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“Heh, that would be for the best.” Old Daoist Peng smiled “hehe” and said: “However, you shouldn’t have to demand such a high fee again. In the end, we are returning customers. If you make us pay so much each time, our academy will eventually become bankrupt.”

“I’ll do it for free this time, okay?” Li Qiye angrily glared at him and said.

Old Daoist Peng became excited and rubbed his hands while he cheerfully smiled: “Nothing would be better! After all, nothing in this world can be more tempting than a free lunch.”

“Let’s go and have a look.” Li Qiye was too lazy to care about Old Daoist Peng, so he stood up and walked out.

Before reaching the door, Little Autumn excitedly rushed in and shouted: “It is time, it is time!”

“What is it?” Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and said: “Is it the portal?”

“That’s right! The portal is about to open right outside of the five grand halls! Hurry, hurry, we’re ready to immediately set off as the vanguard! Hahaha! Maybe we will be the first to seize the Void Gate!”

“It’s finally here.” Li Qiye squinted his eyes and said in a serious manner. When it came to the Void Gate, even someone who had experienced countless things like Li Qiye couldn’t stay calm.

The Void Gate, one of the nine Grand Heavenly Treasures, was coveted since time immemorial by even Immortal Emperors. The world assumed that it did not exist, but Li Qiye was certain of its existence since he was aware of its details more than anyone else.

Not too many inhabitants of this world had seen the Void Gate or even any of the nine treasures for that matter. However, they surely would be driven mad at the mere sight of one!

“But, our matter...” Old Daoist Peng was quite startled after hearing the exchange between Little Autumn and Li Qiye since the business of the Void Gate had never been a priority. To the academy, the Realm God was more important.

“I will go see the Realm God.” Finally, Li Qiye spoke with a deep tone, then he uttered a command to Little Autumn: “You go tell Sikong Toutian’s group to be ready. We will depart the moment I come back; I will wait for no one.”

“Yes, sir!” Little Autumn replied and immediately left in excitement. The Void Gate could be the place of its birth! So how could it not be excited given the chance to return and see the gate?

The academy was very vast, and its central area was gigantic. Rolling ancient halls and divine pavilions were deep inside; some were even floating in the sky. Not mentioning the students from the five halls, even the academy disciples were not allowed in these places. It was a right reserved to experts of the elder and protector levels.

The academy possessed many secrets after having existed for so long, especially in its key underground grand vein in its deepest ground.

Once one stepped into this place, they would feel that the worldly essence was extremely dense. Even a person with the worst talents would be able to feel its thickness. Being connected to the heaven and earth along with the grand dao — this was a wonderful sensation.

“You guys have kept this ancestral vein for too long.” Li Qiye stood here and felt the ground’s magicalness. Such a place was indeed very rare in this world.

He took a breath of this worldly essence and spoke: “After having this ancestral vein for so long, it would be strange if others didn’t covet it.”

Old Daoist Peng wryly smiled and said: “We can’t be blamed for occupying it for so long. This is because our ancestors had the foresight to build the dao foundation at this place. As their descendants, we can’t just hand over such a treasure ground to someone else, right? That would be an unworthy deed to our ancestors!”

“This is true. The Heavenly Dao Academy and the War God Temple — the ancestors of these great powers were indeed wise and astute; across the ages, very few people could compare to them.” The strength of an everlasting lineage was not just based on the effort of the descendants, it was also from the foresight of the forefathers.

After tens of millions of years, countless heritages became ashes. Even a number of Immortal Emperor lineages disappeared in the midst of the river of time. However, these two existences continued on, and this had a lot to do with the locations chosen by their ancestors.

Stepping into this ground, one could hear the chants of flood dragons and see sacred phoenixes dancing around along with wonderful fishes playing on the river’s surface. Rare and precious herbs, along with strange animals, could all be found in this place.

From this, one could see how amazing the academy’s hidden trove was. It had accumulated too many resources throughout the ages.

“Maybe, it is because your ancestors left behind too many things for you guys, allowing you all to idly eat without any worries. After so many years, the academy and all of its ancestors still weren’t able to cultivate an Immortal Emperor that belonged to just you.” Li Qiye couldn’t help but comment after seeing this land of treasures.

