Book 4, Chapter 187: He Stands At The Highest Point In Martial Valor University Now
Book 4, Chapter 187: He Stands At The Highest Point In Martial Valor University Now
Xue Shou picked up his teacup and took a sip before pushing his palm in Chen Chuan’s direction.
Chen Chuan made a seizing motion and found himself catching a wisp of mental energy.
“It contains some information about the mental form. Even if you’re not walking down that path, you should take a look and understand what it means. You may end up running into opponents walking down this path in the future, after all.”
Chen Chuan examined it for a short while before looking up. “Thank you, Mr. Xue.”
Xue Shou waved it off. “It’s nothing. Mr. Yao should have reported your situation to the leaders. In a few days, someone from the National Martial Artists Council will come find you. It’s an organization made by the country to coordinate and communicate with martial arts masters. They’ll have you sign some contracts to restrict your actions and make sure where you stand.
“No matter which side you pick, regardless of whether it’s with the country or the companies, that has nothing to do with them. They only act as the bridge between the two sides. However, you should keep an eye out as to what sort of contract they’re going to give you.”
His expression turned a little more stern. “The contracts have rituals placed on them. Once you sign one, do your best not to violate any of the clauses. Otherwise, it will hurt you. If things go bad enough, you may end up with irreversible injuries.
“Do you know why the municipal government was so scared of you these few days? Because you haven’t signed any contracts, so you aren’t restricted by any rituals. You also have an unrestricted defense permit, which means that you can act without a care for the consequences. Even if you kill them, you won’t be held responsible for it, as long as you prove that all the threats you received were related to them.
“The country pays great attention to all martial arts masters and performs behavioral and psychological analysis on them. Extreme people will have more and stricter restrictions placed on them. They will also receive additional attention. That’s actually very detrimental. You, Chen Chuan, can restrain yourself, not be affected by your emotions, and calmly take care of your matters, which is a good thing. The leaders gave you a good review regarding this matter, and I think they’ll sign a Class Five contract with you.”
“What’s that?”
“Right now, the contracts are classified into seven classes. The Class Seven contract has the strictest rules. Then, according to a martial arts master’s performance and contributions to the country, they might get promoted in terms of class, and certain restrictions will be removed from them. The Class One contract doesn’t impose any restrictions on a martial arts master. The classification system was formed during the age of the mega alliance, so the entire world acknowledges and uses it.
“You will get the details from the National Martial Artists Council once they arrive.”
Chen Chuan nodded.
“I’ll be at Martial Valor University over the next few days. If you have any problems or questions, just contact me or send me a message. Anyway, I’ll be leaving now.” Xue Shou stood up.
Chen Chuan got to his feet as well. “Have a safe trip back, Mr. Xue.”
Xue Shou smiled and headed out. When he reached the door, Chen Chuan blinked, and he was gone.
Chen Chuan looked at the teacup on the table. The tea was gone, but he honestly wasn’t sure whether Xue Shou had actually come. Perhaps it didn’t make a difference.
It seemed like Xue Shou was pretty far down the path of the mental form, and it was already hard to tell whether he saw the real person or not. Chen Chuan took a look at the mental energy on his palm. It had already formed a mental mark. Perhaps he would be able to gain some understanding of the form from the mark’s contents later.
He lowered his hand. I need to submit a request to get training methods from the highest central institute, huh?
Hongfu didn’t have any relevant information about this, which was likely because the leaders of Martial Valor University had deliberately cut it out so that she wouldn’t know any information about martial arts masters’ training methods.
He could understand that. Hongfu was quite a powerful active biosentient entity. If she also had knowledge about martial arts masters’ techniques and synthesized them all together, martial arts masters would have a hard time facing off against her.
Now that he thought about it, the Hongfu attached to him was pretty close to a martial arts master walking down the path of the mental form. However, the ones truly walking down that path seemed to be able to exist independently as their minds and didn’t need to attach themselves to anything. They could even train on their own. Perhaps after he had enough information about this path, he could help Hongfu regain some of her strength.
For now, Chen Chuan needed to go back to Martial Valor University.
He cast a glance at Central City through the window. From where he stood, he felt like he was standing above the skyscrapers. After walking out of the hotel, he went to his limousine and asked his telegraph clerk to send a telegram to Yao Zhiyi to ask him what he should do about this.
Soon, Yao Zhiyi replied and gave him the specifics. He also gave Chen Chuan a secret code. It would give him authorization with Hongfu, so she would let him through to an area where only the leaders of the university could access.
The limousine went back to Martial Valor University. The logistics officer opened the door for him, and Chen Chuan got out and cast a glance at the Arcane Palace.
He hadn’t come back to the university since he killed Ling Jianxing.
