When system cheat becomes rampant!

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In the nine elite schools, this year only Liangzhou University does not have an SSR. If we directly send five students in the late Qi-Controlling stage to compete, I'm afraid we'd be at the bottom!

"Our school has never been at the very top in these freshman exchange competitions, but we have never been at the very bottom either. Last year, we at least got fourth place. Among the nine elite universities, ranking fourth isn't too terrible. But this year..."

Ye Changfeng shook his head slightly.

The top three are considered high-level, ranking fourth is above average, not too far from the top, but in previous years, Liangzhou University always had SSR freshmen leading the team.

In every freshman exchange competition, the performance of the nine elite schools actually relies on SSR freshmen to carry the event. These SSRs are key to achieving good rankings. Therefore, the schools with more SSRs mean more Meridian Opening stage competitors in the contest, increasing the chances of victory!

But without SSRs, relying solely on a few SRs in the late Qi-Controlling stage is far from enough!

"This is also why every year the senior leaders of Liangzhou University go to great lengths to recruit SSRs. For the administrators, the school's reputation and visibility are very important because nurturing so many students also requires the support of resources from the alliance. High-quality students can give the school's leadership more say in the negotiations at the Jiuzhou Alliance meetings."

After all, Ye Changfeng served as an academic advisor at the Jiuzhou Alliance for a year and is very familiar with the system of the alliance.

Xiang Beifei has already understood this point clearly. Although he has not yet truly come into contact with the Jiuzhou Alliance, he can basically guess its management system.

"You must not underestimate SSRs, as SSRs coming out of our school generally go to work directly for the Jiuzhou Alliance, holding key positions in various departments of the Alliance. In this way, it's as if the nine universities are jointly manipulating the power distribution of the Jiuzhou Alliance. When faced with major events, the more SSR alumni a school has, the more benefits the school gets," explained Ye Changfeng patiently.

However, Elder Luo snorted lightly on the side and said, "A talent selection approach that only looks at high natural gifts and ignores capability will eventually doom the entire alliance. As long as one has a high talent, they can hold important positions without considering whether the person actually has the capacity to perform the duties. Even big mistakes are overlooked. Unworthy of one's position is the most taboo thing."

Many SSR and SR Awakeners are key targets of the Alliance's cultivation, but not all awakened systems of SSRs and SRs are positive and uplifting; many Awakeners' systems even rely on harming others to improve themselves.

For example, Hou Chengwu, who awakened the [SSR-level Shadow Saint] system, could actually improve his cultivation by binding the shadows of desolate beasts to aid himself.

But binding desolate beasts is too troublesome, so Hou Chengwu just went directly to binding the people around him.

Hou Chengwu's cultivation was entirely provided by others; he didn't need to cultivate himself and just waited for the shadow servants he had bound to contribute their cultivation to him.

If such a person were to climb to a high-level position, the consequences would be extremely terrifying.

Because if he controlled the power, he could bind the shadows of more talented individuals, binding whoever he wanted!

Hou Chengwu awakened such a system, and he could have selectively bound his targets, such as specifically binding desolate beasts or those who cause a negative impact on the Alliance, using his ability well.

But he didn't do this. As a proud SSR, upon awakening this system, he naturally came to believe that all lower-level Awakeners were born to serve him, a high-level SSR. Those at lower levels were his servants, and it was only natural for them to contribute their cultivation to him.

Even Xiang Beifei, whom he met for the first time and had no grudge against, was targeted by Hou Chengwu to rob him of his cultivation simply because the system identified Beifei's potential as very high.

Of course, that he kicked an iron plate is another matter.

——

The system of the Jiuzhou Alliance is just like that; it doesn't review whether the systems of SRs and SSRs are good or bad, it only looks at whether the other party is an SR or an SSR, whether their cultivation is high enough, and whether their potential is substantial.

In the eyes of the Jiuzhou Alliance, the higher one's strength and talent, the more appealing they become. After all, many lower-level Awakeners naturally feel a sense of awe towards higher-level Awakeners.

Moreover, as high-level Awakeners can quickly improve their cultivation, the Alliance believes that these SRs and SSRs can be useful in fighting the desolate beasts and protecting all civilians.

They never consider that a portion of Awakeners who rely solely on high talent to hold important positions can pose risks to ordinary people that are even greater than the threat of the desolate beasts!

Therefore, in Elder Luo's eyes, some arrogant SSRs and SRs with an inflated sense of their abilities are the parasites within Jiuzhou.

"People who select and employ others based only on their system rather than virtue, a lot of talented individuals with lower-level systems are unable to truly play their role and are forcibly marginalized. Just look at our own Beifei, how much worse can he be than those SRs?"

Elder Luo tapped Xiang Beifei, who was cracking sunflower seeds, and grumbled.

Xiang Beifei shrugged his shoulders, unconcerned.

One reason Elder Luo is so opposed to the Alliance's system is precisely this. If he wanted to, with his cultivation, he could easily become a senior figure in the Jiuzhou Alliance. As long as he operated according to the Alliance's rules, he would definitely secure a position.

