Yu Zhongge nodded with a smile as he said, "Now that Mo Ganyun's said that, I can't use this against you in the future. If I try to use this to coerce you into doing something for me or into joining our Yu Clan, everyone's going to tear me to shreds!"
Even though there was a joking tone in his voice, it was clear that he was being very sincere.
Ding Jieran accepted the sword manuals, then declared in a solemn manner, "I'll repay you for this!"
"Alright, I'm looking forward to it!" Yu Zhongge said with a wide grin, and everyone burst into laughter.
Despite the joyous atmosphere, Mo Ganyun, Qiu Yunshang, and Jing Shuanggao were feeling a little forlorn.
Yu Zhongge wasn't someone who drew a great deal of attention to himself, but he was very well-versed with matters related to social conduct, able to constantly remain one step ahead of the others.
He was the first one to summon someone from his clan to help Fang Che. He was also the first one to have natural treasures brought to the academy after Fang Che emerged unconscious from the Path of Self-Inquisition, and now, he was the first one to offer Ding Jieran an olive branch.
Furthermore, he had kicked Xie Gongping out of the group in a very decisive manner during Fang Che's interrogation.
His foresight, attention to detail, and decisiveness were all unmatched, and he also appeared very sincere.
Jing Shuanggao was from a third-tier clan, while Mo Ganyun and Qiu Yunshang were both from fourth-tier clans, so they had also received a great deal of education in the field of social conduct, yet they remained constantly one step behind, and that was a testament to Yu Zhongge's abilities.
It seems like only Boss can maintain an edge over him, Mo Ganyun thought to himself.
"Let's begin the sparring matches," Yu Zhongge said.
These past five days had felt like five years for Ye Meng, and the same applied to Mu Linyuan and Yin Shengong.
Fang Che had been unconscious this entire time, receiving visits from a rotating roster of Meng Chizheng, Gao Qingyu, Huang Yifan, Lü Jiaoshan, Xiang Xinghe, and Meng Chizheng, among others, all of whom left with concerned expressions.
Despite all of the pills and natural treasures he had been fed, his soul wasn't responding at all.
Only on the fourth night after he fell unconscious did his condition begin to improve slightly, and at around noon on the fifth day, his scattered soul was showing signs of coming back together.
He was fed soul-nourishing natural treasures and pills four times a day, namely at night, at midnight, at dawn, and at noon.
Thankfully, all of the natural treasures supplied by Yu Zhongge and the others meant that they wouldn't be running out anytime soon.
Yin Shengong was still waiting anxiously for updates on Fang Che's condition.
"Night Demon is still unconscious, and his soul is in a scattered and chaotic state. His condition is extremely severe, and even if he manages to wake up, he'll most likely be mentally handicapped for life."
This was the report from the mole on the first day.
Yin Shengong was so enraged by this update that he immediately sent a furious reply: "You're mentally handicapped! Your entire family is mentally handicapped!"
"Night Demon's condition has not improved since yesterday."
"Night Demon remains unconscious."
"Night Demon's spirit sense has displayed some signs of recovery tonight, but the situation is still far from optimistic. Gao Qingyu speculates that they upped the intensity of the Path of Self-Inquisition. In other words, Night Demon has most likely been unfairly targeted."
Yin Shengong smashed a chair to bits.
"Night Demon's soul is displaying signs of coming back together. Meng Hejun and the others are all exclaiming that this is a miracle."
A glimmer of hope had finally appeared on the horizon for Yin Shengong.
"Good news, Pope Yin! Night Demon has woken up, and he's only sustained slight damage to his spirit sense, which he can easily recover from. On top of that, his spirit sense will be significantly enhanced from his experience in the Path of Self-Inquisition once he's recovered! He woke up this afternoon, and I just so happened to be present with several others.
“For some reason, as soon as he woke up, he yelled 'I have to get to the General tier,' giving everyone a massive fright. No one knows why he made that sudden outburst, but this is clearly very important to him."
Yin Shengong was initially ecstatic to hear this, but a sobering sensation then quickly welled up in his heart.
He made his way out of the hall to look up into the sky, and he couldn't help but feel a little touched.
Even in that condition, reaching the General tier was still the foremost thing on his mind.
After heaving a faint sigh, he replied: "That is indeed good news. Make sure to continue to keep an eye on him to ensure his recovery goes smoothly."
Fang Che's awakening was met with widespread celebration.
