Chapter 332: Rules Are Good To Have (1)
In the ring.
Su Yu had been shouting the word "concede" so many times that he was starting to feel numb. There were so many challengers. How sad. Wouldn't it be nice if someone delivered him a cup of tea right about now?
"I concede—" Su Yu suddenly stopped. He stared at the person in front of him and asked, "Weren't you here earlier?"
A girl shyly said, "They never said that we can't win twice. I paid three merit points so I still have two challenges left!"
"..."
Su Yu wondered if this was Xia Huyou's little sister. She was definitely that fatty's sister! Stop pretending!
Su Yu kindly reminded her, "Once is enough. And if you can't even get the reward with one victory, it doesn't matter if you have more victories. It is worth betting one merit point on a certain someone not being too shameless, but don't waste too much money, fellow student."
The girl shyly said, "I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Student Su Yu. I'm not afraid. I can definitely get the rewards. My dad is the director of the Talent Fostering Bureau. If he reneges on the debt, I'll have my dad disqualify him as a researcher."
"..."
Su Yu was dumbstruck.
Holy shit!
Director of the Talent Fostering Bureau. That was a big shot.
And it was true that one needed to get an official approval from the Talent Fostering Bureau to get promoted as a researcher. In that case, would Zhou Mingren give this girl the willpower texts?
If he refused, she might really be able to make her father disqualify him. Of course, people were generally unwilling to offend a Mountainsea cultivator. But this matter involved more than one or two people. This matter had created such a big ruckus. If Zhou Mingren did not give a satisfactory answer, he might really suffer some losses.
After learning of the girl's identity, Su Yu asked, "Why don't you pay 10 merit points for 10 attempts?"
"..."
The girl ignored him and went back to the line for her third attempt. She was not interested. Three attempts were more than enough for her. She only wanted one Myriad Text Sutra, one War God Art, and one Skybreak Technique. You should never get too greedy!
Nearby, the researchers who had gathered to enjoy the show were completely stunned. If this matter kept escalating, then things could get very troublesome.
The daughter of the Talent Fostering Bureau's director, the grandson of the Martial Dragon Guards' deputy commander, the grandson of the war academy's vice principal, the juniors from the Xia Family, the juniors of the 1000-man-commanders of the Devil Subduing Army, the juniors of Principal Wan, the juniors of the prefect...
It was fine to ignore those without any background. But those with a proper background did not fear Zhou Mingren. Zhou Mingren himself had promised the reward! They had never forced him to make the promise!
They were more than happy to take a gamble. They only needed one merit point. And there were so many of them. Zhou Mingren would probably give them something even if he ended up going back on his word of giving the victors a willpower text each.
At least some of them would be able to get something out of this. As for those without a background, well, too bad. Those with a good background would make his life hard if he dared renege on his debt to them.
More and more students were signing up. And even more were arriving after hearing about what was happening.
At this time, some single character faction experts were left with no choice but to take action. They shouted, "Leave! Victories in this manner do not count for the reward!"
In the ring, Su Yu said, "Is the academy completely devoid of justice? While I am exchanging pointers with my fellow students, some people at the Skysoar Realm and above are here to threaten students like us. Does the academy not have rules anymore?
"Sigh. I suppose everyone has already forgotten Elder Zheng's fate even though it hasn’t been that long. Looks like Principal Wan's rules are nothing but a joke. Teaching assistants and researchers are actually bullying students. This is incredible. Is this still the same Great Xia that is ruled by the Xia Family?"
Su Yu hollered without fear.
The expressions of some researchers changed upon hearing those words. Chen Yong roared, "Any researcher and teaching assistant meddling in the private matches of students are to be treated as a member of the Myriad Race Cult. Where are the academy guards? Have you forgotten the academy rules?"
The moment he said that, a group of guards rushed over. The leader was a 100-man commander who was also a Cloudbreach cultivator.
When Chen Yong saw the commander hesitating, he berated, "What are you waiting for? Some people tried to get involved in the challenges between students. Are they above the rules? Or perhaps even the guards are trying to overturn the rules as well?"
The commander's expression changed as he finally ordered, "Arrest them! Apart from the referee, nobody is allowed to meddle in matches between students!"
"You dare—"
"Kill!"
A Skysoar teaching assistant had barely opened his mouth when a blade struck his chest, sending him flying while coughing blood.
More and more guards arrived. The seventh-stage Cloudbreach cultivator had an unsightly expression. Screw that idiot! There were so many eyes looking at them! Even if he wanted to show some bias to the single character faction, they couldn't do so openly!