Chen Chuan patted the red scarf around his neck before walking in. The moment he stepped into the lobby, an emotionless voice rang out. “Welcome back, Mr. Chen.”
The speaker was Hongfu, but it was another one. This one didn’t have autonomy over her thoughts.
It was the afternoon break time, so there were quite a number of students and lecturers walking about the lobby. They gawked at him upon recognizing him.
Even though it had been some time since he showed his face in Martial Valor University, he was the most talked about person among the students and lecturers over the past few days. All the lecturers believed that he had reached a higher limit and become a martial arts master, someone a regular martial artist could only hear about.
All the students and lecturers felt proud about this fact. Many of the students who recovered faster from being star-struck quickly ran off to buy Chen Chuan’s courses in the next semester.
But the university had reacted even faster and shut all of them down. How could they possibly let a student buy a martial arts master’s course? Even the lecturers in the university couldn’t get a martial arts master to teach them, much less the students.
The students who had seen Chen Chuan’s courses on the platform before but ignored them regretted their decision.
It wouldn’t have mattered if they had bought the course and only taken one class. They could still go out and say that they were a martial arts master’s student. They wouldn’t be lying either. Even if Chen Chuan didn’t teach them seriously, they would have a connection with him, which was something many people could only dream of.
Many of the students thus became very envious of Chen Chuan’s three official students. How could they be so lucky? They had been taught by a martial arts master, and their relationship as lecturer and student was written in black and white. No one would dare to give them attitude anymore.
Once Chen Chuan got into the elevator, he headed straight to the ninety-fourth floor, the highest floor in the Arcane Palace.
After waiting for a few minutes, the elevator stopped, and the door opened slowly. Chen Chuan walked out and found that the place was brightly lit. Light shone in through the glass walls and spilled all over the corridor, while the window frames cast long shadows on the ground. At that moment, Chen Chuan could only see the roofs of a handful of buildings, and he felt as if he was standing above the clouds.
Ahead of him was a middle-aged man. He was waiting for Chen Chuan with his hands in his pockets.
The man’s torso was in the shape of an inverted triangle, and he wore an orange suit with yellow patterns. He had a thick, black goatee, and his hair was... very aesthetically styled. One lock of his fringe was dyed in all seven colors of the rainbow, and he wore a pair of blue sunglasses. Shining metal plates were embedded into the seams of his pants, which made him look like an old but rich rebel.
Chen Chuan’s image was reflected clearly on the man’s sunglasses as he walked over. The man removed the sunglasses and smiled as he extended his hand. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, Mr. Chen. This is the first time we’ve met, isn’t it?”
Chen Chuan observed him for a bit. “It’s the first time, yes, but I’ve heard about you, Mr. Tan. Mr. Ling spoke about you many times.”
Clearly, this was Tan Weixing, the vice chancellor of Martial Valor University.
“Mr. Ling, huh?” Tan Weixing sighed but didn’t avoid the topic. “He was my best assistant. While I wasn’t around, he took care of university affairs for me. Once he died, I had to come back to deal with those things myself.”
Chen Chuan watched him. He was avoiding all the important matters by saying this. Even though he didn’t deny it directly, he removed himself completely from what Ling Jianxing had done.
“I heard that you have been busy outside, so you might not understand many of the things in the university,” he pointed out.
Tan Weixing sighed and said regretfully as he tapped his sunglasses against his palm, “That’s true. Honestly, the fact that Mr. Ling died means that I failed in my duty. The leaders should fire me, but they can’t, because they’re the ones who insisted I take up this position. Ever since I came to Martial Valor University, all I’ve been thinking about is how to help the university earn money. I can’t afford to pay attention to other things.
“But doing this means stepping on other people’s toes. I’ve been thinking about when to chuck all of this away so that I can relax, you know?”
“That day will come,” Chen Chuan commented calmly.
Tan Weixing narrowed his eyes at that, but he hid it well by following it up with a laugh. “I’ll take your word on that.”
“I’m here to take care of some matters that Mr. Yao has given me the authorization to do. Since you’re not familiar with the university’s matters, I won’t trouble you,” Chen Chuan said.
He then continued forward. When he passed by Tan Weixing, he noticed that the man froze up a bit, even though he was still smiling. It was only once Chen Chuan was further away that Tan Weixing took out a cigar with slightly trembling fingers.
Just then, an emotionless voice rang out. “Mr. Tan, please pay attention to your actions. You can’t smoke in the public areas within the campus.”
Tan Weixing frowned at that. Since when was Hongfu so stiff and rigid? She never stopped me before.
He lowered his hand sullenly and cursed under his breath. “It’s so troublesome now that you’re dead, Mr. Ling. You’ve stopped pushing university matters and things related to the Tree of True Forms. I have to take action myself.”