Chapter 66: Academy Internal Investigation, The Fallen Heart Flame Riot Again

High in the air, among the figures speeding over, Elder Su led the group, accompanied by President Hu Gan, Elder Lin, and two other elders.

Before they even got close, Elder Su felt the terrifying high temperature in that area and said, "A Heavenly Flame truly lives up to its reputation as a wondrous flame of heaven and earth. Such might is enough to make even this old man wary."

"I wonder what rank the Heavenly Flame in Hun Cang's possession holds? It is said that the top three Heavenly Flames have already given birth to intelligence, and their might is such that even Dou Shengs must retreat three paces." Elder Lin shook his head slightly, a look of gratification welling up in his eyes.

To have such a display—what a pity indeed that he is not this old man's disciple.

However, this is my opportunity now.

The group landed.

Hu Gan was just about to speak when his peripheral vision caught sight of a figure rushing over.

"President, you're finally here! He—he just killed dozens of inner courtyard students! If you had arrived even a step later, I might have been killed by him." Yang Fan wept profusely, his tone miserable and full of grievance.

He raised a hand to wipe away his tears, casting a vicious glance at Hun Cang.

However, President Hu Gan and the others maintained their usual expressions, completely unfazed by Yang Fan's words.

This reaction caused Yang Fan's heart to skip a beat.

"Hun Cang, why did you attack the inner courtyard students?" Elder Su asked.

Before Hun Cang could speak, Xiao Yu and the others chimed in first, accusing Luo Ling of several crimes.

Immediately following that, among the onlookers, several students stepped forward one after another, loudly denouncing certain individuals who abused their connections with the inner courtyard to act tyrannically.

For a moment, the scene descended into extreme chaos.

"Quiet! What are you all making a fuss about? Did the elders speak to you? What we need to deal with right now is Hun Cang brutally slaughtering his fellow disciples. Your trivial matters can wait until later." Yang Fan, still bearing tear tracks on his face, shouted to stop the surrounding crowd.

Seeing an instructor speak out, many students gradually quieted down.

Yang Fan arched his eyebrows with a hint of smugness, eager to claim credit before the elders.

Yet Hu Gan's voice rang out in his ears: "It's fine. I never expected that the outer courtyard under my administration had accumulated so many grievances. Speak freely, I am listening to every word."

Yang Fan's face turned pale at a visible rate.

The surrounding students were stunned for a moment before realizing: was the academy finally going to step in and manage things?

All at once, countless people surged toward President Hu Gan.

Meanwhile, Elder Su, Elder Lin, and the others stepped onto the arena stage, standing opposite Hun Cang.

At this moment, Xiao Yu, Xiao Ning, and the others, as well as Lin Fang, were all present.

"Elder Su, Elder Lin, today's incident cannot be blamed entirely on Hun Cang; I bear responsibility as well." Unexpectedly, Lin Fang was the first to speak.

He took a deep breath, looking somewhat nervous.

Xiao Yu said, "Greetings, Elder Su. Greetings, Elder Lin. Greetings, all elders. Please do not blame Cang—Hun Cang. It was Luo Ling who kept targeting us simply because his older brother, Luo Fei, is in the inner courtyard. He even threatened multiple times to... to..."

"Respected elders, that Luo Ling is no human; he's simply a beast! If you don't believe me, I can bring many witnesses over right now. Ever since I entered Canaan Academy less than a year ago, he has led people to beat me up countless times," Xiao Ning said with indignation.

The group talked over one another, giving Hun Cang no opportunity to speak at all.

A trace of astonishment flashed across the eyes of Elder Su and the others. They hadn't expected someone who seemed utterly single-minded about cultivation to actually make friends.

Elder Lin said in a deep voice, "Why didn't you go to your instructors about these matters?"

"Instructors? Do you think that would be useful? Those instructors had long ago struck deals with certain people in the inner courtyard. They help take care of the outer courtyard people, and later when their students participate in the inner courtyard trials, the inner courtyard people return the favor by letting them pass. Under such conditions, Elder, do you think going to the instructors would be of any use?" Xiao Ning questioned harshly.

