Chapter 252 - 251: Because I Like to Abuse My Authority

Jian Yu wanted to refuse, but they smelled so good.

She held out her hand, swallowing unconsciously. "Give me some."

Ji Shiyin smiled and poured half of them out for her.

The two of them ate sunflower seeds as they watched Team 6 argue.

Sheng Yue was seething with jealousy.

He glanced at the boisterous Team 6 and said coldly, "It’s not too late for you to go over there now."

Wang Hu egged him on. "That’s right, that’s right! The Chairman is here. You should go now."

He pointed to the cliff on the other side. "There might still be plenty of Beast Crystals buried over there. Fly over and dig them up. No one’s stopping you."

When faced with a question he couldn’t easily answer, the pockmarked man shut his mouth.

After holding it in for a long moment, he said haltingly, "The Primordial Beast is over there. Shouldn’t the Chairman be the one to go? According to the academy’s mission rules, when encountering a Level 3S Primordial Beast, the Chairman has..."

Mu Yunzhou cut him off. "Are you trying to end up in prison? The Alliance has a rule: do not actively attack or maliciously hunt Primordial Beasts unless absolutely necessary."

Primordial Beasts were a species that held grudges and fiercely protected their own.

Only a lunatic would dare to provoke one on purpose.

The pockmarked man tried to butter Sheng Yue up. "Didn’t the Alliance say you could sneak in? The Chairman is so powerful. He could just go in, grab the stuff, and run. The Chairman can definitely get away!"

Jian Yu smacked the sunflower seeds in her hand back into Ji Shiyin’s.

Her expression was icy. "If you’re so eager to die, I don’t mind helping you on your way."

The pressure of a Level 3S expert rushed straight at him.

The oppressive aura was so similar that it was impossible to tell if it came from a Primordial Beast or a Soul Beast.

The air seemed to freeze in that instant.

Sunlight filtered through the ancient trees, casting a dappled pattern of light and shadow on the ground.

It was a little glaring.

Jian Yu squinted.

After she delivered her threat, black Soul Power surged around her, condensing into orbs of black mist.

Her soft, cute appearance took on a menacing air. With those swirling black orbs, it looked like if she had a gun, she could riddle the pockmarked man with bullets.

Fear filled the pockmarked man’s eyes.

He seemed to remember something and said smugly, "I can’t beat you, but don’t you forget—private duels are forbidden during academy missions. And I don’t accept your challenge."

’With so many people watching, she wouldn’t actually kill me, would she?’

The pockmarked man’s smug expression lasted only two seconds.

A streak of golden light shot out from between Sheng Yue’s slender fingers, tearing through the cold air.

The Yellow Card cut a sharp arc through the air, its speed almost too fast for the naked eye to follow.

An afterimage flashed past, shattering the silence.

SMACK!

A crisp sound rang out.

The Yellow Card slapped onto the pockmarked man’s clothes.

The force of the impact sent him stumbling back a dozen steps.

To be knocked back so far by a single card.

The pockmarked man, both ashamed and afraid, stammered, "Ch... Chairman."

Sheng Yue’s eyes were deep pools of ice as he stared at him, his gaze utterly devoid of emotion.

"Leave the team."

His voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried clearly to everyone present, cold and detached.

The pockmarked man’s face went deathly pale, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He wanted to argue, but when he met Sheng Yue’s icy gaze, the words caught in his throat. He couldn’t force out a single syllable.

Sheng Yue raised his gaze slightly, his tone flat. "Return to the academy. One month of confinement. And you are banned from all off-campus missions for the next six months."

The pockmarked man stood frozen to the spot, feeling the burning heat from the Yellow Card on his chest. It was the burn of shame, and of a punishment he could not defy.

In an academy this competitive, being barred from off-campus missions meant he would lose countless precious opportunities for experience.

He would be left in the dust by his classmates.

No one on the team pleaded on his behalf. He’d acted like a know-it-all veteran and had offended his teammates from the start.

Besides, everyone knew that Sheng Yue’s decision was final. It was a verdict that no one could appeal.

