Chapter 182 - Culprit
"Long Tian! What is happening? Explain yourself!" said the teacher in charge as presenter and judge of the match. Despite his status as Imperial Prince, Long Tian was still a student at the time, so the teacher didn't have to use a formal tone to address Long Tian.
"We stopped the fight because Feng Gengxin and his four men broke the rules set by the academy." Long Tian calmly said as if he were answering a simple question. Then, he showed the teachers the object that Feng Gengxin was holding until recently.
"Broke the rules?" asked the teacher as he moved his gaze to the small pill in Long Tian's hand. A glance was enough to realize what it was. The other teachers also widened their eyes in amazement. They didn't believe that a first-year student could have such an object on them.
"Feng Chen! Explain this. How did Feng Gengxin get a berserk pill? No, there are even five pills. Did the Feng Family provide these pills to Feng Gengxin?" This time the teacher looked toward Feng Chen. Feng Gengxin was not in a condition to respond, and therefore they asked Feng Chen who belonged to the same family.
"Obviously not. As one of the Eight Big Families, the Feng Family cares about its honor and respect for the rules. No one in the family could have given Feng Gengxin the berserk pills, not even his father, who dotes on him so much. After all, using that pill also means targeting Feng Gengxin's life. If you want to point the finger against someone, it can only be one of you teachers." Feng Chen responded in kind, maintaining his pride as a member of the Feng Family. Although he usually preferred to remain calm and silent, this time, he was showing a bold attitude, accusing the teachers of the academy.
"Ridiculous! How dare you just think of such a thing. Feng Chen, the Eight Big Families may have strong power within the Empire, but remember, we teachers are the highest authorities in the academy. You'd better retract your accusations and apologize." The teacher was furious. How could one think that one of the teachers was the culprit in giving such an object to an academy student?
"What Feng Chen says is not wrong. If you come with me, I will give you the proof." Long Tian intervened.
"Long Tian, you-" the teacher was about to become even more furious when another colleague put his hand on his shoulder, saying, "If he says there is evidence, we must see it with our own eyes. If there is not, then we will think about how to punish them for the accusations they made. But the priority is to understand who has been providing similar items to five of our students."
The other teachers nodded in approval. Although it wasn't pleasant to admit, the probability that the culprit was a teacher was high. The students were relegated into the academy and were isolated from their respective families for most of the year. So it was hardly feasible that someone from outside had supplied the pills to Feng Gengxin and his men.
Long Tian started guiding the academy's teachers. Some of them, however, remained behind to send the spectators back to their accommodation. Long Tian also had brought Hei and Lian along. The blue-haired young woman had insisted on coming too, and Long Tian said there was no problem.
Long Tian led the group into the academy until they reached the training grounds. After that, they entered one of the rooms. The room was supposed to be empty at the moment, as it was for the others, yet it wasn't.
Two men were inside, but there was something strange in that sight. One of the men was standing with his spirit power activated and was blocking the other man on the ground who was unable even to move a muscle.
'What a strong pressure.' Hei thought as he looked at the two people in the room. Although the spirit power of the standing man was restricted to a small area, Hei could still feel his body hair stand up straight. After all, the pressure he felt was generated by a Spirit King.
"Song Yazhu!" the teachers who had followed Long Tian up to there exclaimed in surprise. They didn't expect to see him there, much less in that situation.
"Wait, isn't that Sin Do-Yeon? Song Yazhu! What are you doing?" shouted another teacher.
Sin Do-Yeon. One of the academy teachers designated for the second year students. Theoretically, it should have been he who would have instructed the first-year students, but at the last moment, the Empire had sent a notification that Song Yazhu would be sent to teach the first-year students.
Regarding the relationship between Song Yazhu and the other teachers, it couldn't be said that there was a bond of friendship. The teachers at the academy were generally in the fourth rank, Spirit Grandmaster; Song Yazhu was instead a fifth rank, a Spirit King, and he was approaching the sixth rank, Spirit Emperor. Considering that he was in his first year of teaching, it was expected that there was no deep connection between him and the other teachers.
