Chapter 17.1: What Price are you willing to pay for Power? Part 1
After hearing his head maid’s explanation, Wang Wei smiled and was genuinely very happy for his little brother. Then he asked the maid:
"How did the Elders respond to Li Jun’s news?"
The Head Maid explained excitedly: "The Elders and Great Elders were shocked by Young Master Li’s determination. Furthermore, Great Elder LI Jiang has been very excited and bragging about his son to all the other Elders."
"What about the people who complained about all the resources Li Jun had received?"
"Young Master, all of them are silent now. They all praised the young master for his foresight and hoped that the young master would soon train a powerful general."
The Head Maid secretly looked at Wang Wei and the worship in her eyes increased. As the head maid of Wang Wei, she has basically watched him grow up. She witnessed all the glory that the Young Master had acquired during the past eight years.
She is also one of the few people who knew the Young Master’ status and the contradiction he had with the Elders regarding Young Master Li Jun.
But now, Li Jun has proven to all the people of the sect that he is deserving of the resources he had received and the one he would receive in the future.
Wang Wei easily noticed the change of his head maid through her soul fluctuation and he was secretly happy. As his head maid, she is bound to spend a lot of time with him and ensuring her true loyalty is one of his tasks. If she proved her loyalty, he would not mind training her as one of his future generals.
As for the group of elders who were previously dissatisfied with him, Wang Wei just sneered at them. Wang Wei knew that although the Dao Opening Sect had already decided to train him for the future Heaven Will’s fight, many people were secretly dissatisfied with this decision.
After all, the Dao Opening Sect has four major factions. All of them wished that the chosen person came from their faction.
One of the main reasons that people are dissatisfied with him is due to the fact that he was young and had not achieved any result to prove himself. All he has going for him is the fact that he is currently the most talented person in the sect.
As such, many people believed that as long as they found someone as talented as Wang Wei, then they could fight for the status of Sacred Son.
Wang Wei was aware of the people’s thoughts. In order to ensure his status, Wang Wei revealed his genius early on. He spent most of his time in the library, and every time he became enlightened on one of the scriptures, there would be a vision accompanying him.
Throughout the past five years, there have been so many visions created by Wang Wei that the sect’s disciples are now used to it. Furthermore, these visions further increase Wang Wei’s halo as a genius, thus consolidating his status in the eyes of the elders.
However, things turned around when Wang Wei decided to train Li Jun. Many people who were suppressed by him used this as an excuse to secretly attack him. Fortunately, Li Jun proved his worth during the Pagoda Trial, thus further suppressing these people again.
Wang Wei knew that the actions of these people were just mere temptation to decrease his status in the clan. He also believed that there will be many such temptations in the future.
These people are just waiting to find a talent that can compete with Wang Wei, but he was not afraid. As long as his plan for the next seven years goes smoothly, he will have the capital to fully suppress these people until they are not able to raise their head.
Wang Wei spent half a month to properly rest before heading to the Fifth Trial of the Pagoda.
In this trial, Wang Wei found himself the patriarch of a mortal clan. His clan was lavishly wealthy to the point that the royal family and other aristocratic families were jealous enough to form an alliance and put aside their thousand year feuds. They wanted to destroy Wang Wei’s clan and carved up its wealth.
When Wang Wei heard this news, he was frightened. He tried to use his economic wealth as a way to hire some powerful bodyguards to protect his clan. Unfortunately, the influence of the royal family and other clans was simply overwhelming.
No one was willing to work for the Wang clan and offended the other families. As such, Wang Wei was all alone, waiting for the day of the extermination of his family.
One day while wandering in the family ancestral hall, Wang Wei found a book that was hidden in the altar that was used to worship the family’s ancestors.
Wang Wei suspiciously took the book away and read it secretly in his study. Then, he was shocked and confused.
The book described a way for a person to quickly gain strength through human sacrifices. By drawing a formation, then killing a few people, you can absorb the blood and soul of the sacrificed people to not only step in the path of cultivation, but also quickly increase one’s strength.
Upon seeing this method, Wang Wei hesitated. Under normal circumstances, he would never use such despicable means to acquire strength. But now, his family faced extinction and now he has to reevaluate his societal and moral standard.
Wang Wei spent many days wondering what decision to make. As he spent more time procrastinating, the day of his clan’s demise was soon approaching.
One day while wandering in the clan’s villa, he encountered his mother while she was watering the plant.
In this trial, Wang Wei’s mother was the same as his real life, but his father passed away early due to illness. He was raised alone by his mother.
Wang Wei approached his mother and asked: "Mom, do you need help?"
She responded:"I’m just watering the plants, what help do I need? The more important question is do you need help son? I can see the worry oozing out of your face."
Wang Wei hesitated for a while, then shook his head: "No, I’m fine mom. Just some problem with the family’s business."
Wang Wei’s mother knew that his son was lying. Although she did not participate in the clan’s affair, she was still knowledgeable of the things going around. She also knew that the family was facing a great crisis.
She walked over and gently caressed his son’s head: "Wei’er, you do not need to take the burden of the whole family alone. As long as you are happy, that’s all that matters. And if you have something to do or a major decision to make, just follow your heart."
Hearing what his mother said, Wang Wei’s heart shook and looked at his mother. He saw the wrinkle on her face, the few strings of white hair in her head. He suddenly thought of when he was a child. At that time, his mother was full of youthful vigor and spirit. Although the family was only composed of the two of them, they were happy.
At that time Wang Wei was young and ignorant. He did not know the burden that his mother carried, he did not know all the effort, pain, and suffering she went through to raise him and provide him with a good family and a good growing environment.
Without him knowing it, his mother already grew old. The youthful face was full of wrinkles, the shiny black hair was starting to grey, the eyes that were full of spirit now displayed the vicissitude of life.
As for him? He spends most of his time taking care of the family business and spends less and less time with his mother. However, she did not complain. On the contrary, she silently supported him and motivated him to move forward.
Wang Wei thought of the advice of his mother. "Follow his heart?". If it was up to him, he would not give up his humanity just for the sake of power. But now, he changed his mind.
He would do whatever it takes to ensure the life of his mother--even if he has to spend the rest of eternity in Hell.