Chapter 2251: Unconditional Training Promise
It was impossible to count all the people who had fallen while defending humanity throughout history, and most of their names had been completely forgotten long ago. It was not that people forgot what had happened or did not want to forget the fallen heroes. Rather, everyone knew that, back then and now, that their end goal was the same: the extermination of Aeternus.
Since everyone was on the same boat, there was simply no need to remember the fallen. The heroes of the past could not be remembered, and people did not expect humans in the future to remember them either.
Lu Yin took a deep breath. It was quite possible that, after billions of years, his name would also disappear. He might be struck down by an enemy or killed by the forces of Aeternus while fighting to defend humanity.
Seeing the students excitedly follow behind w.a.n.g Yan as they toured the floating landma.s.s produced mixed feelings. Lu Yin did not want to move. He felt rather exhausted.
The w.a.n.g family’s hand-shaped landma.s.s was very extensive, and w.a.n.g Yan spent two days showing the students around. The G.o.d of Food could not easily stop the constant propaganda being directed towards them, but there was also no need for him to do so, as w.a.n.g Yan did not lie. Much of what the man shared was true, and it was good for the students to learn about the w.a.n.g family’s history. The family had many ancestors who indeed deserved respect.
Lu Yin saw the mining area again, and he soon saw Xiao Can after glancing around the area.
"Patriarch w.a.n.g Yan, what’s over there?" Lu Yin suddenly asked. He had said very little over the past two days, and w.a.n.g Yan had even forgotten about the instructors chaperoning the students.
Seeing where “Hao Yu” was pointing, w.a.n.g Yan replied, "That"s our mining area."
Lu Yin looked amazed. "The w.a.n.g family has lived here for countless years, and even if there were mines, they should have been depleted long ago. Why are they still active?"
w.a.n.g Yan casually answered, "They’re not really mining. It’s just an activity that we use to punish certain criminals, forcing them to pay for their actions."
"So, can we go take a look?" Lu Yin pressed. "The light always casts shadows, and our students can’t only be exposed to the light side of mankind. We need to show them some darkness as well."
w.a.n.g Yan dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand. He did not want to even discuss the topic. "It’s a dirty place, and there"s nothing to see there. Let"s move on. I"ll show you the rankings of my w.a.n.g family’s youths next."
It was only natural for a ranking list to be much more interesting than a mining area.
If w.a.n.g Yan did not allow them to visit the area, Lu Yin could not enter and look around. Still, he had always felt that there was something very off about the w.a.n.g family’s mines.
"Prof. Hao Yu, are you curious about the w.a.n.g family’s mining area?" Prof. Wei approached Lu Yin.
"I just would like to take a look around. This place has been mined for countless years, and any resources there should have been completely depleted long ago."
Prof. Wei looked towards the mining area. "This landma.s.s has mines that don’t expire."
Lu Yin was caught off guard. "You know about them, Prof. Wei?"
The woman replied, "I study a great deal of history, and many ancient records have mentioned that the w.a.n.g family’s mines actually produce some sort of yellow liquid."
Lu Yin was left confused. "What is the yellow liquid?"
Prof. Wei shook her head. "That’s something that can only be guessed, as the w.a.n.g family has been very diligent about keeping the matter completely secret. Not a single ancient record makes this matter clear, so I can only make some guesses based on the writings and accounts recorded down in ancient books. As for what it actually is? I have no idea."
Lu Yin started wondering, just what could that yellow liquid be?
Prof. Wei looked over at “Hao Yu.” "I may not know what that yellow liquid is, but it’s clearly very important to the w.a.n.g family. I’ve read many ancient records, and it’s quite clear that the w.a.n.g family has Semi-Progenitors guarding their mines."
Lu Yin looked back at the mining area. Was it really being protected by a Semi-Progenitor?
When he had visited the w.a.n.g family disguised as Xia Yuan, he had felt a great deal of danger from the mining area. There was something very off about this region.
The w.a.n.g family’s history was as long as the history of the Fifth Mainland itself, so it was impossible to know just how long w.a.n.g Yan would continue his tour for. The G.o.d of Food spoke up and asked w.a.n.g Yan to quickly open up the Tri-Petal so that Virtue Archives’ students could see the place for themselves.
