In the Spirit Stone Hall, Zou Yunhai's voice was as calm as ever. He didn't sound like a teacher lecturing. It was more like he was casually talking through his understanding of armament-craft.
But every offhand remark landed like a hammer blow. Students kept having that "ohhh so that's it" moment—mind blocked one second, suddenly clear the next.
For a bunch of newbies who'd just entered the Dao College, that level of focus was brutal. At first they struggled just to keep up with their notes; later, even their pens couldn't keep pace, and waves of soft whispering started up as people quietly slackened off.
By now Wang Baole understood why the Armament Department only had three great lecture halls. Just this basic Spirit Stone course alone wasn't something you could "pass" after listening a few times. This stuff was hard.
When his brain was getting foggy, Liu Daobin beside him finally came back to himself. He glanced sideways, then leaned over and whispered:
"Wang Baole, this time you're in big trouble. I've heard a lot of teachers are pushing to have you expelled…"
His eyes were full of sympathy—though when they slid past Wang Baole's little backpack, his expression twitched.
"Which teachers?"Wang Baole frowned. Even though he'd mentally prepared himself, hearing it still made his chest feel tight.
Liu Daobin patted his shoulder, silently warning himself to learn from this. He was just arranging some comforting words when—
The hall doors opened with a creak.
Two people walked in.
They were clearly upperclassmen, dressed not in the usual grey but in black Daoist robes. Faces solemn, aura sharp. The moment they appeared, the older students in the hall sat up straight.
Low mutters rippled through the crowd.
"The Discipline Department is here? Something big's happened.""It's them? Wherever they show up, there's always blood and storm afterward…"
The new students didn't know who they were, but they understood the situation from the hush in the room. Even Wang Baole's heart skipped. Bad premonition, level up.
On the dais, Zou Yunhai's brows drew together. He looked over at the two black-robed students. They cupped their fists respectfully and offered him a jade slip.
Zou Yunhai read it, frowning, then lifted his head and swept his gaze across the hall… and finally fixed it on Wang Baole.
One look was enough. Every gaze in the hall followed, all landing on Baole. Expressions shifted; the conclusion was obvious:
So it's finally time to deal with him.
Even with a plan ready, Wang Baole still felt his nerves tighten. The two Discipline Department students were looking at him now, eyes cold and sharp.
"Wang Baole, come with us,"the taller one said, voice like ice.
But before Baole could stand up, Zou Yunhai snorted.
"Enough. Whatever needs doing can wait until class is over. Out."
The two discipline seniors hesitated. They didn't dare cross a teacher. Bowing, they retreated to either side of the main doors and stood there waiting. Zou Yunhai turned away, resumed his explanation, and no longer spared them a glance.
Wang Baole let out a tiny breath of relief. Gratitude warmed his gaze as he looked at the old man. He did have a response ready, but time was a precious cushion. Every extra moment let him refine it.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down.
The rest of the lecture slid past. Some students enjoyed the spectacle and kept sneaking looks at him, savoring his "impending downfall." But most had nothing to do with it and kept copying notes as usual.
Liu Daobin sighed to himself. He had no idea what to say. If Wang Baole really got expelled, then from that day on they'd be people from two different worlds. If they met again someday in the Federation… it'd just be sighs.
Time trickled away. Two hours later, Zou Yunhai finished his lecture and departed. Every head in the room turned toward Wang Baole. The two Discipline Department seniors' gazes went razor-sharp.
"Do we have to carry you out, Wang Baole?"
He opened his eyes. His expression was calmer than anyone had ever seen it on him. Without a word, he walked down the aisle and followed the two black robes out.
The hall exploded into chatter the moment his back disappeared.
"Is he really getting expelled?""How could he not be? Didn't you see the Discipline Department come in? In all these years, I've never seen anyone they dragged away come back fine!"
Excited, plenty of people rushed after them to watch the show. Wang Baole was a special admit; the whole mess around him had already caused a huge stir. By now it wasn't just the Armament Department watching—students from other departments were paying attention too.
Wang Baole ignored the growing crowd behind him. His face remained steady as he followed the two seniors straight up toward the peak of the Armament mountain.
The Discipline Department duo were quietly sneering. They'd escorted plenty of "hard cases" before. Some people tried to act tough, but in their experience, once that door opened, very few walked out with the same expression they'd walked in with.
They kept walking. More and more people trailed behind.
At last, they reached the main hall at the summit. The two black-robed seniors stopped before the tall doors, stepped aside, and motioned Wang Baole to enter on his own.
He stared at the shut doors, took a deep breath. Of course he was nervous—how could he not be? But this hurdle had to be crossed. He clenched his teeth, stepped forward, pushed the doors open, and walked in.
The moment he entered, he felt it: dozens of lines of sight slamming into him at once.
In front of him, dozens of teachers sat in rows. Middle-aged, elderly, all with stern faces. Some carried a trace of regret in their eyes. Among them, Old Doctor Lu and the goateed teacher were both present.
Old Lu's expression was placid; the goat-beard's was more complicated, tinged with reluctance.
At the center of them sat the man in charge of the inquiry.
He was a thin, middle-aged man wearing a black Daoist robe. His eyes were bright, lips thin. He seemed to radiate a chill that seeped into the air; the temperature in the hall really did feel lower than outside.
These people weren't all Armament teachers. But because Wang Baole was a special admit to the Armament Department, the inquiry would be held on this peak.
"Wang Baole!"
The black-robed supervisor's voice was as icy as his expression.
"Disciple present!"
Wang Baole drew in a deep breath, stepped forward, and bowed.