These words were hard to hear, but Old Daoist Peng had to agree with a sigh: “This might be the reason.”

Since the Desolate Era till now, the resources and secret strength of the academy and the War God Temple were not any less than other heritages. Although the academy trained many disciples and students into great, legendary characters, the strange part was that the academy never groomed an Immortal Emperor. Immortal Emperor Hao Hai and Immortal Emperor Ta Kong did indeed graduate from the academy, but to be more exact, they were not its true inheritors.

“Break then reform — this might be a good choice for your academy.” Li Qiye said: “There are two deadly flaws regarding your academy and the temple. First is the group of overly conservative old men; there is no desire to start from the beginning, no determination to kill until the heavens fall, no conviction to fight with two empty hands...”

“You all have always picked your own world and trapped yourselves inside. Although you have been standing strong, you have lost the bravado and dominance that could pierce the sky — the courage to annihilate all worlds like back then in the Desolate Era.”

“Secondly, even if you have more hidden resources, then what? There is a harsh saying: people who live in peaceful times will not have the fierceness to compete against the heavens for a bowl of rice. You and your descendants have been spoonfed too many things. To put it differently, would you ever compete for the worldly treasures right before your eyes, even if it meant becoming enemies with the rest of the world?”

“It’s the same with the matter of the portal; you chose to take a step back and open the portal for self-preservation. This manner of doing business seems to be rational, but your academy does not want to push yourself into a desperate strait. To be more frank, you have no determination to push yourself to a dead end.”

“These two deadly flaws are the same. Having too many things — this was something you all enjoyed from a young age. Once you became ancestors, you would rather make compromises regarding many matters because all of you did not lack anything.”

“Without any risks, without bathing the world in blood, without any determination to go against all odds, how can one climb to the peak, accept the heaven’s will, and become an Immortal Emperor? Since time immemorial, how many Immortal Emperors — step by step — trod forward in bloody battles and used countless bones to pave the way for their Immortal Emperor ascension!?”

“There are many competitions and an endless amount of slaughtering in this world. One could see the shadows of heritages like the Azure Mysterious Ancient Kingdom or the Brilliance Ancient Kingdom behind these matters. Even if they were not directly involved, they definitely had their hands in the matter! However, it’s very rare to see the shadows of your academy and the temple.” Li Qiye took his time speaking, not only for Old Daoist Peng to hear, but also to let out his emotions.

“Could it be because our academy and the War God Temple have a peace-loving tradition? Throughout the ages, we have always been protecting the human race.” Old Daoist Peng couldn’t help but say.

“Your words are correct, the human race having this peaceful ‘today’ has a lot to do with your academy and the temple. You are successful because of this creed, but you will also lose because of it one day.” Li Qiye agreed with his sentence.

The two of them walked into the depths of the academy. With a vast and magnificent scenery, this was the academy’s most mysterious place that spanned for hundreds of thousands of miles.

Even though the academy was splitting apart with many mountains and rivers destroyed and buildings shattered, that was only on the outside. Those destroyed locations were the places where the emperor foundation’s influence was at its weakest; this place was the location with the most fortified foundation in the academy. Beneath the earth was an inerasable foundation, so the signs of the cataclysm were minuscule here.

No matter who it was, their hearts would start beating fast after seeing such a beautiful location. The academy occupied a heavenly ancestral vein, and this was the reason for its beauty, along with the lust of many other heritages in this world.

As he walked deeper into the ancestral ground, he suddenly stopped and gazed in one direction.

This was an elegant peak with a tempting worldly essence that pillared through the clouds. A waterfall ran down from the nine heavens above the peak like a swirling galaxy. A few old pine trees stood high near the waterfall; they were so ancient that they resembled dragons reaching for the sky. The bark of these trees was like dragon scales; they were basked in this treasure land for countless years.

Before the waterfall and the pine trees was a floating pavilion. It was extremely ancient, making others feel a majestic and eternal sensation as if it could exist along with this heaven and earth for all eternity. There was nothing in this world that could shake this old pavilion.