Sin Do-Yeon, on the other hand, had been a teacher for a lot of years by now. The other teachers at the academy knew him well, and it wasn't unusual for them to spend their free time together. So it was normal that they were upset and even angry when they saw a longtime colleague and friend get stuck on the ground that way.
"Song Yazhu! What does this mean?" the teachers asked as they barely refrained from using their spirit power. If it weren't that the gap between them and Song Yazhu was enormous, they would have long since helped their colleague and friend.
"This is the proof I told you about." Long Tian spoke as he approached Song Yazhu and Sin Do-Yeon.
"Proof? What are you talking about?"
"He is the culprit for whom we were looking. He was the one who gave the berserk pills to Feng Gengxin, and he was the one who gave the elemental talismans to another group of students during the trial in the forest."
"The culprit? Impossible! How can you be so sure? How can this be a proof?"
"Once Feng Gengxin has recovered, just ask him. But in the meantime, hearing that from the culprit is more than enough, isn't it?" Long Tian then motioned to Song Yazhu to reduce the spirit power that was holding Sin Do-Yeon to the ground.
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Sin Do-Yeon loudly coughed as the pressure on him eased. His body was still well immobilized on the ground, with zero chance of freeing himself.
"Sin Do-Yeon teacher. There is no point in trying to hide it. We know it was you." Long Tian said without wasting time on unnecessary rhetoric.
Sin Do-Yeon shifted his gaze to the Imperial Prince and his fellow teachers and then ended up on Song Yazhu above him. After emitting a sigh, he decided to confess. "It's useless going around it, so I'll get to the point. Yes, the things you said about me are true."
Thud!
The teachers in the room were incredulous at the words of their colleague. They would never have believed it if they had heard it from someone else, but Sin Do-Yeon himself was pleading guilty.
"What does this mean? Sin Do-Yeon! Why did you do such a thing?" the teachers asked.
"The reason is related to the forest trial." Long Tian revealed as he showed the pair of demon horns he had come across.
Seeing the demon horns, the teachers turned pale. How could they not know what it was? The question was, from where the hell did Long Tian get such an object?
"This pair of horns were made from the corpse of a beast tamer demon who prowled near the trial site. I trust you are all smart enough to understand what it means, right? "
Hearing this, the teachers' face had now completely lost color. Of course, they knew what it meant. A demon! A demon had arrived within the human territories and had even infiltrated an area where the students of the academy were. If this had come to light, none of their teachers could have escaped from paying the consequences.
"Sin Do-Yeon! Why? Why did you do such a thing? You even went so far as to ally yourself with our enemies!"
Sin Do-Yeon appeared irritated by this question but finally replied, "Why? For power, what else? We may have power here, but within the empire, we are worthless. We are just pawns replaceable at any time. I don't want to end like this. I want to become famous and be in the peak of society, revered by everyone like Song Yazhu. But the empire hardly grants precious resources to people like us with limited potential. So I thought, why not get the resources I need myself? I then made a pact with the demons. In exchange for the life of some students, I would have become a Spirit King, and who knows, maybe I could have become a Spirit Emperor as well."
When Sin Do-Yeon finished speaking, the other teachers nearly assaulted him physically. Ironically, if it weren't for Song Yazhu, Sin Do-Yeon would have been killed instantly.
"I wonder if it is really the case," muttered Long Tian with a smile on his face. His voice was low, and only Hei and Lian heard him.
Long Tian then approached Sin Do-Yeon and whispered something in his ears. This time Sin Do-Yeon whitened utterly, taking on an expression of pure amazement. His lips began to tremble as he tried to find the right words to answer. Long Tian, however, placed his index finger on the man's lips on the ground, telling him to keep quiet.
Step! Step!
Footsteps rang across the room. Unbeknownst to everyone, a middle-aged man had suddenly appeared at the entrance and was slowly approaching. Even without activating his spirit power, the pressure the man was exerting was even higher than Song Yazhu's.
"Headmaster Long Jing!" The teachers exclaimed together before bowing their heads in greeting.
Headmaster Long Jing, the principal of the Southern Royal War Academy. As suggested by the name, he was part of the Imperial Family and was a Spirit Emperor.
