Chapter 113: Fang Che Under Investigation

The subordinate in question was rather taken aback.

He had set off as soon as he received the first message, only to receive the second message almost immediately thereafter.

Why? Traveling to the headquarters before going to White Cloud Warrior Academy will significantly lengthen the journey!

However, Dongfang Sansan's orders were not to be questioned, so he did as he was told.

***

As Fang Che arrived at White Cloud Warrior Academy for his morning lessons, he spotted Fang Qingyun waiting at the entrance.

"Were you waiting for me?" Fang Che asked.

"Of course. Who else could I be waiting for?"

"You just came back from a mission, right? You've been going on really frequent missions ever since what happened to Wan Zhimei, and I was worried that your mood would be affected. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Fang Qingyun replied with a warm smile. "Even though Wan Zhimei always hung out with us, she always felt detached from the group. In the past, we thought it was just a personality thing, but it all makes sense now. We were walking down two completely different paths, so I'm sure it was quite a pain for her having to be with us as well.

“These past few missions have gone very smoothly without her, and if anything, the group feels more tight-knit and cohesive than before."

"That's good to hear."

"I just returned from a spirit medicine collection mission, and there was no danger involved, so don't go sending letters back home telling everyone that I'm running around taking undue risks," Fang Qingyun warned.

"I won't. I'll just tell them that you went out into battle and killed a bunch of demonic church members!" Fang Che said with a sly grin.

"You're just trying to get my father to whip me to death, aren't you?" Fang Qingyun snapped. "By the way, we stumbled upon a Snow Spirit Fruit plant on this mission. These fruits can nourish the meridians of the consumer for as long as half a year after consumption. There were seven fruits and six of us, so they each took one, while I took the remaining two as I was the leader of the group."

He carefully pulled out a cloth pouch as he spoke, then gently untied it as he smiled and said, "I've already eaten my one, this one's for you."

Fang Che was very touched by this gesture, and he said, "It's fine, I don't need it. You can have this one as well."

Fang Qingyun picked up the Snow Spirit Fruit, then stuffed it into Fang Che's mouth as he grumbled, "Hopefully, that'll shut you up for a bit! I heard you reached the Great Grandmaster tier. That's really impressive, but don't go out taking any risks! If you need anything, feel free to tell me."

With that, Fang Qingyun promptly departed.

A surge of warmth welled up in Fang Che's heart as he savored the sweet juices of the Snow Spirit Fruit in his mouth.

It was just a pity that Fang Qingyun was currently only a fifth-rank Lesser Grandmaster, so there were still many exceptional natural treasures that couldn't yet make use of it.

Actually, no, I just sensed his cultivation base just now, and he's already at the sixth-rank. That's a very impressive rate of progress!

***

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

As usual, Fang Che was toiling away in a spirit qi gravity cultivation chamber.

He had just finished his first block of two hours and had commenced his second block.

Bing Shangxue was waiting dutifully outside, chatting with the instructor overseeing the cultivation chambers.

The instructor was very talkative, clearly relishing the opportunity to be able to chat with a fine beauty like Bing Shangxue.

"These students of yours are very impressive, Instructor Bing."

"Yep."

"In particular, both Fang Che and Mo Ganyun possess exceptional aptitude and willpower."

"Yep."

"It must be really tiring having to instruct students every day, right?"

"Yep... I mean, it's alright."

"Are you free tonight, Instructor Bing? We could grab a bite to eat together."

"Yeah, sure... I mean, sorry, I'm busy tonight."

Bing Shangxue was beginning to grow very annoyed. This was always the problem with new instructors, they never seemed to know the importance of respecting professional boundaries.

Right at this moment, several people from the coordinator's office entered the room, led by none other than Chief Coordinator Xiang Xinghe.

Xiang Xinghe wasted no time as he cut straight to the point and asked, "Instructor Bing Shangxue, I understand there's a student by the name of Fang Che in your class, is that correct?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?" Bing Shangxue asked in a concerned manner.

The fact that Xiang Xinghe had come here in person was not a good sign.

"He needs to come with us for an assessment," Xiang Xinghe replied.

"What for? Wasn't he already assessed when he first arrived at the academy?"

"New suspicions have arisen around him, so he needs to be reassessed," Xiang Xinghe replied with a stern expression. "Please don't make my job any more difficult than it needs to be, Instructor Bing. I'm also only acting under instructions from my higher-ups."

