Am I the only one who didn't ascend?

Chapter 553 Good Question

The conference room was already packed with people. The venue, which could accommodate 300 people, was completely occupied - the only empty seat was the one on the left side of the front row, next to Lu Youyou.

When they saw Wang Luo, the people in the venue had different expressions, and the old man in charge of the host had an obvious expression of blame.

"Master Wang, you are late."

As soon as the words fell, the place was filled with noise… He was indeed late, but only by less than half a minute. And from the obvious fatigue on Wang Luo's face, it was not difficult to judge that his recent schedule was very busy, so it was unnecessary to criticize him. What's more, in this fortress today, even the rulers of the five major powers rarely criticized him in person.

But for the old man standing on the podium, the concerns of the other people seemed to be non-existent and should not exist. Being late was a fact, and violating the rules was also a fact. Pointing out the facts was the only thing he had been consistent with in his life of more than a hundred years.

As the head of Taixu Hall in Youcheng Academy, he had never flattered anyone in his life. From the king Lu Youyou to the odd jobber who cleaned up the debris for the academy, he treated them all equally… This way of doing things without any vision or emotional intelligence made him suffer a lot in his life, but his unique academic attainments made him reap the rewards of his hard work and won him the appreciation of Lu Youyou. His position as the head of Taixu Hall was as stable as a rock, and he even presided over many important meetings - such as today.

Wang Luo was not at all angry at the old man's not harsh but conclusive rebuke. Instead, he felt a little bit of a relative, so he nodded, apologized, and sat down calmly. This indifferent attitude naturally caused another round of noise.

For those who are politically nervous, Wang Luo's every word and action is worth pondering, let alone in this meeting... The old man who presided over the meeting dared to rebuke him in person, but Wang Luo not only did not get angry, but did not even refute. Does this mean that this hot celebrity has begun to cool down? Or is the old man who presided over today's meeting more important than expected?
But before everyone could start discussing, the old man on the stage had already raised his brows, held a thunder-patterned gavel and slammed it hard, which immediately caused lightning to shoot out, shocking the scoundrels in the venue.

"Everyone be silent!"

The stern tone was accompanied by an equally stern gaze. Even to a noble leader like the leader of one of the five great powers, the old man did not give in at all. It was not until the leader of Ziwu State, Qingyuan Jun, who had just whispered to the Prime Minister, apologized to him helplessly that the old man on the stage withdrew his gaze and got down to business.

"Let's hurry up and start the meeting. According to the expected process, I will first introduce the topic to everyone. The relevant materials have been distributed to your seats in advance. Please combine my explanation and deeply understand the content of the materials. This matter concerns the Immortal Alliance's strategy for settling the wilderness, so we must be careful."

After saying that, the old man put down the gavel, took out a pair of glasses from the inner pocket of his wide gown and put them on the bridge of his nose. Immediately, two concentration formations were activated, allowing the already elderly man to continue to maintain a high level of concentration.

Then, the old man's voice was clearly heard by everyone.

"Ever since the mountain master Wang Luo went to Xinheng and laid the foundation stone for Dinghuang and erected the Dinghuang barrier, and the Immortal Alliance coalition successfully built the Tongming Immortal Road, it has been an inevitable trend for the Immortal Alliance to recapture Xinheng... On this basis, the Immortal Alliance has carried out various tasks in an orderly manner, and at the same time has had to face many difficulties. Among them, the biggest difficulty comes from ourselves, from the Taixu Illusion."

The old man spoke at a moderate pace, as if he was a prim but gentle man telling a story to a child. However, these few short sentences contained too much dense information, making it difficult to digest and swallow it all, which was very uncomfortable.

Someone in the second row raised his hand: "Sorry, Professor Zhao Yan, please excuse me for interrupting..."

The old man raised his head and looked at the person who raised his hand. He was the Prime Minister from the mountainous country [Pingchuan]. He had been working diligently for decades in this position, and his power and status were often not inferior to that of the country's leader. Now he was also representing Pingchuan to attend the meeting. When he spoke, even the many dignitaries in the first row of the venue turned their heads slightly and listened carefully to his questions.

"Regarding what you just said, that is, the first paragraph of the material, some of the content is unheard of and difficult for me to agree with. Could you please explain it in more detail, for example, is the argument that the so-called recovery of Xinheng is the general trend a bit too arbitrary?"

