Chapter 2252: Cooperation

The orb of light in the sky perpetually shone down upon the Wang family’s homeland. However, there were times when extremely slowly moving objects blocked the orb’s light, casting deep shadows on the floating landmass. These times were essentially the Wang family’s night.

The God of Food was sitting alone at the stone table and staring up into the sky. He was not eating or sipping on tea, but just sitting and staring.

Lu Yin approached. "What are you thinking about, Senior?"

The God of Food answered in a bleak tone, "I've watched over the academy my whole life. I’ve always stood guard over it, and yet in the end, I can’t protect it."

"You’ve done the best that you could have, Senior," Lu Yin encouraged.

The God of Food looked over at “Yu Hao.” "I must apologize to you. I invited you to join my academy, and yet not only has your identity been exposed, but you’ve also been dragged into this mess."

Lu Yin laughed. "There’s no need to be so emotional, Senior God of Food. There are always wins and losses in life. Since we can’t change what is happening, it’s best to go with the flow."

The God of Food sighed. "If possible, I really don't want to see Virtue Archives be taken over by the four ruling powers. However, it seems that that is the best option available right now, as it’s impossible for the academy to remain independent. In that case, it’s best to take advantage of this time when the four ruling powers are trying to recruit our students and ensure that the children obtain as many resources as possible, smoothing the path before them. As for who they choose to work for and what they want to do, they will all end up on the rear battlefield where they will fight to protect humanity until they die.”

Lu Yin asked, "It seems that Senior’s strength would not have been enough to keep the academy fully independent in the past either. Is it possible that a Progenitor has taken action against us?"

The God of Food did not answer, but instead said, "Tell Kui Luo not to attack Virtue Archives again. Next time, it won’t be us who will retaliate against him, but rather the four ruling powers. They may not have been able to catch him before, but this will change in the future. Some people are bound to reappear, and there will be changes in this universe."

After a moment of silence, the old man seemed to grow rather tired. "Go get some rest."

Lu Yin could do nothing to help Virtue Archives. His Lu family had been exiled, and the four ruling powers had gradually taken complete control of the Perennial World. They were determined to remove any and all unstable factors. At this moment, their target was Virtue Archives, but it was possible that they would go after Seed Garden, or the Liu family’s Sword Monument next. It was a situation that caused everyone to feel helpless because, even if they knew what was coming, there was nothing that they could do to stop it.

Virtue Archives could only do their best for their students right now. There was one other matter that the God of Food had not mentioned, but Lu Yin guessed that they also wanted to keep the Mountain and Sea.

The four ruling powers had no idea that the Mountain and Sea hidden in Virtue Archives already had a master. Virtue Archives was aware of this detail, but they had worked hard to keep it a secret.

Lu Yin had not thought much about it before, but after considering the matter a bit, he realized that the only reason why Virtue Archives wanted to keep it a secret was because the master of that Mountain and Sea was unable to protect themselves. There was no other reason for the academy to be so protective of a mastered Mountain and Sea.

No matter how Lu Yin looked at the situation, the only reason for the four ruling powers to be so impatient with Virtue Archives and for the Wang family to be so generous to the students was because they wanted the Mountain and Sea hidden within the academy.

One side wanted to steal, while the other wanted to protect. This contrast was what had led to the current situation.

It was clear that Virtue Archives would not be able to keep their secret for much longer, and as soon as the fact that the Mountain and Sea had an unknown master was revealed, the balance of the entire Perennial World would be shaken. There was no chance that the hidden master would be able to avoid being discovered.

Lu Yin was quite curious as to who had inherited the Mountain and Sea.

After all, it was one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, which meant that the master would be an incredible powerhouse once they became a Progenitor. The question was, was that person a friend or foe?

Virtue Archives’ close relationship with the Lu family did not necessarily mean that the master of the Mountain and Sea shared the same relationship with the Lu family. Lu Yin could only be certain that the academy was trying to protect the future of the Mountain and Sea, rather than a specific person or organization.

