Chapter 141 (1): Let's Go, Academy Idol Fang!

There were a total of thirty-seven warriors taking part in the King tier selection trials.

The seventeen Halls of Protectionists were only able to scrounge together eleven representatives. As for the remaining twenty-six, twenty of them were from White Cloud Warrior Academy, while six were from the southeastern headquarters.

Fang Che noticed Old Man Shen and Li Changkong standing in the crowd, gazing upon him with warm smiles, and he immediately flashed them a wide smile and a confident nod.

Upon entering the venue for the selection trials, Fang Che caught sight of two people seated on a slightly elevated platform.

One of them was Chief Supervisor Zhao Shanhe, and he immediately put on an appropriate expression of disdain at the sight of Fang Che.

Deputy Chief Supervisor An Ruoxing was seated beside him, and his reception of Fang Che was much less hostile.

The thirty-seven Kings extended deep bows as they greeted the chief supervisors, but Fang Che stood out in particular in the lineup, only bending over ever so slightly before returning to an upright posture.

"Why did you not bow, Fang Che?" Zhao Shanhe asked with a displeased expression.

"I did."

"You call that a bow? You have no respect for your superiors!"

"What do you want from me then? Should I kneel down and kowtow to you?"

"How dare you! This is no way to be speaking to your superiors!"

"I don't know what you mean, Chief Supervisor Zhao. Did I not just offer to kneel to you?"

Zhao Shanhe was furious, but Fang Che really did bow just now. Even though it was only a tiny bow, it was still a bow, nevertheless.

As the chief supervisor, he would only be humiliating himself if he bickered over semantics by saying something like "you didn't bow deep enough!"

"Give him a pass, Chief Supervisor," An Ruoxing chuckled. "This is Chief Administrator Fang's first time coming to our southeastern headquarters, so he may not be familiar with the customs and formalities here."

Zhao Shanhe gave a cold harrumph as he continued to glower at Fang Che, while the thirty-six other Kings in the lineup were all staring at him with bewildered expressions.

Never had they imagined that there would be a mere chief administrator who dared to directly rebuke the chief supervisor of the southeast!

"The thirty-seven of you will fight in pairs, and only the final one left standing will come with me to take part in the next round of selection trials at the Guardian headquarters. The victor will also receive a reward, but for now, all of you can go to the waiting area."

"What's the reward?" Fang Che asked. "Will it be merit points?"

"Why are you the one asking?" Zhao Shanhe sneered. "It's not like a mere first-rank King like you has a chance anyway."

"My chances may be slim, but I'm joined by so many upperclassmen of mine from White Cloud Warrior Academy, so I have to ask on their behalf. If it's just going to be twenty merit points, then they may as well not look forward to it at all."

Zhao Shanhe was fuming, and he slammed the table as he sprang up from his chair, but before he had a chance to erupt into a furious tirade, a loud and flippant voice sounded outside.

"Listen to all that commotion inside! Is that the southeastern chief supervisor or the chief supervisor of the entire Guardians? He doesn't seem good at much else, but he certainly does excel when it comes to throwing fits at those below him! He sure has a hot temper for someone so incompetent and corrupt!"

It was Old Man Shen.

"Don't say that!" Li Changkong urged. "It wasn't easy for him to climb so high up the ranks, so we should give him some respect. Do you know how many people he would've had to have bribed to become chief supervisor? He must've spent an absolute fortune on bribes, so it's only right that he gets to throw a temper tantrum here and there!"

"Ah, you're right, Changkong! He doesn't dare to rebuke his equals or those above him, so all he can do is oppress his subordinates to make him feel better about himself."

"Exactly! He may not dare to pick on anyone his own size, but he can easily pick on an administrator to boost his own self-esteem!"

Everyone in the southeastern headquarters could hear the loud conversation between Li Changkong and Old Man Shen, and all of them were exchanging bewildered looks with one another.

What's going on in there? Aren't the selection trials taking place right now?

Zhao Shanhe looked as if he were about to murder someone, and An Ruoxing hurriedly rushed outside before yelling, "What do the two of you think you're doing? Be quiet!"

Old Man Shen and Li Changkong turned to him with puzzled expressions.

"What's going on, Deputy Chief Supervisor An? Is it a crime for us to talk to each other here?"

A distraught look appeared on Old Man Shen's face as he wailed, "I've sacrificed so much for this continent, yet I don't even have the right to speak my mind anymore! What did I do to deserve this?"

A loud bang rang out from inside.

Zhao Shanhe had smashed his desk to bits before storming out of the southeastern headquarters, feeling as if he were about to explode!

"Who's that throwing such a massive tantrum inside, Deputy Chief Supervisor An?" Old Man Shen asked. "Surely he has to pay for destroying public property! Otherwise, if everyone starts smashing their desks like he did, the authority of our southeastern headquarters would be completely dashed!"

"Shut up!" An Ruoxing snarled. "Have you not said enough?!"

"Nope!" Old Man Shen immediately replied. "There's plenty more where that came from. I'd be happy to resume as soon as he comes back."

