Chapter 2183: Virtue District
Lu Yin looked upwards towards the Higher Realm. Xia Zhitong had been invited to the ceremony for the Xia family to pay their respects to their ancestors. Thus, it would only be natural for her husband to attend as well. However, Lu Yin was worried about running into the Xia family’s Progenitor and being discovered. He would have to think of a different way.
"Well, this show’s over. Now, you get to come watch one that I’ll be directing," Kui Luo stated.
Lu Yin felt confused. "What show am I supposed to see now?"
Kui Luo smiled, but he actually looked upset. "That old man, the G.o.d of Food, mocked me and claimed that I’d ruin things for his Virtue Archives, so I’m going to show him. Let’s go visit Virtue Archives. Teaching and training others has always been my pa.s.sion."
Lu Yin felt that this sounded too odd, and he could not help but stare at Kui Luo for a moment. This guy wanted to teach and train people? That did not sound right at all.
"Kid, what’s with that look? Let me tell you, this old man is the best teacher that you’ve ever seen!" Kui Luo felt frustrated by Lu Yin’s reaction.
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "Alright then. I’ll tag along for a while."
In truth, Lu Yin would have visited Virtue Archives even without Kui Luo’s encouragement. Accepting students to train was one of the few methods to openly and honestly join the four ruling powers. On top of that, Virtue Archives actually had the cultivation method for improving a domain to the void G.o.d level. The ability to touch upon the power of s.p.a.ce through a domain might help Lu Yin reach an even higher level of mastery over the Ce Secret Art. On top of all that, he was also very curious about why the four ruling powers were so interested in Virtue Archives.
It was time for Lu Yin to become an instructor, though he had no idea if he was actually qualified for the position.
The Middle Realm consisted of nine districts, each with its own unique aspect. For example, the Yinshan District was extensive, but most of its territory was practically wilderness. In that region, people would get the chills if they left the cities and roamed the mountains.
The Blue Moon District had received its name because it was the only place in the Middle Realm from which it was possible to see Azure Hills in the Outer Realm. The planet looked like a full, blue-colored moon from below.
At the moment, Lu Yin and his group were in the Virtue District, which had been given that name solely because of Virtue Archives’ presence.
"This Virtue District is different from both the Bifrost and the Yinshan District that I’ve visited before, and it’s also different from the Huaiyuan District." Lu Yin looked out at vast mountains and rivers that spread across the landscape he could see.
After leaving Yu City and the Bifrost, Kui Luo had led the group towards Virtue Archives. They had only been traveling for half a day, but the distance that they needed to cover was about the same as traveling from the Outerverse to the Cosmic Sea in the Fifth Mainland, and possibly even further than that.
The Middle Realm alone was already much larger than the entire Fifth Mainland, but the Higher Realm was much smaller. As for the Lower Mortal Realm, it was the largest of the realms. After all, the Lower Realm was the Mother Tree’s roots, and Lu Yin had no idea just how large the place actually was.
He had never been able to see the Perennial World from outside, and he was not entirely clear on the size or layout of the place.
"Virtue Archives has been famous since ancient times. Even the four ruling powers are eager to send their descendants to study there, let alone the other families. Every single group in the Middle Realm pays attention to Virtue Archives, and talented youths flock there from every direction. Everyone’s eagerness to enter that place has led to the entire Virtue District prospering, and it’s a busy region." Elder Qing Xing introduced the area with Lu Yin, who had brought him out to question the man.
Kui Luo grew nostalgic. "Thinking back, I also came to study in Virtue Archives, but I found the place too stiff and boring, so I just left."
"So you couldn’t pa.s.s the entrance exam." Lu Yin glanced sideways at the old man.
Kui Luo grinned. "Something like Virtue Archives means nothing to me. Old Luo and I were both invincible in this region in our time. How many beauties threw themselves at us? Hey, we might have been young, but we were unbeatable, and you have to cherish your youth fully. Otherwise, you’ll wake up to find yourself with a house full of kids and grandchildren.”
