Chapter 5185 Pitiful Dean
The gates closed, leaving only four people in the massive palace: Long Chen, the Palace Master, Bai Letian, and Lu Chengkong.
Despite being a Human Emperor, Lu Chengkong was more nervous than anyone else. He stood there, completely at a loss, making it hard for Long Chen to believe that this man was such a powerful expert.
“Palace master, please sit!” Lu Chengkong gestured toward the central throne of the palace, but the Palace Master shook his head.
Lu Chengkong hastily turned to Bai Letian. “Dean Letian, perhaps you...”
Bai Letian also declined, taking out four bamboo mats instead. The four of them sat down as equals. Despite this, Lu Chengkong continued to cower in fear. If it weren’t for his Human Emperor aura, Long Chen would have suspected that he was a fraud.
As Lu Chengkong nervously twisted his sleeves, Long Chen couldn't help but glance at Bai Letian, silently questioning the situation.
Bai Letian smiled. “Dean Chengkong, you don’t need to be nervous. We came to resolve our issues. The previous roadblocks are out of the way, so I feel like we can have a frank and open discussion now. Don’t you think so?”
“In truth, I-I don’t care about this position, but my two masters made me do this. I-I...” Lu Chengkong stammered, his fear rendering him almost incoherent.
The three quickly realized that the two vice deans were his masters. Bai Letian then began to probe deeper with his questions.
Through Bai Leitan’s questioning, the three of them learned that Lu Chengkong was nothing more than a puppet dean, and the two vice deans had controlled everything.
Originally, Lu Chengkong had been an ordinary Elder in the academy. Living a simple life, he was not interested in status or power. His passion lay in studying and teaching various cultivation techniques and magical arts to the academy's disciples.
Every day, other than holding lessons for the disciples, he would study various techniques. He was practically a fanatic in this regard. Afterward, he was promoted to be the manager of various repositories. He thrived like a fish in water.
Due to lacking any desire for fame or profit, he largely went unnoticed in the academy. But there was a time when his cultivation base suddenly soared, instantly drawing the entire academy’s attention.
At the time, he was extremely unremarkable, simply spending all day cultivating and studying. He didn’t consume medicinal pills or rely on any other resources to advance. Hence, the sudden leap in his power shocked everyone. Two Elders with significant authority quickly took him under their wing, providing him with resources to help him advance further.
With their aid, Lu Chengkong became a half-step Human Emperor before he was a hundred years old. At that moment, the first academy was split into multiple factions vying over the position of dean.
Seeing Lu Chengkong’s unparalleled talent, the aging dean abdicated and gave the position to him.
After becoming a Human Emperor, Lu Chengkong’s two masters convinced him to allow them to extract his core blood, which they used to advance to the half-step Emperor realm. However, their limited talent didn’t allow them to reach the Human Emperor realm ever.
As for Lu Chengkong, losing his core blood left him in a state of perpetual energy deficit. Thus, he only had the aura of a Human Emperor but was actually very weak.
“What kind of damn masters are those?! They’re brutes!” Long Chen was speechless.
Lu Chengkong was quiet and indifferent to fame or fortune. He had only ever cared about cultivation and teaching his disciples. Moreover, he took immense satisfaction in witnessing their moments of comprehension and growth. But after his talent was stolen, he became nothing more than a tool for the vice deans. He hated and feared his masters but was too cowardly to resist.
When Long Chen killed the two vice deans outside the palace, Lu Chengkong was too stunned to react. The sight of Evilmoon terrified him so much that he nearly broke down in tears, wanting to come out but too scared to do so.
“I’m truly sorry. I was too rash,” Long Chen said, offering a formal apology.
Long Chen had never dreamed that the situation would be like this, and since he was wrong, he had to have the guts to admit it.
“No, I don’t dare to accept. Dean Long Chen, this was all my fault.” Lu Chengkong hastily rose, stopping Long Chen from apologizing further. “I’m not interested in being the dean. I only hope that Dean Long Chen will not expel me from the academy. If... if you let me continue teaching the children, I will be endlessly grateful.”
With the vice deans dead, Lu Chengkong was finally free. He was no longer a puppet and was grateful to Long Chen for this. However, he was also terrified that Long Chen might see him as an enemy, fearing that he might be implicated in the vice deans’ unforgivable actions. Though he wasn’t the main villain, he had been a silent accomplice.
Lu Chengkong looked at Long Chen and the others with fear. Seeing a Human Emperor act so fearfully, they couldn’t help but feel bad for him.
“Don’t worry. You will still be the dean. Do whatever you want,” said Long Chen.
“What? Are you unwilling to forgive me?” Lu Chengkong was terrified by this response, thinking that Long Chen was being sarcastic.
Seeing his nervous state, Bai Letian couldn’t help but pity him. “Don’t worry, Long Chen will be the dean, and you will be the vice dean. Just make sure it’s clear who’s in charge.”
Lu Chengkong instantly relaxed, realizing that they weren’t planning to blame him for the actions of the vice deans. After all, it was really those two who were responsible for everything.
Lu Chengkong hastily handed over the dean’s seal to Long Chen, but Long Chen declined, turning to Bai Letian instead.
“Great Dean, this seal is your burden. Please accept it!”
“Me? How will that work?” Bai Letian asked, surprised.
“You must make it work. I won’t be staying in the High Firmament Academy for long. I’m leaving soon, and the academy needs you,” said Long Chen.
“You’re going to leave this quickly?” Bai Letian was startled.
Long Chen nodded and explained what had happened in the Heavenly Flame Devil Domain. Hearing his story, even Bai Letian and the palace master were flabbergasted.
Long Chen’s audacity was astounding—he had gone to the Brahma Pill Valley to undergo tribulation, destroyed one of the Eight Brahma Domains, and killed a half-step Human Emperor.
After all, Han Qianye had been a Domain Lord with great combat experience. As he had a Domain divine weapon and faith energy, his power was almost on par with a true Human Emperor. Yet, Long Chen had still slain him.
Long Chen explained that he planned to rest for a while before leading the Dragonblood Legion to the Dragon Domain. After resolving matters there, his next target was the Endless Desolation. His time was limited, and he couldn’t stay at the academy to oversee things.
Finally, the four of them exited the palace. Everyone outside watched as Lu Chengkong handed the dean’s seal to Long Chen, symbolically transferring his position. Although the seal would be held by Bai Letian, this process was still significant.
When Long Chen accepted the seal, the Dragonblood Legion and the head academy’s disciples let out heaven-shaking cheers.