Dead.

Ling Ruyu and his entourage of peerless and lesser immortals had been crushed to death by a giant foot—one from a peak aether dao immortal!

No one had expected there to be a dao immortal among Lu Yun’s followers, and the Dusk governor must’ve given the order just now to kill the Ling genius!

“Do you all think it’s impressive enough just to ascend to the void realm and create void realm methods?” Lu Yun sighed and continued meaningfully, “The future is yours, but it’s not the future yet. The world of immortals belongs to the immortals still. They haven’t been wholly eliminated in full yet!

“Think about it. If someday in the future, there’s only one, or a handful void realm methods in the world of immortals and worlds beyond, and those methods are owned by a privileged few, what do you think happens then?”

A demonic smile tugged at his lips as he slowly described, “Without void realm methods, the immortals of today won’t be left behind…. So heed my words well, kids who have just ascended to the void realm. Lay low or latch onto a powerful thigh, or a foot may drop from the sky and crush you at any time.”

He threw Beicang Qiong a look, who blanched with a shudder. The crowd’s breaths hitched as well. Lu Yun’s warning hit them like a poisonous sting, seeping into all of their hearts.

That was... right. The path of cultivation had been restored, but without cultivation methods, the current immortals still wouldn’t be eliminated. They would remain the protagonists of the world!

All they had to do was to destroy those new methods to remove one very unpleasant future that was currently staring them in the face. Considerations of other possibilities could be put aside for now.

However, those from the major factions interpreted his words differently. If most methods were destroyed, leaving only a handful concentrated in the hands of a select few....

A collective shudder ran down their spines.

“Of course, none of you have anything to worry about if you’re as talented as Fairy Mo Yi.” Lu Yun smiled faintly. “Alright, enough of that nonsense. The annoying bug has been crushed, so I’m going back to refining.”

His smile dropped, seriousness blossoming in its wake. “As long as you provide the materials, I can refine even supreme-grade treasures!”

……

What is the kid trying to do? Does he think the world of immortals isn’t chaotic enough? Seated by a window in the branch headquarters, the pavilion lord looked at Lu Yun in the courtyard with a bit of surprise.

Ah, yes, that’s right. The world has to be chaotic. The more chaotic it is, the better it is for him. The crux of the matter struck the lord.

The world was already in disarray anyway, after the nine celestial emperors had simultaneously entered seclusion. The Corpse Refiners were merely the first to emerge and sow discord and chaos. This was to be a tumultuous era, so it might as well become more of a mess. Then, those coveting Dusk Province wouldn’t have the time and effort to spare for it.

That kid’s determined to use me! The pavilion lord smiled. Well, I am in his debt, and I have to repay him. A single Lu Daoling in the shadows isn’t enough to intimidate all the old freaks in the world....

At that thought, he stroked his storage ring, within which lay a Tribulation Surrogate Pill and a dao weapon.

He’d never even considered burning the bridge after benefiting from Lu Yun. Without a set of principles to guide his actions, he wouldn’t have been able to establish the Panorama Pavilion by himself, let alone expand its business to the entire world. Thus, the idea of discarding the young man after receiving his help had never occurred to the lord.

Besides, Lu Yun had already given him a Tribulation Surrogate Pill at his current heights of achievement, which meant he’d have even more valuable things to offer in the future.

Dusk Province spanned only forty thousand kilometers. Some arcane dao immortals could destroy a land ten thousand kilometers across in a single attack, so Dusk Province would be nothing to them if they were to really bend their minds to the task.

Although the province was protected by the restriction against golden immortals, arcane dao immortals could raze the province to the ground without even entering it.

Of course, no one wanted to destroy the future sacred land unless it was absolutely necessary.

To that end, Lu Yun had decided to refine items in the North Sea to garner support and momentum for Dusk Province. He wanted to show the world that the inheritance tower and Sword Lake weren’t the only things that made Dusk Province a promising investment. There was also Lu Yun, a tremendous pill, treasure, talisman, and formation grandmaster.

Of course, he needed good platforms to demonstrate his values, and the Panorama Pavilion was one such outlet.

……

Currently, Lu Yun was smiling an awkward smile full of wryness.

The first person to make a request was a charming girl who’d reached the golden immortal realm, despite looking roughly sixteen years old. The materials she’d laid out were for a fortress ship.

Refining a fortress ship took a great deal of work. Even the Ling Clan would require hundreds of treasure refiners and formation masters working in tandem for several months to manufacture one.

Realizing that she might have asked too much of Lu Yun, she blushed and mumbled, “If senior brother Lu thinks it’s too much, I can offer payment....”

“No need.” Lu Yun spluttered when he heard her call him senior brother. “You can have this if you give me those materials for the fortress ship.”

He brought out the ship he’d offered to the Ling Clan and shrunk it to a little more than a finger-width, handing it to the golden immortal who looked about sixteen, but might be much older.

“What?” The immortal widened her eyes, her mouth agape. “But I....”

The materials she’d offered were only enough for a medium-sized fortress ship, yet Lu Yun was giving her the most premium ship in the world.

However, he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and handed the ship to the female immortal.

“Alright, that’s the first and the last time!” he announced with resignation. “It isn’t that difficult to manufacture a fortress ship, but it takes too much time. I’m only going to be here for ten days. If you want fortress ships, you may bring the relevant materials to Dusk Province. There are treasure and formation grandmasters on my level there. They can craft the ships for you.”

“Then… Zhu Yan thanks senior brother Lu,” the golden immortal stammered and carefully put the fortress ship away.

Lu Yun paused. “Zhu Yan? Of Xiankan’s Twin Stars?”

Yue Longsha and Zhu Yan were nicknamed the twin stars of Xiankan. Being natural-born immortals, the pair were tremendously talented and considered the hope of the world’s renaissance.

Lu Yun had met Yue Longsha before; she was a proud girl with a touch of self-conceit. It was a surprise to run into her counterpart in the North Sea.

“That’s, that’s me.” Zhu Yan blushed, dipping her head so low that her chin almost touched her chest.

Many immortals perked up when they heard her name, casting impassioned looks her way. This was a natural-born immortal!

There were speculations that natural-born immortals were likely to give birth to immortals as well. If they could get together with her and have a couple children....

“Hmph!” A snort sounded in the air, sending a chill down everyone’s spine like a bucket of icy water. She was protected by an arcane dao immortal!

Zhu Yan gave Lu Yun a curtsey and left like she was running away from something.

“Alright.” Lu Yun shook his head and said softly, “Next.”

“Grandmaster Lu!”

“Senior brother Lu!”

“I want to refine....” People flocked to him and eagerly handed him their materials, shouting their requests like fishwives at a seaside market.