Chapter 45: Two Renowned Elders

“I see. So the second group of players was determined according to where they came from?” Ji Ye muttered after exchanging information with Shang Yan and Jiang Wenming. “Wait, that’s not entirely correct. The criteria is not your ‘current location,’ but the city you think you are from.”

Ji Ye knew this because there were people in the group who weren’t in Yang City when they had been summoned, such as the taller old man who had spent decades living in the capital.

“May I know your name, good sir?” Ji Ye asked politely. He wasn’t going to disrespect anyone just because they looked too old.

The first group of players weren’t only “experienced professionals” but were also between 15 and 35 age-wise. They might be good if their jobs highly relied upon their health condition such as athletes.

But for professions that required wisdom and skills gained through enough time, like medicine, engineering and the arts, someone at 35 was still considered young. In Chidragon, a doctor at the age of 35 barely had much clinical experience after earning a doctorate. There couldn’t be young doctors who were also seasoned.

The conditions of those new players had told Ji Ye that “age” was no longer a requirement for the second group. Being the case, he would be expecting to find true experts and artisans in their lines of work.

“Jiao Changsheng, a mechanic who also did some fuel research before.” The taller old man gave Ji Ye a spirited greeting that made him look several years younger. “The city I studied in had loads of factories and institutes that focused on polishing future engineers so… My job is not exactly rare.”

“Wait… You are Professor Jiao Changsheng from Jyoto University!” Ji Ye uttered.

“Ho, you know me, ‘master’?” Jiao Changsheng meant to tell a joke.

“I used to study there. I even listened to your lecture, sir. Too bad you only presented one during my university years.”

Most Jyoto University students might not know this old man because he had already retired a long time before. Although Ji Ye wasn’t going to forget the renowned academician as a Yang citizen. To him, professors and scholars were always more deserving of his respect when compared to entertainers.

There was another important matter, that the old mechanic meant a lot to Twin Dragon Mount, because he could teach all sorts of useful skills to the settlers.

“He’s a Jyoto graduate… No wonder he got picked first,” someone mumbled.

While entrepreneurs and business tycoons in Yang City didn’t care much about young students, they still knew that Jyoto University was one of the top educational institutes in the country. Each year, only a few high-schoolers in Yang City could score high enough to be admitted. This meant Ji Ye was really something.

But compared to Ji Ye, people seemed more surprised to know the old man’s “profession.” Even Xu Xue the Star chose to remain quiet.

During preparation, the new players had tried their best to learn about the basics of the Land of Inheritance. They understood what it meant to have a wise academician on board.

“Jiao Changsheng… It’s really you!” The shorter old man suddenly moved closer and gave the old mechanic an eager look. He was trembling for some reason.

Jiang Changsheng looked that way. “You are…?”

“It’s me, Meng Ren, my friend… From the Beihe Electromechanical Plant. Remember? We roasted potatoes over a fire. And we had an old mutt…” The shorter man looked so excited that he held Jiao Changsheng’s hands in his own.

“Mi—Mister Meng, brother? Oh dear, you changed so much that I didn’t recognize you at all.”

“Alas… I had a terrible disease. Truth be told, I don’t think I have much left in me. Who’d have thought that I could be granted such a chance? As you can see, my eyes are just as bad as the other parts of my old bones now. That’s why I didn’t see you earlier…”

It seemed this old man named Meng Ren wasn’t shivering out of excitement. He was always like this due to his condition.

“Don’t fret, sir. In the Land of Inheritance, you may find wondrous things with magical effects. I’ll try looking for something you can use in the afternoon. Trust me, you’ll have the spring back in your step in no time.” Ji Ye decided to offer some help, as he surely didn’t want to see this seemingly weak old man suddenly perish.

Theoretically, dying inside the Land of Inheritance didn’t affect a player’s physical condition in reality. But nobody could tell whether susceptible ones could receive too much emotional shock that they would never wake up again.

“Heh heh… I’m Meng Ren, a retired teacher.” Meng Ren left his old partner and introduced himself to the others.

Jiao Changsheng didn’t let him go. “Don’t sell yourself short now, will ya? What were you again? A septilingual ambassador who once represented Yang City to meet with visiting confederation officers! And the founder of our College of Languages! Come on, we are all Yang citizens, let’s be frank with each other, okay?”

“You’re Headmaster Meng??” Ji Ye was surprised yet again because he had actually spent a year in Meng Ren’s college as an exchange student. Too bad he never got to meet with this first headmaster.

Something suddenly crossed his mind.

“A professor from my college, the headmaster of another college I attended before, and someone I recently worked with, Jiang Wenming and Shang Yan…

“Are the new players related to the first group of players one way or another? Is this how they are selected?”