Discipline Hall.
Huang Hao insisted that Di Feng and company were the ones who had instructed him to spread the rumors.
Di Feng and company had also admitted to that, but they denied involvement in the spread of the rumors involving everyone else. They only admitted to targeting Chen Yong and Wu Jia. There was a great difference between the two.
If they had only targeted Chen Yong and Wu Jia, they were doing it out of personal grudge. They would be punished for disrespecting a teacher, but the punishment would be much more lenient.
As for the other rumors, the matter involved the entire Great Xia. If they took the blame for that as well, they might really be executed.
Questioning room.
Huang Qifeng was pale as he loudly said, "Elders, we have really not slandered the other elders. Huang Hao is lying. We haven't done any of that!"
Qiu Yi was also greatly frightened. He looked at Zhou Mingren and said, "Grandteacher, that really wasn't us! We weren't crazy! We can act against Wu Jia, but there is no need for us to provoke the other elders!"
The elders ignored them.
Elder Qi looked at the other elders involved in the investigation before looking at Old Huang. He solemnly said, "None of them are lying."
Yes. These elders were able to easily see that these students were telling the truth.
But there were two versions of truth.
Nevertheless, they had indeed created a rumor to slander Chen Yong. And Chen Yong was a ninth-stage Cloudbreach and the head manager of the books depository. Even if they had only slandered him, they would still be punished.
Meanwhile, Zhou Mingren kept his eyes and mouth shut.
Old Huang said, "Would these people dare to attack Chen Yong for no reason? Someone else must be behind this."
Elder Qi looked at him before looking at Di Feng and company. He said, "Tell the truth. Who instructed you to do this?"
"Nobody!"
"Think properly before you answer." Elder Qi calmly said, "It is not a great offense for a researcher to slander a colleague. But a student slandering a higher up of the academy is a very big deal."
He was telling the truth.
This was an era where strength was everything.
A Mental Tempering Stage slandering a Cloudbreach was very different from a Cloudbreach slandering another Cloudbreach.
Suddenly, Zhou Mingren opened his eyes and said, "It was me. I only instructed them to think of a way to deal with Wu Jia and remove Chen Yong from the books depository. As for the spreading of rumors, I wasn't involved in it."
Elder Qi and the other elders looked at him.
Old Huang coldly said, "Vice Principal Zhou, some words can't be lightly said. You need to pay the price for it."
In truth, they already had a guess that the mastermind was probably an idiot called Zhou Pingsheng.
Yu Hong and Elder Sun also looked at Zhou Mingren. He calmly said, "I will naturally take responsibility for this. Since I have accidentally caused this incident, I will face the consequences. I will be resigning from my position as the vice principal. Is this acceptable?"
He was resigning as a vice principal!
The other elders frowned. What was the difference between a vice principal and an elder? The biggest difference was succession in the event of Wan Tiansheng's death. Additionally, vice principals also had the power to interfere in the affairs of all the academy faculties.
For example, a vice principal was allowed to interfere in the affairs of the Talisman and Pillmaking Faculties.
If Zhou Mingren resigned, he could no longer interfere in any affairs outside the Character Faculty. This was actually quite a harsh punishment.
Old Huang's eyes were cold as he said, "Vice Principal Zhou, you need to be responsible with your words. It is not a good look for you to be taking the blame for someone else. You're the vice principal. If you insist on taking the blame, we naturally won't be able to continue our investigation..."
With Zhou Mingren confessing to the offense, they naturally couldn't continue with their investigation anymore.
It would be pointless to do so. Even if they could find proof of Zhou Pingsheng's involvement, he could simply claim that he was acting under Zhou Mingren's orders. It was much harder to deal with a Cloudbreach than a Mental Tempering Stage student.
They could easily see through the lies of a student. But even Sunmoons would have a hard time seeing through the lies of a Skysoar. At the Skysoar Realm, one's willpower would grow massively. It wouldn't be so easy to read them.
Zhou Mingren indifferently said, "Like I said, they were acting on my orders. Feel free to punish me as you wish. What else do you want to know?"
