Chapter 411: Meeting Of Elders (1)

Chapter 411: Meeting Of Elders (1)

The academy had remained peaceful for a few days. Everyone was focused on either cultivating or recovering from their injuries.

But news regarding the Willpower Grotto still started spreading in the academy. When news that even the myriad race students might also be allowed to enter the grotto spread, it was as though a massive stone had been tossed into a calm lake.

...

Heart Cultivating Pavilion.

Yet another meeting was being held between the elders.

For some reason, there were a lot more meetings this year compared to the previous years. It felt as though a meeting would be held every few days. This was also the first meeting Hong Tan attended in this semester.

Meeting room.

When Hong Tan saw Zhou Mingren, he was very friendly. With a big smile on his face, he asked, "Old Zhou, I hope your injuries aren't causing much trouble for you."

Zhou Mingren ignored Hong Tan and sat down before shutting his eyes to wait for the start of the meeting.

Hong Tan mere smiled and cupped his hands at the others, "I have only been away for a few months but the academy seems to have changed completely. We now have myriad race students and even the Willpower Grotto is going to be opened. Good thing I'm back now. Any longer and I might even find myself returning to an academy with an entirely different name."

He looked at Xia Changqing and smiled, "Old Xia, maybe the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy can change its name to Changqing Cultural Research Academy. It has such a nice ring to it, right?"

Xia Changqing said nothing. He decided to ignore the angry old man.

Hong Tan did not mind. He laughed heartily, "Forget it. Sigh. Life sure is hard."

He looked at a different person and asked curiously, "Old Nie, why are you here?"

Old Nie shot Hong Tan a glance and sighed. What a pity. He had accidentally crushed the teapot. Otherwise, this would be the perfect time for him to take out the teapot in front of Hong Tan.

The other elders were similarly surprised to see Old Nie. Vice Principal Su Ziming asked, "Old Nie, what brings you here today? You don't attend these meetings often."

There were six non Mountainsea elders in the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Apart from the head manager of the library and the hall master of the Discipline Hall, the other four were in charge of the Grotto District.

The four biggest grottos of the academy, the Source Qi Secret Grotto, the Devil Battling Field Grotto, the Willpower Grotto, and the Imprisoned Demon Grotto, were each left behind by a different deceased principal.

The Great Xia Cultural Research Academy had welcomed six principals in total. Apart from the fifth principal, who had died without leaving a grotto, and Wan Tiansheng, who was still alive, each of the previous principals had left a grotto behind before dying.

Old Nie was the leader of the guards of the Source Qi Secret Grotto and also an elder of the academy.

Zhao Li was supposed to be the one in this position, but back then, he was only focused on weaponsmithing. And after failing his attempt to forge an earth-grade weapon, he was no longer in the mood to manage the grotto.

Hearing Su Ziming's words, Old Nie smiled, "Vice Principal Su, I heard that each of the elders attending this meeting will get a slot. That's why I'm here."

The moment those words were said, Yu Hong said, "Nonsense. I don't know who has been spreading these rumors, but that is nonsense."

Some rumors had indeed been spreading in the academy during the past few days.

First, people were saying that the myriad race students would be allowed to enter the grotto. Next, they were saying that each elder could get a slot. Then, people started saying that all the top 100 students could enter. Some people were also saying that only the myriad race students would be allowed to enter.

These rumors had caused a lot of trouble for the single character faction. Nothing seemed to be going well for them recently. In fact, they had never stopped encountering trouble since the start of the semester.

Elder Sun said, "This is a grotto we are paying a great price to open. If anyone else wishes to enter, they can pay for it as well."

These people were actually trying to reap the rewards of their hard work. This was not something they could accept!

Not more than 50 people could enter the grotto. And there were already plenty of people in the single character faction waiting to enter. But before they had even opened the grotto, a large group of sharks was already waiting to take a bite out of them.

Even Nie Qi, someone who rarely got involved in academy affairs, was here today. And Old Nie was not the only inactive elder that had appeared today. Before long, a few more elders arrived. All of them were in the Cloudbreach Realm.

The Cloudbreach elders who had rarely participated in academy affairs had all arrived. Even a few of the elders that were supposed to be in seclusion were here.

"Jia Wendao, I thought you're in seclusion? Why are you here?"

An elder greeted Jia Wendao, a fatty with an oily face. He looked more like someone who had just left a feast instead of a secluded cultivation session.

