Chapter 119: No Mercy (1)
Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.
At the eve of the new students' arrival, the academy was bustling with activity. Students could be seen rushing all over the place while the instructors were all busy with their respective tasks.
As the Foreign Student Faculty had been opened this year, things were even busier than the former years. But underneath the bustling environment, a storm was brewing.
...
Heart Cultivating Pavilion.
An argument was happening in the massive building.
Wan Tiansheng had just finished speaking when someone objected intensely, "I object! Wan Tiansheng, what are you trying to do?"
An elder angrily rebuked, "Are you betraying humanity?"
"Not only are you opening the Foreign Student Faculty, you're also opening the secret grottos to them? Why don't you take them to the Knowledge Seeking Realm while you're at it?"
Wan Tiansheng replied, "That is not off the table."
"You!" The elder with white hair roared, "You are betraying humanity!"
"I never said that." Wan Tiansheng calmly replied, "LIke I said, by knowing ourselves and our enemies, we will never be defeated. Without offering something solid, the various races will not share anything important with us either. Without paying a sufficient price, how would they be willing to throw in their lot with us?
"You only want to reap rewards instead of paying the price. How will that even work?"
With a calm tone, Wan Tiansheng said, "Just by making some secret grottos available for them, I'm a traitor? Even if we do end up nurturing a few experts for them, so what?"
"Wan Tiansheng, the plan sounds good in your head," said someone coldly. "But you need to know that we can never trust anyone not of our race. You want to nurture some experts and bring them to positions of power in their respective races before using them to gain more support for humanity. I can only say that you're underestimating how easily people can change their heart."
"At that time, those people will be influential and powerful. Will they still care about the favor they owe us?"
Wan Tiansheng replied, "Even if only one of them remembers the favor, we will be able to gain the support of an entire race. Why not give it a try?"
"Hmph," a different elder snorted. "Why don't you think about it? Every foreign expert you nurture means one less human expert. If one day those experts you nurture end up using their strength to kill our fellow humans, who will take responsibility for that?"
Wan Tiansheng asked in astonishment, "Do you think those foreigners can't nurture their own experts without us? And are you saying that we can nurture any human into an expert just by throwing resources at them?"
"That is a flawed argument!"
"Wan Tiansheng, what are you harboring in that treacherous heart of yours?"
"..."
The elders shouted at Wan Tiansheng one after another.
Finally, Wan Tiansheng sighed and said, "Everyone, calm down. Don't start shouting before I can even finish my words. What's the point of calling me a traitor and all sorts of names before hearing me out?"
He shook his head and continued, "I'll put it this way. By paying a certain level of price, we will receive something in return. On the Allheaven Battlefield, these races would be able to provide us with information. Additionally, we can also gain control over some sects in the Myriad Race Cult. That would be much better than trying to infiltrate them with our spies.
"We need to be willing to pay if we really want to get something good. This is the first year. If the first batch of foreign students can receive proper support and some experts emerge among them, the other minor races will start joining as well.
"They will come to see that by following the human race, they can live a good life. This will only benefit all of us.
"But if they see that we can't even give the first batch any benefits. I'll be frank. The various races are looking at us. The minor races are still hesitating. Will they still be willing to join us?"
Wan Tiansheng shook his head, "They won't. They would have to risk the ire of the strong races to join us without any benefits. Who would be willing to do so?
.
"The minor races will continue hesitating. During moments of crisis, they might even turn on us. But this is a risk that we can erase by paying only a low price."
An elder said, "Even so, you can't be unfair to our own students! Those resources did not appear out of thin air. Since you're willing to provide them to the foreign students, you should go further and provide them to our own students as well. Make more secret grottos available to our own students!"
Wan Tiansheng nonchalantly said, "Sure. Why not? But each activation of a secret grotto requires a lot of resources. The foreign students will be paying for the activation themselves. If you are willing to pay, I will have no problem with it."
"Deal!"
The elders hurriedly agreed. They had long wanted to activate more high-level secret grottos. They were finally able to make Wan Tiansheng agree to it.
In the crowd, there was a middle-aged woman who had been staying silent. Suddenly, she lazily said, "High-level secret grottos? Our faction will need 10 of the slots. Also, we won't be paying anything."
The elder furiously bellowed, "Wu Yuehua, what is the meaning of this?"
The woman lazily said, "What else can I mean? Am I not clear enough? You'll pay and my people will enter. It's that simple. Are you deaf? Can't you understand me?"
The elder had a gloomy expression as he said, "If you pay as well, we'll allow your people to enter."
The woman shrugged, "I don't have any money, resources, or merit points. I'm broke. You can ask this Wan guy if you don't believe me."
"Then forget about it."
The elder refused. She wanted to send her people in without paying? Dream on.
Wu Yuehua nonchalantly said, "Sure, we won't go. But those secret grottos do not belong to you. Those were inheritances left behind by generation after generation of cultural researchers. Some were left by my teacher. Some were left by my martial uncle. Some were left by my martial ancestor. Some were left by the fifth and fourth principals...
"If my people can't enter, nobody can enter. Whoever dares to enter without my people...hehe, I'll blow the grottos apart."