Who were they? They were the academy guards. They were meant to maintain order in the academy. They were meant to ensure the safety of the academy. They only answered to the principal and the Xia Family. Nobody else had any authority over them. The moment rules were broken, they had the authority to even kill the rulebreaker.
That teaching assistant should have kept his mouth shut. Why had he insisted on running his mouth in front of so many people? The crime of meddling in the matches of students could be easily resolved, but upon escalation, it could potentially result in one being subjected to the death sentence.
Why didn't the teaching assistant look at who was speaking before running his mouth? Chen Yong was the head manager of the books depository. His position in the academy was quite high. There was no way to downplay this offense in front of him.
The other single character faction experts shut their mouths with ashen expressions. This was really getting troublesome.
They had not put much thought into it before taking action, but that had given Su Yu the chance to instantly pin the crime of bullying students on them. Anyone at the Skysoar Realm and above found guilty of bullying students would be exiled to the Allheaven Battlefield even if they could escape the death sentence.
Being exiled to the battlefield was completely different from going there after joining an army. The exiles would be sent to the Vanguard Regiment.
"Arrest them!"
The Cloudbreach commander gave the order and the researchers who had tried to stop the students were all arrested. Regardless of whether they were in the Skysoar or the Cloudbreach Realm, all of them were taken in.
None of them dared to resist. Even the teaching assistant sent flying earlier had realized what was happening. They suddenly recalled Elder Zheng's fate. How many days had it been since that incident? Were they really suicidal? Why would they challenge the academy rules so soon after that?
In the ring, Su Yu appeared completely indifferent.
Rules...were meant to be exploited. And only rules that could protect him were worth following. He had long expected that the single character faction would try to meddle during the challenges. And the guards were the perfect tool against them. Why? Because of the rules. They were not allowed to meddle in fights between students.
"The challenge continues." Su Yu said, "Everyone, you better move faster while you have the chance. The rules are on our side. If they dare to renege on the debt, just sue them! Worst comes to worst, the academy will settle this for you. Even if you can't get the promised willpower text, you might be able to get some merit points, or a free entry into a grotto, or a free chance to observe a willpower text writing session, or something else. None of you will end up empty handed.
"The single character faction has nearly 100 teaching assistants and researchers. Each of them only needs to write at least one willpower text to produce 100 willpower texts. Even if you can't get a Mountainsea willpower text, a Skysoar willpower text would still be a decent reward.
"Even if they decide to replace your willpower texts with some free lectures, a single lecture would normally cost you at least five merit points, right? No matter what, you won't lose money doing this!"
Right that moment, someone shouted, "If you really fail to claim the willpower text from them, give me a chance to do it. Just issue me a receipt so that I can claim the text on your behalf. I am willing to pay for the receipts with merit points. What do you think?"
"..."
The crowd looked at the speaker in astonishment. That was an unfamiliar face. It was not Xia Huyou. Rather, it was a relatively unknown student.
That person continued shouting, "I'm telling the truth. I'll buy your receipts with money. Don't worry. I'm not trying to scam anyone. My dad is a 1000-man-commander in the Martial Dragon Guards!"
That finally moved the crowd. A 1000-man-commander in the Martial Dragon Guards! That was not the Devil Subduing Army. The Martial Dragon Guards was basically the personal army of the prefect. Even the weakest of their 1000-man-commander would be a seventh-stage Skysoar. A majority of them were in the Cloudbreach Realm.
Sure, they were not Mountainsea cultivators, but they were the personal army of the prefect. And thus, more and more people were tempted. The line in front of Wu Jia became longer and longer.
Su Yu glanced at Xia Huyou and saw the fatty smiling silently. He couldn't help but to berate inwardly that this fellow was truly too devious. Instead of making a move himself, he had someone else move on his behalf.
Clearly, Xia Huyou did not intend to directly involve the Xia Family in this matter. Rather, he was using an intermediary. Even if the Xia Family was eventually going to be the one to collect the debt, he would insist that the debt had merely been sold to them.
Su Yu didn't even need to guess to know that Xia Huyou would be using that excuse. The Xia Family could not get involved directly since they were the ruling family of the Great Xia. They could not show too much bias toward a single side.
Su Yu felt somewhat regretful. He had originally intended to drag the Xia Family into the matter as well. That way, he would be able to create an impression that the Xia Family backed the multiple character faction. But clearly, the Xia Family was no fool. They could not be dragged in so easily.