Chapter 639: Ridiculous Appointment!
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Li Yao’s interest was greatly piqued.
Although he had distinguished himself in the Skyhill Sword Seminar, he was still a young man in the world of Cultivators. He would have to start with the secondary projects and gain his seniority even if he were to join the three main crystal suit centers under the identity of Li Yao. It would take him forever before he got to do what he wanted.
The wait would naturally be much shorter if he represented Iron Plateau. It was quite possible that he would get in touch with the real high-end projects in advance.
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao frowned and said, “What about my identity? Nobody is a fool. Rumors are already spreading out. Bai Kaixin, the vice-captain of the Great Horn Exo Society, has been asking to have dinner with me all the time lately. Perhaps he already started doubting me.”
Xiong Wuji smiled casually. “Don’t you see? If you are a Mr. Nobody, naturally, many people will question your identity. But right now, you are the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. Behind you are thousands of qi-trainers. Excluding crazy lunatics, who can doubt you, dares to doubt you, and is willing to doubt you?”
Li Yao was dazed. He thought carefully for a while and made up his mind. “Alright, I will go to Heavenly Saints City as the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau and work as a visiting scholar!”
Xiong Wuji smiled. “This is the first time that space residents have ever seen us in the past five thousand years. Your behavior will potentially influence how space residents take Iron Plateau natives. To be honest, I wouldn’t be as relieved if it were anybody else. If they made a joke of themselves, every Iron Plateau native would be disgraced. You are doing me a great favor by going there first.
“However, bear this in mind. After you reach Heavenly Saints City, you will certainly meet a lot of people from the six sects of Heavenly Saints City. Many of them may not have forgotten the competition of rightfulness yet and will likely to provoke you. We are in troubled times…”
“I understand.” Li Yao suddenly interrupted him. “I’m not a man fond of quarrels. I’ll try to restrain myself for the big picture. I won’t get into conflict with them easily.”
“Why not?” Xiong Wuji raised his eyebrow and said, “What I meant was that, if anybody provokes you, you must fight back brutally and teach those blind idiots what an Iron Plateau native looks like.”
“…” Li Yao was rendered speechless.
“Right. One more thing. Did you really recruit Ah Yan as your disciple?”
“Yes,” Li Yao admitted honestly. “He is very similar to myself ten years ago, but with a much higher aptitude. I recruited him as my disciple wholeheartedly.
“However, since we have over-planet study programs right now, I suggest Wu Mayan goes to study in Heavenly Saints City, too, to broaden his horizon and make him gain more experience, so that he can progress further in his training.
“There are still two months until he is fourteen years old, but he has already entered the 16th level of the Refinement Stage. I think neither Flying Star University nor Heavenly Saints Institute will reject such a treasure.”
Xiong Wuji smiled. “Alright. That is exactly what was on my mind. I meant to send Ah Yan to study in Heavenly Saints City, but I thought that I’d better hear your opinion first since you are his master. It’s all good then if you have no objections!
“However, you and Ah Yan are both special. According to him, he kneeled before you beside the pond as a gesture of acknowledging you as his teacher. That won’t do!
“You are now the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. It’s a big deal that you have recruited a disciple. We cannot do things so inappropriately.
“How about this. I’ll have everything prepared. Before you set off, experts of the six tribes and Cultivators who are still on Iron Plateau will be invited to join the ceremony. He will be acknowledging you as his master in public. It will also be a demonstration to the Cultivators of your prestige on Iron Plateau.”
Li Yao was going to say no, but he soon realized that Xiong Wuji was trying to promote his name, and it would be beneficial for his future development.
Feeling the warmth in his heart, Li Yao nodded with a smile. “Alright. Whatever you say, Chief Xiong!”
…
Half a month later, in Flying Star University inside Heavenly Saints City…
Flying Star University was located on the third orbital ring, the one closest to the downtown area of Heavenly Saints City. Inside the orbital ring, there were natural landscapes that simulated mountains and rivers, as well as central business districts that were full of skyscrapers. Laboratories and teaching buildings could be seen everywhere, too.
The spiritual energy transmission tubes on the wall of the orbital ring continued releasing spiritual energy into the air and built a man-made paradise inside the third orbital ring where the students and scholars of Flying Star University could train themselves at will.
At this moment, in the natural landscape area of Flying Star University, next to a spring lake, an old man wearing a cloak was fishing. His fishpole was shivering slightly, and he looked half asleep, but he was quite enjoyed himself.
However, the old man’s good mood was disrupted by the buzz of his mini crystal processor. After the old man read the message, his face turned darker than ever.
