Chapter 41 Is That All You Saw?

Since entering the martial arts academy and joining this class, Fu Chengyun had been constantly thinking of ways to get on the good side of Mo Gangyun. He hoped that in the future, either for himself or for his family, they could establish a mutual assistance alliance with the Mo family, riding their coattails to achieve great success and prosperity.

Even if they were just ordinary acquaintances, having some kind of connection would be enough.

However, Mo Gangyun showed no reaction whatsoever to all the efforts he made.

Yet, Mo Gangyun was so close to Fang Che—a guy who took advantage of him every single day, merely a relative by marriage of a ninth-rank noble family—and even treated him to meals constantly!

Look at me for once!

A relative by marriage of a ninth-rank noble family, no matter how talented he is, what kind of future development could he possibly have? What practical value does he offer?

Finally, on this very morning... Fu Chengyun could no longer hold it in.

Li Changkong announced the end of the class.

Mo Gangyun stood up.

He stomped his foot and instinctively took a step back.

His towering and robust figure rose, and his two long legs, thick as pillars, stood like sky-supporting columns.

Coincidentally, the student sitting right behind him was the shortest in the entire class. As this student stood up at that exact moment, his eyes happened to gaze directly at Mo Gangyun's crotch.

It was at point-blank range.

The fellow blinked, focused his eyes, and silently sat back down.

A head full of black lines.

Could you please not take a step backward when you stand up, dammit?

Your butt was pressing right against my mouth, for fuck's sake!

Do you believe that if I opened my mouth, I could punch an extra hole in your backside?

Mo Gangyun's hearty voice boomed with the familiarity of a rumbling thunder as always: "Boss Fang, let's go, my treat!"

Fang Che replied, "You got it."

With that, he stood up, and the two of them walked side by side toward the exit, chatting and laughing.

Li Changkong watched their retreating figures, a faint trace of a smile in his eyes.

He slowly packed up his belongings while mentally reviewing various aspects of his recent teaching—his explanations, corrections, theoretical points, and physical demonstrations—along with the reactions of every single student to what he had taught.

Immediately, he formulated teaching methods in his mind tailored to students with different reactions, preparing to address these points in the next lesson.

This was a habit he had maintained for hundreds of years.

Educating people was not just completing a task.

This was not merely his job; it was the career to which he had dedicated his entire life. On this point, Li Changkong had always been crystal clear.

Just as Fang Che and Mo Gangyun were about to step out the door...

A cold, mocking voice rang out: "Treating someone to meals every day, and getting treated every single meal; one is an absolute fool who doesn't care about points, while the other is dark-hearted and thick-skinned, completely shameless—truly a match made in heaven."

The sarcasm and sourness in that voice, let alone hearing it, could practically be smelled lingering in the air.

It was none of other than Fu Chengyun.

Mo Gangyun and Fang Che paused their steps at the doorway and turned their heads simultaneously.

"What are you looking at?"

Fu Chengyun raised his chin and said aggressively, "Am I wrong?"

Quite a few of the other students also nodded silently. However, most of them wore expressions of disdain.

One person was willing to treat, and the other was willing to be treated—what the hell business is it of yours?

Besides, whether someone was suffering a loss or taking advantage was a matter of perspective.

Mo Gangyun's martial arts future was exceptionally brilliant. Although he appeared somewhat simple-minded when facing Fang Che, he was shrewd beyond measure when dealing with anyone else.

Who could truly know Mo Gangyun's intentions? Could a direct descendant of a super family really be that stupid? At least the vast majority of students sitting in this classroom refused to believe that.

As students who had stepped onto the path of martial arts and cultivated themselves enough to be admitted into the Cloud Martial Academy, there were genuinely no idiots among them.

At the very least, that kind of "arrogance of the poor" did not exist here.

How could a decade of bitter hardship and hard work in isolation compare to three generations of accumulated heritage?

Let alone a family with a legacy spanning tens of millions of years?

The so-called arrogance of thinking, "As long as I work hard and try my best enough, I can trample noble scions and martial arts second-generation heirs under my feet," simply did not exist.

When it came to natural talent, those who could pass the exams to enter the martial academy were never too far behind.

As for the descendants of these multi-millennial noble families, the wives chosen by the previous generations were meticulously selected from millions of elites. The children born from such strong unions—how much worse could their innate talent possibly be compared to ordinary people's children?

