Child of Destiny

……

Despite Professor Herny being known to most people that he could not use any martial arts or mentalism, he was still highly respected by everyone.

Only a limited number of people knew about it, and they were also the closest friends that the old professor had and those people he could fully trust.

It was a form of protection due to his special circumstances.

All the people who were currently inside the conference room were experts in their respective disciplines and could look down on others due to their powerful martial and mentalism attainments.

But despite that being the case, none of them interrupted Professor Henry when he was talking about the plans regarding their current situation.

Professor Henry might be known as a ‘cripple’ to many, but these old and powerful experts respected him due to his great insight and deep knowledge when it came to the three major paths that the current era had.

Others might think that he was just an ordinary person, but to these experts, his status as the head researcher of the World Research Center was more than enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.

Professor Henry continued talking when he saw that everyone was now listening to him. “I know that most of you don’t want us to get involved in this matter since it only hinders our plans. But I can assure you that this is also a good opportunity for us.”

“This tomb may be nothing to you who already attained greater heights on your respective disciplines and even created your own path. But it is a different matter when it comes to those ‘people’.”

“We all know how obsessed they are when it comes to matters concerning the previous civilizations, particularly during the era of cultivators.”

“Since this tomb is the first big tomb that we have since ten years ago, I can confidently say that those people will make their moves.”

He then paused for a moment to sweep his gaze at everyone before continuing. “We are having a hard time looking for the traces of those people since the great war has ended. We all know that we have not totally eradicated them during that time.”

“We have pushed most of their forces back to the other side of the Forbidden Valley while the rest manage to hide themselves among our people.”

“And because of their special methods, we are unable to identify them.”

With a deep sigh, Professor Henry took another pause before continuing. “There are only a few individuals who can identify them, but due to the greediness of the current leaders sitting on the throne of the World Government, we have ‘lost’ those people.”

When he said those words, the experts sitting around the table fell into silence. Others even lowered their heads, feeling ashamed about what happened back then.

But they could not do anything about it during that time since they could also somehow understand the thoughts of the World Government.

Professor Henry waited for everyone to remember their current situation before continuing. “Since this tomb is most likely related to one of the famous cultivators of that era, we can use it to lure some of those people and set up a trap at the same time.”

“This is what the government wants us to do while using the forces from the other continents as an excuse for our movements. If we are successful, then this can be a huge leap in our plans to eradicate these hidden enemies.”

Reaching this point, one of the elders suddenly raised another concern. “But they are not the only ones that we need to consider. Those forces from the underground organizations are also getting bolder recently; we can’t be sure if they are plotting another scheme in the dark.”

Hearing that, the vice headmaster finally finds the time to chime in. “That is not our concern. The Elder’s Council will take care of those people. I heard that Old Monster Plum and Grandmaster Benn are keeping a close eye on their movements.”

“The ‘Hermit’ and Blood Slaughtering Fist ‘Galileo Freeman’ are also sent out as a reinforcement, so there is nothing to worry about that side.”

Reaching this point, Professor Henry suddenly added. “The Demon Fist General ‘Samuel Springfield’ is also making arrangements with the Military Forces, so there is no need for us to think about them.”

Hearing that the old monsters from the Elder’s Council were making their moves, the experts within the conference room did not raise their concerns any longer.

However, some of the troublemakers were voicing out a completely different matter.

“Hmm… it has been a while since I have exchanged blows against that Old Monster. Should I visit him and ask for a little ‘exercise’?” muttered Old Man Lin while stroking his eyebrows.

“I have been thinking about this for quite some time already – I really want to know how strong this so-called great general of the Soaring Continent is. Should I take this chance and see for myself if he is worthy of his title?” said Manuel Morales with a quiet voice.

Hearing their words, the rest of the experts could not help but shake their heads at these madmen. The only thoughts that these two had were fighting someone strong.

Knowing that the conference would not end up well if they continued listening to the rumblings of these two, Professor Henry and the school’s vice-headmaster continued discussing the plans with the rest of the experts.

Everything went smoothly until Martial King ‘Lin Huang’ suddenly slammed his palm on the table and said with a booming voice. “This can’t do. Just follow my suggestion and everything will be fine.”

Hearing that, one of the academy’s executives shook his head and said. “I can understand you, Lin Huang. I know that you want to use this opportunity to hone those students from the special training program, but this is not the right time for it.”

Another executive nodded his head and agreed. “That is right, Lin Huang. This is not the right time to involve those children. This plan concerns the future generation, we can’t risk sending them to such a dangerous event.”

