Chapter 460: 【Law of the Immortal Nation】

Late at night, inside Xu An’s cave dwelling.

At this moment, Xu An was still sitting in meditation, but he failed to notice that within his Sea of Consciousness, there unexpectedly existed a completely foreign anomaly.

“【Law of the Immortal Nation】.”

Lü Yang looked up, eyes brimming with curiosity as he observed the sky. In his mind, he was still recalling the memories he had extracted from the Dao Court’s King of Southern Suppression, Wu Taian.

Of the four realms under heaven, the Dao Court was by far the most unique.

【Law of the Immortal Nation】 connected to every person—not through a forcibly unified will like the Pure Land, but instead by deliberately constructing the current order.

And the Nine-Rank Official Hierarchy was the foundational logic of the 【Law of the Immortal Nation】. The Six Ministries born from it directly participated in the everyday lives of the people of Jiangdong, and countless official positions then sprouted from the Six Ministries. These positions collectively clustered around and encircled the four Fruit Positions of Heaven and Earth.

【Flatland Wood】, 【Roadside Earth】

【Gold Leaf Gold】, 【Great Relay Earth】

These four Fruit Positions were divided among the Dao Court’s Heavenly Prince and the Three Dukes. Among them, the Tian Wu royal lineage held a hereditary claim, while the Three Dukes’ positions circulated among three great factions.

‘Looks a lot like 【Cityhead Earth】.’

Lü Yang realized—the means of tethering Fruit Positions here was similar to the unified will of the Pure Land. The difference was that the Pure Land used people, while the Dao Court used official positions.

The Dao Court had studied the World-Honored One.

No—more accurately, the World-Honored One had imitated the Dao Court!

‘Moreover, the Dao Court held two Earth-aligned Fruit Positions. If we count the former dynasty’s 【Cityhead Earth】 as well, that makes a total of three Earth Fruit Positions.’

Not to mention, 【Cityhead Earth】 was the Supreme Fruit of Earth.

‘Unbelievable.’ Lü Yang’s thoughts spiraled into a horrifying realization.

In comparison, the Dao Court was truly powerful in the past, and it was only the rise of the Pure Land and the ascension of the World-Honored One that weakened the Dao Court’s strength to some extent.

“.Hss!”

At that thought, Lü Yang suddenly sucked in a cold breath—could this all be related to the rise of the World-Honored One, and his defiance of the heavens in achieving the Fruitional Rank of Nascent Soul Dao Lord?

Had the Dao Court’s Dao Lord been schemed against?

As a capable True Person of the Holy Sect, Lü Yang never shied away from conspiracy theories:

‘The world is a place where monks are many and meat is scarce. If someone rises, someone else must yield. Perhaps the World-Honored One’s rise back then was precisely at the Dao Court’s expense!’

Yet the Dao Lord of the Dao Court would never willingly be butchered.

That being the case, then there must have been a scheme by the Founding Patriarch of the Holy Sect and the Founding Ancestor of the Sword Pavilion—perhaps it was one of them who supported the rise of the World-Honored One!

But who was it?

‘.The Founding Patriarch of the Holy Sect?’

Lü Yang had reasonable suspicion. After all, the Pure Land had once been called a heretical sect—both were demonic paths. It wasn’t impossible for the Founding Patriarch of the Holy Sect to lend the World-Honored One a helping hand.

But soon Lü Yang sensed something was amiss. After his rise, the World-Honored One had swiftly cleansed his name. Not only did the Pure Land refrain from joining the ranks of the demonic path, it even transformed into a righteous sect, joining the Sword Pavilion and Dao Court in combating the Holy Sect… From this angle, could it be that even the Holy Sect’s Patriarch had miscalculated?

‘No—that’s not it either.’

‘The World-Honored One caused such a loss to the Dao Court’s Dao Lord—there’s no way such enmity would be so easily forgiven. The rift must still exist.’

‘And the World-Honored One is a fence-sitter.’

‘Originally, the situation under heaven was likely the Sword Pavilion Ancestor and the Dao Court’s Dao Lord jointly opposing the Holy Sect Patriarch. But after the World-Honored One ascended, everything changed.’

‘On the surface, it seemed like the righteous side gained the Pure Land, but in truth, everyone knew the World-Honored One played both sides. Add to that his estrangement with the Dao Court, and neither side could truly cooperate with him. On the contrary… the World-Honored One likely desired above all else for the powers to remain balanced.’

Yes—balance!

The more Lü Yang thought, the more convinced he became that the World-Honored One had been secretly supported by the Holy Sect Patriarch back then—turning the tables in one move!