While you spent a decade studying hard and practicing diligently in solitary hardship, did you really think those people were just wasting their time waiting for you to surpass them? Weren't they working hard too?

Furthermore, you could never know what kind of resources they had access to.

Once you left the relatively fair platform of the martial academy, perhaps all the cultivation resources you painstakingly earned through a whole year of exhausting labor wouldn't even grant you an increase in strength that could match the bowl of soup they drank every single morning.

Therefore, thoughts tinged with sour jealousy like Fu Chengyun's did exist, but no one ever voiced them aloud.

Because once expressed, one might lose a platform that could provide leverage in future life.

So now, when Fu Chengyun stood up to make sarcastic remarks, even those who felt a similar sentiment in their hearts could only nod silently to themselves, with not a single person showing it on their faces.

However, the looks of onlookers watching the drama unfold were exceptionally bright.

Even filled with anticipation.

Wow, a fight is about to break out, it's about to break out...

Yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, Mo Gangyun did not fly into a rage.

As for Fang Che, he simply looked at Fu Chengyun with a calm expression and gaze, as if looking at empty air. Then, with a gentle smile on his face, he stood right beside Mo Gangyun without showing the slightest sign of being bothered.

Mo Gangyun looked at Fu Chengyun with a gaze that had turned tranquil to the extreme, and asked in a flat tone, "Are you finished?"

Seeing Mo Gangyun's calmness, Fu Chengyun felt a surge of anger rush straight to his head. Raising his voice slightly, he said, "I just find it strange. As a scion of a noble family, Fang Che takes advantage of you every single day, yet you don't feel it at all? I am standing up against this injustice for you!"

Mo Gangyun nodded and said politely, "Thank you."

With that, he turned around as if to leave.

"Aren't you going to say something? Or at least have some reaction?"

Fu Chengyun grew somewhat angry.

Because he could clearly sense that both Mo Gangyun and Fang Che had completely disregarded his words, not even bothering to listen to them.

As a genius, he had always been proud and aloof; when had he ever been ignored like this?

"Say something? Do something?"

Mo Gangyun looked at him strangely.

He asked, "Why should I?"

This question left Fu Chengyun stumped for words.

I am trying to clear the fog for you so you can see Fang Che's true face—why are you reacting this way?

Shouldn't you be thanking me, then recognizing my sincerity, and subsequently waking up to the truth to become close friends with me, forging a bond of brotherhood where we share life and death? Isn't that how it's supposed to go?

Mo Gangyun gave a faint, calm smile. "Do you think I should immediately realize how foolish I am? Step out of the fog, thank you for stepping forward to speak the truth, and from then on become sworn brothers with you, talking about everything without reservation, becoming brothers of life-and-death in our future lives? Is that what you consider reasonable?"

Fu Chengyun froze.

This was precisely the most wonderful fantasy in his heart.

The exact scenario he had hoped to see.

But why would Mo Gangyun say something like that?

"Don't provoke me."

Mo Gangyun chuckled, reached out to pat Fu Chengyun's shoulder, and said in a low yet clear voice, loud enough for the entire class to hear: "Your family cannot afford to provoke the Mo family."

He turned around, draped his arm over Fang Che's shoulder, and walked out. His voice drifted back from afar as Mo Gangyun asked, "What do you want to eat today?"

Fang Che's voice replied: "Today I want to eat something good, because my reputation has been ruined because of you, and I feel very wronged."

Mo Gangyun's voice: "Then let's eat well, the very best! Don't worry, we have plenty of academic points!"

Fang Che let out a humph.

Their voices gradually faded into the distance.

Mo Gangyun had offered no explanations, no defenses, and no outbursts of anger; he had simply walked away just like that.

Many students wore strange expressions.

Because they had heard that when Fang Che said "I feel very wronged," Mo Gangyun's reaction had even seemed a bit nervous. He immediately promised a lavish feast, while Fang Che still seemed somewhat reluctant to let the matter go, though he restrained himself.

Fu Chengyun stood frozen in place, feeling as though he had been left utterly disheveled in the wind.

Instead of waking Mo Gangyun up, he had completely offended him instead!

The entire classroom fell into absolute silence.

Li Changkong also stopped packing his things, pulling back his wandering thoughts.

Frowning, he walked up to Fu Chengyun with his hands behind his back, looked at the third-ranking genius in his class, and slowly asked, "Are you feeling puzzled as to why you failed to awaken Mo Gangyun?"

Fu Chengyun lowered his head and replied in a low, unwilling voice, "Yes."