“Ridiculous appointment!” The old man threw the fishpole to the ground and asked gravely, “President Shang, may I ask who came up with the idea of letting the so-called best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau work as a visiting scholar in the Refining Department of Flying Star University? What place do they think the Refining Department is?”
The old man was Wei Wenyao. He was one of the best masters of refining in the Flying Star Sector as well as the dean of the Refining Department of Flying Star University. He was a well-respected authority in the circle of refiners.
President Shang, whom he was speaking to, was merely a deputy president in charge of administration and human resources. He was not famous in the academic circle and did not have any projects that he should be proud of. Moreover, he was almost forty years younger than Wei Wenyao.
As a renowned scholar, Wei Wenyao did not care about his title at all. He berated ruthlessly, “President Shang, Flying Star University is not a random community college where anybody can work as a visiting scholar or visiting professor!
“According to tradition, the visiting professor of Flying Star University should at least be a professor of one of the other 122 colleges in the Flying Star Sector, and even a visiting scholar should be, at least, an associate professor!
“Right now, you are making history by asking a barbarian to work as a visiting scholar in the Refining Department, join our research, and even teach our students! Is this a joke?”
President Shang hurried to explain, “Dean Wei, please calm down. Communications between Cultivators and Iron Plateau is underway. You are well aware of that, too. You supported the decision and even stated that you would like to recruit a few students from Iron Plateau, didn’t you?”
“Cut the nonsense!” Wei Wenyang was rather bad-tempered. He glared and shouted, “Students and scholars are different. If students from Iron Plateau come here, I can always teach them special courses about the rudimental common sense about refining for the sake of communication even if they are not as smart as our students. But if a visiting scholar comes to this place, they are going to teach our students and join our projects. Not only will they mislead the students, it’s also quite possible that they will mess around with the projects and delay our progress!
“Besides, I’m rather curious. Since you mentioned that the guy is the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, you can always send him to the Combat Department or the Exo Department. He would be most welcomed in those places. Why does he have to come to the Refining Department?”
President Shang replied, his face bitter, “We thought exactly the same in the beginning. Since he is known as the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, he must have unique stills with him even though the Cultivation techniques of Iron Plateau are slightly underdeveloped, considering that he is the ‘best’ anyway. Therefore, we welcomed him to teach the students of the Combat Department and take part in the projects there. If possible, he could work with our combat-type Cultivators and develop new techniques.
“However, although the man said that teaching students of the Combat Department was not a problem, he also stated that he was interested in the arts of refining, too, and would like to exchange ideas with the best refiners of the Flying Star Sector on the latest theories in refining.”
“Exchange ideas?” Wei Wenyao was so angry that he was actually laughing. “President Shang, not that I look down on the Iron Plateau natives whom I know for a fact are not primitive barbarians, but really… Forget it. Tell me more about the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. Does he have any experience in refining?”
President Shang coughed and replied, “Iron Plateau is still relatively closed to us for now, and we do not have a very good intelligence network. Right now, the two parties are in a honeymoon state, so it’s impossible for us to send people to investigate. Thus, what we have here are only the official profiles that the Iron Plateau natives offered us.
“According to the Iron Plateau natives, this best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau was in fact a wildling born in the Dark Continent…”
“Wait!” Wei Wenyao was dumbfounded. “I just said that they were not primitive barbarians, and you are immediately giving me one to prove that I was wrong?”
“Please listen to my explanation first.” President Shang thought that the whole thing was absurd, too, but he was responsible for human resources after all. “The best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau has a legendary background. It is said that, although he was born a wildling, he was actually raised up by a mysterious space resident who was not only an unparalleled expert but also a skilled refiner. Therefore, the best warrior knows a thing or two about refining.”
“Bullsh*t,” Wei Wenyao sneered coldly. “The art of refining is a professional, complicated, comprehensive subject that involves hundreds of independent courses and countless kinds of precise magical equipment. Only after rigorous, systematic training can a qualified refiner be raised.
“A mysterious expert living in the woods teaching a random guy casually for several years, and an expert of refining was born? Is this a fairy tale?”
President Shang wiped the sweat on his forehead and replied, “I’ve seen the armor that the best warrior refined. It seems rather delicate to me.”
Wei Wenyao sniffed and said, “I’ve seen a lot of True Qi armor and True Qi blades crafted by the Iron Plateau natives over the last couple of days. They have their own advantages, but in regard to structure and materials, they are still in the primitive, crude phase.
“Maybe, a refiner was forced to land on Iron Plateau and taught the barbarian some basic skills of refining that were enough for him to distinguish himself on Iron Plateau.
“But it does not mean that such a barbarian is qualified to work as a visiting scholar in my Refining Department!”
