Multiverse Skill System

Page 557

"Fang Lian is up to his old tricks again. He's been acting really aggressively lately!"

"Those two seem to be newcomers, and only newcomers wouldn't know Fang Lian's true colors."

"Fang Lian is nothing but a lackey. If it weren't for the person behind him..."

"Be careful what you say, that person is not someone we should discuss."

About half an hour later, Yi Shuihan and his group arrived at their destination and met someone who surprised Yi Shuihan quite a bit, someone he had only met recently.

"Lord Rong, I've brought some new recruits with me."

The one referred to as Master Rong was a Dao Enlightenment Realm cultivator who had just visited Yi Shuihan. He belonged to a medium-sized power, the Gourmet Alliance.

Chapter 1438, School of Thought

When Wen Ruyu met Lord Rong, he was dressed in a chef's uniform, and there were freshly cooked dishes on the table. Just as he was about to taste them, it really looked like he had been taken to a restaurant. At least Wen Ruyu was misled.

"You go out first, I will personally entertain them."

Upon seeing Yi Shuihan, Lord Rong's expression changed slightly. He immediately spoke to Fang Lian, who had not yet finished explaining, his tone carrying an unquestionable air.

Fang Lian was slightly taken aback, and seeing the unusual look in Lord Rong's eyes, he swallowed back the words he had prepared.

"Yes, then I'll be going now."

"Hey? Brother Fang, where are you going? Weren't we supposed to be celebrating?"

Wen Ruyu looked completely bewildered.

"I didn't bring you any delicacies during my last visit, but your arrival is perfectly timed. Please have a taste."

As soon as she began to speak, a strange fluctuation instantly enveloped the entire room, and Wen Ruyu froze on the spot as if a pause button had been pressed.

"The application of transportation power?"

With a slight stirring in his heart, Yi Shuihan judged that the power enveloping the room belonged to the power of the Great World of Destiny. He immediately became interested in this competitor he was meeting for the second time. Being able to integrate into the world so quickly, this person could indeed be called an elite. No wonder he was chosen as a representative.

For Master Rong, or more accurately, the Food Emperor Rong, he cultivates the Dao of Fusion, mainly using it to blend the flavors of various ingredients, thereby elevating them to a higher level.

The Gourmet Alliance is a group of chefs who pursue the ultimate in delicious food. Most of its members are chefs. Although it is a mid-level power, it is on good terms with major powers and can be regarded as a large force. After all, the Gourmet Alliance is not aggressive and has little conflict of interest with everyone. It also often develops new dishes for everyone to enjoy. Without the Gourmet Alliance, the quality of food in all the worlds would drop significantly.

The desire for food and drink is a very powerful desire, and it can be said that the vast majority of living beings have it and do not shy away from it. After all, compared with other desires such as lust, greed, and anger, the desire for food and drink is relatively less likely to lead to trouble.

"This is Three-Colored Tofu. The main ingredients are white jade soybeans, black gold fruit, and green spirit pearls. White jade soybeans are a common staple food in the plant world, black gold fruit is a rare delicacy that only exists in the Realm of True Flavor, and green spirit pearls are..."

"Dragon and Phoenix Soup, the main ingredient is..."

"Seafood stir-fry with spiritual needles..."

One dish after another was slowly introduced to Yi Shuihan. Some of them were invented by the Food Emperor, while others were famous delicacies from all the worlds.

Upon hearing the introduction, Yi Shuihan's appetite was quickly whetted. At Rong Shihuang's invitation, the two began to eat ordinary food together. Of course, although they were said to be eating together, it was mainly Yi Shuihan who ate, while Rong Shihuang only occasionally took a bite.

In general, Yi Shuihan is considered a master of cuisine, more than capable of serving as a culinary god in the ordinary world. However, compared to someone like Rong Shi Huang, who cultivates solely for the sake of food, he is still far behind, highlighting the difference between professional and amateur.

"He who eats another's food is bound to him; he who takes another's gift is bound to him." Since Yi Shuihan had already eaten Rong Shi Huang's food, he couldn't pursue the matter of being brought here. The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning it, assuming that Fang Lian had indeed brought them here for a meal.

After eating for more than an hour, Yi Shuihan left with the still dazed Wen Ruyu. Wen Ruyu had been filled with a false memory and had no idea that if it weren't for Yi Shuihan, he would have lost something very important today, something called freedom.

"Fang Lian, do you know what mistake you made?"

The Emperor of Fusion sat expressionlessly on his high seat, while Fang Lian knelt below, surrounded by figures whose true faces were obscured.

"I shouldn't have brought those two newcomers here without thoroughly investigating the matter."

