star core above the Embittered Ocean.

“The zombie tree won’t be a problem, I branded it before it escaped. It’s now in the West Sea, but it looks like the demon god’s taken over its body. The nine connate spirit roots, on the other hand...” Lu Yun responded awkwardly.