Chapter 2260: An Old Case
Mr. Tang and Lu Yin quickly moved in front of the students, and some of the White Dragon Clan’s Envoys also moved to block the shockwave.
Unfortunately, blocking a shockwave from a Semi-Progenitors’ battle was not something that any of the Envoys present could do.
The middle-aged man waved a hand, and an invisible power stopped the shockwave, preventing it from smashing onto Dragon Mountain.
The God of Food's eyes had become bloodshot. "You beast! You’re seeking death!"
The man’s head rose, and he was just about to release his inner world when the middle-aged man lowered his head. "I respectfully ask the ancestor to descend."
As soon as those words were spoken, an eye appeared above Dragon Mountain, and it looked down at the God of Food, his inner world that was beginning to manifest, and everyone else who was present.
An inexplicable and irresistible power stopped the God of Food's attack. Everyone felt as though they were sensing the irresistible power of the heavens. This was the strength of a Progenitor.
Lu Yin stared at the eye far overhead, and his heart dropped. Was Progenitor Long also present?
Every person there stared upwards in a blank daze, gazing at the eye. A Progenitor. This was the strength of a Progenitor.
The God of Food swayed where he stood. He was trying to resist the Progenitor’s power with the force of his own inner world, but he was unable to even move. A Progenitor’s strength had appeared, and it meant that there was no chance that the God of Food could kill the monster in front of him. This man was the person whom the God of Food hated most in the entire universe, and he had only just learned that the beast had been hiding within the White Dragon Clan.
The White Dragon Clan? It's actually the White Dragon Clan? The God of Food stared at Long Tian and the other members of the White Dragon Clan. "I've considered many different possibilities, but I never dreamed that that beast would be hiding here with your White Dragon Clan. Alright, fine. Good. Great…"
Long Tian felt very frustrated, as the reveal of his clan’s hidden powerhouse had transformed their relationship with Virtue Archives to that of absolute enemies. Unfortunately, there had been no other choice; if the hidden Semi-Progenitor had not stepped forward, they would not have been able to manifest the power of their Progenitor, which would have left them helpless to stop the God of Food’s overwhelming might.
If word that the mighty White Dragon Clan had been overpowered by the God of Food on Dragon Mountain itself leaked out, they would lose any acknowledgement of being qualified to be one of the four ruling powers.
Since that was the case and those were the costs of doing nothing, they simply had to proceed. After all, Virtue Archives was about to be finished, so at worst, the White Dragon Clan would simply acquire the fewest slots to attempt to receive the inheritance of the hidden Mountain and Sea.
More importantly, at this moment, they had to prevent the secret of the blood pool from being exposed. That would practically destroy the White Dragon Clan.
It was not easy to obtain the inheritance of a Mountain and Sea, and realistically, the White Dragon Clan only needed to have one person with the qualifications to receive the inheritance. As long as one person qualified, there was no reason for anyone else to even try. People were either qualified, or they were not. Extra slots simply meant that more people could be given the opportunity to try to receive the inheritance.
"Master, are you really still so impulsive? Why bother? It's been so long." The middle-aged man stepped out of the void to stand in front of Long Tian and the other members of the White Dragon Clan. He faced the God of Food while the eyeball continued to look around far overhead.
Lu Yin felt a massive amount of relief when he saw this scene, as it meant that Progenitor Long was not personally present. If he were, no one would be ignoring the eye in the sky. The eye possessed the power of a Progenitor, but it did not represent the Progenitor himself.
Mr. Tang and the other chaperones noticed the same thing, which caused them to also let out sighs of relief.
Many did not know whether to rejoice or feel disappointed at this moment. Simply seeing a Progenitor would be a once-in-a-lifetime honor for most people, but at this moment, the Progenitor was not on the side of Virtue Archives or their students. The appearance of a Progenitor might spell tragedy for them.
The God of Food stared at the middle-aged man. The old man no longer had the same indifferent, all-knowing demeanor as ever before, but instead looked like he had gone mad and was blinded by hatred. "You beast! I hate myself for being blind enough to actually accept you as my disciple! I hate myself for not realizing for so long that you were the one who killed Little Ping! I hate you for escaping, and I also hate that I haven’t been able to hunt you down!"
The middle-aged man just shook his head and sighed before gazing at the God of Food with an expression of pity. "Master, how many times must I tell you before you will believe me? Junior Sister was willing. She wanted to help me succeed. The greater my love for her, the more pain I would endure. My pain allowed my cultivation to improve, and it’s why I was able to become a Semi-Progenitor. Do you see, Master? Your disciple has become a Semi-Progenitor. Aren’t you happy?"
