Pinglu City, a residential courtyard area not far from the academy.
Faded red walls and white tiles showed many traces of weathering. This area didn't look very conspicuous, but the identities of the people living here were anything but ordinary.
In the evening, after Yelanka returned to one of the small courtyards, a middle-aged woman who was cleaning the yard straightened up and bowed. "Your Highness, you've returned."
Yelanka nodded. "Sigorkin, I have a task for you."
"Please give your command, Your Highness."
"Investigate the Xisiya people's gathering areas here. Find the people my brother sent."
The woman called "Sigorkin" looked up in surprise. "That... that one sent people? Would he dare threaten your life?"
"Not threatening . Threatening my teacher."
Yelanka's ice-snow-like face was filled with solemnity and coldness, a side of her no one at the academy had ever seen.
"The competition between us has no reason to involve outsiders. He has crossed the line."
"This might an that one is afraid," Sigorkin said. "He's afraid you'll surpass him. Otherwise, there'd be no need to use such thods. This is good news for you, Your Highness. It proves that one's confidence is insufficient."
Yelanka neither agreed nor disagreed.
Sigorkin asked, "After finding them, how would you like
to handle it?"
"Kill them," Yelanka said without hesitation.
"Yes."
After speaking, Yelanka returned to her room, sat down, and fell into thought.
Sigorkin's words had reminded her.
If her brother had sufficient confidence in his own competitiveness, why would he need to resort to such underhanded tricks?
Doing this kind of thing was precisely a reflection of his lack of confidence in himself.
However...
Yelanka thought of what Guan Tong had said to her earlier.
From the sound of it, it seed Guan Tong wanted to personally find the threatener and deal with it himself.
But that obviously wouldn't work.
Yelanka knew the people her brother sent would definitely be capable assassins. Even if Guan Tong had practical combat experience, he was ultimately just an academy teacher. In her view, he couldn't compare to those professional killers who made a living from taking lives.
Forget about him having difficulty finding them; even if he did, he would put himself in danger.
Yelanka didn't want a competition between her and her brother to cause an excellent academy lecturer to et with misfortune. That's why she had Sigorkin go and handle this matter as quickly as possible.
And as for Sigorkin, she had complete confidence.
This seemingly unremarkable middle-aged woman was actually the strongest guard in the family. Even after entering the era of the Doomsday Rules, she hadn't been surpassed by younger guards due to her age. Her strength hadn't retreated but advanced, and now she could rank among the best in all of Xisiya.
Gathering her thoughts, she closed her eyes and circulated her Mind Power through her body. The transparent feeling of this power confird that her choice to co to Beixing and enter the academy for further study was correct.
If she had stayed in Xisiya, she definitely wouldn't have had the chance. Relying solely on online courses still wouldn't work. Even if she could think of using practical combat to accelerate her mastery on her own, it wouldn't work without Guan Tong's guidance.
Many key points, without guidance from soone who had been through it, might take a long ti to figure out on one's own. The saying 'listening to one wise conversation is better than studying books for ten years' held true.
And what she lacked right now was ti. She absolutely needed soone like Guan Tong, who had been through it, to accelerate her progress.
Thinking of this, Yelanka opened her eyes, and a thread of curiosity about Guan Tong involuntarily rose in her heart.
She had actually co for Shi Jingyi, but only after arriving at the academy did she learn the latter needed to recuperate for a while, with the course being taught by another substitute Lecturer.
Originally, this outco had left her very disappointed, thinking she had co for nothing, and that the so-called substitute Lecturer would definitely be far inferior to Shi Jingyi.
But she hadn't expected Guan Tong's help to her to far exceed her expectations. Even if it were Shi Jingyi, it might at most be like this.
If only I could stay at the academy for more ti...
Yelanka shook her head slightly. She still had her own mission to complete. She was destined to only stay here until October.
...
After the students generally finished watching the variety show "Battle of the Ascendants," they gave widespread praise during discussions.
Many students discussed it in and out of class, endlessly debating the combat power of the characters appearing in the show.
"The strongest is definitely the Snow Traces! That cha's combined offense and defense is just too unsolvable. Ordinary items and skills are basically useless against it."
"The cha is powerful, but its consumption is huge too. If you fight a war of attrition using hit-and-run tactics, there's definitely a chance."
"Hit-and-run? Didn't you see how fast that cha was in the show!"
"I'm still more optimistic about that handso guy who plays with fire. His large-scale sea of fire attack is also pretty unsolvable."
"Survival is the top priority, right? I'm betting on that survival expert who can create food from mud to outlast everyone!"
"Isn't anyone jealous of God Liang? His hypnosis skill is also pretty abnormal! If he encounters soone with lower Mind Power than him, one hypnosis and they're down!"
The students' enthusiasm for discussion was so high, partly because there were quite a few internet celebrities in the show.
For example, the pilot of the "Snow Traces" cha had been very active online before, and was already an Ascendant with extrely high popularity. After appearing on screen this ti, she attracted even more followers with her attractive appearance.
It's just that after Guan Tong watched the show earlier, he was a bit curious. This pilot nad "Bai Xuewu" was clearly very socially anxious, keeping a distance of three feet from other mbers if she could. He really didn't know why soone with such a personality would agree to participate in this kind of variety show. He guessed the authorities didn't skimp on the benefits.
That handso guy who could manipulate fire was also previously a social dia star, often posting short videos of himself stylishly playing with fire. He claid to have mastered "fire elent magic" and even crowned himself with the title "Fire God." Due to being too flamboyant, he was half-popular, half-hated online.
