"People disappeared?"
"Yes. We did indeed find several assassins from the Xisiya Empire, but they left their residence on the night four days ago and never returned."
In the courtyard of the residence outside the academy, early in the morning. Yelanka was slightly surprised upon hearing Sigaochin's words.
She didn't doubt Sigaochin's investigative abilities; if the latter reported it this way, there couldn't be a mistake.
"Your Highness, I believe the assassins sent by your brother have likely been secretly eliminated," Sigaochin speculated.
"Who could have done it?"
"There are no leads at the moment. Perhaps it's related to that teacher you mentioned."
Guan Tong?
Yelanka's mind conjured that somewhat indifferent face, and she frowned slightly.
She didn't doubt that Guan Tong's combat prowess was strong, because anyone who could serve as the Lecturer for the "Mind Power Flow" course was definitely not weak. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was likely the strongest fighter among all the Lecturers in the entire academy.
The previous teacher of this course, Shi Jingyi, was also recognized by the students of the previous term as the "most capable fighter among the teachers" in the academy.
This was related to the nature of the course. Being able to skillfully utilize materialized Mind Power meant one could achieve both offense and defense even without using other abilities or items, making them incredibly powerful.
But being able to fight and being able to kill are not the same thing.
A top-tier soldier might die at the hands of a street thug in a conflict. Does that mean the soldier's fighting skills are inferior to the thug's? Not necessarily. It's just that the thug has the intent to kill, acting with the sole purpose of taking a life, while the soldier does not.
Yelanka's previous concern for Guan Tong stemmed from her belief that as a teacher, he couldn't compare to professional assassins in terms of "killing intent." Even if he could fight, he might still come to harm if caught off guard and unprepared, which is why she had asked Sigaochin to handle it.
But now, it seemed her actions might have been unnecessary.
Furthermore, she had engaged in numerous practical training sessions with Guan Tong and, to this day, had never seen him use any power other than Mind Power Flow.
What abilities or items Guan Tong possessed, she was completely in the dark. Not only did she not know, but it seemed no one in the entire academy did. Many students had discussed this topic, and even some Lecturers had casually mentioned it, knowing very little about Guan Tong's circumstances.
"Your Highness, do you need me to conduct a detailed investigation into that teacher of yours? Perhaps his background is problematic, not as simple as it appears on the surface."
Sigaochin, as if sensing Yelanka's curiosity about Guan Tong, inquired.
"No," Yelanka shook her head. "He is my teacher, not my enemy. Why investigate him?"
"Understood."
"Sigaochin, convey a message to my brother on my behalf. If he engages in similar behavior again..." Yelanka paused, her eyes turning cold, "...then I won't mind if something unfortunate happens to the people around him."
"...I understand."
"I'm going to the academy."
"Please take care on your way."
Watching Yelanka leave, a faint, gratified smile gradually appeared on Sigaochin's face.
She felt that Her Highness seemed different from when she was in the Xisiya Empire.
Back then, Her Highness would never have said such things.
However, if one's heart isn't ruthless enough and one's methods aren't tough enough, they will fall into a disadvantage in competition, being harassed by competitors using underhanded tactics.
Has Her Highness been influenced by someone at the academy? Perhaps it's related to that young teacher?
Sigaochin pondered for a moment, thinking to herself, "Previously, people from our faction didn't approve of Her Highness leaving the stronghold at this critical moment of competition to join some distant academy in Beixing for further studies. But now, it seems her decision might have been correct."
...
After arriving at the academy, Yelanka went to the classroom for the "Mind Power Flow" course and took a seat in the front row.
Due to her special status, after arriving in Beixing, she had met with some official personnel. After learning her purpose, the Beixing officials, after discussion, decided to grant her some "privileges."
Of course, these privileges were limited to not having to live in the academy dormitories and, as a student, not having to take all required courses.
Her purpose for coming here was clear: to improve her strength as quickly as possible. Therefore, she only attended the "Mind Power Flow" course. All other time was devoted to practice, which was a major reason for her rapid progress.
As for other activities like making friends or casual outings, she didn't have the time or the mood. Even if classmates proactively showed her friendliness, she could only respond politely yet distantly, because she couldn't stay here for a full year like the other students.
There were still over ten minutes until class started. Guan Tong mostly arrived right on time, rarely early. The students in the classroom used this time before his arrival to chat and pass the time.
"Finally made it to the last week of the rules' effective period. These past three weeks, except for the few days watching optical disc recordings which were somewhat interesting, the other days were pure torture."
"I had it worse than you. Not being able to go online these days, I really felt like ants were crawling all over me. My appetite decreased, and I couldn't sleep soundly."
"You're still not hardcore enough. I heard there's a legend in our academy who raised a virtual pet online. To feed his online pet, he held out for three days before giving up on the rules and going online himself."
"Really? That's true dedication!"
"Hey, everyone knows about Shen Yun and the others' situation, right?"
"Who doesn't know. I heard they've been locked up. There's still no word on what will happen to them."
"I have the latest news. According to those who failed the rules challenge and are normally online, the public opinion online is extremely fierce now, strongly demanding 'a life for a life' and the death penalty!"
