The mayor of the new Martian city zone was declared before the masses. The announcement stirred the entire Federation. Countless media agencies continued to broadcast and report about the news even though the live stream of the trial had been seen by almost everyone. Those who hadn’t tuned in to the live broadcast soon learned about Wang Baole’s name as well!
Wang Baole’s parents hadn’t watched the live stream. As soon as the live stream ended, their voice transmission rings started vibrating fiercely with transmissions.
The City Lord of Phoenix City personally paid them a visit. He had treated them cordially in the past, but his attitude had grown even friendlier now. It hadn’t yet reached the point of being ingratiating, yet when he greeted them and exchanged a few friendly words with his parents, he was obviously more polite and respectful than he had been before.
Indeed… things seemed to have changed. The Wang Baole who had come from this family and had left Phoenix City currently possessed a cultivation that vastly surpassed his own Foundation Establishment realm cultivation. Wang Baole’s Noble class was above his as well. In fact, if he wasn’t the City Lord of Phoenix City, he might not even be worthy of visiting his family.
He knew very clearly the extent of power the New Mars Region’s mayor held. Wang Baole would be the most powerful Primary Rank Four Noble in the entire Federation!
Wang Baole’s parents had first been stunned by the visit. After they realized the reason for the visit, they experienced more worry than happiness. But they knew, from the moment Wang Baole enrolled successfully in the Ethereal Dao College, that he had made his choice and decided his own path.
That was why they buried their worries deep in their hearts so that Wang Baole wouldn’t worry for them. The archeology team that Wang Baole’s father was in had also decided, as Wang Baole rose higher up in rank and status, to appoint his father as the leader of the team.
Under the Phoenix City City Lord’s orders, Wang Baole’s mother was also transferred to a city administration department. She was given a comfy, leisurely job with considerable authority. In addition, she wouldn’t be held accountable if anything went wrong.
As soon as Wang Baole’s parents recovered from their daze and good fortune, they began to discuss privately.
“We can’t let the rascal keep fooling around like that. I’m going to get him to go for matchmaking sessions when he visits the next time!”
“That’s right. Old Huang’s daughter seems not bad. He’s spoken to me about her a few times.”
The two concurred on their plan of action. As for the Ethereal Dao College, as soon as they heard the announcement, loud thunderous cheers spread throughout the college. Wang Baole had become a legend in the Lower Academy Island. He was a role model they idolized and strove to emulate. The teachers of the Lower Academy Island often shared stories about Wang Baole to encourage and inspire the students.
The reactions in the Upper Academy Island weren’t as dramatic, but the cheers were still endless. Everyone had been simmering with resentment over the four Dao Colleges supporting Li Yi instead of Wang Baole.
Be it cultivation, battle capabilities, or achievements, Wang Baole overwhelmingly crushed Li Yi. But the Ethereal Dao College only had one vote. They couldn’t steer all four Dao Colleges from their final decision to support Li Yi.
Regardless… it was almost as if Wang Baole had staged an ambush with just him and his donkey alone, wiping the floor with the other candidates and emerging as the mayor of the New Mars Region. The students of the Ethereal Dao College basked in his glory. The Sect Lord of the Ethereal Dao College too was heartened. Even the Grand Supreme Elder, who stayed out of politics, had smiled faintly.
Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng had sent their congratulatory messages to Wang Baole while they remained at their stations. Zhao Yameng, especially, had told Wang Baole that they could always put their heads together to help him solve any problems he encountered. The trial that had just passed, for example. If Wang Baole had required their help, she and Zhuo Yifan would have tried their best to come up with something.
Wang Baole was moved by what she had said, but he didn’t think too much about it. On his way back to the city, he saw the messages overflowing in his voice transmission ring and started to read and reply to them, one by one. He saw Liu Daobin’s transmission as well.
Liu Daobin had been overcome with excitement at first. Then, he recalled his bets and froze. He did some simple calculations and concluded he did earn some winnings. He still regretted dearly though. If he had placed all his money on Wang Baole instead, he would be so rich now…
Wang Baole continued to receive and reply to his voice transmissions on the journey back to the Martian Colony City. He didn’t know if the Governor had done this intentionally, but he had not been given the privilege to be teleported back with them. He could only take the cruiser.
While he wasn’t afraid to fight for his rights, Wang Baole felt that he wasn’t a mean-spirited person. He had already forgiven the Governor for her “oversight”.
