Qi Hai’s visit caused things to end on a sour note for the founding of the Dao Academy, but that didn’t bother Lu Yun at all. In fact, he wished that more sacred lands would emerge in the world of immortals.
Competition would always be the greatest drive for improvement, which was sorely needed. After all, the World Gates would stand for only another hundred years!
……
An extravagant cluster of palaces emerged halfway up Mount Xuanhuang, forming a dense circle around the great mountain. Those were the Dao Palaces, the true campus of the Dao Academy!
They had once formed the dragon palace that humans had refined for the dragons, containing the nine great treasures of the nine connate divine beasts. Dao City, sitting at the foot of Mount Xuanhuang, became Dao Academy’s outskirts.
On the second day of the first year and first month of the Xuanhuang calendar, namely the day after the establishment of the Dao Academy, two beams of dark light shot heavenward and blended into the sky of the world of immortals.
“I, Su Xiaoxiao, dean of the medicine school at the Dao Academy, do hereby establish medicine dao as the sixth supplemental path beneath the immortal dao!” Her voice suddenly rang throughout the world, compelling everyone to shift their attention to Mount Xuanhuang.
“Medicine dao? The sixth supplemental path of the immortal dao?” Many were confounded by the revelation. “Su Xiaoxiao must be one of the ten powerful maids serving Lu Yun… Who would’ve thought that she’d be able to establish a standalone dao!”
Once medicine dao was fully incorporated into the immortal dao, all immortals and cultivators were able to take a closer look at this newest path, which they digested to great surprise and awe.
What a curious supplemental path it was! It was meant to save the injured and dying in a way that looked similar to pill dao at first blush, but was, in fact, vastly different. No one could argue that it shouldn’t be considered an addition to the four original supplemental paths.
“Wait, if medicine dao is the sixth dao, what is the fifth?” Anticipation and curiosity abounded—many had seen a second ray of dark light shooting out from Mount Xuanhuang.
The Dao Academy had been established, but it wasn’t officially open to enrollment yet. Its existence was a threat to the interests of the peak factions in the world of immortals. Although they couldn’t prevent its establishment, they could forbid disciples and denizens of their territory from enrolling.
However, they didn’t expect the academy to establish two supplemental paths the very next day after its formation! It was an option growing in attractiveness by the day.
“So she still did it in the end.” Qi Hai stared darkly at the light of Su Xiaoxiao’s path. “That shard of human dao hell grants Lu Yun a small amount of reincarnation ability, by which he resurrects people. If I’d known about this earlier, I would’ve completely destroyed and ripped apart her body back then.”
He was spiraling into an unhealthy obsession, but even he couldn’t help his curiosity. “If Su Xiaoxiao’s medicine dao can rival the other four supplemental paths, what is the fifth path?”
……
“Today, as Dao Sovereign and dean of the formula dao school in the Dao Academy,” Qing Yu declared in her usual lilting voice, “I do hereby establish formula dao as the first supplemental path of the immortal dao.”
Hum.
Her declaration was immediately followed by the emergence of the Dao Flower, which shadowed the entirety of Mount Xuanhuang.
“The first?! It’s going to replace pill dao as the foremost supplemental path?!”
“Whaaaaat?!”
“Formula dao is already approved by the immortal dao as the first supplemental path!” Unhinged yells could be heard all over the world.
Pill dao had occupied the seat of top-ranked supplemental path for a very long time. Back in the Primordial Era, the four supplemental paths of pill, equipment, formation, and talisman had been on a level playing field. Qi Hai’s appearance out of nowhere was why pill dao had risen above the other three and became the first path of the immortal dao.
Now, though…
Formula dao, which Qing Yu had established, was the first supplemental path! She’d exceeded Qi Hai!
Qi Hai was still alive, and he’d established the pill dao sacred land in the South Sea to oppose the Dao Academy of Dusk Province! However, she’d displaced pill dao’s illustrious position the very next day, delivering a hearty slap to Qi Hai’s face!
“Formula dao can deduce everything! Be it combat arts, cultivation methods, or even other supplemental paths… What a monstrous path!” Powerful immortals scowled when they got a clearer look at the formula dao.
It could not only infer the many variations of combat arts and cultivation methods, it could also identify their weaknesses. Formations, treasures, pills, and talismans were no exception, either. No wonder formula dao would be deemed the first supplemental path!
