Chapter 24: A Power Full of Wisdom
However, Joshua's straightforward agreement instead made Israel feel uncomfortable.
"You know, Lord Radcliffe, people like you are very strange, very strange indeed..."
Israel withdrew his hand with a complex expression, staring at the warrior's face as if there were something on it. The Emperor frowned and said in an somewhat incredulous tone: "No one would agree to such a major matter so directly and simply. It makes it seem very frivolous. I believe you are serious, and Teacher Nostradamus once said that you are indeed such a person, but."
Pausing for a moment, Israel could not discern anything from Joshua's face. He sighed, turned, and walked towards another palace, speaking intermittently: "Even I would hesitate and think it over."
"I thought about it for over a decade, and only confirmed that my body had fully recovered before I could make up my mind."
"You are truly an incredibly strange fellow, Joshua. I was even prepared for you to stall for a few years before giving me an answer."
The warrior merely shrugged in response. This should be a matter of values. Not activating a new event and storyline chain when one appears—that would be the truly strange thing. And besides, it was merely a yes-or-no decision; what was there to hesitate about?
The two had not spoken for long, but they could already hear the cheers of the crowd from outside Morlai Palace. It was a sign that the sacrificial ceremony of the Spring Festival had concluded. However, not many were cheering for the festival itself; the vast majority were shouting the name of the Empire's third Legendary, Master Nostradamus.
Three Legendaries!
This was three Legendaries!
Looking across the entire continent, in the past few decades, only a mere nine Legendaries had appeared before the public eye.
The Elf Clan's [Nature Mentor Eidril Galannod], the Dwarf leader of Molten Steel Fortress [Great Artifact Smith Flo Ironfinger], the Seven Gods Church's [Pope Saint Eagle], the Far East Seas' [Ocean Sage Faina], the fourth seat of the Sky-Piercing White Tower and its current leader [Elemental Master Barbarossa], the two wandering Legendary masters roaming the continent, [Rune Master Baniel] and [Mind Master William], the Western Mountain Holy Sword Wielder clan's [Mistletoe Sword Lamotte Ternan], and the Imperial Emperor [Sky Dragon Rider Israel]. These nine powerhouses were the more active Legendaries in recent decades.
Of course, the entire Mycroft Continent could not possibly have only these nine Legendaries. Everyone knew that the Far South Kingdom enshrined a reclusive Legendary, the Merchant Alliance also raised a Legendary-rank Dragon-Blooded Giant Whale, not to mention the Dragon Clan. The Five-Colored Dragons alone had three Legendary Dragons. Then, the Metal Dragons, who had been contending with them for years and had only recently fallen slightly behind, certainly had several Legendary Dragon Kings. As for Legendary Magical Beasts, they rampaged through the Central Black Forest, forcing back many powerhouses who attempted to explore that mysterious land with endless waves of powerful monsters. But without a doubt, most of these Legendaries were not widely known, far less famous than the previous nine.
And now, the Empire had gained two more Legendaries!
The Northern Count, Joshua von Radcliffe, due to his extreme youth and lack of widely known abilities or achievements, did not yet have a publicly recognized title—although some had privately begun calling the warrior the 'Lord of Extinction,' it had not yet gained public acceptance.
Master Nostradamus was different. After all, he had been a famous Ultimate-rank mage for decades. For about a dozen years, many had speculated that he would achieve Legendary status, and now it was merely their speculation coming true. Hence, the cheers were exceptionally enthusiastic.
"The reform you mentioned should be about establishing a large number of vocational schools within the Empire, to recruit geniuses from among the commoners and prevent those with talent from going untrained."
As they walked, Joshua casually shared his thoughts with Israel: "That idea is indeed very good, but it requires solving many problems and will bring a lot of trouble. Overall, though, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Analyzing this takes only an instant, so why should I hesitate?"
The concept of 'Transcendence for All' that Israel spoke of was very familiar to Joshua. In his previous life, the Emperor's successor, the current Second Prince, the Iron-Blooded Emperor Di Mor Diamond, had fully implemented this concept when the Abyss invaded and the continent was engulfed in endless war. Although it now seemed that Di Mor had likely inherited this idea from his father or Nostradamus, at that time, the concept had shaken the entire world.
Because of the Abyss invasion, countless scattered nobles and minor powers were annihilated by demons sweeping across the continent. Countless legacies were left behind but lost their inheritors. To prevent these precious heritages from vanishing, and because the Empire lacked the strength to reclaim lost territories one by one, Di Mor decreed that all remaining legacies and the various cultivation methods owned by the Imperial family be disseminated to the entire world, giving all survivors the possibility of cultivation and the power to save themselves.