"There is such a thing?" Elder Lin was stunned. He rarely paid attention to outer courtyard advancements; even his participation in the last assessment was solely due to his connection with Hun Cang.

Xiao Ning nodded heavily. "There is, and there is even an instructor present right now—it's him, Yang Fan! He colluded with Luo Fei and even threatened female students, forcing them to agree to Luo Fei's demands under the threat of being disqualified from participating in the trials."

"Bastard! Don't you slander me!" Yang Fan, who had been paying close attention, panicked completely upon hearing Xiao Ning's words. "Elders, please listen to my explanation. I would never do such a thing."

Yet as soon as his voice fell, many students in the crowd began shouting in condemnation.

Elder Su waved his hand, and one of the accompanying elders grabbed Yang Fan and dragged him forward.

Facing Yang Fan's gaze, that elder cracked a chilling smile. "Rest assured, Canaan Academy has always been the most impartial of academies. We will not wrong a single innocent person, but neither will we spare anyone who undermines the academy's rules."

With those words, Yang Fan went limp like a dead dog; if the elder hadn't been lifting him by the collar, he likely would have collapsed completely.

"Hun Cang..." Elder Su shifted his gaze and was about to speak when he suddenly turned around. Elder Lin and the other elders did the same.

Sensing something, Hun Cang looked in the direction of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower as powerful fire-attribute fluctuations surged over.

"Not good! The Fallen Heart Flame has gone berserk again!" Elder Lin reacted, crying out in shock.

Elder Su's expression turned grave. Putting the matter of Hun Cang aside for the moment, his figure shot forward like a cannonball, with Elder Lin closely following behind, rapidly heading toward the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

The Qi Refining Tower not only suppressed the Fallen Heart Flame but also served as a place for students to cultivate.

If it wasn't pacified as quickly as possible, some students might get hurt.

...

Over at the outer courtyard, Hu Gan summoned the instructors to carefully tally the students' grievances.

Hun Cang temporarily returned to reside in the area assigned to the Xiao family.

Initially, Xiao Yu suggested that Hun Cang take advantage of the elders' preoccupation to leave quickly, but Hun Cang directly rejected the idea.

He hadn't gotten his hands on the Fallen Heart Flame yet; if he left now, wouldn't his time here have been wasted in vain?

Instead, Hun Cang reassured them that nobody would target them anymore from now on. If anyone truly tried, they were to notify him immediately.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ning returned from gathering information with a broad smile on his face.

It turned out that after the academy had existed for so long, the president and elders were already well aware of the darkness hidden beneath the academy's glamorous facade.

They had been planning how to deal with it so they could sweep those individuals out in one fell swoop.

Hun Cang's actions this time had happened to play right into their hands.

According to what Xiao Ning found out, over fifty percent of the instructors in the outer courtyard had been punished, nearly thirty percent of the students had been expelled, and even within the inner courtyard, many students had been assigned grueling tasks, while a few elders had received severe reprimands.

"Whenever I walk outside now, many fellow students say they want to thank Lord Cang King, because it was he who restored the academy to its original, pure atmosphere centered purely around cultivation," Xiao Ning said with a smile.

Hun Cang chuckled, paying it no mind, and subsequently returned to the inner courtyard.

Along the way, he ran into Lin Fang.

Because of his involvement this time, he had been promoted by the academy elders to oversee the situation of the inner courtyard students and ensure that people like Luo Fei would never appear again.

"Hun Cang, I've taken advantage of you once more." Lin Fang smiled sheepishly.

Hun Cang laughed. "I hear that some people easily go bad once they get power in their hands. Watch yourself, kid—if I find out you've turned rotten, I won't hold back when I make my move."

After chatting briefly, Hun Cang returned to his dwelling. Seeing a figure standing at the doorway, he paused for a moment before breaking into a wry smile.