Chapter 2259: Clash On Dragon Mountain
"The blood pool contains some of the Ancestor Python's blood. The Ancestor Python is a creature with the strength of a Progenitor, and its blood can improve a person’s physique. A conservative estimate is that one’s strength will rise by ten to twenty percent, and even more is possible," Long Tian stated.
All the students were eager to see just how much Liu Que’s strength would improve, as it would indicate how much they could improve as well. Who did not want to grow stronger?
A smile spread across Lu Yin's face. He was also looking forward to seeing Liu Que's condition after he emerged from the blood pool.
Two entire days passed before Liu Que walked out of the blood pool. The moment he emerged, a faint pressure could be felt emanating from his body, and a bit of white energy swirled around his body for a moment. It almost looked like the Ancestor Python before it vanished.
Long Tian immediately complimented Liu Que. "Two days is not something that most Enlighters can endure. There are very, very few who can last that long in the blood pool."
"It's time." Liu Que stared at Long Tian. He was excited to witness the Thirteen Swords for himself.
Long Tian's smile did not even twitch.
Everyone moved back out of the cave.
"Watch carefully. This is Lu Xiaoxuan's Thirteen Swords." Long Tian still held a spear, as he had no desire to use a sword instead of his spear.
Losing to Lu Xiaoxuan had created a shadow that Long Tian had never been able to escape from. Even though Long Tian knew that it was a lie that he had seen Lu Xiaoxuan use the Thirteen Swords, he still intended to use a spear rather than a sword. It was an attempt to demonstrate that he was not imitating Lu Xiaoxuan, but rather surpassing him.
However, Liu Que's eyes flickered with a cold light. "You look down on using a sword."
Long Tian was unbothered, as Liu Que had already lost his use. This was Long Tian’s time to shine, so there was no longer any reason to be polite to the swordsman. The spear thrust forward. "Do you want to see it or not?"
Liu Que raised his sword, slanting it across his chest, even as the spear forced him backwards.
Long Tian thrust the spear forward again, this time using the Roaming White Dragon.
It was the same turn of events as their first spar. A spear pierced out from the true universe, stabbing at Liu Que, and all he could do was retreat. However, this time, he managed to force his body to turn around, and as he did so, his sword shot upwards to slam into the spear that was about to slap him to the ground again. The descending spear was slightly diverted.
Long Tian's spear slammed into the ground at a slight angle as Liu Que moved back a few more steps, his sword raised. He pointed it at Long Tian and shouted, "That is not the Thirteen Swords!"
Long Tian smiled in a careless manner. "It is the Thirteen Swords, but just an alternate way of using the technique."
Liu Que was beyond furious, as he knew that he was just being used.
Long Tian then turned to look at everyone else from Virtue Archives. "Were you students able to see it clearly? Against the same attack, Liu Que showed a different reaction. These are the results of his time in the blood pool.".com
The students had indeed seen how Liu Que’s reaction had been different the two times he had faced Long Tian’s attack, and it indeed provided them with a clear understanding of the blood pool’s efficacy.
On the other hand, the God of Food was quite upset. Long Tian had used the Thirteen Swords to trick Liu Que into agreeing to a spar. Liu Que was also a student of Virtue Archives, and using such methods on a student was going a bit too far.
Lu Yin was quite surprised. He had already felt that things were somewhat off during the students’ visit to the Wang family. There was simply no need for the four ruling powers to go so far and offer so much even if they wanted to convince the students to join them. Even if the students’ background was kept hidden, the four ruling powers could uncover such things with a single order.
In that case, why were they going to such lengths? They were offering tempting conditions, resources, training, techniques, and more. At this moment, Long Tian had even resorted to deception. While Long Tian had successfully demonstrated the effects of the blood pool, doing so in this manner had offended a Semi-Progenitor, the God of Food. Was it really worth going so far?
In the past, the God of Food and the rest of Virtue Archives’ faculty had maintained a rather good opinion of the White Dragon Clan. At least, it was good when compared to the rest of the four ruling powers. Resorting to trickery could easily create a grudge or even foment hatred towards the White Dragon Clan. Why was Long Tian going so far?
Lu Yin felt like the four ruling powers were genuinely trying their best to recruit these 100 students.
What was the real reason behind this? There was something more going on than simply trying to recruit students into the four ruling powers.
