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Soon, everyone arrived outside Lu Yuan’s Cave Mansion.
Qing Guanzi had already communicated with the master, so upon arrival, he immediately called out loudly, "We seek an audience with the School Leader!"
The followers behind him rose to echo the call and bowed toward the direction of Lu Yuan’s Cave Mansion.
"Come in."
After waiting for a while, the tightly closed doors of the Cave Mansion, accompanied by a creaking sound, slowly opened, and Lu Yuan’s voice came from inside.
Thus, Qing Guanzi led the Immortals through the door.
Passing through a short corridor, the Immortals arrived at the center of the mountain belly, where, at the top of the cave, there was no cover, directly connecting to the outside mountaintop, allowing light to pour in through this skylight.
Inside the cave, numerous spirit herbs and spirit flowers were planted, and some small spiritual beasts industriously took care of these spiritual plants.
At the heart of the cave was a spring, gushing forth and forming a stream, flowing straight out of the cave mouth towards the back of the mountain.
And Lu Yuan, at this moment, was beneath a small pavilion at the very east of the Cave Mansion, resting upon a small couch made of green stone by the spring, smiling warmly at them.
"What brings you all here?"
Lu Yuan asked with a rather joyful tone.
Seeing his mood, the visiting Immortals felt their last bit of uncertainty vanish.
With the School Leader in such good spirits and willing to meet them during his seclusion,
it must certainly prove that he has indeed made significant progress in his cultivation, breaking through another Heavenly Immortal checkpoint.
Qing Guanzi, who had already sensed this, now smiled and said, "Hearing of the School Leader’s Immortal sound, we knew of the great advancement in cultivation, one step closer to the path of Heavenly Immortal.
Such joyful news is a celebration for the entire sect.
Thus, we have led the Immortals here to meet the School Leader, to offer our congratulations. Wishing the School Leader eternal blessings and longevity equal to the heavens."
"Wishing the School Leader eternal blessings and longevity equal to the heavens."
Many Immortals there, a vast sea of them, followed in congratulation.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan burst into hearty laughter, then raised his hand pointing at them and said, "You all are indeed well-informed. True, after several hundred years of secluded cultivation, this School Leader’s cultivation has progressed further.
I have now broken through the second checkpoint of the Heavenly Immortal, harmonized with the Dao, and taken complete control over the entire Taiping Domain.
Now, the heavens of the Taiping Domain are no longer governed by the Heavenly Path but by me.
In this land, I am the heaven."
Lu Yuan repeated the sentence that came from his heart when he had previously broken through, his tone nonchalant but his aura of dominance naturally emerging.
The many Immortals present, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but be joyfully submissive, admiring him from the depths of their hearts.
I am the heaven.
This short phrase represents the dream every cultivator has pursued since stepping onto the path of Immortality.
Yet, in the Immortal Realm, countless cultivators are as numerous as fish in the sea.
Over the long years of the Immortal Realm, tens of thousands of years pass, countless generations of cultivators come and go.
In each Region Continent, even with rapid changes, it often still takes tens of thousands of years to produce a Heavenly Immortal.
Sometimes, it may take hundreds of thousands of years without a single Heavenly Immortal emerging.
Looking at the Taiping Domain, two Heavenly Immortals have ascended in just sixty thousand years.
Now approaching eighty thousand years, it seems that Lu Yuan, the Taiping Immortal Venerate, is about to be born.
Such a frequent pace is extremely rare and curious within the Immortal Realm.
The outside world, considering these circumstances, even suspects that the Taiping Domain is either at a geographically disadvantageous location or plagued with misfortune, having cursed to death two Great True Persons.
And now, the current School Leader of Taiping, whose momentum is at its peak, even has a great chance of becoming a Heavenly Immortal.
But in the end, it is unknown whether he can evade the fate of his two predecessors and live beyond one hundred thousand years, not becoming another short-lived Immortal Venerate.
Donghua Continent, and even the Bordering Domains around it, have debates about this, each with their own arguments.
```
Regarding this, Lu Yuan had heard something about it, and felt quite annoyed but speechless inside.
Had the cultivators in the Immortal Realm not been lacking in confidence to live as long as a Heavenly Immortal,
Lu Yuan would have even suspected that they might actually open a betting pool, to gamble on whether he could live beyond a hundred thousand years.
But since mouths are on others’ faces, they can say whatever they want, how could he control that?
As long as they don’t say it to his face, he couldn’t stretch his hand so far.
