"Aside from the Dragon Emperor, Flame Emperor, Ice Emperor, Nathaniel Gray, and Li Chuan whom we all know, there are the First Sequences we haven't heard of yet. Wonder how terrifyingly strong they are."
Unsurprisingly, the subsequent parts of the video successively revealed the names of Nathaniel Gray, Li Chuan, Chu Han, Ethan Yates, Charles Longfellow, and William Mecham.
Among them, Nathaniel Gray, Li Chuan, Chu Han, and Ethan Yates were already well known to the public. William Mecham was someone they had heard of but never actually seen, while as for Charles Longfellow, nobody had even known what his ability was until now.
Now, they knew.
[Longevity]—the power to strip life force from other living beings and bestow it upon others.
What an incredible ability!
This meant that as long as Charles Longfellow was willing, he could grant anyone longevity!
However, this was not without cost.
Granting ordinary humans longevity was effortless, with no requirement regarding the target's strength—the life force of flowers, grass, or trees was sufficient. But granting longevity to powerful Awakened was not nearly as simple.
That required stripping the life force of mutated beasts, or even mutated beasts of equivalent power.
While ordinary life force wasn't entirely useless, the conversion efficiency was far too low to be practical.
In the past, Charles Longfellow's existence would have driven countless people mad. But in this era, everyone had the opportunity to cultivate. Once one stepped through the doors of cultivation, their lifespan naturally extended.
Consequently, there weren't too many people feeling desperate.
Many also realized that no matter how potent Charles Longfellow's ability was, it had little to do with them—he wouldn't grant someone extra lifespan without good reason.
Once the description of Charles Longfellow concluded, what followed were the First Sequences secretly groomed and nurtured by the state, unknown even to the likes of Qin Tian and Firewing.
"Longhu Mountain · Xuanzhen: Head disciple of Longhu Mountain, foremost prodigy of the Daoist realm..."
"Wudang Mountain · Zhang Daolong: Head disciple of Wudang Mountain, first beneath Xuanzhen..."
"Confucian Sect · Kong Xin: Descendant of the Saint, master of Noble Righteousness Qi, warm and refined as jade..."
"Shaolin · Martial Monk: Manifested a Buddha phenomenon on the day of awakening, suspected reincarnation of a Buddha, foremost prodigy of the Buddhist realm..."
"..."
These were the prodigies of the Daoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and Legalist traditions. Although the disclosed profiles weren't overly detailed, when paired with their sects and their status as head disciples, one couldn't help but assume their strength was formidable.
Especially Xuanzhen and the Martial Monk.
The foremost prodigy of the Daoist realm and the foremost prodigy of the Buddhist realm.
Huaxia possessed no small number of Daoist and Buddhist sects, yet they were publicly recognized as number one. Even setting aside how they were ranked, in terms of their comprehension of Daoism and Buddhism alone, their cultivation speed far outpaced others.
Their strength naturally couldn't be low.
"I can understand the others, but Kong Xin? Confucianism? Descendant of the Saint?"
"To be honest, aside from a few ancient sages, I'm really not a fan of the Confucian school. I won't say it's all disgust, but there's definitely not much goodwill either."
"We don't need goodwill right now anyway. In this era, benevolence and righteousness can't help us survive. Unless you preach benevolence to mutated beasts—though you'll most likely just end up in their bellies."
"Unless you've got the towering, muscular build that Confucius supposedly had when traveling across the land? funny.jpg"
"Hahahahaha."
The internet didn't have much contention regarding the others. As for Confucianism, the widespread knowledge of history had exposed many of its historical flaws to the public, fostering considerable distaste toward it.
In particular, certain historical actions taken by the 'Descendants of the Saint' had left many dissatisfied, making it difficult to harbor goodwill toward Confucianism as an institution.
Although strictly speaking anyone who had read books could be counted as a Confucian scholar, nobody went around labeling themselves as such.
However, owing to the era and the widespread practice of cultivation, the overall atmosphere on the net remained quite harmonious. People merely expressed their thoughts without resorting to insults.
At the very least, toward true sages like Confucius, the vast majority still held genuine respect.
The video continued. Following the disciples nurtured by various sects came the First Sequences secretly cultivated by the state, and their information left countless viewers utterly stunned.
"Lin Kai: Chosen of the Black Rhino Armor. Esper ability: Water Qilin. Once eradicated a First Sequence mutated beast along with its entire pack single-handedly without even summoning his armor..."
"Kun Hu: Chosen of the Earth Tiger Armor. Esper ability: Earth Berserk Bear. Has fought Lin Kai multiple times, winning more than losing..."
"Xue Wu: Possessor of the Logia Freeze-Freeze Fruit. Esper ability: Ice Elemental Summoning. Has battled Kun Hu and Lin Kai numerous times, displaying comparable strength when unarmored..."
"Shi Luo: Chosen of the Kamen Rider Eternal Memory. Esper ability: Ice Bone. Possesses an immense physical constitution and exceptional immortality..."
"..."
No one even paid attention to those listed afterward; they were already floored by the four First Sequences just introduced.
"Are you kidding me? Summoners for the Black Rhino Armor and Earth Tiger Armor?!"
"Adding the Dragon Emperor and that young boy we already know, aside from the Wind Eagle Armor, the nation has already gathered the chosen for four out of the five armors?!"
"It's only natural that they found them—it's the state, after all! The fact that the Wind Eagle Armor hasn't appeared yet probably means they haven't found a summoner. Does that mean I still have a shot?"
"Bro, I don't really like the Wind Eagle Armor that much though."
"Huh? You're acting like you actually have a choice?"
"Hey hey hey, shouldn't the real standout be that First Sequence named Shi Luo? Chosen of the Kamen Rider Eternal Memory? Kamen Rider Eternal? Brother E?"
"Must be! The Eternal Memory—it's definitely that one! But for someone other than Brother E to gain the recognition of the Eternal Memory, that's just mind-blowing."
"Wasn't that in the show too? It was just that the compatibility was nowhere near as high as Brother E's. Wonder if he's the same after transforming."
"I always thought the Eternal Memory, like Kabuto, wouldn't recognize anyone other than Katsumi Daido and Tendō Sōji. Never expected these two to show up first."
"That's different. The Tendō Sōji in Haicheng relies on his ability to transform himself into an existence identical to Tendō Sōji, thereby gaining Kabuto's acknowledgment. In essence, he's still Tendō Sōji. But Shi Luo's Ice Bone ability has nothing to do with role-playing."
"He earned the Eternal Memory's acknowledgment entirely on his own merit."
"I might've spoken a bit too loudly before. It's not that I don't believe in the Dragon Emperor and the others, but with this lineup, it's really hard to say who will become the leader of the Awakened."
"No matter what, having so many powerhouses around is a fantastic thing for both Huaxia and all of us."
"..."
After seeing one powerful First Sequence after another in the video, everyone's initial certainty regarding the Dragon Emperor, Ice Emperor, and Flame Emperor gradually wavered.
It wasn't that their convictions were weak; the issue was that every single person shown in the video looked terrifyingly strong.
Whether it was the prodigies trained by the sects, the summoners of the Black Rhino and Earth Tiger Armors, or the chosen of the Eternal Memory.
———
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