Long Tian completely ignored Liu Que. It was already impossible to recruit Liu Que into the White Dragon Clan, so Long Tian instead focused on the other students.
Lu Yin was quite right; the four ruling powers did have many other methods that they could employ to take these students. Why were they going through so much effort to entice them to willingly join?
Long Tian should not even want to recruit these students. No matter how short on geniuses any one of the four ruling powers might become, it would never be enough for them to sacrifice so many resources to recruit students from Virtue Archives. No, everyone wanted the numbers.
Virtue Archives would soon be controlled by the four ruling powers, and they were focused entirely on the Mountain and Sea. They had come to an internal agreement that control of the academy would be split according to the number of students that they each successfully recruited. This meant that whoever recruited the most students would gain the majority share of Virtue Archives. Also, the internal agreement had stipulated that any methods other than open and honest attempts to recruit the students were forbidden. The only means allowed was to entice the students when they were visiting each of the four ruling powers during the exchange program.
This was a way to avoid internal conflicts, and it also would not jeopardize the four ruling powers' reputation. At worst, they would lose some resources.
The number of students that they recruited would determine the number of slots that each of the four ruling powers would receive to attempt to receive the inheritance from the Mountain and Sea hidden within Virtue Archives. Why else would they care about the students?
Given the number of Progenitors who had appeared throughout all of human history, none of the four ruling powers even dreamed of encountering a second Chong Yue, and none of the students were even comparable to the four Junior Progenitors. The only reason why so much effort was being brought out to lure the students in was because of the limitations put in place by the agreed upon rules.
There was a massive difference between a single family ruling the entire Perennial World and splitting such authority between four different groups. If the Perennial World was still under the sole rule of the Lu family, then there was no way that such excessive generosity would ever have been employed.
Also, the God of Food, Headmaster Wen, and the rest of the faculty members of Virtue Archives were ignorant of the rules that had been agreed upon, as such things were kept entirely within the four ruling powers.
This was why not even the God of Food could understand why Long Tian would risk offending a Semi-Progenitor and deceiving Liu Que just to demonstrate the efficacy of the blood pool.
Long Tian’s only goal was to entice as many of the students as possible. One thing that Long Tian was absolutely confident in was the selfishness of cultivators. As long as they were given the chance to improve their own strength, the student’s background, loyalties, and even the shallowness of the White Dragon Clan’s own background would cease to be relevant. This was why Long Tian was determined to use the blood pool to tempt the students, as the White Dragon Clan had nothing else.
Things proceeded exactly as Long Tian had expected, and he saw desire fill the students’ eyes. They wanted to enter the blood pool. It was enough.
Just when Long Tian was about to organize the students so that they could soak in the blood pool, “Hao Yu” stepped forward. "Wait a moment. Something felt wrong just now."
Everyone turned to stare at Lu Yin.
The God of Food's eyes lit up. When they had been visiting the Wang family, “Yu Hao” had created a massive surprise. Could he repeat such a feat with the White Dragon Clan as well? The God of Food was not afraid of offending the White Dragon Clan, as he had already been thoroughly annoyed by Long Tian's actions. As far as the Semi-Progenitor was concerned, matters would only improve if “Yu Hao” made a mess of things.
Long Tian frowned. "Prof. Hao Yu, my White Dragon Clan’s blood pool has been around for countless years, and yet you claim that there’s a problem? Are you questioning my White Dragon Clan?"
Lu Yin laughed. "Junior Progenitor Long Tian, you’re too nervous. Did I ever say that there’s anything wrong with your blood pool?"
Long Tian froze. He stopped speaking, too.
Lu Yin continued. "Still, your assumption is correct. I am saying that there’s something wrong with the blood pool."
Long Tian's eyes flashed with a dangerous light. "You’re questioning my White Dragon Clan’s blood pool?"
As soon as the words fell, many members of the White Dragon Clan appeared all around the group from Virtue Archives, and every last one of them glared at “Yu Hao” with open animosity.
Lu Yin was unbothered by the attention, and he turned his attention to Liu Que. "Come over here."
Liu Que immediately obeyed, and he walked over to his professor. He was still quite angry at Long Tian for his deception, and he was only too happy to see Prof. Hao Yu make trouble for the White Dragon Clan.