Chapter 812: Seniority

"What?"

"Calling Dean Lu Feng a blabbermouth?"

"And challenging the Alchemy Academy?"

Hearing the quarrel between the two on the stage, everyone below went crazy.

After the old dean disappeared, most matters of the Master Teacher Academy, big or small, were decided by this Dean Lu Feng. Though not the nominal dean, he was almost the same.

Moreover, he was also the head of the Ten Elders; Elder Mi and others followed his lead, giving him an extremely high status in the academy... A new student publicly calling him a blabbermouth and telling him to get lost was practically defying the world's conventions.

"How could Teacher Zhang be so reckless?"

Wei Ranxue, Zhao Bingxu, and others all staggered.

They had thought that with Dean Lu Feng stepping in, things would be resolved quickly. They never expected this Teacher Zhang to be so fierce and confront him head-on.

Dean Lu Feng had always been upright and impartial, treating rules as sacred as Mount Tai. Insulting him to his face was like tearing apart their relationship; it would be strange if he didn't go mad.

Sure enough, before the words faded, they saw Dean Lu's face darken, his eyes narrow, and his voice like muffled thunder.

"What did you say?"

"Are you deaf or blind? Even if you can't hear, you can see! You Xu and I are in a life-and-death duel, both as six-star physicians, considered equals, with no teacher-student distinction... So don't try to suppress me with the righteousness of teacher and student."

"Moreover, before we had determined victory or defeat, you rushed over to cause trouble and forcibly stop us... You talk about rules—are you following the rules?"

His gaze fearless, Zhang Xuan sneered coldly.

He was a student, and according to the rules, contradicting the other party was indeed a major taboo. But he and You Xu were dueling as six-star physicians, a contest among equals.

That is, as long as the contest hadn't ended, his current identity was not a student but a six-star physician.

Even if the other party was a six-star master teacher, they were still equals.

What right did he have to stop it?

"You..."

His face livid, Lu Feng's lips trembled with anger: "Sharp-tongued! No matter what you say today, I am determined to protect this You Xu. I will personally report this matter to the Master Teacher Hall and mediate with the Physician Guild!"

"You want to protect him?" Zhang Xuan's eyes narrowed.

Although it was a bit strange that this guy would go to such lengths to protect You Xu, after a moment's thought, he understood.

When he had bought medicine from Wei Changfeng before, he had personally seen this Dean Lu Feng send someone to buy medicine.

Not only was the price cheap, but the transaction was also very smooth.

One alchemist and one medicine cultivator; the two must have often communicated and had a good relationship. Otherwise, it would be unlikely for him to risk offending the Physician Guild headquarters to interrupt a life-and-death duel.

"Indeed!"

With a snort, Lu Feng swung his arm with invincible authority: "Dean You, follow me! Let's see who in this Master Teacher Academy dares to stop me!"

"Yes!"

Seeing Dean Lu Feng personally step in with a tough stance, You Xu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed behind.

The life-and-death duel was already lost. Continuing to stay here would surely bring misfortune; leaving was best.

"Leave? Without my permission, who dares to leave?"

Raising his eyebrows, Zhang Xuan let out a cold snort, then looked at You Xu: "You caused Wei Changfeng's death, disregarding the dignity and righteousness of a master teacher. What face do you have to be a teacher? Kneel down!"

"Kneel?"

You Xu was stunned and was about to speak when he felt a special force at his knees suddenly stimulating the acupoints, and intense pain immediately struck.

Plop!

Before he could answer, his knees gave way and he knelt on the ground.

The Heavenly Dao true energy hidden inside the other's body could turn into poison at a thought, subduing him effortlessly.

"You..."

His face ashen, Lu Feng looked like the bottom of a pot.

He had just said he would take him back, and now You Xu was kneeling on the ground.

It was a slap in the face, and a loud one at that.

When had his reputation as the dean of the Alchemy Academy become so worthless?

"Zhang Xuan, do you really want to oppose me?"

His gaze dark and cold, he looked over as if to tear the young man to pieces.

"Oppose you?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head: "You're not worth my opposition! To be honest, before you showed up, I didn't even know who you were!"

With the Heavenly Dao Library, nothing under heaven could not be broken. A mere dean of the Alchemy Academy, if he hadn't popped up on his own, he wouldn't even know who he was. Oppose him... you're overthinking it!

"You..." Lu Feng was about to go mad with rage.

"Alright, I'm tired of wasting words with you. The physician's life-and-death duel isn't over yet. No one can take him away. Not even if you're an acting dean, and not even if the dean himself comes! Otherwise... you can only take away a corpse!"

Waving his hand casually, Zhang Xuan was too lazy to explain further.

The Heavenly Dao true energy had invaded the other's marrow. You Xu's life or death was in his hands alone. No matter who you were, wanting to take him away was a dream!

"You dare!"

Lu Feng gritted his teeth.

"Why wouldn't I dare?" Zhang Xuan shook his head and looked at You Xu: "He says I don't dare. Come on, spit some blood for him to see!"

As the words ended, You Xu, kneeling on the ground, immediately felt his internal organs churned by a special force. Unable to bear it, he spat out a mouthful of blood, dyeing the area red.

