This was indeed something that puzzled many of them, but they did not have the answer, so they looked at headmaster Bai Han hoping he could provide them with the answer.
After a brief pause, Bai Han then explained: "There are many reasons for this. The first being the fact that the Dao Opening Sect's reputation among the cultivators of the world has always been very good. They rarely flaunt their power and prestige as the most powerful sect to the world--unless necessary.
"Well, to be honest, they did not have much opportunity to do so anyway. They only cultivated their ninth Emperor during the Devil Era--which was a time where the entire world was on the brink of being enslaved.
"In the Middle Emperor Era, our Academy's rapid development did not give them the time to show their power and prestige. By this Era, the Dao Opening Sect had not cultivated a Great Emperor for so long that they were more focused on themselves than showing to the world their strength."
The teachers had a pensive look on their faces as they realized that the headmaster was right. As a matter of fact, compared to their Academy, the amount of time that the Dao Opening Sect had shown his might and prestige to the world was quite small.
As such, reputation wise, they were considered way better than the Emperor Enlightening Academy.
"This could not be the only reason, right?" asked one teacher.
"Of course not," replied Bai Han. "The second reason is the fact that many powerful factions considered our Academy a 'new power'. Sone Emperor Lineage like the Dao Opening Sect, the Origin Dao Pill Sect, Origin Rune Palace, etc, were created in the Ancient Emperor Era.
"So, they have survived the Rise of the Demon Clan, the Destruction of Buddhism, the Devil Race Invasion, and the Heaven Devour Emperor Catastrophe. Compared to our Academy who was only present during the last disaster, we are considered less cultured, with less history, and having the least amount of background. So, despite how popular our Academy might be seen in the eyes of many cultivators, when it comes to these ancient sects, they looked down on us very much."
The teachers in the room had an ugly look on their faces after hearing this. Then they started to remember their interactions with these ancient factions, and realized that they always seemed to have some sort of superiority when dealing with the Academy.
Some people never understood the reason or did not even notice it until now, but now they finally understood many things that puzzled them.
Nevertheless, despite the contemplative faces of these teachers, Bai Han did not stop talking.
"The last and main reason for their behavior has to do with the Nine Emperor Curse. Many of these factions believe that they will one day cultivate nine Emperors like the Dao Opening Sect. However, they don't know how to deal with the Curse.
"So, they are using the Dao Opening Sect as a guide or experiment to see how they deal with the situation, then they can imitate their methods."
Bain Han had a sneer in his face when he said these words. In his mind, these factions were delusional if they thought it was so simple to cultivate Nine Great Emperors.
After a long silence in the room, one of the teachers said: "So what do we do now? It is obvious that the reason that all these things are happening is because of Sacred Son Wang Wei's plan. So, do we bow our heads to him and just allow him entry to Dao Tablets Secret Realm?"
Many teachers felt the same way as the one to speak, while others felt that it was shameful for them to bow their heads to a younger generation. However, none of these people spoke out loud. Compared to the well-being and future of the Academy, a little shame is nothing.
"Absolutely not," responded Bai Han.
"Headmaster, this is not the time to let pride get the best of you. It is not shameful to bow our heads for the future of the Academy," said one teacher.
Bai Han looked at the person who spoke these words before replying: "This is not about pride," which was an actual lie.
"Have any of you heard the term [Spirit of the Epoch]?"
All the teachers shook their heads, while a few heard the term but could not pinpoint where.
"After the Qiyuan Emperor created the Origin Path System that we cultivate today, he essentially became the Ancestor of our Cultivating Civilization. And when he spread this method throughout many other World Communities, the vast amount of Qi Luck did not only benefit the Dao Opening Sect, but the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Emperor World as well.
"Unfortunately, even Heavenly Dao cannot escape the shackles of Karma; hence, it owes a great debt to the Qiyuan Emperor. However, how do you pay such a debt to a powerful Eternal Emperor?
"By repaying its descendant or lineage. So, Heavenly Dao granted the Dao Opening Sect something called the 'Spirit of the Epoch'. What this means is that for countless years to come, the sect will be blessed by destiny and will prosper greatly.
"This is the reason that the Dao Opening Sect can cultivate so many powerful Great Emperors and survive through so many calamities after so many Eras. This is also the reason that sects created by the Array Ancestor, Talisman Ancestor, Alchemy Ancestor, and Refiner Ancestor still exist to this day. Although not all of them cultivated many Great Emperors, they still survive through this day.
"Throughout history, there have been many other sects that had cultivated 9 Emperors. The Chaos Ruler Sect from the Ancient Emperor Era, the Amitabha Temple from the Incense Era, and the human traitor, the Jin clan from the Devil Era. But none of these factions survive to this day.
"Whenever a terrible catastrophe occurs in this world, Heavenly Dao will ensure that sects like the Origin Pill Dao Sect survive and be able to rebuild through control of Qi Luck or Destiny.
"However, Heavenly Dao is all about balance, so it will not allow the Dao Opening Sect to dominate the world. So, when my… I mean when our founder Emperor Kong created a new system of inheritance, Heavenly Dao took the opportunity to shift the [Spirit of the Epoch] to our Academy and imposed the Nine Emperor Curse on our competitor.
"This is one of the reasons that our Academy was able to cultivate 6 Great Emperors consecutively in the Middle Emperor Era.
"Normally speaking, this [Spirit of the Epoch] should belong to the Academy until we cultivate our Ninth Emperor and can balance the Dao Opening Sect, but the appearance of Wang Wei ruined everything.
"Not only did he find a way to make the Nine Emperor Curse invalid to him, but his recent attack against our Academy is slowly removing the Spirit from us. So, we have to be even more tough on him."
The teachers were shocked after this revelation; this was the first time that they had heard of such a secret.
However the teacher who previously spoke against Bai Han had a frown on his face, then he asked: "Headmaster, since Heavenly Dao granted us the Spirit of the Epoch, how could someone take it away?"
Bai Han answered calmly: "You do not understand. The Spirit of the Epoch manifests itself in the form of Qi Luck. No matter how dire a situation is, with enough luck, anyone can easily survive. Let me ask all of you: How is Qi Luck generated?
"For Dynasties, as long as the territory is vast and the people are happy and healthy, the dynasty's Qi Luck will be prosperous. As for factions like sects and Academies, Qi Luck is based on how our reputation, prestige, and our contribution to society or civilization in general.
"Now, with all the cultivators and mortals in the world thinking that our Emperor Enlightening Academy is a terrible place full of sins and depravity, do you think we will have any reputation and prestige left? Do you think that the Spirit of the Epoch will be left to us?"
After saying that, Bai Han sighed before saying: "In order to accomplish such a feat, this Sacred Son Wang Wei should have a very deep understanding of Qi Luck and be privy to many secrets of Heaven and Earth. So, how could he know so much?"
Little did he know that when Wang Wei's Qi Luck turned from Black back to Gold, he acquired a very deep understanding of how Qi Luck works between Heaven and Earth.
As for the [Spirit of the Epoch], it was Wu Hong who told him about it. So after asking his father to check the records in the sect, he learned all the information about it.
AT first he just wanted to have his revenge on the Academy for what they did, but once he read about it, he developed a step by step plan to take down--well at the very least, weaken them.