Chapter 272: Dimensional Ascension Imminent!
Under the starlit night sky.
Somewhere beyond the Chaotian Realm.
Within a massive celestial body, a majestic hall stood in silence.
Inside the hall, Lu Qingyang's expression was grave, his gaze like a torch.
He stared directly at Jiangxin floating before him.
In his ears echoed Jiangxin's voice, respectful yet slightly tense.
"So, this Li Canghai's Family Ancestor was the miscellaneous affairs steward of the Chaotian Sect's Outer Gate back then, Li Fu?"
Lu Qingyang's brows were tightly furrowed.
"That's right. After verification, Li Canghai's words are indeed not false."
"According to the sect rules, his Family Ancestor's spirit tablet is also qualified to be moved into Spirit Mountain."
Jiangxin responded respectfully.
"This Li Fu… I do have some impression of him."
He murmured to himself, and in his memory surfaced that aged figure from back then.
"He should not have been humiliated like that. Have someone move Li Fu's spirit tablet into Spirit Mountain."
In this moment where power and responsibility intertwined, Lu Qingyang's tone gradually turned cold, like a piercing wind.
"Most importantly… the academies, institutes, Spirit Mountain Institute, and even mortal cities, the Mortal Puppet Hall, and the Punishment Bureau in the Ancient Great Zhou Kingdom cannot be spared!"
He issued the order, as if to light a lamp in the surging darkness.
"Understood!"
Jiangxin accepted respectfully, his thoughts stirring.
It knew this was not merely for a spirit tablet, but for the Chaotian Sect's reputation and future.
Immediately, a flowing light flickered across Jiangxin's surface.
Like a meteor streaking across the night sky, it vanished without a trace in an instant.
Leaving behind a quiet atmosphere.
Lu Qingyang took a deep breath and nodded slightly.
His reliance on and trust in Jiangxin was self-evident.
He slowly closed his eyes, his entire being seeming to merge into this tranquility.
Like a towering mountain, steady and unmoving.
Yet in his mind, countless thoughts surged like the tide.
As if five hundred years of time replayed in his mind in an instant.
Ever since Jiangxin took over the Prison Dragon Heavenly Dao and governed this realm, the Chaotian Realm had been recuperating under his hand for a full five hundred years.
Five hundred years — for a cultivator, both an endless span of time and the transformation of an era.
Over five hundred years, Lu Qingyang's cultivation had not only reached Great Vehicle completion, but he had also repeatedly shown signs of ascension.
For this, he had even gone so far as to carve multiple layers of seals upon himself.
And this inevitably reminded him of those difficult times back then.
The Chaotian Sect struggling to survive in adversity.
Until now, the Chaotian Sect was like a great eagle spreading its wings and soaring high.
Developing at a near rocket-like speed.
Today, the number of Mahayana Venerables had broken past three digits.
Like brilliant stars shining in the sea of stars.
And of those Mahayana Venerables, there were already over a thousand, like trickling streams converging into a river, flowing endlessly.
Tribulation Crossing, Void Return, Soul Transformation, Nascent Soul, Golden Core cultivators were as numerous as hairs, spread across every corner of the Chaotian Realm.
He knew deeply that all these achievements were bought with the struggles and sacrifices of countless fellow disciples.
The current Chaotian Palace — that is, the Chaotian Sect's Inner Gate — no longer conducted large-scale recruitment.
The superiority of Inner Gate disciples grew ever more pronounced.
The only path of entry was the Heavenly Dao's selection.
Jiangxin used its profound algorithms to evaluate each disciple's potential and promise one by one.
Finally selecting those disciples with extraordinary talent into the Inner Gate Chaotian Palace.
Lu Qingyang silently prayed in his heart, hoping that under this vast sky, more talents could emerge and continue the Chaotian Sect's glory.
Lu Qingyang's thoughts surged like a rushing torrent.
He could not stop himself.
His gaze was deep, as if piercing through the curtain of time.
Returning to that era of blood and storm.
When the Chaotian Sect endured turmoil, attacked from within and without, nearly on the verge of collapse, he had pondered silently under the moonlight countless times.
How to develop this massive sect.
But now, five hundred years had passed, and in his heart he faintly felt a trace of unease.
"When a sect grows large, its maladies will follow."
His voice was low, like an ancient well without ripples.
Yet hidden waves lurked beneath.
He had once seen in his Simulations those sects that dominated their era throughout history.
In the end, most of them declined due to internal corruption.
Or because of families that carved out their own territories.
Or because of the struggles between the various factions and the corruption and incompetence of the lower bureaucracies.
This made a nameless sense of crisis surge in his heart.
A breeze drifted past, bringing a trace of coolness, and Lu Qingyang's thoughts gradually condensed.
His gaze focused in the void.
As if he could see the structure of the entire Chaotian Realm.
The entire Chaotian Sect was like a giant net.
Enveloping all living beings of the Chaotian Realm tightly.
Within this net, the Puppet Armor Academy, the Puppet Armor Institute, and the Puppet Armor Academy were the training grounds for the path of mortal Puppet Armor Cultivators.
The Mortal Puppet Hall was its governing bureau.
At the same time, every cultivator in the realm, and even every mortal, was in a certain sense an Outer Gate disciple of the Chaotian Sect.
And the governing bureau for all cultivators under heaven was the newly established Spirit Cultivation Hall.
Though cultivators and mortals each had their own duties, they could not be severed from one another.
There was also the Demon Servitude Bureau, which had been thrown into the Demon Domain hundreds of years ago to fend for itself.
"But can such a situation last?"
His heart was full of doubt, as if a wave had been stirred in the depths of his mind.
Lu Qingyang knew that although the Outer Gate disciples and the Chaotian Sect's massive system made the sect seem stable.
The hidden dangers were like a giant beast lurking in the undercurrent, ready to devour this prosperity at any moment.
His thoughts churned, and in his mind he gradually sketched out those possible maladies.
The Mission Hall's negligence, the Exchange Hall's extravagance, the Punishment Hall's unfair punishments…
Every corner hid endless dangers, and these dangers were like dark shadows, slowly closing in.
"I cannot stand by and do nothing!"
Lu Qingyang's voice suddenly rose, revealing a trace of urgency.
He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze like a torch, revealing unshakable conviction.
"The Chaotian Sect's radiance cannot be dimmed by internal decay."
He silently vowed in his heart that in the days to come, he would reorganize the sect and purge the corruption.
So that every disciple could pursue the true meaning of cultivation without distraction.
Perhaps only then could the Chaotian Sect's future be ensured to shine brilliantly.
Like the bright moon in the ancient starry sky, forever illuminating the path forward for every dreamer.
Lu Qingyang took a deep breath, his emotions gradually calming.
These years, every time he converted the gains of his Simulations into Heavenly Dao Essence.
The Heavenly Dao Essence he obtained was an almost vast quantity.
And at most, it would only take a hundred years before World Ascension was possible.
And now, with the Chaotian Realm about to undergo World Ascension, how could Lu Qingyang possibly allow such massive hidden dangers within the realm!
After all, these years, not only had Lu Qingyang himself not ascended.
He had even laid down a grand formation with supreme power, severing this realm's path to ascension — all Mahayana cultivators were unable to ascend.
When the Chaotian Realm underwent World Ascension, these thousands of Mahayana cultivators would scramble to ascend to immortality.
By then, the entire structure of the Chaotian Realm would be changed.
"Therefore, I must eliminate all hidden dangers before World Ascension!"
Lu Qingyang's eyes flashed with cold light, as if something had occurred to him…