"Long Tian greets Uncle Jing." Long Tian respectfully greeted as he motioned for Hei and Lian to bow their heads in turn. The two did as requested while they waited for how the situation would develop.
"Long Tian. Aside from the first day you arrived, I never saw you again. You seem to have been quite busy. "Long Jing's voice had a calm tone like that of Long Tian, but even the simple sound of his words contained an incredible grandeur.
"I didn't want to disturb you, uncle. I apologize if I haven't warned you." Long Tian excused himself, lowering his head even more.
"Don't worry. Considering the delicacy of the matter, it is normal that you have decided to act in secrecy. But you should also know with whom you have to maintain this secrecy and with whom not. Remember this in the future. In any case, you have done an efficient job. I will reward you properly later. Now, however, I ask you to return to your accommodation with your friends. It seems that after a long time, it's time to go back to my role as the academy headmaster." Long Jing then glanced at the teachers gathered there. They had a worried expression on their faces and didn't dare look the headmaster in the eyes.
"As you wish, Uncle Jing. Then Long Tian will return to his quarters. Thanks for coming." Long Tian then accompanied Hei and Lian out of the room to return to the castle. On the way, Long Tian was silent, and both Hei and Lian didn't ask him any questions. It was only when they reached Long Tian's room that he spoke.
"And so this matter has been resolved. Hei, Lian. Thank you for helping me. Without your help and that of your companions, it would have been more difficult to implement my plan." Long Tian thanked while his calm, composed expression relaxed a little, making a glimpse of tiredness visible.
"You don't have to thank me; it's not that we did it for free after all. Long Tian, that middle-aged man, he is the headmaster of the academy, right?" Hei asked. He had been intrigued by the arrival of the middle-aged man.
"Yes. Like me, he, too, is part of the Imperial Family. To be precise, the Yellow Dragon Family. Generally, the children of the Imperial Family are educated in the capital by the teachers hired by the family. But staying there wouldn't have fulfilled my purposes, and therefore I decided to join one of the Four Royal Academies. If I chose the Southern Academy, it is because of the presence of my uncle as the headmaster. Even though my uncle usually leaves everything in the hands of teachers, in delicate cases like this, it is not bad to have a connection to exploit. Either way, it's time to reward you for your work. Here, the Spirit Registration Sphere as promised. "
Long Tian then pulled out a crystal ball like the ones that were on display in the Academy Library. Hei did his best to calm down as he grabbed the sphere and placed it in his space ring.
"Thanks, Long Tian. If you want to excuse me, then Lian and I will return to our room." thanked Hei, who couldn't wait to see the content inside the sphere.
"One moment." Long Tian exclaimed, stopping the two young men, "before you go, I want to tell you something. A warning, to be precise. The content in the sphere is the same as what other geniuses have already viewed in the past. Although the content is the same, the reactions elicited in each of those geniuses are different.
Some of them were fascinated and found additional motivation to move forward. Others, on the other hand, found insights into what true strength means and how to improve. And others were instead so impressed by so much power they were frightened by it, thinking they didn't have the qualifications to reach that level.
I don't know what kind of reaction you and Lian will have, but the fundamental thing is that you find a meaning that belongs only to you. It would be a shame if your path were to be damaged due to something I gave you, but I don't think there will be any problems if it is you.
Ah, one last thing. You are free to show the contents of the sphere to your other companions, but it's better if you show it to them only. Even if it isn't top secret information, the sphere I gave you has a sort of symbolic status given only to the geniuses of noble families. So it's better not to divulge that I gave it to you, okay?" Long Tian asked even though he already knew the answer and wasn't worried at all.
"Okay. Thanks again Long Tian." Hei replied with a bow of the head. He was genuinely grateful for Long Tian's magnanimity. Normally it would have been enough to have them visualize the contents of the sphere on the spot and then take it back. Yet Long Tian had decided to give the sphere to Hei, allowing him to look at it whenever he wanted and to share it with whoever he wanted.
Hei and Lian then left Long Tian's room and went looking for their other companions. Together, they would visualize the content for which he so longed.