Chapter 95: The War over the Genius
Translator: Ash Editor: Geoffrey
Lifting his wrist to look at the mini crystal processor, he saw a message sent by the district’s police department.
"Sir Li!"
Zhao Shude was much like a drowning man grabbing the last straw as he hastily asked, "You came at just the right time. Currently, we are facing an unprecedented situation. A large crowd of disabled soldiers has gathered at the entrance of Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School. Quickly help me think of some way to resolve this!"
In the hologram, Commissioner Li, who wore crystal sunglasses, seemed as if he was molded from iron and steel. He calmly and coldly said:
"Principal Zhao, I have specifically come to let you know that the Disabled Servicemen Association plans to hold a large-scale victory parade for the next three days to commemorate the victory in the Battle of 9907 Peak—an extremely arduous battle to regain control of 9907 Peak 153 years ago in which two squads of Federation soldiers put up a fearless fight and had repulsed the onslaught of seven demon beasts four times by just the afternoon!"
"The police force has already approved their application for the victory parade, so it is a legitimate parade that is protected by the law!"
"Of course, if the opposite party is causing a disturbance, throwing garbage on the ground or destroying public property, or have entered the campus and are destroying property, then your school, by all means, can report to us, the police. We will definitely take serious action should such a thing occurs. We will absolutely not show favoritism just because the other party is disabled servicemen."
Zhao Shude was rendered speechless. He once again peered through the window.
There wasn't any noise nor was there anyone throwing garbage on the ground; absolutely nothing. Thousands of disabled soldiers like a frozen sea stood silently outside the campus.
Sometimes, silence was also a kind of noise—a noise more deafening than any other noise.
Zhao Shude's lips quivered. He really had nothing to say. Even if he wanted the police to intervene, he must still provide a reason. However, the other party was neither hitting you nor shouting at you; they just quietly stood outside as they deeply stared at him from all directions. No matter where you looked, they weren't breaking any laws!
Zhao Shude was completely disheartened as he disappointedly said, "Sir Li, I know our Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School is in the wrong here, but please show us some way!"
Commissioner Li heaved a sigh and said, "As your friend, let me give you a piece of advice—make the person who first asked for Li Yao’s suspension stand before the Disabled Servicemen Association to explain everything clearly!"
"As if I could do that!"
In his heart, Zhao Shude really wanted to hand over the Helian father and son duo. However, the two would definitely be skinned alive and swallowed without even having been dipped in vinegar by the large group of disabled veterans—not even dregs would remain of them!
"Alright, that's all I can say. You better take care of yourself. It's time for me to get off work!"
Commissioner Li gradually stood up. Very slowly and imperturbably, he started unbuttoning his deep blue police uniform before taking it off and opening a suitcase that had been gathering dust for god knows how long.
"Sir Li, you..."
Zhao Shude was somewhat at a loss as he watched the other party change into a well-ironed black military uniform.
Commissioner Li took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of spiritual prosthetic eyes that shone in a red aura from the depths of his eye sockets.
Enunciating word by word, he said, "I should have told you that in the past I had lost both my eyes in Demon Beast Wasteland. I am also a member of the Disabled Servicemen Association. Now that I am off duty, I need to quickly leave and participate in the victory parade. Goodbye!"
"Swish!"
The hologram went pitch black, as the opposite party had simply cut off the connection.
In the darkness, Zhao Shude’s facial muscles began to twitch uncontrollably. His lips quivered for a long time as if he wanted to say something; however, in the end, not one word came out.
Outside the window, everything was shrouded in a deathly silence. The disabled veterans, as if assimilating into the darkness of the night, looked from afar, giving off an appearance akin to a giant black beast that was trying to thoroughly devour Zhao Shude’s soul.
"Beep Beep Beep!" The mini crystal processor on his wrist started vibrating.
Zhao Shude was already scared out of his wits. He simply wasn’t in any state to care about it; however, the caller seemed to be very stubborn, as the mini crystal processor kept on ringing.
Just as he was about to curse, lowering his head to look at the crystal processor, his entire body was struck by a chill.
He suddenly jumped up. First and foremost, he sent everyone out of the principal office and locked the door. Only then did he respectfully receive the call as he bowed and said in a flattering tone, "Elder Zhou, how are you doing!?"
