Chapter 78: Heaven's Fate
"Yes!" Although he hadn\'t practiced the technique the teacher just mentioned, seeing the progress of Yu Xiaoyu and Liu Mingyue made Hong Yi eager to try. As soon as the teacher spoke, he immediately rushed to the strength-testing array. Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fist and struck it hard.
The array activated, and lights flickered.
Looking up, he saw that the previous number of 0.2 had turned into 0.4.
It had doubled!
Everyone\'s eyelids twitched again, and even Lu Mingrong and the others stood with their mouths half open, looking as if they had seen a ghost.
"It increased by one hundred percent..."
"Could it be because his foundation was weak, so the increase is more noticeable?"
"Wrong, the weaker the foundation, the harder it is to make progress!""It has nothing to do with that. Liu Mingyue and Yu Xiaoyu were similar, and their improvement was also significantly greater!"
The Energy Storing Realm was indeed the stage where physical strength increases the fastest, but... to double in strength still required an enormous amount of time and effort. Normally, without a month of hard training, such an increase would be impossible!
But this person, who only listened to a class, without even practicing according to what was taught, managed to double his strength... What kind of heaven-defying technique was this, and what kind of heaven-defying teacher?
"This is impossible... I don\'t believe such a thing could happen; they must have practiced beforehand and are just pretending they didn\'t..." Chen Hao widened his eyes, feeling a bit crazed.
He had come today specifically to expose this person, to prove that he couldn\'t teach or train anyone, and to make him lose face. But instead of succeeding, he ended up highlighting how profound and mysterious this auxiliary teacher was...
"Hong Yi only ignited the Furnace yesterday, and his Source Pool level is still at the lowest Ninth Grade... Even if he started learning the technique then, who could possibly make his strength increase by 100% in just one night?" Wu Yunzhou flicked his sleeve, staring intently. "Can you do it?"
"I..." Chen Hao\'s face turned red, and he was speechless. Although his talent wasn\'t as good as Liu Mingyue\'s or Yu Xiaoyu\'s, he wasn\'t weak either. Even so, it took him 24 days to double his strength! And with that, he was still the top of his class, receiving endless praise.
"Teacher Zhang, what is going on? We clearly didn\'t practice, just attended the class. Why did our strength increase so much?" Staring at the numbers before him for a long time, Hong Yi finally turned to the teacher, who was only a few years older than him, with trembling lips.
Hearing this, everyone present turned to look as well. To be honest, they were just as confused.
"It\'s Heavenly Tutelage!" Zhang Xuan explained with a smile. "This is a unique ability of a Master Teacher. As long as the teachings directly point to the essence of cultivation without any errors, students can automatically cultivate just by listening to the explanation, without needing to practice on their own..."
He had thought that this ability existed only on the Master Teacher Continent, but he hadn\'t expected it to work in this Source World as well! That was why he had asked Yu Xiaoyu to test it.
"Just by explaining... students can cultivate automatically... This..."
Everyone was shocked beyond words.
Lu Mingrong and Wu Yunzhou, the two deans, exchanged glances, their pupils contracting simultaneously.
"Could it be..."
Wu Yunzhou clenched his fist, filled with horror.
Lu Mingrong\'s deliberately lowered voice was slightly hoarse: "That\'s right, it\'s Heaven\'s Fate!"
Wu Yunzhou nodded.
Only this legendary Heaven\'s Fate could allow students to cultivate just by listening, ignoring all rules of training...
Could it be... that Zhang Xuan wasn\'t just exceptionally talented, but also a natural-born Heaven\'s Fate Master?
If that were true, it would be terrifying!
"We might have underestimated him..." Lu Mingrong whispered.
After the Source Pool Assessment, they knew this person had a Saint Grade Source Pool and unmatched talent, and they thought they had grasped his capabilities. But now it seemed... there was much more to him!
A Saint Grade Source Pool was indeed powerful, capable of easily reaching the ninth level of the Source Pool Realm, the Dharma Aspect Realm... But that was merely the starting point for a Heaven\'s Fate Master!
In this world, great strength and profound cultivation could bring fame and glory, but in the face of Heaven\'s Fate, they were nothing.
Life was singular; if someone could control your fate, you were nothing more than meat on a chopping block.
Just like the ability Zhang Xuan just demonstrated: students didn\'t need to cultivate on their own. With just a few words, the technique would activate automatically... If the technique suited their physique, it could increase their cultivation. But what if it didn\'t? What if it was even contradictory?
Could they explode just by listening to the lecture?
This was Heaven\'s Fate!
You could control wealth, power, and countless lived in your lifetime, but you would never be able to control your own fate.
The unknown was the most terrifying.
