(PS: I made a slight revision to the end of the previous section to make the plot flow more smoothly. If anyone finds it abrupt, please read the final part of the previous section first, then this one.)
"Fang Yuan actually didn't come to class today. Look, his seat has been empty the whole time."
"How could he be so bold? This morning's lesson is taught by the Academy Elder, yet he still dared to skip it."
"This is bad. The elder's expression looks awful. It seems Fang Yuan is in for trouble. Hee hee hee."
Inside the academy, the youths murmured among themselves. Some gazes kept sweeping toward Fang Yuan's empty seat, then toward the Academy Elder's increasingly dark expression.
Ever since Fang Yuan had robbed and extorted others, he had placed himself in opposition to everyone. Seeing him suffer misfortune was something all the students delighted in.
The Academy Elder's face was livid as he explained the methods for nurturing one's Aperture, while secretly glancing at Fang Yuan's seat.
He sneered inwardly. "Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan. Just yesterday, I was worrying about not being able to catch you by the tail. Today, you deliver yourself right to my door. You are still only a fifteen-year-old boy. I overestimated you."
Most of his ugly expression was put on deliberately. His purpose was to seize this chance to make trouble for Fang Yuan, rein him in, and stamp out his increasingly flamboyant arrogance.
There was no denying that as time passed, Fang Yuan's momentum had grown ever more imposing, pressing the other students until they could barely breathe.
The Academy Elder did not wish to see one family dominate alone. What he wanted was a scene where a hundred flowers bloomed and a hundred schools of thought contended.
"Guards." The