Chapter 46: The Name Comes Before the Man (2)
A short while later, Liu Hong entered a small villa in the Residential District.
"Wu Qi, Bai Feng is accepting a student this year."
A young woman was writing a Divine Character with a pen. Without looking up, she said, "So be it. Why would I care?"
"He's accepting a middle-low student. I suggested your younger sister...and he told me to piss off. This fellow is already a seventh-stage Skysoar. He is getting even more arrogant than before."
"He has always been arrogant." Wu Qi was still indifferent. "Apart from that period of time a few years ago after he was beaten up by that fellow from the war academy, he has never stopped being arrogant."
At the mention of that incident, Wu Qi smiled, "I'm still waiting for the show to start. A few years later when he finally reaches the ninth-stage, he will definitely go get his revenge. That person better not enter the Cloudbreach Realm too fast or the show will end prematurely."
Liu Hong said, "That's not the point. He's accepting a student. This is a good opportunity. Senior Hong is very hard to meet. His research center is firmly under Bai Feng's control. If we can get Bai Feng to accept one of our people as his student, that research center alone will be lucrative enough to satisfy all of us."
"Huh?"
Wu Qi finally looked up. Her eyes turned cold as she said, "Piss off."
"Wu Qi, you—"
"Piss off!" She snorted with contempt in her eyes. "I am Wu Qi. I do not need to play these tricks to get what I want. Bai Feng is not my match. Regardless of whether it's the full researcher promotion exam or the competition three years later, I'll be present in both.
"Liu Hong, stop playing your tricks around me. You might not like the consequences."
Liu Hong clenched his fists and said, "If I'm really playing tricks with you, I won't be here to see you. Fight for opportunities. Fight for fortune. I don't care how others see me or know what I do. None of that matters. I have the right to fight for the opportunity when it is before me.
"Bai Feng controls Senior Hong's research center. I want to fight for that. Even Senior Hong won't stop me from doing so. If I win, that will only prove that I'm better than Bai Feng. There is no denying that. Wu Qi, do you look down on someone exercising his right to pursue a better station in life?"
Wu Qi looked up once again, "You're right. It is your right to do so. But...how does that concern me?"
"Don't you wish to get better support and a better future for your younger sister?"
"In that case, that will be between me and Bai Feng. I don't need you to get involved in my business."
"It's pointless. He won't be moved by either force or persuasion. We have to make sure he has no choice but to do so, and you alone won't be able to accomplish that."
Wu Qi stared at Liu Hong for a while before saying, "If you want my help, sure. As a payment, you need to let me study your force character for three months."
"..."
Liu Hong clenched his teeth in anger and said, "That's too much!"
"Not at all. If you disagree...feel free to go at it alone. I'm not interested in these stupid games. You're not even at the seventh-stage, so you won't be qualified to get involved in the competition and researcher promotion anyway."
Liu Hong took a deep breath and made up his mind, "Fine."
Wu Qi smiled, "Tell me. What do you intend to do?"
"Simple. Reduce Bai Feng's authority."
"Huh?"
"If his student fails three monthly exams, ranks low in the seasonal exams and the yearly exams, Bai Feng will lose three hundred points in one year. With that, his authority will drop one level. And in three years, he will no longer be qualified to take part in that competition.
"We don't even need three years. A year later, I'll be able to apply for control over Senior Hong's research center. At that time, with a lower level of authority, Bai Feng won't be able to stop me even if he's Senior Hong's personal student. After all, the research center was still made with the academy's money. It would be Bai Feng's fault for losing the research center.
"At that time, he will have no choice but to accept a new student to raise his authority. And he would need an outstanding student for that. If we prepare well, he will have no choice but to pick one of our own. And since he has to pick an outstanding student, there is only one or a few options. What do you think he will do?"
Liu Hong continued, "This is an open conspiracy. He was the one who had declared that we can do whatever we want. In that case, why should I be pulling my punches?"
Wu Qi shot him a glance before looking back down at the Divine Character she was writing. After a short while, she said, "That's a cheap scheme, but it should work well. So would my role in all this be protection against Bai Feng's revenge?"
