Chapter 349: Chapter 345: Me, the Dean?

Wrapped up in the Death Dragon, the Abominable Butcher was dissolving rapidly like ice under a roaring fire. If the Power of Death was allowed to continue corroding it, the only fate that awaited the Abominable Butcher was extinction.

Upon seeing this, Bai Qi immediately ordered Alpha to release the Abominable Butcher. Noticing the chains on the Abominable Butcher that seemed to have thickened a lot, he furrowed his brows slightly.

“Alpha, keep all of these chains.”

Clank, clank.

(Sure, boss.)

With a light wave of Alpha’s Sword of Death, the Death Dragon spat out the Abominable Butcher. At the same time, it snagged the chain that was around the Abominable Butcher.

Once the chain left its body, the Power of Death on it was also removed. Full of dents and pits, the Abominable Butcher barely managed to keep itself upright without falling, but fighting was certainly out of the question.

Seeing the Abominable Butcher ending up in such a pathetic state, Sima Zhao’s face clearly showed discomfort, while Sima Jing maintained a smile, as if the loser was not a person from his own dojo.

Clap! Clap! Clap! …

As he applauded and walked toward Bai Qi, Sima Jing said, “Well deserving of being Bai Chuanqi’s disciple, each one of your pets is so well-bred. It’s our Zhonghu Dojo that has learned a lesson this time.”

“You are too kind, master.”

Bai Qi smiled, silently withdrawing Alpha who was holding the chain into himself.

This chain, with its ability to absorb the Power of Death, was very unusual by all means. He’d need to study it closely once he got back.

Bai Qi’s action was certainly not missed by Sima Zhao, who wanted to stop it immediately. But after seeing the inexplicable look in Sima Jing’s eyes, he bit his lip and reluctantly stepped back.

“Well, it’s getting late, I think we should call it a day with the dojo battle. What do you all think?”

Sensing that Sima Jing seemed to have no intention to continue challenging him, Wen Ruoshui stepped forward.

“Honorable masters, what do you think?”

Zhuge Xu looked at the three people—Cao, Sun, and Liu—beside him, none of whom had any objections.

The business of Wuhou Corporation was mainly tied up with their central region, so the three families represented were here for the dojo battle.

Now that Wuhou Dojo had proved its strength and shown enough value for cooperation, they naturally wouldn’t make trouble anymore.

As for the Sima family…

Everyone turned to look at Sima Jing. The Zhonghu Consortium was originally broken off from the Yanhuo Consortium and was established at about the same time as the Wuhou Corporation. Because the Zhonghu Consortium had established a relationship with the Western Region, its development was exceptionally rapid. It quickly reached a standing equal to these established corporations.

Because of this, the Zhonghu Consortium basically represented the views of the great families in the Western Region.

“Wuhou Dojo is full of talents. I fear that we, at Zhonghu Dojo, won’t be able to compare it in the future. Naturally, I have no objections,”

Sima Jing smiled, looked at Bai Qi, and said, “Our Sima family has always admired Mr. Bai Qi. If you don’t mind, you’re welcome to visit the Zhonghu Consortium whenever you’re free. I believe there will be something that interests you.”

“Thank you, but I’m still a student and can’t run around freely. So, no thanks,”

Bai Qi rejected Sima Jing’s invitation without hesitation. He felt somewhat uncomfortable about Sima Jing, so he didn’t want to have too much to do with him.

Furthermore, he was quite concerned about that chain that could absorb the Power of Death.

He had a feeling that the material of this chain was somewhat similar to the material of the Death Knight’s armor.

“Well, then, there’s nothing we can do about it,”

With a hint of regret, Sima Jing shook his head, then walked toward Zhuge Xu, and said, “Chairman Zhuge, would you mind having a chat? Our two families might be able to reach some cooperation.”

“No need, the development directions of Wuhou Corporation and Zhonghu Consortium differ, so we’ll pass on the cooperation,”

Zhuge Xu waved his hand, then turned to the three people on his side, and said, “Gentlemen, this way, please.”

“Please.”

The four left together, while Duanmeng came forward without delay, skillfully arranging accommodations and the upcoming itinerary for the dojos of the three families.

Although they came to challenge the dojo, they weren’t bad guests, so they certainly deserved to be well entertained.

As for the Zhonghu Consortium, they were beautifully ignored.

“Uh, Zhuge Chen, are you sure it’s alright to be so direct?”

Looking at the pitiful state of the Zhonghu Consortium, Bai Qi felt puzzled.

From his understanding, Zhuge Xu was a qualified, no, an excellent businessperson who wouldn’t make such a move purely out of personal emotion when facing profit. It was indeed a bit strange.

“Dad has some personal grudge against Sima Jing, um, a deep one. That’s why he’s acting like this. If it was someone else, he wouldn’t behave this way,”

“Personal grudge? How deep must this hatred be for Uncle Zhuge to act so aggressively?”

“Sima Jing once tried to steal my mom.”

“Ah… I see.”

