Wind Takers—a name that carried progressive meaning and suited Runeterra's fantastical style—was unanimously approved by every member as soon as Li Wei proposed it.
Thus, the organization's official name was set: the Wind Taker Association.
Its full members would be called Wind Takers. Li Wei would serve as president, with Viktor as vice president.
Now they had everything: an ultimate goal, short-term goals, a feasibility analysis, guiding principles, and an organizational structure.
All that remained was to discuss how to carry out the work in practice and begin targeted outreach.
At this point, Li Wei was no longer quite so eloquent.
It was the same old problem: he was all talk. He was good at theory and analysis, but when it came to grassroots practice, he was no better than anyone else.
So Li Wei handed the matter over to the students, letting them think and discuss for themselves and try to come up with a feasible outreach plan.
It did not matter if they could not reach a conclusion.
After all, they would have to get out there and do it eventually.
"You can all think boldly, then verify carefully through practice."
"And don't be afraid of setbacks or trouble. This is everyone's first time putting these ideas into practice. Problems are normal; no problems would be abnormal."
"We Wind Takers aren't afraid of failure. If we fail, we summarize our experience and reflect on our lessons. One day, we will always make progress."
Li Wei encouraged the students like this, quickly sparking broad and earnest discussion among them.
Taking advantage of the lull, he finally had time to speak properly with Janna.
"Janna?"
Li Wei communicated with Janna through his thoughts, his concern unmistakable.
"Why have we grown so much stronger?"
As he spoke, he secretly condensed a tiny tornado in his palm.
When he had first arrived here, producing even such a faint current of air before Viktor and the students had taken every ounce of effort, draining both him and Janna completely.
But now, Li Wei could wield wind elements as easily as an arm, effortlessly manipulating the air and gathering it into a swirling mass—
It was not especially powerful yet, but it was genuine wind magic.
Yes, he had grown stronger.
And much stronger.
"Summoner, that is naturally because we have more believers now," Janna answered.
"I know that." Li Wei understood perfectly.
The Wind Takers now had sixty official members. Excluding Viktor, who had already been there, that meant fifty-nine new believers.
Janna's strength would naturally recover somewhat.
But Li Wei remembered Janna saying that Viktor had been born with exceptionally powerful spiritual energy. The Faith Power he contributed alone exceeded that of more than a hundred ordinary people.
With only fifty-nine additional believers, even if Janna had become stronger in theory, she should not have grown much stronger than before.
Yet at that very moment, Li Wei felt powerful divine energy flooding every part of his body, strengthening his muscles and bones. Even the injuries that had long refused to heal were recovering at a visible pace.
This was far more than simply becoming stronger.
"It feels like we've become more than ten times stronger..."
"Yes," Janna replied. "More than ten times. Far more than that."
"Huh?" Li Wei froze slightly.
More than ten times?
Janna had originally had only one believer, Viktor, and the Faith Power provided by one Viktor exceeded that of a hundred mortals.
Now there were fifty-nine new believers. Theoretically, fifty-nine people were fewer than a hundred, and a hundred people were less than one Viktor.
So how could Janna's added power be far greater than ten Viktors, making her more than ten times stronger?
Fifty-nine people were greater than ten Viktors, which were greater than a thousand people?
It was a baffling inequality.
Then Janna answered, "Because these students aren't ordinary people either."
"Their spiritual energy may be inferior to Viktor's, but it is still far stronger than that of ordinary citizens."
"This..." Janna's words enlightened Li Wei.
Right!
What kind of place was this?
It was Piltover's highest institution of learning, Runeterra's temple of science and technology!
And who were these students?
They were future scientists, the finest talents who had clawed their way out from among countless Zaunites!
In a hellhole like Zaun, they drank polluted water, breathed toxic fumes, and went hungry. They worked themselves to the bone to save tuition money while teaching themselves academic knowledge, then honestly defeated Piltover students in the examinations and earned admission to Piltover University.
Could people capable of that possibly be ordinary?
In a world with supernatural powers, could those who survived such painful trials have weak spiritual energy?
"So the Faith Power provided by these fifty-nine students alone already amounts to that of over a thousand people."
"And..." She paused, clearly troubled by something. "Summoner, after you explained the contents of Janna's Ideology and the meaning of faith in such detail, those believers—including Viktor, who was there from the beginning—"
"Their Faith Power became more... 'pure.'"
"What does that mean?" Li Wei asked, confused.
"It means that even when the same person provides the same amount of Faith Power, the power ultimately bestowed upon us becomes stronger."
"Janna, you mean..."
Li Wei tried to understand Janna as a car and the Faith Power supplied by followers as the fuel that powered it.
"The 'gasoline' they give you is purer, and its energy density is higher?"
"So even though it is still one person's worth of Faith Power, it is stronger than one person's worth used to be."
"You could put it that way." Though she found the analogy strange, Janna agreed. "And it isn't merely higher. It is much higher than that of any believer who has ever believed in me before."
"I have never seen anything like this before."
Even this goddess who had lived for thousands of years seemed deeply confused—
The "quality" of Faith Power could change?
"I understand now." Li Wei realized something. "Because our faith is different from every form of faith that has ever appeared in Runeterra!"
Previously, followers of gods mostly wanted something from them. They thought, May the gods bless me with this or that.
Even when sacrificing themselves for a god, they thought about what they could gain in the Celestial Realm after death, or what they might be reincarnated as in their next life.
But the Wind Takers followed Janna in order to devote themselves and make sacrifices for an ideal. What they thought was, I will fight for our great cause for the rest of my life!
Even if they sacrificed themselves for their faith, they thought only of using their blood to achieve the ideal and their sacrifices to pave the way forward!
"We are willing to give everything for our ideal, including our lives."
"Our faith is different!"
"So we are purer than the followers of any old god. Janna, your power—our power—will become stronger than that of any old god!"
Li Wei's words, along with that unprecedented, powerful "new version" of Faith Power, left even Goddess Janna shaken.
Even at her peak, she had only been a demigod. She could not compare with truly powerful Celestial Titans or cosmic wanderers.
Not to mention the three gods of Freljord, the sea god of Bilgewater, and the "Spirit of Ionia" in Ionia.
Besides gods, powerful demons of every kind also roamed Runeterra.
The Ancient Fear, the Widowmaker, the River King...
Those terrifying demons that fed on negative emotions certainly would not appreciate a faith as radiant as Janna's.
And beyond that, the undead of the underworld and the invaders from the Void still lurked in every corner of Runeterra.
So although Janna acknowledged Li Wei's ideal and had even become a follower of that ideal herself, she had not previously believed that the winds of change could sweep across all of Runeterra.
Even Li Wei himself did not truly believe he could accomplish it within his lifetime.
He only hoped to make a beginning, then leave the rest for later generations to complete.
After all, Runeterra was too vast.
And there were too many powerful people.
If he blew the wind around everywhere, he might get beaten up.
"But things are different now."
Confidence flared within Li Wei, and even Janna could not help feeling invigorated.
"After thousands of years of development, Runeterra's population is far greater than it was at the height of your power."
"And our newborn faith is the strongest and most vibrant faith of all!"
"The winds of change—"
"Will surely sweep across all of Runeterra!"
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