“The treasures, combat arts, and cultivation methods that Lu Yun sold aren’t primordial ones, but contemporary ones that Qing Yu created with formula dao!”
“It’s too powerful a supplemental path to ignore. Once it’s popularized in the world of immortals, we’ll be at a great disadvantage. Leave for Dusk Province at once and enroll in the Dao Academy for formula dao!”
The impact of the new supplemental path rippled through the world of immortals. Peak clans lost their composure and changed their minds about snubbing the new faction, immediately forming lists of who to send to Dusk. To be honest, it would be impossible for them to keep their people under control with this new revelation, even if they wanted to.
Formula dao… what a terribly great invention.
“There’s a reason why Qing Yu is the sovereign of immortal dao, alright!”
Now that the Dao Flower had bloomed and the immortal dao emerged, powerful immortals could sense information about supplemental paths through the immortal dao. Groups of knowledge-seekers assembled and rushed to Dusk Province from all over the world, their eagerness quickly doused when they actually arrived at the Dao Academy.
Although it’d been established, it wasn’t operating just yet. Moreover, anyone who wished to enter the academy had to follow its rules.
The Dao Academy welcomed anyone from all parts of the world of immortals. Cultivators could study for free and would actually receive subsidies such as immortal crystals, pills, and treasures. Immortals, on the other hand, had to pay a great sum of crystals in order to enroll.
……
On the first day of the second month in the first Xuanhuang year, the Dao Academy finally opened its doors to pupils. Close to a million immortals and hundreds of thousands of cultivators or ordinary mortals swarmed into the academy to become its disciples.
Most of the immortals came from the major factions in the world of immortals. There were very few wandering immortals since they were at the mercy of the major factions and considered private property. Naturally, the factions would prevent their wandering immortals from visiting Dusk Province.
As for the cultivators and ordinary mortals, they were from all over Nephrite Major. Zhao Shenguang ruled over Nephrite and he was a sidekick of Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi. All bad blood between Dusk and Nephrite was thus wiped clean.
……
“The six supplemental paths of the Dao Academy are the formula, pill, equipment, formation, talisman, and medicine dao!”
“Oh? There are also different branches of immortal dao—monster spirit, divine, demon, and shaman dao!”
“There are also different paths for training, including martial, sword, saber, lance…”
“Hmm? What are these?” someone yelped in surprise. “New cultivation methods?!”
“A constitution method, breathing method, and body-tempering martial art!”
“An elemental breathing method and associated boxing technique…”
“Nascent spirit methods! An observation method and combat method… Heavens, the greatest weakness of all immortals has been resolved by Lu Yun—no, by the headmaster!”
“The Facet Observation Method!”
“The constitution and nascent spirit methods are revolutionary, even more so than the formula dao!”
“Lu Yun can’t possibly be a young man who’s only cultivated for six years, can he?”
Beams of light soared into the sky from the Dao Academy, displaying everything that would be taught here. Immortals who’d entered the campus could barely stop themselves from fainting when they realized the copious bounty available to them.
“No peak faction would ever be in a mood to share should they get their hands on any one of these,” someone murmured. “They would never allow just anyone to learn the methods, let alone everyone.”
“Alright,” Lu Yun said from a distance. “What you see is what the Dao Academy is going to teach to everyone. Of course, this is all merely foundational knowledge. Nothing’s been perfected yet. Every great dao, every heritage, every combat art and cultivation method in the world cannot be perfected without the collective wisdom of all lives.”
“Everyone is permitted entrance to learn our heritage and legacies. At the same time, the academy will be learning from you in order to refine these methods. I hereby declare the official commencement of the Dao Academy!
“All one million six hundred eighty-nine thousand four hundred and thirty-six of you are now the first batch of outer disciples of the Dao Academy. You will be living in Dao City.”
“The outer academy teaches only the basics. There,” Lu Yun pointed at the Dao Palaces up Mount Xuanhuang, “in those palaces lies the inner academy. After sixty years of study in the outer academy, disciples will undergo a trial for the privilege to enter the inner academy. If you pass, you will then be inner disciples and be personally taught by the dean of each path!
“Those who fail to pass the trial after sixty years will be expelled and sent home.”