But Elder Luo couldn't stand this kind of atmosphere; he disliked doing things against his conscience and preferred to retire and be a leisurely fisherman rather than going there to be aggrieved.

And Professor Guo has dedicated his life to defending Jiuzhou's frontier, unwilling to be promoted, only wishing to stay on the front lines, yet still has to be ordered around by ignorant SSRs!

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Ye Changfeng heard Elder Luo's grumbling and could only respond with helplessness, "Elder Luo, I know you are resolute in your actions, but not everyone can be like you, recklessly killing SSRs."

"Did I make a mistake in killing him?" Elder Luo asked.

"You didn't make a mistake, he was arrogant, didn't follow orders, failed to defend the fortress, allowing the tide of desolate beasts to invade and kill so many people; he deserved to die. But you should also know that there are many things beyond our control, the Alliance is not just us, there are also many conservatives," Ye Changfeng said.

Even though Elder Luo's strength was formidable, rivaling that of SSRs, no matter how strong he was personally, he couldn't stand alone against everyone in the Alliance.

Ye Changfeng always had to consider many aspects in his actions. His reason for becoming an academic advisor to the Alliance last year was actually to gain some say there. As an SR Awakener with strong abilities, he held a certain status within the Alliance.

Even if Ye Changfeng was powerless to change the status quo in the future, at least he could protect his own people. Elder Luo was too straightforward, and as his disciple, Ye Changfeng knew he needed to look after the old man.

Many people in the Alliance had grievances against Elder Luo, so at critical times, he would have to unsheathe his sword and control the situation.

"In any case, let's not talk about the situation with the Alliance for now, but if Liangzhou University ends up last this year, I'm afraid everyone will point their fingers at you, Elder," Ye Changfeng said helplessly.

"What does it have to do with me! Did I prevent those two SSRs from coming to our school or what?"

"Let me put it another way, the high-level leaders at Liangzhou University will be targeting Xiang Beifei," Ye Changfeng said.

Elder Luo's eyes widened with anger, "Who dares to touch a hair on my Little White Crane? I'll smack them dead!"

Xiang Beifei sat nearby, cracking sunflower seeds, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at Elder Luo.

It felt great being protected by a powerful mentor.

Ye Changfeng rubbed his temples with a headache. He knew Elder Luo was fearless in both heaven and earth, and would beat up anyone from the Alliance who caused him trouble, let alone people like Cao Pei who had no combat ability; so Elder Luo really wouldn't care about these petty matters.

After thinking it over, Ye Changfeng said, "Let me put it another way, Ren Jianghai of Qingzhou University, he will have an excuse to ridicule you right to your face again."

"Damn it!" Elder Luo slapped his thigh and turned to Xiang Beifei, "Now we're really in trouble! We can't let him get his way!"

Ren Jianghai was the Qingzhou University recruitment teacher who came with Hou Chengwu to ridicule Elder Luo that day. He had almost forgotten about that guy.

Ye Changfeng couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

Ren Jianghai may not be able to defeat Elder Luo, but his students have beaten Liangzhou University's students for several consecutive years, and then Ren Jianghai would taunt Elder Luo with veiled mockery.

This was no longer a matter of a strength gap between Elder Luo and Ren Jianghai, but a reflection of their respective teaching abilities.

Elder Luo was straightforward, but he wasn't unreasonable; if students from his own university were defeated, that was a fact. Even if he were to beat up Ren Jianghai, it wouldn't change that fact.

For Elder Luo, he didn't care about the challenges from Jiuzhou, and he would blatantly disregard the face of Liangzhou University's leaders—fight anyone who came to fight.

But what he valued most was nurturing excellent successors!

Because excellent successors are the future of Jiuzhou!

He wouldn't care about the systemic talents of the younger generation, only their potential and character, and he would dedicate himself to nurturing those he favored.

However, if the disciples he taught with this philosophy couldn't overpower those high-system students and prove that his disciples were superior, it would indirectly confirm that the Alliance's "system-centric" approach was correct!

So when Ye Changfeng mentioned this point, Elder Luo had no choice but to care.

"Beifei, you must maintain a calm mindset. It's okay that we are currently of lower cultivation than those SSRs, but you must have confidence in yourself. Soon enough, we'll surely catch up," Elder Luo said earnestly.

No matter how powerful he was, there would come a time when he would grow old, and the future belonged to the young. If his successors were not self-reliant, he himself would feel uneasy no matter how strong he was.

Therefore, every time Ren Jianghai taunted him, he could only curse in anger and clench his teeth, without any way to counter.

Now with Xiang Beifei, whether it was temperament, character, or potential, Elder Luo saw eye to eye with him. As for systemic talent, when he first met Xiang Beifei, he didn't care that Beifei was only an N-level Awakener and still taught him.

In Elder Luo's eyes, Xiang Beifei was a benchmark for the contemporary youth, and he placed great hopes in him.