An Ruoxing glowered at Old Man Shen momentarily with an exasperated expression, then hurriedly rushed back inside.

In the absence of Zhao Shanhe, he had to be present to oversee proceedings. Otherwise, the selection trials would be reduced to a complete farce.

Ever since Zhao Shanhe began targeting Fang Che, he had been met with vehement resistance and humiliation from all sides.

Recently, whenever there was a meeting at the southeastern headquarters, Dean Gao Qingyu of White Cloud Warrior Academy would be sure to turn up.

At the end of the meeting, the higher-ups would always ask, "Does anyone have anything they would like to report?"

Gao Qingyu would immediately stand up and yell at the top of his lungs, "I, Gao Qingyu of White Cloud Warrior Academy, would like to issue a formal report against Chief Supervisor Zhao Shanhe of the southeast for corruption, malfeasance, discrimination, and just being an all-round unscrupulous scoundrel! He would be much better suited to overseeing the Night Demon Church than the southeastern headquarters!"

The smear campaign against Zhao Shanhe had been constant and relentless, and it didn't appear as if the harassment would stop anytime soon.

***

After returning to the hall, An Ruoxing put on a composed smile as he instructed, "You can all go wait outside. The selection trials will begin in the afternoon, make sure to go and spectate the battles."

He then turned to Fang Che as he continued, "To answer your question, the reward for first place is one thousand merit points."

"I see. Thank you, Deputy Chief Supervisor An," Fang Che replied, suddenly displaying immaculate manners and none of his earlier abrasive haughtiness.

An Ruoxing rolled his eyes as he heaved a resigned sigh.

Everyone made their way out of the hall, where Fang Che found himself surrounded by the twenty Kings from White Cloud Warrior Academy.

"Impressive as ever, Academy Idol Fang!"

"I don't want to have to do this, but I have to stand up for myself," Fang Che said with a wry smile. "If you think that was impressive, I implore you to take my place."

"I'll pass," the King who had just spoken hurriedly replied with a frantic shake of his head.

They would much rather watch from the sidelines as passive bystanders than be placed in Fang Che's shoes.

Right at this moment, Old Man Shen stormed over to Fang Che with Li Changkong by his side, and he was looking very displeased as he asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Hand it over!" Li Changkong demanded with a stern expression.

"What..."

Fang Che was perplexed. His mind was racing, but he couldn't figure out what the two of them were referring to.

Old Man Shen slapped Fang Che on the back of the head, sending him sprawling to the ground as he asked with a menacing expression, "Where's my wedding wine?! It's already bad enough that you didn't invite me to your wedding, you think you can skimp out on wedding wine as well?!"

An enlightened look appeared on Fang Che's face as he clambered to his feet, only to be knocked to the ground again by another slap to the back of the head, this time from Li Changkong.

"Don't forget your four instructors, you ungrateful rascal! We've all been waiting to drink your wedding wine as well!"

Fang Che hurriedly began apologizing profusely with a hand clasped over the back of his head, promising to bring Old Man Shen and the four instructors some wine once they went back.

For that response, he received two more slaps.

"You're going to keep us waiting until we get back?!"

"I'l buy some wine this afternoon!" Fang Che hurriedly amended. "Please make do with that for now, and once we get back, Ye Meng and I will observe the proper wedding traditions and offer up wine and tea to you and the other instructors."

Old Man Shen was still clearly very disgruntled as he grumbled, "I was nagging you so much to get married, but you refused like some celibate monk! Then you go and get married in secret as soon as I turn my back! I was so pissed off after hearing the news that I couldn't eat for an entire day!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Ye Meng was standing nearby, looking on with an amused smile, and strode over to join Fang Che before also apologizing on his behalf.

It was only then that Old Man Shen and Li Changkong begrudgingly let Fang Che off the hook.

As soon as Ye Meng arrived by Fang Che's side, the eyes of all of the Warlords and Kings taking part in the selection trials instantly lit up, and they couldn't help but want to get a little closer.

Even if they had no nefarious intentions, it was still a sight for sore eyes to see such an exceptional beauty.

However, all of them were intimidated into retreat by a menacing glare from Old Man Shen.

In contrast with the young Warlords and Kings, Song Yidao's attention was instantly drawn to Old Man Shen, and he immediately stepped forward to stand by Old Man Shen's side, at which point he finally recovered some self-confidence, taking solace in the fact that Old Man Shen was even uglier than himself!

I may be bald, but I'd say I have a better set of facial features, and I'm also taller than him as well!

As for the tall and handsome Li Changkong, he was automatically ignored by Song Yidao. They were simply not in the same league, so a comparison between the two would be completely pointless.

Thus, Song Yidao remained by Old Man Shen's side the entire day, and they got along extremely well.

In the afternoon, the Warlord selection trials began.

Old Man Shen, Li Changkong, and Song Yidao were seated in a protective triangular formation around Ye Meng, while Fang Che was in the spectator stands reserved for those taking part in the selection trials.