C86 A Conflict!

The teacher clearly held the highest status among his peers at Adirang Academy; when he spoke, no one dared to interrupt or interject.

His gaze shifted to the government soldier beside him, his eyes conveying an authoritative command that required no further words.

The soldier hesitated. Despite his distaste for those privileged geniuses, it seemed a shame to dismiss them now.

Indeed, Lee Zi had lost her genetic power, but even without it, she remained a prodigy, a veritable force of nature.

Typically, those who could break the genetic shackles to become genetic warriors were exceptional beings. Even stripped of their genetic power, their combat abilities were formidable.

Waking her now would effectively nullify her innate warrior talents.

In the future...

The soldier watched Lee Zi sleep, a look of reluctance flickering in his eyes.

They were all human, all from the Adirang Region. If it weren't a last resort, the soldier truly did not wish to ruin such a talent.

However...

"Did you not hear me?" The Adirang Academy teacher's eyes now glinted with severity.

His mood was foul, truly foul.

The crippling of Lee Zi was an outcome he had not anticipated.

Lee Zi's importance could not be overstated. Although a latecomer, unlikely to make it to the global stage in the college entrance exams, she had shone brightly in this region.

Often, that alone was enough to showcase the might of Adirang Academy to the world!

But now...

The thought of the impending punishments made the teacher's heart ache.

He had redirected his anger towards Lee Zi, regardless of whether she was at fault or not.

Did it matter?

"Open!" he demanded for the third time.

The government soldiers turned to Lee Guoqiang, whose face was etched with distress. Nevertheless, he stepped forward resolutely.

He stood before Lee Zi's medical pod, his eyes filled with determination.

"Do you intend to obstruct me?!" The teacher was nearly unhinged.

Did a mere high school principal dare to challenge him?

"Can you shoulder this responsibility?!"

Lee Guoqiang understood that the tragedy was beyond anyone's control. He was privy to much of the backstory. Thus, despite the heavy toll of student lives, he knew any punishment he faced would be merely for appearances.

If he doesn't back down now, it will amount to a genuine punishment.

Taking a deep breath, he affirmed, "I can do this!"

That is Lee Guoqiang!

While others pursued careers in teaching and school administration as stepping stones or opportunities to access necessary resources, Lee Guoqiang was different.

He was passionate about educating and cultivating individuals, truly desiring to develop the backbone of humanity.

Otherwise, he never would have accepted the role of principal at Seventeenth High School!

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!"

A malevolent glint appeared in the eyes of the teacher from Adirang Academy.

As these words were uttered, he vanished from sight.

The turn of events caught everyone off guard, and by the time they realized what had happened, the teacher was already at the medical pod.

"How dare you?!"

Lee Guoqiang was furious!

But it was already too late; he hadn't anticipated such a resolute move from his opponent.

In an instant, he managed to open the medical pod's hatch.

With the situation seemingly sealed, Lee Guoqiang's complexion turned a ghastly pale, while the accompanying teachers exchanged uneasy glances.

The government soldiers, meanwhile, exchanged looks of newfound recognition, as if seeing these teachers for the first time.

"Wake up!"

The command boomed with authority.

Lee Zi, who had been in a deep slumber, opened her eyes.

Unlike Chu Yi, she hadn't been resting; she had been observant of everything unfolding around her the entire time.

Lee Zi was indeed sleeping, not recuperating.

To others, it appeared as though Lee Zi was in recovery, especially since her strength seemed diminished after the recent ordeal, leaving her looking worn and in need of rest.

But with the resounding command, Lee Zi's eyes fluttered open.

Though she had been roused, it was clear she was still disoriented.

She glanced around in bewilderment, and upon spotting Chu Yi, a spark of recognition flickered in her eyes. However, it was quickly overshadowed by the sight of the group with pallid expressions.

"Good morning, Principal Lee Guoqiang."

After extending her greeting, Lee Zi's attention shifted to the teacher.

Clearly, she recognized him, and he might even have been her personal mentor. Under normal circumstances, Lee Zi would have greeted him immediately, but this time...

Although Lee Zi had just awakened from sleep, she was far from clueless.

Upon assessing her surroundings, it became clear to her that something was amiss.

"Good morning, Teacher Sun."

Instead of the usual warm smile, Teacher Sun's face was twisted into a grimace of fury.

"Lee Zi, what exactly is happening here?"

"Where is your genetic power?!"

The last question was bellowed out, betraying Teacher Sun's inability to keep his emotions in check any longer.