“This not only concerns the exploration of the tomb, but it also involves the hidden treat from that primitive civilization,” added another.

They might be unwilling to provoke Ling Huang due to his temper, but they could not back down from this since it concerned the safety of the younger generation.

Lin Huang shook his head and insisted. “You don’t understand. This is a perfect opportunity to let those fledglings fly on their own. This will also open their eyes about the true cruelness of the real world!”

“What’s more, those forces from the other continents will not risk the lives of their young talents. After all, some of the students from the special training programs are also their people. They will not risk getting involved because of it!”

The others knew that Old Man Lin was only being stubborn since his training method fitted the current situation. But they also could not refute his words right away since there was some sense in it.

If the geniuses from the other continents were involved with this, then those sly foxes from those forces would have to think twice if they wanted to foil the plans of the Soaring Continent. This could also act as a ‘leash’ that would restrict those people.

Even the Undefeatable General, Manuel Morales, who was always at odds with Old Man Lin could not discredit those thoughts straightaway. He agreed that this was a good opportunity for those younglings to improve themselves greatly.

The only problem was the consequences if something happened to these young geniuses. After all, this exploration of the tomb would involve a lot of conflicts and competition between everyone who would enter. There was no guarantee that nothing would happen to everyone, especially when some of their enemies could use this chance to plot against them.

Professor Henry and the Vice-Headmaster were feeling the same. They felt quite conflicted about how they were going to deal with the situation.

Another of their concerns was the previous events that happened recently. The Magic Ace Academy had been involved with too many matters these past few weeks, making it hard for them to deal with the aftermaths.

Up until now, the students from the elite clubs had yet to fully recover from the previous incident when they clashed against the forces of the Black Serpent Mafia. They still needed some time to recuperate from their injuries and mental burden.

And even at this moment, the Student Council and the Disciplinary Committee had joined forces with the elite clubs – the Wings of Dawn, the Sleeping Dragons, and Hand of Midas – for another secret mission and had yet to return.

Thinking about this, the academy was currently in the most hectic and busiest time that they could have, so they could not afford to send any elite seniors to oversee the squads that would enter the tomb.

If they sent the students enrolled for the special training program, there would be huge risks along the way.

Unable to decide on what to do, the Vice-Headmaster turned everyone and said. “Let’s set aside this topic for the time being. Let’s wait for the headmaster to come back from the capital and discuss this again.”

He then turned to Old Man Lin and said before the latter could even refute. “Elder Lin, I hope you can understand our predicament. We are currently short on manpower. Given the events that we have gotten involved with, we can’t arrange an elite team to oversee these children during the exploration.”

“The idea is there, but we can’t do anything about it due to the recent events that happened. We can just say that the timing is not right.”

He then paused for a moment to clear his throat before continuing. “How about this? Let’s wait for the members of the Student Council and the rest of the elite squad to return and ask for their opinion.”

“After all, they are our main candidates for the quota that we have. If they agree with your idea, then we can give them the go signal. But if they are too tired from their mission or seriously injured, then we can forget about this and just send the regular groups instead.”

“There is still a week before the government opens the tomb to everyone, so we still have the time,” he said, trying to convince Old Man Lin.

Hearing that, Martial King ‘Lin Huang’ could only click his tongue. He could also understand the predicament of the academy. Even if his idea was good, there was still no guarantee that the young geniuses would be safe if they were not accompanied by great leaders and elite seniors who could protect them when the situation went wrong.

Those experienced seniors were a crucial part of his plan. If there was no one who could fill in the leading role and protect, then he could not convince the others to agree with him.

For now, all he could do was wait for the elite squads to return and hope that they were fine.

For the time being, he could train the young geniuses and temper their bodies and minds to prepare for this operation. He had to thoroughly hone their skills and greatly improve their mindset before sending them for this mission.

Having that thought, Old Man Lin started to formulate a detailed training plan that would target how these fledglings would survive the upcoming mission.

Those poor children would suffer miserably for the next few days without knowing the reason for their suffering.

Yet another torturous experience was waiting for everyone once again.

Seeing that Old Man Lin was lost in his thoughts, the Vice-Headmaster could only shake his head and smile bitterly. He could already read the mind of the old man just by looking at the current expression that the latter had.

He could only feel pity for those children.

After that, he turned to others and dismissed everyone, concluding the conference. They were to wait for further instructions before making their moves.

……