This Proposal Could Work

Qian Daoliu chatted for a little while longer, but the gap in their status made it impossible for them to find much to talk about.

So he took his leave. Only after he had gone some distance did Chen An withdraw his concealment technique.

"If I'm not mistaken, the gods can't keep tabs on me right now."

Chen An analyzed the situation. He had only felt that watchful gaze when Qian Daoliu showed up. And now that he had withdrawn the technique without feeling it again, that was enough to prove his guess was right.

He relaxed considerably. The Angel God's pressure had weighed heavily on him. The last time he'd felt anything like it was... well, the last time, and that had been who knew how long ago.

"Tsk. I have to renovate the place all over again."

Worrying himself sick over one thing wasn't Chen An's style. When you reached the mountain, there'd be a path; when the boat reached the bridge, it would straighten itself out. There was still time. What was there to fear?

He looked around and could only smile wryly. The buildings had all been reinforced with formations, so the aftershocks of the battle hadn't done much damage.

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

He was exhausted just thinking about it. Repairing the place would take several hours—an utter waste of time.

After making a few quick repairs, he lost the will to continue. He figured he'd ask the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect tomorrow if they had any professionals and just call them in.

His mind was on next year's admissions.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would send people to take the entrance exam, and Spirit Hall would send people too.

They were bound to have their own little schemes. Chen An wasn't afraid of that, nor did he care about their status. He wasn't even worried that his students might teach others martial arts after learning them.

After all, the cultivation techniques of the myriad heavens were as vast as the sea. Even martial arts on the level of the Mysterious Heaven Skill were a dime a dozen here.

He was determined to turn Phantom Star into the highest-ranking academy in all of Douluo, and to support the place that had given him a second life.

Still, the sects' little schemes left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Looks like I'll have to bring out the measures buried in the Heart-Forging Hall for next year's admissions."

The Heart-Forging Hall had methods for probing people's hearts. Originally, he'd meant it to be an interrogation room, but the academy had no need for one yet, so it had become what it was now.

Those methods could help screen the new students, but they were far too intense. Innocent students might get hurt.

Out of ten people examined, at least ten would get hurt.

"Forget it. The students are on break for a while anyway. I might as well renovate it."

Chen An muttered as he rubbed his forehead. It was a major project, but for his adorable students, it was absolutely necessary. Absolutely necessary.

Oh, right. He also had to limit how many students they could send.

Chen An realized he hadn't set a limit. He did a quick calculation and came up with a plan.

He settled on thirty-six, the number of students in a high school class in his previous life. Qian Daoliu and Ning Fengzhi could worry about the rest.

Still, this was bound to involve Bibi Dong. He sighed, took out his notebook, flipped to the very first page, and crossed out a few things.

"She shouldn't be stupid enough to meddle after seeing what happened today, right?"

He wasn't sure about Bibi Dong. You never knew when she might fly off the handle; her thoughts were harder to read than those of an ordinary woman.

Chen An's expression turned serious as he gazed into the distance. There were some things he could let go, but some things were his bottom line.

He didn't care where his students chose to work after graduating. He could consider himself Douluo's Whampoa Military Academy, and besides, he'd always had something similar in mind.

But if the mainland's powers forcefully interfered, it would no longer be a matter of schools and businesses. It would be an infringement on domestic affairs and sovereignty.

At that point, Chen An stopped thinking about it. He went to the principal's office and used a Soul Tool to inform the students in the dormitories that the matter was over.

He also let them know they were on break.

If you went to the dormitories just then, you could hear wails everywhere.

"Nooo, Principal! I love cultivating!"

That was more or less the refrain. The few who weren't wailing were secretly training harder in their dormitories.

There were naturally informants for this sort of thing—in other words, snitches—who reported it all to Chen An.

When Chen An heard, he couldn't help feeling a little troubled. He muttered under his breath,

"Now there are students who, when a teacher doesn't assign homework, rush to shout, 'I love studying! I want homework!'"

By early the next morning,

the sun rose as usual. The students looked listless, as if life had lost some of its flavor. Ning Fengzhi arrived with a group of people and several carts of supplies.

"Dean Chen, this is a repair crew, donated to the academy free of charge. Your academy won't have to pay their wages either."

Chen An hadn't even sent a message to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Their information network really was impressive—no wonder they were one of the Upper Three Sects.

Ning Fengzhi had obviously heard about what happened yesterday. Otherwise, why would he have come in person and brought so many supplies?

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

When a wealthy benefactor came to your door, genuinely helped the academy, and was easy to deal with, it was only natural to treat him well.

For a moment, it was hard to say who was buttering up whom. More accurately, they both benefited.

While they were talking, another group arrived. They bore Spirit Hall's insignia, and Chrysanthemum Guan and Ghost Douluo led them.

In the distance, a graceful, richly dressed woman watched them, but she showed no hostility. It seemed she had come to see things for herself.

When Chen An looked over, she even greeted him with the formalities one would use with an equal.

"Dean Chen, these are your land deeds, and this is a repair crew to help renovate your academy."

Chrysanthemum Guan spoke in a deferential tone. He had come on the orders of Pope Bibi Dong.

But even if he hadn't been ordered to come, he would have behaved the same way. After all, yesterday's events were still fresh in his mind.

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

So the two sides didn't clash at all. It was fair to say this was the most peaceful meeting they'd ever had.

"The Pope also asked me to ask what title you'd like to bestow upon yourself."

Chen An waved a hand and replied unhurriedly,

"No rush. I have a title in mind, but I don't yet feel worthy of it. I'll leave it for now."

The title he had in mind was Sage Teacher, but though he had the strength for it now, he hadn't achieved enough.

After hearing this, Chrysanthemum Guan said no more. He left the supplies and repair crew behind, then departed.

"Then I'll take my leave as well."

Ning Fengzhi said his farewells and left with Bone Douluo, also leaving behind the supplies and repair crew.

Seeing this, Chen An spent a few academy credits to have the students carry the supplies into the storeroom.

He split the repair crews from the two sides apart, then paired them up across the two groups. Only after they'd been set to watch one another did he let them start repairs.

Clearly, the approach worked. No one cut corners.

After all, whenever they saw someone from the other side slacking off, they'd say,

"So that's the kind of repair worker the Spirit Hall (Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect) sends out. Good to know."

As a result, you could often see people on the other side turning red with anger.

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

"Principal, we propose taking the students to the Soul Fighting Arena in teams."

That day, Chen An was sitting in his office, resting and watching the training ground being repaired. His three personal disciples and the academy's three teachers came together to make their request.

For a moment, he had no idea what was going on. His instinct was to refuse.

He'd really seen underground boxing matches before. To him, an arena wasn't much different from a place like that.

"Give me your reasons."

If so many people had come to ask together, they must have had their reasons. There was no harm in hearing them out.

"Master, I want to be tempered by real combat."

Zhu Zhuqing spoke first, and the others chimed in with much the same reasoning.

Martial arts had to be tested in battle to become real martial arts. Otherwise, they were just fancy moves. The students needed to be tempered as well.

After giving it some thought, Chen An nodded and said,

"This proposal could work."