Bai Qi responded with understanding, then, looking at the audience gradually dispersing around him, he said, “Is there anything else? If not, I think I should go back now.”

“Don’t be in a hurry. My dad just sent me a message, asking me to bring you to his office.”

Zhuge Chen shook his head and looked at Bai Qiucha. “Bai Qiucha, you should come along too.”

“No need, I can wander around by myself. I was planning to purchase some things for the Thundering Rat anyway.”

Bai Qiucha politely refused Zhuge Chen’s invitation. It was clear that Zhuge Xu had invited Bai Qi to discuss something important; he didn’t need to intervene. Besides, he really did want to take time to shop.

The Wuhou Mall didn’t just sell Spirit-Control Orbs and Rune Mechanical Armour cards, they had plenty of everyday training and lifestyle goods too.

“Alright then.”

Zhuge Chen nodded and then walked off towards the Elf House with Bai Qi. Once the others left, Sima Zhao’s expression twisted a bit. He walked up to Sima Jing and said, “Uncle, we’re just going to let it go like this?”

“What else is there to do? The things have been delivered, and the task is done.”

Sima Jing smiled faintly. “Those old guys in the West were very interested in Bai Qi. It’s their problem now, it has nothing to do with us.”

With that, Sima Jing turned to leave the dojo. After watching Bai Qi for a moment, Sima Zhao followed him with a thoughtful look on his face. “Uncle, where are we going next?”

“Let’s just walk around. It’s our rare day off, don’t waste it.”

…

Elf House.

With Zhuge Chen’s guidance, Bai Qi quickly found himself in front of Zhuge Xu’s office door. Upon opening the door, they were greeted by hearty laughter.

“It’s been a while! I thought it would be someone else picking a fight, but it turns out it’s the three of you. If I had known, I wouldn’t have arranged so much.”

“Lucky for us we got here first. Otherwise, if someone else had beat us to it, you wouldn’t have passed so easily.”

Zhuge Xu pretended to complain, while Cao Bin and the others dropped their previous formalities and chatted familiarly.

“Um, what’s going on here?”

Bai Qi walked in with a bewildered expression. When Zhuge Xu saw him, he warmly brought Bai Qi over to introduce him to the others. “Let me introduce again. These three are good friends from my youth. They are now the heads of their own dojos.”

“So, the dojo battle earlier was just an act?”

Bai Qi immediately understood and his face twitched as he glanced at Zhuge Chen. But Zhuge Chen was just as befuddled.

“Don’t look at Zhuge Chen. He doesn’t know the specifics either.”

Zhuge Xu explained, “I had suspected that these three would be the ones to show up, so I had some of Wuhou Corporation’s Beast Masters planted in the dojo. However, there were more changes than I expected, leading to the current situation.”

“Anyway, these three gave no quarter to you, Bai Qi.”

Zhuge Xu glanced at the trio with a hint of displeasure. “Fortunately, Bai Qi was reliable. If we had actually lost, and the Wuhou Dojo failed to open, you better believe there would have been hell to pay.”

Sun Tian feigned innocence and said, “It wasn’t my idea. Liu Bei was the first one to step into the ring, and he even sent out Guan Qing. If anything, blame him.”

Liu Bei gave a bitter smile and said, “Cao Bin was the one who told me to go up. What’s it got to do with me?”

Cao Bin: “I didn’t.”

These three were actually the headmasters? They didn’t seem very reliable…

Watching them passing the buck, Bai Qi’s expression grew even more peculiar.

Thankfully, Zhuge Xu remembered there was still business to be done. He cleared his throat to stop the commotion, then turned to Bai Qi. “Bai Qi, I called you here because there’s something I want to discuss with you.”

Zhuge Xu took out a document and handed it to Bai Qi. “Recently, the popularity of Rune Evolution and Armament Evolution has been growing. Although Professors Dong and Chu are doing their best to manage it, they’re clearly overwhelmed. So, I discussed with them a few days ago, and we decided to expand the two small Evolution Groups into a large research institute.”

“A large research institute?”

Bai Qi took the document, and curiously asked, “Isn’t it already quite large?”

Zhuge Xu and the others exchanged looks and couldn’t help but laugh. “If we’re only talking about Gusu City, then it is indeed quite large. But compared to the entire Federation, it’s still lacking.”

“Spirit-Control Orbs, Rune Mechanical Armor, Rune Evolution, Armament Evolution… these are gradually being popularized throughout the Federation. The research needed to support this is immense, and our current manpower is definitely insufficient.”

“I see.”

Bai Qi nodded, “In that case, let’s expand.”

“You truly have no clue about your current status.”

Zhuge Xu couldn’t help but laugh. “These things were all basically researched by you, and you’re the team leader for Rune Evolution and Armament Evolution. These decisions have to be confirmed by you.”

“Moreover, these three families want to participate in this research institute as well, so I have to ask for your opinion.”

“After all, you will be the dean of this institute.”

When Bai Qi heard Zhuge Xu’s words, he stared at him in disbelief.

“Me? The dean?”