Chapter 8: Walking Together with the Minister

Chapter 8: Walking with the Minister

In the office, Zhou Wu watched the two depart with an expressionless face, while Liu Botao was somewhat flustered.

"Students these days are becoming more and more unruly! Especially that Liu Qingzhi! As the Discipline Inspection Department Minister, she shows no respect to her elders and none for the teachers! What kind of student behavior is this?" Liu Botao gritted his teeth, his face quite unpleasant.

"Director Liu, calm down," Zhou Wu chuckled softly, his tone meaningful. "Haicheng University has always pursued student self-governance, so problems like this are quite normal. Years ago, I already suggested to the dean that the college grants too much power to the student union, which is clearly unworkable, but the dean never listened."

As he spoke, Zhou Wu casually pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"The authority of the Discipline Inspection Department within the student union is ridiculously large, even to the point of surpassing teachers in certain respects. No wonder some students look down on the faculty."

Liu Botao nodded in agreement, eagerly producing a lighter to help Zhou Wu light his cigarette.

"Director Zhou, we can’t just let this slide! Not to mention your son being bullied at the college, the arrogance of the student union needs to be suppressed! Otherwise, sooner or later, they’ll run wild!"

"Yes, that’s true," Zhou Wu nodded. "Director Liu, what do you think... how should we handle this?"

"Well..." Liu Botao hesitated, then lowered his voice after some thought. "Given Liu Qingzhi’s status in the student union and her backing of that Qin fellow, it’ll take a lot of effort to get to him. I have an idea—tomorrow is the college’s midterm exam. I could arrange to tamper with their test papers. What do you think, Director Zhou?"

"Hmm, wouldn’t that be a bit improper?" Zhou Wu feigned concern, a strange smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Well, leave it to Director Liu. But don’t go too far—otherwise, if anyone says the midterms are unfair, it’ll be embarrassing for everyone."

Meanwhile, Qin Zhe followed Liu Qingzhi out of the faculty office building.

"Sorry, Minister, I think I’ve caused you trouble again," Qin Zhe scratched his head, trying to make conversation.

"It’s not trouble exactly, just a waste of time," Liu Qingzhi replied, stopping and glancing back at the building. "Strictly speaking, this isn’t just about you. Some people want to exploit this incident. Whether or not it was related to you and Zhou Wentong, such situations would’ve happened sooner or later."

"Exploit this incident?" Qin Zhe blinked, sensing a deeper meaning.

"Haicheng University has been established for many years, always emphasizing student self-governance, so the student union wields considerable power. Regarding this, the college’s board has long been divided into two factions: one supports student autonomy, the other opposes it."

Liu Qingzhi spoke softly, then lowered her gaze. "Zhou Wu is part of the opposition. He advocates for completely dismantling the student union and returning all authority to the faculty."

"So you mean... Zhou Wu wants to go after the student union?"

Qin Zhe was surprised; he hadn’t expected things to be this complicated.

"The student union isn’t so easy to deal with. Zhou Wu’s position on the board isn’t high, so he doesn’t have that much power," Liu Qingzhi shook her head. "You don’t need to worry about this. Today was just a formality. What comes next is what you need to pay attention to."

She turned and walked toward the campus.

"Liu Botao is always petty. Being promoted to Director of Student Affairs is probably the peak of his career. To climb higher, he has to curry favor with the college board. To please Zhou Wu, he’ll likely find ways to target you."

"I understand. I’ll be careful," Qin Zhe nodded, feeling somewhat frustrated.

It was just a fight with Zhou Wentong—how did it get so complicated? Now even the college board and student affairs director were involved. Did he have some sort of trouble-magnet aura?

After walking a short distance with the minister, Qin Zhe bid her farewell.

In principle, Qin Zhe wanted to build a good relationship with such a powerful ally.

But Liu Qingzhi was... really a bit unapproachable! She looked like a fairy, no doubt, but no matter what happened, she remained cold and indifferent, making it hard for anyone to get close.

Thinking back to his own student days, Qin Zhe had been quite eloquent and good at charming girls.

But with this minister, he couldn’t think of how to “play his part.”

It wasn’t that she was difficult to get along with; with her, he couldn’t even tell if she was in a good mood or a bad one. He couldn’t even serve her properly.

Putting that aside, after parting ways with Liu Qingzhi, Qin Zhe didn’t rush back to the dormitory. Instead, he headed to the college library.

Haicheng University’s teaching had always been known for openness. The college library housed many cultivation classics for students to study.

Although most of the classics were relatively ordinary and could be purchased if one had money, the library’s comprehensive collection saved a lot of time searching.

Qin Zhe thought about the midterm exam tomorrow—he had to learn something.

Otherwise, when entering the secret realm, he’d only be able to rely on his thick health bar to blindly follow the minister, and it was uncertain if he could be of any help.

Showing his student ID at the entrance, Qin Zhe followed the signs inside directly to the section of martial arts classics.

He had no interest in the paths of Immortal or Demon cultivation for now.

If he had distributed his points more evenly at the start, perhaps he could have easily mastered both the Immortal and Demon paths, but there was no “if.”

Now, having invested all his points into physique, he could only rely on martial arts.

He randomly picked a few martial arts classics to flip through, but soon found a troubling issue.

After awakening from his transmigration, his memory was excellent—almost photographic.

But the martial arts manuals only allowed him to remember superficial moves; he couldn’t follow the cultivation routes to practice or perform techniques.

Damn! Had he ruined himself by adding points poorly?

Holding a martial arts manual, Qin Zhe was dumbfounded, then thought it might be because he lacked a martial arts foundation.

Spiritual energy was fundamental for Immortal and Demon cultivation.

While martial artists didn’t need spiritual energy, they required genuine qi generated within their bodies.

To generate genuine qi internally, he first needed a martial arts foundation!

With a hopeful attitude, Qin Zhe found the martial arts beginner section and tried to build his foundation from scratch.

But again, he was disappointed.

Though he understood the various cultivation routes in the beginner manuals and tried to lay a foundation, his body showed no changes whatsoever.

Damn! This was frustrating!

If he couldn’t cultivate, what was he going to do?

Standing before the bookshelf, hesitating, unwilling to give up, Qin Zhe took another beginner manual and opened it.

Suddenly, as his eyes scanned the first page, a prompt popped up in his mind's status bar:

“Martial arts secret technique discovered: Divine Skill ‘Burning Blood True Self Technique.’ Learn?”

(End of chapter)