Fang Lian's answer wasn't entirely wrong. In fact, you can't blame him. Even if he investigated further, he certainly wouldn't be able to find out Yi Shuihan's background. At most, he could only find out Wen Ruyu's background.

Rong Shi Huang naturally knew that this matter was ultimately just Fang Lian's bad luck, and since there was no real conflict between him and Yi Shui Han, he naturally had no intention of punishing him further.

After giving Fang Lian a slight warning, he let him leave. However, after this incident, he became more cautious and decided that if he encountered someone with the same identity as Yi Shuihan in the future, he would inform Fang Lian immediately.

Fang Lian is a henchman of Rong Shi Huang in his development at Lai Sheng Academy. He is controlled by Rong Shi Huang in a special way. If Yi Shuihan hadn't been present today, and it had only been Wen Ruyu alone, Wen Ruyu would have been controlled in the same way and would have no control over her own life.

Of course, from another perspective, being controlled by a powerful being at the Enlightenment Realm was also a way for Wen Ruyu to latch onto a powerful figure.

……

In the following days, Fang Lian did not appear in front of Yi Shuihan and Wen Ruyu. Wen Ruyu began to try to integrate into the Holy Academy, while Yi Shuihan was making plans.

Although Yi Shuihan has joined the Holy Academy, he is only on the periphery and has not yet reached the core. The true core of the Holy Academy is the various schools of thought, and only by joining a school can one be qualified to become a core member of the Holy Academy.

Here we need to talk about the composition of the Holy Academy. The person in charge of the Holy Academy is the academy master, who has great power and can appoint and dismiss the academy's teachers and modify the academy's rules. Below the academy master are two deputy academy masters, who are responsible for assisting the academy master in management.

In addition to the principal and deputy principals, there is also a faction council in the Holy Academy, with a total of 108 seats. The faction council has the same power as the principal, and can even remove the principal if all members of the faction council pass a resolution and certain conditions are met.

The members of the School Society are selected from the schools within the academy, and those who are listed in the School Society are the mainstream schools of the Holy Academy.

The Food Emperor, at this time, is the head of a school of thought within the Sacred Academy. The school he founded is the Gourmet Society, which now has thousands of members and ranks among the top schools.

Each school of thought in the Holy Academy has its own characteristics, and the things you can learn by joining a school are different. Of course, the more powerful the school, the more it has. Some schools will accept you as soon as you go, while others require you to go through complicated trials before you can join.

“Creating a school of thought, then growing stronger through school wars, and finally controlling the Holy Academy through the School Association—that’s one path. Another direction is to cooperate directly with the Academy Master. As long as the School Association is not unified, the things the Academy Master possesses and the School Association possess are not much different. The Fusion Emperor chose the first path, and that Dao Creator chose the second. It seems a bit late for me to join now, but those with strength will eventually eliminate those without strength. Sooner or later, it won’t have much impact on me.”

Chapter 1439, Applying to Create a School of Thought

Before Yi Shuihan could implement his plan, he temporarily left the Holy Academy due to another matter. Rong Shihuang and the others also left with Yi Shuihan.

It wasn't anything else; it was simply that the invaders wanted to get together, exchange information they had gathered in the Great World of Struggle for Destiny, determine the methods for this struggle, and set a set of rules.

The gathering place was also in Yuncheng, but not at the Sacred Academy.

"A total of 23 people? They should all be here."

As a founder of the Dao, Yi Shuihan's strength was nominally ranked fifth, so he did not suffer any difficulties. On the contrary, he was shown goodwill by other representatives.

"The fact that you're all here proves that you're all true elites; otherwise, you wouldn't have been sent to this world with its boundless potential. Although we're all competitors now, that doesn't mean we're enemies. It's just that we have different stances, and we might even become friends in the future. I hope everyone understands that. I've been in this world for a few years now, and during that time I've gathered some intelligence, so I'd like to share it with you all!"

The intelligence shared is certainly real, but it's all commonplace information; truly valuable intelligence will not be shared.

Even though some information was considered unimportant by other representatives, Yi Shuihan still gained a lot, so his time was not wasted.

The real main event is after the intelligence sharing: how to determine the temporary ownership of the Great World of Struggle for Destiny.

"The quickest way would be for everyone to have a battle, and whoever wins would be the victor and have temporary ownership of the World of Destiny. But I think most of you here would disagree with that, right?"

"Of course. If we were to fight directly, how could we possibly defeat several Dao Creators? Even if all of us who have attained Dao joined forces, we still wouldn't be able to defeat a single Dao Creator."

"Everyone, please share your thoughts and let's discuss them. The purpose of our gathering here is to find a way to compete that everyone can agree on."

