Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

In response to this, Marquis Longyin calmly asked, ”Zheng Liyuan, why don’t you tell me how, exactly, I’ve been acting out of line?”

Zheng Liyuan glared at Marquis Longyin, momentarily at a loss for words.

But a high-ranking official from one of the seven institutes shouted, ”Of course you’ve been acting out of line! You actually allowed all the University Institutes of the Seven Great Flame Countries to fail!”

Marquis Longyin just laughed. He looked at the person who had spoken and slowly shrugged.

”Speak clearly. How did I make the University Institutes fail? Did I ever lift a finger?”

”I was merely fulfilling my duty as the Commander of the Order Enforcement Team.”

”From start to finish, I never violated a single rule of the first trial. I even stopped Vice Dean Li Wumian from interfering with the competition. Everyone here can attest to that.”

”Fine. I’ll recount all the details for you, step by step.”

Marquis Longyin then recounted the events of the first trial in perfect detail: how the twenty University Institutes first blocked the path to extort a toll, how Sky Cliff Academy organized a charge, and how Li Wumian accused them of cheating for setting an ambush...

And, of course, how Lu Chao blocked the path at the finish line.

When he finished, Marquis Longyin asked again, ”Now, please point out one thing I did wrong.”

The corners of the mouths of the high-ranking officials from the seven institutes twitched. They truly couldn’t find a single fault—at least, not with Marquis Longyin.

Just then, someone cursed, ”Fake Lu Chao! How dare you block the path at the finish line! You...”

Before he could finish, Lu Chao cut in. ”I was just copying those twenty University Institutes. They could have copied Sky Cliff Academy and the others by charging and ambushing me. Why didn’t they?”

”If you think what I did was wrong, then what all of them did was wrong.”

The high-ranking officials of the Seven Great Inner Courtyards were all speechless.

They couldn’t find any fault either. To condemn Lu Chao, they would first have to condemn the twenty University Institutes.

At that, Marquis Longyin added, ”To put it bluntly, the twenty University Institutes were simply outmatched. What right did they have to block the path if they lacked the strength to do so? They were eliminated, and they deserved it.”

The faces of the officials from the seven institutes flushed red.

’Marquis Longyin, are you even from the Seven Great Flame Countries? Why are you helping the Small Kingdoms and Small Institutes?’

But they couldn’t voice a single word of rebuttal...

The fact was, when the University Institutes blocked the path, they were overwhelmed by the Small Institutes. But when the Fake Lu Chao blocked the path, he was not.

’This was a huge headache.’

Having all the University Institutes fail the first trial and be eliminated was, of course, unacceptable. But they *had* been eliminated. They couldn’t just openly tear up the rules that Beast Flame had established beforehand, could they?

If they did that, the Small Kingdoms would likely all revolt.

At that point, forget about dealing with the Great Wu Empire; the Hundred Countries would erupt into internal chaos first.

Finally, one of the vice deans said, ”This matter must first be reported to the deans, and of course, to the General Dean of Beast Flame.”

This was now beyond their authority to handle. All they could do was report it and await a decision.

But just as they were about to send someone to make the report, an ancient, deep voice echoed from afar. ”To all the academy deans waiting anxiously outside the gates, I am the General Dean of Beast Flame Academy... Zeng Quan!”

The voice traveled a great distance, carried by powerful True Qi.

Everyone in Beast Flame Academy could hear him.

His words were directed at the hundreds of academy deans outside the gates of the Beast Flame Sect who were there for the qualification tournament. At the same time, he was introducing himself, informing everyone that he, Zeng Quan, was the General Dean of Beast Flame.

As all of Beast Flame Academy fell silent, Zeng Quan continued, ”The results of the first trial should be out by now. As the General Dean, I myself do not know who has passed and who has been eliminated.”

”I now invite each academy to send three representatives to enter Beast Flame Academy and witness the results of the first trial with me.”

”I, Zeng Quan, will personally welcome you all into the academy...”

His voice, firm and righteous, echoed both inside and outside Beast Flame Academy...

Before the gates of the Beast Flame Sect, the crowd of academy figures who had been waiting so anxiously naturally burst into an uproar.

But at the finish line of the first trial, it was deathly silent.

Li Wumian’s face darkened, as did Zheng Liyuan’s. ’What the hell is the General Dean up to? Inviting representatives from every single academy in the qualification tournament, large and small, to witness the results of the first trial?’

’Now there’s no way to handle this.’

Yan Jun and the representatives from the other nineteen eliminated University Institutes also looked grim.

’With high-ranking officials from a hundred academies coming to witness, how can we manipulate things behind the scenes? How can we possibly overturn the results of the first trial now?’

”Who is this General Dean? He must be from one of the Small Kingdoms, right?” a student from Fox Flame asked, unable to stop himself from grinding his teeth.

”That’s Zeng Quan. He’s the former dean of the Dragon Flame Celestial King Academy. Legend says he’s a supreme expert, one of the top five in all the Hundred Countries.”

”He’s from the Celestial King Academy? Shouldn’t he be trying to suppress Dragon Flame Academy?” someone else asked, dumbfounded.

The answer, it seemed, was that General Dean Zeng Quan genuinely had no idea the first trial would turn out to be such a mess. No one could have possibly imagined that all nineteen University Institutes would be eliminated in the very first trial.

「Meanwhile, on Lu Chao’s side...」

Jiang Yi explained in a low voice, ”Zeng Quan, besides being the dean of the Celestial King Academy, is also a retainer of the Saint Bone Zheng Family. You could even say he’s something of a sworn brother to Zheng Liling. With him as the General Dean of Beast Flame, things are going to be even harder for us.”

Lu Chao nodded. For Dragon Flame Academy, every step within Beast Flame Academy was indeed fraught with difficulty.

”Regardless, now that Zeng Quan has invited a hundred academies to bear witness, the results of the first trial can no longer be changed.”

”Now, we don’t have to worry about them forcing a do-over.”

If Zeng Quan hadn’t suddenly invited all the academies, they very likely would have been forced to re-run the first trial.

But now, that’s impossible!

Moreover, it would be very interesting to see the names of various Small Institutes now fill the twenty Outer Courtyards of Beast Flame.

Tan An asked in a low voice, ”Is Zeng Quan an idiot? He ran off to invite everyone without even confirming the results first?”

Lu Chao shook his head at the question...

Again, no one could have possibly imagined that all nineteen University Institutes would fail.

”Of course he’s not an idiot. Zeng Quan is doing this to win people over—to win the hearts of the many experts throughout the Hundred Countries.”

”Perhaps Zheng Liling was the one who told him to do it. The Saint Bone Zheng Family... they want to slowly extend their reach over the entire Hundred Countries. The Saint Bone Zheng Family’s ambition is huge.”

The merger of the Hundred Countries’ academies into Beast Flame was also Zheng Liling’s proposal. His objective was plain to see.

「On the other side...」

Zheng Liyuan and the others were, of course, also discussing what to do, each of them silently cursing Zeng Quan for being so reckless.

Just then, a young man darted out from behind the main courtyard. It was none other than Zheng Zhuhe.

He had only just emerged, but he immediately blended in with the high-ranking officials from the Celestial King Academy...

He immediately sought out Zheng Liyuan and said proudly, ”Uncle Liyuan, it was my idea for Zeng Quan to invite the hundred academies to witness the first trial. The purpose is to win their hearts and pave the way for our Saint Bone Zheng Family to dominate the Hundred Countries.”

Having said his piece, Zheng Zhuhe raised his head and puffed out his chest, wearing an expression that practically begged, ’Hurry up and praise me.’