Chapter 527: Ruckus (2)
While news regarding the cultivation method was being spread everywhere.
Heart Cultivating Pavilion. A new meeting between all the elders was being held.
Elder Sun slammed his palm onto the table in fury and said, "Has Su Yu forgotten that he has obtained this research center from the academy? He should have reported his research results to the faculty and the academy first. He shouldn't have sold it privately, even if the buyer is the Xia Family! According to the rules, the academy should enjoy the right of first refusal. We are not trying to steal his research results. But he has indeed broken the rules."
A few elders nodded upon hearing that. They were not picking a fight for no reason. This was indeed the academy rules.
After all, one had received the research center from the academy. And one was still a member of the academy. It was reasonable that the academy should get the priority to purchase any research results instead of outsiders, even if the outsider was the Xia Family.
This was why Elder Sun was furious. Of course, he was also furious due to the impact of this cultivation method on Su Yu's reputation. Even the multiple character faction might rise again due to this.
Prior to this, Su Yu's reputation had actually been partially destroyed. He was known as a student who was consorting with the myriad races. But with this cultivation method, none of that mattered anymore.
That was especially true for those from the war academies. For now, they had yet to witness the result of cultivating this method. The moment they saw the result, Su Yu would turn into a living legend for many warriors.
The single character faction's plan to destroy his reputation had completely failed.
These days, Su Yu had remained completely silent, providing no explanation regarding the scandal involving him and the myriad races. Elder Sun had been very happy to see that, believing that they had successfully suppressed Su Yu.
But in the blink of an eye, Su Yu had turned into a model cultural researcher. If this continued, the multiple character faction might really rise from the dead.
Looking at Wan Tiansheng, Elder Sun solemnly said, "I know that everyone is currently praising Su Yu for his incredible talent. He is a rising star in the field of research. But rules are rules. Principal, you need to be fair."
Wan Tiansheng nodded. He was about to speak when someone else said, "Old Sun, why are you so agitated? In the future, be sure to read the rules properly before you cry about something. According to the academy rules, the first priority will go to the members of the research center, not the academy. And Xia Huyou is a member of that research center. There is no point in trying to hide this anymore, right? Xia Huyou is the son of Prefect Xia. He represents the Xia Family.
"Su Yu had given the Xia Family the first offer to purchase his research result. And the Xia Family had purchased it. No rules were broken in the process."
Elder Qi grinned and continued, "Even if the cultivation method was sold to the Wu Family, the Zheng Family, or the Hu Family, it would still be within the rules. The members of the research center have a higher level of priority than the academy itself. I hope you can understand this."
Elder Sun's face turned stiff, but he recovered immediately and said, "Xia Huyou and the others do not hold any ownership over the research center."
"You're wrong." Elder Qi said, "Su Yu's starting fund and resources had all been provided by these people. Hong Tan's debt of 300,000 had been transferred to Su Yu after he was made the leader of the multiple character faction. He is basically a faction master at this point. Although that faction doesn't exist officially anymore, he has still taken on the debt. Since those people are the investors, they are basically the co-owners. You can't deny that. Thus, no rules have been broken.
"Old Sun, stop being so selfish all the time. As a Mountainsea, you keep picking fights with a student. Are you not embarrassed? If you're unhappy about something, go look for Hong Tan. Su Yu probably knows the academy rules better than you. Without any confidence, would he do something like this? What a clown."
Elder Qi continued, "Why don't you ask Vice Principal Xia. Is there anything wrong with selling it to the Xia Family?"
"..."
Xia Changqing was somewhat speechless. Asking him about it?
Fuck!
What in the world should he say?
Should he say that it was wrong?
That would only pit him against Marquis Xia. That cousin of his was a very troublesome individual. But if he agreed with Elder Qi, he would end up slapping Elder Sun's face.
A different person said with a smile, "Elder Sun, stop causing trouble. Currently, Su Yu allows even those from the single character faction to learn this method. If you provoke him too much, he could place a ban on the single character faction. And you would take the full blame. Don't forget that learning a cultivation method without permission is against the law. Are you so sure that nobody from your single character faction is interested in learning it?"
The moment that was said, the expressions of a few elders changed. Elder Sun furiously said, "How can this be so? Using his authority over a cultivation method to control what the other students can do? Is he intending to revolt?"
"..."
Nobody said anything. Some sneered. Some looked at him coldly.
After a while, Wan Tiansheng said, "Don't put it like that. The cultivation method is his. Even if the Xia Family has purchased the rights to the cultivation method, as the creator, he still has some say. If he places a ban on the single character faction, you can denounce or hate him, but you don't have the authority to stop him from doing what he wants with the cultivation method.
"Sun Xiang, stop creating enemies for your single character faction. Do you really want to make things even more difficult for your faction? Don't forget that the single character faction is spread across the various prefectures. If you cause a ban, the other branches would target their hatred to both Su Yu and you. Are you sure you want to take the blame? Maybe their hatred toward you might even surpass their hatred toward Su Yu."
Elder Sun's expression changed. That was true. If a ban was really placed, he might receive more blame than Su Yu. Their branch of single character faction might turn into a pariah of all the other single character faction branches.
Wan Tiansheng declared, "This matter ends here. If you had allocated even a tiny bit of starting funds to Su Yu when he first started the research center, we would have been able to obtain some rights over that cultivation method. But all of you know what happened. The only thing Su Yu received from the academy was the empty shell of a research center. Something like that has no value. He could easily move out of it if we try to push him. Do you think he would have a hard time looking for a new host now? Are you trying to force their research center out of the academy?"