She glanced at Wan Tiansheng who was enjoying the show and sneered, "You guys are rich and powerful. We have nothing. Since we have nothing to lose, what are we afraid of? Over the years, you guys have been suppressing our factions. And now you want me to work with you? Dream on!
"Do you think nobody can do anything to you guys?" Wu Yuehua slammed her palm into the table and said, "I hereby declare that if my people can't enter, nobody can enter! Foreign races? Factions? Future of the academy? I could care less about all that!
"Don't push me. If you anger me, I'll make sure none of us can get anything! I already have a plan in mind! The character, pill and talisman masters can all leave the academy. Great Zhou and Great Ming have been giving us attractive offers to jump ship!
"Since you guys insist on suppressing us, we will simply leave. Wan Tiansheng, Zhou Mingren, since both of you enjoy working together so much, the two of you can stay together.
"We retreated once 50 years ago. But if you want to do the same again...do you really think I'm a fool like Liu Wenyan who would willingly concede for the sake of righteousness and the future of the academy?
"I'm warning you. If you dare to throw us aside, neither of us will get anything! I will gather the other factions in Great Xia and jump ship to Great Ming. We will start our own faculty there. Let's see who will be the one laughing at the end!
"Let's go!"
She then left. At the same time, about five elders from the group of over thirty stood up and left as well.
Before leaving, one of them said, "It's not right to push it too far. Hong Tan isn't even back yet. Don't be too indecisive and try to please only the stronger side. Do you think nobody knows what you're thinking? Sure, doing that, you are able to keep the academy stable. But that's not the case for us. If you can't guarantee fairness, then you won't get our help with your grand ambitions."
"Bastard!" shouted the elder who had argued with Wu Yuehua before. "Where are your manners?"
"Hehe..." Outside, Wu Yuehua's sneer rang out. "Zhou Mingren, don't throw the weight of your age around. If it wasn't for the fact that those idiots had willingly left 50 years ago, would there be a spot for you here? What are you thinking? Do you want to eliminate all of us and have your faction dominate the academy?
"Keep running your mouth and I'll personally take this Heart Cultivating Pavilion apart today. Before the day ends, we'll all jump ship to a different prefecture. Let's see how long you can stay cocky after that."
"..."
Zhou Mingren had an ugly expression, but he did shut his mouth. Footsteps could be heard walking away from the room.
By the time Wu Yuehua's group left, the elder furiously said, "Principal, this is all because of your indulgence!"
Wan Tiansheng innocently said, "Old Zhou, how is that related to me? I can't afford to offend any of you. What can I do if the two of you can't get along well?"
Wan Tiansheng sighed, "Like I said, we can't push them too hard. But you guys insisted...If we're opening the secret grottos, we need to give them some slots. Otherwise, things will be hard for me.
"If they really leave, the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy will instantly be weakened by 30 percent. And when the prefect leaves seclusion, I'm afraid I'll be in trouble. You guys won't get off scot free either."
The elder coldly said, "That Wu Yuehua is being unreasonable! I said that they can pay for their part and we can all enter together. Did I stop them? They were the ones insisting on eating for free! Should we be indulging them?"
The elder was unreconciled. "Did we not earn our resources through hard work?"
Wan Tiansheng coughed and helplessly said, "It's very hard for me to remark on that. Back then, many geniuses of their faction were expelled. Some of them are still alive today. They have no income and can hardly stay afloat. Wu Yuehua and the others have been helping these people out..."
"That's their choice!"
Wan Tiansheng interrupted the outburst, "True, but we did deprive them of all their resources back then. Many of them were laced with debt. Wu Yuehua had spent between fifty to sixty thousand merit points for Liu Wenyan alone. She had also been helping the others with their debt. All in all, she had paid over a hundred thousand merit points for those people.
"Old Zhou, if we really go too far, both of us will suffer as well. Just let it go."
The elder gloomily said, "It's not like we were the ones who had forced them to take all those debts. Also, they had taken a lot of important items with them when leaving the academy. Wan Tiansheng, tell me. Did we force them to do that? If they hadn't taken those things with them, would they be laced with so much debt?
"Have we tried snatching those things back all these years? Their strength has been stagnant. So many of them were stuck at the Mental Tempering Stage. Some chose to take those items to the grave instead of returning them to the academy before dying. Is that right?"
The elder was furious. "Who's the more selfish one here? Just because Wu Yuehua had spent all her wealth paying their debt, she's demanding to take our resources for free? If she dares to leave, let her leave. Do you think I don't dare to leave as well? Great Ming, Great Zhou, and Great Shang have been waiting for us to jump ship!"
Wan Tiansheng sighed, "You're right. Both of you have your own troubles. But over these years, you guys still have some income. The academy, the Knowledge Seeking Realm, and the prefectural government have been allocating a lot of funds to your faction. It's different for them. It won't do for me to be too impartial as a principal.
"How about this, Old Zhou? We'll let Wu Yuehua get what she wants this time. If there is a next time, we'll kick them out."
Old Zhou hesitated for a while before leaving with a cold snort. Many elders left with him. Only about a dozen elders were left.