Chapter 117 - 116: Huo Jun’s Secret
A botched attempt at showing off is just a public humiliation!
That one shout was enough to knock Yang Shen’s backpack strap askew...
He didn’t say a single word. Head down, he walked inside, pretending he didn’t know them.
Yuan Rui’s expression remained unchanged. He turned to the group and said, "Thank you for your efforts, everyone. Let’s head into school."
One of the "apprentices" grumbled under his breath, ’All this wasted time just for a little spectacle... I would’ve been better off doing a few more liberal arts problems.’
Yuan Rui said sternly, "No, Wang Yang. Your thinking is too narrow."
"Formality and ceremony aren’t just for show; they’re practical and yield tangible benefits!"
If you’re not feeling the benefits of "formality" and "ceremony," it’s because they’re all going to the leader!
And right now, Yuan Rui was the de facto leader of this "master-and-apprentice" group.
"The more satisfied Master Yang is, the more diligent his instruction will be..."
The young man, Wang Yang, was unconcerned. "We paid for this."
Yuan Rui said calmly, "If you can find anywhere else that will raise your score by five points for 500 yuan, feel free to go find it. Sometimes, the lower the price, the more precious the opportunity."
In fact, he’d had a feeling last night... his improvement might have been more than just five points. It had reached a terrifying six!
This made his master’s image loom even larger in Yuan Rui’s mind!
Yuan Rui said with genuine sincerity:
"Broaden your horizons a little. This is why you’re only ranked ninth in our grade, and I’m third."
Wang Yang paused. "Huh? Aren’t you ranked first?"
Yuan Rui said coolly, "By my calculations, Xu Bamboo will ultimately surpass me again on this monthly exam. Changes in rank are inevitable. After all, she’s already at Mid-stage Marrow Refining, and I’m still a ways off."
"That’s not right, though. If Xu Bamboo surpasses you, you should just fall back to second place."
Yuan Rui cupped his hands in a salute toward the empty air to his upper right.
"And where does that leave Master Yang? One of the top two spots in our grade is bound to belong to him! There’s no doubt that I’ll be third. It just hasn’t been confirmed by the exam results yet."
To him, the bonus points for the college entrance exam were tangible, while his class rank was purely for show. Even though he’d been ranked first for a month, it hadn’t brought him any real benefits, so he couldn’t care less.
He disliked the empty prestige of the position. In fact, the increased attention it brought him was just a distraction from his studies.
Yuan Rui looked at his other junior apprentice-brothers. "You, on the other hand... with Master Yang and Xu Bamboo in the running, I’m afraid at least two people are going to get knocked out of the top ten. You’d all best look to yourselves."
Even though graduation was only a few days away after this month’s exam, the pressure was still on.
Having your rank slip at the last minute could affect your Dao Heart during the college entrance exams!
Yang Shen’s apprentices grew thoughtful...
The answer was obvious. They just had to pull down the only two students who hadn’t become apprentices! That way, the entire top ten would be Master Yang’s students!
Plus their master’s lovely confidante, of course!
When they thought about it that way, they suddenly realized that the eight of them had a strong common interest.
It has been this way since ancient times. Originally, there were no boundaries between people.
But once there is an "us," there will naturally be a "them."
’Crush them!’
————
The school day was uneventful. Although Yang Shen had obtained the profound secrets of the Array Inheritance, he couldn’t very well use them at school.
The morning was for reviewing academics, the afternoon P.E. class was for racking up points, and after Huo Jun went back to "spray the wet trash," the last hour was spent teaching his eight apprentices.
To be honest, the apprentices were almost comically subservient, and the whole situation was rather surreal. But anyone who could make it into the top ten of the grade, regardless of their family background, was neither stupid nor lazy.
They were all goddamn grinders.
No matter how thick the needle or how grueling the Body Forging, they could endure it. Once they realized what Yang Shen was teaching was actually effective, their attitudes became even more deferential.
Moreover, with Yuan Rui acting as a middle manager, the eight so-called apprentices didn’t drain much of Yang Shen’s energy.
Yuan Rui handled scheduling the lessons and maintaining order, leaving Yang Shen to simply give instructions and observe the results.
This was a crucial point.
To his surprise, Yang Shen was slowly starting to grasp the essence of "management."
’A leader’s time and energy are always limited. Everyone only has twenty-four hours in a day, so middle management is essential.’
