The room wasn't particularly large, and it resembled a conference room where five elderly n in white robes sat. Each elder possessed a kindly countenance, their eyes twinkling with warmth.
Their aura told Lu Yuan that each of them had broken through into the Unfettered Realm, but upon closer inspection, they had shattered two genetic shackles at most.
When Lu Yuan walked into the conference room, all five stood up to greet him.
They all understood that the figure before them far surpassed them in strength. Even though Lu Yuan had yet to reveal anything about his power to them, the five elderly n had already learned everything about him.
Their leader was an elderly man with a bed of white hair and a white beard. Despite his old age, his appearance couldn't be described as "old." He walked up to Lu Yuan and extended his right hand with a warm smile.
"Greetings, King Lu. I am Ji Huaiyuan, and I'm from the Wanglong Pavilion," the elderly man said, introducing himself.
The words "Wanglong Pavilion" would confuse ordinary people, but Lu Yuan was different. The so-called Wanglong Pavilion was an organization of Awakened.
In the future, their influence would keep expanding, and they would eventually begin to oversee nurous matters related to Awakened. In fact, even institutions like the Aurora Academy would eventually fall under their jurisdiction.
In other words, they would eventually represent the nation.
The Wanglong Pavilion wasn't large, and it had only seven people at most. At the mont, five stood before him, a clear demonstration of the fact that the top echelons regarded Lu Yuan as an extrely important individual.
Unless it was extrely important, these individuals wouldn't appear personally, even when dealing with the major forces. Each one could be considered a formidable existence, as all of them had reached the Unfettered Realm.
These elderly n represented the governnt's true power.
"You're too kind, sir. Please, just call by my na," Lu Yuan responded without arrogance.
Had it not been for these elderly n from Wanglong Pavilion, the nation would have been in chaos for a long ti in Lu Yuan's previous life. Thanks to their decisions at critical junctures, Huaxia withstood the chaos of the New Era until the nation itself had adjusted to it.
Hence, these five elders deserved his respect. Just because he was stronger than them didn't an he was going to disrespect those who deserved respect.
"You've handled two mutated beast tides in a row, saving the lives of countless citizens," Ji Huaiyuan said with a smile. The other elders nodded repeatedly in agreent. "Your achievents have left feeling ashad. Your title is truly well-deserved."
It had to be known that today's supercities differed vastly compared to super cities during the old era—each supercity accommodated over a hundred million people.
If a mutated beast tide on a supercity were allowed to remain unchecked, the consequences would be catastrophic. Even with ample preparations, losses would still be heavy.
Despite that, Lu Yuan had single-handedly forced the mutated beasts to stay outside the city walls. He had ensured that the city would suffer zero casualties and losses. If his achievents couldn't be considered great, then what would?
Lu Yuan remained silent. Ji Huaiyuan then gestured for everyone to take a seat.
"King Lu, I won't bother with pleasantries. I invited you here to ask you to join the Wanglong Pavilion," Ji Huaiyuan said imdiately with a solemn face.
Join the Wanglong Pavilion? Even Lu Yuan was stunned to hear that. The Wanglong Pavilion was the nation's highest authority when it ca to the Awakened.
Setting aside everything else, the benefits of joining them alone were virtually limitless. Most future resources would be at his disposal, and more importantly, the position ca with extre authority.
His status would soar above Dean Zheng and the others.
For an ordinary person, it would be like ascending to heaven in a single step.
After his brief mont of surprise, however, Lu Yuan shook his head slightly. "My apologies, Elder Ji, but I have no intention of joining."
With great power ca great responsibility; Lu Yuan was accustod to being independent, and he had no intention of letting himself be bound by anything.
Joining the Wanglong Pavilion ant losing freedom to so degree, and he was not going to sacrifice his freedom for so resources and authority. After all, Lu Yuan couldn't really care less about those.
"That's..." Ji Huaiyuan's eyes dimd slightly at these words, but he said, "I understand your concerns, King Lu. How about this? You need not join the Wanglong Pavilion. We could grant you a position like 'Consultant' or similar, which would surely help you in your future endeavors."
He understood perfectly that the more powerful the individual, the less they liked being constrained, so he decided to approach the matter from another angle.
Ultimately, they simply hoped Lu Yuan would intervene at critical monts.
Lu Yuan understood that and nodded. In truth, if his intervention was needed, he wouldn't hesitate to intervene. However, the so-called "Consultant" position was essentially their way of saying that they would accept whatever Lu Yuan was going to do in the future for the sake of the greater good.
"Thank you, King Lu." Ji Huaiyuan's face blood with delight.
Before their eting, his impression of Lu Yuan was a fierce individual willing to do just about anything to achieve his goals. Otherwise, he wouldn't have attacked significant figures from the Wuzhou Group and Longevity Genetics.
Ji Huaiyuan was worried that talking with Lu Yuan could be difficult, but it seed that he had nursed a needless worry.
"You all didn't invite here for just this one matter, did you?" Lu Yuan asked, smiling. There was no way the top echelons of the nation would et him for sothing like this alone.
Lu Yuan's smile seed to see through everything.
The five elders exchanged glances, looking a bit embarrassed. Indeed, they had asked Lu Yuan to join the Wanglong Pavilion as groundwork for what ca next.
Since he had refused their offer, things were supposed to beco too awkward for them to continue, but since Lu Yuan had brought it up himself, there seed to be no harm in proceeding, anyway.
Finally, Ji Huaiyuan cleared his throat and said, "Since the Global Awakening, the fad lands across the nation have changed. Most have produced nurous spiritual fruits and exotic herbs along with powerful mutated beasts.
"However, the most special of such places are places like Mount Tai and Mount Kunlun."
"Not long ago, a few of us formulated a plan to take control of Mount Tai," Ji Huaiyuan added.
Lu Yuan listened and nodded. Mount Tai, the foremost of the Five Sacred Mountains, was the site of Feng and Shan sacrifices[1]a long ti ago. For thousands of years, countless scholars, poets, nobles, and generals had left their marks there.
It was a location of utmost importance for Huaxia, and it beca even more special after the Global Awakening.
Lu Yuan remained silent, quietly waiting for Ji Huaiyuan to continue.
Ji Huaiyuan saw that and said, "Three months ago, we detected powerful energy fluctuations on Mount Tai. Our preliminary investigation told us that Mount Tai contains multiple great boons. When we sent people to investigate, we discovered that it's markedly different from Mount Shu.
"Mount Tai has beco a mysterious land full of dangers. Among them is a beast king with terrifying strength. Our investigation has told us that it's a Golden Body Realm beast, which ans it's too strong for us to handle."
At that, the elders lowered their heads. They had indeed reached the Unfettered Realm, but they were still too weak against such a powerful mutated beast king. If they were to go up the mountain, they would surely die.
1. Official rite offered by the "Son of Heaven" basically the emperors and kings to pay homage to heaven and earth ☜
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