Jia Wendao laughed heartily, "I heard we're getting free slots today so I left seclusion. Old Hong, you're back?"

Wu Yuehua was rendered completely speechless.

At this time, Hong Tan smiled, "True. Old Zhou is right."

Wu Yuehua glared at him.

Hong Tan ignored her. He was already used to her temper. He smiled and said, "Old Zhou is relying on his own ability to open the grotto. It would be a waste to let the Willpower Grotto remain shut. It is a good idea to open it and increase the strength of our students. I approve of this."

Zhou Mingren said nothing. He knew that Hong Tan would not be saying all that to support him.

"However..." Hong Tan sighed, "Old Zhou must have forgotten about this. I am actually the deputy faculty head of the Character Faculty. The resources Old Zhou is planning to use for the opening actually belong to the faculty, right?

"I am not normally the type of person to care about things like this. The resources allocated to us from the Knowledge Seeking Realm and the prefectural government are meant to help strengthen the academy and the students. This really has nothing much to do with me.

"Increasing the strength of our students will benefit both the academy and Great Xia. I have not helped much in running the faculty, so I am not interested in profiting off the hard labor of others.

"Nevertheless, I am still the deputy faculty head. And all those resources belong to the faculty, right? Old Zhou, I believe we need to think carefully about this before touching the faculty's treasury. I think I should get involved in the discussion regarding the opening of the grotto."

Zhou Mingren said nothing. Yu Hong was the one who frowned and said, "Those resources had all been obtained through the hard work of the students from our single character faction! It has nothing to do with you."

Hong Tan yawned and said, "You're right. But...I'm also a member of the single character faction! The multiple character faction has been officially deregistered from the academy. It no longer exists. Now, the entire Character Faculty is the single character faction. Are you not aware of this? Have you forgotten, Elder Yu? Sigh. I suppose you're really getting old if your memory is this bad."

"..."

All the other elders blanked out.

Zhou Mingren gave Hong Tan a deep gaze.

Hong Tan smiled and shrugged helplessly, "It's not like I want this to happen. I want to preserve the multiple character faction as well. With the multiple character faction around, you guys can keep using the excuse that we're not from the same faction. But now...well, I have no choice, right? The multiple character faction no longer exists. What faction would I be in if not the single character faction? How about this? You guys help me reinstate the multiple character faction and give me a few genius students. That way, we will no longer be in the same faction."

Hong Tan smiled, "According to the academy rules, each faction needs to spend over 10,000 merit points per year on their students. Free willpower texts and sufficient qualified teachers will also be provided by the faction to their members. And all these are funded by the faculty treasury."

Hong Tan said, "Thus, we have two options. I can veto everything with my position as the deputy faculty head and a member of the single character faction. As for the second option, we can reinstate the multiple character faction and give them their share of the resources."

Hong Tan looked at the single character faction elders and smiled, "What is your choice?"

They looked at him coldly. Damn these rules! Did the members of the multiple character faction have too much time in their hands? Why did it feel like reading the rules was the only thing they have been doing?

Hong Tan was actually right. Those were the only two options available to them. Reinstating the multiple character faction? What a joke!

Why had they deregistered the multiple character faction? To suppress them. As long as they existed, they would continue getting a share of the faculty's resources, such as research centers, data rooms, pills, talismans, weapons, and so on.

All those resources had never crossed Su Yu's mind. That was because he had never received any of them. But in truth, he was entitled to get a share as well. As a new student, he was eligible for some benefits from the academy after entering the Mental Tempering Stage. Every single student was entitled to these benefits.

Without these benefits, the ordinary students would not be able to survive in the academy.

How would they be able to afford to own cultural weapons?

How would they be able to afford pills and talismans?

All these things were supposed to be allocated to them. But the premise for that was for the students to be a part of a faction. Since the multiple character faction no longer existed, Su Yu could actually ask for all these resources as a member of the single character faction if he was willing to be shameless.

That was what Hong Tan was doing.

He had a wide smile on his face. With the multiple character faction being deregistered, they were no longer receiving any support from the academy, the prefecture, and the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Thus, they had actually been supporting themselves after their faction was deregistered.

Hong Tan thought that he might as well become an elder of the single character faction.

Wan Tiansheng merely looked on silently with a smile.

Xia Changqing remained silent as well. Not far away, Su Ziming's eyes were still shut.

Zhou Mingren gave Hong Tan a deep look and said, "How many slots do you want?"

"Twenty."

"Hmph!"

The elders snorted. In his dreams!