Zhou Yin seemed as if he had aged by a dozen years. He very gloomily stared at Zhao Shude for a while before speaking slowly:
"What do you think!? In just a short span of one hour, the shares of our Crimson Nimbus Sect fell by more than 4 points—and it still has not shown any signs of stabilizing! Do you know what this means? Do you know how much money had been burned off?"
Zhao Shude's whole body started shaking.
With a completely deadpan look, Zhou Yin continued, "In addition, I had recommended a Core Formation Stage cultivator's wife to invest $200,000 in Crimson Nimbus Sect's shares just yesterday. This cultivator has quite a bit of influence in the northeastern region. I have already been communicating with him for over two years, and it was highly possible for me to persuade him to heavily invest in our Crimson Nimbus Sect, or perhaps even join our Crimson Nimbus Sect as an Interim Elder. It would have helped the Crimson Nimbus Sect to disseminate its influence in the northeastern area. Now, he is telling me that he wants to reconsider the whole investment plan—tell me, how do you think I should be feeling?"
Zhao Shude face completely went pale; he was almost about to faint.
He was extremely angry to the point that he was ready to do anything. While gritting his teeth, he said, "Elder Zhou, after all is said and done, it was all that little bastard's, Li Yao's, fault. He brought such big trouble to the Crimson Nimbus Sect. We must definitely kill him!"
"Alright, go ahead and kill him," Zhou Yin coldly said.
"Me? Elder You, as you know, I'm just a teacher; I am not a battle-type cultivator..." Zhao Shude stammered as he was taken back for a moment.
"Oh, so you were a teacher. But from the way the Slaughter Qi that keeps pouring out of your mouth, I thought you were the boss of some triad... Zhao Shude, do you even have a brain!?"
Zhou Yin stared at him and even furiously roared, "Who do you think you are!? Do you think you some ancient cultivator from forty millenniums ago!? Do you think you can kill anyone at the drop of a hat? Don't you know about the federation's laws? Don’t you know the punishment for a cultivator is even more serious than a normal criminal? Don't you know how many eyes are watching our Crimson Nimbus Sect? Don't you know the Crimson Nimbus Sect has eight Elders, seven of which are just waiting for me to make a fool of myself? If truly something happens to Li Yao, there will be no need for a police investigation—even an idiot would know that it was us! Do you want to completely destroy me and the Crimson Nimbus Sect, ah!?"
Zhao Shude was frightened out of his wits from his scolding; he did not dare to reply with even one word.
The more Zhou Yin spoke, the angrier he got. If he could come out of the hologram, his finger would have already come out and pressed down on the tip of Zhao Shude’s nose. "At least use your f**king brain! Our Crimson Nimbus Sect is an honest and upright sect who respects justice and abides by the laws. There is still room to salvage our current predicament; however, the moment we are associated with murder or have murdered a member of the Disabled Servicemen Association, then it will be beyond redemption! Murder… If you like to kill so much, then why didn't you join some devil path sect and become a devil cultivator? Tell you what, if killing someone was not a crime, then the Sect Master and the other Elders would have already killed me. Before they could kill me, I would have first chopped a pig like you into pieces!"
"I, I—" Zhao Shude looked mournful as if he was in bereavement; he didn't know what to do.
Zhou Yin glared at him with a gaze that was as fierce as a tiger’s.
His gaze seemed to be able to penetrate space and directly pierced two holes in the pits of Zhao Shude's stomach.
Only having stared for a full minute did he finally speak while gritting his teeth, "Forget it. This is not going to help us in any way. In short, someone has to take the fall for such a big incident. Who do you think should be responsible for this incident? You, me, or Helian Ba?"
Zhao Shude was stunned for a moment before quickly replying:
"Elder Zhao, in fact, I know little of this matter. The whole thing was orchestrated by Helian Ba behind my back. As you also know, the Helian Family's influence in Floating Spear City is not small. Although he is just a trustee, many people are very much willing to give him face. It is easy for him to go behind my back and do some shady dealings. Additionally, since you, Elder Zhou, have to deal with thousands of problems every day and are busy with work, it is quite possible for you to hoodwinked by him once."
