As Jiang Chen came closer, some people in the square noticed him.
The formal disciples looked weird. It seemed like they were afraid of him. Most of the disciples had been laughing at Jiang Chen behind his back. Only few had the nerve to provoke him face to face.
The disciples of the east courtyard could still recall the day when Su Li had been beaten up.
The short-term disciple also reacted strangely. He had apparently recognized Jiang Chen. His hands were gripping the broom tightly. The veins on them had popped out.
âYou wonât allow him to take part in the competition?â Jiang Chen went straight to the point.
âHe⊠he hasnât finished his task yet.â A bully is always a coward. The leader of those formal disciples had intended to show he wasnât afraid of Jiang Chen, but his tone had sold him out.
âSweeping? If you keep talking bullsh*t like this, Iâll use you as a broom!â Jiang Chen shouted.
âWhat? How dare you!â The formal disciples were irritated by him.
âSee there?â
Jiang Chen pointed at Ying Wushuang and her subordinates.
âThe Department of Discipline?!â The formal disciples were surprised.
âTheyâve come to take me to the competition location. They wonât care even if I beat you up,â Jiang Chen smiled complacently.
The members of the Department of Discipline werenât very happy when they heard what Jiang Chen had said, but since Ying Wushuang didnât respond, they didnât dare speak, either.
Jiang Chenâs words were shocking. The Department of Discipline would escort him?
âHuh!â
No matter whether it was true or not, they didnât want to have trouble because of a short-term disciple, so they left, one by one.
Jiang Chen smiled and said to the short-term disciple, who was looking down, âLetâs go.â
But it seemed like he hadnât heard Jiang Chen. He kept standing there, motionless.
âEh?â
âYou drove them away. Thatâs great, but after today, theyâll still vent their anger on me!â the short-term disciple growled with anger.
Jiang Chen wasnât irritated by him. Instead, he felt sorry for him. He looked at the short-term discipleâs wet eyes and said, âBut, could it be worse than sweeping? This is not the right way to go for a practitioner.â
âStop it. Our backgrounds have already decided how far we can go,â the short-term disciple said.
âExactly. Different backgrounds, different treatments, but will pessimism help you out?â Jiang Chen said.
âDo you want to feed me the same bullsh*t that everything is possible, we can decide our own fate? But arenât you the same as me? Youâll fail anyway today.â
âWhat if I succeed? Letâs go to take a look. Iâll teach you how to decide your fate by yourself,â Jiang Chen said.
The short-term disciple was in a daze. He hesitated for a while, and in the end put the broom aside and followed Jiang Chen to the Department of Discipline.
âYour name is Fey, right?â Jiang Chen asked.
He had dashing eyebrows and bright eyes. His lips were curled into a thin line. They looked like two blades. His face looked thinner with his tall nose.
Jiang Chen had happened to overhear others talking about this guy. He had had a conflict with others in his first days here, then he had a fight on the Hero Platform, but in the end, he lost.
But failure didnât matter. He was already great compared to other intimidating short-term disciples.
Jiang Chen wanted to help him rebuild his confidence, but Fey only nodded. He wasnât excited at all, since in his eyes, Jiang Chen was also a loser.
The great competition was held in the square in the center of the four courtyards. It could hold thousands of people.
Many rows of chairs of different heights had encircled the square, where people were seated.
The arrival of the Department of Discipline attracted their attention. After all, their uniforms were the best. The members looked vigorous. Among them, Ying Wushuang was the most eye-catching. Her pretty face and exceptional temperament had drawn many peopleâs attention.
Of course, people had also seen Jiang Chen and Fey.
âWhy is the Department of Discipline escorting two short-term disciples here?â
âIf they committed a crime, they wouldnât have been brought here.â
âThat guy looks like the worthless Reaching Heave State!â
âWhere is he? Letâs see⊠Yeah, thatâs him.â
The spectators were not only composed of the disciples of the Sacred Institute. There were many local people, too, including graduates of the Sacred Institute and various schools.
There were also people who were there to cheer for the competitors.
They only knew Jiang Chen from the papers. Not many people knew what the worthless Reaching Heave State looked like.
Since the disciples of the Sacred Instituted had mentioned him, they also craned their necks to try to get a glimpse of him.
âDean, weâve brought him here.â
The first row on the other side of the spectator seats was the center of attention.
The people sitting there were all higher-ups.
They were the Dean of the Sacred Institute, Dean of Students Shi Wengong, the deans of the four courtyards, and the masters of each courtyard.
Jiang Chen looked towards the Dean of the Institute. He was an old man, but the energy he was giving off didnât seem to belong to an old man. It was even more vigorous than young peopleâs energy.
âJiang Chen, youâve done pretty well recently. You passed each assignment with a perfect grade, and youâre already a Reaching Heaven State. Weâll grant you early graduation since youâve hit your bottleneck,â the dean said.
Early graduation?
It sounded pretty, but it was actually expulsion.
However, what he had said wasnât totally wrong. That was why the Sacred Institute hadnât arranged any courses for him.
He didnât need any instruction in terms of skill.
In terms of practice, he was already a Reaching Heaven State. He had hit his bottleneck.
âSure, if your performance today is good enough, we might let you join the Hall of Heroes,â the dean said again.
Many people had thought the dean was creating difficulties for Jiang Chen, but by then they changed their mind.
It looked more like a test.
But when they thought of what kind of rivals Jiang Chen would face this day, they once again changed their mind and thought the dean was deliberately making things difficult for him.
âNo, thereâre still many difficulties for him.â
There was no chance for him to win. It was impossible for him to join the Hall of Heroes.
Only Jiang Chen understood why the dean was doing this. He looked towards Shi Gandang. The latterâs expression was an affirmative answer.
Shi Gandang must have told the higher-ups what Jiang Chen had told him. They didnât believe him, so on this day, they were going to test him.
Ying Wushuang glanced at Jiang Chen, then left with her subordinates.
Jiang Chen thought he had seen empathy in her eyes, but he wasnât sure. Maybe it was just an illusion.
âJiang Chen, youâd better show us a wonderful fight. Otherwise, the east courtyard wonât send you back. Youâll walk back on foot!â the master of the east courtyard said unhappily.
Jiang Chen frowned at him. He didnât know what had happened.
He didnât know that if he couldnât prove what he had said to be true, Shi Gandang would lose his job.
Although Shi Gandang was a hot-tempered guy and often burst out into cursing, those of the east courtyard found him indispensable.
Both disciples and teachers respected him a lot.
Fortunately, the disciples of the east courtyard knew nothing about it yet. Otherwise, Jiang Chen would have been attacked by them.
âFind a place to sit. Prepare yourself well. Youâll have a big challenge today,â Shi Gandang said.
âYeah, itâll be a long day!â the dean of the south courtyard sneered. He was gloating, because Su Li had broken through to the Reaching Heaven State in order to take revenge on him that day!