Being forced to grow like a pig? But I'm immune to the consequences!

Normally, Song Tai wouldn't care—talented people emerge every year, and he can't just snipe them all one by one.

But this time was different: Ellis and Liu Zhi had a conflict, and Ellis and Ning Yi were also in a romantic relationship, which led to conflict and hatred between Ellis and him.

Given this situation, Song Tai naturally had no intention of letting this potential enemy go. He even intended to take advantage of his predicament and find a way to cripple him.

"Looks like I'll have to put in some more effort..."

……

On the other side, where Ellis is.

Liu Zhen is talking to Ellis.

He patted Ellis on the shoulder and said, "Ellis, I don't think this matter can be handled so easily. Why don't you go and curry favor with those instructors?"

Liu Zhen saw things very clearly. This was different from yesterday's minor skirmish where Wu Sheng ambushed Liu Zhi and his two companions in the restroom—this wasn't on the fighting ring, but in broad daylight on the training ground. Iris had crippled Liu Zhi; the martial arts academy's rules couldn't be challenged, and he would definitely be punished, and severely. If Liu Zhi's people added fuel to the fire, it would be even more troublesome.

Iris looked bewildered. He didn't know what to do, so he forced a smile, or rather, deceived himself: "It should be alright. I'm a genius; the martial arts academy won't do anything to me."

Liu Zhen continued, "Ellis, listen to me. Try to find a way quickly, or you'll be in real trouble. You're too caught up in the situation to see clearly—try to contact any connections you have. Otherwise, it will be too late."

Ellis pondered for a long time, then nodded: "Okay."

……

On the other side, Zhao Dele and his group were also chatting.

"What do you think the Martial Arts Academy will do about what happened to that group of people?" Zhang Lin asked.

Soguli said, "What else can we do? Just follow the rules. Anyway, no matter what, it won't do us any harm."

Zhao Dele laughed: "That's right, not only is there no harm, but there are even benefits."

He truly hadn't expected that—in just one day, the situation would completely reverse. The small circle of the top eight not only split into two factions, but these two factions were also fighting each other. The result of the fighting was that Liu Zhi was half-crippled, and Iris was about to be punished.

The remaining guys in the regular training ground—Xu Fei and his group—are no threat, and Liu Zhen alone isn't much of a threat either. Besides, these two groups will likely start fighting each other later.

With that, they could finally relax and have peace of mind.

"This is amazing. We didn't do anything, and it suddenly turned out like this," Zhao Dele thought to himself.

……

For the next two days, many unfamiliar figures could be seen running around the martial arts academy, seemingly all dealing with the matters concerning Iris and Liu Zhi.

It wasn't until the eighteenth day.

That day, several instructors, including Tavin, arrived at the training ground, and Dansin was also present. All the trainees were gathered together.

Standing at the very front was Ellis. He was extremely uneasy at that moment—he didn't know what he was about to face.

These past two days, following Liu Zhen's advice, he quickly contacted his family, explained the situation, and asked them to find a way to smooth things over. Even so, he still had a vague sense that things weren't going well. Judging from his family's actions...

The situation is bad—it seems Liu Zhi is not someone to be trifled with, his background is indeed quite powerful, and given the rules of the Martial Academy, this matter is likely to escalate significantly.

His family's last words to him were: they had done everything they could, and now they could only wait for the martial arts academy's decision. The outcome remains unknown.

At this moment, it would be a lie to say that Ellis wasn't flustered as she stood there.

Tavin and several other instructors, their expressions serious, scanned the crowd: "You should all be aware of what happened in the training ground these past two days. Since you are, I won't waste any more words. Now, let Master Danxin pronounce judgment on this matter."

Dansing stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, lingering briefly on Iris before speaking:

"According to the Martial Academy's investigation, the conflict between Iris and Liu Zhi stemmed from Liu Zhi's provocation, which enraged Iris and led to his attack. The Martial Academy has its own rules for handling such matters—they can be resolved in the arena. However, Iris disregarded these rules, directly resorting to violence without any mercy, severely injuring student Liu Zhi, who may even be crippled."

"After internal review by the Martial Academy, the following conclusion has been reached: Even though Liu Zhi provoked her first, student Iris's actions were far too egregious. Therefore, Iris's punishment is—early termination of her training period at the Martial Academy and assignment to the Outward Exploration Team, with no points or resources to be allocated for six months. She will be the first to be dispatched in any dangerous situation. This punishment is mandatory and cannot be refused."

After he finished speaking, the training ground became eerily quiet.

The crowd wanted to whisper among themselves, but no one dared to make a sound in this situation.

No one expected the punishment to be so severe.

Ending the training period early—everyone knows that the training period is the most valuable stage, requiring no tasks and with ample resources. This is almost a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Losing this opportunity may take a long time to make up for, or even be impossible to recover from. Ellis's punishment was losing this opportunity, a punishment that cannot be underestimated.

Ending the training period early—everyone knows that the training period is the most valuable stage, requiring no tasks and with ample resources. This is almost a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Losing this opportunity may take a long time to make up for, or even be impossible to recover from. Ellis's punishment was losing this opportunity, a punishment that cannot be underestimated.

Furthermore, Iris was assigned to the Outward Exploration Team—an extremely dangerous unit that frequently dealt with monsters from outside the city, where a single misstep could be fatal. Of course, this unit was very lucrative, offering the highest rewards. The problem was, Iris wouldn't receive any rewards for six months.

This situation essentially means that Iris's future training will depend solely on his own talent and hard work, or on the support of his family. However, relying solely on talent and resources provided by his family, his improvement speed cannot be fast, which means he will be surpassed by others—falling behind once will lead to falling behind at every step.

What will become of Ellis from now on? Most people can basically predict it.

"That guy, Iris, is probably going to be finished."

In an instant, everyone had this thought in their minds.

Upon hearing the verdict, Iris was utterly devastated, as if all his energy had been drained away. He understood what this result meant for him. But what he couldn't understand was why the punishment was so severe. How could the Martial Academy abandon such a genius as himself? How could the nobles abandon him?

Why is that?

He didn't understand.

"Starting immediately, begin implementing the punishment." Danxin's voice rang out again.

Immediately afterwards, two instructors came to Elis from the left and right and took him away.

Ellis, as if she had lost her soul, was taken away like a puppet.

As Ellis was taken away, the expressions on the faces of everyone in the training ground varied.