This Proposal is Acceptable

Qian Daoliu chatted for a few more sentences, but due to the barrier in their identities, they couldn't truly connect.

Thus, he took his leave. It wasn't until he was far away that Chen An finally withdrew his concealment measures.

If I'm not mistaken, the gods can't reach me for now.

Chen An analyzed the current situation; that feeling of being watched only occurred when Qian Daoliu appeared. Coupled with the fact that the sensation vanished the moment he withdrew his defenses, it was enough to confirm his hypothesis.

He relaxed significantly. The pressure from the Angel God had been immense; the last time he felt such a thing was, well, the last time—he couldn't even remember how long ago that was.

Tsk, time to renovate again.

Worrying endlessly about a single matter wasn't Chen An's style. When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road; when the boat reaches the pier, it will naturally align. There was still time, so why fear Him?

Looking around, Chen An gave a bitter smile. The buildings had been reinforced with arrays, so the aftermath of the battle hadn't caused much damage.

Only the training ground where he stood was in shambles, covered in rubble and riddled with craters of all sizes.

He felt exhausted just thinking about it. Repairing this would take hours—a complete waste of time.

After a few simple repairs, he lost the heart to continue. He figured he would ask the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect if they had any professionals tomorrow and just call it a day.

His mind was currently on next year's enrollment.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was going to send people to participate in the assessment, and Martial Soul Hall would be sending people as well.

They would inevitably have their own little schemes, but Chen An wasn't afraid of that. He didn't care about their status, nor was he worried about his students learning martial arts and teaching them to others.

After all, the techniques of the heavens were as vast as the sea; just speaking of martial arts on the level of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he had countless to spare.

His ambition was to build Phantom Star into the supreme institution of the entire Douluo continent, and to support this place that had allowed him to live a second life.

It was just that the petty schemes of the sects still left a sour taste in his mouth.

It seems I'll have to bring out the methods buried in the Heart-Forging Hall for next year's enrollment.

The Heart-Forging Hall contained methods for questioning the heart. His original intention was for it to be an interrogation room, but since the academy didn't have that need yet, it had transformed into its current state.

Using these methods for new student intake would certainly help with screening, though the methods were a bit too intense; it would be hard to avoid harming innocent students.

At most, if ten people were checked, ten would be injured.

Forget it, this short period is perfect for giving the students a break, just right for making some modifications.

Chen An rubbed his forehead and muttered. It was a massive project, but for the sake of his cute students, it was necessary—very necessary.

Oh, right, he also had to limit their numbers.

Chen An realized he hadn't set a cap on their enrollment, so he did some quick mental math and came up with an idea.

He decided on 36 students, mirroring the class sizes of his past life's high schools. As for the rest, he'd let Qian Daoliu and Ning Fengzhi deal with the headache.

However, this would inevitably involve Bibi Dong. He sighed, took out his notebook, flipped to the first page, and scribbled out a few lines.

She shouldn't be stupid enough to intervene again after today's lesson, right?

He wasn't very confident about Bibi Dong. She was a volatile existence, and her mind was harder to fathom than any normal woman's.

Chen An's expression turned serious as he looked into the distance. There were some things he could be indifferent about, but other things were his bottom line.

He didn't mind where his students chose to work after graduation; he considered himself the Whampoa Military Academy of the Douluo world, and in fact, he had always held such intentions.

But if the continental powers intervened forcefully, it would no longer be a relationship between a school and an employer, but an interference in internal sovereignty.

Thinking this far, Chen An stopped dwelling on it. He went to the principal's office and used a Soul Tool to notify the students in the dorms that the incident was over.

He also took the opportunity to announce the holiday to the students.

If one were to go to the dorms right now, they would hear wailing everywhere.

"No, Principal! I love to cultivate!"

That was the general tone. The few who weren't wailing were mostly secretly training in their rooms.

Naturally, there were informants for such things—or "double agents," as he called them—who reported back to Chen An.

Hearing this, Chen An felt a bit troubled and muttered to himself.

"Nowadays, there are actually teachers who don't assign homework, and students are fighting to shout, 'I love to study, I want to do homework!'"

The next morning arrived.

The sun rose as usual, and while the students were listless, as if something was missing from their lives, Ning Fengzhi arrived with a team of people and several carts of resources.

"Principal Chen, this is a repair crew. They are a donation to the academy, and you don't need to pay their wages."

Chen An hadn't even sent word to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect yet. Their information network was so efficient; they were truly worthy of being one of the Upper Three Sects.

Ning Fengzhi had clearly heard about yesterday's situation; otherwise, why would he come in person, accompanied by so many supplies?

"Thank you for your kindness, Sect Master Ning."

For a wealthy merchant who came to his door, provided tangible benefits to the academy, and was easy to talk to, his attitude was naturally much better.

For a moment, it was hard to tell who was buttering up whom; to be precise, it was mutually beneficial.

While they were talking, another group arrived, bearing the insignia of Martial Soul Hall. Leading them were the two Douluo, Chrysanthemum and Ghost.

In the distance, a graceful and noble woman watched, though she held no hostile intent; it was as if she had only come to confirm something.

When Chen An looked over, the other party even offered a salute of a peer.

"Dean Chen, this is your land deed, and these are the maintenance crews responsible for helping your esteemed academy with repairs."

Chrysanthemum Guan spoke up, his tone carrying a hint of humility; he had come this time under the decree of Pope Bibi Dong.

Even if he hadn't, he would have acted the same way, as the events of yesterday were still fresh in his mind.

He acted as if he hadn't seen Ning Fengzhi at all, keeping things strictly professional.

Thus, no conflict erupted between the two sides; it could be said this was their most calm and composed meeting yet.

"The Pope also asked me to inquire: what title would you like to bestow upon yourself?"

Chen An waved his hand and spoke unhurriedly.

"No rush. I have a title in mind, but I feel I am not yet worthy of it, so I shall not seal it for now."

What he had in mind was the title of Sage Teacher, but while his strength was sufficient, his achievements were not yet enough.

Upon hearing this, Chrysanthemum Guan said nothing more and withdrew, leaving behind the supplies and the maintenance crews.

"Then I shall also take my leave."

Ning Fengzhi said his piece and departed with Bone Douluo, also leaving behind their own supplies and maintenance crews.

Seeing this, Chen An spent a few credits to have the students move the supplies into the warehouse.

He split the remaining maintenance crews from both sides, pairing them up so they could supervise one another before letting them begin the repairs.

Clearly, this method was effective; no corner-cutting occurred.

After all, whenever they saw someone from the other side slacking off, they would chime in with a remark.

"So, this is the standard of maintenance workers from Martial Soul Hall (Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect). Truly an eye-opener."

As a result, one could see faces turning red with anger on a daily basis.

"Master, I want to go to the Soul Fighting Arena."

"Dean, we propose that the students go to the Soul Fighting Arena in teams."

One day, as Chen An was resting in his office, watching the training grounds being repaired, his three personal disciples and the academy's three teachers came up together to make their request.

For a moment, he didn't know what to make of it, his instinct being to refuse.

Because he had truly seen black-market boxing matches, and to him, there wasn't much difference between those and an arena.

"Give me your reasons."

Since so many people had come together to propose this, there was naturally a rationale, and it wouldn't hurt to listen.

"Master, I want to obtain the tempering that comes from real combat."

Zhu Zhuqing took the lead, and the others followed suit, their reasoning much the same.

It was the idea that skills only become true skills through combat, otherwise, they were just flashy moves, and the students needed to be tempered as well.

After pondering for a moment, Chen An nodded and said.

"Your proposal is acceptable."