[ The goal of the Heavenly Succession is to select suitable individuals to inherit the positions of Heavenly Emperor and Heavenly Empress.
As such, many different qualities and capabilities will need to be tested thoroughly.
In order of importance–from least to most–contestants will be screened for them. As such, each round will have a chosen 'theme'.
With the introductory period being over, starting from the second round, points will be much harder to earn. Solely by adhering to the themes can contestants get a higher score. ]
[ The second round's theme is: 'Teaching'. ]
[ Rules:
• The second round will last for 500 years.
• Only the top 50% of contestants will qualify for the third round.
• Contestants are no longer allowed to give up on the competition.
• (See More)
• All those guided or taught by a contestant or their Subordinates in any way will be classified as their 'Students'.
• A Student can be associated with more than one contestant at the same time.
• No Student is allowed to become a Subordinate of anybody–else, they will not be considered a Student any longer. Any points gained through teaching them will become null and void.
• No Student is allowed to be controlled by a contestant's or their Subordinates' Talents in any way–else, the same as above will apply.
• The exact points acquired depend on the number of Students taught and on how much they ultimately learned. ]
[ Points and score calculation: (See More) ]
Silently taking it all in, Theodore soon furrowed his brows. Whilst at face value, this sort of competition appeared harmless–and the Named Families had certainly expected to encounter this kind of evaluation–there were many hidden pitfalls.
Most of the rules were the same as before, which was why they didn't even get displayed. Only the new additions and changes from the first round were listed. One particular difference to point out was that the Heavenly Dao clearly differentiated between 'Servants' and 'Subordinates'.
Not all Subordinates were Servants, but all Servants were Subordinates. Basically, many loopholes had been closed for this round, in an effort to protect the Students and prevent the majority of rather predictable ways of cheating.
Students could indeed not become his or any of his people's Subordinates, and neither could they get influenced by Talents like Cheong Suhyeon's Let There Be Faith. However, with this round lasting half a millennium, anybody could conquer a civilization and–over time–raise them into their loyal believers. As long as no Talents were in play, any sort of manipulation or brainwashing was fair game!
'That aside, the competition between individual Heaven's Chosen will also heat up. If someone isn't able to cleanly defeat their peers, then they can simply go after their opponents' Students, forcing them to become their Slaves...'
Of course, this was just one of countless possibilities. It was far too easy to mess up everything that one's competitors had built, if they didn't properly safeguard it. If their Students died, then that wasn't too bad–after all, all that this would result in was to prevent them from getting any further points from them. But once they no longer had their Student status, already gained points would be lost, which was far worse.
'All of that doesn't even take into account the regular slaughter between peers. Those who advanced alone so far will now have to drag along countless 'burdens'. Additionally, too many aren't exactly great educators. For them, it would be smartest to recruit a lot of teachers to be their Subordinates, and have them work on their behalf...'
The most impactful changes of all, however, were the following two: On the one hand, a cut-off point had been implemented, directly eliminating half of all those who would still be standing by the end of this upcoming round. And on the other hand, it was no longer possible for contestants to exit the Heavenly Succession. The grace period was over.
'To be fair, for those from Named Families and many other powerful forces, returning 'home' was never an option to begin with. To quit basically equals execution. Of course, that doesn't apply to every single situation, but to most. And for them, nothing really changed.'
The sole ones truly impacted by this adjustment were those from less prominent backgrounds. Whilst before the second round began, those who weren't confident in their odds could still choose to leave, once they entered it, there was no going back.
His personal experience with them told him that almost all of these people forgot that they could just give up whenever they were faced with fatal danger–they were like deer in the headlights. And when confronted with someone far more powerful than themselves, then they wouldn't even get the opportunity to think–therefore making it impossible for them to exit the stage.
'I also shouldn't ignore the fact that there are many idiots who never took the first round's rules to heart properly to begin with. Either out of arrogant belief in themselves or out of carelessness, they didn't look closely enough, dying miserably as a result. It's just like the overwhelming majority of people back in John's old world. They also never read the 'Terms and Conditions'...'
Shaking his head, he cleared his mind of these distracting thoughts. To him, none of this would make a difference, yet it would surely lead to both a minor exodus of small fry, and a heightening of hostilities during the second round.
'It's good that I've already built up a sizable force to command. With them at my side, not only can my area of influence be expanded a lot, but they can also help me with safeguarding it. In these coming days, I should ask Yeonnie to recruit many educators, teachers and instructors of all walks of life. With a multitude of worlds under my control, that should give me a sizable boost at the start.'
Considering his own situation in detail, he felt quite confident when faced with the second round's challenges. He would definitely not be aiming for the very top, as that sounded like one hell of a pain–and the ability to teach was the least important quality of all according to the Heavenly Dao. His goal was to aim for the upper few percentages and do his best, without fully focusing on becoming the greatest teacher there ever was.