Wang Baole coughed, then got off of the cruiser. When he returned to the academy, he could sense the enthusiasm of his students. He was inwardly pleased. He said a few words of encouragement, and had a brief exchange with Lin Tianhao and his staff, before returning to his residence with his donkey.
Now that the order had been issued, he simply had to wait for the Governor to call for him. He began his preparations for the setting up of the new city zone.
During his trip back earlier, he had received a voice transmission from the Governor herself. She had informed him to quickly hand over the responsibilities he had on hand within the next few days. She had provided him with some recommendations for potential successors to take over his position as dean at the Dao Mountain Mist Academy.
Wang Baole already had someone in mind to take over as the next dean. It was going to be Lin Tianhao.
Lin Tianhao was the most qualified and suitable person for the role. Of course, Wang Baole could choose a junior brother from the Ethereal Dao College to take over his position. This would allow the Ethereal Dao College to expand its political influence on Mars through its control over the Dao Mountain Mist Academy, whose status had been steadily rising in the colony city.
However, to do so would be rather unfair to Lin Tianhao. Wang Baole would also incur the displeasure of people on Mars. He didn’t think further on this matter. He decided that Lin Tianhao would become the next dean.
He was showing his gratitude to Lin Tianhao’s father, who had helped him during the fight for mayorship. At the same time, his final decision was also the natural outcome of Lin Tianhao’s growing support for him and the strengthening relationship between the both of them.
After he had some rest, Wang Baole sought out Lin Tianhao and had a long conversation with him. When Lin Tianhao left, his eyes were shining with excitement. He looked radiant and in high spirits. He was extremely thankful for what Wang Baole had done for him. He sighed happily. His father had been right!
Lin Tianhao had been qualified to compete for mayorship as well. However, Lin You had considered the pros and cons carefully and decided not to let his son participate in the fight. He had told his son that Wang Baole was a man who knew gratitude and would return the favors he owed. If Lin Tianhao stepped out from the fight willingly, and Wang Baole succeeded in becoming the new mayor, the latter would definitely remember how the Lin family had helped him in his quest.
Even though there was a higher chance of Wang Baole failing, but even if he didn’t succeed, he would still remember how the Lin family had helped him…
If Lin Tianhao had joined the fight, things might have turned out fine if he had won. If he had lost, he would have no choice but to transfer out from the Dao Mountain Mist Academy.
Lin You was clearly well versed when it came to assessing the grand scheme of things and picking the best option possible to move forward. After the excited Lin Tianhao left, Wang Baole got down to business immediately. He sat in his office with a stern face and turned on his voice transmission ring. Inside was a highly confidential document that the Governor had sent him!
Only Secondary Rank Three Nobles and above were allowed to view the information in the document. Wang Baole hadn’t been qualified to access it previously. Now that he was the mayor of the new city zone though, his status and office had changed. He had been given special permission to read the document.
The document contained information on the Divine Armament Catacombs and detailed the reason for setting up a new region and building a new city there.
The Divine Armament Catacombs had been discovered by Kong Dao years ago. He had reported his findings to the Martian administration. Prior to his discovery, it would have been difficult even for the Martian array formation to identify anything amiss in the region.
The Federation had placed great importance on Kong Dao’s findings. The Governor herself looked into the matter multiple times. Finally, with the joint support from the many powerful cultivators of the various political forces in the Federation, they carried out a secret exploratory exercise.
Through the exercise, they found out that it extended deep underground. Its depth was immeasurable… it was impossible to determine how deep it went through means of human investigation, mystic techniques, or even technology.
Despite the joint efforts of some of the most powerful cultivators in the Federation, no one had managed to reach the deepest and lowest level of the catacombs. They had fought through countless waves of Beast Tides and had been finally stopped by a wall!
This wall was later called the Divine Armament Wall!
The wall was ice-cold. It was impossible to break through even with their combined forces. The only way to break through the wall was if the Federation President used his Divine Armament. However, they could sense the similarly strong power of a Divine Armament behind the wall. If they forcibly broke through the wall, they would be faced with an inevitable battle between Divine Armaments.
Should such a situation occur, the resultant collateral damage from the fight… would likely cause a dramatic transformation on Mars. The planet might be torn apart. Such a possibility existed.
Those caught in the middle of the fight would suffer grievous injury and even death. The Federation President himself might face a backlash and turn to dust, while the Divine Armament remained unharmed and whole.
This was a price the Federation had been unwilling to pay, and the Martian Colony Governor had found unacceptable. That was why the excavation ceased…