Elder Qi frowned.
He looked at Zhou Mingren and frowned. "Old Zhou, both of us know the truth very well. You are someone on the cusp of entering the Sunmoon Realm. We both know these petty tricks are beneath you. When Zheng Yuming was running your faction, everything he did had been done within the bounds of the rules. Your faction might have been somewhat messy, but it wasn't chaotic. Back then, everyone still followed a set of rules. But now...hehe."
Those words stabbed into Zhou Mingren's heart like needles.
Was he not aware of that?
He was perfectly clear!
But were these people not aware that Yuming was already a cripple?
Indifference returned to Old Huang's face as he said, "Since Vice Principal Zhou has admitted to being the mastermind, we will decide on the punishment in a meeting with Principal Wan. As for Di Feng and the rest..."
Zhou Mingren had already taken the blame. But they still couldn't verify if these people had also spread the rumors about the other elders.
After a short silence, Old Huang said, "People who have directly spread the rumors like Huang Hao have ruined the academy's reputation and slandered their teachers. From today onward, they will receive no benefits from the academy. They will no longer be allowed entry into the grottos, books depository, and library. They will each be subjected to 30 whips and fined 100 merit points. A demerit will also be left in their profiles."
Nobody objected.
Old Huang continued, "People who have created the rumors like Di Feng, Huang Qifeng, and Qiu Yi will receive 100 whips and a fine of 1,000 merit points. All their benefits within the academy will be canceled..."
Zhou Mingren interjected with a sigh, "I was the mastermind. They are only following my orders. They can be whipped, and even have a demerit left in their profiles. As for their academy benefits, I hope the Discipline Hall can be lenient on account of their status as top 100 students. They are basically future Skysoars."
If all their benefits were cancelled, they would no longer be able to enter the Willpower Grotto as well. As for the whipping punishment, it was actually a lot more painful than it sounded. A demerit in their profiles would also cause them a lot of problems in the future. A fine of 1,000 merit points each was actually quite large.
But none of that could compare to the cancellation of all benefits. If that happened, these students would miss out on a lot of opportunities within the academy. Weren't these benefits the reason why they joined the academy?
Removing these benefits was the same as expelling them. These were the elite students of the single character faction. He couldn't allow all of them to be destroyed at once.
Old Huang said, "They deserve this. At the very least, I have allowed them to remain in the academy. If they make a great contribution in the future, they might be able to cancel these penalties."
"Great contribution?"
After a short silence, Zhou Mingren asked, "Does eliminating Myriad Race Cult strongholds count?"
"Yes." Old Huang's eyes flickered as he asked, "Are you sure, Vice Principal Zhou? Remember that you can't falsely assign battle merits to someone else. Anyone caught doing that will be subjected to the death penalty."
"I understand." Zhou Mingren looked at Di Feng and the other students before softly saying, "There is still hope. Great Xia places great importance on battle merits. You guys are not far from the Skysoar Realm. If you can eliminate a few cult strongholds, you will be able to recover from this."
He sighed inwardly. This was a heavy loss for their faction. What a bunch of idiots! As for his position as the vice principal, so be it. At this point, it was time for the single character faction to withdraw the scope of their activities. Previously, when they were at the peak of their power, they could interfere in the affairs of the other faculties. But now, he wouldn't be able to continue doing so even if he wanted.
Old Huang continued, "Additionally, for being incompetent teachers, Zhou Pingsheng, Yang Chao, Min He and the others will stop receiving merit points for one year. They are also forbidden from applying for promotions for three years."
"Huang Chen!" Zhou Mingren stared at Old Huang while the look in his eyes changed repeatedly. He said, "They know nothing about this. Forfeiting their salary for a year is enough. Fobidding them from all promotions for a period of three years is too excessive."
That punishment would only mean that even after becoming the head manager and faction master, Zhou Pingsheng would not be promoted into an elder. Why? Because the lowest requirement for an elder was to be a senior researcher. And Zhou Pingsheng was still not a senior researcher.