"Senior, since you can't change things, then as you said, we should try to get as much for the students as possible, and I think that I have a way to do that. Could you reach out to Fairy Miao?" Lu Yin asked as a proud smile appeared on his face. Since the Wang family wanted to demonstrate their generosity and kindly offer resources to the students, then there was no reason for the academy to be polite.

The following day, everyone gathered near the Tri-Petal, as had been agreed upon. After glancing over at the tri-petaled flower, Lu Yin and the God of Food glanced at each other. A short ways away from the two men stood Wang Miaomiao, who had an odd look on her face. She glanced at Wang Yan, and then at Semi-Progenitor Chai. The woman looked quite proud of herself.

"Has everyone mentally prepared themselves?" Wang Yan asked with a smile. Earlier, he had been praised for his actions yesterday by Semi-Progenitor Wang Xun, who was on the rear battlefield. The Semi-Progenitor understood just how excited Virtue Archives’ students already were.

"Ready!" many students shouted excitedly.

The short fatty excitedly pumped a hand into the air. "Yes! Yes, we’re ready!"

Being praised by Semi-Progenitor Wang Xun had encouraged Wang Yan to be more proactive, and he even found the small fatty much more appealing than yesterday. "Good! Then enter the Tri-Petal, and head to the area that corresponds to your cultivation level. I wish you all the best of luck in acquiring training promises and battle techniques! My Wang family has high hopes for all of you. Little Fatty, work hard."

The short man grew even more excited.

Once Wang Yan had finished speaking, there was actually a group of students who, surprisingly, did not frantically charge towards the Tri-Petal. Almost everyone else did so, including people like Bai Nan, Nong Siniang, Liu Que, and many more. Even students who were considered the best of their generation in the four ruling powers, such as Bai Weiwei, Xia Shenguang, and students from the other powerful families had shot forward. Instead, it was the group of students who had been selected by Headmaster Wen who held back. They gathered into five groups of five and then started muttering and discussing things among themselves.

Everyone from the Wang family was stunned. Just what were these students doing?

Wang Yan felt completely confused, as this should not be happening. After all, even the Wang family’s own descendants were always impatient to enter the Tri-Petal for their first time, as there was always a fear that the training promises and resources would be snatched up by others. Why were these few students able to remain so calm?

The students who had rushed forward were also stunned, and one by one, they started looking back.

"Here, it’s like this. Lift your hand higher."

"Your legs. Lao Liu, pull your legs back. You can’t interfere with the danger zone."

"It's fine. I can handle it."

"We’ve got it covered over here, too."

"Our side’s good."

"Okay, then let’s go."

After a few moments, each of the groups of students adopted odd poses while simultaneously pulling out sourceboxes. Instantly, the sourceboxes' danger zones overlapped, and they started to morph and transform.

Semi-Progenitor Chai was startled. "Stop!"

He moved forward, but as he did so, the God of Food cut him off. "Stop."

Semi-Progenitor Chai stared at the God of Food. "What are you doing? Are you going to allow your students to kill themselves?"

The Semi-Progenitor voiced the thoughts of the entire Wang family who were present. It was always dangerous to carelessly bring out a sourcebox, but each of the students had just done so at the exact same time. There were twenty five students, which meant twenty five sourceboxes. Even if each sourcebox was only a Discerning Elementary sourcebox, there was no telling how all these danger fields would react once they overlapped with each other.

Wang Yan's hands and feet had gone cold. This was the end! Virtue Archives’ students were going to kill themselves. During his conversation with Semi-Progenitor Wang Xun, Wang Yan had learned why the Wang family was so eager to recruit the students and gain control of Virtue Archives. After all, the students were able to make many decisions for the academy, but there was also another, far more important, reason.

Upon learning of it, Wang Yan had been ecstatic that he had done well in incentivizing the students into joining the Wang family, but he had never expected such ruthless retaliation from Virtue Archives. It was clear that they would rather see their students die than allow them to be used by the Wang family. This was a huge problem, and it was also extremely cruel. Had Wang Yan gone too far? He instantly thought of his family's cruel methods of punishment.

"Why are you so worried? I have to protect these children, so how could I be willing to let them die?" God of Food slowly asked as he looked back at the students.