"After investigation, it has been confirmed that you engaged in serious and malicious cheating during the district assessment. According to college regulations, your student status should be revoked immediately.
But as you are a special admit, you have been called here only to stand by and listen."
He finished without giving Wang Baole the slightest chance to speak, turning instead to the teachers on either side.
"Fellow colleagues, we will proceed. Regarding Wang Baole's punishment, I personally recommend revoking his special admit status, expelling him from the college, and issuing a notice to the Four Great Dao Colleges that he is never to be accepted!"
His words were crisp and merciless. As they echoed around the hall, Wang Baole's face changed.
This guy's never even met me before, he thought, and he wants to make sure I can never stand up again? That's basically cutting off my entire future…
The hall fell silent for a moment. Then a teacher spoke, voice cold.
"Expulsion is appropriate. Someone so shameless and base is unfit to enter the Dao College!"
"Agreed. Expel him."
"It's a harsh sentence, but if we don't punish this severely, tolerating such behavior would be a betrayal of the Federation itself!"
One after another, teachers voiced their judgments. To them, Wang Baole was just a small fry. The black-robed supervisor had already set the tone. They had no reason to oppose him.
Wang Baole listened, breathing slow and steady, not moving. It was as if he'd gone numb—though his fists were clenched tight.
Finally, goat-beard sighed.
"Revoking the special admit status is enough. Who among us has never erred? There's no need to ruin him like this."
His lone objection didn't sway the room. A few more teachers spoke up in favor of expulsion, and soon that became the mainstream opinion.
Only Old Doctor Lu said nothing. The supervisor didn't bother to ask his view. He rose to his feet, about to announce the final decision—when Wang Baole suddenly raised his head, grief and indignation blazing in his eyes.
"Honored teachers, may I be allowed a chance to speak?"
The black-robed man frowned. The reason he'd been so ruthless was simple: he'd originally planned to recommend someone else to the Armament Department as a special admit. Before he could move, Wang Baole had snatched that slot.
He snorted and was about to ignore him when Old Lu finally spoke:
"Let him talk."
With Old Lu's voice in the air, the supervisor could only purse his lips and nod once, glancing at Wang Baole.
Wang Baole drew in a breath. His body trembled slightly.
"Teachers, it's true—I knew the entire assessment was fake. But what was I supposed to do?"
He looked around at them, voice growing louder.
"Was I supposed to shout it to everyone? To tell every student that the so-called assessment was just a sham? Could I do that?"
The last words came out almost as a roar.
Before anyone could rebuke him, his emotions surged and he pressed on, like he'd torn the cork out of a bottle.
"If I had said it, the whole grand plan of the college's assessment would have been ruined. At that point I would be the college's sinner. You tell me—what should I have done?"
"At the critical moment, I saw my classmates injured, bleeding. And precisely because I couldn't tell them it was fake, the only thing I could do was try to save them. Was that wrong? You tell me—what else was I supposed to do?"
The veins on his forehead bulged. His whole body was shaking, as if on the verge of hysteria.
"Is saving people a mistake? Is it wrong to save a life? If I, Wang Baole, had known it was fake and still stood there calculating whether helping would be 'cheating,' still weighing my own gains and losses while watching my classmates hurt, cry, and die… and did nothing—would I still be human?"
His near-roar boomed around the hall, echoing again and again.
All the teachers were stunned.
"You only saw me 'acting,'"he continued hoarsely,"but I want to ask each of you this: if it had been you there, what would you have done? Turn a cold eye to death? Or save people as I did?"
"I am a student of Ethereal Dao College. I won't claim to be some hero who changes the heavens above or brings peace to the people below. But I, Wang Baole, am at least a man who stands upright!"
His eyes shone with tears as he slammed a fist against his chest—thump, thump—each blow loud in the silent hall. His words were raw and earnest, enough to move more than a few hearts.
And then came the two lines that hit the room like a hammer.
"If sacrificing myself for others is a crime—then I plead guilty!"
"If being observant and quick-witted is a crime—then I plead guilty!"
"If that is how it is,"Wang Baole said, voice ringing,"then I, Wang Baole, willingly accept punishment!"
He bowed deeply to every teacher present.
The hall went utterly silent. Many of the teachers sucked in sharp breaths, their expressions shifting. One after another, they stared at Wang Baole, shaken.
His words were wrapped tightly in morality and "greater good." Each point had its flaws, but each also hit squarely where it mattered. The impact on their consciences was hard to shrug off.
Only those like goat-beard, who had personally watched his "acting" during the assessment, felt a nagging something's off in their hearts—even as they were moved.
The black-robed supervisor narrowed his eyes. He wanted to speak again, but the words stuck in his throat.
To his ears, there were gaps in Wang Baole's argument, sure—but each of those gaps was bound fast to moral righteousness and "justice." He'd seen this trick before, among politicians and high-ranking officials. Among students, though, it was rare.
Opposing him now felt almost like opposing justice itself.
He could only watch as the room swayed. He knew then that this round, he'd lost. The little nobody he thought he could crush at will now had hidden spines—he'd turned himself into a hedgehog.
Old Doctor Lu chuckled softly, eyes half-lidded, and closed them fully.
Not long after, Wang Baole walked out of the main hall.
Outside, thousands of students ringed the steps, waiting to watch him fall. Many of those who'd envied his special admit status, who'd been eager to see him humiliated, were already smirking.
But before they could laugh, an aged voice rolled out from the hall, booming across the entire Armament mountain:
"Upon investigation, it has been determined that student Wang Baole committed no violation during the new-student assessment. His special admit status will be retained. This is hereby announced to the college!"
The entire peak fell silent for a heartbeat.
Then, chaos.