"You two, carry Luo De inside. New students, you can all come in, too."
Her voice was as gentle as flowing water, washing over everyone's hearts. It was as if even the summer heat vanished with its arrival.
Instructor Ruolin told two students to carry Luo De, who had fainted on the ground, inside.
After checking Luo De's injuries, Ruolin frowned slightly and shot Xiao Ze a glance.
"You little rascal, you really don't hold back when you throw a punch!"
That flirtatious glance made the boys around them blush. Xiao Ze, however, remained calm. He shrugged and said,
"I already went easy on him. Compared to how he tried to kill Lei Luo, I was practically merciful."
The students around them were stunned, but Xiao Ze hadn't made anything up.
Luo De had attacked Lei Luo's vital areas earlier. He had clearly been trying to kill him!
Ruolin sighed and placed her palm on Luo De's chest.
She used water-attribute Dou Qi to regulate the chaotic energy in his body and treat his injuries.
Both water-attribute Dou Qi and Wood Attribute Dou Qi could heal injuries.
Mercenary groups recruited people with the corresponding attributes whenever they could.
After all, they were far cheaper than healing pills!
Xiao Ze glanced at the boys beside him. They all looked envious and jealous, as if receiving treatment from Ruolin were the greatest romantic blessing imaginable.
Ruolin's earlier glance had been utterly alluring. Most ordinary men probably wouldn't have been able to keep their composure.
But Xiao Ze took it in stride.
When he had received the hundredfold reward for the Woeful Poison Body earlier,
he had experienced destruction a thousand times over in a single instant, and been reborn just as many times amid that destruction!
The soul-deep pleasure of that rebirth had left him highly resistant to such things.
Now, unless he let his own thoughts run wild, ordinary temptations and pleasures could hardly stir his heart.
The rewards from the system not only strengthened him; these hidden benefits were a tremendous boon as well!
A short while later, Ruolin slowly withdrew her hand and stood up, her expression unreadable.
Luo De's eyes snapped open. When he saw Ruolin's face, a trace of admiration and longing surfaced in his gaze.
Ruolin ignored him and looked at Xiao Ze with a smile. "Little rascal, what do you think I ought to do with you?"
"Shouldn't you be rewarding me handsomely?"
Xiao Ze sounded deliberately surprised.
Everyone stared at him, eyes wide.
"Hehe, you little rascal have quite a way with words. Tell me, why should I reward you handsomely?"
Ruolin chuckled, then pressed him for an answer.
"I helped Jia Nan Academy put a stop to fellow students killing each other!"
Xiao Ze ignored everyone's astonished looks.
"This senior from Jia Nan Academy was vicious and wouldn't let up once he had the upper hand. He claimed it was a spar, yet he kept trying to kill his opponent."
"If Jia Nan Academy students can casually beat the new recruits to death, before long, no one will be willing to come here."
"Hmph!" Luo De retorted darkly. "That was because this guy didn't know his place. I was just teaching him a lesson!"
"Besides, I stopped you and gave you a chance!"
Luo De's face was pale. Xiao Ze's words reminded him of the kick he had taken earlier.
His chest still burned with pain!
"Besides, the so-called rules you're talking about are nothing but rotten rules!"
Ruolin's interest stirred. Apart from the strength Xiao Ze had displayed, which she couldn't see through, nothing about the fight had caught her attention. But the issue Xiao Ze had raised now intrigued her.
"Hmph, these are Jia Nan Academy's unwritten rules. Plenty of instructors even accept them. What gives you the right to dismiss them outright?"
Luo De insisted, his voice strained. After speaking, he stole a glance at Ruolin.
Seeing her calm expression, he breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, he was hiding behind the authority of other instructors.
Instructor Ruolin had never approved of these rules!
"Hehe, they're still rotten rules!"
Xiao Ze ignored Luo De's furious glare and continued.
"Your so-called rules are just meant to wear down the pride of geniuses from small places and make them behave."
"But they've already been admitted to Jia Nan Academy. Once they get there, they'll realize that the people around them are much like themselves, or even far more outstanding!"
"If they can still think highly of themselves in that situation, then I'd say they aren't proud—they're truly stupid!"
"But stupid people are few and far between in this world!"
"To stop a handful of fools from making mistakes, you punish the vast majority who already know their place!"
"How is that not a rotten rule?"
Xiao Ze's final question plunged the entire tent into silence.
The students from Jia Nan Academy had once faced the same thing. Unable to fight back, they had chosen to put up with it.
Now that they thought about it, it really did seem like a rotten rule!
The new recruits who had already suffered under it hated it even more.
They agreed wholeheartedly with everything Xiao Ze had said!
Ruolin, who had been calm moments ago, suddenly smiled.
"You sharp-tongued little rascal. You've convinced me!"
Luo De's eyes widened. He turned to stare at Ruolin.
"I used to take a neutral stance on this rule, but you've convinced me."
"From now on, at least among my students, this won't happen again!"
Ruolin glanced at the Jia Nan Academy students around them, the warning in her eyes unmistakable.
They all straightened up and stopped joking around.
One after another, they promised they would never bully new recruits again.
"As for you, Luo De, you made these new students stand outside for how long? Then you can stand outside for just as long."
"For every new student, you'll stand for half an hour. Ten new students means five hours. Work out for yourself how many hours you'll be standing!"
Luo De opened his mouth and looked at Instructor Ruolin, hoping to plead for leniency.
But Ruolin, usually so gentle, had a rare glint of anger in her eyes. He lowered his head and admitted his fault.
"Luo De accepts the punishment!"
Then he glanced at Xiao Ze, walked out of the tent, and began serving his punishment.
The new recruits exchanged looks, delight showing in their eyes.
Ruolin turned to them and said, "Although I've forbidden this, don't go looking for trouble yourselves!"
"The fact that this became an unwritten rule at Jia Nan Academy shows just how hard you new students are to keep in line!"
Ruolin walked behind the table and sat down. She took out a parchment scroll, pen, and ink, then smiled.
"Everyone, now that you're students of Jia Nan Academy, the academy needs to assess your potential. So we need to know your exact strength."
"Potential is assessed for those under twenty. Dou Qi at the Eighth Stage of Dou Qi is the lowest, rank F. For every stage above that, your ranking rises by one level!"
"The highest rank is S, which means a five-star Dou Zhe!"
"Does everyone understand? Now report your strength one at a time, in order!"
After what had just happened, the new recruits were much more obedient.
They lined up one by one and reported their strength to Ruolin.
Xiao Ze was a little troubled.
He wanted the benefits, but he also wanted to keep a low profile!
Dear readers, please give the book a follow! Recommendation promotions are decided entirely by follow-through, so please lend a hand and scroll to the very end of the book. I'm deeply grateful!
Thanks to "Pursuer" and "Still, Old Dreams" for supporting the book with monthly tickets!
Before you continue