Semi-Progenitor Chai, the other members of the Wang family, and even the students who had started moving towards the Tri-Petal watched as the danger zones of the sourceboxes held by the five groups of students overlapped, fluctuated, and finally stabilized into a sourcebox array. Each was a Channeling Diagram.

This was Lu Yin’s plan. He used the danger fields of various sourceboxes to set up several Channeling Diagrams that would allow the students to move freely throughout the Tri-Petal. Based on the strength of the sourceboxes, each of the sourcebox arrays was powerful enough to leave even a peak Enlighter helpless. The students would be completely unhindered even in a dangerous place like the Tri-Parts Region.

Lu Yin wanted to give the students complete access so that they could snatch up every single treasure in the Tri-Parts Region.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Lu Yin shouted.

The five student teams let out excited shouts before eagerly rushing towards the Tri-Parts Region.

The rest of the students were stunned. Was this a viable strategy as well?

Lu Yin glanced at the lingering students. "There were only so many sourceboxes available, so I could only ask those students to put in a bit more effort to search for the hidden treasures, but rest assured that everything will be shared with everyone later on."

"Thank you, Prof. Hao Yu!"

"Thank you, Professor!" All of the students felt a powerful relief, as they had all briefly believed that their professor had given up on them.

Wang Xiaofan stared blankly as the teams of students charged past him. What could he even do?

The Wang family had no rules prohibiting their descendants from using power vessels or other tools in the Tri-Parts Region. Owning protective treasures was considered a lucky opportunity, and entering the Tri-Parts Region was similarly considered a lucky opportunity. There was no reason to deprive their youths of such chances, but the family had never considered that someone else would attempt such a thing.

After all, just how many Limiteers, Explorers, and Hunters were capable of arranging sourcebox arrays before entering the Tri-Petal? It was unusual for even Enlighters to be capable of doing so, yet that was precisely what had just happened.

Wang Yan had no idea if he should try to stop the students or not.

Before Wang Yan could move, the Wang family elder who was charged with guarding the Tri-Parts Region appeared in front of the excited students, blocking the ones in the lead.

Liu Que stepped forward to confront the elder. Was this elder that powerful? He was clearly an Envoy, but Liu Que wanted to see if he could handle such a powerhouse.

"What are the Wang family’s intentions? Are you not going to allow the students in?" Mr. Tang asked.

A dark expression covered the elder’s face. "They cannot enter like this."

The God of Food glanced over. "I know a bit about the Wang family’s Tri-Petal, and I’m quite certain there’s nothing in the rules that forbids challengers from teaming up or using sourcebox arrays."

Wang Yan was rendered speechless. There was no such rule simply because such a thing should be impossible. This unexpected move left the acting patriarch with absolutely no idea how to respond. All he could do was look at Semi-Progenitor Chai. Wang Yan’s status as the acting patriarch could not compare to any of the family’s Semi-Progenitors.

Semi-Progenitor Chai was also facing a dilemma. The Wang family wanted to put on a big show of generosity for the students of Virtue Archives, and they had always intended to pay a reasonable amount of resources. However, they could not afford to lose everything in the Tri-Petal. If these students were allowed to enter with the protection of this sourcebox arrays, then just how many resources would they gather? The fact that Virtue Archives had taken the time to set up the sourcebox arrays indicated that they were confident that the students would be able to overcome any challenges in the Tri-Petal.

"Senior God of Food, the Tri-Petal is a place intended to give cultivators opportunities to train and develop. If these students enter with their sourcebox arrays, they won’t be able to receive any training experience, which does not align with the purpose of this exchange program." Semi-Progenitor Chai hesitantly tried to dissuade the use of the sourcebox arrays.

However, the God of Food was completely unfazed. "Our students all have different aspects that they need to train in. While you are absolutely right that most students need the training experience that you are offering, the students using the sourcebox arrays are not among them. They need to study sourcebox arrays, which is the training regimen that they’ve been given. There’s no need for you to worry about such things, and I really shouldn’t need to explain this to you. Are you going to let them in or not?"