“Hard to say. Anyway, they’re more important than me. I’m just a weak Ten-Thousand-Stone; people probably can’t even be bothered to look at me, let alone kill me.”

Chief made a joke, but it was true. The Ten-Thousand-Stone realm wasn’t exactly weak, but on the Battlefield of the Myriad Heavens, it didn’t play a major role.

Killing an old Ten-Thousand-Stone in the rear might cost several lives; the people from the Myriad Races Cult really wouldn’t do such a losing deal.

As the two chatted, Chief’s ears twitched slightly, and he soon smiled, “Ethan Sutton is here. This kid is more promising than his father!”

“Don’t belittle Logan Sutton. Isn’t it just because he refused your offer to become the head of the security office at the academy? Do you really have to hold a grudge over that?”

Ian Harris also smiled, looking up and saying, “That guy Logan Sutton still has his passion. I saw it years ago. He wasn’t willing to just retire like that. He’d been planning to join the Dragon Martial Guard, and only gave up when it really became hopeless.”

Old Chief snorted dismissively and said, “He obviously couldn’t get in. If he’d reached the ninth level of Thousand-Juny before thirty, maybe there’d be a chance. But at his age, he can only hope for the ninth level of Ten-Thousand-Stone.”

“That’s still better than you. If he survives the Battlefield of the Myriad Heavens and comes back in a couple of years, he’ll probably be at the Ten-Thousand-Stone realm.”

Ian Harris said, then smiled again, “Ethan Sutton isn’t bad either. Once he goes to the Great Xia Civilization Academy, even if he’s not a genius, he’ll still be a pillar in the fight against the Myriad Races in the future. That father and son are both better than us…”

Old Chief nodded slightly, then sighed, “If I hadn’t injured my foundation on the Battlefield of the Myriad Heavens back then, I wouldn’t have had to retire and become this lousy Chief. There’s really nothing interesting about it.”

“Just coming back alive is already good. Among the soldiers on the Battlefield of the Myriad Heavens, not many have uninjured foundations. In that place, if you don’t force a breakthrough to at least the seventh level of Thousand-Juny in time, you’re just cannon fodder.”

Ian Harris also sighed. Most soldiers on the Battlefield of the Myriad Heavens would probably never hope to reach the Soaring realm in their lives. There was nothing to be done about it.

That hellish place was full of brutal fighting. If you didn’t break through quickly, new recruits would die within days. Who could afford to care about anything else?

The War Academy took away all the talented seedlings; the rest of the ordinary people could only struggle to survive.

As they spoke, Ethan Sutton entered.

Ian Harris smiled. He was quite satisfied with this student—hardworking, patient. Even if he wasn’t a top genius, the human race needed not just geniuses, but also solid, step-by-step talents like this.

Chapter 9: The Methods of the Civilization Academy

“Teacher, Chief.”

Entering the teaching office and seeing both Ian Harris and Chief there, Ethan Sutton quickly greeted them.

“Ethan Sutton, you’re here.”

Ian Harris smiled, much more warmly than he had toward Chief earlier, and said with a beaming face, “Your father has gone to the Battlefield of the Myriad Heavens. Is there anything inconvenient in your life recently?”

“No, everything’s fine.”

Ethan Sutton thanked him, then quickly asked with some concern, “Teacher, I heard that people from the Myriad Races Cult might be coming to Nanyuan lately…”

“No worries!”

Ian Harris didn’t care, smiling faintly, “They might not even come. And even if they do, so what? If they dare to come after me, they’d better be ready for heavy casualties. Trading a bunch of lives for this old man’s life—who’s to say who wins or loses?”

Ian Harris stood up, looked out the window, and smiled, “In times of great events, one must remain calm and not let the heart be disturbed! Ethan Sutton, what I appreciate most about you these years is your ability to stay calm and composed in the face of trouble. That’s the foundation that makes you stronger than others.”

“Don’t let some minor troubles disturb your mind.”

After a few words, Ian Harris looked at Chief and said, “You can go out first. I have something to say to Ethan Sutton.”

Chief smiled and, this time, didn’t insist. He quickly left the office.

……

Once Chief left, Ian Harris’s smile faded.

He gestured for Ethan Sutton to sit down. Ethan Sutton was a bit puzzled but didn’t ask, and sat across from Ian Harris.

“Ethan Sutton, I heard you applied for the War Academy?”

“Yes.”

“You want to go to the War Academy, is that right?”

Ethan Sutton was slightly taken aback and explained, “No, it’s just to have another option…”

“Don’t lie to me. I’m not that stupid. It’s because your father went to the Battlefield of the Myriad Heavens, so you want to go too, right?”

Ethan Sutton fell silent.

Ian Harris smiled faintly, “Foolish! Even if you go to the War Academy and train until you’re strong enough to protect your father, how long would that take?”

“……”

Ethan Sutton was silent. He had thought about this question, but didn’t want to dwell on it. Besides, now that he had a book in his head, who knew what would happen.

“Do you know who the top powerhouses of the human race are?”

“The Great Xia King, the Great Zhou King, the Great Ming King…”

Ian Harris nodded slightly, then said, “Then do you know which powerhouses have emerged since the Anping Calendar?”

Before Ethan Sutton could answer, Ian Harris smiled, “The most famous, the best known, are probably the governors of each prefecture and the commanders of the major war legions.”

“Do you know that thirty percent of these people come from the Civilization Academy!”

Ethan Sutton was stunned. Thirty percent from the Civilization Academy?

Wasn’t the Civilization Academy supposed to train…

As if knowing what he was thinking, Ian Harris chuckled, “You think people from the Civilization Academy are all like teachers—just knowing a few Myriad Races languages, weak in combat, and easily toppled by the wind?”

“Wrong!”