But... while it was known that some people had high talent and that powerful experts could find their fate and become Heaven\'s Fate Masters, it was the first time anyone had heard of someone born with Heaven\'s Fate.
Zhang Xuan, clearly unaware of the concept of Heaven\'s Fate, could easily control it... What kind of talent was this?
No matter how high they guessed, it wouldn\'t be an exaggeration!
"This matter is even more serious... If others find out he has this ability, I\'m afraid our entire White Rock Academy would be implicated and completely wiped out from the continent..." After the initial shock, Lu Mingrong looked at the vice-principal in front of him with a wry smile.
"Fate is singular, and every Heaven\'s Fate Master is like a hidden hunter in the jungle, never easily revealing their abilities. Otherwise... they would be too easily killed!"
Swallowing hard, Wu Yunzhou\'s face turned pale. "If someone else who also practices Heaven\'s Fate finds out about Teacher Zhang, they might kill him to silence him. As for us, who know about it... we might not escape either."
The more they learned about Zhang Xuan\'s talent, the more they felt like they were trapped in an endless sentence...
"As for the matter of Heaven\'s Fate, no one here knows except you and me. Tell everyone not to reveal what happened today, and advise Teacher Zhang not to use this so-called \'Heavenly Tutelage\' again, and we should be able to keep it hidden for a while..." Understanding his concern, Lu Mingrong suggested.
Wu Yunzhou nodded in agreement.
That would be best.
It was just that it felt like the secrets they had to keep were piling up, to the point where they could barely handle them...
Their conversation was very quiet, only loud enough for each other to hear. The others didn\'t understand what was going on, but at this moment, Chen Hao, unable to hold back any longer, shouted, "Nonsense! You\'re just blowing your own horn. How could there be such an ability? Dean Lu, he\'s clearly making things up. Such a liar has no right to be a teacher! He should be expelled immediately!".
"Expelled? Immediately?" Lu Mingrong\'s eyelids twitched slightly as he nodded, "You\'re right, starting today, you are expelled!"
"Great, finally he\'s expelled... Let\'s see if you dare to humiliate me again..." Chen Hao burst into laughter, but before he could finish his sentence, he realized something was wrong. His face turned pale, and his lips trembled as he looked over, "Me?"
Wasn\'t Zhang Xuan the one to be expelled? He was, after all, the young master of the Chen family, one of the three major families, and a renowned genius in the academy, with talent second only to Yu Feng. He had a great chance of reaching the sixth or even seventh level of the Source Pool Realm in the future. To expel him over an auxiliary teacher? Was he hearing this right?
"Yes, Vice Principal Wu, please handle this matter. Chen Hao, as a student, has repeatedly disrespected his superiors, slandered his teacher, and violated the rules of White Rock Academy. Effective immediately, issue the Dean\'s Order and proceed with his expulsion!" Lu Mingrong waved his hand.
"Using the Dean\'s Order just to expel me?" Chen Hao\'s face went white, filled with disbelief.
The Dean\'s Order is the highest command in White Rock Academy, typically only issued in cases of extreme danger to the academy or during the fall of a dynasty. Once invoked, all teachers and students must strictly adhere to it, and it is also formally communicated to the City Lord\'s Mansion and the major families in White Roc City. It is a level of authority just below that of the City Lord\'s Order and hadn\'t been used in over a decade. To use it on him was equivalent to not just expulsion but total blacklisting...
Even as the only son of Clan Leader Chen Xiao, inheriting the clan leader position would become almost impossible!
"Yes!" Wu Yunzhou looked at him with sympathy and nodded, "Let\'s go!"
Offending a genius like Zhang Xuan might lead to expulsion, but offending someone with Heaven\'s Fate... was far more serious.
"Dean Lu, Vice Principal Wu, I... I was only concerned that Miss Liu and Miss Yu\'s talents might be wasted due to poor teaching, and had no intention of slandering anyone..." Seeing that they were serious, Chen Hao lost all his earlier bravado and bit his lip. "How about this, I apologize to Teacher Zhang..."
"Chen Hao, my dear, if we are in the right, we shouldn\'t be afraid, so why apologize?" At that moment, a stern voice rang out, followed by the door opening as Liu Tianzheng, led by Wang Yuxing, strode in.
"In the right?" Chen Hao, surprised that the head of the Liu family would appear and speak in his favor, felt his eyes well up with tears.
Liu Tianzheng nodded, "I’ve heard about the situation here. A mere auxiliary teacher not only forced Mingyue to become his disciple but also physically punished her. This is an unforgivable crime!"
Not only were the people in the room stunned, but even Liu Mingyue herself was confused. She had only asked a servant to notify her father to retrieve the Dao Li; how did it turn into physical punishment?