"Yes. That fellow is too arrogant. If he really suffers a loss, he won't take it silently. I'm worried that he will make a move on me and seriously injure me, forcing me to withdraw from all competitions in the academy."
"Yes, that does sound like something he would do." Wu Qi smiled, "At least you're self-aware enough to know that he's better than you. If I'm the one making the decision, I would have told you to give up on competing against him. But you're also right that this is a good opportunity for you. Even if he's making a move on you, it will be an honorable challenge instead of some dirty schemes. How about this? If he challenges you, I'll challenge and injure him before he can face you."
"Agreed." Liu Hong was overjoyed. That was exactly what he wanted.
The stronger individuals in the academy weren't interested in a minor conflict like this. As for the weaker ones, they were unqualified to even get involved. As for the Cloudbreach experts, those were all the higher ups of the academy. Senior Hong wouldn't sit around and watch as those people get involved in a conflict between juniors.
"By the way, if Bai Feng's student keeps failing his exams, Bai Feng will definitely be forced to accept another student to increase his evaluation. If my younger sister really ends up as his student, she will definitely do her best to help her teacher. I won't have my sister hold back for your scheme. That will only ruin her future."
"Of course." Liu Hong smiled. "The more outstanding your sister is, the better it is. That will only cause Bai Feng to pour more of his resources to her. That is how things are done and nobody can change that. As a result, the other student will keep falling behind and continue lowering Bai Feng's evaluation. Even if your sister can pull Bai Feng's evaluation up, it won't be enough. Bai Feng will not be able to escape dropping a level."
Wu Qi nodded in agreement.
...
While the two were discussing, Bai Feng was walking around in the academy. A smile suddenly formed on his face as he said, "Bunch of fools. Trying to reduce my authority?"
He wasn't there to hear the discussion, but he could guess what Liu Hong was trying to do.
"Well, that would be an interesting show to watch." Bai Feng muttered to himself before shaking his head. Su Yu would probably encounter a lot of trouble after entering the academy. But...that could be good as well. How could an unpolished gem shine? Without any suppression, how would that kid understand that the academy was filled with geniuses? How would he understand that he wasn't that special?
"Completing a Divine Character in one day...I really hope Liu Hong can help me suppress that kid for a bit. Otherwise, it will be hard to stop the kid from getting too full of himself. But Liu Hong is an idiot. He won't end up sending fools over to be humiliated by that kid, right?"
Bai Feng laughed and shook his head. If that really happened, well, it had nothing to do with him.
p>
"Wu Qi, Xia Yuwen..."
Muttering the two new names, Bai Feng had completely forgotten about Liu Hong. That fellow was not even at the seventh-stage Skysoar Realm. He couldn't be bothered to pay much attention to someone like that. The two names he mentioned were his actual competitors in the academy. Even before this when he was still at the sixth-stage Skysoar Realm, he had never considered Liu Hong a threat.
"Su Yu." Finally, Bai Feng mentioned Su Yu's name. "This kid better not disappoint me. He needs to surpass and suppress the students of those fellows. Only then would I be able to get promoted into a full researcher earlier and become a team leader..."
There were still too many limitations for an assistant researcher. Without sufficient authority, there were many places he wasn't allowed to visit.
…
Nanyuan.
The secondary school had been in a mess for the past few days. Chen Hao had broken through into the fourth-stage Source Opening Realm. He then challenged the fifth-stage Source Opening Realm Zhou Chong.
There actually wasn't much difference between the two. With their cultivation levels, they were basically the same as a normal person. Zhou Chong had a higher cultivation level, but he was beaten until he cried. That wasn't the end of it. Chen Hao was not satisfied with beating Zhou Chong alone. He continued looking for more people to fight. On the first day, he fought ten different students.
He won some and he lost some, but he didn't care. He treated all the fights as training. In three days, he got into over thirty fights. If he hadn't been forced to take a sick leave by his mother due to the bruises on his face, he would probably continue fighting.
