Chapter 379: Blatantly Helping The Enemy (3)
When Zheng Yuming got the position previously, it was because of his strength and Zhou Mingren's support. But if Zhou Mingren's line wanted to take the leadership position again, the others would naturally be unhappy to see them monopolize the position.
After all, the faction master would have a high possibility of being promoted into an elder as well. And the moment one became an elder, one's status and treatment would change completely.
One could even use that position as the stepping stone to enter the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Sure, one could still visit the Knowledge Seeking Realm without being an elder, but it was pointless as one would not be able to stay there and would instead be ignored.
But if one was an elder of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, one would have a certain level of status even in the Knowledge Seeking Realm. If one could cultivate in the Knowledge Seeking Realm, one would have a higher possibility of breaking through into the Mountainsea Realm.
Of the 36 Mountainseas of the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, almost half of them had broken through after visiting the Knowledge Seeking Realm.
Zhou Pingsheng couldn't be bothered to give that person further attention. He impatiently declared an end to the meeting.
Everyone left, leaving only Liu Hong behind.
And the moment the others were gone, Zhou Pingsheng berated, "Is the data real or fake? Previously, Su Yu claimed that you"
"He is slandering me, Senior Brother!" Liu Hong helplessly said, "I already explained myself to the faculty head. He accepted my explanation..."
Zhou Pingsheng frowned and said, "Did you tell the faculty head the price of the data?"
"I did..."
"Hmph!" Zhou Pingsheng was furious. He gloomily said, "It's enough that you told Teacher about it. Do not tell anyone else. Junior Brother Li, you're a smart guy. You understand what I mean."
Liu Hong's eyes flickered as he nodded, "I understand. Don't worry, Senior Brother. If words of this spread, I will be in trouble as well. It is very likely that the data is fake. And the moment that is proved, both of us will suffer. Things are already quite difficult for me. Therefore, I will be the one to suffer more. I am not stupid enough to make more trouble for myself."
"Good." Zhou Pingsheng nodded. That was true. Even if he was going to suffer, Liu Hong was going to be right beside him when he was suffering.
He transmitted his voice, "Only 50 people at maximum can enter the Willpower Grotto at once. If there are too many experts among them, that number will drop. Thus, each slot is very important. I will try to get more slots from Teacher as the price to deal with Su Yu.
"We can allocate one slot each for those in the top three or even the top five. But I hope that the people ultimately getting these slots will be our people. Junior Brother Liu, we are now in the same boat. Some people will definitely try to do something during this tournament and use it to pull me down.
"You're different. As Elder Zhao's student, you are also qualified to compete for the position. Thus, if those people start making trouble, I will try to let you take charge of this plan instead. You know what to do."
Zhou Pingsheng said, "You love your little brother a lot. If more of our people can get these rewards, it is not impossible to give your little brother one of the slots as well. As for the rest of the winners, I hope that all of them will be the people I want to see. Do you understand me?"
Liu Hong was alarmed. He replied with voice transmission as well, "Senior Brother, a lot of people will pay close attention to the tournament. It won't be easy to rig the matches. If I end up discovered, the outsiders might not be able to do anything. But the faculty head and the elders will not let me off lightly!"
Zhou Pingsheng was growing impatient, "Can't you do even this much? Since the main purpose of the tournament is to give us a chance to act against Su Yu, the others from our faction won't say anything even if they notice you doing anything. Just let Su Yu encounter one strong opponent after another. Everyone will understand that you're using this chance to get rid of some outsiders and target Su Yu. How hard is that?"
"But Senior Brother, even if I can ensure that Di Feng and Qiu Yi won't encounter any strong opponents, there is still no guarantee they can actually win one of the rewards. Also, isn't Di Feng already guaranteed a slot internally?"
"I'm not talking about them." Zhou Pingsheng frowned, "Don't ask about things you shouldn't know. If we can really make the tournament happen, I will give you a list of names. Nobody will notice what we're actually trying to do. I won't make things that obvious."
Liu Hong started guessing. Was this guy planning to sell the slots? Or was he secretly nurturing his own experts? But that seemed quite unlikely. In that case, was he really selling the slots?
Holy shit! This fellow was really quite a greedy one.
The slots of the Willpower Grotto would sell really well. There were plenty of people waiting to enter the Skysoar Realm. And these people would be willing to bankrupt themselves for one of these slots. Even at the price of 2,000 or 3,000 merit points per slot, there would still be countless buyers.
In fact, if Zhou Pingsheng could find someone who was rich yet stuck below the Skysoar Realm, he could probably sell a slot for 5,000 merit points! What some people lacked was not money, but an opportunity. And opening the Willpower Grotto was not something money alone could accomplish.
