Battle Through the Heavens: Beauties Abound Starting with Yunlan and Her Disciples

282: Section 282To be honest, for this young girl who had always presented herself as free-spirited and intolerant of evil, last night’s experience brought a unique stimulation, causing a heaven-and-earth-shaking change in her normally calm, and perhaps even somewhat dull, daily life.

Moreover, it was foreseeable that this change, this ripple, would not subside with the passage of time. Thinking that she might have to frequently enter and leave that place in the future, facing that group of ”strange” people, the young girl felt an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity.

But at the same time, beneath that unfamiliarity, a sense of anticipation that even she found incredible quietly sprouted.

That man... and the group of beautiful women around him, they were truly an interesting bunch. Hu Jia leaned against the cold wall, her mind involuntarily replaying the scenes from last night.

Most importantly, my few good friends were among them. Although their husband was indeed a bit strange, a bit dissolute, and was a... damn lolicon who had already taken a pile of wives at fourteen or fifteen years old.

As soon as this thought arose, Hu Jia couldn’t help but feel her cheeks burn, and she fiercely scolded herself in her heart. But... but she had to admit that when she was in that home she had labeled with all sorts of negative tags, what she felt was an unprecedented, incredibly real, and warm sense of comfort.

That feeling unconsciously flooded her heart, like a handful of warm sunlight in winter, making her relax completely. She felt that staying there... was very comfortable. It was much more comfortable than staying in her own home, which was empty, imposing, and filled with all sorts of rules and regulations.

It was precisely because of this that when she learned from Xun’er about the predicament the man was facing, Hu Jia felt genuine worry for his future from the bottom of her heart.

In any case, he absolutely must not be expelled by the school!

Hu Jia made up her mind. She decided that today, she would also join the ranks of those trying to persuade her father.

This time, she was not acting as a Discipline Committee Member of the student council, but simply for the sake of her friends, and also for... that precious feeling that she herself could not clearly define.

The bit of authority and face she had as the daughter of the Outer Academy Vice Dean should be used righteously today!

After all, just as Xun’er said, if the academy chose to selectively ignore the fact that Bai Shan provoked the conflict first just because they feared the pressure from the Bai Family, and unilaterally blamed all the fault on Yun Xiancheng, then what difference would that be from twisting the truth and showing favoritism?

Wouldn’t the justice and dignity of Jia Nan Academy become a huge joke!

Taking a step back, even if the Xiao Family was just an obscure ordinary Great Dou Master family in the Northwest Continent, completely incomparable in terms of foundation to a Dou Zong Family that had been passed down for hundreds of years.

How could the future of a family that could nurture talented young girls as stunning and gifted as Xun’er, Xiao Yu, and Xiao Mei be anything but bright?

Looking only at the present with short-sighted vision while ignoring the infinite possibilities of the future is in itself a form of stupidity! Hu Jia took a deep breath, her eyes becoming incredibly firm.

She straightened her collar and raised her hand to knock on the heavy, imposing office door made of iron birch wood. ”Dad! It’s me, Hu Jia!”

After receiving a muffled ”Come in” from inside, Hu Jia pushed the door open and entered.

However, the scene inside the office caused half of the courage she had just mustered to instantly deflate.

She saw that in the spacious office, filled with the scent of books and medicinal herbs, besides her father, Hu Gan, who was sitting in the main seat with a grave expression, there was a group of people dressed in uniform white robes with gloomy, water-like expressions sitting on the guest sofa to the side. Needless to say, this group of people must be the visitors sent by Bai Shan’s family.

These people sat with great posture. Leading them was an old man with white hair and beard and a calm, heavy aura. On his left and right sat two arrogant-looking individuals... They were arranged in a clear formation, sitting upright with solemn expressions, like jurors in an ancient court, directly bringing an invisible, powerful pressure upon Hu Jia as she pushed the door open.

It was as if they were not visitors coming to negotiate, but rather inspecting a prisoner about to be convicted. Hu Jia’s footsteps paused for a moment, and for a while, she didn’t know what to say.

Those visitors from the Bai Family clearly noticed her too. They just glanced at her coldly, then turned their gazes back to the Vice President, Hu Gan, in the main seat.

The leading old man spoke in a miserable tone that was grief-stricken yet contained a hidden threat: ”Vice President Hu Gan, our entire Bai Family has always held you and the Jia Nan Academy in high regard. However, the tragic incident that befell my poor child, Bai Shan, at your esteemed academy cannot just be easily brushed aside, can it?”