Zhou Yin's complexion finally eased up a little. He nodded his head and said, "En, this is reasonable. It would be better for you to think it over and give me the specifics. I will also go to Sect Master and explain it to him. Are you clear? Right... Old Ding of the Seventh Primary School affiliated with our Crimson Nimbus Sect is going to be retiring in a month. After his retirement, you are going to take over his position as principal!"
"Ah?"
"Why, don't want it? There is also a kindergarten. The Ninth Kindergarten is lacking a vice principal, do you want to go?"
"No no no, the Seventh Primary School... the Seventh Primary School is ok!"
Zhao Shude turned pale with fright as he stammered before taking a look at the hologram once more. However, by the time he looked up, he had discovered that Zhou Yin had already cut the connection.
Zhao Shude was frozen for a moment. The gloomy look on his face suddenly changed as he ruthlessly stomped and broke seven or eight tiles.
"Helian Ba, Helian Lie—you father and son can both go to hell!"
...
Most of Floating Spear City had been shocked by the victory parade. As far as the instigator of the entire situation, Li Yao, was concerned, he was totally oblivious to the whole thing, as if he was in the eye of the storm.
In an open space just outside the low-rent residential area—the "Morning Sun Village", Li Yao was surrounded by many people. If one were to take a look from the sky, the dense crowd of people would give off the impression of a vortex of humans.
Not everyone here was a journalist or a government official; there was also a bunch of recruitment staff from the "Nine Elite Universities".
Floating Spear City was an important cultivation city in the federation. Every year during the college entrance examination, the "Nine Elite Universities" would send a bunch of recruitment staff to be stationed here.
However, in the recent years, these people had it easy because most of the good seedlings with potential would have already been unearthed during the "Limit Challenge Competition", and they would have already signed a contract with one of the "Nine Elite Universities" in advance. After the college entrance examination, they would then just have to complete the formalities of the contract, that's all.
In contrast to the previous year, an earth-shattering miracle had occurred this year. Li Yao, a dark horse, suddenly leaped out of a corner, and in one fell swoop, he sat on the throne of Floating Spear City's champion of the college entrance examination. And to the surprise of these recruiters, Li Yao had yet to sign a contract with any of the universities.
Li Yao was completely free; it was possible for him to choose any university!
All the recruitment staff crazily rushed over. On one side, they were shouting at the top of their lungs for application to the headquarters of their respective school, while on the other, they staggeringly charged their way to Mining Clan High School and surrounded Li Yao. They were not willing to budge even an inch.
How could they? Ever since the start of the cultivation era forty millenniums ago, the most important thing had always been cultivation talent!
"Student Li Yao, please choose our Star Nebula University. I just got the approval from the university. All your tuition fee will be exempted!"
"Student Li Yao, our university will not only exempt your tuition fee, we can also offer you with a premium scholarship!"
"Student Li Yao, please consider our Federation's First Military College. As long as you enter our college, you will receive the status of an officer and can directly join the federation’s army once you graduate, acquiring the rank of at least major!"
Looking at the fierce, cruel, and grim looks on every one of the recruitment staff, Li Yao started to have goosebumps all over his body. He incessantly said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry. Everybody's conditions are very appealing, please give me some time to consider it. Can't you give me a few days time for me go back and decide?"
"Absolutely not!" All the recruitment staff shook their head.
Are you joking with us? These people were all well experienced in this industry. They were all crystal clear of each other's shady dealings.
Once Li Yao returned to his home, it was highly possible for someone to secretly sneak into his house in the middle of the night and make some private deal with him. They could possibly resort to some dirty tricks like sending a beauty.
Li Yao was young and filled with passion. It was quite possible for him to lose his head in heat and lust, and he might very well agree.
If so, then they might as well remain here and present generous conditions, competing fair and square.
Li Yao was dumbfounded. He kept scratching his head as he didn't know how to get rid of these people.
At this moment, a travel-worn and weary flying shuttle screamed its way here. Its door had yet to be open, but the strong imposing manner shocked everyone in the field.
An expert has arrived!
Once the door was opened, an old man dressed in a purple robe flew out and landed before Li Yao with an ashamed look on his face.
It was Deep Sea University's expert refiner, Professor Xie Tingxian!