However, he was still a little feeble and required rest.
The team to represent the first-year cohort in the tournament had already been decided, but unfortunately, he had been barred from selection.
After enduring the Path of Self-Inquisition, everyone knew that Fang Che's future rate of improvement was only going to become even more impressive.
In fact, it could be said that this had turned into a blessing that had bridged the gap between him and those prodigies from more privileged clans, so it was an absolute travesty that he would not be allowed to take part in the tournament!
Clearly, Zhao Shanhe or the clan that had reported him was still trying to meddle in his affairs.
Gao Qingyu and the others were making their way out of Old Man Shen's room after visiting the recently awakened Fang Che, and he grumbled, "Zhao Shanhe has prohibited Fang Che from taking part in the tournament. There's nothing that we can do.
“Even if we forcibly enter him into the tournament, he'll be barred from taking part in any of the battles, and our first-year team would be reduced to four members. I've been reporting Zhao Shanhe every single day to the higher-ups, yet there's been no response! They're all corrupt, every single one of them!"
Everyone was stunned into silence by his brazen audacity.
As expected of a shameless old bastard like him to be openly talking about reporting one of his superiors!
"I just want to know which clan issued the report, yet they won't tell me even that!" Gao Qingyu grumbled.
"Any clan with that amount of influence is clearly too much for us to deal with. What're you going to do even if they tell you?" Meng Hejun harrumphed.
"At the very least, our White Cloud Warrior Academy can refuse to enroll students from that clan! I don't want to teach anyone that comes from such an unscrupulous clan!" Gao Qingyu raged.
"Shut up, you idiot! You don't know anything!" Huang Yifan scoffed.
"Oh yeah? What the hell do you know then?"
The two of them were clearly about to begin bickering, and Meng Chizheng hurriedly intervened by changing the topic.
"How is our first-year team looking so far?"
"That's hard to say," Huang Yifan replied. "Right now, Mo Ganyun is a fourth-rank Great Grandmaster, as are Qiu Yunshang and Ding Jieran, while Yu Zhongge and Jing Shuanggao are both third-rank Great Grandmasters.
“In terms of combat prowess, Mo Ganyun ranks on top, capable of defeating even the average seventh-rank Great Grandmaster. However, he'll be facing the best prodigies that this continent has to offer, so his advantage may not be so prominent."
"Our academy doesn't have any secret areas. All we have are those spirit qi gravity cultivation chambers," Meng Chizheng grumbled. "You need to bring up this matter in the next meeting, Dean Gao."
"I already brought it up!" Gao Qingyu sighed. "The higher-ups agreed to prioritize our academy if any suitable secret areas are discovered."
"But that was sixty years ago!" Meng Chizheng protested. "You have to bring this up at every single meeting! Otherwise, the higher-ups will forget, or they'll pretend to forget about us if someone else is more insistent. Once the secret area is given to another academy, we won't be able to do anything!"
"That's true," Gao Qingyu mused as he stroked his chin in a contemplative manner. "I should've brought this up last time when Master Bing Qianshan asked if we had any requests we wanted to make, but I felt a little embarrassed to make the request."
"You're capable of feeling embarrassed?!" Huang Yifan snapped. "How come you're never embarrassed when you're throwing one of your fits?!"
"Let's not talk about this anymore," Gao Qingyu said in an awkward manner. "Huang Yifan, Li Changkong, Xiang Xinghe, Lü Jiaoshan, I want the four of you to oversee the special training for the tournament participants. What do you think?"
"Dean Gao, I want to oversee the special training as well," Meng Chizheng said.
"No, you're too soft," Gao Qingyu instantly refused. "You're always trying to be the good guy, you'd make a much better nanny than a trainer!"
Before Meng Chizheng had a chance to complain, the four appointed trainers accepted their assigned role in unison.
"Fang Che could take part as well once he's recovered," Li Changkong said. "Everyone will feel more comfortable with Fang Che around, and even though he can't take part in the tournament, the special training should benefit him."
"That would be disrupting the team!" Huang Yifan protested, but his protests were ignored.
Gao Qingyu and the others were very fond of the idea, and no one cared what Huang Yifan had to say, leaving him feeling very indignant and ostracized.
However, at the same time, he felt a sense of satisfaction and superiority from knowing something that everyone else didn't.
I'm the only one who knows that Fang Che is a spy! You're all idiots!