In the end, Su Li was carried away. The spectators outside Jiang Chen's room also left quickly.
The Department of Disciple asked Jiang Chen to stay in his room. Ying Wushuang hurried somewhere.
Jiang Chen went back to his room. He put his blood-covered hand in clean water. At the same time, he gradually calmed down.
Whitty approached him carefully. He sat down by the table and tapped Jiang Chen's shoulder with a paw. His blue eyes were full of worry.
"It's not your fault. We can't allow powerful people to do whatever they want to us just because they're powerful. Besides, he wasn't so powerful."
Jiang Chen touched Whitty's head and asked caringly, "How are you? Still hurt?"
Whitty had amazing recovering abilities. He had recovered long ago. Not until he confirmed Jiang Chen wasn't angry did he let himself enjoy the latter's petting.
Soon, they heard loud knocks on the door. Someone was knocking with great effort.
Jiang Chen opened the door and saw Shi Gandang in a great rage. Jiang Chen wasn't surprised.
"So it's true. You've already achieved the Reaching Heaven State!" Shi Gandang sounded pretty angry.
"Only half. I'm between the Mental Wander State and the Reaching Heaven State now, because I broke through to it from the completed middle stage…" Jiang Chen said.
"Is that what I told you to do? What did I say? I said you must form all of the holy points in the Eight Extraordinary Meridians first!" Shi Gandang shouted.
"I know."
"Then why did you do that? Because of the pressure from Su Li? Couldn't you just have let him beat you?"
"Nope."
"You would rather destroy yourself?" Shi Gandang was bursting with anger. At the same time, he felt helpless.
"Dean, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians are still there even though I've achieved the Reaching Heaven State…"
"Gosh! You think so? Darn. The holy points in the Eight Extraordinary Meridians aren't the point. The point is the holy points in the Eight Extraordinary Meridians when you're breaking through to the Reaching Heaven State! It will be useless if you form them now!"
Shi Gandang interrupted him. Jiang Chen was driving him crazy. His explanation made Shi Gandang speechless.
"Dean, people are only doing this because of energy deficiency. You don't know how many Mental Wander States have had their time wasted."
"The masters that decided the state system considered everything thoroughly."
"For average people, when they form forty-nine holy points, they'll just achieve the peak of the late stage of the Mental Wander State. They can form holy points in the Eight Extraordinary Meridians after achieving the Reaching Heaven State.
"People try to form them before achieving the Reaching Heaven State because they don't want to miss the wonderful effects they could get by forming them while breaking through to the Reaching Heaven State, but they're simply wasting their time and energy."
Shi Gandang was struck dumb by Jiang Chen's argument.
He looked at Jiang Chen strangely and asked, "Are you saying for hundreds of years, countless people, including those who became second-to-none masters this way, have made a mistake?"
"It's not a mistake. It's just that they didn't have to do it."
Jiang Chen had explained it clearly enough. At that moment, the problem was whether Shi Gandang would be convinced.
Even if he wasn't convinced, Jiang Chen could prove it with facts, so he wasn't worried.
Shi Gandang didn't speak, as if he was listening attentively.
"Alas. Now the problem isn't whether I'm convinced. It's whether others will be convinced. You're destroying your future," Shi Gandang said.
Soon, they heard footsteps coming from outside the door.
"You almost beat Su Li to death. He's disabled now. Although both of you agreed to have this fight, it has caused a stir. Remember, emphasize your Holy Pulses of Nine Clouds when they come to you. In this way, you might be able to stay at the Sacred Institute!" Shi Gandang told him in a low voice and then opened the door.
Dean of Students Shi Wengong, Nan Gong, and an angry middle-aged man were standing out of the door.
"Is it true?" they asked Shi Gandang first.
Shi Gandang nodded. They came in.
They looked at Jiang Chen with unreadable expressions, almost as angry as Shi Gandang.
"Jiang Chen, no one told you anything in the Fire Field?" Nan Gong asked. He felt pity for Jiang Chen.
"It was my fault. I didn't do my job well," Shi Gandang became serious, which was rare.
"If one can develop one or two extraordinary meridians in the Mental Wander State, they will have great advantages when they achieve the Reaching Heaven State. If they can develop three to five, they will have no rivals in the Reaching Heaven State. If the extraordinary meridians they develop in the Mental Wander State are above six, there is no doubt that they'll be a venerable master," Shi Wengong said.
He wanted to explain to Jiang Chen what he had missed.
"You'd better pray Su Li will be fine!"
The middle-aged man was the Dean of the south courtyard. Su Li had been beaten up. He had come here to accuse Jiang Chen.
"Seniors, I know what you're trying to say," Jiang Chen said.
"You do?"
They were surprised. Did Jiang Chen really know what he had missed?
Shi Gandang repeated to them what Jiang Chen had told him. The three felt more pity when they heard his reason.
"Jiang Chen, do you know how many people can't go further than the Reaching Heaven State?"
"Almost eighty percent of Reaching Heaven States. They wanted to make up for it by working on their extraordinary meridians, too. Those people had countless energy, countless time and countless resources."
"But hundreds of years have passed. None of them managed to make up for it.
"In the Sacred Institute, this is one of the biggest problems with practicing. It has stayed unresolved," said Nan Gong.
"I'm confident," Jiang Chen said.
"Alas."
The four of them shook their heads and sighed. Youngsters were like this. They were too stubborn to give up their own ideas.
Sometimes even eight horses couldn't pull them back.
It was already impossible for Jiang Chen to go back. Of course he wouldn't like to listen to them; he still believed he could change his fate, but they were sure he would kick himself in the next dozens of years.
They walked out of the room and deployed a ward so that no one could overhear them. They started to discuss the affair.
"Jiang Chen was never in our plan. He suddenly showed up. Now that he's missed his opportunity, let's just forget about him, like he never showed up," Shi Wengong said.
"That's the only way. What else can we do?"
"Nan Gong, Mr. Dean of Students, shouldn't we hold him accountable for Su Li's injury?" The Dean of the south courtyard wasn't there to check up on Jiang Chen. He had gone there to make Jiang Chen pay the price.
"You want to hold him accountable? You didn't teach your disciple the proper thing to do. Su Li intruded into the east courtyard with that many people and claimed he would disable the arm of my disciple. It's the price he should pay. You want to hold my disciple accountable?" Shi Gandang said in a rage.
"If Su Li hadn't pushed him, he wouldn't have made the mistake," Nan Gong said.
The Dean of the south courtyard wasn't happy with their response. He argued, "He's a fool. You can't blame others for it!"
"Although Jiang Chen didn't develop the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, he has the Holy Pulses of Nine Clouds. He passed the test to join the superfine class on his own. He's still more excellent than the other short-term disciples," Shi Gandang said.
Shi Wengong and Nan Gong looked at each other. They were the two who had the last word.
"Forget it. Pretend we've never expected anything from him. Let's just follow the rules," said Shi Wengong.
"The thing with Su Li is over. Jiang Chen has paid his price, too," Nan Gong said.
"Hmph!" The Dean of the south courtyard wasn't convinced. He stormed off.