Yu Hong was still unhappy. She said, "Principal, the academy has not received any benefit whatsoever from the dissemination of this cultivation method..."
Wan Tiansheng glanced at her and indifferently said, "You're letting your feelings cloud your judgment. His research has improved the academy's reputation. Also, that cultivation method is also being taught in the academy. These are the benefits we have received. This has benefited not only the academy but Great Xia and the entirety of Human Realm as well. Just because something has not benefited the single character faction does not mean that it hasn't benefited the academy. Don't assume that the single character faction represents the entire academy."
He looked at the other elders and calmly said, "What do all of you think?"
Elder Qi smiled and said, "The principal is right."
"Yeah. The dissemination of this cultivation method has benefited everyone. That would naturally benefit the academy as well. The more famous the Source Soul Research Center becomes, the more famous our academy will become."
Yu Hong and Elder Sun exchanged glances before shutting their mouths. If they kept arguing, they would really isolate the single character faction from the other upper echelons of the academy. They might even end up offending the Xia Family.
They had intended to use this as an excuse to rope in some elders and suppress Su Yu. But the public opinion had changed. This was a dangerous signal.
Elder Sun previously believed that since Su Yu had sold the cultivation method to the Xia Family, everyone in the academy would agree to hold him accountable. But Elder Qi had spoken for Su Yu. Even Wan Tiansheng seemed somewhat biased.
At this point, it was useless to say anything else. They could only blame themselves for refusing to allocate Su Yu's research center any startup funding. This was actually very rare. Most research centers would receive a certain amount of support upon their founding.
But Su Yu had received nothing. They should have allocated him something. Even if he refused, they could have forcefully transferred some money to him. He would have no way of refusing that. If he refused that, it would only serve as proof that he had been planning to go behind the academy all along.
But since they had not approved any startup funding for him, they could say none of that. Elder Sun and the others stopped arguing. They would only invite more hostility that way.
Even though they could move on from the topic, Elder Sun still had a different issue to raise. He said, "As for Su Yu's application to become a full researcher, I believe that we need to consider it carefully. Yes, he has produced the acupoint fusion method. But how do we know that this is really his work? It has been less than 10 days. I believe all of you are suspicious about that..."
He would not allow Su Yu to become a researcher. If that happened, the multiple character faction's reputation would improve. Additionally, Su Yu would be able to start taking students under his wing after his promotion.
Perhaps before long, they would be able to gain more than 10 members and restart their faction. That would render everything the single character faction had done to deregister them into a joke.
"We'll talk about this again at the end of the year."
Wan Tiansheng did not care about that topic. He said, "The Talent Fostering Bureau would also be involved in the approval. You don't need to worry about this, Elder Sun. You should worry about your own business first."
Wan Tiansheng's attitude seemed rather abnormal today. Elder Sun frowned. In the past, Wan Tiansheng would not involve himself in these internal conflicts. But today, the principal had shut him down several times.
"Principal..."
"This meeting ends here." Wan Tiansheng impatiently said, "You guys have been calling for meetings again and again for something insignificant. For some matters concerning some students, a bunch of Mountainseas have repeatedly wasted everyone's time. For these meetings, some people have to leave seclusion while some have to put their research on pause. All that for the sake of discussing these trivial matters?
"Sun Xiang, Yu Hong, if the two of you have so much free time, use it to teach your students properly. Nothing is a stronger statement than actually producing several outstanding students of your own. That way, you wouldn't need to personally deal with some students again and again anymore."
For Mountainseas to personally get involved in a fight between students was indeed embarrassing. Elder Sun and the others sank into silence. Inwardly, they were cursing. If their students could compete against Su Yu, would they still need to do all this? The issue was that their students weren't Su Yu's match.
...
The meeting ended.
Elder Sun and company left silently.
While walking, Elder Sun said, "If this continues, all our hard work from before will go to waste."
The other elders had nothing to say.
Elder Sun said, "At the top, we can't suppress Hong Tan. At the middle, we can't suppress Chen Yong and Bai Feng. And now, we can't even touch Su Yu and Wu Jia anymore. So what if we have more people? With only a few people, they are turning us into clowns. What can we even achieve in the future with such a terrible performance?"
They didn't know what to feel.
"Old Zhou was absent from the meeting."
Elder Sun asked, "What is he thinking?"
Yu Hong said, "He has entered seclusion to break through into the Sunmoon Realm. If he really manages to break through, it would benefit us as well."
"Hong Tan is also in seclusion. We have to take this seriously. If Hong Tan manages to break through while Old Zhou fails, they will gain an advantage over us. Thus, we have to deal with Su Yu ourselves."
Zhou Mingren's seclusion was a good thing for them. At the very least, he had to remain in the same realm as Hong Tan. Otherwise, things would be even more troublesome after Hong Tan ended his seclusion.
Elder Sun sighed and started using voice transmission, "We need to deal with Su Yu. Since we can't make a move ourselves, let's make use of the Foreign Students Faculty instead. It would be even better if they could end him once and for all. Tell them to think of a way to solve this issue. For those weak races, they won't be able to become the allies of humanity without paying a price. If they complete the job, we can introduce some single character faction Sunmoons to them."
The human race was a powerful race. In the eyes of Elder Sun and the others, those weak races weren't even qualified to become their allies.
Some of these races were only led by Mountainseas. The single character faction could eliminate a few of these races just by themselves. That was referring to the single character faction of only Great Xia.
Both Yu Hong and Elder Li remained silent.
They walked in silence. They had been suppressing the multiple character faction for so many years. But because of Su Yu, almost all their previous efforts had gone to waste. They were finding it hard to accept this.