Armipotent

Chapter 1968: Emperor In a Class Interview

Tang Shaoyang’s vision returned once the man, and he was standing in a white hall. Everything was white: the roof, the floor, and the wall. However, he was not the only one in the room; there were a thousand people with him in the same room.

They were all wearing the ancient robes that he only saw on TV once in a while. A third of them were wearing white robes, a third of them were wearing black robes, and the last third were wearing red robes. Their ages also varied, some of them looked extremely old with a hunchback, and some of them looked in their teens.

He was so distracted by the nine hundred and ninety-nine people around him that he only noticed another one standing in front of him, just ten meters away from him. The man wore a white robe and appeared to be in his forties with a thin mustache and a few centimeters long beard.

The man smiled at him, "Welcome to Thousand Halls, Tang Shaoyang."

Tang Shaoyang recognized the gentle voice. This man was the one who spoke to him earlier, Xu Guanyu.

"Where am I?" There was a hint of caution in his voice as he asked.

"Welcome to Thousand Halls," Xu Guanyu repeated.

"How do you know my name?"

"You told your name to our guards."

Tang Shaoyang took a deep breath and calmed down. "So this is the trial to get my class?"

Before Xu Guanyu could answer him, a red-robed old man came down next to Xu Guanyu, "Before we talk about the trial, we should test his affinity. I don’t want someone evil to inherit my technique!" His voice was full of righteousness, "We can’t just let half-breeds like him inherit our technique!"

Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brow because he did not like where this was going. Based on the old man’s words, he could fail the trial without taking the trial. It meant he wasted one hundred million credits for nothing. But he said nothing and let them talk among themselves. He was afraid that if he talked, he would get kicked out of this place.

"I actually don’t care what his race is, Grandmaster Liao. Especially after finding out his name. He is clearly one of us."

When Xu Guanyu brought up the name, Tang Shaoyang realized that they might share the same origin, or maybe these people were his ancestors.

"What do you think, Grandmaster Tang? He might be one of your descendants since you share the same family name?" Grandmaster Xu Guanyu turned around and looked at another red-robed old man who actually floated above everyone else.

Tang Shaoyang only noticed that there were only ten people who floated above everyone else. That might show some of the hierarchy of this place. The ten figures might be the strongest or maybe the oldest.

"What’s your origin, child?" Grandmaster Tang opened his mouth and asked. His voice was flat, toneless.

"Origin? I was born and raised on a world called Earth."

"No, your race. Are you human that slowly turned into this monster because of the System? Or are you a beast that acquires intelligence because of the System?"

"I am a human, and still am. This is just one of my skills," Tang Shaoyang was not lying because his appearance was still like a human.

Grandmaster Tang flicked his finger, and Tang Shaoyang felt something off. It was as if there was something had changed within him, and he realized what was off. Grandmaster Tang turned off his transformation skill, and that was alarming as he immediately jumped backward, only to hit a wall. The room shook, a proof of how strong his movement was.

"Don’t worry, child. Even if you die here, you don’t actually die. What’s here is your consciousness," Grandmaster Tang assured.

"I have learned a lesson not to trust the people I just meet," Tang Shaoyang replied calmly while he was ready to fight anytime.

"Suit yourself," Grandmaster Tang then turned toward the others, "As you can see, he is indeed still human. It is just that he is now a human who could wield the power of a demon, a dragon, and a calamity. He is not a monster, and I don’t mind teaching him my technique. Of course, we still need to confirm his alignment. We don’t want our technique to be used for a mindless slaughter."

Grandmaster Tang then nodded at Grandmaster Xu Guanyu, and the latter nodded, maintaining his gentle smile while looking at the cautious Tang Shaoyang. Meanwhile, Grandmaster Liao clicked his tongue and returned to his position as if nothing had happened.

"You look like someone in a hurry, but procedure is still procedure. The Thousand Vows Pavilion might cease to exist, but we don’t want to be remembered as a demon. The test is simple, you just need to answer me honestly, and don’t bother lying because we can see through your lies easily. It’s just your consciousness here that makes it easy for us to detect lies."

"Why do you want to learn... our class? Right, the System classifies it as a class, right?" Grandmaster Xu seemed to be unsure about it, and it seemed he was not aware of how the System worked, which was weird.

"Yes and no. I am here to get my class, God of Martial, but what I want is actually the techniques."

The reason he chose God of Martial was because this class listed the skills as techniques. That was the reason, and he was telling the truth.

Grandmaster Xu made a surprised expression when he heard the answer, but then he smiled, a genuine smile, "I see. It’s quite flattering that our class has the word God in it."

"Focus up, Xu Guanyu!"

Someone scolded, but Tang Shaoyang could not tell whose voice it belonged to. The voice echoed from all directions.

Grandmaster Xu shrugged and continued with his next question, "I can confirm if you are not lying, Tang Shaoyang. Why do you want the God of Martial class?"

"Because I want to get stronger!?" The question confused him, and it continued.

"Why do you want to get stronger? Will you use our technique to kill people?"

"To protect my family, my empire, and yes, I will use your techniques to kill people, my enemies."

"Who do you consider the enemy?"

The question was simple, but it was actually tricky. The Thousand Vows Pavilion was a strong faction before its fall. There was no way they had never killed people before. The question was the definition of an enemy, specifically what these people he considered enemies deserved to be killed for. If he gave the answer these people did not like or agree with, he might not get into the trial.

"Whoever wishes to harm me, my family, and my empire!"

Grandmaster Xu nodded his head in agreement before proceeding with the next question, "You said what you want is the technique, not the class. Why is that?"

"Because it’s strong. I have a set of techniques, and they are quite strong, and I want to learn more techniques to add an edge to my arsenal."

Grandmaster Xu was surprised when he heard Tang Shaoyang had learned a technique, and so did the other Grandmasters. He could perceive their surprises with his Absolute Sense.

"So you manage to learn a set of techniques without getting a class?"

"Yes."

"Are you part of a sect or a faction?"

"I am The Emperor of the Tang Empire."

"What about a sect? Did you join any sect before founding your nation?"

Tang Shaoyang paused, trying to understand the question. He thought Sect and Faction were the same thing, but it seemed like Grandmaster Xu saw it differently.

"No! I created my own faction and never joined others."

"Then how do you learn this set of techniques if you never joined a sect?"

"It’s a reward from the System."

"May I know the name of your technique?"

"Is it necessary? Is this part of the test?"

"Hmmm..." Grandmaster Xu Guanyu caressed his beard, thinking. The last question was clearly not part of the test for him to think about it before answering, "I think so. As you know, we also have enemies, and if you have learned our enemies’ technique, then we can’t let you learn our technique."

Tang Shaoyang frowned, not liking what he heard. If the Nine Heavenly Gate was their enemies’ technique, he might not be able to get the class. However, he could understand their view on this, and he was thinking about how he could convince them that it should not matter whether he had learned their enemies’ technique or not.

"I have a question before I can answer your question."

"Go ahead."

"What if what I learned is your enemies’ technique? Does that mean I can’t learn the Thousand Vows Pavilion’s technique?"

"If it’s up to me, it doesn’t really matter what you have learned. You can inherit our teaching the same as long as you don’t misuse our technique, but the other Grandmasters might disagree with me. But if you really want to learn ours, you can also discard the technique you have learned, and we can help you with that. Of course, the decision is yours."

"I see..." Tang Shaoyang hesitated to answer, but he told them the technique anyway, "My technique is Nine Heavenly Gates!"