Chapter 304: The Leader in Wuji Mountain Area
In the following days, Jarvan has been taking Garen to visit Zaun. He already has many ideas in his mind, and he will return to Demacia to practice his ideals once the war in Ionia is over.
Sona, Lux, Sylas, and many other Demacians in the Ionian expeditionary force had similar thoughts at this time.
And on the Ionian battlefield they were about to rush to...
The story of Ionia begins in Wuji Village nearly two months ago.
At that time, only half a month had passed since Riven led tens of thousands of refugees to escape from Yipu River Port.
However, the relocation and resettlement of tens of thousands of refugees has never been as simple as a sentence.
Accommodation guarantee, living guarantee, public security and stability maintenance, health and epidemic prevention, enemy monitoring and early warning, comprehensive management, coordination of relations between refugees and local residents...
All these tasks added together constitute a comprehensive test of grassroots administrative capabilities.
In today's Runeterra, it can be said that apart from the Zaun Windrunners Association, there is no other administrative system that can perfectly undertake such a task.
Although Riven is the "President of the Ionian Leaders Chapter", her chapter is not only self-created, but also a makeshift team that was only set up for a month without any support from key cadres.
It is really difficult to let such a newborn baby take civil service exam questions.
Fortunately, Riven had been a legion commander in Noxus, and had hundreds of extraordinary warriors under her command all year round, so she had some management experience.
The leader's faith test can quickly help her select comrades with outstanding faith from among the refugees to enrich the grassroots cadre team that is in urgent need of manpower.
These grassroots cadres promoted on the front line may not necessarily have the ability or experience, but they at least have faith and motivation. They can faithfully implement the organization's orders without compromise and play an active leading role in front of the mobilized people.
Anyway…
Disaster is both a test and a training.
After half a month of tireless efforts, Riven, the nominal president of the Ionia branch, actually brought out a team of leaders with certain working capabilities and a certain scale.
But Riven didn't have time to be happy.
The heavy workload over the past half month has overwhelmed her, and the issue of refugee resettlement has not yet been completely resolved.
She is currently busy building a base in the Wuji Mountain area:
"He is in charge of mountains and streams, and is located in a spiritual place. If he does good, he will be blessed, and if he does evil, he will be calamity. No blessing will be answered, and if there is a feeling, it will be understood."
"The mountain god has shown mercy and grace. He has granted me a house to protect the people. The people will never forget the kindness they have received..."
Riven changed into an Ionian short brown outfit, and together with several hundred Ionian refugees, they knelt on the ground with a pious look, praying devoutly to the trees all over the mountains and fields.
A young Wuji swordsman in a flowing robe flew up into the air on his sword, then sat cross-legged in the air, his eyes closed in meditation, chanting spells non-stop...
Yes……
They are not engaging in any superstitious activities.
They are building a base.
But it's different from other places.
In other places, leaders and the masses unite to fight against heaven and earth.
In the Wuji Mountains, or in most mountainous areas of Ionia, construction... mainly depends on prayer and chanting.
"Okay, President Orianna."
"The 'spirits' in the mountains have agreed to provide more tree houses for everyone."
Everyone prayed to the spirit of nature for a long time before the young Wuji swordsman stopped chanting and meditating, and turned to look at Riven.
At the same time, the seemingly ordinary forest suddenly "came alive" in a burst of ethereal light.
The towering trees grew rapidly as if they had hit a golden bud. Their trunks continued to expand and deform in the magic tides that filled the air, and eventually they spontaneously grew into the shape of small wooden houses.
The trees are still alive, but they have been transformed into houses for humans to live in.
"This is really... magical." Riven murmured.
Although she had seen this scene many times in the past half month, such a fantastic sight always made her marvel.
And of course, gratitude.
Before coming to the Wuji Mountains, because she knew the reasons for the plight of the Ionian untouchables, the nature spirit of Ionia had unconsciously turned into an image of an evil god who eats people without leaving any bones in Riven's mind.
But after in-depth contact, I realized that to humans, the spirits of nature are actually kind and benevolent in most cases.
After Riven fled into the mountains with tens of thousands of refugees, she did not encounter hostility or rejection from the spirits of nature.
Instead, the spirits of nature generously provided resources to support these poor Ionians who had lost their loved ones and homes.
"With these tree houses gifted to us by the mountain spirits, everyone can finally have a place to live in the mountains."
"Yi..." Riven bowed slightly to Dashan with great gratitude, then turned to look at the young Wuji swordsman beside her.
Yes, his name is Yi, Yi as in Master Yi.
However, he is not yet "Master Yi" now.
Although he is indeed the [Wuji Sword Saint Yi], and is also a "young master" who has already made his mark among the new generation of Wuji Sword Sect, the young master is still a young man after all.