Old Huang looked at Zhou Mingren and indifferently said, "If Vice Principal Zhou is dissatisfied with our handling of this, you are free to file a complaint. But before that, we of the Discipline Hall will still carry out our duties as we see fit. We are already giving them a lighter punishment out of respect for you."
Zhou Mingren frowned and said nothing else. Three years...for three years, these researchers would not be able to apply for a promotion.
Zhou Pingsheng was not the only researcher who was on the verge of a promotion. A few other researchers were also in a similar position. With this punishment, the single character faction's influence would be further curtailed.
He looked at Huang Chen with an unsightly expression. The Discipline Hall had acted like this before.
Old Huang ignored Zhou Mingren and said, "The teachers should also be held responsible for the lack of morality the students have displayed. During the year end evaluation, the Discipline Hall will conduct a thorough investigation. We really want to see if these teachers have actually been putting any effort into their duties."
The moment those words were said, the faces of Yu Hong and the others changed. Yu Hong demanded, "Huang Chen, what is the meaning of this?"
"What do you mean?" Old Huang looked at her and indifferently said, "We are the Discipline Hall. Don't you understand? We are duty-bound to supervise the academy for any wrongdoings. Elder Yu Hong, are you trying to interfere in our duties? If you are clean, why are you afraid of an investigation? I also hope that all of you will remind the others of their duties after this. The review this year will be strict. Our investigation will extend to the warehouses, the accounts, the class hours, all the research subjects, all the fund allocations, and so on."
Old Huang coldly said, "I am very curious. The academy has been allocating ample funds to all the faculties each year. Why is it that some students are still suffering from a lack of cultivation resources? I don't think our academy actually lacks cultivation resources. Even if we don't have enough willpower texts to allow all students to read one every day, we still have enough for each student to read at least one willpower text every one or two weeks. But I have discovered that a lot of students can barely get to read one willpower text every six months or even a year."
"This applies to the pillmaking faction, the talisman faction, the weaponsmithing faction, and the beast taming faction. You better get your books in order. Don't let me discover anything during the year end review."
Discipline Hall.
Huang Hao insisted that Di Feng and company were the ones who had instructed him to spread the rumors.
Di Feng and company had also admitted to that, but they denied involvement in the spread of the rumors involving everyone else. They only admitted to targeting Chen Yong and Wu Jia. There was a great difference between the two.
If they had only targeted Chen Yong and Wu Jia, they were doing it out of personal grudge. They would be punished for disrespecting a teacher, but the punishment would be much more lenient.
As for the other rumors, the matter involved the entire Great Xia. If they took the blame for that as well, they might really be executed.
Questioning room.
Huang Qifeng was pale as he loudly said, "Elders, we have really not slandered the other elders. Huang Hao is lying. We haven't done any of that!"
Qiu Yi was also greatly frightened. He looked at Zhou Mingren and said, "Grandteacher, that really wasn't us! We weren't crazy! We can act against Wu Jia, but there is no need for us to provoke the other elders!"
The elders ignored them.
Elder Qi looked at the other elders involved in the investigation before looking at Old Huang. He solemnly said, "None of them are lying."
Yes. These elders were able to easily see that these students were telling the truth.
But there were two versions of truth.
Nevertheless, they had indeed created a rumor to slander Chen Yong. And Chen Yong was a ninth-stage Cloudbreach and the head manager of the books depository. Even if they had only slandered him, they would still be punished.
Meanwhile, Zhou Mingren kept his eyes and mouth shut.
Old Huang said, "Would these people dare to attack Chen Yong for no reason? Someone else must be behind this."
Elder Qi looked at him before looking at Di Feng and company. He said, "Tell the truth. Who instructed you to do this?"
"Nobody!"
"Think properly before you answer." Elder Qi calmly said, "It is not a great offense for a researcher to slander a colleague. But a student slandering a higher up of the academy is a very big deal."
He was telling the truth.
This was an era where strength was everything.
A Mental Tempering Stage slandering a Cloudbreach was very different from a Cloudbreach slandering another Cloudbreach.