But even though Chen Hao was absent from school, he had started a new trend. In the past, everyone believed that those at the fourth-stage Source Opening Realm were incredible while those at the fifth-stage were akin to the stars in the sky.
But now, all those amazing individuals were merely people that had been whacked by Chen Hao. That opened a brand new world to the students in the school. Some of the students that were bully victims of the more talented students started stirring. Thus, on the day Chen Hao was absent, even more fights broke out in the school.
There were quite a lot of students eager to challenge the so-called talented students. Zhou Chong, in particular, was someone who had provoked many people in the past with his rude mouth. But since he was known as a genius, most people could only endure in silence. But on that day, no less than seven of them had stepped forth to challenge Zhou Chong.
The result of those fights didn't matter. They had still managed to hurt Zhou Chong. So many bruises were left on his face that unless one was very familiar with him, one wouldn't even be able to recognize him.
...
"This is ridiculous!"
In the office, Liu Wenyan shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He was able to instantly guess whose idea that was. Chen Hao was a simple and honest student. Without someone inciting him, he wouldn't challenge Zhou Chong for no reason. Clearly, that was Su Yu's handiwork. Beside him, the principal was stroking his beard really hard. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently.
With a sigh, the principal lamented, "These kids sure are energetic. The exams are near. Why aren't they stopping? A few fights here and there is fine as that will give them more passion in cultivation. But..."
The principal felt like crying. "Why are they beating up girls as well? I'm worried about the future of these kids! There have never been too many girls in war academies. If these kids bring this habit with them to the academies, are they going to stay single forever?"
Liu Wenyan trembled as he realized how serious this problem was.
"Chen Hao...needs to have his ass whooped!"
Liu Wenyan was starting to get anxious as well. What were they to do with this batch of students? Every single one of them was running around shouting that men and women are equal on the battlefield. What the fuck was that? How were they supposed to find a wife in the future? Were the male students of this batch going to...stay single for life?
The principal sighed in desperation, "This trend is influencing more than the students of this batch. Their juniors are all watching. There are a lot of children between eleven and twelve in the school. I'm hearing news that even these boys are getting ready to challenge the girls in their classes..."
"Are they stupid?" Liu Wenyan was speechless.
"No. Apparently they heard from their seniors that only by beating girls can they temper their fortitude. Beating girls can help them improve in their cultivation."
"..."
Liu Wenyan looked at the principal. The principal looked at him. A dispirited expression covered both their faces. They couldn't go around spreading those words! If this continued, in a few years, the entire Nanyuan Secondary School would be turned into some sort of temple filled with monks who had taken vows of chastity.
That was too scary! And the moment that reputation spread, to the point even those in the capital learned of it, how were Nanyuan students supposed to get girlfriends in the capital? What the hell were those kids thinking?
The principal sighed yet again and said, "We'll see what we can do after sending this batch of students off. Old Liu, let's move on. Did you hear the news from the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy?"
As the best secondary school in Nanyuan, they naturally had some connections to the various academies. Thus, they were able to obtain certain news before other schools. Furthermore, there were also some Nanyuan Secondary School alumni in the various academies. All those people formed a reliable network of information for the principal.
Liu Wenyan nodded and indifferently said, "That's normal. Seems like they haven't changed. The issue is not Su Yu. It's Bai Feng. That fellow has recently broken through into the seventh-stage Skysoar Realm. The people there are feeling more and more threatened by him.
"Previously, he might be outstanding as a sixth-stage Skysoar cultivator, but there are still at least eight people with the same cultivation level in the same age group in the academy. There are even a few late-stage Skysoar cultivators there.
"People were even questioning his qualification to be ranked in the top ten. But now that he has broken through, he is starting to catch a lot more attention than before."
Bai Feng accepting a student would not have caused such a big ruckus previously. Sure, he would still attract some attention, but it wouldn't be such a big deal. But he had reached the seventh-stage. He had only advanced by a single stage, but that single stage signified that he would no longer meet any bottlenecks until the ninth-stage. That immediately placed him in the top five of the academy. Naturally, that ranking only included his peers, not the old timers of the academy.