Without Rules, Nothing Can Be Accomplished

The air inside the grand hall had grown somewhat heavy.

Bibi Dong rubbed her throbbing temples as she looked at Yue Guan below the steps, clearly wanting to speak but hesitating, his face full of conflict. The sense that something was off in her heart only grew stronger.

If he had merely defeated the entire school, or even become the School Bully, it would have been unexpected, but it only proved that the child was exceptionally gifted and skillful. It had even reflected well on her.

But Yue Guan's constipated expression made it clear that things were not so simple.

"Yue Guan."

Bibi Dong frowned slightly, her voice turning colder. "What else is there? Say it all at once. You should know that I don't like people telling me half of something and holding back the rest."

"Yes!" Yue Guan's body trembled, and he hurriedly lowered his head. With a pained expression, he said, "Your Excellency, if it were only fighting, then even if Xie Yue and Yan lost, it would merely mean they were inferior in skill. The members of the Education Committee would not have specifically sent me to report to you. It's just that... Xuan Hao went too far."

"Too far?" A bad feeling rose in Bibi Dong's heart.

"Yes." Yue Guan swallowed and forced himself to continue. "After Xuan Hao established his dominance over the academy, he did not stop there. He... he set down a new set of rules."

"What rules?"

Yue Guan explained with a bitter smile, "He stipulated that if new students had grudges to settle or wanted to challenge one another in a spar, they first had to report it to him."

"So-called reporting was really just paying him money. And they could only fight under his supervision, supposedly to prevent casualties and maintain peace on campus. If anyone fought in private, that meant they were disrespecting him, and he would personally teach them a lesson."

"Anyone wishing to challenge him had to first pay a five Gold Soul Coin appearance fee. They also had to sign a death waiver... no, a liability waiver, before they could fight. Otherwise, it counted as provoking the Pope's authority, and as for the consequences... they could see for themselves."

Bibi Dong: "..."

An appearance fee? A liability waiver?

What kind of nonsense was stuffed into that child's head?

And maintaining peace? He was clearly treating himself like some underground emperor!

"And that isn't all." Yue Guan's voice grew softer and softer, as though he found it difficult to even say it aloud. "What gave the members of the Education Committee the greatest headache was that he also collected... Protection Fees."

"Protection Fees?!" Bibi Dong's voice rose an octave.

"Y-Yes." Yue Guan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Anyone who had previously lost to him—Soul Masters between Levels Ten and Twenty—had to hand over one Gold Soul Coin every month as compensation for his emotional distress. He said it was to make up for the trauma his heart had suffered. Otherwise, he would beat them up every time he saw them."

"As for Soul Grandmasters above Level Twenty, since their worth was higher, they had to pay ten Gold Soul Coins each month... supposedly a strongman tax. Those who refused to pay would run into him on the road they had to take home after school every day, and then have a spar with him."

"Even Xie Yue and Yan reportedly went out of their way to avoid him now. They simply could not afford that humiliation."

"Outrageous!" Bibi Dong slammed her hand against the table. "This is Spirit Academy! A sacred place for cultivating elite Soul Masters! Not a den of bandits!"

"Where are the academy teachers? Where is the Education Committee? Are they all dead?! They are letting a six-year-old child run wild like this?!"

"W-Well..." Yue Guan shrank back, his face full of helplessness. "It isn't that the teachers do not want to interfere. They simply do not dare."

"Every time Xuan Hao enforced his rules, he invoked your name. He said he was the Pope's Personal Disciple, and that you personally told him that within Spirit Hall, aside from you, no one could control him."

"He also said that this was a privilege you had granted him to train his leadership skills and ability to consolidate resources."

"How could those teachers dare question your orders? Even the Spirit Douluo-level members of the Education Committee had been left speechless by that enormous claim. Seeing the snowball grow ever larger and its impact becoming increasingly severe, they finally sent this subordinate to seek your instructions..."

Dead Silence once again fell over the grand hall.

Bibi Dong felt her temples throb violently as a long-forgotten sense of powerlessness washed over her.

What a Xuan Hao!

What "leadership skills"! What "resource consolidation"!

When she had said, "Aside from me, no one can control you," she had meant to keep him from being constrained by tedious formalities, so he could cultivate without worry!

Yet this brat had taken a scrap of authority as an imperial decree and gone straight to monopolizing and extorting money at Spirit Academy?!

