Associate Professor Tang's words, coupled with the severe punishments dealt to Xia Tao and the Black Ice Squad and the rewards granted to the Scarlet Flame Squad, struck deep awe and fear into the thousands of fourth-year students. Xia Tao's penalty was especially shocking—even in death, his name would be prominently posted on the front page of the disciplinary and legal violations column.
It was the ultimate posthumous humiliation.
At the same time, the name Fang Yu became indelibly etched into the minds of nearly five thousand fourth-year students.
Beneath the stage.
"Fang Yu, what is going on? Why are you getting commended?" Wang Mo whispered, his tone filled with shock.
The surrounding group of incoming freshmen was equally stunned. Though the rumors circulating among them varied widely in detail, the core claim had been virtually identical: Fang Yu was the one facing severe punishment.
How had the outcome turned out completely different?
"I don't know either." Fang Yu shook his head, just as bewildered as the rest of them.
According to his original plan, he intended to reveal his Inner Vista realm after returning to campus, gradually tearing through the blockade Xia Kaishan had woven around him. But that was supposed to happen only after returning to Blue Star. He had never even considered the notion of a "Star Seed."
For one thing, Fang Yu had never heard of the Star Seed concept. For another, his martial technique had only broken through to the Inner Vista this afternoon. It was barely past six in the evening now—how much time had even elapsed in between?
Could public opinion have actually forced their hand? Or did some high-ranking authority take notice? Numerous thoughts flashed across Fang Yu's mind.
Fang Yu understood the situation very clearly.
Xia Kaishan's suppression of him had never relied on crude, overt threats. Instead, he had exerted his influence behind the scenes. On one front, he had used formal judicial channels to slap an "excessive defense" conviction onto Fang Yu's record.
Under Alliance regulations, any Martial Undergraduate who violated the law was subjected to strict constraints, naturally cutting Fang Yu off from the university's elite cultivation system. On the other front, Xia Kaishan had pressured the heads of every major martial group branch in Wuling City, ensuring none of them would sign him.
It was an open, undeniable trap.
Under ordinary circumstances, breaking such an impasse would require an influential figure of comparable stature to Xia Kaishan intervening with full force... Yet Fang Yu barely knew any ordinary Earth Martial Artists, let alone someone with clout matching Xia Kaishan's.
Regardless of how it happened...
"This is a great thing. Now that the university has officially settled the matter, it offers some solace to my teammates," Fang Yu thought to himself. Toward the members of the Scarlet Flame Squad, he had always harbored a sliver of guilt.
After all, with his exceptional talent, he possessed the confidence to face Xia Kaishan's future retaliation without fear.
However, the same could not be said for Bai Chen and Qin Yang, let alone Xia Yao and Xiong Meng... For the latter two, reaching the level of an Advanced Martial Artist in the future would already be a major achievement; they could never withstand the wrath of an Earth Martial Artist like Xia Kaishan.
"Fang Yu, it's time to go up and accept the award." Wang Mo nudged Fang Yu's arm.
"Ah?" Snapping back to reality, Fang Yu immediately headed toward the rostrum, joining Bai Chen, Qin Yang, and the others to receive the vice president's congratulations and commendation.
Afterward came the commendation for the top ten incoming fourth-year students by coefficient score. However, after the explosive news regarding Xia Tao and Fang Yu, most of the students had already lost interest in the rankings.
The only noteworthy moment was when Fang Yu stepped up to the stage once more as the "Number One Freshman" to accept his award, receiving a scholarship of 1,000,000 Star Coins.
"Two million from earlier, plus another million now—that's three million Star Coins!"
"Three million!"
"Take a good look—he came from a junior college, and during his very first practical combat assessment, his coefficient score peaked at 1.9."
"I heard he didn't even venture out during the last ten days. Otherwise, he almost certainly would have been promoted to a Tier-2 Civilization Warrior."
"Looks like I blamed the wrong guy before. That Xia Tao was the scoundrel all along."
"Xia Tao was always rotten to the core. Did you only just figure that out?" Whispers rippled across the crowd. A total reward of three million Star Coins was enough to draw envy from any student.
In an inconspicuous corner of the plaza...
"Wan Jin, wasn't Xia Tao your junior brother?" a student could not help asking.
"He wasn't." Wan Jin's brow furrowed.
"I need to use the restroom." Wan Jin slipped away from the formation and ducked into an adjacent building. Pulling out his communicator, he enabled interstellar roaming and dialed Xia Kaishan's number directly.
As Fang Yu stepped down from the stage, the combat summary assembly drew to a close. Under Associate Professor Tang's direction, thousands of students began marching in order toward the fleet of transport ships parked nearby.
Organized by class, they boarded their designated vessels.
"Three million Star Coins is quite an unexpected harvest." Walking alongside Wang Mo and Zhang Tao toward one of the transport ships, Fang Yu felt immensely refreshed. Because this was a scholarship distributed directly by the university, it was entirely tax-free.
"Fang Yu." Teacher Li suddenly walked over and stepped in front of him, a warm smile on his face. "Congratulations. Your charges have been dropped, and your contract has been upgraded to an Earth Contract."