"Are you also feeling puzzled as to why Mo Gangyun didn't defend himself or explain anything at all?"

Li Changkong asked once more.

"Yes."

Fu Chengyun admitted as much.

Li Changkong sighed softly and said in a gentle voice, "Why does Mo Gangyun treat Fang Che to meals every single day? Do you know?"

Fu Chengyun raised his head, a blank expression on his face.

A trace of a sigh flashed deep within Li Changkong's eyes.

He said softly, "Did your eyes really only see Fang Che taking advantage of Mo Gangyun every day?"

"Isn't that the case?"

Fu Chengyun asked, bewildered.

Li Changkong smiled faintly and said, "Go get your lunch."

With that, he turned and walked away.

During this period, Li Changkong and the other three instructors had all witnessed how much advantage Mo Gangyun had gained by following Fang Che.

However, they could not speak of it.

Because those benefits were all taken from Fang Che.

Fang Che's private property!

Since Fang Che had not stated that these teachings could be popularized, Li Changkong and the others were not at liberty to reveal them.

The few questions he had posed to Fu Chengyun today were, in reality, already a form of hint. If someone possessed deep contemplation, keen observation, and could learn from it moving forward, then those few words would have served their purpose.

But for Li Changkong to spell it out any more clearly was something he simply could not do.

Everyone had their own fortuitous encounters; this might be man-made, or perhaps arranged by heaven.

All of Fang Che's actions constituted an opportunity for every student.

Mo Gangyun had seized it. This was Mo Gangyun's good fortune.

As for the others, the opportunity was right before your eyes. Your chances were completely equal to Mo Gangyun's and everyone else's, but you were blind and couldn't see it.

Could you expect someone to remind you: Hey, there is a mountain of gold right in front of you.

That was simply impossible.

Fang Che was not hiding it from anyone, yet he wasn't spelling it out explicitly either; thus, Fang Che had his own considerations—perhaps to cultivate his own core team, or perhaps he had plans for the future.

But those things, apart from Mo Gangyun, were already destined to have nothing to do with anyone else in this class.

How could Li Changkong possibly meddle in such affairs? If he uttered one extra sentence, while many students here might indeed benefit, the price would be destroying the internal cohesion of a circle of geniuses.

Perhaps on some future day, that single sentence of his could cause two great geniuses like Fang Che and Mo Gangyun, who were caught in a crisis, to fall.

What if someone with a mindset like Fu Chengyun's were to infiltrate the team?

Such consequences were burdens Li Changkong could not bear. Just as he had stated on the very first day, I am merely an instructor.

Not a master.

Li Changkong was very clear on this.

Mo Gangyun only appeared simple-minded on the surface, with a rustic appearance; yet his true simplicity of character was something he only ever displayed to a very, very few people.

Such as toward Fang Che.

In reality, Mo Gangyun's cleverness and sensitivity to martial arts surpassed anyone's imagination.

That was why he cherished this connection, and why he didn't offer a single word of defense when Fu Chengyun spoke to him that way.

Because he did not want to share this fortuitous opportunity with others.

Was he supposed to argue back: "What the hell do you know? Do you have any idea how much benefit I've gained from Fang Che? Do you know how useful everything he taught me is?"

If he had said that, Mo Gangyun truly would have been a fool.

Strong individuals shared a common characteristic: they learned from those who were even stronger. Toward existences superior to themselves, they harbored no jealousy or competitive envy—only the desire to learn.

Weak individuals also shared a common characteristic: resentment.

Seeing any existence stronger than themselves, they wished to drag that person down so they could be as impoverished as themselves.

Moreover, they harbored a bizarre sense of superiority: No matter how awesome you are, won't you still die when your lifespan runs out just like me?

In truth, within any school or group, there would always be individuals destined to become exceptionally formidable in the future. At the very least, they would achieve greatness within a small sphere.

It all depended on whether those around them could discover this and integrate themselves into it. Whether through sincerity, wealth, family background, resources, or connections... they had to find a way to merge in and board the train toward a bright future together.

Yet most people simply could not see it.

As Li Changkong walked out of the classroom, a sigh echoed in his heart.

But he understood even better why there were so few people in the world like Xue Fuxiao or Duan Xiyang.

It was precisely because of this.

And regarding this point, no one could interfere.

This was fate!

Mindset and vision determine destiny.

It is so for everyone.

...

Worth mentioning is that Fang Qingyun's assessment results were finally out.