Suddenly, Zhou Mingren opened his eyes and said, "It was me. I only instructed them to think of a way to deal with Wu Jia and remove Chen Yong from the books depository. As for the spreading of rumors, I wasn't involved in it."
Elder Qi and the other elders looked at him.
Old Huang coldly said, "Vice Principal Zhou, some words can't be lightly said. You need to pay the price for it."
In truth, they already had a guess that the mastermind was probably an idiot called Zhou Pingsheng.
Yu Hong and Elder Sun also looked at Zhou Mingren. He calmly said, "I will naturally take responsibility for this. Since I have accidentally caused this incident, I will face the consequences. I will be resigning from my position as the vice principal. Is this acceptable?"
He was resigning as a vice principal!
The other elders frowned. What was the difference between a vice principal and an elder? The biggest difference was succession in the event of Wan Tiansheng's death. Additionally, vice principals also had the power to interfere in the affairs of all the academy faculties.
For example, a vice principal was allowed to interfere in the affairs of the Talisman and Pillmaking Faculties.
If Zhou Mingren resigned, he could no longer interfere in any affairs outside the Character Faculty. This was actually quite a harsh punishment.
Old Huang's eyes were cold as he said, "Vice Principal Zhou, you need to be responsible with your words. It is not a good look for you to be taking the blame for someone else. You're the vice principal. If you insist on taking the blame, we naturally won't be able to continue our investigation..."
With Zhou Mingren confessing to the offense, they naturally couldn't continue with their investigation anymore.
It would be pointless to do so. Even if they could find proof of Zhou Pingsheng's involvement, he could simply claim that he was acting under Zhou Mingren's orders. It was much harder to deal with a Cloudbreach than a Mental Tempering Stage student.
They could easily see through the lies of a student. But even Sunmoons would have a hard time seeing through the lies of a Skysoar. At the Skysoar Realm, one's willpower would grow massively. It wouldn't be so easy to read them.
Zhou Mingren indifferently said, "Like I said, they were acting on my orders. Feel free to punish me as you wish. What else do you want to know?"
Elder Qi frowned.
He looked at Zhou Mingren and frowned. "Old Zhou, both of us know the truth very well. You are someone on the cusp of entering the Sunmoon Realm. We both know these petty tricks are beneath you. When Zheng Yuming was running your faction, everything he did had been done within the bounds of the rules. Your faction might have been somewhat messy, but it wasn't chaotic. Back then, everyone still followed a set of rules. But now...hehe."
Those words stabbed into Zhou Mingren's heart like needles.
Was he not aware of that?
He was perfectly clear!
But were these people not aware that Yuming was already a cripple?
Indifference returned to Old Huang's face as he said, "Since Vice Principal Zhou has admitted to being the mastermind, we will decide on the punishment in a meeting with Principal Wan. As for Di Feng and the rest..."
Zhou Mingren had already taken the blame. But they still couldn't verify if these people had also spread the rumors about the other elders.
After a short silence, Old Huang said, "People who have directly spread the rumors like Huang Hao have ruined the academy's reputation and slandered their teachers. From today onward, they will receive no benefits from the academy. They will no longer be allowed entry into the grottos, books depository, and library. They will each be subjected to 30 whips and fined 100 merit points. A demerit will also be left in their profiles."
Nobody objected.
Old Huang continued, "People who have created the rumors like Di Feng, Huang Qifeng, and Qiu Yi will receive 100 whips and a fine of 1,000 merit points. All their benefits within the academy will be canceled..."
Zhou Mingren interjected with a sigh, "I was the mastermind. They are only following my orders. They can be whipped, and even have a demerit left in their profiles. As for their academy benefits, I hope the Discipline Hall can be lenient on account of their status as top 100 students. They are basically future Skysoars."
If all their benefits were cancelled, they would no longer be able to enter the Willpower Grotto as well. As for the whipping punishment, it was actually a lot more painful than it sounded. A demerit in their profiles would also cause them a lot of problems in the future. A fine of 1,000 merit points each was actually quite large.
