When system cheat becomes rampant!

At the sight of Elder Luo's arrival, Wei Tong felt as if he were an inflated balloon pricked by a needle, his aura deflating instantaneously, and the overwhelming momentum with which he had rebuked Ye Changfeng weakened significantly.
Continue reading on empire

His expression fierce but inner resolve fragile, he said, "Professor Luo, what do you mean by this!"

"So young yet hard of hearing? Do you need me to repeat myself?"

Elder Luo walked over and gave Wei Tong a sidelong glance.

From that casual look alone, a cold sweat broke out on Wei Tong's back.

He could bluff the aura of an orifice-transforming stage, but the problem was—it was just a bluff!

His actual cultivation level was still in the late stages of God Refining; he couldn't even beat Ye Changfeng, let alone Elder Luo, a notorious heavyweight.

That was a man who had once directly killed an SSR-level martial artist!

What was he, an SSR literary Daoist, in comparison?

"I am the dean now!" Wei Tong still emphasized, albeit with trepidation.

Having just arrived at Liangzhou University this year, Elder Luo had opposed his appointment from the start. However, since Wei Tong was assigned by the Alliance and Elder Luo had already retired, the opposition was futile.

"Do I need to hang a sign around your neck?" Elder Luo retorted. "So that others will be aware of it?"

"You—"

Choked by Elder Luo's words, Wei Tong's face turned the color of eggplant.

Elder Luo was not the type to pay lip service; he would scold or speak his mind whether one was the dean or the chancellor, without any pretense or insincere pleasantries.

"Yuchi Shen, as the head of the Academic Affairs Office, do you approve of an N-level student being a team captain?"

Wei Tong seemed to seek affirmation from Yuchi Shen, knowing that Yuchi had deliberately made things difficult for Xiang Beifei during the entrance assessments by adding extra challenges.

In his view, Yuchi Shen should be standing with him, supporting the new dean of the Martial Arts College.

Yuchi Shen couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids, still speaking in his annoying tone: "To be a captain requires great strength, and he has that qualification."

Wei Tong's expression froze! Yuchi Shen was not backing him up?

"Eh?"

Xiang Beifei was quite surprised, looking at Yuchi Shen with some confusion.

This time, Yuchi Shen uncharacteristically refrained from mocking or ridiculing Xiang Beifei!

He didn't take the opportunity to echo Wei Tong and target him? Not even to kick him while he was down?

However, Yuchi Shen only gave Xiang Beifei a cold look, his eyes still filled with disgust.

Yet when Yuchi Shen looked at Wei Tong, the disdain in his eyes deepened, even accompanied by a trace of contempt.

"Compared to me, does he despise Wei Tong more?" Xiang Beifei mused as he examined Yuchi Shen's system interface.

Yuchi Shen possessed a "Blade of the Seven Sins" ability, tailored to judge others for seven sins.

[Judgment against Wei Tong—pride value: 550, envy value: 220, wrath value: 201, sloth value: 9, greed value: 109, gluttony value: 70; lust value: 154]

Of the seven sins, five exceeded the threshold in Yuchi Shen's assessment of Wei Tong!

This man, except for the diligence involved in organizing things, showed alarmingly high values in other areas.

It seemed that out of the seven sins, Wei Tong embodied five!

Could this be the reason for Yuchi Shen's disdain for Wei Tong?

---

Li Zimu and the others also noticed that something was amiss with the atmosphere. They knew that Dean Wei was a literary Daoist, an SSR no less, with extraordinary systematic talents.

But why did such an SSR dean appear to have no prestige among the teachers?

Especially the old man eating sunflower seeds—who normally, when they saw him, was just seen wearing a security guard's uniform, basking in the sun at the school gate, appearing utterly neglectful of his duties—how could he have intimidated Wei Tong, an SSR, with his presence?

"Are we not leaving yet? Shall we stay here and grow mold?" Elder Luo glanced at Wei Tong's tidy office and snorted derisively.

Wei Tong's expression subtly changed as he asked, "Are you also going?"

"What year have I not gone? Should I rely on you to hold the fort?"

Elder Luo stretched contentedly.

Wei Tong's face darkened. This was his first year at the college, and he was not very familiar with the new students' martial arts competitions.

However, he was aware that despite his formal position, Elder Luo's implicit status within the school was, evidently, greater than his own. At least in the eyes of teachers and professors, Elder Luo's word carried weight, and among professors from other schools, he was someone many experts were wary of.

If Elder Luo intended to go, Wei Tong could not refuse.

"Let's go, let's set out."

Ye Changfeng paid no heed to Wei Tong, signaled to Xiang Beifei and the others, and then turned and left the office.

——

The territory of Jiuzhou is quite vast. It's like an irregular circle, which is then divided into nine sectors with a center point. The nine elite universities, each tasked with protecting the borders, are located on the edge of Jiuzhou. Since Liangzhou University and Qingzhou University are geographically opposite, traveling to Qingzhou University almost means crossing the entire territory of Jiuzhou, which can't be done directly through a Teleportation Array.

