Numerous rifts in the sky became eyes. There were a total of 3,000 pairs. They were the heavenly daos that had been attracted to the Imperial University when it was constructed, thanks to the proliferation of destiny aura. And they had given it their blessing.

As the Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster’s energy spread out, and as he spoke, a host of soul threads emerged to form the projection of a huge earthchild. It was made completely of soul threads, and all of it was done so that the heavenly dao could sense what was happening and debate approval.

However, whether it was in terms of their energy or pressure created by the earthchild, it couldn’t come close to comparing to the projection created by so many students from the God-Merging School.

The eyes in the dome of heaven stared down coldly. Then, in what was a surprise to no one, most of the eyes closed. Only about 20 remained open. It was the same with the voices of the great daos. They simply couldn’t compare to the resounding scene from moments ago with the God-Merging School.

The students gathered at the daoist rite center observed all of this happening. Those who were already leaning in the direction of the God-Merging School now felt even more confident in their decision, while those who had been siding with the Xeno-Immortal School could only sigh in their hearts.

One side earned the approval of well over 2,000 heavenly daos, while the other side only got about 20….

Inferior was inferior.

Outside of the university, many of the spectators sighed at what they were seeing. This was only the first stage of the debate, and the Xeno-Immortal School had clearly lost thoroughly.

The members of the God-Merging School on the black altar all smiled arrogantly. As for their schoolmaster, he shook his head slowly, as if he were already losing interest in what was happening. That, of course, was making a mockery of the Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster. It was essentially an attack.

The Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster felt pain in his heart as he looked up into the sky. He had previously considered that something like this might happen, but to have to actually experience it was more difficult than he’d imagined. After all, this was not the first time the Xeno-Immortal School had been in a dao debate. In its heyday, it would also receive approval from more than 2,000 heavenly daos when it came time for a debate. But now… hardly 20 of the heavenly daos approved. And that meant that the remainder did not approve of the dao of the Xeno-Immortal.

So, the heavenly daos have abandoned the Xeno-Immortal School…?

The Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster bowed his head and seemed to age dramatically, and his eyes grew cloudy. However, he maintained his dignity, and bowed at the waist to the heavenly daos.

Meanwhile, the chancellor of the Imperial University was sighing inwardly as he prepared to begin the second stage of the dao debate.

“Next is the—”

Just then, as Xu Qing stood in the crowd below, he frowned slightly beneath his mask.

An intense rumbling sound filled the dome of heaven. Countless clouds swirled, forming together, then dispersing. It created a cycle in which ancient energy converged in the air above the Imperial University. Everyone could sense a feeling of grandeur.

The development caused the chancellor to stop short and look up, an expression of disbelief and shock on his face. He wasn’t the only one. Third Prince did the same, as well as all the other students present, as well as everyone from the Xeno-Immortal School and the God-Merging School. There were also people in the organizations outside the university who felt their hearts racing. The emperor and the thirteen heavenly kings all looked visibly surprised. The emperor leaned forward slightly.

As everyone looked on, the ancient aura grew wilder and more intense. It eventually turned into heaven-shaking, earth-shattering thunder that crashed over the university.

It seemed to rip open the dome of heaven, creating a massive rift that filled the entire sky. The other rifts couldn’t compare to it at all in size. And then, as the rift opened… it revealed a huge eye.

The eye completely filled the sky over the Imperial University, until it was the only thing visible. It was like heaven’s eye.

It was made of two colors. It had a violet pupil surrounded by blue!

The sky trembled violently as all of the other rifts, 3,000 of them in total, emitted cracking sounds as they opened up. Now, their gazes weren’t cold, but rather filled with respect. Even worship.

The ancient energy grew even more intense. Brightly colored light flashed in heaven and earth, winds screamed, and lightning crashed. They were like the most primeval sounds possible, howling as unthinkable power was unleashed. And then all of the sound combined into one, tender voice.

“Squeal!”

The sound surpassed all of the great dao voices in every respect. What was more, the nature of the sound was clear to everyone who heard it. It was approval!

“An ancient heavenly dao??” the chancellor blurted, his heart pounding.

Third Prince was shaken to the core. All of the other students felt similar. On the God-Merging School’s altar, the leaders struggled to control their breathing. Only the schoolmaster looked on with glittering eyes. The reaction outside the university was the same, and even the emperor and the heavenly kings were shaken.

Everyone knew that the 99 ancient heavenly daos of Revered Ancient were all asleep. None of them had even shown up when Emperor Dark War ascended the throne. Nor did they appear when the Imperial University was founded. But now… an ancient heavenly dao appeared and expressed approval of the Xeno-Immortal School for a mere dao debate!

Astonishing treatment like this seemed completely outrageous to most people.

