Chapter 105: The Sages' Meeting

Yes.

Why did Luo De get full marks in both subjects?

This matter not only left Luo De himself bewildered, but the Academy's internal affairs were also thrown into an uproar because of it.

The time had arrived just before the results were posted.

"Everyone present."

"Who will come and explain this to me?"

"How could a desert person achieve full marks in both subjects?"

In the Academy's meeting room, an old man wearing blue robes with white beard and hair, seated in the chief position, slammed the two exam papers heavily onto the table.

Although he was not angry, his low, deep voice made it clear that he was very displeased.

The Academy's Great Sage, Azha'er.

Currently, the person who holds the greatest power in Sumeru, one of the chief culprits in the plot to harm Nadixa.

Quite obvious.

Luo De, this desert person, achieving full marks in both subjects in a record-breaking fashion, has already stirred even this Great Sage who usually pays little attention to new student admissions.

Standing behind Azha'er.

Is a woman with slightly dark skin, holding a pen and paper.

Whatever Azha'er says, she will faithfully record it.

Saitalei.

Revered as the desert scholar with the highest academic achievement in history, and also the desert scholar whose name was mentioned most often to Luo De before he entered the examination hall.

Unlike the already angry Azha'er.

Upon hearing that this year a desert student suddenly appeared, breaking her own record and obtaining full marks in both subjects, Saitalei's first reaction was curiosity.

She was truly very curious.

What kind of learning environment the desert is, no one in the Academy knows better than she does.

Although she loves her hometown dearly, she also has to admit that, given the desert environment, it is almost impossible to cultivate someone like Luo De, a double talent.

As a genius who also hails from the desert.

In Saitalei's heart, she hopes that one day, after achieving success in her studies, she will return to her homeland to help improve that harsh desert environment.

Based on this idea.

Regarding the Academy's actions, Saitalei is actually quite dissatisfied.

Especially concerning the Academy's stance on desert matters, she has expressed her indignation more than once.

Saitalei has also thought of this.

By helping the Academy in this way, she is actually indirectly bullying the desert, becoming an accomplice of the Academy.

Frankly, it would be better to return to the desert and contribute to its prosperity.

But no matter how full the ideal, it will eventually be crushed by reality.

When she was just one step away from success, Saitalei shrank back.

She chose to give up returning to the desert, focus on staying in the Academy, bury her guilt toward her hometown deep in her heart, and continue climbing to higher positions within the Academy.

Originally, after all these years.

She had almost forgotten the oath she made back then.

However, today.

Upon hearing that another desert prodigy had suddenly emerged, she suddenly felt an urge to meet Luo De and wanted to know exactly how he managed to achieve this.

At the same time, she wanted to know more.

Just this desert person Luo De—why did he enter the Academy? What will he do after graduation? Will he return to the desert?

Thinking of this.

Saitalei's hand trembled slightly, and the characters she had just written became skewed in two strokes, turning rather irregular.

Next.

Then another sage in the same meeting room said: "A genius has appeared among the desert people—what? Azha'er, do you have an opinion?"

This sage, who utterly fears no authority of Azha'er and dares to confront him head-on, is an old man with a stern countenance; unlike the other sages who are still frowning in thought, upon hearing Azha'er question Luo De's scores, he immediately slammed the table and started arguing with Azha'er.

He is Nafisi.

A teacher from Tináli.

Also a sage renowned for his explosive temper.

Just how explosive is Nafisi's temper?

Among the Academy's students, it is said that even a Great Sage must yield him three points.

That saying is not wrong.

Nafisi is not only arguing with Azha'er, but also directly slapped Luo De's exam papers in front of Azha'er, spraying saliva droplets that almost flew onto Azha'er's face.

If it weren't for the other sages pulling them apart.

Looking at his appearance, he seems to be still preparing to roll up his sleeves and give Azha'er a physical lecture on reason.

"Where is there any semblance of a sage?"

Watching the pulled-apart Nafisi, Azha'er suppressed his inner anger, took out a silk cloth to wipe the saliva droplets from his body.

No matter how angry he might be at Nafisi.

This guy, after all, is also a sage of the Raw Theory Faction, with extremely deep seniority.

Within the Academy, he is only one rank below this Great Sage of mine, and he has many students under him, giving him enormous influence.

Therefore, even if Azha'er really wanted to give him a good beating to let him know who calls the shots in the Academy, he still has to endure it again and again.

At this moment.

A sage who always sat as still as a mountain, wearing glasses, and had been coldly observing, let out a cold laugh and said: 'Hmph, in my view, he definitely cheated; how could a desert person's knowledge possibly earn full marks in two subjects? Great Sage, I suggest canceling his score—such a cheater doesn't deserve to enter the Academy.'

Upon hearing this,

Setarei's hand trembled again involuntarily, and the meeting minutes she had just rewritten were ruined again.

Yes.

The sages' attitude toward the desert people has always been like this.

Without any evidence, they hastily concluded that he must have cheated.

Back then, I myself came to be this way.

If the Academy hadn't given me a chance to retake the exam and prove my ability, how could I have achieved what I have today?

"Kawaja!"

"You haven't even seen the person and you're accusing them of cheating—be careful, I'll sue you for academic defamation and have Cyno arrest you."

The speaker was named Jules.

A sage of the Academy's Plain Theory Faction, Cyno's teacher.

Likewise.

He, like Nafis, is also a sage who is quite unconventional within the Academy.

In the past, the Academy discovered young Cyno, who possessed the power of Hermanubis, in the desert; Azar took him as an experimental subject and entrusted Jules to observe and study him, hoping to learn how to use the divine power of Hermanubis through Cyno.