At the same time, to replenish the vast number of professionals the Empire had lost in the war against the Abyss, Di Mor also enacted a law that all children over the age of six within the Empire must attend militarized vocational academies for three years of education. After graduation, each student had to be sent to corresponding training camps based on their talents. Upon completion of training, they would be a combat professional or spellcaster barely capable of going to the battlefield and dealing with demonic grunts. It was also thanks to the post-Great Magic Tide environment, where low-level professionals could be trained very quickly, that Mycroft Civilization could withstand such a rate of blood loss.
But Di Mor was in a time of war. To defeat the Abyss, both nobles and mages who regarded inherited knowledge as their very lives could grit their teeth and offer their cultivation methods, sharing them with the commoners they utterly despised. Only under the threat of extinction and racial annihilation would they temporarily abandon their pride in their status.
Now, what Israel intended to do was, in a relatively peaceful period where nobles still held territories and power, to promote on a large scale vocational schools open to commoners, vigorously cultivate commoner geniuses, and break the nobles' monopoly on the power of the strong. On a small scale, this was smashing people's rice bowls; on a large scale, this was undermining the nobility, and even the foundation of Israel's own rule—an irreconcilable, mortal enmity.
To be honest, this was the first time Joshua had seen an emperor say he wanted to start a revolution. No joke—it sounded a lot like suicide.
"There are indeed many problems."
Israel knew his idea had many issues to resolve, but he didn't mind, speaking slowly: "During the war, I often encountered soldiers and knights who clearly had excellent talent but couldn't tap into their potential due to inheritance issues. Their willpower and talent were no less than those of my officers, but it was the step of cultivation methods that blocked their path to advancement, leaving them stuck at Silver, or even Black Iron."
The Emperor's voice carried a hint of regret: "At that time, the Orcs had already achieved the popularization of inheritance. The Orc rulers, compared to ordinary Orcs, only had a bit more special bloodline-related cultivation and inheritance. Everything else was the same as common Orcs. It was precisely because of this that the Orcs, with just a few major tribes, could entangle the entire Empire for centuries. While there were other reasons, like Imperial nobles pulling the strings from behind, this factor was particularly important."
"At that time, I thought, if those knights who couldn't tap into their potential had the corresponding inheritances, why would the Empire worry about not being able to annihilate the Orcs? Why waste vast national resources year after year on a war of attrition with these beasts? It was far too wasteful and far too regrettable."
"Of course." Shifting his tone, Israel also knew there were many problems with his idea: "Although the Winterfell Academy that Teacher established in the Northern Lands has proven that commoner students, after receiving education, are no less than noble students—some even have exceptionally good talent—this does not mean it can be promoted on a large scale. Funding is the most important issue, followed by resources. Building a school and training a professional requires a huge amount of money and resources. If they need to learn combat, it also requires a large number of practical trials. Even if we only popularize culture, not the path of Transcendence, making the entire Empire literate is a colossal project requiring a hundred years and countless gold coins. Our goal is even more ambitious than that."
Joshua nodded upon hearing this. It seemed Israel hadn't been swept up by a momentary impulse to popularize the path of Transcendence; he had indeed thought about these issues.
In fact, if not for the Great Magic Tide, the Mycroft Continent would not have had the conditions to popularize Transcendent power. First, there wasn't enough money; second, there was the problem of mana concentration.
Before the Great Magic Tide, if Joshua were to breathe deeply and absorb the surrounding free energy, within a few seconds, the energy concentration of the entire Moldavia would drop by three tiers. Except for him, all professionals below the Ultimate-rank would only experience the treatment of an age of declining magic. This was a Legendary—hard to use as an analogy. But an army composed entirely of professionals, not too many, just over a thousand—a thousand Silver and Gold-rank professionals simultaneously absorbing the surrounding free energy—could directly drain the mana from the atmosphere. Without free energy, many spells would be greatly weakened.
The same applied to a vocational academy. Before the Great Magic Tide, it could train at most a few dozen students. Any more, and the mana concentration within the academy would be insufficient to guide and nurture them.
Only a world after the Great Magic Tide could support large-scale Transcendent power battles and large-scale student training.