Lee Zi remained silent for a brief moment.

She had never seen Teacher Sun like this before.

"Teacher, my genetic power has been completely shattered due to the use of a secret technique."

Genetic power could indeed be shattered, occurring when it was pushed beyond its limits, ultimately leading to a chaotic gene sequence.

This was something Chu Yi hadn't known before. When discussing with Lee Zi how to explain the disappearance of her genetic power, Lee Zi had immediately thought of this.

"Why?"

The question was simple, just three words, yet her eyes were ablaze with anger.

Lee Zi faced Teacher Sun with composure: "I had no choice. If I hadn't unleashed my power, Chu Yi and I wouldn't have stood a chance of escaping from Zhao Jun."

Zhao Jun?

This was the first time they had heard this name.

Suddenly, even the enraged Teacher Sun was taken aback.

"Are you referring to Zhao Jun from the inspection team?"

Truth be told, their earlier failure to encounter Zhao Jun and his team had raised suspicions. Now, with Lee Zi's explanation, they began to grasp that an unexpected situation had occurred.

Lee Zi gave a slight nod.

"Zhao Jun is the embodiment of the only truth..."

Nothing more needed to be said.

The phrase 'the only truth' spoke volumes on its own.

"How can that be?"

All Teacher Sun could muster were these four words of disbelief.

Zhao Jun from the inspection team was the only truth?

This was, quite frankly, astounding...

Lee Zi gave them a level gaze, her silence conveying all that needed to be understood.

It took a while, but Teacher Sun eventually came to terms with the reality.

"So, where is Zhao Jun now?"

With a resigned shake of her head, Lee Zi replied, "Teacher Sun, we were fleeing for our lives. Do you think Zhao Jun would still show up, considering we've managed to escape with our lives?"

The question seemed rather foolish.

"As we were leaving the secret realm, before we even exited the barrier's range, Zhao Jun made his move against us."

"Thankfully, we still managed to escape in the end."

"For two whole days, even after we got out of the shielded area, we didn't dare contact anyone. We were afraid Zhao Jun would intercept our messages..."

That was the story Chu Yi and Lee Zi had agreed upon beforehand.

It also served to explain their disappearance for three to four days.

Under normal circumstances, they would have sent a distress signal much earlier, not waited until now.

Teacher Sun and the government officials didn't question their story. It never crossed their minds that Chu Yi and Lee Zi would be bold enough to target the secret realm, especially with the Demon King present in the Third Fleet and the three restricted zones.

"With your strength and the trump cards we've given you, you could definitely escape if you survive!"

"How could you possibly lose your genetic power?!"

Teacher Sun wasn't concerned with anything else; the secret realm was of no interest to him.

The only thing he cared about was Lee Zi.

Lee Zi remained silent. Since Chu Yi and Lee Zi hadn't discussed this point before, silence was now the best response.

During this quiet moment, a voice broke the silence: "Naturally, it was for the dead weight beside him!"

"Oh, he's not so useless anymore..."

Everyone turned to the speaker.

It was Zhen Ye.

Chu Yi's eyes narrowed slightly. He had anticipated that if Zhen Ye came along, the situation wouldn't be easily resolved. If it were just Lee Zi, it might be fine, but with him involved...

Sure enough, Zhen Ye had made an appearance.

Instantly, all eyes were on Chu Yi.

Before Zhen Ye's 'enlightenment', they might not have considered it, but now they had.

Indeed, with Lee Zi's formidable strength and the life-saving trump cards from Adirang Academy, she should have been able to escape without being pushed to overload her genetic power.

Unless there was an unavoidable reason.

Clearly, Chu Yi was that reason.

Otherwise, how could a mere Silver-ranked academy fighter like Chu Yi manage to escape from Zhao Jun, an experienced Gold-ranked warrior?

"Lee Zi, is that really what happened?"

Teacher Sun inhaled deeply, striving to steady his nerves, but sadly, he realized it was in vain.

Chu Yi remained silent, and as for Lee Zi...

She was actually somewhat grateful to Zhen Ye. His words had led her to a solution.

With a gentle smile, it seemed Lee Zi had let go of many burdens.

"Didn't you always tell us never to abandon or give up?"

Teacher Sun's breath caught slightly.

Indeed, these were lessons every teacher imparted to their students, and they weren't wrong.

After all, these are the fundamentals of good character!

But in reality, how many people actually live by this?

Perhaps some might hold true to these values if they were strong enough and without any risks, but when faced with real danger, how many could truly stand by them?