Chapter 1311 Meeting Emperor Kong
w.a.n.g Wei understood. Most factions will not tell their disciples matters higher than their cultivation. He was unique in the sense that he was already involved in things about transcendence while still a little mortal.
"What is your role in the Academy?" w.a.n.g Wei asked while observing the surroundings. "Are you a teacher or a student? What about Xu s.h.i.+ and Lin Fan?"
"I"m a first-cla.s.s teacher," Bai Han said with pride. "As for them? They are high-level students."
"First Cla.s.s Teacher? So, does that mean Empyreans are second cla.s.s, and Paragon will be third cla.s.s? Quite ambitious."
"What Emperor is not ambitious, especially the ones who rose from the lower dimension," Bai Han replied.
"True that," w.a.n.g Wei agreed. "What"s the difference between students and teachers?"
"Teachers" purpose is, well, to teach. Students are trained to be Elders or Guardians of the Academy. They are the protectors and main fighting force."
"Does that mean students are the Academy"s future goon and the teachers are future Deans?" w.a.n.g Wei asked in a strange tone.
"Of course not," Bai Han immediately denied it. "According to my father"s rules, students can become teachers, and teachers can revert their status to students. The resources available to them are the same; the main difference between them is their focus.
"Students focus on their cultivation without worrying about training others or giving lectures. However, they must also take missions to contribute to the Academy. Meanwhile, teachers cultivate by training others."
w.a.n.g Wei understood the system. The Literary Way can increase its strength by cultivating students. As long as their students have specific achievements — let"s say, proving the Dao and becoming Emperor — they can receive feedback that can dramatically increase their strength and cultivation realm in proportion to how much they contributed to their student"s success. It"s not impossible for someone with low talent but is an excellent teacher to use the Literary Way to prove the Dao (with a Heaven Will), but they must contribute immensely to their students" success or train multiple students and have a net positive influence in their accomplishment.
"Are there any requirements to become a teacher?" w.a.n.g Wei.
"Yes, and there are a few, with the primary ones being that all teachers must condense their Righteous Qi or cultivate an auxiliary technique with the same effect."
"That"s a wise move," w.a.n.g Wei praised. Righteous Qi can give birth to Literary Talents, which vary based on the scholar"s path. However, since the academy took the teaching path, all their condensed talents are biased toward that area. As such, it"s normal for the Academy"s teacher to have skills that can help their students. A perfect example is Lin Fan"s former teacher, who had the talent to create the ideal training plan for his students. There is also Bai Han"s talent called [Preaching], which can drastically increase a person"s understanding after listening to his sermon.
w.a.n.g Wei chatted with Bai Han as he observed the environment. He saw numerous sights: teachers giving outdoor lessons, students hunting in the forest, and even finding "fortunate encounters." He also noticed countless hidden dimensions in this world and guessed they were the Academy"s training secret realms.
"I wonder if Emperor Kong has any decent secret realm to train the body! Should I ask him?" w.a.n.g Wei thought. "Forget about it. My future wife should have the best of the best." They soon reached their destination: a beautiful lake with a walking road directly connected to a small pavilion floating in the middle of the water. "Please," Bai Han said, pointing to the path. His demeanor was that of a true scholar who follows etiquette.
"Thank you," w.a.n.g Wei nodded. Although he did not care for these kinds of customs, he would respect them since he was in someone else"s place.
Emperor Kong was standing with his hands behind his back, a small table, and two chairs next to him. His black scholarly robe perfectly accentuated his sage-like face, overshadowing what modern people call "middle-aged uncle charm."
"Fellow Daoist, I would like to once again apologize for missing our previous meeting."
"There is no need for that," Emperor Kong said with a gentle smile. "Based on the previous situation, I might have canceled the meeting." Emperor Kong was not just saying these words out of politeness. After the significant event that was the death of a Paragon, he had much to do, so there was a high chance he would have canceled on w.a.n.g Wei had the latter"s people not sent words beforehand.
"Thank you for your understanding."
"Please." Emperor Kong said, and w.a.n.g Wei sat down. "Do you want tea or wine?" w.a.n.g Wei"s body visibly paused, and Kong, who was observing his every move, noticed. "Is something wrong?"