After guessing Zhou Pingsheng's actual goal, Liu Hong hesitated slightly and said, "Sure. If you can help me get a slot for my little brother, I'll...do my best to help you with the slots. Sigh. I am really doing everything I can for my little brother."
Zhou Pingsheng patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. If I really manage to become the faction master, I will take care of your line as well."
"Thank you, Senior Brother."
Liu Hong had a look of gratitude on his face. Zhou Pingsheng smiled indifferently and left. After he left, Liu Hong also slowly walked away. He was still busy thinking.
A big show was going to unfold.
The grave of Zhang Ruoling was being targeted. This time, a fight might really break out between the single and multiple character factions. Their conflict had even involved some powers from outside Great Xia.
"Zhang Ruoling..."
The image of a certain person appeared in his mind. He really knew Zhang Ruoling. He was not lying when he told Su Yu about his connection with Zhang Ruoling previously. Surprisingly, that person had actually become the spark to ignite this conflict.
"When Su Yu learns of this, he will probably suspect me even more for not helping them..."
Liu Hong laughed. He soon moved on to think of a different matter. That bastard Bai Feng had actually grown so strong. With Bai Feng's strength, Liu Hong's importance in the single character faction would drop. And he would need someone to replace Bai Feng's role. And Su Yu was the perfect person for that.
Since he could no longer suppress Bai Feng, he could suppress Su Yu instead, right? No matter what, he was still a genius teaching assistant.
"Single character faction...just what are they thinking?"
Liu Hong muttered to himself. What was Zhou Mingren trying to do? Even the Xia and Zhou Families had been dragged in. Could he really profit off this conflict with so many heavyweights involved?
He had created too big of a ruckus. Did he really believe that their principal was a forgiving person? He had actually gone over the principal to contact the various academies. One ought to know that nominally, Wan Tiansheng was the actual leader of all cultural researchers in Great Xia. Zhou Mingren had crossed a line there.
If he really succeeded in destroying the multiple character faction this time, who would be the actual leader of cultural researchers moving forward?
"Zhou Mingren might not be unaware of all that. And if he knew yet still proceeded with his plan...then it signified that he is confident he can enter the Sunmoon Realm!"
Liu Hong's heart trembled. If Zhou Mingren was confident he could enter the Sunmoon Realm, then what Xia Yuwen suggested...replacing the principal...would actually be feasible. Could it be that their actual goal was not to destroy the multiple character faction. Instead, they were trying to get Zhou Mingren promoted?
Liu Hong knew too little to draw a proper conclusion. If Zhou Mingren really had a chance to enter the Sunmoon Realm or if he was already at that realm, then their real goal could very well not be the multiple character faction's destruction.
The Great Xia Cultural Research Academy was under the jurisdiction of two different authorities. The Great Xia Prefecture and the Knowledge Seeking Realm.
Was that person from the Zhou Family trying to plant one of his own in the upper echelons of Great Xia?
"Things are really getting chaotic. During times like this, even Skysoars are nothing but ants."
This was now a conflict between two prefectures. Two of the strongest prefectures in the Human Realm.
Great Zhou, Great Xia, and Great Qin were the three strongest prefectures. All these prefectures had probably planted a lot of their people in the other prefectures. Was Great Xia the new target of Great Zhou? Was Great Zhou trying to gain control of Great Xia?
The more Liu Hong thought, the more terrified he was. It was time to stop thinking.
The more he knew, the more dangerous it would be for him. The people involved in this conflict might be the ones at a level far beyond his imagination. He should keep a low profile and focus only on gaining some little benefits for himself in the academy. He reckoned he was not the only one who understood what was happening but was acting dumb.
"I should stay in my lane. Yes, time to pay Su Yu a visit. Someone is actually trying to dig up the grave of my respected teacher. I am furious and indignant! I am heartbroken!"
At that thought, grief and indignation covered his face. But that expression only lasted for a moment before it was replaced by a smile.
He was satisfied with that mask. He smiled happily. These days, it was hard to survive without at least several layers of masks.
Nobody knew if the person in front of you was a fool or a smart person. And nobody knew if a smart person was actually a super genius. For example, Zhou Pingsheng. Who knew what that person was thinking?
"Cloudbreach...Willpower Grotto..."
It was time he entered the Cloudbreach Realm as well. Xia Yuwen had entered that realm. Wu Qi was going to enter that realm soon. Bai Feng was already killing Cloudbreach cultivators. It would be too embarrassing for him to remain stuck below the Cloudbreach Realm.