Besides, there is no need to take too much to heart the discussions of some short-lived species.
Now they are shouting with glee, but wait a few thousand, even tens of thousands of years, who knows how many times the grass on their graves would have been replaced.
And by that time, even if he has not become a Heavenly Immortal, with the Dao Fruit of longevity in hand, Lu Yuan would still be living well.
With that in mind, why bother competing with these people for temporary anger?
But while Lu Yuan does not care about those outside voices, the outside world cannot ignore him, this Grand Cultivator who has already touched the edge of being a Heavenly Immortal.
Just like the numerous True Immortals of Taiping Dao in front of him, after hearing from their own School Leader’s acknowledgment of his breakthrough, every single one of them showed joy and once again bowed deeply, saying: "We congratulate the School Leader!"
Among them, a newly broken-through Earth Immortal of Taiping Dao, Cao BenShan, went straight to the point: "Bursting through the Heavenly Immortal barrier, this is a joyous event for all of Taiping Dao, it should be greatly celebrated, announced to the world, to let the people know the grace of our Taiping Dao.
This student requests a grand celebration, to widely invite Immortal Sects, to bolster the prestige of our sect!"
As a newly advanced Earth Immortal, Cao BenShan, both nominally and substantively, is already among the top-tier echelons of Taiping Dao.
However, precisely because he has become one of the top echelons in name, he knows very clearly about the division between hidden and visible veins that has always been rumored within the sect, and just how distinct that division is.
He is already an Earth Immortal and also considers himself loyally devoted to the sect, but when interacting with the senior Earth Immortals in the sect, he could still feel a clear sense of boundary.
Those Earth Immortals born from hidden veins, or to put it bluntly, from the School Leader’s lineage, have formed their own small circle and have their own circles of communication.
And an Earth Immortal like him who comes from Taiping Realm’s local roots, whenever he tries to approach them, these hidden vein Earth Immortals, although very polite to him and friendly in attitude, treat him as a fellow sect member.
But if he wants to step further into a closer relationship, then sorry, it cannot be done.
No matter how hard they try, an invisible dividing line stands firmly there.
Stopping those Taiping Cultivators who wish to enter the circle of the hidden veins from going any further.
This kind of tacit exclusion naturally makes many Taiping Cultivators feel disappointed, and then develop a pursuing mentality and yearning.
The harder it is to obtain, the more they want it.
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Therefore, after overcoming himself, Cao BenShan, one of those cultivators who longed for the hidden vein circle, began striving to really become a core part of Taiping Dao to enter this circle.
And in his mind, the best way to enter this circle is to kneel and flatter the true power speaker of Taiping Dao at present, also the master of both hidden and visible veins, the School Leader Lu Yuan himself.
So, half out of respect and half trying to please, Cao BenShan offered the above proposal.
And his proposal also made other True Immortals who wanted to get closer to the circle of the hidden veins show a regretful and tempted look, thinking if they should follow suit.
Fortunately, before they could make up their minds, Lu Yuan had already given the response: "There’s no need for such extraordinary preparations. Right now is a critical moment for my breakthrough to Heavenly Immortal status. Currently, I have broken through two gates, only one left.
At such a time, it’s not suitable to come into contact with too many outsiders, to avoid complications.
Moreover, I have already sealed off the region to shield against the Heavenly Path. Now that I have not yet achieved the status of Heavenly Immortal, it is also not appropriate to open the Formation Method, as this carries the risk of alerting the Heavenly Path, unfavorable to me.
If we truly want to hold a grand celebration and invite the Immortal Sects, let’s wait until I become a Heavenly Immortal. Then with the dignity of a Great True Person, we can celebrate lavishly.
But Cao Shizhu also has a devoted heart, and what you say makes sense. My breaking through yet another Heavenly Immortal gate is indeed a great joy.
We should indeed celebrate, let the sect, and even the whole region, know about this matter, to encourage our people and deter the petty.
Let’s do it this way: no need for a grand celebration, you all organize a small celebration, with the scale limited within our Taiping Dao, as well as those few from the Western Domain, the Nine Provinces fellow paths, and various Netherworld Divine Methods.
Just our own people, celebrating will be enough.
This task will be given to you, Cao Shizhu, to organize."
Although Lu Yuan rejected the proposal, he also felt Cao BenShan’s earnest affection.
In order not to hurt the other party’s feelings, as well as to appease, he made the final arrangement.
And this arrangement also had his other intentions included.