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."

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.

Lu Yin simply stated, "Show me your sword skills."

Liu Que’s brows rose, but he still stabbed his sword forward without any hesitation. If anything, the attack was even faster than when Liu Que had fought against Long Tian.

Lu Yin raised a hand and gently asked, "Do you feel any difference when facing me instead of Long Tian?"

Liu Que thought for a while, but ultimately shook his head. "No."

Lu Yin stared at Liu Que. "There is."

Liu Que felt completely confused.

Long Tian sneered. "What a stereotypical teacher! People tell you that there’s no difference, yet you insist that you know better and try to force things upon your students."

Lu Yin remained unfazed by the accusation. "I was able to notice that Liu Que's internal state changed the two times he faced you. The second time, there was a bit of suppression."

Long Tian's face twitched, but only slightly and for less than a moment before he managed to straighten his features. "I don't understand what you’re trying to say."

Lu Yin replied, "It's quite simple. Before soaking in the blood pool, he faced you with his full power. After he soaked in the blood and absorbed a bit of it, while there was no change in his blood, some substance was introduced into his body. Then, it suppressed him when he was facing you. Based on the suppression that I observed, I believe that the longer one soaks in the blood, and the more times one does so, the more obvious the suppression will become.”

Long Tian glared at Lu Yin with an unprecedented bloodlust raging in his eyes. "Do you think that you can slander my White Dragon Clan with this kind of nonsense? Prof. Hao Yu, you should understand the consequences of slandering my White Dragon Clan!"

Lu Yin raised his head up high. "My control of stellular energy has reached the Creation realm, and I am also a Realm Array Master. I was able to sense that while his combat power rose, a suppressing power was introduced into his body. The suppression can’t be sensed when he faces you, as there’s simply too great a difference in your power, but if he faced an opponent from the White Dragon Clan with the same level of combat strength, he would be defeated and not even considered a proper opponent."

"Hao Yu, you’re courting death by slandering my White Dragon Clan!" There was a shriek of rage as a distant old woman from the White Dragon Clan stepped forward and tried to grab Lu Yin.

The God of Food's eyes instantly turned vicious. "Insolence!"

A single word was enough to leave the old woman spitting out blood.

Instantly, many of the White Dragon Clan’s various powerhouses appeared, and they moved to surround the God of Food and everyone else from Virtue Archives. At the same moment, the sourcebox array that protected Dragon Mountain was activated.

All of the students from Virtue Archives grew pale. When faced with the overwhelming pressure of the White Dragon Clan, one of the four ruling powers, they felt completely insignificant.

Suddenly, the God of Food’s Semi-Progenitor aura was swept away.

Everyone had believed that there was no Semi-Progenitor on Dragon Mountain. After all, when the God of Food had first arrived, if a Semi-Progenitor had been present, then they absolutely should have shown themselves and greeted the man. Despite that, at this moment, another Semi-Progenitor’s aura surged and resisted the pressure that the God of Food was putting on the members of the White Dragon Clan.

The God of Food's expression instantly changed, and his eyes filled with an indescribably cold and dangerous killing intent. "It's you, you beast!"

Long Tian and everyone else from the White Dragon Clan looked incredibly upset at this moment, as they had been forced to ask their hidden powerhouse for assistance.

The God of Food stared at a remote corner of Dragon Mountain as a peerless and violent aura shot high into the sky with enough force that the void warped and twisted. It collapsed and melted without ever stopping

The furious Semi-Progenitor then raised a hand, and an ordinary cleaver formed. It looked like a normal butcher’s cleaver that could be found anywhere, and it was much uglier than the combat knives that even ordinary human soldiers used. And yet, this cleaver caused everyone’s scalps to go completely numb when it appeared.

Lu Yin stared at the God of Food and the raised cleaver. He felt such a powerful sense of danger that all of his hair was standing on end. He had never seen the God of Food in such a state. Mr. Tang had turned pale, as not even he had ever seen the God of Food react like this.

"Senior, this is Dragon Mountain!" Long Tian shouted.

Nothing entered the God of Food’s senses aside from what he was focused on. He stared at a specific location on Dragon Mountain.

Suddenly, flames wrapped around the cleaver, and it dropped.

Long Tian's expression changed completely, and everyone else from the White Dragon Clan was terrified. They had never expected this cleaver to fall upon their Dragon Mountain.

A sigh was heard. "Master, even after all these years, you still haven't let go of the past? When will you become a Progenitor?"

An average looking, middle-aged man appeared. His eyes were gentle, and he looked both trapped and hurt. The cleaver fell down towards his head, and at the very last moment, he raised his hand. Another cleaver, perfectly identical to the one that the God of Food wielded, appeared and slashed upwards to stop the falling blade.

The two cleavers struck each other high in the sky, and Dragon Mountain’s protective sourcebox array began to tremble as a terrifying shockwave swept out in all directions.