"Fang Che has only just entered the cultivation chamber, so disturbing him now would be detrimental to his cultivation. Let's wait for him to come out first."

She then immediately began calling out to Li Changkong through voice transmission.

"There's no point in stalling for time, Instructor Bing. I am here on direct orders from Dean Gao!" Xiang Xinghe said in a cold voice.

Bing Shangxue refused to back down.

"I'm only an assistant instructor, while Li Changkong is the head instructor. I won't be able to answer to him if Fang Che is taken away under my watch."

"This is an order from the academy!"

"Well, there are rules between instructors that must be followed as well!"

Bing Shangxue remained unshakeable in her stance, and as the standoff continued, Li Changkong hurriedly arrived on the scene.

"What's going on?"

"They want to take away Fang Che..."

Bing Shangxue immediately explained the situation to him through voice transmission.

"Show me your paperwork," Li Changkong demanded.

Xiang Xinghe displayed all of the appropriate paperwork, so there was no case for argument there.

"As his head instructor, I'm going with him!" Li Changkong declared.

"That's absurd!" Xiang Xinghe snapped. "What are your intentions, protecting a suspect like this?"

"If he's deemed to have done something wrong, I want to know what transgressions he's committed. If he's deemed innocent, then I can take him back to class," Li Changkong said.

Xiang Xinghe was just about to protest when a voice rang out from behind him.

"He can come."

Xiang Xinghe was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, you can come, but you're the only one permitted to accompany him."

"Alright," Li Changkong replied, then turned to Bing Shangxue as he said, "You wait here for Mo Ganyun, I'll go in to fetch Fang Che."

"You're not going anywhere! Get the instructor overseeing the cultivation chambers to fetch him!" Xiang Xinghe interjected.

Li Changkong glowered intently at him for a moment, then sighed, "I hope you know what you're doing. I can assure you that Fang Che is a good kid."

"That's not up to you or me to decide, I'm only here to take him in for questioning."

The overseeing instructor entered the cultivation chamber to fetch Fang Che, while Bing Shangxue and Li Changkong exchanged a concerned glance with one another.

This was clearly no minor incident, but Xiang Xinghe wasn't giving them any information, so they were both being kept in the dark.

Generally speaking, these assessments were only conducted on students suspected to have ties with demonic churches. If that were the case, then things certainly didn't bode well for Fang Che.

***

Ever since his spirit sense was enhanced by the ancient jade he had obtained, Fang Che could sense that he was progressing far faster in his cultivation than before.

The spirit sense was connected to the soul, and the soul was the foundation of everything.

For example, the average person could perhaps study or work in a state of full concentration for only an hour or two before growing weary, at which point their concentration would begin to waver.

This was due to their limited spirit sense.

If they possessed more powerful spirit sense, they would be able to work with full focus for much longer, and that would naturally reap them far greater benefits.

Fang Che could sense that this wasn't the only benefit that the jade could bring, but at the moment, this was the only positive change that he could perceive.

Inside the spirit qi gravity cultivation chamber, Fang Che was absorbing spirit qi with all his might. He was rapidly approaching the pinnacle of the fifth-rank Great Grandmaster tier, and he was on the verge of reaching the sixth rank.

His spirit power was surging through his meridians, and plumes of spirit qi that were contaminated with impurities were streaming out of his nostrils with each exhalation, while pure spirit qi was flowing into his body with each inhalation.

His body would swell up with the influx of spirit qi, only to return to its original state as the spirit qi was absorbed, and the cycle repeated itself over and over again.

Fang Che was planning to make a breakthrough to the sixth rank either on this day or the next.

At this rate, he was confident that he would be able to reach the General tier in teh allotted time of four months.

At this point, close to two months had already passed by, and time was of the essence.

Just reaching the General tier alone wasn't enough. Ideally, he would get to at least the sixth rank or above, but that was most likely too much to ask, even with his unprecedented aptitude.

He was definitely going to have to face an extremely stern test once he reached the General tier.

Otherwise, Yin Shengong wouldn't have come to him with so much urgency.

Thinking back to the clear killing intent that Yin Shengong had displayed during their sparring match on his last visit, Fang Che knew that the upcoming mission was truly going to be a trial of life and death.

All of a sudden, his train of thought was cut off, as was the supply of spirit qi in the cultivation chamber.

What happened? I've only been in here for less than fifteen minutes! Didn't I book two hours?

The door was opened, and the overseeing instructor called out from the entrance, "Come out, Fang Che."