Chapter 955: Guides (1/2)
Lu Yun vacated a tiny clearing near the Gates of the Abyss for the Ascension Pool rather than set it up directly in the depths of hell. He flung it into the void, a place that was formless and directionless. With only the enormous treasure there and the emptiness of the void, taking one step out of the pool would land arrivals in the world of immortals.
He didn’t want everyone to learn about the existence of hell for now. Even Silverblaze had only thought it was a special dimension when she trained inside.
……
As the Ascension Pool completed its reconfiguration, the ascent protocol disseminated throughout the world of immortals and into the immortal dao. At almost the same time, all of the world’s immortals and those of the multiverse sensed the treasure’s ripples and an inexplicable calling.
“Ascend to… the world of immortals?” Immortals of the lower worlds reacted with varying joy, sorrow, or complete indifference as they comprehended the ascent protocol.
The lower worlds were a wreckage of demolished celestial bodies and planetary debris. Anything that lived here struggled fearsomely for survival, every gasp potentially their last. But still the immortals bitterly defended their homes, guarding their family and friends. The moment they left would be the moment in which their last sanctuary was overrun by dead spirits.
Anyone that wasn’t an immortal would perish in a ghastly manner.
Naturally, there was also a portion of immortals who wanted nothing more than to escape this ruinous life of complete darkness and despair. They’d had enough of fire and brimstone, days on the run, and never knowing if they would live to see another day.
The ascent protocol appeared at this time.
“That Lu Yun’s finally lost his mind and done something completely insane.” In the ten lands, nine heavyweights looked toward the Dao Academy with immense schadenfreude. When the two scarlet apes on Levitating Island perceived the ascent protocol, they also smirked smugly.
“Once the protocol forces the immortals of the lower worlds to ascend, hundreds of millions of lives in the lower worlds will be instantly slaughtered. He won’t be able to endure this kind of karmic repercussion even though he’s repaired the immortal dao,” grinned Goldenlight. “When he repaired the path of cultivation, he created the formation of heaven and earth. When he repaired the dao immortal realm, he went to all that trouble of having his great emperor replica become the cosmos… all to avoid resentment from immortals eliminated by the times!
“He wanted to prevent retribution from seeking him out, but he failed himself this time!”
After the deaths of nearly a dozen academy disciples, general sentiment of the monster spirits on Levitating Island slowly took a turn for the worse. Aside from the silvermoon wolves, so did the silverback gorillas depart the island.
The appearance of the ascent protocol didn’t matter to ordinary immortals, neither did they care what would develop because of this. After paying a little bit of attention to it, they went back to their regular business.
The ascent protocol streamed out of the Ascension Pool and melded into the world of immortals, whereupon it suddenly hiccuped. A new rule dropped into the smoothly flowing protocol and incorporated itself into the immortal dao.
This small change vanished into the process like a drop of water in the great sea. Seemingly insignificant, it set off a momentous change in the immortal dao and rewrote the ascent protocol.
Whoosh!
In the crystal garden beneath Mount Xuanhuang, the Dao Flower blossomed and unfurled arcane glyphs from its petals. Drifting about in a graceful storm, they also became part of the ascent protocol.
Faces that had been delighting in anticipated resentment froze, and the expressions of immortals in the lower worlds also turned odd.
We can… choose if we want to ascend?
Immortals could go if they wanted to, but could also remain in their homelands if they didn’t want to? More importantly, there was a new convention in the protocol! Immortals from the world of immortals could utilize a descent protocol in the system to visit the lower worlds!
Nothing like this had existed since the establishment of the immortal dao! But Lu Yun, Headmaster of the Dao Academy, had accomplished this monumental feat and opened a passageway between the world of immortals and the lower worlds.
……
“When we first built the ascent protocol, we wanted to create something that would work both ways. Who would’ve thought that you two kids would complete it first!” Ge Long grumbled with some dissatisfaction as he looked at Lu Yun and Qing Yu.