Chapter 467: Choice
In the Emperor Enlightened Academy, all the most gifted teachers had a meeting. A few minutes ago, Qiu Jin arrived with their Heaven Chosen's corpse and an incredible story of how he died.
So, headmaster Song Li temporarily dismissed Xu Shi before discussing how to deal with the situation.
"So, what do you think we should do?"
A few thousand years ago, the Academy lost a great deal of Qi Luck because the Dao Opening Sect ruined their reputation. They have made a great effort to remedy the situation, and as of today, they have recuperated.
Additionally, over the past thousand years, they conquered a few Great Thousand and Middle Thousand World and spread the concept of Academy to gather Qi Luck.
Finally, a few minutes ago, the Academy gave birth to three new Dao Ancestors and directly connected these people's Luck to theirs to further recuperate.
And they succeeded; the Academy returned to 80% of its Qi Luck during the Heaven Chosen Worthy Trial. As long as they waited a few more thousand years, they would return to their peak.
The only downside was that they could not take the Spirit of Epoch back. However, according to their plans, if they can cultivate a second Eternal Emperor like their main competitor, that would not matter.
Unfortunately, they did not celebrate their rise for more than 5 minutes before receiving news that Lin Fan was dead.
"I say we rip out the Inheritance Seed from her and choose someone else to inherit it," said one Teacher.
"That's not going to work," replied Qiu Jin. "Lin Fan made sure that only Xu Shi could absorb it. If we did that, more than 80% of the seed's strength would disperse."
"Supreme Teacher, any suggestion?" asked Song Li.
"Since she told us about the inheritance, she understands that only with our protection and resources can she properly be trained. So, we will make her the new True Disciple to replace Lin Fan."
"The problem is whether she will truly be grateful to us after proving the Dao? What if she becomes a Great Emperor of the Association of Chamber of Commerce instead?"ᴘᴀ ɴ ᴅᴀ n ᴏ ᴠᴇʟ
The room once again became quiet. Many of the teachers had countless ideas on how to restrict the Association. They could force them to join the Academy or impose very restrictive contracts on them to prevent this outcome.
The problem with this method is that if Xu Shi proved the Dao in this generation, she would most likely become an Eternal Emperor. And all of them here understood the consequences of being the enemy of an eternal immortal.
"No matter what, if she proves the Dao, she will owe us a lot of Karma with most of them to Lin Fan's family. So, as long as we treat his family sincerely and ensure that they remain in the Academy, we can avoid this problem," said the headmaster.
The other teachers nodded their heads after thinking about it. Then, they called Xu Shi to the meeting.
"First of all, I would like to apologize that we could not make it in time to save him. Many of us have watched Fan'er grow up, and he is like a son to us," said Song Li with a heavy sigh and sadness in his eyes.
Xu Shi gritted her teeth, thinking about that event and Su Ya's cruelty. She decided that the first thing she would do after proving the Dao was eradicating the Yin Moon Palace after personally killing Su Ya during the Heaven Will Battle.
Song Li watched all her facial expressions to see if he could find any resentment towards the Academy. However, he did not find any; he did not know whether she genuinely had no resentment or was extremely good at hiding it.
Nevertheless, he said with a gentle smile: "Now that you have inherited his legacy, do you have any plans?"
"No," she replied with her head lowered.
"In that case, why don't you inherit everything from him? Continue his path as the future headmaster of the Academy?"
Xu Shi was slightly surprised. She guessed that the Academy would invite her to become a part of them, but she thought that they would not trust her because of her background and keep a constant watch on her.
She did not expect them to give her the position of True Disciples.
"I would love that," she replied with a firm voice. She knew that her husband wanted to make the Academy the most powerful faction in the world.
Because if it were not for them, he would have lived a miserable life in the lower realm, thinking he was thrash.
"Excellent. Is there anything else you need right before we burry Fan'er?"
"I would like to speak with my father."
"No problem. You are free to move and do as you please, just like…."
Song Li suddenly paused as he frowned. He then looked at Xu Shi with a strange gaze, puzzling her.
"One of the Ancestors wants to see you."
Everyone in the room was puzzled but did not say anything else. So, Song Li took Xu Shi to see one of the sect's Dao Ancestors.
p ᴀɴ da-n ᴏv el Xu Shi soon met a child as tall as her waist, confusing her somewhat. However, as she felt the ancient aura emanating from his body, she knew he was the Ancestor.