Primarily, he still wanted to reinforce his own prowess and make his own force more powerful. If he raised impressive Students that he would actually like to take with him, then it was still unknown if he could invite them to become his Subordinates after the results of the second round had been announced.
'Also, such outstanding individuals will be extremely rare. I shouldn't bank on necessarily running into more than one or two of them. I should treasure them if I find them, but I shouldn't make it my purpose to 'get' as many of them as possible. That simply wouldn't be an efficient use of my limited time.'
Whilst Theodore was deep in thought, Eleanora was contemplating the newly revealed information as well. The round's theme didn't strike any particular chord with her, yet she didn't think that she would be doing too badly either.
Just like the Winter Saint next to her, she wouldn't be striving for the top spots this time–in fact, the overwhelmingly vast majority of their impressive peers wouldn't do so. Instead, they would all be pursuing their own goals exactly like during the first round, racking up points on the side whenever they got the chance.
'There are a number of Named Families who have a strong connection to learning and education, though. Their heirs should see an enviable increase in strength this time, as the second round is practically their own, personal playground, allowing them to show off.'
Recalling some of the intel that her family had gathered, she shot Theodore an intrigued glance. Judging that they were acquainted enough to chat about this topic, she broke the silence.
"Aren't you 'friends' with an heir of the Lerner Family? I should probably expect to see his name towards the very top of the leaderboards next time, right?"
Narrowing his eyes a little upon being reminded of that fellow, Theodore slowly nodded his head, his gaze both one of amusement, yet also a bit cautious. Choosing his words very carefully, he eventually responded.
"Lucas... yeah, that guy will probably be in the top 1,000 at least. This is his stage–but enough about him. How do you think you'll fare? Are your preparations going well? Can I help in any way?"
Noticing the mostly covert hints he was providing to her via his abrupt change in topic and the general aura that he was giving off, realization glimmered in Eleanora's eyes. With no apparent change in her behaviour, she showed a confident smirk.
"Oh really? That's how you want to probe me? ... you know what? I'll play along. What kind of support can you offer me, Theodore dearest?"
Shrugging helplessly, he shook his head, feeling a little exasperated.
"If you don't let me know what you need, how can I tell you whether or not my supply can meet your demand?"
In such a manner, the two bantered back and forth for a while, until Eleanora felt a particular sensation disappear. She hadn't even noticed it at all previously, but by paying excessively close attention to everything all this while, she at least detected the abnormality the moment that it vanished.
'If it hadn't been for his reminder, then I would have never known. I shan't speak of 'that person' again, or even consciously and strongly think about them. It's better to be safe.'
Giving her partner a grateful look, the two of them stopped their dramatic act from before and instead returned to properly discussing the matters at hand. They of course didn't bring up the nonsensical notions from earlier any longer.
Simultaneously, in a world very far away, Lucas opened his eyes and glanced in a particular direction. Many had invoked his name upon realizing what the imminent future of the Heavenly Succession had in store, but only one of the individuals involved in such a discussion was of note to him, which is why he had taken a closer look.
Retracing the threads of his fate, he had witnessed the parts of Theodore's and Eleanora's discussion about him, as well as small sections before and after. Naturally, he immediately realized what his 'friend' was doing and prematurely ended his spying once he knew that nothing of substance had been talked about.
'Fine, I get it. I'll keep my nose out of your date with little Miss Dragon.'
Showing a slight but amused smile, he rolled his eyes. Contrary to Rheya, who had broken the non-aggression pact, Theodore had done nothing of the sort. Therefore, he would not act unreasonably towards him until a valid reason presented itself. If he hadn't been a bit curious about how he was doing, then he wouldn't have peeped.
'... even that short look was enough to tell me that I couldn't possibly fight him head-on right now. Impressive. And all of that constantly overflowing Energy... I have my suspicions, but if I'm correct, then he's truly a madman!'
Growing a lot more solemn as he thought about that which he had obtained as a by-product–a tiny glimpse of Theodore's current capabilities–the fire of Lucas' ambition turned a few degrees hotter. Filled with the motivation to do as well as possible in the stage that had been prepared for those like him, he resolved himself to give his 'friend' a surprise when the next round's leaderboards were finalized.
'Although Rheya did far better than I could have ever imagined, she wasn't the one who truly stole the spotlight amongst our group. It was you, Theodore, who took the top spot of an entire leaderboard. Just wait, you two–next time, that glory will belong to me!'
Despite hyping himself up like this, he was well aware of the dangers that would go hand in hand with this decision. Still, he was ready to face them–and any other obstacle standing in the way of him becoming the Heavenly Emperor.