Punishment and Grading!

Punishment and Grading!

"You two, carry Luo De inside, and the rest of the new students come in as well."

The voice was as gentle as flowing water, washing over everyone's hearts as if the sweltering heat of summer had vanished along with its arrival.

Instructor Ruolin gestured for two students to carry the unconscious Luo De inside.

After checking Luo De's injuries, Ruolin frowned slightly and shot a sidelong glance at Xiao Ze.

"You little fellow, you really were ruthless when you struck!"

That glance, brimming with charm, made the surrounding boys blush uncontrollably, but Xiao Ze remained calm, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke.

"I already held back. Compared to him trying to kill Lei Luo, I can be considered merciful."

The surrounding students were left dumbfounded, but Xiao Ze was not speaking nonsense.

Earlier, Luo De had aimed for Lei Luo's vital points; it was clearly an attempt to kill!

Ruolin sighed and pressed her palm against Luo De's chest.

She used her water-attribute Dou Qi to smooth out the chaotic energy within his body and tend to his injuries.

Both water-attribute and wood-attribute Dou Qi possess healing properties.

Whenever possible, mercenary groups would always recruit personnel with these attributes.

After all, it was far cheaper than medicinal healing pills!

Xiao Ze glanced at the boys nearby, all of whom wore expressions of envy and jealousy, as if receiving treatment from Ruolin were some immense stroke of good fortune.

The glance Ruolin had given him earlier was indeed enchanting; an ordinary man would likely have been unable to keep his composure.

However, Xiao Ze was able to treat it with indifference.

When he had previously received the hundredfold reward for the Woeful Poison Body, he had experienced destruction a thousand times over in an instant, and in that destruction, he had experienced rebirth a thousand times as well!

This pleasure of rebirth, which acted directly upon the soul, gave him an extremely high resistance to such things.

Unless he allowed his own heart to wander, ordinary temptations and pleasures could no longer stir ripples in his mind.

Beyond the increase in strength, this hidden benefit of the system's feedback rewards was of immense value!

A short while later, Ruolin slowly withdrew her hand and stood up, her expression unreadable.

Luo De's eyelids snapped open, and upon seeing Ruolin's face, a hint of adoration and longing flickered in his eyes.

Ignoring Luo De, Ruolin looked at Xiao Ze and asked with a smile, "Little fellow, how do you think I should deal with you?"

"Shouldn't you be rewarding me handsomely?"

Xiao Ze said, feigning surprise in his tone.

This caused everyone to widen their eyes in shock.

"Heh, you are quite an interesting little fellow. Tell me, why should I reward you handsomely?"

Ruolin chuckled softly before pressing him for an answer.

"I helped Jia Nan Academy stop a case of students killing one another!"

Xiao Ze ignored the astonished gazes of the crowd.

"This senior student of Jia Nan Academy struck with malice and refused to let up; under the guise of a spar, he aimed for lethal blows at every turn."

"If students of Jia Nan Academy can kill newly recruited students at will, then in the long run, I fear no one will be willing to come to Jia Nan Academy."

"Hmph!" Luo De retorted with a dark expression, "That guy didn't follow the rules, I was just giving him a lesson! Besides, I did try to stop you, and I even gave you a chance!"

Luo De's face was deathly pale; Xiao Ze's words reminded him of that kick from earlier.

His chest was still burning with pain!

"Furthermore, your so-called rules are nothing but rotten rules!"

At this moment, Ruolin showed a hint of interest. Aside from the strength Xiao Ze had displayed—which she couldn't quite fathom—nothing else had really caught her attention, but the issue Xiao Ze raised now piqued her curiosity.

"Hmph, these are the unwritten rules of Jia Nan Academy, and many instructors even tacitly approve of them. By what right do you dismiss them so easily!"

Luo De said, bracing himself, and after speaking, he stole a glance at Ruolin.

Seeing that her expression remained calm, he breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, he was using other instructors as a shield.

Instructor Ruolin did not look kindly upon such rules!

"Heh, they are still rotten rules!"

Xiao Ze ignored Luo De's glare and continued.

"Your so-called rules are nothing more than an attempt to grind down the pride of geniuses from small places and force them into submission."

"But they have already joined Jia Nan Academy. Once they arrive, they will realize that everyone around them is on par with, or even far superior to, themselves!"

"To still hold oneself in such high regard under those circumstances—I don't think that's pride; it's genuine stupidity!"

"But in this world, stupid people are, after all, in the minority!"

"The vast majority of people have self-awareness. To punish the vast majority of sensible people just to prevent a few fools from making mistakes—"

"Isn't that a rotten rule!"

Xiao Ze's final question plunged the entire tent into silence.

Those students of Jia Nan Academy had once encountered such things themselves; they couldn't resist, so they chose to conform.

Now, it truly seemed like a rotten rule!

And those new students who had already tasted the bitter fruit of this rule felt nothing but disgust for it.

They agreed with Xiao Ze's words completely!

Ruolin, whose expression had been calm, suddenly smiled.

"You sharp-tongued little fellow, you've convinced me!"

Luo De's eyes widened instantly as he turned to look at Ruolin.

"I originally held a neutral stance toward this rule, but now you have successfully persuaded me."

"From this day forward, at least among my students, such things will not happen!"

Ruolin swept a glance over the surrounding Jia Nan Academy students, the warning in her eyes unmistakable.

Those students straightened up one after another, not daring to snicker anymore.

They all expressed that they would absolutely never engage in such bullying of new students again.

"As for you, Luo De, you will stand outside for as long as you made these new students stand."

"If one new student stood for half an hour, and there are ten, you will stand for five hours. Calculate how many hours you owe yourself!"

Luo De opened his mouth, looking toward Instructor Ruolin, wanting to plead for mercy.

But the usually gentle Instructor Ruolin had a rare flash of anger in her eyes, so he lowered his head to admit his fault.

"Luo De is willing to accept the punishment!"

He immediately glanced at Xiao Ze before walking out of the tent to begin his penance.

The new students looked at each other, their eyes filled with a hint of joy.

Ruolin then looked at the new students and said, "While I forbid this behavior, do not go looking for trouble either!"

"The fact that this could become an unwritten rule of Jia Nan Academy is proof enough of how difficult you new students are to manage!"

Ruolin walked behind the table and sat down, taking out a parchment scroll, a pen, and ink as she smiled.

"Students, you are all now part of Jia Nan Academy. The academy needs to categorize your potential, so we must know your specific strength."

"Potential values are categorized for those under twenty: Dou Qi at the eighth stage is the lowest, F-rank. For every stage higher, the rank increases by one!"

"This continues up to the highest level, S-rank, which is a five-star Dou Practitioner!"

"Does everyone understand? Now, report your strength one by one in order!"

Having gone through the previous ordeal, the new students were much more well-behaved.

They lined up one by one to report their strength to Ruolin.

Xiao Ze felt a bit troubled.

He wanted the benefits, but he also wanted to keep a low profile!