"Zuo Dao, every year the Dao School sends students to Central City to study, but do you know how many have returned over the years?"

Zuo Dao shook his head: "I don't know."

Yun Chonghe sighed: "In the past twenty years, the Donghua Dao School has dispatched a total of 235 people to study in Central City.

But of those, only twenty-two returned to Donghua City, and among those twenty-two, nine were killed by the Heavenly Demons on the battlefield, five were severely injured and disabled, unable to cultivate again, three rushed for success and died due to mutation during careless cultivation, and one encountered a distortion phenomenon and disappeared.

Only four of us, including myself, are still alive today."

"Zuo Dao, as you go to Central City Heavenly Court to study, though the journey is long and distant from Donghua City, I hope you won't forget that you bear the future of Donghua and the hope of humanity. I hope you will wholeheartedly seek Dao in the Heavenly Court, prove what you have learned, and bring back the heritage of the human race."

Zuo Dao suddenly opened his eyes, realizing that he had fallen asleep at the desk.

He quickly washed his face with cold water, then sat upright, continuing to look at the Daoist scriptures in front of him, which contained a lot of Artifact Refining knowledge from the Ministry of Combat.

Ever since he joined the Heavenly Court and came to the Artifact Refining Institute of the Ministry of Combat, he had been wholeheartedly learning the knowledge here.

However, Zuo Dao understood that this was far from enough.

Two hours later, feeling a bit hungry, Zuo Dao left his room, planning to head to the cafeteria of the Artifact Refining Institute for a meal.

The small courtyard he lived in looked shabby and worn, not even located within the Artifact Refining Institute. It was a place he found near the institute.

This was because Zuo Dao originally lived in the dormitory of the Artifact Refining Institute, but after several disturbances caused by Zhou Bai, the local Heavenly Court cultivators in Central City became increasingly hostile to practitioners from the other four major cities, especially those from Donghua City, resulting in several brawls and fights. Eventually, even one corner of the dormitory building was blown up.

So finally, the officials of the Ministry of Combat expelled all the Donghua City cultivators from the dormitory, and Zuo Dao naturally had to find housing outside.

After getting his meal in the cafeteria, Zuo Dao found a secluded corner to sit in. Halfway through eating, an elder sat down beside him, sighed, and asked, "How's it going, Zuo Dao? How's the research on the Fire Cloud Order going?"

Zuo Dao: "It's alright."

The elder shook his head: "Since the Heavenly Dao's distortion, the path to immortals is broken. We are ultimately unable to reach the realm of celestial gods."

Zuo Dao didn't say anything. Initially, after cultivating for a few months in the Artifact Refining Institute, he gradually developed similar thoughts, even envisioning himself decades later.

But the projection of the Heavenly Arena, where Zhou Bai forced Xiang Tiandi to his knees, was deeply etched in his mind, reigniting a flame in his heart.

At this moment, a commotion came from the entrance of the cafeteria. Dozens of cultivators brandishing swords and sabers marched in, clattering on tables and chairs.

"All from the Four Great Taoist Schools, get out!"

"Go back to your hometowns!"

"A bunch of locusts! Don't stay in Central City!"

The leading man was nine feet tall, with a face full of stubble, and muscles that bulged like blocks of marble. The power of the seventh realm Primordial Spirit surged from him, thrashing the air with thunderous sounds.

"Starting today, cultivators from the Four Great Taoist Schools are not allowed to eat in the cafeteria."

A cultivator from West Mountain City stood up: "Why?!"

Zuo Dao recognized him; his name was Lin Chen, from Jijian Pavilion. Although his cultivation was only in the fifth realm, he was skilled in crafting flying swords.

The big man sneered, slapped Lin Chen on the chest in a flash, sending him flying out of the cafeteria door with a single palm strike.

"All of you from the Four Great Taoist Schools listen up. Central City is our Central City; it's not up to you locusts to have authority here."

"If it weren't for our Central City's protection and the immense cultivation resources we send to your Four Great Taoist Schools every year, you wouldn't even have the opportunity to cultivate Dao!"

As he spoke, other cultivators behind the big man also charged out, beating and kicking several cultivators from the Four Great Taoist Schools, driving them out. Seeing this, Zuo Dao sighed slightly, a trace of anger flashing in his eyes.

The elder beside him hurriedly blocked his line of sight: "Don't act impulsively. Xiao Dong is the disciple of True Monarch Pojun. You can't defeat him." As he spoke, he dragged Zuo Dao away quickly: "It's just that we can't eat in the cafeteria, we'll eat out. It's not worth it to fight with them over such trivial matters."

The big man known as Xiao Dong frowned slightly, sensing a hint of hostility. He turned to look in the direction where Zuo Dao left and asked, "Who was that?"

A cultivator immediately stepped forward and said, "That's Zuo Dao, from Donghua City."

"I heard he's a classmate of Zhou Bai."

"I see him sneaking around all the time, maybe he's a spy."

"Teacher Huang even allowed him to help manufacture seventh-realm artifacts. What if he's a Heavenly Demon spy?"

Xiao Dong's eyes narrowed slightly: "Where does this guy live?"

...

Zuo Dao followed the elder out of the cafeteria. The elder shook his head and sighed: "Xiao Dong that fellow, he himself grew up in Beihai City, only came to the Artifact Refining Department with his dad at the age of ten, but he's so harsh on his own people."

Zuo Dao was surprised: "He's from Beihai City?"

The elder smiled bitterly: "Unexpected, right? This guy has always been ashamed of being born in Beihai City, never allowing anyone to mention it. Those fellow townspeople were all driven out of the Artifact Refining Institute by him, and in recent decades, no one remembers this matter anymore."

"Now you're working under Old Huang to refine seventh-realm artifacts, but you've taken someone else's spot. Recently, they've been increasingly hostile to students from the Four Great Taoist Schools. I heard someone else had their hand broken yesterday, so you need to be careful."

Zuo Dao softly said, "Is it because of Zhou Bai's matter?" He sighed: "If Zhou Bai really surpassed the True Gods, doesn't it prove that humans can also surpass deities? Why are Xiao Dong and the others so angry?"

The elder fell silent upon hearing this, and after a long while, he slowly said: "Who knows?"

Zuo Dao: "Old Yuan, do you think humans can really reach the celestial god realm? When you first came to Central City, did you ever dream of surpassing the celestial gods?"

This time the elder was silent for even longer, several times opening his mouth as if to speak but saying nothing, his eyes revealing a hint of bewilderment.

"Don't imagine nonsense. How could I ever... How could I ever think of such a foolish thing."

Looking at Old Yuan who turned his head away, Zuo Dao knew that he must have thought about it. In fact, every talented human who came to study in Central City must have been ambitious and full of aspirations at some point.

But as time passed, all those ideals were torn to shreds by the huge chasm between humans and gods. Even with the event of Zhou Bai defeating Xiang Tiandi, those ideologies that have endured for hundreds or even thousands of years aren't easily changed within a short period.

Zuo Dao gazed at the palace in the sky, the clouds sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing, resembling generations of the shattered dreams of the human race.