He had even dragged her, the Pope, out as his greatest "protector"!

Bibi Dong took several deep breaths and forcibly suppressed the anger in her heart.

This child was even more lawless than she had imagined.

"Go."

Bibi Dong pointed at the doors and said through gritted teeth, "Tell that little bastard to get his ass back here immediately!"

"I want to personally ask him exactly how he is consolidating these resources!"

"As you command, this subordinate will immedia—"

"Wait! I'll go myself!"

Spirit Academy, Central Plaza.

Originally used for opening ceremonies and major events, the place was now packed with a sea of people.

Nearly a thousand students stood neatly beneath the stage: first-year freshmen from the Junior Department, as well as Soul Grandmasters from the Intermediate Department who already possessed two Soul Rings and were under fifteen years old.

There was no clamor, no whispering. The scene was so quiet that one could have heard a needle drop.

Every gaze carried three parts reverence, three parts resentment, and four parts anger they dared not voice, all focused on the temporary platform ahead.

There, a Silver-haired Boy stood with his hands clasped behind his back, pacing back and forth like an old official, his face wearing an expression of disappointment at their failure to live up to expectations.

"Classmates, I'm very disappointed."

Xuan Hao stood on the platform, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. He sighed, his voice youthful yet carrying an eerie authority. "The Spirit Academy used to be far too chaotic. Fights broke out at the slightest provocation, and private duels happened at every turn. What is that? That's barbarism!"

"You are all future elite soul masters—civilized people, respectable people! You're not monkeys from the Star Dou Great Forest that only know how to bare their teeth and snarl. How can you start throwing punches just because of a disagreement?"

Below the stage, quite a few Bruised and Swollen students' mouths twitched violently.

Civilized people?

Try holding back the strength you used to punch people into flowerbeds before talking to us about civilization!

Before this lord showed up, the academy may have encouraged competition, but at least there had been limits.

Ever since this guy arrived, he had truly been Toying With everyone like monkeys. If they refused to accept it, he beat them until they did.

Xuan Hao cleared his throat and continued his speech:

"Before I came here, not a single person thought there was anything wrong with this. What does that show? It shows that your ideological awareness still needs improvement!"

"I know that quite a few of you here were bullied by older students when you first enrolled. Those days when you had to watch your back even while walking down the road—they weren't easy, were they?"

"However, starting today, those days are over!"

Xuan Hao swept out an arm, carrying himself with the grandeur of a savior. "Because—I'm here!"

"I trust everyone has already memorized the peace treaties I laid down before. If anyone has a poor memory and failed to remember them, you're welcome to come find me privately after class. I'll be very patient and help carve them into your brains, word by word."

Upon hearing "find me privately," several troublemakers in the front row who had just been "educated" yesterday shuddered all over, shaking their heads like rattles.

"Don't be nervous, everyone."

Xuan Hao waved a hand, wearing a heartbroken expression. "I hate violence more than anything. I am a pure pacifist. If so many inconsiderate classmates hadn't so enthusiastically harassed me the moment I arrived, I truly wouldn't have wanted to make things this tense."

"But since things have already come to this, I won't waste any more breath."

Xuan Hao's smile faded. His Crimson Gold Vertical Pupils narrowed slightly, and a faint Dragon Might instantly spread across the entire venue, tightening everyone's hearts.

"I only have one thing to say."

"From today onward, I have the final say in the Junior Department and Intermediate Department of the Spirit Academy!"

"As for the advanced division for those above level thirty..." Xuan Hao narrowed his eyes, looking toward the distant teaching building. "Once I become a Soul Grandmaster, I will personally go have a friendly discussion with the senior brothers and sisters."

"Without rules, there can be no order."

"I hope everyone will abide by my rules from the bottom of their hearts and uphold love and peace on campus. Don't act recklessly, and don't try to test the bottom line."

Xuan Hao spread his hands and sighed innocently.

"Otherwise, we're all classmates. If I don't act, the rules are broken. If I do act, it hurts our harmony. You really make things difficult for me."

The Facial Expressions of the nearly thousand students below were exceptionally colorful. Countless curses rose in their hearts, and they did not know whether to say them or not.

Difficult?

When you had us pinned to the ground and rubbed our faces in the dirt, you certainly didn't look the slightest bit troubled!

Of these nearly thousand people, at least half had experienced the terror of being dominated by absolute strength!