As he spoke, he used his sleeve to wipe away non-existent tears, his voice becoming even more indignant: ”We sent the most talented direct descendant of our family thousands of miles to Jia Nan Academy, for what? It was to hope that he could advance further in the rich cultivation atmosphere of your esteemed academy, and in the future, become a great talent to bring honor to our family! But what was the result? The result was that in the place we trusted the most, he was forcibly crippled in his Dantian Qi Sea, becoming a... becoming a useless person who is not even as good as an ordinary person! A useless person who can never cultivate again in this lifetime! How can you expect our Bai Family to accept such a result?!”

Hu Gan looked at these members of the Bai Family who were feigning grief while actually applying pressure, and he felt a headache coming on. This matter was indeed too tricky.

The news of Bai Shan being crippled had spread like wildfire through the upper echelons of the academy, and even the Inner Academy, which usually didn’t concern itself with the mundane affairs of the Outer Academy, had been alarmed. The reason was simple: Bai Shan’s own brother, Bai Cheng, was in the Inner Academy, and he was even ranked thirty-fourth on the ”strong ranking list,” which symbolized the top combat strength of the Inner Academy. He was a ruthless character who was arrogant and extremely protective of his own.

Now that his own brother had been crippled, with that person’s personality, he would definitely try every means to back Bai Shan and take revenge. Furthermore, the Bai Family itself, as a long-standing Dou Zong Family that had invested in Jia Nan Academy for many years, had deep backgrounds and extensive connections. Almost every generation of their family’s heirs would be sent to Jia Nan Academy to study, and their relationship with the academy’s upper management was far beyond what ordinary forces could compare to.

On the other hand, looking at Yun Xiancheng and those young girls from the Xiao Family, to be honest, geniuses... are ultimately just people who have not yet grown up. In this cruel land of the Fighting Qi Continent, the path of growth is thorny, filled with countless dangers. How many stunningly talented geniuses have eventually died halfway for one reason or another, ending up as nothing more than ordinary people.

Although Hu Gan had never seen such a young Dou Wang as Yun Xiancheng in his life—that kind of talent could be described as having the potential of a Dou Zun without any exaggeration—but... if he kept maintaining that competitive and unscrupulous style of doing things like yesterday, one day, he would encounter someone who could handle him. One must know that there is always someone better, and a sky beyond the sky. A peerless genius without enough background support sometimes dies faster than a mediocre person. And as for the Xiao Family, based on the information Hu Gan possessed, they also didn’t have any noteworthy background, just a small family in the borderlands of the Northwest Continent.

As for that Cloud Mist Sect that once shook the Jia Ma Empire... I heard it seems that because of intense internal strife, it had long since fallen apart and existed only in name. That is to say, this group of children with frighteningly high talent had absolutely no foundation behind them to rely on that could contend with a Dou Zong Family. Could it be that they were really just so arrogant and lawless because of their own talent? Hu Gan leaned back in his chair, his long fingers unconsciously tapping on the desk, his heart struggling intensely.

Analyzing it solely from the perspective of interests and background strength... the academy choosing to stand on the side of the Bai Family, soothing their emotions, and severely punishing Yun Xiancheng seemed to be the most secure and reasonable choice at the moment. A Dou Wang under twenty years old represented almost certain potential as a future Dou Zun! The academy was currently facing a difficult choice: choose to maintain the relationship with a Dou Zong Family that was already powerful now? Or choose to invest in a future Dou Zun powerhouse with infinite possibilities?

Hu Gan was also lost in deep thought, finding it hard to make a decision for a moment. Just then, Hu Jia, who had been standing at the door, finally moved. She was not intimidated by the oppressive and tense atmosphere in the office.

She took a deep breath, strode forward with her long legs, walked straight to her father’s desk, stretched out her fair little hand, and with a ”slap,” slammed it hard onto the table!

”Dad!” Her voice was crisp and loud, carrying a trace of determination, ”Regarding the matter of Bai Shan being crippled, I think we still need to consider it carefully and cautiously!”

Hu Gan was having a headache and was startled by his daughter’s sudden action. His eyebrows twitched involuntarily, and he lifted his eyes to look at his daughter’s face, which was written full of anxiety and firmness. He couldn’t help but secretly think to himself: This girl... how come my precious daughter, who has always kept all males at a distance and is cynical, seems to have inexplicably taken an interest in that boy named Yun Xiancheng? First, she took the initiative to help his large group of little wives with enrollment procedures, and now, after he caused such huge trouble, she came running to me at the first opportunity...

