Chapter 727: A Hell for Experts
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“An energy artificer?!” Xia Fei, who was shaken, curiously asked. “Energy masters and artificers are two completely different profession. Can they be combined into a single profession? The more I think about this name, the stranger it sounds?”
Oro mysteriously smiled and then excitedly said, “I’ve told you before: True cultivation doesn’t care about how high the rank is; what’s most important is ‘integration’! Laws can be integrated as law force into one’s body, becoming a representative of the laws and allowing one to use law force as they please.
“The same is true for energy artificers. To become someone like that, one must first obtain decent cultivation as both an energy master and an artificer, and then integrate the advantages of these two professions to ultimately combine these two skills seamlessly.
“This is naturally very difficult. After all, a person’s focus and energy are limited. Advancing in two domains equally is quite difficult, and integrating the two together requires constant cultivation and incredible talent!”
Xia Fei was astonished. He hurriedly asked, “So that means Xia Laoshi is very formidable?”
“Extremely formidable! I will wager that he doesn’t just have mastery of energy and artificiary but he is also a decent law warrior, someone who’s truly become an expert in all three fields!” Oro’s eyes were flashing while he spoke. “Every clan hopes to have someone like Xia Laoshi. The Skywing Clan truly has a great number of talents. It’s no wonder such a small family can produce so many top-class elites. It’s been hiding someone this formidable!”
Oro was clearly very shocked. The sight of Xia Laoshi made him think about his own Lionheart Royalty. If his family had such an individual, the already powerful Lionhearts would become unstoppable!
Xia Fei gave a slight nod. Cupping his fist in his hand, he said, “Grandpa Laoshi, I presume that you are a legendary energy artificer? Xia Fei has had his eyes opened today, seeing the graceful bearing of your venerable self…”
Out of every method under the sky, flattery was the one thing that always worked. Since Xia Fei knew that Xia Laoshi was such a peerless character, he naturally wanted to get on his good side as much as possible. As for flattery, Xia Fei was an expert at it, subtly hailing Xia Laoshi as the supreme expert of all time.
Xia Laoshi was very content. After all, everyone liked being praised. While he was of advanced age, he had the mindset of a child, and his face immediately bloomed into a smile.
“It’s not all that big of a deal, but becoming an energy artificer truly is rather difficult. Not everyone is capable of it. This old man has expended a lot of effort to get to this stage,” Xia Laoshi stroked his beard and smiled. “Alas, while I’m an expert in three fields, this has delayed my overall progress. While I’m a jack of all trades, I’m a master of none, which is my life’s greatest regret.”
Xia Fei hurriedly said, “Grandpa Laoshi, how could you say such a thing? I have heard that integrating two systems together is the most difficult of all, impossible to complete without peerless talent. In my view, even the patriarch wouldn’t be able to boast about much in front of your venerable self.”
Xia Laoshi heartily laughed. “That’s true. Xia Buyun still owes me four million and doesn’t even dare to show his face here. When I get back, I’ll definitely go and seek repayment from him!”
A helpless look appeared on Xia Fei’s face. While Xia Laoshi was formidable, he was also a blood-sucking vampire. All of the Law Emperors and Law Overlords in the Skywing Clan probably owed him money. It was no wonder just the mention of Windrider Pavilion and Xia Laoshi made everyone scowl. It was because everyone had been oppressed to the point of death by Xia Laoshi.
As the saying went, ‘do not eat or take whatever you please, as you may end up losing your ability to be bold and forthright.’ With such a big debt on his name, even the patriarch would not dare to raise his head in front of Xia Laoshi.
Xia Fei could not help but worry that, by entering Windrider Pavilion, he was a lamb thrown into the tiger’s mouth. It appeared that he would have to let this unscrupulous businessman take a pound of flesh from him.
After finishing with his flattery, Xia Fei used his gifting skill. Wherever Xia Fei went, he had always followed the principle of giving gifts, and these would not be simple perfunctory ones. Moreover, when it came to such a powerful figure like Xia Laoshi, who had been hidden in the shadows, he needed to be even more generous with his gifts.
“How would this do? You just returned to the Skywings, so it should be more proper for this old man to give you a gift!” Xia Laoshi was all smiles as he put Xia Fei’s gifts away in his ring, not feeling embarrassed in the slightest.
With the property of the Atlantis Clan, his own stockpile, and the local products he had brought from Earth, Xia Fei had quite the inventory, so he was able to give Xia Laoshi a lot of fresh and interesting things that left the old man quite happy.
Xia Fei suddenly became very solemn. “Grandpa Laoshi has gone through great efforts to make high achievements. To speak bluntly, managing Windrider Pavilion for the welfare of the clan has truly placed a great burden on you. If not for the clan, you probably would have gotten into the business long ago and achieved success in your own hobby, yes? As your junior, I feel nothing but admiration for your loyalty.”
This was superb flattery. Everyone knew that the Skywings were about freedom and had many hobbies. Xia Laoshi was so in love with exploiting the warriors of his clan that he was presumably even more willing to be a businessman, but as he had the heavy responsibility of being a teacher and could not leave, he decided to turn Windrider Pavilion into a hotel, thus satisfying his hobby.
Sure enough, Xia Fei’s words left Xia Laoshi sighing emotionally.