"Teacher Li, what exactly happened?" Fang Yu could not help asking.
"I don't know the full details myself," Teacher Li said, shaking his head. "Vice President Qing wants to see you. Officials from the Adjudication Department are here as well, and they need you and the rest of the Scarlet Flame Squad to go over together. You'll probably find out very soon. Follow me."
"Alright." Fang Yu nodded at once. Turning to Wang Mo and the others, he said, "Wang Mo, you guys go ahead and board first."
"Sure, see you in a bit."
"Go on ahead."
Leading Fang Yu away from the surging crowd, Teacher Li brought him to wait outside a third-floor office in an administrative building until Bai Chen, Qin Yang, and the rest arrived.
"Fang Yu, what is going on?" Xia Yao asked in a hushed whisper.
"Not only did they drop the charges, but they gave us bonus rewards too?" Bai Chen added in a low voice, looking completely dazed.
"I have no idea either," Fang Yu answered with a shake of his head.
"Keep it down for now," Teacher Li whispered. "Follow me inside."
He pushed the door open, leading them into the office.
Inside, more than a dozen people were already waiting.
Following right behind Teacher Li as the second person through the door, Fang Yu swept his gaze across the room.
Associate Professor Tang and Section Chief Dong were both present, alongside several unfamiliar faces whose formidable auras suggested that they were all powerful martial artists.
"Fang Yu, let me introduce them to you." Teacher Li stepped aside. "This is Vice President Qing, who oversees student affairs at our university. He is also an Earth Martial Artist."
"President Qing," Fang Yu, Bai Chen, and the others greeted him respectfully.
Vice President Qing was not particularly tall, appearing to be in his forties with an amiable expression. He gave Fang Yu a warm, encouraging smile and nodded.
"This is Professor Xu, director of the University Council Secretariat. He often represents the president at high-level meetings," Teacher Li introduced. "He is also an Earth Martial Artist."
"Professor Xu," Fang Yu and the others bowed in greeting, clearly understanding the significance of Professor Xu's position.
"Section Chief Dong, why don't you proceed first?" Vice President Qing said, looking toward Section Chief Dong.
A staff member at the side began recording the proceedings.
"Understood." Section Chief Dong nodded, opened a folder, and declared with a solemn tone, "Regarding defendant Fang Yu, male... defendant Bai Chen... defendant Qin Yang..."
A lengthy identity verification followed, accompanied by an exhaustive recounting of the facts. Yet the room remained completely silent. Fang Yu, Bai Chen, and the others listened quietly, knowing this was the official overturning of their verdict—a mandatory legal procedure.
A full ten minutes later.
"Under the guidance of the provincial Adjudication Department, this department hereby rules that the charge of excessive defense brought against defendant Fang Yu by the Martial Arts Inspection Department is unfounded. All four original disciplinary penalties are hereby revoked, effective immediately," Section Chief Dong stated measuredly. "Fang Yu, Bai Chen, please step forward and sign."
After signing their names, Fang Yu and Bai Chen exchanged a glance.
The heavy stone weighing on their hearts had finally been lifted.
With the formal ruling concluded, the officials from the Adjudication Department took their leave.
"Bai Chen, the rest of you go ahead and board the transport ship back to campus," Associate Professor Tang said. "Vice President Qing and Professor Xu still have a few matters to discuss with Fang Yu."
Bai Chen, Qin Yang, and the others nodded and left the office.
Before they had walked very far, they noticed Teacher Li, Teacher He, and several other instructors stepping out of the office as well. Seeing this, Bai Chen and Qin Yang instantly realized that whatever was happening was far from ordinary.
"Are they talking to Brother Fang about signing an Earth Contract?" Xiong Meng could not resist asking in a low whisper.
"Hard to say, but it doesn't feel like it," Bai Chen said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "In our fourth-year class alone, dozens of students hold Earth Contracts, and across the entire university, there must be one or two hundred. Would the vice president in charge of student affairs travel all the way to the space base just to sign an Earth Contract with one student?"
"Impossible!"
"On top of that, not only did the vice president show up, but that Professor Xu was there representing the university president himself," Bai Chen said under his breath. "Fang Yu must have accomplished something monumental."
"Something monumental?" Qin Yang, Xiong Meng, and Xia Yao held their breath, their curiosity piqued even further.
"Don't look at me, I can't guess either." Bai Chen spread his hands. "Whatever it is, it's definitely a good thing. At the very least, our freedom has been restored. And on this practical combat mission, we earned several times more money than before."
"More importantly, we made a great friend in Fang Yu," Bai Chen said with a laugh.
"Haha, exactly!"
"Let's go!"
"Back to campus!" In high spirits, the Scarlet Flame Squad hurried toward the transport ships.
Only four people remained inside the office.
"Fang Yu, you must be wondering," Vice President Qing said with a gentle smile, "why the verdict was overturned so suddenly, and why it was announced with such fanfare at the assembly."
Fang Yu could not help but nod.
"Professor Xu, you're more familiar with the details. You explain it to him," Vice President Qing said.
