Chapter 127: On the Warship (Part-26)

“Ding, congratulations to the player Ryan for receiving the mainline mission: ’Take first place in Western Mansion’s entrance examination and help candidates from the Thirty-Six Cities of the North District enter Western Mansion.’”

“Mission requirement: Assist at least thirty candidates from the Thirty-Six Cities of the North District in successfully entering Western Mansion.”

Ryan exhaled softly.

Another mainline mission.

It seemed that from this moment on, the path ahead was becoming clearer… and far heavier.

Receiving yet another task made Ryan secretly delighted.

When he had agreed to Elder Lu’s request earlier, he had only been pondering the matter in his heart. He hadn’t expected the system to actually respond and issue the mission right away.

However, when he saw the completion condition of that task, he was momentarily stunned.

“Thirty people… that’s a lot.”

Ryan frowned slightly and muttered under his breath.

“What thirty?” Elder Lu asked, turning his head.

“Oh, nothing.” Ryan waved his hand and smiled casually. “I just mean I’ll do my best to help candidates from the Thirty-Six Cities of the North District enter the Western House.”

Elder Lu didn’t pursue the matter further. After exchanging a few more words, an examiner approached and whispered something into Elder Lu’s ear. Elder Lu nodded, then led Ryan toward the bow of the Void Warship and leapt onto the dragon-head statue.

At this moment, under the organization of the examiners, the Void Warship had already been cleaned. Corpses and bloodstains were removed, and all candidates and Western Mansion members were lined up neatly inside the ship according to their respective cities, waiting quietly for Elder Lu to speak.

Ryan followed Elder Lu and stood atop the dragon-head statue, looking down at everyone aboard.

If this had been earlier, such a scene would have caused immediate dissatisfaction. No examiner would allow a mere candidate to stand above them and overlook the crowd.

But now, who would dare object?

Ryan was someone who had personally slain a Lord rank expert. If such strength still didn’t qualify him to stand here, then who did?

At this moment, no one voiced any displeasure. When they looked at Ryan, their eyes were filled with awe. Some candidates even looked at him with fear, as if he were a demon who could take lives with a casual strike.

Of course, Ryan paid no attention to such gazes.

“Examiners, report the casualty figures now,” Elder Lu said solemnly from atop the statue.

His expression was grave, completely different from the warmth he had shown when speaking privately with Ryan.

Hearing this, Tang Wuying stepped forward as the representative of the examiners and reported with a heavy expression. “Reporting to Elder Lu. Among the thirty-six examiners from the North District, thirteen have fallen, and seven are seriously injured. Among the one hundred sixty-six Western Mansion disciples, eighty-nine have died, thirty are seriously injured, and the rest suffered minor injuries. As for the candidates from the Thirty-Six Cities, there were originally seven hundred and twenty. Two hundred thirty-six have died, fifty-seven are seriously injured, and three hundred twenty-two sustained varying degrees of minor injuries. That concludes the report.”

As the long string of numbers was spoken, a heavy silence settled over the ship.

Nearly three hundred lives lost.

Nearly a hundred were gravely injured.

The losses were truly catastrophic.

Especially for the candidates of the Thirty-Six Cities. Seven hundred and twenty of them had boarded the ship with ambition and hope, dreaming of entering Western Mansion. Yet before even reaching their destination, more than two hundred had already been buried here.

And yet, among the survivors, something had clearly changed.

Their backs were straighter, their gazes firmer. Having been baptized by life and death, every one of them seemed transformed.

“Have you all heard those numbers?” Elder Lu asked loudly. “More than three hundred dead. Over three hundred Western Mansion talents and future pillars are buried here. Why did they die? Because we lacked the strength to protect them. Because we lacked the strength to resist powerful enemies. Everything comes down to one word: strength.”

His voice struck directly at everyone’s hearts.

“Tell me,” Elder Lu continued, “do you want to experience this again?”

“No!” came the unified reply from below.

Examiners, Western Mansion disciples, and candidates alike shouted together.

Grief, unwillingness, and rage burned in their eyes. Rage toward the enemy, and rage toward their own weakness.

If they had been stronger, would so many have died?

If they had been stronger, would they have been driven into such despair?

“All because we were not strong enough.”

“Then answer me this,” Elder Lu asked again. “Do you still want your loved ones and friends to be threatened, simply because you lack strength?”

“No!” the response thundered back, even louder than before.

“Good,” Elder Lu said firmly. “Since you don’t want that, then promise me this. Work hard. Cultivate relentlessly. Whether you can enter Western Mansion or not, you must grow stronger. Become strong enough that no enemy can threaten you or those you care about. Strong enough that today’s tragedy will never happen again. Do you hear me clearly?”

“We hear you clearly!” everyone shouted in unison.

Determination blazed in their eyes.

After enduring this life-and-death trial, it was clear that every surviving candidate would cultivate with renewed ferocity.

For many of them, this was not merely a disaster, but a turning point, one that would change their entire lives.

Years later, when some of these people became peerless experts and looked back on this day, they would inevitably sigh. Without this incident, without the attack of the Reaper Bandits, perhaps they would never have achieved what they did.

But that was a story for the distant future.

Seeing the morale rise, Elder Lu nodded in satisfaction and continued, “There is one more matter I wish to entrust to you.”

Everyone immediately focused their attention on him.

Elder Lu pointed at Ryan beside him and asked, “Do you all know who he is?”

“Yes! His name is Li Wei!”

“He’s our savior!”

“He’s the pride of our generation, our idol!”

“If I forget the name of my lifesaver Lord Li, then I’m no better than a beast!”

“I’ll never forget today, and I’ll never forget Young Master Li. He gave me a second life!”

Voices rang out one after another.

Earlier, many people hadn’t even known Ryan’s name. But through word of mouth, through those who knew him, his identity had spread rapidly.

First place in the Fengyue City qualification exam. The Li Clan’s top genius. The son of an elder of the Li Clan.

By now, Ryan’s name had spread throughout the Void Warship.

At this moment, who among them did not know him?

Hearing the unanimous response, Elder Lu nodded in satisfaction and continued in a solemn tone, “Since all of you know Li Wei, that makes things easier. His strength speaks for itself. I don’t need to say more. Yes, he is strong. Extremely strong. However—”

He paused deliberately, letting the word hang in the air before continuing, “I hope everyone here can keep his matters a secret. Everything about him. Especially his true strength, the fact that he slew the Reaper Bandits, and the details of how the battle unfolded. Until he himself chooses to reveal it, not a single word is to be spread. Can you do that?”

The crowd grew quiet for a breath.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep