Dawnless Sovereign

The banquet was a very joyful affair.

Merit points were very important in the academy, so a free meal was always a cause for joy, not to mention the invaluable lesson that they had learned from Li Changkong.

Near the conclusion of the banquet, Fang Che rose to his feet to raise a toast.

His face was already bright red from inebriation, and he was standing behind Ding Jieran as he raised his cup and said, "As all of you are aware, I'm a man of few words, and I've always done my best to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble in the academy. I don't know what to say on an occasion like this, but I'm very happy today. Cheers, everyone!"

With that, Fang Che downed his cup of wine in one go.

Everyone fell silent as they turned to stare at him with stunned expressions.

A man of few words? Someone who keeps a low profile and stays out of trouble? Is this Fang Che from an alternate timeline?!

The four instructors of the eleventh class were particularly flabbergasted.

Following the conclusion of the banquet, the eight instructors were the first to depart.

Fang Che slung an arm across Fang Qingyun's shoulders and asked, "The girl sitting two spots to your right is called Wan Zhimei, right?"

"The one in red?" Fang Qingyun asked.

"That's right."

"Yep, that's Wan Zhimei. Are you interested in her?"

"Not exactly interested, just intrigued. Don't worry about it."

"Hold on a second!" Fang Qingyun hurriedly said. "I suggest you stay away from her. She's... a bit of a schemer."

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in her like that," Fang Che reassured, then whispered into Fang Qingyun's ear, "Send a letter home and tell your father to submit our annual quota of missions for the Hall of Protectionists early, then get everyone to stay home through the winter.

“Invite some people from the Hall of Protectionists over for a drink once every few days or so. Don't go out to drink, just invite them to drink at home."

"Why?" Fang Qingyun asked in a befuddled manner.

"Just trust me on this one! I've made quite a few enemies of late, so it's always better to be safe than sorry."

A look of enlightenment instantly appeared in Fang Qingyun's eyes. "Alright, I'll do as you say."

"Do you need me to write the letter for you?"

"Nah, I can handle it," Fang Qingyun replied with a smile.

"Alright, I'll be going then."

With that, Fang Che departed.

Ding Jieran had already left without a word, and no one had even noticed him slip away.

Fang Qingyun stood on his own for a while in deep thought.

He was quickly joined by around a dozen of his friends, and they began taking a stroll through the academy, unwilling to part ways just yet.

"Should we go take a seat at the pergola over there?"

"Sure."

Everyone began chatting after taking a seat, while Fang Qingyun listened with a smile, knowing what was about to come next.

Sure enough, the girls quickly moved the subject of the conversation to Fang Che.

Liu Xueyun and Wang Bingbing were the primary instigators.

"Qingyun, your cousin really has grown up to be a fine young man! What was he like as a kid?Was he an obedient child?"

"Yeah, he's always been a good kid," Fang Qingyun lied, not wanting to expose Fang Che. "Aren't all of you really interested in him? How come none of you have made a move on him yet?"

The dozen or so female students present entered a collective state of dejection at this question.

"Of course we wanted to make a move!" Liu Xueyun sighed. "A man like Fang Che needs to be bundled up and taken home ASAP! The problem is that his future clearly lies beyond things like romantic relationships. On top of that, if he cross-dresses, he'll be even prettier than all of us, and that's really deflating. All of us feel like we're unworthy of him. We paid a visit at his manor last time, and even that maidservant of his put us to shame..."

The girls heaved a collective sigh here.

"Even though Fang Che has been really pleasant to all of us, we know that he only puts up with us because of you. If we weren't your friend, he most likely wouldn't even spare us a glance."

Fang Qingyun also heaved a faint sigh upon hearing this.

It was just like how some men shied away from women who were too outstanding. It wasn't that they didn't want to pursue her, they simply knew that they were unworthy.

Generally speaking, the only ones who would pursue those people were ones who thought very highly of themselves or came from affluent and powerful backgrounds.

"One thing we've come to realize with Fang Che is that outside of a very select group of people, he treats everyone else the same, regardless of gender. It's really only you, Mo Ganyun, and Ding Jieran. Aside from the three of you, he doesn't really make any effort to be close with anyone else, not even prodigies like Qiu Yunshang, Xie Gongping, and Jing Shuanggao.

“Of course, Huo Churan is also an exception to the norm, but on the other end of the scale. What happened to Huo Churan made us even more convinced that going after Fang Che is not a good idea. On the surface, he seems like a gentleman, but that's only when no one crosses him. For those who wrong him, he's extremely ruthless, merciless, and relentless.

“He's the exact kind of person that all of the seniors of our clans warn us against getting too close to! On top of that, he's clearly a man who knows what he wants and has higher objectives. There are so many beautiful women in our academy, but he treats them the same way that he treats us. Through our observations, we've determined that he's not interested in romance at all."

"Really?" Fang Qingyun asked.

"Yes!"

"What do you think, Wan Zhimei?" Fang Qingyun asked.

"Perhaps," Wan Zhimei replied with a smile.

Even now, she was still feeling a little unsettled.

Fang Che had mentioned fighting against the demonic churches three times during the banquet, and that made her rather uncomfortable as her clan was a subsidiary clan to the One Heart Church!

Hence, in her eyes, Fang Che's words were nothing short of blasphemy!

Fang Qingyun's heart sank ever so slightly at the sight of Wan Zhimei's reaction.

He had to warn Fang Che against trying to pursue her.

As far as Fang Qingyun was aware, there were already four or five men pursuing her, and who knew how many more she was entangled with?

***

Fang Che fell into deep thought after returning home.

Ding Jieran's reaction had been rather strange. It was almost as if he were ashamed of his affiliation with the Night Demon Church.

As for Wan Zhimei, she had noticeably tensed up at his remarks against the demonic churches, despite her best efforts to hide her reaction.

Why is she the only one that reacted that way? Was that a sore spot for her?

Back when they first met, Fang Che had been struck by the impression that she didn't fit in with the rest of her social circle. In any case, there was no point in thinking about her now, so he quickly cast that train of thought aside.

The recent circumstances necessitated a complete overhaul of his original plans.

He could no longer use his status as captain to gather all of the other One Heart Church members in the academy, nor would he be able to go out on missions anytime soon.

Furthermore, it seemed next to impossible for him to track down a suitable vessel for the Golden Horn Flood Dragon spirit body, so all three of his plans had been thwarted.

In light of that, there weren't many things left that he could do.

He still had to fan the flames further when it came to Huo Churan. Ideally, he would goad Huo Churan into drawing upon the Three Saints Church's power. That way, the One Heart Church would be forced to protect him, and he would be able to pit the two churches against each other.

Furthemore, the Divine Heavenly Church was surely also going to be making a move soon, so perhaps even a three-way battle between the churches would be possible to orchestrate!

After killing the people sent to kill him, he would be able to submit their heads for missions. He wasn't actively hunting them, so surely he couldn't be punished for completing missions beyond his grade.

However, more planning was required if he wanted to pull it off.

He then thought of Wan Zhimei again, then Ye Meng's cultivation.

He also had to find out the identity of the One Heart Church undercover agent among the academy's higher-ups, as well as source a suitable cultivation art for spirit bodies.

After all, the Golden Horn Flood Dragon couldn't just be allowed to cultivate haphazardly on its own.

It was only late into the night that Fang Che had devised a clear, new plan for himself, meticulously mapping out every single step of the plan.

His goal was to chip away at the demonic churches without exposing himself, while simultaneously ensuring that he continued to climb up the ranks in both the One Heart Church and the Guardians.

The higher he climbed, the better.

Academy merit points that were earned by killing demonic church members or wanted fugitives were special in that they remained in one's file even after they were spent.

Upon graduation, those merit points would be taken into account by one's future workplace when determining their official post.

At the moment, Fang Che only had a paltry twenty-six of these special merit points.

Among the students of the academy, these merit points were colloquially known as "future merit points."

The twenty merit points that Fang Che had earned by inadvertently saving the people of Divine Cloud City didn't fall into this category.

As for the three Huo Clan Grandmasters that he slew, their ties to the Three Saints Church were a little unclear, so they didn't count toward future merit points, either.

Twenty-six figure merit points was a total that already exceeded everyone in his year level and the vast majority of second-year students, but it was simply not enough in his eyes.

All Guardians were absolutely laden with accolades to the tune of tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of merit points!

With that in mind, Fang Che was very displeased with his own lackluster progress.

The first thing that he did the next morning was send a message to Yin Shengong.

"Subordinate Night Demon here. I have become the first Lesser Grandmaster of the new student cohort, and for that, I have been awarded merit points by the academy. I have you to thank for reaching this point."

Yin Shengong almost burst into laughter upon receiving this message.

Can he make his intentions any more obvious? He's clearly asking for a reward!

He had specifically mentioned receiving a reward from the academy, clearly implying that Yin Shengong should do the same.

Mu Linyuan just so happened to be nearby, and a curious look appeared on his face.

"It's Night Demon," Yin Shengong explained with an amused shake of his head. "He's asking for a reward. Take a look."

Mu Linyuan took a glance at Fang Che's message, and he was also quite amused.

"He must think he's being subtle and tactful about it."

"He's basically saying, Pope Yin, I did this for you! Even White Cloud Warrior Academy has rewarded me for my breakthrough, surely you have to do the same!"

"I mean... Not to overstep my authority, Pope Yin, but I think he's right."

"Of course," Yin Shengong replied. "Give him fifty merit points. That's what the little rascal wants, isn't it?"

"He already has seven hundred points, fifty more would take his total to 750."

"Already?"

Yin Shengong was rather taken aback to hear this.