From a one-against-two, it became a four-way standoff!

The Holy Sect Patriarch had carved meat off the Dao Court, not only fostering the Pure Land, but also weakening the righteous side. Meanwhile, he himself remained firmly seated atop the fishing platform.

‘This cannot be merely the Holy Sect Patriarch’s plot.’

‘It’s even possible that the World-Honored One approached the Holy Sect Patriarch himself—acting in alignment with the Holy Sect’s interests, carving out a Nascent Soul path from the cracks for himself!’

At that, Lü Yang couldn’t help but sigh:

‘Back then… when the World-Honored One attained the Dao, it must have shaken the entire world!’

What a magnificent age that must have been—just imagining it made Lü Yang’s blood surge. So many forces scheming, only to witness one person attain the Dao amidst universal attention.

Right after, Lü Yang couldn’t help but stroke his chin.

Was his deduction correct? The general direction was likely right, but the details were uncertain—after all, the intel he currently possessed was too limited.

‘However… if my speculation is right, then it explains why the World-Honored One was the last Nascent Soul Dao Lord of this era—why 【Ang Xiao】 didn’t try to replicate his path, but instead turned to seek the 【Underworld】. Because the World-Honored One’s rise had already blocked off the path for all successors!’

A four-way standoff—no more balanced than that.

But should a fifth Dao Lord emerge, the situation would surely collapse once more, and benefits would have to be redistributed… This, perhaps, was something no Dao Lord wanted to see.

Thus, 【Ang Xiao】 turned to the 【Underworld】.

‘That move was quite similar to how I once fled to the 【Heaven of the Seven Luminaries】—both were about stepping off the existing chessboard, a temporary withdrawal, to seek a future.’

Only, in Lü Yang’s eyes, 【Ang Xiao】’s escape didn’t seem complete enough.

If he truly wished to flee, he should have soared far away and vanished entirely from this rotten land. Yet 【Ang Xiao】 lingered, and the 【Underworld】 was too conspicuous.

‘Maybe he has other plans. Or perhaps he knows something I don’t…’

Lü Yang took a deep breath and stopped dwelling on it.

‘The current priority is still the Dao cultivation needed to verify 【Heavenly Fire Above】—in this regard, the Dao Court has provided me with a remarkable inspiration.’

【Law of the Immortal Nation】!

‘This net that covers all of Jiangdong can directly grant cultivators knowledge through official positions. Once digested, this knowledge becomes Dao cultivation.’

This was a shortcut!

Originally, Dao cultivation required long and arduous comprehension to improve. But the existence of the 【Law of the Immortal Nation】 gave him a path to fast-track advancement.

‘The premise is to rise high within the Dao Court!’

The higher your official rank in the 【Law of the Immortal Nation】, the greater your access and permissions. The more knowledge you receive, the higher your Dao cultivation!

—

One month later, Lake Dongting.

This place lay within the Jiangdong interior. As the name suggested, it was a massive inland lake. Though called a “lake,” to describe it as an “inland sea” would not be an exaggeration.

“Everyone, prepare yourselves.”

At the forefront, Liu Qianhu spoke in a deep voice: “I will soon meet with the Dragon King of Lake Dongting and proclaim His Majesty’s edict. Do not disgrace the imperial court!”

“Yes!”

Xu An swallowed hard, suppressing his nervousness. He followed cautiously behind Liu Qianhu as the group flew deep into Lake Dongting.

Before long, a towering island appeared in their sight.

What met their eyes were bones like ridges, skeletons like forests, decayed flesh turned to dust and mud, tendons and bones hanging from the trees—a single glance revealed blood Qi soaring into the heavens!

The True Dragon Clan—it sounded noble, but at heart, they were still demons. Bestial nature ran in their blood. Consuming blood-flesh was only natural. Big fish ate small fish, small fish ate shrimp. At least the inland human cultivators still cared for appearances, but overseas demons? They cared for no such thing.

It was only because they were in Jiangdong that they dared not eat humans—settling for eating their own kind.

Otherwise, in the overseas regions, Lü Yang had seen it in Tian Jiao’s memories—among the Four Sea Sects, nearly all major demon clans had at least one or two human livestock farms.

‘Pity. This kind of behavior will never integrate with the Dao Court…’

Seeing this, Lü Yang smiled indifferently. Evidently, this branch of the True Dragon lineage, sent into Jiangdong by the Dragon Monarch, had not yet realized their current situation.

Looks like I’ll have to step forward!