As soon as these words came out, there was a silent noise in the venue. This Pingchuan Prime Minister has always opposed the Immortal Alliance absorbing Xinheng, and even had many disputes with the rulers of the five countries for this reason... This is not a secret, but no one expected that this person would choose to make trouble at this meeting.

The Prime Minister was obviously well prepared. While he was asking questions, he took out a folder and placed a pile of information on the stage, clearly showing that he was ready to debate in public. At the same time, the heads of several small countries sitting in the back row looked excited and full of expectations.

The Immortal Alliance did not actually achieve complete internal unity on the issue of absorbing Xinheng. Although the five major powers barely reached a consensus, many second- and third-tier small and medium-sized countries among the 100 countries clearly expressed their opposition based on their own positions. Although this opposition could not go against the overall situation, in many detailed areas, small and medium-sized countries could also show a strong sense of presence.

However, just when Prime Minister Pingchuan was eager to try, he heard Professor Zhao Yan on the stage say.

"If you can't even agree on such a basic fact, I'm afraid you are not suitable to participate in today's meeting. In order to avoid wasting everyone's time, please leave for the time being."

After Zhao Yan finished speaking, in front of everyone's stunned gazes, he picked up the gavel and banged it again. Suddenly, lightning flashed everywhere, and in the shining light, Prime Minister Pingchuan, who was in the second row, was expelled from the field.

When the lightning died down, the conference hall was completely silent. Even many dignitaries in the first row were shocked.

Although it was expected that the debate between the Prime Minister Pingchuan would not have any actual results, it was unexpected that the Prime Minister of a great country would be directly expelled by the head of a college! Looking at the several kings of Xiankulin, they seemed to have expected this and were not surprised... People naturally realized that Zhao Yan was clearly killing a chicken to scare the monkey!
With the precedent of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, the meeting order suddenly became solemn and orderly. No one dared to take advantage of the topic anymore, and even some serious questioning opinions were firmly suppressed.

Zhao Yan seemed to be completely unaware of it. He calmly put down the gavel and continued to explain the material.

"The biggest difficulty comes from the Grand Illusionary Realm... As we all know, the core of the Grand Illusionary Realm is the Grand Illusionary Heavenly Venerable and the Great Law. Both the Heavenly Venerable and the Great Law are very rigid and inflexible when it comes to the issue of determining wasteland. Not long ago, the Grand Illusionary Realm was tried and promoted in Xinheng by the Grand Void Division, but it was not successful. The source of the obstacle was traced back to the Heavenly Venerable."

After a pause, Zhao Yan continued, "In short, Tianzun clearly opposes the Immortal Alliance's absorption of Xinheng."

As soon as this was said, there was inevitably another uproar in the venue, because this matter was too incredible. Except for the leaders of the five major powers who had already tacitly agreed not to say a word about it, the rest of the people were all shocked. First of all, in the more than 1,200 years of the New Immortal Calendar, Tianzun had never actively expressed any inclination. Tianzun was heartless, just like a puppet high above, which was common sense in the Immortal Alliance. However, now, common sense was broken.

Tian Zun, actually clearly expressed support or opposition! ? Or, Tian Zun actually knew how to express himself? !

Without waiting for anyone to ask, Zhao Yan continued to explain, "The details of this matter are all recorded in the materials, please read them yourself... and the agenda of today's meeting is how to deal with Tianzun. In other words, how can we convince Taixu Tianzun to change his mind."

In an instant, dozens of people in the venue raised their hands high, eager to ask questions or doubts. But Zhao Yan turned a blind eye and continued without raising his head: "The opposition of the Heavenly Venerable does not mean that things cannot be done. On the contrary, we should correctly understand the opposition of the Heavenly Venerable: When the Xinheng State Master came to the foot of Lingshan alone to ask for help, there was a dispute within the Immortal Alliance, but the final conclusion was that even if it took risks, the Immortal Alliance had to save the 200 million compatriots in Mingzhou. This was a strategic judgment made in accordance with the Great Law. Later, the cornerstone of Dinghuang was successfully laid in Mingzhou, and the Tongming Immortal Road was also completed. These fully demonstrated that the Immortal Alliance's pioneering of the wasteland was correct and in line with the Great Law. Then, as an important part of the Immortal Alliance civilization, the promotion and popularization of Taixu Fantasy in Xinheng is also logical, and the Heavenly Venerable has no reason to oppose it. Therefore, the so-called opposition should be understood as a test designed by the Heavenly Venerable for us. As long as we can pass the test smoothly, the Immortal Alliance will not encounter any obstacles in absorbing Xinheng."