Upon hearing this, all the other students in the class showed expressions of shock.
"Death penalty? That's nonsense. All of us academy students will be assigned official duties after graduation. How could they possibly get the death penalty?"
"Yeah, plus weren't they acting in self-defense?"
"Most of those online now are ordinary people. Of course they want the death penalty."
"Shen Yun and those guys were also stupid. Dealing with a bunch of ordinary people, they were hesitant and indecisive, and even let someone record a video. If you ask me, they should have gone all the way and finished off everyone in that camp. Then the officials probably wouldn't have bothered. Isn't that how they handled camps found wiped out in the wilderness before?"
"That's a bit too extreme, don't you think..."
"Don't say that. If this could have been done without anyone knowing, maybe it could have worked. But the problem is the academy teachers arrived quickly. Shen Yun and the others didn't have a chance to silence everyone."
"Speaking of which, how did the academy know Shen Yun and the others went to Cangying Ridge? Weren't the plans to go out of the city discussed and finalized in the Mind work? Did someone tattle to the teachers?"
"Anyway, I don't think the officials will give them the death penalty. But I guess, to quell public opinion, the sentence won't be light either. Ah, Shen Yun and the others are just unlucky, causing trouble at such a sensitive time."
"If the officials pass an unjust sentence, we should all jointly protest! We're all academy students; we have to stand by our own people."
Yelanka listened to the discussions in the classroom. Although she wasn't connected to the student group's Mind work, she also knew about Shen Yun and the others' situation; the notice board in front of the main building was plastered with related announcements.
She was actually somewhat concerned about how the Beixing officials would handle Shen Yun and the others.
Because she knew that if the same thing happened in the Xisiya Empire, Shen Yun and the others would most likely not receive any punishment; their status as excellent Ascendants would be the best shield.
But the Beixing officials had always advocated for equality for all. She was very curious to know, in this era of Doomsday Rules, where Ascendants are clearly more valuable than ordinary people, whether the Beixing officials could uphold their consistent philosophy.
This held significant reference value for her, a royal princess.
"Ding-ding-ding—"
When the class bell rang, Guan Tong strode into the classroom.
The students quieted down, looking at him curiously.
In the incident involving Shen Yun and the others, Guan Tong was the first teacher to arrive on the scene. They wondered if he would mention it in class.
"You all probably know about the incident involving Shen Yun and the other four at Cangying Ridge."
Guan Tong didn't disappoint the expectant students, bringing up the matter as soon as he opened his mouth.
"The Dean asked us teachers to remind students during class not to follow their example, as causing trouble can be difficult to handle."
"The main reason this incident is so serious is that Shen Yun overlooked the fact that the other party were ordinary people and used items with relatively high destructive power, causing so many casualties. So, if you ever have a conflict with ordinary people in the future, remember that their bodies are very fragile. Your attacks can easily cause them disability or death."
After Guan Tong finished speaking, a student couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, although Shen Yun went a bit overboard, it was still self-defense, right? Shouldn't we fight back decisively when attacked by ordinary people?"
"That's up to you. Regardless of what you do, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself."
"..."
The students were speechless, not expecting Guan Tong to be so dismissive.
But Yelanka could tell that this was actually Guan Tong's genuine opinion.
This made her wonder if he had done something similar before...
She wasn't wrong. Most of the people Guan Tong had eliminated so far were actually ordinary people. For example, the armed militants at the Yongzhou base, the warlord thugs in Andai State, and so on.
But unlike Shen Yun, he didn't carry much psychological burden. As long as he believed he should do it and could bear the consequences, he would do it without any internal conflict.
But these students were different.
Guan Tong could act as he pleased because even if he became wanted at a national level, he could still rely on his special abilities to hide and protect himself.
If these students tried to imitate him, they would only crash and burn quickly. That's why Guan Tong reminded them: the important thing is being able to bear the consequences.
"However, in this incident, if Shen Yun and the others had been proficient in this course, mastering Mind Power Flow, they could have used this power to deal with the threat."
"For example, when the other party uses thermal weapons that pose a threat to you, but you don't want to harm them, and you don't have a useful defensive item on hand, you can mobilize your Mind Power to form a protective shield to block the bullets. This way, without needing to attack, the other party would be too scared to provoke you again."
Upon hearing this, the students unconsciously nodded, feeling inexplicably that this made some sense.
Then, the student who spoke earlier raised his hand again and asked, "Teacher, if you encountered such a situation, would you do the same?"
"Me?" Guan Tong said, "I'd probably act in self-defense."
"..."
"Alright, let's start class."
Perhaps influenced by Guan Tong's words, the students were exceptionally attentive during this class.
After class, Yelanka approached the podium and asked, "Teacher Guan, is it still practical training today?"
"Yes, but let's postpone it by half an hour today. I need to attend a meeting first."
Yelanka gave a slight nod and left first.
At that moment, Dean Zhou Qinfeng's voice also sounded in Guan Tong's Mind work.
(Teacher Guan, you've finished your lecture, right? Please come to the conference room. The officials have already reached a decision regarding Shen Yun and the others.)
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