"Very well." Professor Xu, looking quite young, smiled warmly at Fang Yu. "Fang Yu, ten days ago, right after the incident occurred, Associate Professor Tang submitted an immediate report to the university. The opinion of the university secretariat was that your actions constituted legitimate defense..."
Fang Yu nodded slightly. The preliminary assessment report had indeed recommended classifying it as legitimate defense.
"In fact, Xia Kaishan even called the president directly," Professor Xu continued. "The president refused to entertain Xia Kaishan's demands. The university has always stood by your side."
"The president?" A flicker of doubt crossed Tang Jianxin's eyes.
Had the president truly intervened back then? She was skeptical.
Yet she had no way to disprove it. She had not joined the faculty very long ago, and the president rarely involved himself in campus affairs; under normal circumstances, even securing a meeting with him was difficult. Throughout the entire ordeal between Fang Yu and Xia Tao, the highest authority she had been able to reach was Professor Xu.
"Xia Kaishan certainly has methods. Seeing that we refused to cooperate, he bypassed the university entirely and pulled strings through the Provincial Inspection Department, enlisting the help of a vice minister," Professor Xu said. "He Chang!"
"That was how that previous ruling came about."
He Chang? Fang Yu made a quiet mental note of the name.
Tang Jianxin remained silent. She could already tell that Professor Xu was trying to brush aside any accusation of university negligence.
"After that happened, the president was actively searching for a way to resolve it."
"Until today," Professor Xu said with a smile. "Your martial technique broke through to the Inner Vista realm, which was detected by the space base's automated monitoring system. The system evaluated you as possessing the potential of a Tier-3 Star Seed and transmitted the dossier to the relevant department, allowing the university to learn of it immediately."
"Inner Vista technique?"
"A Tier-3 Star Seed?" Both Associate Professor Tang and Vice President Qing were visibly stunned. At last, they understood why Professor Xu had rushed so urgently from campus to the space base.
When Professor Xu arrived in haste earlier, he had only briefed Tang Jianxin and Vice President Qing on the final outcome without explaining the underlying cause.
"A Tier-3 Star Seed?" Fang Yu was puzzled.
At the same time, shock rippled through him. He had assumed that his breakthrough to the Inner Vista was completely unknown to anyone. According to Professor Xu, the space base possessed an automated surveillance network capable of detecting it immediately?
And it had notified the university so rapidly.
"Seizing this opportunity, the president escalated the full dossier directly to a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist—Sky-Patroller Ye," Professor Xu continued. "Ultimately, Sky-Patroller Ye deemed you innocent and conveyed his verdict to the relevant authorities."
A Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist?
Tang Jianxin and Vice President Qing grew even more astonished.
This had actually reached the attention of a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist?
Tang Jianxin herself knew a Sky-Patroller who was a former friend of her late master... But her master had already perished, and she had only met that Sky-Patroller once several years ago. Naturally, she would never have dared to trouble such an exalted figure over Fang Yu's predicament.
"Professor Xu."
"I only broke through to the Inner Vista a few hours ago," Fang Yu could not help pointing out. "Even if a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist offered his opinion, how could the provincial Adjudication Department initiate a retrial so quickly?"
For a case that had already been settled, a retrial implied that the original ruling was wrongful... Pushing for a retrial was extraordinarily difficult, as every official who had handled the case would instinctively resist it.
Even when granted, such a process typically dragged on for a long time.
"The opinion of a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist is an order."
"When Sky-Patroller Ye declared you innocent, you became innocent. His word is the ultimate evidence; what was there left to deliberate?" Professor Xu said with a faint laugh. "Because of that, the Adjudication Department cleared every procedure from top to bottom in less than an hour."
Fang Yu held his breath.
For the first time, he felt the terrifying power and authority commanded by a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist. With a single sentence, that man had completely disregarded the web Xia Kaishan had meticulously spun, rewriting Fang Yu's fate in an instant.
"Since the Adjudication Department has formally declared your innocence..."
"In accordance with the president's instructions, we will sign a new dedicated contract with you immediately. Look it over carefully, and if you have no objections, sign it." Professor Xu produced a document and handed it to Fang Yu.
Fang Yu reached out to take it.
The moment his eyes fell upon it, he froze.
Embossed boldly across the contract's cover were four striking characters:
Sky-Patrol Contract.
"It's not an Earth Contract?" Fang Yu asked in disbelief.
Associate Professor Tang and Vice President Qing, however, remained completely calm. From the moment they learned Fang Yu had become a Tier-3 Star Seed, they had already anticipated this outcome.
"The Earth Contract was just what we announced publicly," Professor Xu explained with a smile. "In truth, above the standard Elite Contract and Earth Contract, Huguang Martial University offers an even higher dedicated agreement: the Sky-Patrol Contract."
"Only a Star Seed qualifies to sign a Sky-Patrol Contract."
"At present, there are only four students in the entire university under a Sky-Patrol Contract."
"If you sign, you will be the fifth—and the very first among the fourth-year students," Professor Xu said warmly. "The Sky-Patrol Contract, just as the name suggests, is established with a single ultimate goal: to cultivate a Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist."
Chapter 83