Liu Tianzheng quickly walked to his daughter\'s side and carefully examined her face. Sure enough, he saw a slight redness that hadn\'t completely faded.
His face flushed with anger. Unable to hold back any longer, he turned and glared at Zhang Xuan, "You must be Zhang Xuan. I want to know what mistake Mingyue made that warranted such a heavy hand? If you don\'t give a proper explanation today, the Liu family will not let this go!"
"Are you referring to the injury on her face?" Zhang Xuan finally realized what he was talking about and turned to Liu Mingyue, "Are you sure this was caused by me?"
"I..." Liu Mingyue\'s face turned red, and she wished she could just hide. This was evidence of her trying to harm someone and ending up hurting herself. She was already embarrassed enough, but to be questioned in public—how could she admit it? She could only look at her father and say, "Dad, don\'t talk nonsense. How could Teacher Zhang possibly have punished me?"
Liu Tianzheng insisted, "You don\'t need to cover for him! Chen Hao, my dear nephew, has already informed me about this matter. He made it very clear. I also saw it just now—your face is still swollen. If it wasn\'t him, who else could it have been? Rest assured, I\'m here today to stand up for you..."
Seeing her father\'s righteous indignation, Liu Mingyue was almost in tears. This wasn’t standing up for her; this was exposing her attempt to frame the teacher!
"Chen Hao!" Growing more frustrated, she turned to the young man not far away, gritting her teeth, "Can you stop spouting nonsense?"
Misunderstood by the girl he admired, Chen Hao hurried to explain, "I saw you go to Teacher Zhang and then come back injured, so I assumed it was him who hurt you..."
"You assumed? You assume a lot!" Liu Mingyue snorted coldly, "The injury on my face was caused by my own clumsiness. What does it have to do with Teacher Zhang? Stop making false accusations!"
"I\'m sorry..." Chen Hao wanted to cry. He had just claimed he hadn\'t intended to slander Teacher Zhang, and now here was direct evidence contradicting him. What was this? Did he think being expelled by the Dean\'s Order wasn’t enough?
"Chen Hao, if we are in the right, we shouldn’t be afraid!" Seeing Chen Hao’s trembling lips as he tried to explain, Liu Tianzheng cut him off again, "Even if this Zhang Xuan didn’t punish you, it\'s still a fact that he unjustly demanded a disciple\'s gift and took our Liu family\'s Dao Li for himself, isn’t it?"
Zhang Xuan frowned, "When Liu Mingyue became my disciple, everyone was present. If you are unclear, you can ask them..."
Liu Tianzheng paused, looking around.
There were over thirty people in the room, including teachers and students. If all of them were present, then even if this Zhang Xuan were out of his mind, he wouldn\'t dare to openly demand a disciple\'s gift...
"There were over a thousand people there at the time; it\'s still early!" Seeing his hesitation, Elder He Qin chuckled softly.
Realizing that his information might be off, Liu Tianzheng turned to her, "What\'s going on?"
Elder He Qin explained, "At that time, Miss Liu begged Zhang Xuan to accept her as his disciple. Teacher Zhang agreed but said that whether he would teach or how he would teach would be up to him. Additionally, she would have to sell Dao Li to him. He said ‘sell,’ not ‘give’!"
"That’s right!" Seven or eight students in the crowd nodded in agreement.
It was said in front of everyone and couldn’t be faked.
"Even then, Teacher Zhang was still reluctant. In the end, Miss Liu herself offered Dao Li as a gift, not a sale, and Teacher Zhang only accepted it after some persuasion..."
Elder He Qin then looked at the girl, "Liu Mingyue, is what I just said true?"
"Yes... it\'s true..." Liu Mingyue\'s face turned bright red.
She had thought her father could use his strength to reclaim Dao Li, but with the Dean and so many elders present, what else could she say? Rather than trying to argue, she decided it was better to admit the truth and avoid further embarrassment.
Seeing his daughter confirm the truth, Liu Tianzheng frowned and looked at Chen Hao, "Didn\'t your people say that Zhang Xuan forcibly made Mingyue his student and that she had no choice but to agree?"
Chen Hao, now anxious, stammered, "Well... maybe I saw it wrong! Dean Lu, I truly didn’t mean to slander anyone, it’s just that..." But before he could finish, Liu Tianzheng interrupted him again, "If we have the truth on our side, we have nothing to fear. Your people also mentioned many things about Teacher Zhang. Surely not all of them were lies, right?"
"..." Chen Hao felt like crying, "I have no truth, I am afraid, I am really afraid!"
He had just thought that someone was finally coming to help him, and his eyes had welled up with tears of gratitude. But now, he realized those tears had been wasted... This so-called help was only helping him dig his own grave!.