The pockmarked man’s mouth opened and closed. "Aren’t you afraid of people saying you’re abusing your authority, Chairman?"

He couldn’t understand. He had been just as impulsive on previous missions, but Sheng Yue had always just shut down the argument with a cold expression. He had never been issued a warning like this.

’So why this time...?’

Sheng Yue’s eyes were frigid. "My decisions require no explanation."

He tilted his fair chin up, and it seemed to gleam coldly in the sunlight.

He looked down his nose at the man. "Since you object, there’s no need for you to return to the academy at all. You’re expelled."

"On what grounds!" the pockmarked man exclaimed in disbelief.

’I’m a third-year! I’m about to graduate!’

Sheng Yue’s tone was unyielding, his eyes unreadable. "On the grounds that I enjoy abusing my authority."

The pockmarked man was in a panic. "Chairman, I was just..."

Sheng Yue looked away from him.

The pockmarked man’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. He hung his head in humiliation, standing there, utterly defeated.

Jian Yu frowned.

’Where there are good people, there will be bad. Where there are intelligent people, there will be fools.’

’Everything has two sides; she understood that.’

’But why was someone of Sheng Yue’s stature being challenged like this?’

’And what about her? How high would she have to climb to be free of these mindless antagonists?’

Xi Yu’s father had already helped her build her reputation, and the price for her incense bags remained sky-high.

Then there was the Beast Taming Competition, where her livestream of calming the pack of beasts had drawn over a billion viewers in just five minutes. The discussion threads about it were still active.

She had the fame, but in the end, people just slapped a bunch of labels on her: a coincidence, a marketing ploy, a carefully crafted persona.

’We’re going back to the academy in two days. I need to hurry and upgrade my soul domain.’

Jian Yu gently rubbed her wrist with her fingertips. She pursed her lips, her long lashes trembling slightly.

Wang Hu, who was gnawing on a large pork knuckle, stated the obvious: "Some people are just arrogant and ignorant, with no idea of their own limitations."

He hadn’t even finished his knuckle when the team started moving again. "Hey, wait for me!"

Jian Yu glanced back. She didn’t know when the members of Team 6 had left.

All she saw was Zhao Jiangyou, trailing forlornly behind by himself.

Zhang Qin thought Jian Yu was looking for Chairman Sheng and Chief Ji. "The two chiefs have gone to supervise other teams. They said they’d be back tonight."

Jian Yu already knew that, because Yin Jiu was no longer on her shoulder.

Ji Shiyin had also told her he’d be back tonight when he left with the Little Flying Bear.

Jian Yu slowed her pace, casually trying to draw Zhao Jiangyou into conversation. "I’ve never been to Emperor Wolf Star. What’s it like?"

Zhao Jiangyou looked up, stunned.

He was completely clueless. "I rarely leave the Yan Family estate. When I do, it’s always with Yan Ying."

Jian Yu noticed that he had said "Yan Ying," not "Miss Yan Ying."

’Is his attitude changing, or did he never hold Yan Ying in high regard to begin with?’

’And another thing... he rarely leaves the Yan Family estate and only follows Yan Ying, yet he’s completely ignorant about the outside world.’

Jian Yu kept her tone casual. "Hasn’t Yan Ying ever gone anywhere fun?"

Zhao Jiangyou lowered his head, his shoulders hunching slightly.

"The Admiral doesn’t permit me to go out, and he doesn’t really let Miss Yan Ying go out either. Miss Yan Ying often disappears during the day, so I don’t know if she has gone out or not."

"Besides, when Miss Yan Ying does go out, it’s with Young Master Yan Yu. The places they visit most often are auction houses and slave markets."

"Miss Yan Ying can only go out when Young Master Yan Yu comes to get her. They have a lot of guards protecting them, so I can usually only stand at the entrance."

’He’s back to calling her "Miss Yan Ying" again.’

Jian Yu watched Zhao Jiangyou, her brow tightly furrowed.

’She suddenly felt that she couldn’t figure this Zhao Jiangyou out at all.’

’He doesn’t initiate conversation, but once he starts talking, every sentence seems to be dropping a hint.’