"Are you surprised by my appearance?" asked the child in a calm, peaceful, and authoritative manner, unlike his physical appearance.
"No, not all," she quickly replied.
"This is the price for becoming an Insurgent Heaven Chosen using the founder's cultivation method. I should return to normal in a few billion years," replied the child casually.
"Is that so?" replied Xu Shi, trying to hide her surprise. Lin Fan once told her about Insurgents, but she did not think that she would meet one in her life.
'Is this power of Emperor Lineages? I made the right choice to return to the Academy.' ,c,om
"Do you know why Lin Fan died?" asked Daoist Everchanging.
"It's because of that bit…It's because of Su Ya."
'And mine,' she thought.
"Whether it was her or you, all of you were nothing but Heavenly Dao's pawns."
"What do you mean?"
Daoist Everchanging then explained the entire concept of the Outlaw Trial to her.
"Why are you telling me this now? More importantly, why didn't you inform my husband?" asked Xu Shi, almost screaming. Luckily, she remembered who she was in the presence of and controlled herself.
"When Immortal-level Existence intervenes in an Outlaw Trial, it becomes dozens if not a hundred times more difficult–and this fact is especially prevalent for Supreme Outlaws.
"Furthermore, we speculated that with Lin Fan's experience in the Slaughter Trial, he had a high chance of passing. Unfortunately, we were wrong."
"So, you want me to abandon his path of cultivating all 3000 Grand Daos?"
"Yes. This time we do not want to take any chances. So, we suggest you cultivate one of the Supreme Hidden Daos along with a few other Outlaw Daos.
"Nothing more, nothing else."
Xu Shi gritted her teeth in frustration. Although it appeared that she had a choice, she did not. The moment she learned of the Outlaw Trial from an Immortal-level existence, she no longer had a choice in the matter.
"I know you feel frustrated. I know you wanted to inherit your husband's path and maybe even goals. However, do you think you can pass a trial that he failed?"
Xu Shi clenched her hands for a moment before letting go.
"What about Wang Wei? He should be a Supreme Outlaw as well?"
"Yes, and he is currently in the middle of his trial. As for whether he will survive or not, that's up to him."
Xi Shi became lost in thought. She stood still for a few hours without uttering a sound. And during the entire process, Daoist Everchanging was patient and waited for her.
"Fine, I agree with your suggestion."
She had to compromise. She did not want to do anything with a more than 99% chance of dying. She had to prove the Dao and find a way to revive her husband.
"I'm glad that you understand. If you want anything, do not hesitate to ask the Academy."
"There is something I want. My husband needed two more Absolute Chaos Physiques to finish his Primordial Chaos Physique. I need someone to find them for me."
"You don't have to worry about this. Lin Fan already tasked us to do the same, and we even recently found one of them in another World Community.
"One of our Quasi-Emperor captured him and is bringing it here."
Xu Shi nodded her head before returning to her abode. A few days later, she met a fat middle-aged man wearing a golden robe. He had many rings on his finger and a few precious jade pendants hanging on his clothes.
"Father, this is how the situation currently is."
Xu Guan squinted his eyes as he thought deeply.
"Daughter, have you thought of sealing yourself?"
"Why would I do that?"
"This generation is full of monsters, and more should show up soon. With your talent, as long as your wake up in another generation, it should be easier to prove the Dao," explained Xu Guan.
"Absolutely not. This generation has a lot of Eternal Emperor's Destiny, so it is the best time to prove the Dao."
"You could still become an Eternal Emperor even without Destiny–just like the Sword Empress."
"Don't mention this. I cannot wait; my husband cannot wait. I must become an Eternal Emperor in this generation and find a way to revive him."
Xu Guan sighed as he said: "As you wish."
But he was thinking something else.
'Damn that Lin Fan. Even before his death, he somehow emotionally manipulate her to revive him. I have to find a way to make her realize this and truly become an individual of her own.'
Many thoughts rushed through Xu Guan's mind but he did not say anything about this topic. He chatted with his daughter and reassured her before leaving.
As for Xu Shi, she first officially buried Lin Fan before entering seclusion. It will take her some time to absorb all the power from the Inheritance Seed.
Twelve years later, she opened her eyes as she felt something.
"So, you sealed yourself? Do not think this is over. One day, your entire sect will feel my wrath."
After muttering these words, she returned to her seclusion, focusing on becoming as powerful as possible. No one can stop her from proving the Dao in this generation.