The Mission
"Bruce, this mission seems like a big deal" Deion whispered.
After headmaster Steven called everyone to the stadium, Bruce and Deion headed there immediately. They stood in the back of the stadium while listening to the instructions from headmaster Steven.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm surprised that our teacher isn't here" Bruce said to Deion as he closely listened to Headmaster Steven.
"Isn't it weird that students who don't participate in this mission will be expelled?" Deion asked.
"It seems like the Imperial Academy is forcing everyone to go."
"But why?" Deion asked once again. He truly feared that Bruce's guess was coming true. A war is upon them.
Bruce let out a long sigh and answered.
"Because it's a war."
As the students in the stadium discuss among themselves about the mission, headmaster Steven let out a shock wave to stop everyone from talking.
"Everyone, you may talk once I finish announcing the details of the mission" Headmaster Steven yelled.
"There will be ancient ruin that will open at the eastern part of the continent in 5 days"
"It is rumored that the ruin contains the legacy of a Worldly Supreme expert!"
Everyone gasped after hearing about the Worldly Supreme inheritance. Worldly Supreme is a fable cultivation stage recorded in the ancient history books of the continent. No one on the continent had ever transcended to that stage.
Worldly Supreme is merely a speculation by Great Emperor cultivators that there exists a cultivation stage beyond Great Emperor.
The students who initially wanted to drop out of the mission and the Imperial Academy forgo their decisions. Human is naturally greedy and a chance to obtain the legendary Worldly Supreme inheritance is too great to pass up.
"The mission is very straight forward…"
"Obtain the Worldly Supreme inheritance and return back to the Imperial Academy"
"However…"
"It is likely that other beings from other continents in the world will compete against all of you for the inheritance!"
Headmaster Steven once again shocked the entire student body with the information about the mission. Everyone in the stadium is slightly distraught after hearing that they will be competing against unknown beings from other continents.
"You guys don't need to be afraid" Headmaster Steven reassured everyone.
"The ruin only allows Soul Manifestation cultivators to enter. This requirement also applies to other beings from the other continents"
"With that said, the mission will be extraordinary difficult as you all will have to compete for the inheritance against other beings and your peers"
"To minimize the amount of in-fighting on the same side, the Imperial Academy will grant anyone who successfully enters the ruin and returns 250,000 medium energy crystals!"
The Imperial Academy knew that almost no one wants to risk his or her life to compete for an impossible inheritance against unknown entities. Thus, they added an incentive to sweeten the deal.
"You guys will have 1 day to decide."
"Those who choose to not partake in the mission must go to the registrar office to withdraw from the academy."
"Those who choose to partake in the mission must arrive at the stadium tomorrow."
"Everyone is now dismissed." Headmaster Steven concluded the announcement and left the stadium.
All students started to discuss among their peers about the inheritance and potential danger of the mission. Some felt that the risk was worth it for the reward. While many felt that the risk was way too high as they don't know the strengths of other beings from different parts of the world.
"Bruce, what should we do?" Deion asked.
The dynamic between the duo is that Bruce makes all the big decisions while Deion handles the finance and anything else that Bruce needs help with. It has always been ever since they met Chef John. Under Bruce's astute decision make capabilities, the duo managed the survive the training of the Great Emperor.
"Deion, what's the motto that we've always used?" Bruce looked at his friend who was nervous.
"Bros before hoes?" Deion answered after thinking for a bit.
"No, the other one!" Bruce couldn't believe Deion took his sweet time to come up with that answer.
"Work smarter, not harder?" Deion guessed.
"Correct" Bruce smiled.
"If one of us obtains the Worldly Supreme inheritance, our lives will be smooth sailing from then on" Bruce began to explain to Deion his thoughts about the mission.
"Think about it. How much would we have to struggle to obtain resources for cultivation after we graduate from the Imperial Academy?" Bruce asked.
"We'll definitely reach Divine King before we graduate so we'll need tens of millions of medium energy crystals and high energy crystals to reach the peak of cultivation" Deion answered after calculating the expected resources they would need to continue their cultivation paths.
"Exactly!"
"The path will be arduous because we can't rob other influences without making enemies"
"I say that we accept the mission and obtain the inheritance. I don't know what the inheritance entails but it should be something extremely useful that we can sell for money!"
After Bruce explained his reasoning for taking the mission, Deion started thinking for a moment and agreed.
"Let's do it Bruce! This mission is perfect for people like us"
"This is the easiest path that we can take to the top" Deion now felt much better about the mission because the mission had turned into a giant gamble.
"I also think it's a very good time to obtain a powerful inheritance because we have the Imperial Academy backing us."
"What do you mean?" Deion got confused.
"You fool, if you obtain powerful inheritance without any powerful background, people will kill you to steal the inheritance" Bruce exclaimed.
"Ah you're right. Everyone would love to have a pie of the Worldly Supreme inheritance." Deion finally understood what Bruce implied.
"Us two should be the strongest people in Soul Manifestation in the continent. The problem is other beings from other sides of the world" Bruce still didn't feel good about the mission. Bruce felt that having unknown variables in a mission is dangerous.
"They could be weaker than us" Deion naively hoped.
"Let's hope so. If they're stronger than us, then we'll have to be smarter or luckier than them to win." Bruce sighed.
"Bruce, I need to go check with Chelsey on her decision." Deion finally remembered about his girlfriend.
"If she decides to go, we must protect her in the mission!" Deion declared.
"Ooooh, someone's in love" Bruce decided to tease Deion.
"Hmph, shut up. I don't need to remind you that a certain someone was baking a chocolate cake in the middle of the night to appease to his girlfriend" Deion successfully countered.
"Let's call it a tie" Bruce didn't want to argue with Deion about this as this wasn't the right time.
"I'll go check out things with Meredith and you go check on Chelsey"
Bruce and Deion headed out to their respective girlfriends. While heading to Meredith's house, Bruce got worried because Meredith and Chelsey will most likely join the mission with them.
If the other beings from around the world are stronger than him, it's likely that all of them will die trying to protect one another.
Bruce arrived at Meredith's house and opened the door. Ever since they moved onto the next step in their relationship, she gave him a key to her house.
"Meredith, are you home?" Bruce walked inside the house and called out for Meredith.
When he walked inside the living room, he unexpectedly couldn't move.
'What the fuck, why can't I move'
When he looked inside the living room, he saw two men sitting on the sofa staring at him with cold eyes.
"What are you doing in my daughter's house?" The middle-aged man asked while binding Bruce in one place with soul shackle. A Divine Emperor special technique that binds one's weaker soul causing him or her unable to move.
Bruce activated his soul energy and broke out of the soul shackle which greatly surprised the two men. Especially the old man sitting on the opposite side of the sofa.
"Hello, father-in-law. I'm here to see Meredith" Bruce bowed in front of the middle-aged man.
"You what?" The middle-aged wickedly stared at Bruce.