The Dao Academy’s actions undermined all of the peak factions in the world of immortals, putting many Nephrite factions first in the line of fire. Giant fortress ships descended in their territory before they had any time to react and escorted their mortals away.

None of them were optimistic enough to think that the mortals would return after finishing their studies in the Dao Academy. These mortals felt no particular sense of belonging to their factions and wouldn’t think twice about moving on with their lives. The peak factions had thought they were taking great advantage of Lu Yun’s largesse, but now realized with great dismay that the tables had been turned all along.

……

“Has anyone noticed?” raised the Yue patriarch. “No one’s ascended to the dao immortal realm ever since Qing Yu refined the Central World! My nephew had already sensed the Dao Tree and accumulated enough experience and foundation. When the time was right, he would’ve been able to pluck his fruit at his leisure.

“But he lost his connection to the Dao Tree as soon as Qing Yu refined the Central World!” His voice gained an icy edge. “The tree is in the Central World, and I suspect that we peak factions are Lu Yun’s targets. He not only undermines our foundation, but also severs the paths before us to ensure our destruction!”

“Qing Yu has purposefully sealed off the Dao Tree to stop peerless immortals from ascending!” Shock and dread shaking their hearts, the heads of the Zhu, Ling, and other lesser clans realized what was at stake here.

The Dao Tree they held sacred, the lifeblood of immortals in this world, was under Qing Yu’s control! They would never become dao immortals if they didn’t please her!

“This is an important matter. We alone won’t be able to rival the Dao Academy… all of us must form an alliance!” The Ling patriarch shot to his feet; it wasn’t until this moment that he realized they’d been targeted!

“There’s someone we must go to now. He’s the only one who can help us deal with the academy!”

“Who?”

“Qi Hai of Destiny City in the South Sea!”

……

Lu Yun was indeed targeting the peak factions.

Their existence was necessary, but when viewed through the lens of historical trends, their presence was similar to that of primal tribes in something like the Stone Age. They had become enormous obstacles standing in the way of progress and development of the world of immortals.

He was no luminary of humanity with the vision to be emperor of the world. What he wanted was to just follow the trends of history and facilitate the centralization of authority in the world!

Therefore, the Dao Academy added a little something when pushing its agenda of cultivating the mortals from the nine majors, ten lands, and four immortal seas. Sprinkling a little bit of awe and wonder for the celestial courts in the curriculum, for instance.

At the same time, Lu Yun promised the celestial courts of the twenty-four facets that they could recruit whoever they liked from the Dao Academy, as long as the disciples were willing. Therefore, all emperors of the various facets were firmly on his side in this initiative, regardless of their previous opinion of the young man.

They knew that the Dao Academy was no sect, that it didn’t belong to any particular celestial court. Lu Yun wouldn’t force any disciples to stay once they finished their studies. This was why they’d accepted Lu Yun’s offer and sent mortals to the academy for nothing in return.

Allowing mortals to cultivate was the trend of the times. There was no reason to oppose the inexorable grind of the bigger picture.

On the outside looking in, Dusk Province spanned only forty thousand kilometers, but multiple space folding formations filled its premises. The three hundred and sixty-five great cities also opened one after another as branches of the Dao Academy.

Lu Yun turned no mortals away. Everyone who presented themselves was welcomed into cities that rivaled capitals in other parts of the world. Aurum Openia Pills and a great variety of ingredients and materials poured forth like the tidewaters, transforming their constitution for cultivation.

With the Ancient Tree of Life rooted in the immortal crystal garden and unfurling multiple minor crystal veins through the ground, Lu Yun now sat on an abundance of crystals. Moreover, the current world of immortals was much richer in resources than it’d been in the Primordial Era, while only ten thousandth of the number of immortals populated the world.

……

“The peak factions have finally gotten up to no good.” Lu Yun looked up at the sky, unfazed by the looming pressure slowly descending upon him.

It was the sixth day of the ninth month, in the first year of the Xuanhuang calendar. On this day, tens of thousands of dao immortals from the thirty-six peak factions and a hundred and eight first-tier factions of the world besieged Dusk Province.

“Lu Yun, Qing Yu, you lying hypocrites have committed despicable crimes under the pretense of establishing your dao, and the world suffers for it!! Do you admit your guilt?!” The accusation came from a solemn-looking middle-aged man with purple hair and matching attire. Lightning whipped around him, making him seem like an ancient god of thunder. He was the patriarch of the Zi Clan in Thundergale Major.

This clan was one of the most powerful among the peak factions in the world, rivalling the Lin Clan in Primus Major. Its patriarch Zi Hengxiao was a man of great talent and wisdom, and he’d reached peak arcane dao immortal realm.

Outside of origin dao immortals, he faced no rivals in the world. With his great aspirations, he didn’t resign as patriarch once he made the ascension, but instead leveraged the entire clan for a further breakthrough and became a flawless origin dao immortal. He was the undisputed leader of this operation.

“I say...” Lu Yun said coolly, “will you guys piss off already?”

Uncomprehending silence rang loud and clear. Lu Yun didn’t seem like a man facing his worst crisis. There wasn’t a hint of panic that enemies had arrived on his doorstep!

“How many times have you attacked Dusk Province since my rise? What do you take me for? Your personal punching bag?” Bubbling with frustration, the governor of Dusk showed himself.

He could understand it when others targeted Dusk Province due to his weak cultivation and lack of right to govern the province. However, his territory had matured since then and the Dao Academy established with the approval of the immortal dao. In fact, the will of the immortal dao now resided within Mount Xuanhuang.

But still these people showed their faces?

If he didn’t teach them a good lesson this time, there would be no end to this nonsense in the future. Not only was the latest attempt infuriating, it was also rather upsetting.

He counted the Lin Clan among the thirty-six peak clans. When Lin Lie had come to take the Lin brothers away, Lu Yun had thought him to be an exception instigated by House Donglin, representing only a minority of the Lin Clan. But here they were again, and far from the minority!

Lin Yu and Lin Xuan looked on gravely from within Dao City. Their clan... felt so foreign to them at this moment. On the contrary, the Mo Clan, another peak faction of Lazuli Major, had abstained from this farce.

“Hahaha!” Zi Hengxiao and the others laughed uproariously at Lu Yun’s words. “That’s because you, Lu Yun, are a plague upon the world of immortals! You are a fiend cursed by men and gods alike! You should be killed on sight!”

“Patriarch!” a piercing voice interrupted from within Dusk Province before its owner appeared in short order. 

“Zi Chen?” The patriarch started.

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