”What? Could it be that the iron tree in my, Hu Gan’s, family is... about to bloom?” An absurd thought uncontrollably emerged from the bottom of his heart.

”Oh? How so?” A playful smile appeared at the corners of Hu Gan’s mouth. He leaned back and spoke in a half-joking tone, intentionally raising his voice, ”My precious daughter, are you worried that I’m going to expel your little lover?”

As soon as he said this, he completely disregarded the expressions of the Bai Family Emissaries nearby, which had instantly turned as ugly as if they had eaten excrement.

”Dad! What nonsense are you spouting!” Upon hearing the word ”lover,” Hu Jia’s heroic, pretty face instantly turned beet red, as if it had been scorched by fire.

Embarrassed and angry, she stomped her foot and retorted, ”It’s not! Absolutely not! I... I... I am only doing this to uphold the fairness of the academy’s rules!”

”Rules are sacred and inviolable!” She turned her head, her brows knitted, her sharp gaze fixed directly on the Bai Family Emissaries, and she spoke in a righteous and resounding tone.

”If the rules of our academy can be arbitrarily tilted toward certain people because of the pressure from a certain faction, then wouldn’t all the actions we members of the Student Union take to uphold the school’s rules daily become a huge joke!”

”Well said!” Hu Gan clapped his hands and laughed, but the expression on his face instantly became serious.

”However, Hu Jia, you must also see the reality before you. The reality is that Classmate Yun Xiancheng crippled the cultivation of Classmate Bai Shan. Regardless of the cause or the process, looking at the result, the victim is Bai Shan, and the perpetrator is Yun Xiancheng. You cannot deny this, can you?”

”There are no ’buts’!” Hu Gan directly interrupted her, his tone becoming unprecedentedly stern. ”I ask you, if such vicious incidents where people resort to crippling others’ cultivation at the slightest disagreement keep happening in the academy, where will the reputation of our Jia Nan Academy be in the long run? Who would dare to send their children to a place where even the most basic safety cannot be guaranteed?!”

”Studying safely and growing up healthily—this is the fundamental theme upon which our Jia Nan Academy stands on the Fighting Qi Continent!”

Hearing her father’s words filled with grand principles, Hu Jia was speechless for a moment. She opened her mouth, only to find that all her defenses appeared so pale and weak in the face of the ”academy reputation” hat.

Unwilling to give up, she swallowed hard and struggled to say, ”But... but, if we are to trace the root of the matter... this whole thing was caused by that guy Bai Shan pestering and provoking others in the first place!”

”Oh? Pestering?” Hu Gan’s eyebrows raised again. ”If I remember correctly, for this matter, didn’t those two girls from the Xiao Family already send him to the infirmary with a sword in public, making him lie there for half a month? Hasn’t this debt already been settled?”

He changed the subject, his voice becoming colder. ”Speaking of which, from this incident, one can tell that the education in your Xiao Family is indeed problematic. Arrogant, shielding shortcomings, indecisive in the face of problems, and always preferring violence first—this is a very bad and dangerous habit.”

Hu Jia frowned tightly. Looking at her father’s expression, her heart gradually sank. She no longer knew what to say. It seemed... it seemed that the academy was truly determined this time to sacrifice Yun Xiancheng and expel him to appease the Bai Family’s anger... This...

”Hehe, Vice President Hu Gan is righteous and acts impartially. My Bai Family admires this, truly admires this!”

Seeing Hu Gan being so ”reasonable,” the lead Bai Family Emissary could not help but stroke his beard and laugh heartily. A smug smile appeared on his face as he praised him repeatedly.

The atmosphere in the office seemed to have settled at this moment. Just then.

A clear, gentle, yet somewhat lazy voice drifted leisurely from the doorway: ”Hu Jia, so you are here too?”

The office door, which had been closed, was pushed open silently at some unknown time.

A slender and tall figure, bathed in the morning sunlight, walked slowly into everyone’s line of sight.

That Bai Family Emissary almost subconsciously cast his arrogant gaze, like that of someone examining a criminal, toward the newcomer.

However, the moment his gaze met the newcomer, it seemed to collide with an invisible, insurmountable wall of sighs, instantly shattering and crumbling!