The words only threw more wood onto the flames of the God of Food’s rage. He clenched his fists, and his whole body began to tremble from his barely controlled fury. "You beast, I will kill you one day!"
The middle-aged man laughed. "Master, how many years have you stayed in Hope Restaurant? Your entire purpose was to let go of your hatred, but you still can’t do that, as you still haven’t attempted your breakthrough to become a Progenitor. Given your strength, why else would you still be at this same level? It’s such a sad waste to see humanity lose a Progenitor because of this."
The entire conversation left Lu Yin increasingly confused. "What's going on?"
Prof. Wei whispered, "I believe that that man should be Mr. Yu. He was Senior God of Food’s first disciple, which means that this is all about something from long ago.”
"Senior God of Food is amazingly talented, and he has reached an incredible level of power within the Semi-Progenitor realm. He stands on the same level as the All-Dao family’s Wan Dao and the White Dragon Clan’s Ni Huang. All of them are among the most powerful Semi-Progenitors alive, and they are also the people most likely to succeed at becoming Progenitors. Shockingly, it was Senior God of Food’s own disciple who made it so that he doesn’t dare attempt his next breakthrough. Supposedly, Mr. Yu killed another one of Senior’s disciples—a woman—in an extremely cruel manner. I really can’t say more than that.”
"The matter became a thorn in Senior God of Food’s heart, and he became consumed by hatred for countless years. He spent his time on the Island of Hope because he was trying to forget his hatred.”
"After so many years, no one knows whether Senior succeeded, but the more completely he can move on from this matter, the easier a time he’ll have of becoming a Progenitor."
Lu Yin understood. "So this is why the outside world is so afraid of him. The longer others postpone their breakthrough attempt, the less likely they are to succeed, as delaying will create psychological barriers, but Senior is the opposite. The longer he holds off, the more likely he is to be able to move on from this matter and become a Progenitor."
Prof. Wei nodded. "However, from what we’re seeing, I’d say that he’s very, very far from getting over his hatred. As soon as he noticed Mr. Yu’s presence, Senior reacted so strongly, and he even tried to attack him here on Dragon Mountain, which forced the White Dragon Clan to summon the power of their Progenitor. It will be very, very difficult for Senior to resolve this emotional turmoil."
As the two spoke, Lu Yin was also listening to the conversation between the God of Food and the other people.
"Master, all I that do is what I was taught by you. Are you the same person now that you were back then? You shouldn't blame me; just look at your own inner world! How cruel and terrifying is it, and yet does anyone even dare to mention it? Compared to you, this disciple was truly kind and merciful," Mr. Yu said in an admiring tone, while finishing with a shrug.
The God of Food glared at Mr. Yu. "You are the only one who will suffer from my inner world! It won’t be used to attack anyone but you, but I’ll make sure that you fully understand it."
Mr. Yu smiled. "Your disciple looks forward to it."
The man then looked past the God of Food at Lu Yin and the others. "This is Dragon Mountain, and I’m sure that you don’t want Progenitor Long to really make an appearance, Master. In that case, your disciple will take his leave now, or else you won’t be able to speak with these people from the White Dragon Clan. Oh, I should also remind you to pay attention to your appearance. It’s too easy to frighten children.”
Mr. Yu finished by smiling and pointing to the students before stepping back and vanishing. As he disappeared, Progenitor Long’s eye also vanished.
The sudden absence of a Progenitor’s power in the area allowed everyone to let out sighs of relief. It was only then that most people realized that their backs were slick with sweat.
"Wait, you beast! Get back here!" the God of Food yelled angrily, ready to attack again.
Mr. Tang hurriedly forward to speak with the enraged Semi-Progenitor, "Senior, we are on Dragon Mountain, and a Progenitor’s power has already appeared once. It’s basically impossible to do anything to him right now."
The God of Food was panting for breath, still staring at where Mr. Yu had disappeared. The old man’s eyes were so bloodshot that they looked like they were about to start bleeding.
This was the first time that Mr. Tang had ever seen the God of Food in such an unhinged state.
The death of the Semi-Progenitor’s disciple had happened long, long ago, and not even Mr. Tang had ever heard of the matter. The only reason why Prof. Wei knew anything at all was because she had studied history so thoroughly. If not, no one present would have had any idea about what had happened to the God of Food.
The God of Food took a moment to take a few deep breaths. Finally, he managed to calm himself down a bit.
