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.

“Kids?” Lu Yun flicked his eyes at Ge Long. “What should you be calling me?”

“…martial uncle!” Ge Long’s expression darkened and his cheek spasmed. He was perfectly fine calling Lu Yun “milord” or “sir”, but this honorific of “martial uncle” sent him up a wall. Hierarchy in relationships and status were two entirely different things.

“And her?” Lu Yun pointed at Qing Yu.

“…martial aunt!” Ge Long almost ground his teeth into dust.

Qing Yu’s eyes curved into crescents from the force of her smile.

“The ascent and descent protocols were actually already in the Ascension Pool. I only used the strength of the Dao Flower to draw them out. Little Yu and I didn’t actually create them.”

That mollified Ge Long somewhat.

……

When the Ascension Pool became whole and the complete system transferred between the treasure to the immortal dao, it became part of the natural world order.

Quite a few immortals were taken aback by the appearance of a descent protocol. They could travel to the lower worlds? What were those like?

Most had no idea what any world outside the world of immortals looked like. Their home was more like a prison that kept them all trapped here. Now that the door to the outside world was open, they were naturally curious.

The void where the Ascension Pool was located slowly took shape as an enormous city that wrapped around it.

Ascension City!

This city was the hub connecting the lower worlds to the world of immortals. It was an empty city for now, devoid of any life other than the four guides.

……

The Ascension Pool looked like an enormous ink stone; it held a faintly golden pool with tiny ripples traveling across it. A young man in a white robe sprawled lazily on a reclining chair next to the treasure, pouring haphazard mouthfuls of wine into his mouth.

“That ready-made little brother of mine is such a damn hassle. A guide? A guide for the newly ascended sounds all nice and fancy, but I’m really just a doorman.”

Lu Feng was a first generation guide in Ascension City. Being the quirky troublemaker he was, making him a guide on duty by the Ascension Pool was a worse fate than killing him outright. But since Lu Yun had given his orders, there was nothing that could be done.

Thankfully, Qing Buyi, Chen Xiao, and Mo Yi were all fellow guides as well.

“And what do you know?” Mo Yi raised an eyebrow at him. “Lu Yun more or less knows where you guys come from. It’s for your own good that he wants us to hold down the fort here.”

“Alright, alright. Honestly, it’s easier to get closer to the immortal dao if we cultivate in Ascension City,” Qing Buyi chuckled. “But you’re different from us, cultivating here doesn’t make a difference to you, does it?” He looked skeptically at Mo Yi.

“Why do you think I’m here?” Mo Yi rolled her eyes at the three notorious good-for-nothings in the world of immortals. “Lu Yun’s probably afraid of you three roasting any monster spirit immortals that ascend.”

The three traded startled, sheepish glances and didn’t have a witty comeback. In their sheer lawlessness, they really had thought about trying alien monster spirit flesh if the opportunity presented itself.