43: Applicant Force

After a day of rest and recuperation, Chen Qing had mostly recovered from his injuries.

The next day, he arrived at the school's academic affairs building early in the morning. This building housed a licensing department specifically for approving various school matters.

Of course, this also included students establishing factions.

Chen Qing brought an application form printed from the official website, filled in the relevant information, and submitted it.

Inside the office, a female teacher wearing glasses and a professional suit finished reviewing the documents he submitted and said, "Chen Qing, I've reviewed all your information, and there don't seem to be any major issues. But you need to think carefully; establishing a faction at this stage is not an easy task. The school won't provide you with too many subsidies; at most, it will allocate a venue for you and provide some basic Cultivation resources and conveniences for free."

Chen Qing nodded. He already knew that the school generally only supported factions that could make significant contributions to the school.

For newly established small factions like his, the school usually allowed them to grow on their own.

"Teacher Zhang, I heard that the leader of a faction can receive some school benefits, such as increased mission rewards."

Zhang Ting knew what he was thinking and chuckled, "Yes, there are, but Chen Qing, you need to understand why the school gives you these benefits. Essentially, it hopes you can ensure the interests of your members. If you embezzle funds, the school can revoke your faction's venue and subsidies at any time."

"Understood, understood!" Chen Qing nodded.

"Besides the information you filled out, you also need to find a school teacher to join your faction."

"Isn't it just one teacher as a guarantor?"

"A guarantor is a guarantor, to ensure you don't cause problems. Didn't you read carefully? To establish a faction now, you must have 5 students and 1 teacher. Otherwise, if it were just a few students, wouldn't my office be overflowing?"

Chen Qing thought about it and realized she was right.

Who should he ask then?

His teacher, Yang Chen, was dedicated to research and was also the dean, so he most likely wouldn't participate in a faction just started by one of his students.

He had only put his name in the guarantor column because his teacher had said he could approach him if he had trouble at school.

Surely, putting him down as a guarantor wouldn't be an issue, right?

He had just arrived and didn't know many teachers. Who would agree to help him?

Chen Qing looked at the female teacher in front of him, Zhang Ting: "Teacher Zhang, would it be convenient for you to join my faction?"

Zhang Ting laughed, "Chen Qing, I would like to join you, but the school has regulations. Teachers who work in academic affairs are not allowed to join student organizations, unless one day you give up the school's subsidies."

The main reason was to prevent people from trying to curry favor with them, leading to the misuse of school funds.

Unless your faction could sustain itself and no longer needed school subsidies, then teachers like Zhang Ting would be free to join your faction.

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and then left.

He thought of a possible person, but he had to ask first... at the Martial Arts Arena.

The Martial Arts Arena was still bustling today, with many new and old students challenging for rankings.

Chen Qing walked through the crowd, and those who recognized him automatically made way for him.

"Chen Qing? Is he going to challenge again?"

"He's a killing star! He's only rested for a day; is he going to let people live?"

"Doesn't look like it; he's heading towards the referee's stand."

...Chen Qing ignored them and went directly to the referee's stand of Ring No. 1.

Liu Zheng still looked like a slacker, lying back in a reclining chair.

Seeing Chen Qing approach, he narrowed his eyes and casually said, "Want to fight again?"

Chen Qing smiled and waved his hand, "Student isn't here to challenge today. It's not easy for the sophomores to Cultivate, and Student doesn't want them to spend all day in bed."

"Get lost!"

Liu Zheng was speechless. Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile.

Chen Qing didn't mind and continued, "Teacher Liu, I'm here to see you about something today."

Liu Zheng frowned, looking at him.

"Teacher Liu, how much is your monthly salary as a referee?"

"Why are you asking that?"

"Just asking casually, trying to understand."

"The salary isn't high, but as long as we don't abuse resources, the basic subsidies are enough for our daily Cultivation."

Chen Qing rolled his eyes and said, "But I heard that among your referee team, some younger teachers don't even earn enough to Cultivate."

Liu Zheng said in surprise, "Where did you hear that?"

Chen Qing hadn't heard it at all; he had guessed it.

This Liu Zheng spent all day slacking here and didn't seem to Cultivate much, so the resources he used certainly weren't many.

But in the past two days, he had seen many rings with no one interested, and the referees for those rings hadn't even come to the venue.

These people were probably Cultivating, and frequent Cultivation meant it was normal for resources to be insufficient.

"Teacher, you see their resources are tight, and their progress is slow. Not everyone is like you, who can progress just by grinding over time.

If I'm not mistaken, there should also be some younger teachers in the referee team. They are in the golden period of their Martial Dao advancement.

If they lack resources at this time, and their Cultivation slows down, the resources needed to improve later will double!"

Liu Zheng looked at the student with an ulterior motive and interrupted, "Alright, just get to the point."

"Teacher, it's not a bad thing. It's just that I'm going to form a faction, right? The students are all set, but we're missing a school teacher. What do you think, can you lend us someone? Or if you want to join, I guarantee you'll be second only to me!"

"Stop!"

Liu Zheng had a headache. Second only to him? Are you asking me to be your chief eunuch?

My 'magic pill' is still intact; how could I do such a thing?

And where does your little faction have ten thousand people?

He'd bet it was no more than 10 people!

"Lending someone isn't impossible. How about this, let me make a few calls."

With that, Liu Zheng began to dial several numbers.

"Hello? Little Wang, um, is your magic pill still there? No! Are you interested in joining a faction?"

The person on the other end was confused for a long time. What 'magic pill still there'?

Had the chief referee taken the wrong medicine? Was he thinking about women?

...After communicating for most of the day, a teacher finally relented and decided to join Chen Qing's faction.

His name was Wu Cheng, and he had just reached the 4th rank.

Chen Qing bared his teeth. Was he really that unpopular?

He had at least established some prestige yesterday regarding this matter.

Did these people not even consider him promising?

Liu Zheng chuckled, "Kid, don't find it strange. Let alone a new student like you, even some third-year and fourth-year students forming new factions might not find teachers willing to join.

Do you think showing off yesterday was enough? In the past three hundred years, countless Geniuses have died young in the Martial Dao. In one generation, it's good if even a few make a name for themselves! Are you sure you'll be the one in your generation?"

"Leaving others aside, take your teacher, Yang Chen, and Yan Tianhao. They are from the same generation. In their generation, fewer than 5 people rose to prominence, and I mean across the entire Federation! At that time, there were many who were more talented than them in their early years, but most of them died in the Space Battlefield!"

"So, don't think we look down on you.

The more fiercely you start, the faster you might die.

So, kid, survive, and we can see hope!"