This discussion lasted for half a month before finally coming to an end, and a solution that was barely satisfactory to everyone was found.

It's unrealistic for all representatives to remain completely neutral, and it's impossible to expect the founders to relinquish their inherent advantages; at most, they can only be somewhat restricted.

The conclusion of the discussion was that battles could only be fought between people of the same realm. That is to say, a Creator can only fight against another Creator, and an Enlightened One can only fight against another Enlightened One. Of course, if anyone in the Creator realm defeats the other four Creators, then that Creator can challenge an Enlightened One, but they must suppress their strength to the Enlightened One realm.

In addition, it is stipulated that other parties cannot intervene when representatives of one side are fighting against representatives of the other side, and can only declare war after the battle is over.

The winner of this contest was determined from two aspects. One aspect was the victory or defeat of the representatives themselves, that is, the mutual attacks between the representatives, with the final winner taking 50% of the share. The other aspect was the battle between forces, where each representative cultivated their own forces and engaged in a chaotic war a thousand years later, with the final winner taking 50% of the share.

Only those who win both individual battles and battles of their own faction can be considered the ultimate victors. From this perspective, it is actually more advantageous for those who create their own path, because it seems impossible for those who comprehend the Dao to win in individual battles.

If those who seek enlightenment cannot achieve victory, then what is the point of the battles between forces?

Of course it's necessary. It's precisely because of the battles between forces that those who create paths will try to win over those who comprehend, in order to ensure that they can gain an advantage in the battles between forces. In this process, they will definitely have to promise a lot of benefits. As for how much benefit they can get, that depends on the abilities of those who comprehend.

The Enlightened Ones want to be the victors? That's absurd. The forces that sent them here probably never intended for them to win. Even if they did win, the other forces wouldn't agree. They're really just here to be runners-up and get by.

If any Dao Enlightenment cultivator truly shines in the power struggle, leaving the Dao Creator completely helpless, the forces behind them will undoubtedly receive substantial compensation, and might even be able to achieve Dao Creation through this.

……

"I want to apply to create a school of thought."

"Applying to join a school of thought? Which one do you want to join... Wait, did I hear that right? You said you want to create a school of thought? Did you mispronounce it? It's 'join,' not 'create.'"

"You heard me right, I'm here today to establish a school of thought."

"..."

Before Yi Shuihan, the teacher in charge of registering schools of thought stared at him in disbelief, while at the same time, everyone in the hall was drawn to his presence.

"Who is that! Saying he wants to create a school of thought? I've never seen him before, he seems like a newbie. Is he joking?"

"He actually dared to joke about this. He's got some nerve. He'll find out what happens when he makes jokes. He'll definitely be expelled from the Holy Academy, and he might even be killed."

"To establish a school of thought, firstly, the founder must have the cultivation level of the Karma Realm; secondly, he must have a completely new theory and cultivation system; and finally, he must gain the approval of the school council. Putting everything else aside, do you think he would have the cultivation level of the Karma Realm?"

Discussions continued, and no one seemed optimistic about Yi Shuihan.

"Are you really going to create a school of thought? You should think it through. If you haven't even reached the most basic level of cultivation, you'll only face death if you're caught."

The teacher in charge of registration said with a serious expression.

The teacher in charge of registration was a relatively nice person; if it had been someone with a bad temper, they probably would have attacked Yi Shuihan directly.

Seeing that the other party's attitude was good, Yi Shuihan didn't pretend to be arrogant and embarrass them. He revealed a little bit of his aura to let the other party confirm his identity as a cultivator in the Karma Realm.

"It seems you really intend to create a school of thought. In that case, I will report it to the authorities."

After giving Yi Shuihan a deep look, the teacher in charge of registration began to report the news that Yi Shuihan was going to create a school of thought.

"The academy will review your qualifications for founding a school in a week. Please wait for notification. We hope you can truly become the leader of a school."

"Lend your auspicious words."

After Yi Shuihan left, the news that he was going to create a school spread rapidly. By the next day, almost the entire academy knew that a freshman had applied to create a school, and Yi Shuihan had become a sensation.

Chapter 1440, Preliminary Review

"These are truly turbulent times. The academic conferences, which are usually held only once every hundred years, are being held frequently. Could it be that someone is planning to establish a new academic school or to hand over the leadership of a school?"

"What? Old Liu, you don't know yet? This matter has caused quite a stir!"

"Uh! I really didn't know. I've been researching a brand new elixir recently, and it just came out."

"I see. But you're right, someone wants to start a school of thought, and it's a newcomer."

"A newcomer? I remember the last one was also..."