At the moment, w.a.n.g Yan was still going on about his family’s history. He was simply the patriarch of one branch of the w.a.n.g family, so when had he ever had the opportunity to stand in the spotlight? There were direct descendants from the Celestial Frost Sect and Shenwu’s Sky among the students, as well as the Nong and Liu families.
w.a.n.g Yan’s eagerness for the limelight meant that he was reluctant to stop the tour, as he was usually kept out of public eye. Furthermore, when receiving his instructions, the family had told him that, the longer he talked, the better. w.a.n.g Yan was in absolutely no hurry.
"I heard that Patriarch w.a.n.g Zheng has disappeared. Has the w.a.n.g family found any clues?" Seeing that w.a.n.g Yan clearly wanted to continue to brag about the w.a.n.g family’s history, Lu Yin spoke up.
w.a.n.g Yan"s expression changed, and he glanced over at “Yu Hao.” "There are certain things that people who are not part of four ruling powers can"t be told about, so don"t ask any further questions about that matter, Prof. Hao Yu."
w.a.n.g Yan had spent several days bragging about the w.a.n.g family and pushing the students’ impression of the family to unprecedented heights. Everyone had actually forgotten about the disappearance of the w.a.n.g family’s patriarch. So when “Hao Yu” suddenly brought the matter up, it instantly shattered the invincible image that w.a.n.g Yan had spent days painting.
The acting patriarch’s expression was quite ugly.
"We’ve heard that Patriarch w.a.n.g Zheng was attacked by the White Dragon Clan’s Patriarch Long Ke. I hope that Patriarch w.a.n.g Zheng will be fine," Mr. Tang said with a great show of empathy.
w.a.n.g Yan"s expression grew even worse. His desire to show off his family’s history had been ruined. No matter how impressive the w.a.n.g family’s history might be, it was impossible for anything to overshadow the humiliation of having their patriarch kidnapped.
w.a.n.g Yan felt embarra.s.sed and offended. It would have been an honor for the family if w.a.n.g Zheng had died in battle, but the fact that he had been openly captured was a terrible embarra.s.sment. Of course, w.a.n.g Yan would never dare to say such a thing out loud, and just the thought caused him to shoot guilty looks towards w.a.n.g Xiaofan.
…
There was a flower with three petals that was completely devoid of any leaves. It grew in a remote corner of the w.a.n.g family’s homeland, and its roots were planted in the void. Each petal was the size of an entire planet, and they each emitted a slight glow that made it impossible to see the petals clearly, as they were shrouded within a hazy halo.
This flower was the w.a.n.g family"s Tri-Petal.
"Each one of this flower’s petals is a separate region of our Tri-Petal." w.a.n.g Yan gave a short introduction when he saw that everyone was staring at the flower. “Limiteers and below can enter the lower petal, while people need to be at least Explorers to enter the middle petal. As for the upper petal, people need to be Enlighters.
"Each petal has a certain cultivation requirement, and the dangers and rewards are also scaled to match that. However, one thing that can be obtained from all three petals—lower, middle, and upper—is a promise to train a person. My w.a.n.g family promises to unconditionally train anyone who finds one of these promises in the Tri-Petal."
"Unconditional training?" a student shouted. He was one of the Limiteer students, though he looked like he was only in his teens, which made him look very young. However, the younger a cultivator was, the greater their potential.
All of Virtue Archives’ students partic.i.p.ating in the exchange program were extremely talented. If not, the four ruling powers would have had no interest in them.
w.a.n.g Yan raised his head high. "That"s right. Finding a promise within the Tri-Petal means that you have been acknowledged by my w.a.n.g family. It does not matter whether you join my w.a.n.g family in the future, or even if you become our enemy. As long as you are able to enter the Tri-Petal and acquire the promise, my w.a.n.g family will teach you, provide you with a cultivation art, and applicable resources until you reach the cultivation indicated in the training promise that you acquired. This is my w.a.n.g family’s vow."
The short fat man raised his hand. "Uh- uh-."
w.a.n.g Yan arched a brow. Uncle? Was this youth another member of his w.a.n.g family?
"Are there any exceptions?" the fatty finally finished.
w.a.n.g Yan"s expression fell. "No. As long as you obtain the training promise, even someone from Specter Abyss will receive training from us."