"I"ve partic.i.p.ated in many meetings and just realized people rarely offer wine — they usually directly give me tea. Now that I think about it, I also only offered tea."
"Don"t Fellow Daoists like tea?" Kong asked. That couldn"t be. He remembered the information stating that w.a.n.g Wei"s favorite tea was called Longjue. People who don"t like tea don"t have a favorite.
"That"s not it," w.a.n.g Wei replied. It just dawned on him, hence his reaction. "I"ll take the wine."
"Good." Emperor Kong waved his hand to materialize two wine cups with a purple liquid. "This is called the Immortal Dreaming Wine — have a taste."
w.a.n.g Wei raised his wine and took a whiff. His eyes lit up as even the smell was intoxicating. He sipped it before closing his eyes. His mind immediately entered a trance where he saw a beautiful woman dancing. Many transparent red silk sheets were around, preventing him from seeing her face or body, but even her silhouette was enchanting beyond words. Her dance was graceful and ethereal, like an immortal from the Heavens not sullied by the rains and dust of the mortal world.
He instinctively chased after the woman, but whatever he did, he could not catch her. Meanwhile, her dance became more elusive, less ethereal, and more teasing. w.a.n.g Wei soon reached the final silk sheet, and the dance finished. He hesitated briefly as he looked at the silhouette opposite him until he heard her voice: "Come."
He removed the obstacle and finally saw the beauty behind — she had his future wife"s face. She smiled at him and blew him a kiss. Then, w.a.n.g Wei opened his eyes from the dream.
"What an Immortal Dreaming Wine," w.a.n.g Wei praised.
Emperor Kong chuckled. "Who did Fellow Daoist see? It couldn"t have been Miss Xun Junyao, right?"
"I should ask you that question."
"You jest. I"m a happily married man," Emperor Kong swiftly said. His wife was not pleased with his friends.h.i.+p with Xun Junyao, even after explaining countless times it was more of a business relations.h.i.+p, so he immediately ended this topic after realizing he could not get more information from w.a.n.g Wei about what happened that day.
"What do you think of the Academy?" Emperor Kong asked, changing the topic.
"It"s wonderful," w.a.n.g Wei replied sincerely.
"I"m sure it"s nothing compared to your sect," Emperor Kong replied humbly.
"I wouldn"t know," w.a.n.g Wei said as he sipped his wine. Unfortunately, he was conversing, so he had to cancel the dreaming effect.
"However, I mean what I said. It"s beyond impressive that you can build such a foundation in such a short time span." In this era, every faction was being weakened or destroyed, but the Emperor Enlightening Academy rose and prospered. This is due to Emperor Kong"s years of planning, calculations, and ability to adapt to the situation.
Emperor Kong smiled. Although he never showed it, he was indeed proud of his accomplishments. However, they were far from enough, so he constantly reminded himself that this was the beginning.
"While you"re here, I"ll take this opportunity to thank you."
"For what?"
"For Xu s.h.i.+, Lin Fan, and everything you did in the lower dimension," Emperor Kong explained. "The rise of the lower dimension"s sect brought me tremendous Luck Blessing, and your presence even saved our academy."
"Oh?" w.a.n.g Wei understood the first part, but he had no idea what Emperor Kong meant by the latter.
"These people were unhappy with the prosperity of the Academy, so they were planning on suppressing me," Emperor Kong explained calmly. "However, they soon were distracted by your presence to the point they"d forgotten. Then, before I had to do anything, the world changed drastically, and they entered the frontier."
"That"s just a manifestation of your great destiny." w.a.n.g Wei did not take credit for this as he did nothing to deserve it.
"Even if you don"t accept this karma, I must still repay you for the others," Emperor Kong replied calmly. Xu s.h.i.+ and Lin Fan became the foundation of his Academy, so the help w.a.n.g Wei provided to them formed a deep karmic debt. Kong understood the negative effect of not paying karmic debts — especially to a master of Karma Dao. He did not want anything to affect the Academy"s Luck, so even if w.a.n.g Wei did not say anything or acknowledge it, he would find a way to repay the favor.
"That"s fine by me," w.a.n.g Wei nodded.