The establishment of a school of thought was also a major event for the Holy Academy, so a school conference was held to discuss it.

The fact that the Academy was able to convene a conference of academic schools already showed that the Academy valued Yi Shuihan. This value also complicated matters. If Yi Shuihan could not make a proper response, he would face the wrath of the united academic schools.

Rong Shi Huang was also the head of a school of thought, but the commotion he caused was not as great as that of Yi Shui Han. This was because he did not directly establish a school of thought, but rather replaced it by joining one and then successfully ascending to the top to reform it. His approach was slightly more subtle than that of Yi Shui Han, although the results were the same.

Besides Rong Shi Huang, there are three other representatives in the academy. The most powerful one is the Chuang Dao Huang, who follows the path of the prefectural master and is now almost a guest of the prefectural master. The other two are at the Wu Dao realm. Hua Zhen Huang follows the same path as Rong Shi Huang and is now also a master of a school. Kou Dao Huang follows the path of the deputy prefectural master and is implicitly on the side of Yan Ji Huang.

Both Emperor Yanji and Emperor Rongshi attached great importance to Yi Shuihan, the founder of the Dao. They followed Yi Shuihan's plan to create a school of thought closely. They knew that creating a school of thought would not be difficult for Yi Shuihan. The key question was what kind of school Yi Shuihan would create and what actions he would take after creating it.

As for the three cultivators at the Enlightenment Realm, they don't need to worry too much while the battle at the Creation Realm is still undecided. Therefore, Emperor Yanji is the one who cares most about Yi Shuihan's attitude.

As the weakest of the founding cultivators on the surface, Yi Shuihan will not be the first to be attacked by the other founding cultivators just because he is weak. On the contrary, they will try their best to win him over. After all, there can only be one winner. Defeating Yi Shuihan first will not bring any benefits. Instead, it will give the other competitors an opportunity. Also, it is much better to leave a weak person alive in the end than to leave a strong person alive.

Of course, everything is only temporary. If the other four founders reach an agreement, it is possible that they will eliminate Yi Shuihan first. The weak are always easier to deal with than the strong.

The academic conference was held to discuss the establishment of the school by Yi Shuihan, and finally determined the method of verifying qualifications and who would conduct the verification.

A total of five school leaders will jointly conduct a preliminary review of Yi Shuihan. One of them is Rong Shi Huang, whom he himself fought for. Of course, he is not trying to make things difficult for Yi Shuihan. On the contrary, he is doing this to show goodwill to Yi Shuihan.

"Not all cultivators are qualified to become the master of a school. If you can persist in our hands for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, then you are qualified in terms of cultivation."

The five school leaders stood opposite Yi Shuihan. The one in the very center, who was also in charge of this preliminary review, Quan Zhifeng, the school leader of the Boxing Games, spoke first.

"Then come on!"

Facing the five leaders of different schools of thought, an ordinary applicant for the creation of a school would be under immense pressure and extremely nervous. However, Yi Shuihan remained remarkably calm, even displaying the demeanor of a senior instructing a junior, rather than being nervous.

Rong Shi Huang knew Yi Shui Han's strength, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The others, however, didn't think so. They all felt that Yi Shui Han was a bit arrogant and were dissatisfied.

"Wait, I meant you could hold out for as long as an incense stick in either of our hands. You choose who it is!"

"Aren't the five of you going together? Actually, it's the same whether all five of you go together or not."

"..."

What was originally just mild dissatisfaction has now become fully apparent on their faces. Apart from the Fusion Emperor, the other four school leaders are all glaring angrily at Yi Shuihan.

Yi Shuihan said he would challenge five people, but the leaders of the schools would not do so. As the leaders of the schools, their status was so noble that even a one-on-one challenge was a favor to Yi Shuihan. If all five were to come together, winning would be a matter of course, and losing would be a huge loss of face.

"How about I play with you?"

The speaker was the most robust of the five school leaders, Lian Kuang, the leader of the Body Refining School. At first glance, he gave the impression of being strong and tough.

Lian Kuang's martial prowess is among the best in the Holy Academy, since the entire school focuses on body refinement and physical enhancement, which is one of the key factors affecting a person's strength.

Lian Kuang stepped forward, and the other school leaders remained silent, quite pleased to see this. Lian Kuang was already firmly in the top two among them. Quan Zhi Feng's fist could suppress Lian Kuang, but that was only a slight advantage. In terms of difficulty, Lian Kuang could even be ranked first, with high health and defense.

The true strength of the Food Emperor has not yet been fully revealed, so the leaders of the other schools of thought are unaware that he is actually the ultimate boss of the preliminary review panel.