“Xia Fei truly knows me well!” Xia Laoshi became inexplicably agitated. “Ah! If not for the grand ancestor giving me this responsibility, I would’ve never taken responsibility for Windrider Pavilion. I would be out there, wandering the universe and building up a business empire that I’ve always dreamed of!”
Oro was speechless. The Skywings simply did not care about proper jobs. Xia Laoshi was an energy artificer, but all he cared about was how to get into business. To the Lionhearts who only thought about cultivation, cultivation, and cultivation, this sort of personality would be heretical.
After some thought, Xia Fei said, “Your venerable self has truly had a hard time. I think that someone as excellent as you should be up there.”
Xia Laoshi shook his head. “There’s no need. The White Horse Constellation needs me more. Besides, it is definitely more relaxed here than up there, and the grand ancestor is there too. Even if I go there, I won’t be of much use. It’s better that I stay here and guide the young juniors of the clan.”
…
Friendship was a wonderful thing. After noon, Xia Laoshi warmly pulled Xia Fei to the front courtyard, smiling and laughing the entire time. Of course, this only concerned Xia Laoshi’s attitude toward Xia Fei; the old man did not give him even the tiniest discount.
Those children from the morning had already gone back; Windrider Pavilion was playing host to a class of youths of thirteen or fourteen years of age. There were more than fifty of them, all brimming with energy.
“These are currently the primary cohort of Windrider Pavilion’s training. Each one performs well every day, and in the future, this batch of students has an extremely high chance of producing a batch of Law Emperors, perhaps even a Law Overlord!” Xia Laoshi proudly said. The students raised their heads upon hearing the compliments from their teacher.
Xia Fei was startled, saying to himself, ‘A batch of Law Emperor experts? Other clans discuss experts by the individual, but the Skywing Clan talks about them in batches!’
“Come on; let’s go and see the homework of these teens. Today is a rest day for you. Your special training begins tomorrow,” Xia Laoshi said.
Unlike the playful and relaxed cultivation the children in the morning class went through, these youths simply received hellish training!
In the cultivation chamber, Xia Laoshi’s attitude took a heel turn. Like a devil with a whip, he constantly made his students go through harsh training.
His complexion remained cold and aloof throughout, and whenever the students made the slightest mistake, he would immediately bark at them, even beat them!
Xia Fei and Oro were dumbfounded. Although Oro had been known as a great demon, he was small fry compared to Xia Laoshi. The severity of Xia Laoshi’s training could make people despair!
*Bang!*
One student was so weak that his legs went limp, the accelerating pace of movements causing them to be slightly deformed. However, when Xia Laoshi noticed what was happening, he gave a kick, sending the student flying into a corner, the impact causing the youth to howl in pain!
“The experts of Skywing have the heavy responsibility of protecting the entire clan!” Xia Laoshi coldly looked around and grimly said. “The stronger you are, the greater your responsibility is! You are all elites of the clan, the future supporting pillars of the Skywings! Protecting every member of the family is the burden that none of you is allowed to put down!
“I know that all of you envy your peers who don’t need to receive this rigorous training and can play as well as do whatever they like, but you all need to understand that they can live their relaxed lives because countless experts protect them!
“All of you will become guardians in the future. Without extraordinary ability, how can you protect your brothers and sisters?! Stand up! I’m tripling today’s training!”
Xia Fei swallowed. He could not help but worry if these youths would grow rebellious because of this heavy pressure. After all, this was the age when children were at their most rebellious.
To his surprise, these youths all chose to accept this treatment silently. None of them cried, and none of them complained. This was a display of fearsome resolve!
The common people only saw the laidback freedom of the Skywing Clan, never seeing the pain and sweat that lay behind it. Each elite Skywing warrior had to endure this demonic training in their youth to create the freedom that the Skywings enjoyed.
“The greater the power, the greater the responsibility…” Xia Fei repeated Xia Laoshi’s words, seemingly understanding something.
Xia Laoshi was harsh to the students, but he was all smiles when it came to Xia Fei, even treating him as a close friend.
“We Skywings aren’t like other clans, forcing every member into all-out training. We only compel the elites of the clan to train, leaving those who lack the talent to live as they please,” Xia Laoshi explained. “The Skywing Clan has been able to stand tall in the Law Realm for so long partially because we aren’t fools, no matter how unreasonable we may seem, and also because we train batch after batch to become experts who can take the place of their predecessors in protecting the Skywings.”
Xia Fei nodded. He understood what Xia Laoshi meant. In the eyes of the strong, the common people were like ants. Just like in the war with the Moonward Clan, ordinary warriors were just cannon fodders no matter how many there were, playing no significant role on the battlefield.
The Skywings had realized this, so they only trained elites. Other clans treated Law Emperors as transcendent existences, whereas the Skywings used the Law Emperor level as their standard for selection.
The Law Emperor was the starting point for Skywing warriors! This model was undoubtedly crazy and impossible to replicate!
Looking at Xia Fei, Xia Laoshi smiled. “Go and rest first. Starting tomorrow, you’ll have to endure training ten times, a hundred times tougher!”
After a moment of shock, Xia Fei nodded. He now understood why Xia Zonghai and the others were so afraid of Xia Laoshi. Windrider Pavilion was where the elites of the Skywing Clan were created, and it was also a hell for experts!