Yi is still a young man under 20 years old.
He did not yet have the indifferent character that he would become as Master Wuji in the future. He was still an impetuous and passionate young man who instinctively longed for excellence.
While the elders of Wuji Sword Sect were all stubbornly adhering to the escapist creed of "swordsmanship should not be seen in the corrupt world" and were unwilling to leave the mountain even when they died...Yi, however, had refused to listen to his teachers' teachings since he was a child, and he had been longing to leave the mountain and travel around with his sword day and night.
Especially after Noxus invaded Ionia.
After hearing about the atrocities committed by the Noxians in Ionia from the outsiders who came to visit the Wuji Sword Sect, Yi's youthful blood boiled even more.
Every day he thought about going down the mountain to slay demons and protect the country and the people.
Many of Yi's young fellow students thought the same way .
Their swords were thirsty for the blood of the Noxian invaders.
However, the Wuji Sword School's "swordsmanship cannot stand the corrupt world, let alone be stained with dirty blood", so naturally, the teachers would never allow these young people who have not yet mastered the swordsmanship to go down the mountain and get involved in worldly affairs outside the mountain.
Therefore, Yi and his fellow senior brothers and sisters, as well as junior brothers and sisters, had to stay in the mountains patiently and continue their isolated "cultivating immortals" life.
But no one expected...
They did not leave the mountain, but the world outside the mountain took the initiative to break into the mountain.
Those guys who called themselves leaders took tens of thousands of refugees and flew into the Wuji Mountains and to their hometown on the wind.
Although the Wuji masters are closed, they are not xenophobic. They have a kind of compassion and kindness towards the weak.
Anyway…
Now that they are here, Master Wuji can’t possibly drive these poor refugees out of the mountains.
So Riven and Fia took the refugees to settle down in the mountains, allowing Yi and his fellow disciples to truly see the outside world for the first time.
After hearing that this team calling itself the Leaders was actually a righteous army that fought against the Noxian invaders and saved thousands of innocent war refugees...
Yi and his young fellow students immediately forgot their master's teachings and spontaneously joined Riven's team.
Riven and the tens of thousands of refugees were able to gain a foothold in the mountains within just half a month, thanks to the help of these young Wuji swordsmen who had great influence in the local area.
"Yi, please use your witchcraft again to say thank you to them for me."
Riven's tone was full of gratitude, both for the spirit of nature and for Yi.
As an outsider, she had no idea how to communicate with the mountain spirits.
It was Yi and the Wuji Swordsmen who played the role of wizards and shamans, and sought help from the spirits of nature for the refugees.
Yes……
It was only after Riven arrived that she realized that the legendary Wuji Dao was not simply a sword technique, but a secret sword technique that communicated with the spiritual realm and drew strength from the spiritual realm.
To put it simply, these Wuji swordsmen play magic.
They are not AD fighters like Riven at all, but AP fighters.
He is also an AP warrior who specializes in soul meditation and is good at communicating in the spiritual realm.
So in addition to killing people, they can also play the role of shamans, priests, etc.
"There's no need to say thank you." I only heard the Wuji Priest Yi tell Riven: "The spirit of nature can listen to your pain and helplessness, so it generously grants you a place to stay."
"But, President Orianna..."
After spending half a month together day and night, Yi and Riven have become quite familiar with each other.
So he thought for a moment and then said bluntly: "The spirits of nature are willing to provide for humans, but there must be a limit to what humans can ask of the spirits of nature."
"I have heard many discordant voices while meditating this time..."
"Your arrival has actually caused damage to this natural area."
If tens of thousands of people rush into the mountains at once, you can imagine how much damage it would cause to the natural environment.
In just half a month, the stream outside Wuji Village was stained with the refugees' sewage and became foul-smelling. The beautiful Wuji Peak was immediately turned into an open-air toilet for livestock.
Many forests have been transformed into living tree houses for humans to live in. But even so, there are still large tracts of forests that have been cut down to exterminate their descendants because humans need a lot of fuel to boil water and cook.
The birds and beasts within a radius of dozens of miles were frightened by these tens of thousands of terrifying upright apes and fled in all directions, making it so that in the mountains that were once as lively as a zoo, there was no even a wild rabbit to be seen.
Even worse...
"Everyone is still eating the military rations you looted from Yipuhe Port. However, no matter how much military rations there are, they are only enough to feed these tens of thousands of mouths for two months. When everyone has finished eating these, what will they eat next?"
"There are rugged and steep mountains everywhere here, and the spirits of nature simply can't give you any extra land."
"And even if you do have land, you probably won't have enough time to cultivate and harvest it."
“……” Riven was speechless.
"President Orianna," Yi told her solemnly, "Staying in the mountains is a dead end."
"We have to find a way out of here."
