Li Suya naturally caught all of this as she said: "Let's go then, come with me so it'll be good when Li Longjian arrives."
Xuan Mu hesitated. The Young Overlord was the very man his father had offended, the one who dragged their clan into ruin. He didn't know what to do.
The students who previously mocked Xuan Mu gloated at this scene. One curried to Li Suya, eager to curry favor and impress his crush: "Sister Li Suya is the golden daughter of the Li Clan, the pride of all the heavens. A piece of trash like you has the greatest honor of speaking to her. Yet you reciprocate her by standing like a fool. What are you waiting for? Hurry and follow her before you waste even more of her precious time!"
"No need." Suddenly, a teacher reached out with his hand and interrupted the student.
His suit was sharp, a golden emblem on his lapel, clean, modern, unmistakable. The academy's mark, a symbol of prestige and power.
"Teacher…" An atmosphere of dread loomed over the crowd.
After the revelation, those who mocked the academy earlier lowered their heads and didn't want the teacher to remember their face. Most were ready to run already but couldn't until the teacher said something.
The student at the front had it the worst. His face turned pale as he tumbled backwards. He was one of the first to mock the academy earlier, claiming that the institution had lowered its standards to allow an insignificant ant to step into its halls. He desperately covered his face.
Remember, all teachers at the academy were extraordinary individuals. Even the weakest ones were still powerful enough to qualify for the position.
To even qualify for the position, the minimum requirement was the ability to build and run your own corporation, something that demanded immense power and influence.
The Young Overlord was the prime example. This was the reason why he commanded respect and fear whenever his name was mentioned. He was indeed capable and powerful enough. After all, even as a student, his status and talent were on par with those of a teacher.
In Earth, Huanglong Academy was the cradle of supremacy. There were five Behemoths, five colossal corporate empires ruling the mightiest nations. But only one Huanglong Academy.
This speaks great volume of being a teacher. Each one had the power to expel a student.
Ultimately, the student body included geniuses from great corporate powers, even successors of the Behemoths. If the academy didn't have absolute authority and anyone could just challenge it, then there was no point for its existence.
However, relying on one's background to bully a teacher was absolutely taboo.
So now, when Li Suya and the groups were surrounding a teacher from the academy, this became quite a big deal.
The teacher didn't really care for these paled students and said flatly: "Anyone else got something to say?"
These students didn't dare to respond and continued to hide their face, hoping that the teacher didn't know them well enough to name them later on.
"And you?" The teacher's eyes fell into Li Suya now.
Li Suya was in a better spot than the others. Not only she didn't mock the academy, she also had a good background. Even in the case of expulsion, she could still learn and train later in other places, or even at her home. Li Industries was one of the Five Behemoths, after all.
"Hmmp!" She wasn't ready to let this go but couldn't also challenge the teacher directly so she chose to leave. She will come back anyway when the teacher wasn't around.
The students had no response. This was normal for teacher to act like this. Even if Li Suya is the daughter of the prestigious Li Industries, she still couldn't act tough in front of a teacher.
"Alright, no need to worry about this, it's in the past now. Go off and do whatever you want to do." The teacher clapped his hands and told the crowd.
The students dispersed immediately after hearing this.
"T-Thank you, Teacher..." Xuan Mu heaved a sigh of relief. He had entered this school knowing full well he couldn't rely to anyone, so a teacher saving him was unexpected. Xuan Mu was filled with a mix of gratitude and awe. One word from a teacher is enough to silence the crowd.
The teacher fixed a deep gaze at this young man.
His uniform was borrowed from someone else, wrinkled at the sleeves, threads falling apart at the cuffs. His shoes were cramped and rigid like prison scraps, coated in that fake shine only a bootlicker would bother polishing. The belt around his waist drooped pitifully, but that didn't matter to the teacher. In fact, the teacher gazed upon him with interest, as if he was looking at a treasure trove.
Xuan Mu suddenly felt as though his very soul had been bared, each flaw and weakness laid bare before the teacher's penetrating gaze. A searing pain ripped through his chest, as if his heart itself was being crushed. Trembling, he staggered back, struggling to breathe.
"Wh-what... is this?" he gasped, barely able to form the words.
"If you want answers, come to the Foundation classroom." The teacher smiled, leaving as swiftly as he had come.
Xuan Mu trembled violently, clutching his heart as cold sweat stuck to his skin, his legs almost giving way. This searing pain did not come from the flesh, but from the very core of his soul, leaving him breathless and gasping in its wake.
After what felt like an eternity, he managed to force himself to stand upright and staggered towards his classroom.
It was not as if the other students failed to notice Xuan Mu's strange behavior following his brief exchange with the teacher. If anything, it was already a stroke of fortune no one openly ridiculed him, let alone helping him.
They merely dismissed it as a fleeting bout of anxiety or a passing affliction of the body, nothing worth remembering. After all, Huanglong Academy accepted any students so long as one possessed the qualifications to pass the requirements, even a half-dead cripple could be admitted without question. Of course, if one's purse was deep enough, then even the dullest fool under heaven could find himself seated among the so-called elites.
Despite not understanding the situation he was in, Xuan Mu made his way toward the Foundation Section. According to the academy's rules, each student was to report to their assigned class upon arrival, yet the Foundation Section held only a single classroom. And that was because, since the founding of Huanglong Academy, no person had ever achieved perfect scores in every subject, except the founder of Huanglong Academy. That is, until Xuan Mu arrived. Having only one classroom made it easy for him to find his way.
As Xuan Mu made his way forward, the academy became lively again with renowned students coming back. The great heirs of corporate empires were coming as well. Their arrivals caused quite a stir. While the rumor of the Young Overlord's arrival had been confirmed, another whisper spread like wildfire.
The successors of the other Behemoths, those titanic figures who ruled the very foundations of Earth, would also make their appearance.