"So I plan to first select some cities in the Imperial Capital, the Eastern Provinces, and the Southern Fortress for pilot projects. I will also provide a sum of Imperial funds for the Winterfell Academy in the Northern Lands. We are Legendary powerhouses; we have enough time to wait slowly, experiment slowly, and determine whether our ideas have problems."
Israel's attitude at this moment was optimistic. He said lightly: "Of course, we will encounter resistance from some nobles or minor powers, but it's harmless. And I have other plans to deal with it..."
Hearing this, Joshua couldn't help but shake his head inwardly. The Emperor's idea was indeed not wrong, but he didn't know that in twenty years, the Abyss would invade this world. He simply didn't have the time to wait for experiments slowly.
But for Israel, who didn't know about the future plans of the Abyss Demons, his idea was indeed not wrong. He had just eliminated the Orcs, the Dragon Calamity was over, the Great Magic Tide had brought more mana and possibilities to this world, he had healed his own hidden injuries, and there were no future repercussions. He could even outlive this generation of stubborn old nobles by lifespan alone. With such perfect conditions, Israel was indeed entitled to be optimistic.
But then again, the Mycroft Continent had regained the First Flame. Would the Demons still invade according to their original plan? He had already changed the trajectory of this world's fate too much. If one were to calculate the deviation of the world line, it was at least over 1%. Those chaotic monsters might indeed choose another target because of this.
Unaware that an old Demon friend had already squeezed through the Abyss seal via a summoning array in the Western Mountains and was gathering information, planning a trip to the Northern Lands, Joshua hadn't had time to continue thinking about this issue when he heard Israel suddenly lower his voice.
"Lord Radcliffe."
The two were now standing at the entrance of the main hall. Since the festival sacrifice was over, there were few people passing by. The Emperor stopped here and spoke in an exceptionally serious tone: "What do you think of my children?"
"What do I think? They're all decent. Most are above average."
Evaluating them instinctively according to his thoughts, Joshua felt he was being objective. Apart from the Second Prince Di Mor and the youngest Seventh Prince, who were somewhat interesting, the talents of the other princes and princesses, while good, were not exceptionally brilliant. However, judging by their words and actions, their emotional and intellectual quotients were commendable. The Imperial family's education was indeed good. Even the seemingly most mediocre Fourth Prince, the warrior could tell, was deliberately hiding his abilities.
"Then, if you were to choose one as a disciple, which one would you choose?"
Israel said, seemingly casually—though a fool could guess his intention—"Of course, I'm just asking."
After all that talk earlier, so this is where you were leading. Joshua smiled and shook his head. He could understand the Emperor's thoughts. It wasn't strange for Israel to have such an idea.
Not to mention that the warrior was now a Legendary, with his own unique path of inheritance, more than qualified to be a teacher for the Imperial children. Just to strengthen his ties with the Imperial family, Israel would certainly try this most common method. He didn't directly send a princess over because, in the Empire, women also had the right to inherit the throne, and Israel himself valued his children's right to choose their marriage partners. But a parent hiring a teacher for their children was much simpler. If Joshua agreed, which prince would dare to refuse, or would refuse?
"I won't take on disciples just because of your face."
Joshua said: "They must pass my examination—their knowledge level must be up to standard."
The warrior thought of the students still cramming knowledge at Winterfell Academy. These little ones who had received his inheritance had yet to even get started. Joshua couldn't help but smile.
Regardless, he was a person from the civilization of the Cosmic Era. His basic knowledge level was definitely above these Mycroft Continent natives. The Titan Six-Element Breathing Technique required coordinating the stability of the six elements, demanding a vast amount of knowledge in energy coordination and basic knowledge of the microscopic realm. Adamantite Body Refinement sounded simple, but actually required a very detailed understanding of metal material properties, demanding a solid foundation in material science and a certain reserve of biological knowledge. The Fusion Calamity Righteous Method involved nuclear fission and magnetic field constraints; ordinary people couldn't even begin to play with it, let alone the Myriad Realms Ripple Visualization, which touched upon wave-particle duality, relativity, and even quantum mechanics. If not for Amira having the relevant talent, he wouldn't have taught it to her.
Want to become his disciple? Hahaha! They would have to study the relevant subjects for at least a year or two first! His power was full of wisdom!
Unaware of this, Israel waved his hand confidently, taking the warrior's words as agreement. The Emperor laughed and said: "Enough of these trivial matters, Lord Radcliffe. Later, after Teacher Nostradamus arrives, I have a great discovery to tell you."
"You absolutely won't be able to guess what Teacher and I have found these past few days through the observation array of the Void Astrology Observatory."