Progenitor Smoke suddenly appeared, and after staring off into the distance, her eyes lit up. "I like this place! It’s got a youthful and energetic atmosphere, and people are competing with each other everywhere."
Lu Yin followed Progenitor Smoke"s gaze and saw several groups of youths fighting each other. They were using various different battle techniques and shouting things at each other. Many of the people nearby stopped to watch the fight, and beyond that fight, Lu Yin could make out a busy and vibrant city. It gave off a very different feeling from the other Perennial World cities that Lu Yin had seen.
Lu Yin looked back at the people in sight, and then back at himself and his group. It was no wonder why he had felt something wrong as soon as they arrived in the Virtue District; all different styles of clothing and advanced technology could be seen everywhere, and it was too jumbled for Lu Yin’s sight.
Up ahead, a group of people were talking and laughing as they traveled. It was a group of youths being escorted by some elders, but the guardians kept their distance.
"Is this the time when Virtue Archives accepts new students? Is that why there’s so many people?" Lu Yin grew curious, so he asked about what they were observing as they traveled. As they moved closer to Virtue Archives, more and more people filled the area, and things were becoming quite busy and crowded.
Elder Qing Xing replied, "Virtue Archives doesn’t have a fixed period when they accept new students. Anyone under the age of forty is eligible to join, and they can join at any time, provided that they pa.s.s the entrance exam."
Lu Yin wondered about something. "How are you supposed to have any cla.s.ses if new students are constantly joining?"
Elder Qing Xing answered, "That’s something that I’m not very clear on, as I never attended Virtue Archives myself."
Virtue Archives was situated in the center of the Virtue District, while Lu Yin’s group was pa.s.sing by a city near the edge of the district. They were still quite a ways away from Virtue Archives, and even in this place, they saw fierce compet.i.tion. Many people were selling information about old entrance exams, and others were training together and discussing how to enter the academy. There were also many people who used the guise of training or practice to draw in more business.
Virtue Archives did not have very many students, but the academy’s existence powered different businesses.
"The young master of the Huaiyuan District’s Fenghuo clan’s here!" someone exclaimed, which caused many people to glance over at the city gates.
A burst of flames took on a shape that somewhat resembled a roaring red dragon. Out of the flames walked a young man with a determined expression and exceptionally sharp eyes. Everyone who looked at him seemed to grow a bit fl.u.s.tered, and they automatically looked away.
There were at least a hundred people behind the young man, marching in unison and dressed in uniforms. Flames surrounded each of them as well.
Elder Qing Xing quickly provided an explanation, "The Fenghuo clan is a large clan in the Huaiyuan District, and they’ve always had an Envoy head the family. They focus on flame-based battle techniques, as well as military tactics. They’re a powerful family."
Lu Yin was uninterested, and their group quickly left the city. Lu Yin had only stopped by due to a bit of mild curiosity.
They continued on and pa.s.sed by many other cities on their way to Virtue Archives. They stopped in some to look around and skipped right by others. They saw many families and clans that were famous in their own region of the Middle Realm, though none of them could compare to top families like the Liu family. Thus, Lu Yin had never encountered any of them during his time pretending to be Long Qi.
Still, all of these families were able to produce at least moderately talented youths.
It was impossible to rely on only the top powers of the Perennial World to produce enough powerful cultivators for the future. In fact, the small and medium-sized families and sects raised the greatest number of cultivators in the Perennial World.
"Kid, I’m heading out. That old G.o.d of Food genuinely believes that Virtue Archives is a virtuous place, and I’m going to unearth any bit of scandal I can find and expose it." Kui Luo was very excited as he left. Virtue Archives had at least two Semi-Progenitors around, which meant that even Kui Luo needed to be cautious. He intended to check the place out first and see what secrets he could uncover.
There was no way that Lu Yin could stop the old man, as this was Kui Luo’s entire goal when he had suggested that Lu Yin visit Virtue Archives.