The dignified and oppressive atmosphere that the few Bai Family members had painstakingly created, like a court trial, instantly melted, shattered, and vanished like ice under the sun after Yun Xiancheng walked into the room!

The center of the room’s atmosphere quietly shifted at this moment. It was no longer Vice President Hu Gan in the main seat, nor the outnumbered Bai Family Emissaries, but... this young man with a calm expression who had just walked in.

His gaze was burning and clear as water, yet he did not look at anyone else in the room.

Whether it was the Vice President or those Bai Family members, they all seemed like meaningless air in his eyes. His gaze fell only on one person.

He looked at the red-haired girl who was stunned by his appearance, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted, hooking into a gentle smile that was enough to make the world lose its color.

Subsequently, he used an incomparably natural and intimate tone, as if greeting an old friend, and softly said: ”Good morning, Hu Jia.”

277 The One Who Should Be My Son-in-law

”Good morning, Hu Jia.”

That extremely simple greeting seemed to carry a strange, soothing magic.

Hu Jia, who had originally felt lost and panicked because of her father’s words, found her backbone the moment she heard this voice and saw that figure.

Her heart, which had been beating wildly, miraculously calmed down.

Without even thinking, her body had reacted a step ahead, subconsciously moving two steps toward Yun Xiancheng, as if only by getting close to him could she gain enough sense of security.

I... what am I doing? Why... why is it that as soon as he appears, I feel like I don’t have to be afraid of anything?

Hu Jia was startled by this sudden, almost instinctual sense of reliance, and her cheeks uncontrollably flushed slightly. Instructor Ruo Lin, who had come along by Yun Xiancheng’s side, no longer had any of her usual gentleness and softness on her face at this moment.

Her beautiful eyes were tightly knitted, her gaze like a cold, unsheathed sword, meeting the gaze filled with anger and disdain cast by those Bai Family Emissaries opposite her without showing any weakness.

Facing those experts whose strength far exceeded her own, including a long-renowned Dou Wang Elder, this Outer Academy instructor who was only at the Dou Ling level did not show the slightest hint of fear on her face.

Instead, she took a small step forward, slightly spread her arms, and firmly stood in front of Yun Xiancheng with her not-so-tall body, assuming a resolute posture like a mother hen protecting her chicks, attempting to shield him from all the incoming storms.

”Gentlemen Emissaries.”

Ruo Lin’s voice was cold and firm, ”The cause, process, and rights and wrongs of this matter, I think we all need to have a calm and fair discussion. Before the facts are fully investigated, I, Ruo Lin, will be the first not to accept any unilateral pressure and accusations!”

Even if I have to stake everything I have in this Jia Nan Academy, I will never let them harm my student!

However, her tragic momentum, which had just ignited and was ready to make an enemy of the whole world, was easily defused by a warm and powerful hand reaching out from behind.

Yun Xiancheng gently but firmly grabbed her hand and softly pulled her behind him.

He took a step forward himself, using his tall and straight figure to completely block in front of Ruo Lin and Hu Jia, facing those fierce Bai Family Emissaries alone.

”Teacher, leave this to me.” He did not look back, but his voice passed through his broad back and clearly reached Ruo Lin’s ears, ”You and Hu Jia, just stand aside and watch.”

Ruo Lin looked at his reliable back and felt the lingering warmth on her wrist. The flame of anger burning in her heart slowly subsided. Replacing it was a strange, unprecedented feeling called ”trust.”

Yun Xiancheng’s gaze was no longer the gentle one from a moment ago. In those deep eyes, like cold pools, it seemed that endless wind and thunder were brewing and rolling.

His gaze no longer had any restraint, like two invisible, peerless divine weapons condensed from spiritual power, directly and fiercely piercing into the depths of the souls of those Bai Family Emissaries opposite him!

Those Dou Ling Experts, who had originally looked arrogant, felt their souls being fiercely gripped by an invisible hand the moment they came into contact with this gaze, and even breathing became extremely difficult. Their faces changed drastically, and they uncontrollably took a step back together, their eyes full of shock.

Even the lead Bai Family Dou Wang Elder, whose aura was as heavy as a mountain, felt a needle-like stinging pain in his eyes after less than a breath of eye contact with Yun Xiancheng, and an indescribable chill rose from the depths of his soul!

He couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan, and he guiltily and wretchedly averted his gaze, not daring to look at him again—it was just a single glance!