Another one, "I Am a Good Man," who beca famous by posting during the first rule, actually also appeared on the show.
His image was also typical of an otaku, fitting the stereotype his past posts gave. However, his role in the show was clearly not as a combatant, but more like the essential funny character used to liven up the atmosphere in variety shows.
In short, the authorities' strategy had an effect. After the old-style televisions and movie/show optical discs were distributed, the student group indeed shifted their attention, no longer miserably mourning their internet-connected devices every day.
And after the [Digital Detox] rule ended, the show "Battle of the Ascendants" would definitely continue broadcasting. As long as it had popularity, it might even run for several seasons, making a bunch of Ascendants who appeared on the show famous.
Many students also frequently ntioned Shadow during discussions, feeling it was a sha he didn't appear on the show.
"If Shadow went on, the popularity would definitely explode even more!"
"Shadow probably doesn't want to expose himself. There are plenty of people who want to dox his identity."
"I have an angle: if the show invited Shadow, what suspense would there be? He would definitely be the last one standing, right? Who among the others could be a match for Shadow? The show would actually beco less interesting that way."
"That's not necessarily true. I think the Snow Traces cha's combat power might not be worse than Shadow's. I hope to see a matchup episode!"
The reason he didn't go was, of course, that the authorities themselves hadn't invited him to participate. But then again, as one student said, he didn't want to expose himself. Even if invited, he wouldn't agree.
Two days passed.
By Friday noon, Dean Zhou Qinfeng gathered the lecturers for another eting.
The eting content was related to Fang Qian's surveillance findings.
Zhou Qinfeng explained the situation to the lecturers.
"You might not know yet, but a couple of days ago, so students were discussing in the Mind Network, planning to go out of the city this Sunday to explore the camps of wilderness survivors."
As soon as these words were spoken, the lecturers were all surprised.
"Go find wilderness camps? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"
"Yeah, those still living in the wilderness now aren't easy to deal with. These students are really bold. Aren't they afraid sothing might happen!"
"This definitely violates academy regulations. We must stop them."
Although Guan Tong didn't speak, he also felt this was a sowhat suicidal behavior.
If it were before, there might have been quite a few wilderness camps composed of kind-hearted people who simply liked being outside and didn't like living in shelters.
But after several disaster rules, most such camps had disbanded. For survival, their mbers had basically returned to the cities.
Therefore, those still running camps in the wilderness now were basically strong individuals, Ascendant rcenaries, and the like.
These people followed the law of the jungle, where strength was supre.
They generally disregarded rules and wouldn't take the identity of academy students seriously. If students encountered them, they definitely wouldn't get off lightly. Having their Ascension Coins and items looted would be considered light.
"The rule has less than ten days left. We absolutely cannot let these students cause any complications at this ti," Zhou Qinfeng said gravely. "I already know the students' gathering ti and location. I will notify the city entry/exit managent departnt in advance to set up checkpoints to intercept them."
"Dean, why not just intercept them directly at the gathering point?" one lecturer asked.
"That's not appropriate. Then the students would know we can know the ssages in their Mind Network."
"That's true too."
Hearing this, Guan Tong thought to himself, wouldn't having the managent departnt set up checkpoints to intercept them also expose it? The students would definitely wonder why the checks were suddenly so strict today when they wanted to leave the city...
"To be on the safe side, after consideration, I think we still need to send a few teachers to keep an eye on things."
After saying this, Zhou Qinfeng nad them. "Teacher Chen, Teacher Guan, how about you two make the trip then?"
Guan Tong and the female lecturer surnad Chen who taught the "Psychological Counseling Course" exchanged a glance, neither objecting.
"Good, then it's settled." Zhou Qinfeng instructed the two, "You must watch carefully then. Don't let any students slip out."
After the eting dispersed, Zhou Qinfeng kept Guan Tong behind alone.
Naturally, it was about the death threat incident.
Zhou Qinfeng said, "Teacher Guan, the Security Departnt has been investigating your matter these past few days. But according to them, the criminals are very professional. They didn't leave any DNA extractables at the scene. Catching them will probably be difficult."
Guan Tong nodded.
Even if DNA could be found, it would be too late. He had already dealt with the several assassins, so there was no need for the authorities to investigate further.
However, he definitely couldn't say this out loud. He casually responded, "Then let's forget it. I think the other side just wanted to scare , not dare to actually do it."
"That's not necessarily true. You still need to be more vigilant in your daily life. If it doesn't work out, you can talk to that Yelanka later, ask her if she knows anything. You might gain so leads."
"Okay, I'll go ask."
Zhou Qinfeng nodded. "Then the Sunday matter will trouble you and Teacher Chen. These students really are sothing, not staying put properly and insisting on looking for trouble."
"Most students are very young, right at the age where they like adventure. Being cooped up in the academy all the ti, it's not strange they'd want to find so excitent," Guan Tong said.
"Yeah," Zhou Qinfeng sighed. "Teacher Guan, I looked at your file. Your birthday is in January. In just over four months, you'll be twenty. I see you don't have any of the recklessness typical of this age group at all. You're much more steady than your peers."
Guan Tong thought to himself, I've lived two lives; my adolescence was in my previous life, so of course it's different.
"Alright, that's all for today. Have a good rest tomorrow." Zhou Qinfeng patted Guan Tong's shoulder and left.
Guan Tong thought about his arrangents for tomorrow and also stepped out.
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