’If the leader is high enough up the chain, they’ll need countless layers of middle management, delegating further and further down.’
’This is the essence of management, and the quintessence of power.’
Having figured this out, Yang Shen became more willing to let Yuan Rui play the role of "head disciple."
He could even understand those seemingly bizarre behaviors as "part of management."
It was just like the morning pep rallies Yang Shen often saw at hair salons or restaurants.
Outsiders might find it silly, but every one of those places still did it.
It came back to the same idea: if "formality" and "ritual" don’t seem to have any practical meaning to you, it just means you haven’t reached a high enough level.
Yuan Rui saved Yang Shen a great deal of energy. He even collected the tuition fees, so Yang Shen never had to mention money himself and could maintain the appearance of someone "not interested in money."
Therefore, Yang Shen was happy to support the guy’s efforts.
With Yuan Rui’s pragmatic personality, it might even produce some surprisingly good results!
The hour of instruction was over. Just as Yang Shen was about to leave with Xu Bamboo, Huo Jun—fresh from enjoying himself with the "wet trash"—inexplicably returned to the basement.
The Madman raised his only right hand. "You. Come with me."
Yang Shen and Huo Jun went to a corner of the basement, with the eight apprentices occasionally glancing in their direction.
In truth, they longed for Huo Jun’s guidance as well. He was a great master of the True Gang Realm!
Unfortunately, in Huo Jun’s eyes, they were nothing more than wet trash that was harder to decompose.
Huo Jun never wasted words and got straight to the point. "I just got a notice. I have a mission next week that requires a long trip, so I probably won’t be teaching your P.E. class for a while."
Yang Shen raised an eyebrow. He’d assumed that as the top expert responsible for security at Nanliang High School, Huo Jun would stay at least until after the college entrance exams.
But as a True Gang master, and most likely a retired veteran, it wasn’t surprising that he could be reassigned, just as he had been assigned to Nanliang High School in the first place.
Huo Jun said, "If I make it back alive, I might check in on your college entrance exams. Can’t say if it’ll be before or after, though."
Yang Shen asked quizzically, "It’s that dangerous?"
Thinking about the mission’s details, Huo Jun felt a stir of excitement...
A brand-new Exotic Realm deep within the ocean... It seemed to remind him of the romantic days of his youth, when he’d gone on glorious killing sprees.
The higher-ups needed his extensive experience exploring Exotic Realms; he was being transferred to serve as a Think Tank.
’But it’s perfectly reasonable for a member of a Think Tank to go on a rampage and create a river of blood, right?’
Huo Jun roared with laughter. "If you want to kill, you have to be prepared to die yourself. What’s not normal about that?"
His actions certainly matched his words. He was equally indifferent to life and death, be it his own or someone else’s.
"I don’t know what they’ll do with Class Six’s P.E. lessons. Those fledglings who’ve never killed anyone aren’t worth my concern anyway. But I did apply for free time for you. From now on, during every P.E. class, you’re free to train by yourself in the basement or out on the field. That goes for the little lady, too."
Yang Shen nodded. If the new P.E. teacher wasn’t as good as Huo Jun, he really would be better off training on his own.
Just when he thought that was all, Huo Jun suddenly said, "There’s one more promise I have yet to fulfill before I go."
Yang Shen waited, intrigued.
Huo Jun planted his feet. "Last monthly exam, you scored 140 in practical combat. I think that’s too low!"
Yang Shen raised an eyebrow.
’Still too low?’
’Does he really want me to pulverize the examiner? No, wait. Wasn’t he the examiner last time?’
’As if I could pulverize a True Gang Martial Artist with my bare hands...’
"I told you I’d get you a perfect score. I want to show this whole coddled, lazy education system that the only good students are the ones who’ve killed someone. Kill three, and you’re a ’model student’! So, before I leave, I’m going to teach you something truly skillful."
"These monthly exams are as boring as playing house. When you take the college entrance exam, remember to absolutely demolish your examiner! I’ve looked it up. Based on past cases, an examiner is held responsible for killing a student, but a student isn’t held responsible for killing an examiner."
Yang Shen: ...
"Huo, how about you just tell me what it is first?"
Huo Jun held up a single finger. "Have you ever heard of... ’Overlapping Waves’?"
==Portal==
[Monthly Ticket]