But none of that could compare to the cancellation of all benefits. If that happened, these students would miss out on a lot of opportunities within the academy. Weren't these benefits the reason why they joined the academy?
Removing these benefits was the same as expelling them. These were the elite students of the single character faction. He couldn't allow all of them to be destroyed at once.
Old Huang said, "They deserve this. At the very least, I have allowed them to remain in the academy. If they make a great contribution in the future, they might be able to cancel these penalties."
"Great contribution?"
After a short silence, Zhou Mingren asked, "Does eliminating Myriad Race Cult strongholds count?"
"Yes." Old Huang's eyes flickered as he asked, "Are you sure, Vice Principal Zhou? Remember that you can't falsely assign battle merits to someone else. Anyone caught doing that will be subjected to the death penalty."
"I understand." Zhou Mingren looked at Di Feng and the other students before softly saying, "There is still hope. Great Xia places great importance on battle merits. You guys are not far from the Skysoar Realm. If you can eliminate a few cult strongholds, you will be able to recover from this."
He sighed inwardly. This was a heavy loss for their faction. What a bunch of idiots! As for his position as the vice principal, so be it. At this point, it was time for the single character faction to withdraw the scope of their activities. Previously, when they were at the peak of their power, they could interfere in the affairs of the other faculties. But now, he wouldn't be able to continue doing so even if he wanted.
Old Huang continued, "Additionally, for being incompetent teachers, Zhou Pingsheng, Yang Chao, Min He and the others will stop receiving merit points for one year. They are also forbidden from applying for promotions for three years."
"Huang Chen!" Zhou Mingren stared at Old Huang while the look in his eyes changed repeatedly. He said, "They know nothing about this. Forfeiting their salary for a year is enough. Fobidding them from all promotions for a period of three years is too excessive."
That punishment would only mean that even after becoming the head manager and faction master, Zhou Pingsheng would not be promoted into an elder. Why? Because the lowest requirement for an elder was to be a senior researcher. And Zhou Pingsheng was still not a senior researcher.
Old Huang looked at Zhou Mingren and indifferently said, "If Vice Principal Zhou is dissatisfied with our handling of this, you are free to file a complaint. But before that, we of the Discipline Hall will still carry out our duties as we see fit. We are already giving them a lighter punishment out of respect for you."
Zhou Mingren frowned and said nothing else. Three years...for three years, these researchers would not be able to apply for a promotion.
Zhou Pingsheng was not the only researcher who was on the verge of a promotion. A few other researchers were also in a similar position. With this punishment, the single character faction's influence would be further curtailed.
He looked at Huang Chen with an unsightly expression. The Discipline Hall had acted like this before.
Old Huang ignored Zhou Mingren and said, "The teachers should also be held responsible for the lack of morality the students have displayed. During the year end evaluation, the Discipline Hall will conduct a thorough investigation. We really want to see if these teachers have actually been putting any effort into their duties."
The moment those words were said, the faces of Yu Hong and the others changed. Yu Hong demanded, "Huang Chen, what is the meaning of this?"
"What do you mean?" Old Huang looked at her and indifferently said, "We are the Discipline Hall. Don't you understand? We are duty-bound to supervise the academy for any wrongdoings. Elder Yu Hong, are you trying to interfere in our duties? If you are clean, why are you afraid of an investigation? I also hope that all of you will remind the others of their duties after this. The review this year will be strict. Our investigation will extend to the warehouses, the accounts, the class hours, all the research subjects, all the fund allocations, and so on."
Old Huang coldly said, "I am very curious. The academy has been allocating ample funds to all the faculties each year. Why is it that some students are still suffering from a lack of cultivation resources? I don't think our academy actually lacks cultivation resources. Even if we don't have enough willpower texts to allow all students to read one every day, we still have enough for each student to read at least one willpower text every one or two weeks. But I have discovered that a lot of students can barely get to read one willpower text every six months or even a year."
"This applies to the pillmaking faction, the talisman faction, the weaponsmithing faction, and the beast taming faction. You better get your books in order. Don't let me discover anything during the year end review."