"You..."

Staggering, Lu Feng's vision went dark, and he nearly went mad.

This was a blatant provocation!

"What, not convinced? Come on, You Xu, continue until he's convinced!"

With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Hearing his command, You Xu spat mouthfuls of blood continuously. After just a few spits, his face turned pale, and he looked like he might die at any moment.

"Stop!"

Seeing his old friend would surely die if he continued spitting, Lu Feng was so angry he could have bitten his teeth off, but he had no way to stop it.

By now, even a fool would know that during the physician's life-and-death duel, this Teacher Zhang must have administered a very potent poison. Otherwise, the latter wouldn't be so obedient, kneeling when told and spitting when told.

He didn't even have the courage to retort.

"Stop!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

Only then did You Xu stop spitting blood. His body went limp, and he gasped for air, feeling as if half his life was gone.

Since becoming a master teacher and living for nearly a thousand years, he had never suffered such humiliation.

Seeing him stop, Lu Feng quickly stepped forward, took out an antidote pill, and fed it to him.

You Xu gasped a few times and couldn't help shaking his head.

Although this antidote pill was potent, it had no effect on the poison in his body.

The poison left in his body by the other party had already penetrated into the most hidden parts, where even true energy couldn't reach. The disease was incurable, and medicine was useless.

"Damn it!"

Standing up, Lu Feng looked at Zhang Xuan again, his teeth grinding: "Very well, you're quite capable! But let me remind you, you've won the physician's life-and-death duel, but You Xu is a six-star upper-grade master teacher, protected by the academy. With your status, you have no right to decide his life or death!"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

Although the other's tone was rude, he knew what he said was correct.

A physician's life-and-death duel could at most ruin his reputation, but killing him was not allowed because... besides being a physician, he also had the identity of a master teacher.

Every master teacher was a pillar of society, cultivated at great cost by the Master Teacher Hall. Especially those who had reached six-star upper grade, unless they had committed heinous crimes against humanity, no one of the same level had the right to execute them.

Unless... a seven-star master teacher personally ordered it, or it went through a teacher's court trial.

That was why he had used the Heaven's Voice to try to trick the other into suicide.

If he had actually died, it could be said he committed suicide out of shame, with no evidence to the contrary, and no one could do anything to him. But now, having suffered once, it would be difficult to succeed in tricking him again.

"I can not kill him! But I want to take him away. As for whether others take action, that's not my concern!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

Although he wanted to kill this guy, he would rather let Wei Ruyue do it herself, avenging her father's murderer.

"Take him away? This is the Master Teacher Academy. Do you think it's too naive to want to take away a vice dean?"

With a grand wave of his hand, Lu Feng sneered.

"Are you not going to abide by the rules of the life-and-death duel?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

"Of course I abide by the rules. But now that the life-and-death duel is over, your identity is once again that of a student of the Master Teacher Academy. I, as the acting dean and head of the Ten Elders, stopping a student is not against the rules!"

Lu Feng's eyes flickered.

Just now, while they were in the physician's life-and-death duel, his intervention was against the rules. Now that the contest was over, the other had reverted to student status. As a dean with high status, whether he stopped him or disciplined him, it was not a violation.

On the contrary, it was righteous.

Zhang Xuan's face turned ugly.

What the other said was correct. No matter what, he was just a student. In the academy, with the order of teacher and student and the distinction of rank, if a teacher stopped him, there was really nothing he could do.

Using poison to threaten You Xu was fine, but if he actually poisoned him to death, it would be a four-star master teacher poisoning a six-star master teacher, an inferior attacking a superior, which would inevitably invite investigation from the Master Teacher Hall.

That would be even more troublesome.

As expected of the dean of the Alchemy Academy, a six-star upper-grade master teacher—he was even slicker at playing by the rules.

"Leave Dean You here and remove the poison. As for the winnings from the duel, I'll have him compensate you... Then I'll let you leave, and we'll pretend nothing happened today. Otherwise, as a teacher disciplining a disobedient student, if word gets to the Master Teacher Hall, no one will speak for you!"

Lu Feng snorted.

"Are you determined to cause me trouble?"

Seeing that the other had no intention of giving way and would act at any moment if he didn't comply, Zhang Xuan's gaze turned icy.

Indeed, when master teachers became shameless, they were even worse than him.

Rogues are not scary; what's scary is a rogue with education!

"Cause trouble? I'm not causing you trouble, just educating a junior. If your seniority were higher than mine, you could naturally discipline me as you pleased!" Lu Feng laughed.

Seniority could crush people.

You are a student, I am a teacher. With this identity alone, I can keep you down, and no one can say anything!

Zhang Xuan wanted to say something but didn't know how to respond. Just as he was struggling with what to do, he heard an anxious shout from an old man below the stage.

"Elder Zheng, Elder Wang, Elder Liu, you're here too. Don't go up..."

Then the sound of wind came, and several figures jumped up.

Then a faint voice sounded: "Dean Lu, we three are newly hired guest elders of the Martial Arts Academy, enjoying special treatment from the academy. I wonder... if we can be considered your peers?"