Even the Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster was at a loss for words. He stared mutely at the ancient eye, and could hardly believe that in the debate of approval, the Xeno-Immortal School would be favored by an ancient heavenly dao.

Down in the crowd, Xu Qing looked up at the eye and nodded slightly. It was hard to say if it was because the huge eye had detected that its father was pleased, but either way, it emitted an amiable sound. Then the eye shifted to look at something outside of the university before closing and fading from view.

No one else could possibly guess what the eye had looked at. But Xu Qing got the feeling that his heavenly dao son had been looking at its other father.

In fact, inside the recently robbed Star Emperor Preeminence Sect, there was an ordinary-looking disciple sweeping the floor who suddenly looked proudly in the direction of the Imperial University.

What a good son. You haven’t forgotten you have another father.

Back in the Imperial University, everything was dead silent. But then, after the ancient heavenly dao departed, a huge commotion broke out. Countless students started clamoring excitedly about the unbelievable thing they had just witnessed.

“An ancient heavenly dao….”

“The Xeno-Immortal School actually earned the approval of an ancient heavenly dao!!”

“I’ve never even sensed an ancient heavenly dao before. That type of pressure is absolutely terrifying….”

The uproar was even more dramatic when it came to the chancellor and the experts in the organizations outside the university. All were shaken to the core. At the same time, all of them were wondering about the same thing.

“I don’t remember the 99 ancient heavenly daos having one with blue eyes and violet pupils…. And that voice. It sounded so young and immature.”

And yet, there was no question that the aura they had sensed was the pure aura of an ancient heavenly dao. That was something that couldn’t be faked, and therefore, all speculations about the matter had to be put aside.

The emperor looked in the direction of the Imperial University with his eyes narrowed. His gaze swept over the crowd of students before finally coming to rest on Xu Qing.

At exactly the same time, another gaze emerged from the Star-Plucking Tower in the capital. It focused on the Imperial University, and specifically, the canopy of heaven above it. That gaze belonged to the imperial preceptor. He stood on the top floor of the Star-Plucking Tower, his hair swaying in the breeze.

“This is the second time you’ve caught me by surprise, lil’ bro.”

Down in the crowd, Xu Qing remained calm. He had known from the beginning that he would eventually have to reveal himself. That was fine. He hadn’t expected to be able to stay in hiding for the whole day. At the moment, though, he was looking at the astonished Seventh Prince on the black altar.

The prismatic beam of light coming from the God-Merging School was still high in the sky, yet it had crept down a bit, and wasn’t as bright as before.

In contrast, the approval of an ancient heavenly dao caused the light coming off the Xeno-Immortal School’s daoist altar to rise from 9 meters to 300 meters. That was because of the restored confidence of the students of the Xeno-Immortal School, as well as the shifting opinions of other students.

Excitement was building at this dao debate.

The Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster took a deep breath. Eyes shining with confidence, he looked at the God-Merging School.

The God-Merging schoolmaster looked back at him for a moment, then laughed softly. “Please continue, chancellor.”

The chancellor closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. As of now, he was a lot more interested in this dao debate than he had been before. Now he wanted to see… who would ultimately come out victorious, the God-Merging School or the Xeno-Immortal School? He wasn’t the only one thinking something like that. All the students and all the schools of thought in the university, as well as everyone in the organizations on the outside, were thinking the same thing. Before, it had seemed a foregone conclusion who would win and who would lose. But now things had changed.

“The second stage of the dao debate,” said the chancellor in a hoarse voice, “is to debate falsehood. When speaking of the dao, there is true, and there is false. The human heart can be used to determine which is which.

“I will propose three questions to the Xeno-Immortal School and the God-Merging School. Based on the topics given, you can debate your dao.

“The first question is… if the path of the immortal is severed, how should you proceed?”

The Imperial University went silent again, and all eyes shifted to the two altars above.

Seeing all the gazes shifting in his direction, the Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster loudly said, “Our Xeno-Immortal School uses soul threads to weave the projections of godly entities. By developing them into spirits of godly ascension, we can gain nourishment, and then use the path of godfire as a reference point. Ignite the spirit of a god to continue on the path. On that path, one thought leads to gods, one thought leads to immortals. And that is what is known as a xeno-immortal.”

His voice was loud and clear so that all students could hear, as well as people outside the university.

That was the core of the Xeno-Immortal School. That was the essence of their philosophy. In the past, many people had agreed with the idea, except, the cultivation process was so slow that eventually people viewed it as unrealistic. But now things had changed with the advent of the Xeno-Immortal dao seeds. On the other hand, it was also the dao seeds that had pushed the Xeno-Immortal School to the brink of crisis.

On the God-Merging School’s dao altar, their schoolmaster shook his head. “Evil arts are like starlight that can’t possibly compete with the illumination of the full moon.”