As a result, Jules directly treated Azar's words as nonsense.

He adopted Cyno as his foster son, personally taught him, raised him to adulthood, and also taught him the principle that 'wisdom must be bound by the Academy's decrees in order to protect the safety of seekers of knowledge and maintain world peace.'

This is why Cyno ultimately chose to become a Discipline Officer.

By the way.

Cyno's talent for deadpan jokes also came from him.

As a child, Cyno's unstable inner power made his temperament extremely volatile, and he would occasionally cause trouble.

To restrain his behavior,

Whenever Cyno went berserk, Jules would force him to calm down by making him listen to deadpan jokes.

As a result, after Cyno grew up, he perfectly inherited this habit, becoming a deadpan joke master that everyone fears.

Jules finished speaking.

The atmosphere in the meeting room eased slightly.

The charge of academic defamation.

This is one of the Academy's Six Great Prohibitions; even a sage, Cyno truly has the authority to arrest someone for it.

Thus the current situation became a two‑two split among the six sages.

Among them, Azar and Kawaja were preparing to cancel Luo De's score and have him leave as a cheater.

Nafis and Jules, meanwhile, were firmly determined to admit Luo De into the Academy.

The remaining two sages, after a brief exchange of glances, decisively chose to abstain, leaving the four of them to continue deadlocking.

We can't afford to provoke them.

Nobody can afford to provoke them.

Azar is a Great Sage, his status exalted.

Nafis truly dares to beat people.

Jules needs no further explanation—relying on his having a grand Discipline Officer as a disciple, he constantly threatens to have Cyno arrest you.

Nobody wants to bring this trouble upon themselves.

Honestly keeping silent is the proper course.

After they stared at each other like that for a good while,

The ever‑silent Azar finally spoke up: 'If you want to prove you didn't cheat, then set up a separate examination hall and retake the test.'

"No."

Once again, Nafis was the first to jump out and object.

"I have examined this child's test paper; there is no possibility of cheating."

"Furthermore, I have checked the void."

"He has never studied at any college affiliated with the Academy."

"Azar, do you understand what this means?"

Nafis stared at Azar with a sharp gaze.

If looks could kill, Azar would probably have been hacked to pieces by now.

No answer from Azar is needed.

Everyone present could also understand what Nafis meant.

He has not studied at any college affiliated with the Academy.

This also means Luo De is self‑taught.

Self‑taught, he scored full marks in two subjects, and in the Knowledge Theory Faction he also achieved passing grades in the other four.

This is simply unbelievable.

However, just as everyone present was pondering this, a discordant voice once again broke their train of thought.

"Then doesn't that mean he stole the knowledge?"

"Or perhaps he used illicit canned knowledge?"

"Nafis, you surely don't fail to understand what this implies, do you?"

Ju Le Shi, isn't your apprentice just doing this job? What crime is stealing knowledge and using canned knowledge—you wouldn't not know that, would you?

Ka Wa Jia proudly looked at Na Fei Si and Ju Le Shi.

He finally found an opportunity.

Putting that big hat on, even if Na Fei Si and Ju Le Shi were as stubborn as ever, that desert person could never enter the Academy.

Ka! Wa! Jia!

What Ka Wa Jia didn't expect was that this sentence of his instantly ignited Na Fei Si's powder keg.

Seeing him, over seventy years old, leap onto the table in a single bound, his movements agile, completely unlike an old man, he was in front of Ka Wa Jia in the blink of an eye and threw a heavy punch.

Everyone present was startled.

No one expected Na Fei Si to actually dare to strike.

He even directly pressed Ka Wa Jia to the ground and beat him in front of so many people.

Hearing the 'thud thud thud' of flesh striking flesh, the dazed crowd finally rushed forward in a panic to pull the two apart.

Ka Wa Jia, who had been ambushed with a brutal beating, now had his face bruised in several places, clearly unable to go out and meet people.

Furious, he immediately complained to A Zha Er: 'Great Sage, look at this bastard—he, he has disgraced a scholar's decorum!'

'Decorum?'

'I—pah!'

'Ka Wa Jia, if you've got the guts, don't run after the meeting!'

Na Fei Si, held back by others, still shouted and struggled like a schoolkid challenging someone to a fight, insisting he would go beat Ka Wa Jia again no matter what.

A perfectly good meeting was completely thrown off rhythm by the violent clash of the two sages.

Gazing at the chaotic scene before him.

A Zha Er had a headache he couldn't put into words.

Especially after Ju Le Shi softly said, 'If you don't admit this student, I and Na Fei Si will resign—you handle it yourself,' A Zha Er was left with no recourse.

He had no choice but to announce that Luo De's grades were valid, and he would no longer make an issue of Luo De's two perfect scores.

'Hey, look, wouldn't it have been fine if we'd done this earlier?'

'Look at the mess now—how unpleasant, right, Ka Wa Jia?'

'Ay yo yo, look at your bruised face—come to my Amiriduo Academy later and I'll properly treat your injuries.'

Na Fei Si took advantage and acted innocent; a few words made Ka Wa Jia angry enough to get up and leave.

The other sages didn't stay either, finding it boring; as soon as the argument ended, they all said goodbye and left the meeting room.

In a moment.

Just moments ago the meeting room was still lively, but now only Na Fei Si and Ju Le Shi remained; seeing them exchange a glance, they said in unison, 'This is my student!'

The gunpowder smell, which had finally subsided, instantly grew strong again.

(End of chapter)