...
The air inside the main hall felt somewhat stagnant.
Bibi Dong rubbed her throbbing temples, looking down at Yue Guan, who stood at the bottom of the steps, his face full of unease and hesitant to speak.
The sense of unease in her heart grew stronger.
If she only beat the whole school, or even became the school bully, although it was unexpected, it could only mean that the child was exceptionally talented and skillful, which was a great honor for her.
But given Yue Guan's constipated expression, things were clearly not that simple.
"Moon Pass".
Bibi Dong frowned slightly, her voice turning colder, "What else is there?
Say it all at once. You should know I don't like hearing things incompletely."
"Yes!" Yue Guan's body trembled, and he quickly lowered his head, saying with a bitter face, "Your Majesty, if it were just a fight, even if Xie Yue and Yan lost, it would be because they were not skilled enough, and the Education Committee members would not have specifically asked me to report to you. It's just that... Xuan Hao went too far."
"Too much?" Bibi Dong felt a sense of foreboding.
"Yes." Yue Guan swallowed hard and forced a smile. "After Xuan Hao established his dominance in the academy, he didn't stop there. He… he created a new set of rules."
"What rules?"
Yue Guan explained with a wry smile, "He stipulated that if freshmen have grudges to settle or want to challenge each other, they must first report to him."
"The so-called 'reporting' is actually just paying money.
And you can only take action in his presence, ostensibly to prevent injuries and maintain campus peace.
If anyone fights in private, it's disrespectful to him, and he will personally intervene to teach them a lesson."
"Anyone who wants to challenge him must first pay an appearance fee of five gold soul coins.
And they must first sign a waiver of liability... no, a disclaimer of liability agreement before they can even make a move.
Otherwise, it will be considered an act of defiance against the Pope's authority, and the consequences... are up to you."
Bibi Dong: "..."
Appearance fee?
Liability disclaimer?
What kind of nonsense is going on in this kid's head?
What peace-maintaining nonsense?
This guy is clearly acting like an underground emperor!
"That's not all." Yue Guan's voice trailed off, as if he too found it difficult to speak.
"What troubles the education committee members the most is that he also collects... protection money."
"Protection fees?!"
Bibi Dong's voice rose an octave.
"Yes...yes." Yue Guan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Any Soul Master who lost to him before, between level 10 and level 20, must pay him one gold Soul coin every month as compensation for mental distress, supposedly to make up for the trauma he suffered.
Otherwise, he'll beat him up every time he sees him."
"Those Great Soul Masters above level 20, because of their higher value, have to pay ten gold soul coins every month... euphemistically called the 'Stronger Tax.' Those who don't pay will be encountered on their way home from school every day and then sparred with."
"Even Xie Yue and Yan, I heard, avoid him when they go out now, they really can't bear the embarrassment."
"Nonsense!" Bibi Dong slammed her hand on the table.
"This is the Spirit Academy! A sacred place for cultivating elite Spirit Masters! Not a bandit's den!"
"Where are the teachers at the college?
Where is the education commission?
Are they all dead?!
Are they just letting a six-year-old child run wild like this?!"
"This…" Yue Guan shrank back, looking helpless. "It's not that the teachers don't want to manage it, it's that they dare not manage it."
"Every time Xuanhao enforces the law, he brings you up.
He says he is the Pope's personal disciple, and you told him that in the Spirit Hall, no one but you can control him."
He also said that this was a privilege you gave him in order to develop his leadership and resource integration abilities.
"How dare those teachers question your decree?
Even those Contra-level education commissioners were rendered speechless by this huge accusation.
Seeing that this snowball is getting bigger and bigger, and the impact is getting bigger and bigger, that's why I sent your subordinate to ask for instructions..."
The hall fell silent once again.
Bibi Dong felt a throbbing pain in her temples, and a long-forgotten sense of powerlessness welled up in her heart.
What a shrewd man Xuan Hao!
What excellent "leadership skills"! What excellent "resource integration"!
When she said, "No one but me can control you," it was to prevent him from being bound by those formalities and to allow him to focus on his cultivation!
But this kid, instead of using his authority, started a monopoly and embezzled money at the Martial Soul Academy!