By the time he finished speaking, nearly a hundred people in the meeting had raised their hands to ask questions. Apparently there were so many bizarre elements in this matter that even though people knew they might be expelled from the meeting, they still had to ask questions.

On the other side, Wang Luo sighed softly in his heart.

What a fabricated test from the Heavenly Master... The truth of the matter is: the Heavenly Master has never opposed the promotion of the Great Illusionary Realm in Mingzhou. At least for the 200 million people in Xinheng, the Heavenly Master regards them as his own people and will not reject their surrender.

Tianzun’s bottom line is Jingzhou, not Mingzhou.

The so-called opposition from the Heavenly Lord was purely a false illusion created by Lu Zhiyao in the illusion. Lu Zhiyao took advantage of this illusion and put forward the hypothesis of "the Heavenly Lord's test". After that, as long as the resources of the Immortal Alliance were integrated and the wisdom was gathered, a plan to complete the test would be completed.

Really beautiful design, really wonderful words.

Behind this splendid scene, of course, is the tacit understanding among the five powerful countries… Wang Luo didn’t know how Lu Youyou negotiated with the leaders of the other four countries, but it was obvious that the five countries were now on the same side.

In the increasingly noisy conference hall, only the politicians from the five countries remained silent and did not ask any questions.

Zhao Yan, who had received the endorsement from the five nations, naturally ignored the hundreds of hands raised high in the venue. He just lowered his head, flipping through the paper materials on the podium, and said aloud: "The Heavenly Venerable is heartless and silent. His test is also a difficult problem without a clear title. For this reason, several lords of Xiankulin entrusted me to lead the establishment of a special team to carry out technical breakthroughs. After multiple studies and judgments, a preliminary conclusion has been reached. The relevant content is also recorded in the materials. Please read the materials carefully and put forward relevant opinions and suggestions."

After saying that, Zhao Yan reached out and gently touched the information page on the stage, and immediately everyone's files were turned to the same page.

After that, the arms that were raised high in the meeting began to fall one by one. On the one hand, Zhao Yan obviously did not intend to answer questions at the meeting, and judging from the attitudes of the five major powers, it was obvious that fewer questions would be better. On the other hand, the content of the materials also caught people's attention.

"The test from the Heavenly Venerable can be broken down into five questions: First, how to establish the Way? Second, how to be united? Third, how to multiply? Fourth, how to govern together? Fifth, how to settle the wilderness... Only by answering these five questions from the Heavenly Venerable well can you pass the test successfully. Of course, we have also drafted a preliminary framework for answering the questions, which is now shared as follows..."

Inside the venue, the content of the information page on the stage changed again. The new page clearly recorded the results of Zhao Yan's and a group of industry elites' hard work after working non-stop for several days without sleep.

The five questions from Tianzun seem simple and clear, but it is actually not easy to answer them, because Tianzun cannot understand human language... Even if you prepare a logically complete and flowery response article, it is essentially just playing the lute to a cow.

What Tianzun can understand is not any language, but "objective reality". In simple terms, don't tell him, but show him. Just like when Tianzun opposed the merger of the Immortal Alliance and Xinheng, he did not pass any decree, but directly banned the popularization of illusions at the forefront.

Therefore, if you want to prove that you can pass the test, then you must do the corresponding deeds.

Based on this line of thinking, the Five Questions of the Heavenly Venerable can be broken down into the following five things: establish a new way to unify the left and right sides of the sky; unite the hearts of the people of foreign countries; blend blood with foreign races and reproduce; build a stable ruling structure... and completely eradicate desolation.

After breaking it down in this way, a seemingly abstract and unsolvable problem has a clear solution. And considering the execution ability of the Immortal Alliance, it does not seem difficult to do these five things well.

But soon, someone in the meeting hall raised his hand again. First it was one person, and soon there was a second person, a third person...even among the leaders of the five powerful countries sitting in the first row, there was a bald old man who frowned slightly and raised his hand.

"Excuse me for being blunt, it is indeed not easy to break down the plan to this point, but this is still not a serious answer. What kind of truth should we establish? How far should we unite the people? I know that the people in the special task force have been working hard in recent days, but if the results of their work have only reached this point, then perhaps we should not rush to call a meeting and announce the results."

The old man's words were not harsh, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a heavy pressure suddenly filled the meeting room.

Changshengjun's words contain such weight.

But Zhao Yan seemed to have expected it, and a faint smile appeared on his calm face.

"good question."

(End of this chapter)