Elder Qing Xing was put back in Zenith Mountain while Tong Yu was left to explore on her own, the same as Kui Luo. Lu Yin would not arrive at Virtue Archives with any sort of escort, and he would be completely alone. Well, he still had Progenitor Smoke in the pocket dimension inside the mirror.
Lu Yin had initially planned to head straight into Virtue Archives, but he was first distracted by a distant stellular tribulation, so he headed over to check it out. He had not expected to run into someone attempting a breakthrough.
It was a quick and small tribulation, which proved that the person who had triggered the stellular tribulation was not particularly powerful. They were nowhere close to the level that Lu Yin had been when he had first become an Envoy. This person was a relatively average cultivator, though that also suggested that they had a low chance of successfully pa.s.sing the tribulation. Surprisingly, the person survived, and even more unexpectedly, Lu Yin was familiar with the person who had triggered the stellular tribulation.
Lan Gui had just become an Envoy.
When Qing Chen had escorted Lu Yin to Dragon Mountain, Aeternus had simultaneously launched an attack on the rear battlefield while also attacking the Higher Realm. This had activated the sourcebox array Ceaseless Impetus, and Lu Yin had fought against Redbacks side by side with Lan Gui.
The man was arrogant, cruel, and ruthless. He had attacked many people from the four ruling powers, though he had not killed any of them. Rather, he had simply left them all badly injured. This had caused Lan Gui to eventually become a target for the four ruling powers to send their youths after as a training target.
Despite Lan Gui’s cruelty and pettiness, Lu Yin still respected the man due to his all-out efforts to defend the sourcebox array. Such a person was much better than dealing with hypocrites.
After seeing that Lan Gui was absorbing stellular energy and that his tribulation had finished, Lu Yin glanced around. He saw quite a crowd of people had gathered here, though some of them seemed to have malicious intentions.
Right as Lu Yin noticed this, someone suddenly attacked, going after Lan Gui right away. "Lan Gui, you’re done for! Enlighters can be considered juniors who are trying to gather experience, but now that you’ve become an Envoy, I’m free to kill you myself!"
Lan Gui was not looking great at this moment. His clothes were tattered, and he looked rather miserable, though no fear could be seen in his eyes. "A group of shameless old people have been keeping an eye on me and waiting for me to break through. I finally did that, so let’s see whether you can actually kill me!”
As the man spoke, he pulled out two short spears and thrust them both forward in a vicious attack. The spears disappeared, entering the true universe. When they reappeared, they stabbed at Lan Gui’s attacker from a completely different direction.
Lan Gui’s innate gift was a blue fish, and it allowed him to enter and freely move through the true universe even as an Enlighter. This meant that the true universe was nothing new to him; all that had changed was that he no longer needed help to enter the true universe.
However, Lan Gui’s opponents were no longer Enlighters, but also Envoys. In particular, the person targeting Lan Gui was an Envoy who had been watching the man for a long time.
The attacker was an old man, and his eyes darted from side to side, instantly spotting Lan Gui’s attacks. Purple-gold flames covered the old man’s body as he shot into the sky. The terrifying temperatures of the flames burned the void and even warped the true universe. One of the short spears melted the moment it came into contact with the flames, and Lan Gui instantly abandoned the spear and started retreating.
The old man reached a hand into the true universe and grabbed at Lan Gui.
Lu Yin arched a brow. This old man showed a great deal of skill in manipulating stellular energy. He had managed to deal with Lan Gui’s attack without suffering any retaliation from the true universe, which indicated that the old man was a very experienced Envoy. Furthermore, the purple-gold flames were a clear indication that he was someone from the Undying Bird’s bloodline, which in the Perennial World, meant that this old man was a member of the Purple-Gold family.
Lu Yin’s only impression of that family was Jin Feiyuan, the man who had been defeated in front of Hope Restaurant. After Lu Yin’s ident.i.ty was exposed, Jin Feiyuan had been ordered by the Xia family to go after Lu Yin and take back the power vessel that Lu Yin had stolen. However, the man had been dealt with by a single slap from Lu Yin. He probably had not been welcomed back warmly by his family.