They even dragged her, the Pope, out as their biggest "protective umbrella"!
Bibi Dong took a few deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the anger in her heart.
This child is even more unruly than she imagined.
"go."
Bibi Dong pointed at the gate and said through gritted teeth, "Tell that bastard to get back here right now!"
"I want to ask him personally how exactly he plans to integrate resources!"
"Yes, sir, I will do it immediately..."
"Wait! I'll go myself!"
...
Martial Soul Academy, central plaza.
This place was originally used for opening ceremonies or important events, but now it's a sea of people.
Nearly a thousand people, from the first-year students in the junior division to the senior division's great soul masters under the age of fifteen who already possess two soul rings, were standing neatly below the stage.
There was no noise, no whispering; the scene was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
All eyes, filled with a mixture of awe, frustration, and barely suppressed anger, were focused on the makeshift platform in front of them.
There, a silver-haired boy was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, like an old cadre, with a look of disappointment on his face.
"Classmates, I am very disappointed."
Xuan Hao stood on the high platform, his gaze sweeping across the entire arena.
He sighed, his voice, though still somewhat childish, carrying an eerie air of authority, "The Martial Soul Academy of the past was far too chaotic.
Fights and private duels were commonplace. What was that?
That was barbarity!"
"We are all future elite Soul Masters, civilized and respectable people!
We are not those snarling monkeys in the Star Dou Great Forest.
How can we resort to violence at the slightest disagreement?"
Below the stage, many students with bruised and swollen faces were twitching their mouths violently.
Civilized people?
Hold back the force that sent that punch flying into the flowerbed before you talk to us about civility!
Before this guy arrived, the academy, while valuing competition, at least had a limit.
Ever since this guy arrived, he's really been treating everyone like monkeys.
If you don't submit, he'll beat you until you do.
Xuan Hao cleared his throat and continued his speech:
"Before I arrived, not a single person thought there was anything wrong with this.
What does that show?
It shows that your awareness and understanding still need to be improved!"
"I know that many of you here must have been bullied by upperclassmen when you first entered university.
Those days of having to walk on the street in fear must have been tough, right?"
"However, starting today, those days are over!"
Xuan Hao waved his hand with the heroic spirit of a savior, "Because—I've come!"
"I believe everyone already knows the peace treaties I established by heart.
If anyone has a bad memory and hasn't memorized them, feel free to come to me privately after class.
I will patiently and word by word help you memorize them."
Upon hearing "find him privately," several troublemakers in the front row, who had just been "educated" yesterday, trembled and shook their heads like rattles.
"Don't be nervous, everyone."
Xuan Hao waved his hand, looking heartbroken. "I hate violence the most.
I'm a pure pacifist. If it weren't for the fact that I was so enthusiastically harassed by so many ignorant classmates when I first arrived here, I really wouldn't want to make things so tense."
"But since things have come to this point, I won't waste any more words."
Xuan Hao's smile faded, his crimson-gold vertical pupils narrowed slightly, and a faint dragon's might instantly filled the entire area, making everyone's hearts tighten.
"I'll only say one thing."
"From today onwards, I'm in charge of the elementary and intermediate divisions of Martial Soul Academy!"
"As for the advanced classes above level 30..."
Xuan Hao narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on the distant teaching building, "When I reach the Great Soul Master level, I will personally go and negotiate amicably with the senior students."
"Without rules, nothing can be accomplished."
"I hope everyone will genuinely abide by my rules and maintain love and peace on campus.
Don't cause trouble, and don't try to challenge the bottom line."
Xuan Hao spread his hands, sighing with an innocent expression:
"Otherwise, we're all classmates. If I don't take action, it breaks the rules; if I do, it hurts the harmony.
What you're doing really puts me in a difficult position."
The expressions of the nearly one thousand students in the audience were incredibly varied, each harboring a thousand swear words they didn't know whether to utter or not.
Is it difficult to do?
When you were rubbing us in the ground, you didn't seem to have the slightest bit of a "difficult" feeling about it!
Of these nearly a thousand people, at least half have experienced the fear of being dominated by absolute power!
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