Li Shen followed the two until they reached the Disciplinary Hall.
“The Deacon and Elders of the Sword Pavilion are inside waiting to hold your trial. Go in.”
The female disciple was the one who spoke since the male disciple was silent trying to avoid Li Shen’s gaze with his head down.
The two then left Li Shen alone to enter through the large double doors.
Li Shen flipped his fan shut on his palm as he stared at the doors.
‘Well, let’s see what they have concocted to deal with me.’
Li Shen wasn’t scared or intimidated in this situation but was rather filled with curiosity.
Without lingering any longer Li Shen stepped forward and pushed open the doors.
As he entered he was immediately greeted with several stares. All varied, some were filled with dismissal, others were curious, while the rests were discontent and angry.
The latter being the Faction Leaders of the Six Major Clans on the Sword Pavilion. The former was the various Elders and the Head Deacon.
The hall was large and a small podium with a chair on it was located in the middle.
The six Elders of the Inner Academy Sword Pavilion were seated in chairs in a circle around the small podium, while the Head Deacon along with the Faction Leaders were standing to the side of the Hall.
Seeing the Elder themselves here Li Shen couldn’t help but think to himself that they were taking this very seriously.
The Elders were always in seclusion all year round in the restricted region on the Sword Pavilion Mountain, hardly coming out unless a major event was taking place on the mountain. Them showing up here means they consider the rumors of Li Shen’s brainwashing disciples to be a major event.
'Or was it something else?'
Li Shen thought that, but he wasn’t surprised by that they showed up, but what did surprise him a bit was who was seated at the end of the Hall in a much more highlighted seat.
Fei Ye looked dignified as he sat with his back straight.
His expression was neutral as he looked at Li Shen enter. Behind him on his left was the Head Elder, whom Li Shen had seen a few times during Faction Leaders' meeting to divide up the resources.
On his right was Tai.
Seeing Li Shen, his eyes lit up and he moved to head towards him, but his collar was suddenly held by Ye Fei.
Tai frowned at this but he didn’t resist Ye Fei’s pull.
Compared to before, Tai now looked a bit different.
He wasn’t much taller or looked any older, but his chubby size had reduced to a slim physique.
Tai then looked at Li Shen with a pitiful expression, but Li Shen didn’t pay him any mind, not even glancing at him as he strolled to the seat on the podium.
He was still upset with Tai for what he did.
That greedy bastard had actually sneaked into his storage ring and drank all his Spirit Wine, leaving not even a drop!
Even with the fact that Ye Fei was supplying him with his own as per their agreement.
Li Shen was fed up so decided to loan Tai to Ye Fei for a few perks in the academy. One reason why he wasn’t worried about the outcome of this trial was exactly because of that fact.
As he sat, Li Shen saw Fe Yei give him a stern look but he also saw helplessness in his heart.
He shrugged.
Ye Fei had allowed him to get away with a lot of things over the years, so much so it resulted in people coming to the obvious conclusion that he was showing favoritism towards him. This had caused more than enough problems for Ye Fei, but this time he can't get upset with him.
It wasn’t like he was the one spreading these rumors.
Suddenly, Li Shen felt a noticeable burning sensation on his back, and without looking he could tell it was Lin Dong drilling two holes into his back with his eyes.
“Disciple Shen…”
The voice of the Head Deacon echoed out in the hall as he stepped forward.
“Do you know why you’ve been called here?”
“Hmm…”
Li Shen made a sound as if he was thinking deeply. He rested his hand on the back of his chair with his legs crossed, his other hand was holding the fan against his temple while his eyes were closed.
Several seconds passed before Li Shen open his eyes and shrugged.
“Nope, I’m not sure as to why I was called away from my cultivation session. I was in fact just about to head outside of the academy with my Faction members to complete a mission. Our aim is to gain at least thirty percent of the resources this time. We’re in need of more medicinal pills and upgraded cultivation techniques as we’re preparing to recruit more-”
“Bullshit!”
Before Li Shen could say anymore Lin Dong barked out.
“Thirty percent?! You must be crazy to think you’ll get that amount, for what?! You have no faction members in the academy, why are you taking our resources to give it to people outside?! You’re even conspiring against the Celestial Academy by brainwashing its disciples!”
Lin Dong then turned to the silent Elders.
“Elders, this is a matter of grave importance. We all know the identity of this person. If the rumors of him brainwashing disciples were to be true, isn’t that the same as saying the Li Royal family is trying to convert our disciples to their side? What’s even more he’s giving our resources to his own forces outside of the Academy, he has shown that he doesn’t respect the Academy’s legacy or have an ounce of loyalty towards the academy itself. If that is so, why is he being allowed to stay in the academy? Kick him out and let him join the Divine Star Academy or the Imperial Academy, let them suffer from his malicious, atrocious, and unforgivable actions!”
Lin Dong was breathing heavily after saying all of that, and his face was completely red.
Everyone had on strange expressions while listening to his outburst. If it wasn't obvious enough, he did not have a favorable impression of Li Shen.
To be fair, compared to everyone else, he was the one most affected by Li Shen coming into the mix.
When there were only seven factions sharing the resources he could scrap by, but now the resources his faction was getting were meager scraps.
The Divine Sword Faction was the only one competing with Li Shen’s Factions for resources. The other Factions like the Sua Clan’s Flowering River Sword Faction, and the Sun Clan’s Extreme Yang Sword Faction were the ones that followed.
That left the Bai Clan’s Sovereign Sword Faction, the Fei Clan’s Wealthy Sword Faction, and the Zhong Clan’s Scholar Sword Faction.
Along with those factions and his own, they were barely getting any resources.
But the thing was, all of them had their own ways to compensate for it.
The Bai Clan to Lin Dong’s utter disgust was chumming it up with Li Shen’s faction. The Fei Clan was already filthily rich so Fei Lou Fu could swipe away resources that were worth millions in Spirit Stones and his clan wouldn't so much as flinch.
As for the Zhong Clan, they were starting to get close to the Sun Clan.
This left Lin Dong enraged since his father won’t supply him with resources indefinitely. With his faction having branches in every Division in the Academy, it could be considered as big as a mid or large-size Clan.
His clan funding just couldn't handle the expenses of that size including its own.
His father had ultimately left him in charge of spreading the Clan’s influence in the Celestial Academy as did the other family had. So it was up to him to manage the Faction, and someday, that position would pass on to someone else and he’ll take over the clan itself.
He and the others being Faction Leaders in the Academy was a small stage preparation for becoming Clan Leaders in charge of their entire clan. That was a big responsibility, but now, his faction falling apart in the academy was showing that Lin Dong didn’t have what it takes to move up to the big leagues.
How can he not be furious at this?
How can he not feel hatred for Li Shen and wish him gone from the academy?
Li Shen claimed to want thirty percent of the resources was enough to send him over the edge, he just couldn’t take it anymore.
If the academy didn’t kick him out he was going to lose his fucking mind having to deal with him.
Chest puffing eyes bulging, Lin Dong stared at Li Shen as if he wanted to devour him whole.
**
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This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