"How many promises are available in the lower petal?" A girl asked excitedly.
A smile returned to w.a.n.g Yan"s face. "There are thirty six promises available in the lower petal, and the greatest is a promise to raise you to the level of an Enlighter. If you can secure one of those promises, my w.a.n.g family will train you without any expectation of any obligations in return.
"There are also thirty six training promises in the middle petal, and the greatest will promise to raise you to the Enlighter realm as well, but the peak of the Enlighter realm. As for the higher petal…” The acting patriarch deliberately paused at this point in his explanation, and all the students stayed silent and stared at the man with great antic.i.p.ation.
w.a.n.g Yan slowly continued, "Envoy."
"Does the higher petal also hold thirty six training promises?" Bai Nan asked. While he was part of the Celestial Frost Sect and even a part of the Bai family branch, he still could not resist the allure of such a promise.
w.a.n.g Yan nodded. "That"s right, the higher petal also holds thirty six training promises. The lowest level training promise in the lower petal is the Hunter Realm, and the best training promise will raise you to the Enlighter realm. In the higher petal, the lowest training promise is the peak of the Enlighter realm, and the best promise will see you become an Envoy."
Many students became short of breath, and they stared at the Tri-Petal with feverish eyes that looked quite desperate.
At this moment, Lu Yin understood why the G.o.d of Food had been so impressed upon hearing that the w.a.n.g family was giving the students access to the Tri-Petal. It really was an incredible opportunity with correspondingly high costs. While the lower and middle petals were not too bad, the higher petal had training promises to raise people up to the Envoy realm. That was literally a promise to make someone an Envoy, which was too tempting to resist.
Lu Yin thought back to when he had first started cultivating. At that time, there was no need to even consider the Envoys realm, as even the Enlighter realm had seemed out of reach for Lu Yin. How many Enlighters were there in the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse? It was likely that their numbers did not add up to even one per weave. How many Envoys were there in both the Innerverse and Outerverse? All Envoys were considered powerhouses who were practically worshiped by countless people.
And yet, these unconditional training promises that the w.a.n.g family was offering would allow the students to smoothly become an Enlighter or an Envoy while being trained by the w.a.n.g family. This essentially meant being treated like a member of the w.a.n.g family, and who would dare to attack a member of the w.a.n.g family?
For students who had not seen much of the world, this was an irresistible temptation.
They had first been shown kindness and respect, then the statue of Progenitor Chong Yue as a form of incentive, and finally, the Tri-Petal as the bait to lure the students in. If Lu Yin were still a Limiteer, or even an Explorer, he might also find himself unable to resist such temptation.
"In addition to these unconditional training promises, there are more than a hundred different battle techniques scattered throughout the Tri-Petal, including some of my w.a.n.g family’s most famous techniques. You can also find secret techniques and tribulation crystals in the higher petal, and everything is available to you, provided that you have the strength to take them," w.a.n.g Yan stated loudly.
All the students stared on with wide eyes. Sit and Forget, secret techniques, and tribulation crystals. Any one of those things was a priceless treasure that people would risk their lives to acquire. If two people with similar cultivation realms fought, one would instantly surpa.s.s the other after learning Sit and Forget. On top of that, all secret techniques were priceless treasures, and the same went for tribulation crystals. Even obtaining a small bit of tribulation crystal would incite envy from other people, and yet all of these treasures were available in the Tri-Petal that was open to them.
For some time, most of the students were barely able to restrain themselves from rushing forward, but luckily, the G.o.d of Food was holding them back. At this moment, the students’ mentality was not conducive to entering a dangerous place like the Tri-Petal, as the students would easily make mistakes due to their compromised judgment. The G.o.d of Food discussed the matter with the w.a.n.g family, and it was agreed that the students would enter the Tri-Petal the following day.
w.a.n.g Yan had no problem agreeing, as his task had already been completed. The students were all eager to join the w.a.n.g family, and just a single word would see them enlist.
In truth, w.a.n.g Yan did not understand why his family placed such high value on the students. Regardless of how talented they might be, they would never be able to compare to the w.a.n.g family’s own elites. Still, since w.a.n.g Yan had been given instructions by the family, he could only see them through obediently.