In front of the old man, the people from the White Dragon Clan glanced at each other. After a moment, Long Tian stepped forward. "Senior God of Food, you have my apologies."
The God of Food lifted his head to look at Long Tian. "I never thought that the ones protecting that beast would actually be your White Dragon Clan."
Long Tian remained silent. Everything had happened long, long ago, and while Long Tian was aware that Mr. Yu was a Semi-Progenitor, nothing more was known about the powerhouse. Few people in the White Dragon Clan even knew of the man’s existence. The God of Food was the reason why Mr. Yu did not dare to reveal his presence to the public, which had resulted in him eventually becoming a hidden powerhouse and the Semi-Progenitor guardian of Dragon Mountain.
If not for the matter concerning the blood pool coming up, Mr. Yu would have never revealed himself.
"There’s clearly no point in remaining polite with the White Dragon Clan any longer. I see that each of the four ruling powers are the same as the rest. It’s no wonder why you were willing to work with the Celestial Frost Sect to banish the Lu family, if you were willing to accept a beast like that. Do you even have any lines you won’t cross?" the God of Food asked in a frigid tone.
Long Tian could only shrug. "This junior has no say in any of those matters."
The God of Food looked up towards the Higher Realm. No, he was looking further than that; he was staring at the Dominion Realm.
Long Tian’s words were completely true; he had not been the one to decide to accept that beast and offer him shelter. No, the one who had decided that had to have been Progenitor Long.
Only the clan’s Progenitor could have made the decision to take Mr. Yu in, as only Progenitor Long could have accepted the responsibility of saving someone at the risk of making a powerful enemy if Mr. Yu’s existence was ever exposed.
There were some things that did not need to be said, as they would become clear with just a bit of thought. Without becoming a true Progenitor, even if Progenitors put on a show of offering the God of Food a measure of respect, it would never be true respect. No matter what, there was a qualitative difference between Semi-Progenitors and Progenitors.
Long Tian let out a pent up breath. He knew that the only reason why his clan had accepted Mr. Yu and given him shelter at the risk of incurring the God of Food’s fury and enmity was because their foundation was too shallow. They were nowhere close to being able to compare to the Celestial Frost Sect, Shenwu’s Sky, or the Wang family. Those three had existed since before the Daosource Sect era, and they even had masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas among their powerhouses. What did the White Dragons have to boast about? If not for the fact that Progenitor Long had been lucky enough to become a Progenitor after receiving some chance advice from a senior, the White Dragon Clan would have never been qualified to join forces with the rest of the four ruling powers.
The White Dragon Clan had been willing to risk accepting Mr. Yu even before he had become a Semi-Progenitor because they had seen that the man was practically guaranteed to become a Semi-Progenitor, which meant that he would eventually become a powerful guardian for Dragon Mountain.
The only downside to the entire matter was the fact that they had not been able to reveal the fact that they had recruited a powerhouse.
"Senior, it's difficult for this junior to say anything regarding matters between you and Senior Yu, but as for my clan’s blood pool, please don't listen to slander from others. I can assure you that there is absolutely no problem with my White Dragon Clan’s blood pool," Long Tian said in a very respectful manner.
The God of Food no longer had even the slightest bit of a positive impression of the White Dragon Clan. In fact, he viewed them with even greater hostility than any of the other three ruling powers. "You already know whether or not there is a problem. Our time visiting the White Dragon Clan is done. We will say our goodbyes now and continue on to visit the Celestial Frost Sect."
Long Tian quickly moved to block the God of Food. "Senior, we first need to clear up the matter that came up today."
The God of Food's eyes instantly chilled. "Do you intend to attack my Virtue Archives?"
"Senior, I'm afraid that you might have forgotten why Virtue Archives’ students were sent to participate in this exchange program with the four ruling powers," Long Tian said bluntly. All signs of respect had disappeared.
In fact, the God of Food had forgotten because he had been so disturbed by Mr. Yu's appearance.
Virtue Archives had agreed to the exchange program because the academy had also been given certain conditions by the four ruling powers. Not only had the four internally agreed to decide their access and rights to Virtue Archives’ Mountain and Sea based on the number of students that they recruited, but they had also offered the academy a chance to avoid being taken over by the four ruling powers.
Of course, the God of Food knew nothing about the four’s internal agreement to divvy up rights to try to inherit the Mountain and Sea.
If everything went perfectly and the students were recruited, then it would be much easier for them to seize control of the academy, but if Virtue Archives was unwilling to cooperate, then the four ruling powers might take off their gloves. It was very possible that Progenitors would get involved.
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