They opted for a convenient mode of transportation and decided to fly.

In this world, with the assistance of systems, technology is also powerful. The airplanes are indeed embedded with various types of transportation and acceleration Formations. Since it's within the territory of Jiuzhou, transportation is not as restricted as it is in the wild lands outside, so crossing by airplane takes about two hours, although it's expensive.

They went straight to first class, and the school wasn't stingy about this.

While on the plane, Xiang Beifei couldn't help but wonder about Wei Tong being a literary Daoist as a dean, so he quietly inquired, "Mr. Ye, it seems like you all don't think very highly of our dean?"

Ye Changfeng glanced at Wei Tong, who was reluctant to sit with them, and then said, "The Martial Arts College should not be managed by someone from the literary Dao."

This had been a tradition for thousands of years, and Wei Tong was clearly the first to break this tradition.

Xiang Beifei said, "I thought it was up to Liangzhou University to decide who serves as the dean."

"It used to be, but things have started to change in recent years," Ye Changfeng adjusted his glasses and said, "Wei Tong was transferred here by the alliance. You could say that this is a measure the alliance has taken against our Martial Arts College of Liangzhou University."

"A measure?"

"Because of that Elder Xianhe of our house."

Ye Changfeng looked at the dozing Elder Luo with a sigh and said, "Ever since he killed that SSR, the alliance has been dissatisfied with him, and that's also the reason why Wei Tong came here—to balance or to surveil, in any case, it's the alliance trying to intervene in the affairs of Liangzhou University."

"Was that SSR killed by Elder Luo very important?" Xiang Beifei asked.

"The identity is secondary, it's Elder Luo's attitude that mattered. After the beast tide was repelled, many higher-ups had urged Elder Luo to spare the SSR, believing that SSR Awakeners were useful to the alliance. But Elder Luo disagreed, saying, 'If I spare this SSR's life, then who is responsible for the hundreds of Martial Daoists and civilians that the SSR has killed?'"

With the memory of that event heavy on his mind, Ye Changfeng slowly spoke:

"At that moment, after Elder Luo spoke those words, one of the URs from the alliance hierarchy bluntly retorted, saying: 'One SSR's life is worth far more than those seven or eight hundred low-level Martial Daoists and humble civilians!'"

"Then Elder Luo looked indifferently at that alliance high-up and in front of everyone, beheaded the SSR, spraying blood on the face of the UR. The UR didn't even react before he was completely drenched in blood."

Ye Changfeng had been present at the time and had witnessed the scene, which remains vivid in his memory to this day.

The scene was bloody and also very decisive.

The bright red blood clearly represented Elder Luo's stance and attitude.

"I will never forget the words Elder Luo left for those from the alliance after killing the man," Ye Changfeng looked at Elder Luo, his expression solemn, his tone unable to hide his reverence for Elder Luo—

"He said: 'I, being an SR, have killed an SSR. If you think the SSR's life is more precious than mine, come and kill me!'"

No one dared to make a move!

No one dared to block!

Even that UR was intimidated!

The scene had made an extremely deep impression on Ye Changfeng, and even the mere memory of it made his blood surge with passion.

Martial spirit is something many Martial Daoists develop through prolonged battles against desolate beasts.

Jiuzhou is never short of people willing to fight valiantly in bloodshed to protect the land, who, for the sake of defending the weak and their territory, battle desolate beasts on the front lines, reclaiming the land piece by piece from the beasts at the cost of their lives.

But in the mouth of that UR Awakener, his statement that "an SSR's life is worth more than those of lower-level Martial Daoists and humble civilians" outright denied the significance of those Martial Daoists fighting desolate beasts on the front lines.

It was as if these low-level Martial Daoists were merely tools in the hands of URs and SSRs, and their battles against desolate beasts had changed from "protecting the people and territory of Jiuzhou" to "maintaining the status of the UR and SSR Awakeners."

These words had deeply chilled Elder Luo.

Many in the alliance were SSRs and URs, who controlled the entire order of Jiuzhou and suppressed those low-level System Awakeners who were discontent.

However, it seemed they had forgotten one thing—what was the original intention behind the formation of the Jiuzhou alliance.

The alliance was meant to protect the civilians and the hope of humanity, ensuring that humans were not overtaken by desolate beasts, and to keep the flame of human civilization burning.

It wasn't to uphold the dignity of SSRs and URs, much less to maintain their rule.

In these matters, the alliance had completely lost sight of its original purpose.

——

Xiang Beifei rested his chin in his hands as he watched the old man whose snores lifted his beard with each breath.

The old man's white beard was unruly, never seen combed, always sticking out every which way whenever he slept.

After a while, Xiang Beifei smiled to himself.

The fiery passion of a person can indeed burn most endearingly.

Perhaps this is a flame I should learn to carry?

Or perhaps it's already burning within me?

"Have I drawn fire upon myself?"

Xiang Beifei didn't know, but he was aware that he needed to do something with his abilities to help that flame grow stronger.

After all, torches are meant to be passed on to one another.