Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 89 - 10: Going With the Flow

Chapter 89: Chapter 10: Going With the Flow

Tang Qianqian, the student who had "the fate of the protagonist," was ultimately picked up by the Painting Institute after nobody else showed interest.

This unprecedented mess had to be taken on by the current dean in the end.

Correspondingly, Duan Mingyuan also took over what might be the biggest mess since Yuhai Academy was established—how to make a group of delicate scholars stand against evil spirits?

No, from the current situation, it was undeniable that the greatest threat to the teachers and students was Yin Die.

After the war ended, Yin Die was incorporated by the Prime Monarch and legitimately inherited the Strange Gates and Devious Techniques of an assassin organization. From the intel he had collected so far, every member of the organization had been trained as a killer from a young age, their development of "abilities" serving the sole purpose of murder.

It might not be long before Yin Die found a way to breach the Barrier and trap the teachers and students on the mountain.

Be it the direction of ability development, or the experience in actual combat, the gap between the two sides was simply too vast.

If this were in a novel, the teachers and students of Yuhai Academy would be like the disciples of a "righteous sect" who were easily decapitated by the evil path.

Huh?

Why did he start using novels as examples too?

This vixen really caused a lot of harm!

After realizing that abilities could be passed down through certain methods, Duan Mingyuan understood the "Strange Gates and Devious Techniques" mentioned by the dean. Before the arrival of the Extraterrestrials, those predecessors who had awakened their abilities compiled their insights into developing these abilities and imparted them to those around them. This gradually formed the concept of families and sects, which became mainstream on this planet.

From the results, the Extraterrestrials achieved what they wanted.

They eliminated all families and sects, making the majority of people of this era start from scratch in the development of Life Energy.

Duan Mingyuan looked over the student roster in his hands; this was his first time being a teacher.

The students who filed into the classroom one after another were on edge, not daring to breathe too loudly.

This new Defense Against Evil Spirits teacher was just gazing at the roster, lost in thought, exuding an aura that was terrifyingly strong.

According to the latest intelligence gathered by the students, this teacher crushed assassins lying in ambush on his way to the school as easily as squashing ants, without even blinking.

What did that tell them?

It meant that Teacher Mingyuan had been a prolific killer even before he came to the Academy.

Compared to a real murderer, a teacher who only dared to peek from behind the classroom window was utterly weak.

"Looks like almost everyone has arrived," Duan Mingyuan said, glancing at the roster, "Xu Yi, Jiang Wen."

"Present!"

The two boys sitting in the front row stood up simultaneously, shaking slightly as they stood ramrod straight. The surrounding students breathed a sigh of relief and gave the two a sympathetic look.

"You are the Chess Institute’s most outstanding students."

The Life Energy detector revealed the energy levels of the two.

Xu Yi 27, Jiang Wen 14.

It was much better than he had expected. Because of the smaller number of students, Yuhai Academy didn’t divide courses by grade levels. Xu Yi was the Senior Brother of the Chess Institute, which was the "most combative" among the four institutes, as chess itself included elements of strategic combat.

But from the perspective of Life Energy, this Senior Brother of the Chess Institute was still far above Yang Ping.

Before the first lesson began, Duan Mingyuan decided to appreciate the highest level of competition in the Chess Institute at the moment, to test his own limits, "You two, have a match."

"Yes."

Xu Yi and Jiang Wen exchanged glances. As the top two pride of the Chess Institute, this was obviously not their first time sparring.

After a brief preparation, they took out a chessboard in front of Duan Mingyuan...

Placing the chessboard on the table and sitting down face-to-face, the rest of the students at the Chess Institute had long been accustomed to such scenes. They rose and formed a circle around the players, seizing a good opportunity to learn and understand the great brother’s approach to chess.

Everything seemed incredibly natural, yet Duan Mingyuan’s vision went dark.

"Alas!"

He sighed deeply.

If he remembered correctly, his course was supposed to be called "Defense Against Malevolent Spirits," not "Go Class," and when he said "let’s have a match," he obviously meant it in the literal sense.

Besides, he had no study of Go, and if a match were to start, any one of these students could easily win against him.

But after all, winning at chess against malevolent spirits meant nothing.

Neither a malevolent spirit nor a Yin Die would give you the chance to sit down and play chess.

Before he could speak, the match between Xu Yi and Jiang Wen had already begun.

Duan Mingyuan had intended to call a halt, but the moment Xu Yi made his move, he changed his mind. He sat on the podium, watching the two engrossed in the game from a distance and saw something else within them.

He suddenly remembered the Chess Institute’s principal’s evaluation of Xu Yi, who said his talent far exceeded that of his peers. Xu Yi had won the top spot in his second year at school and had remained at the top ever since. The principal had a very high regard for this young man and had probably mentioned all this to Duan Mingyuan in the hopes that he would give Xu Yi special attention and training.

As Xu Yi placed the first piece, Duan Mingyuan knew why.

In his eyes, the pieces on the chessboard seemed to come to life, transporting him to a battlefield with the sounds of war thundering in his ears. Sitting at the chess table, Xu Yi transformed into a commanding general, intent on decisive victory from miles away. He poured his intelligence into the game, immersing himself physically in the situation and thus controlling the overall momentum in his hands.

Although Duan Mingyuan was clueless about Go, he could still sense the change in the "momentum" of the game. In contrast, Xu Yi’s opponent, Jiang Wen, seemed quite ordinary and conceded defeat in less than ten minutes.

"Teacher, what do you think?"

Xu Yi was anxious inside.

"Yang Ping, you go have a match with him."

Duan Mingyuan offered no critique; instead, he directly called on Yang Ping, "Remember, integrate your knowledge of malevolent spirits into this contest."

At these words, Jiang Wen immediately stood up, making way for Yang Ping.

Yang Ping did not decline; he simply nodded silently, bowed politely to Xu Yi, and took his seat opposite him.

The classroom fell deathly silent; even the air seemed to become much heavier.

The students of the Chess Institute all understood the great brother’s abilities. Their own skills in chess could scarcely catch his eye, but after watching the great brother’s game, Teacher Mingyuan had directly called for this new junior brother to step forward.

Could it be that in Teacher Mingyuan’s eyes, this junior brother was on the same level as the great brother?

Xu Yi held his breath, feeling a nervousness before the match that he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

He carefully observed Yang Ping across from him.

Without a doubt, the latter was one of the rare talents of the Yunhai Academy.

So, what was his approach?

Had he also reached the limits of "momentum"?

Xu Yi clenched his fists, forcing himself to calm down—he would know just how much the junior brother weighed with one try!

"Let’s begin."

The command came from Teacher Mingyuan on the podium.

"Junior brother, you go first."

Without reluctance, Yang Ping nodded silently, and under the expectant gazes of his senior brothers and sisters...

He suddenly erupted, grabbed the chessboard, and viciously smashed it towards Xu Yi.