Dawnless Sovereign-Chapter 17: Academy Idol Fang Che

Ye Meng rolled her eyes internally.

The people of the One Heart Church really had no humanity at all.

"I'll pass," Fang Che hurriedly refused. "Master, Ximen Xuri was a prodigy of the Ximen Clan and a seed of the Divine Heavenly Church. I'm worried that there will be future retaliation against me."

"That will certainly come to pass," Sun Yuan replied with a nod. "The Divine Heavenly Church and the Ximen Clan will both try to come after you, but our One Heart Church will naturally protect you from the Divine Heavenly Church, and as for the Ximen Clan, they can come after you if they dare!"

"That's a relief," Fang Che said with a nod.

Fang Che was already prepared for this outcome, and seeing as he had already killed Ximen Xuri, he had no fear of the consequences.

Just as Sun Yuan had assured him, the One Heart Church would protect him from retaliation from the Divine Heavenly Church, and as for the Ximen Clan, it had outlived its usefulness now that Ximen Xuri was dead.

"Master, I feel really uneasy," Fang Che said with tightly furrowed brows. "I keep seeing Ximen Xuri in his dying moments wherever I look."

Sun Yuan was very concerned to hear this, and he advised, "Go and take a Soul Soothing Pill and go to sleep. Even though Ximen Xuri is dead, the sun will continue to rise every day, so you can just treat it as if he were still alive."

"I'll do that," Fang Che replied.

There should've been no rising sun in the west anyway, so Ximen Xuri's death was one that made sense.

Fang Che took a pill, then went to sleep as advised.

Sun Yuan was ecstatic.

In the wake of Ximen Xuri's death, a third of the mission had been completed.

The pope was surely going to be very pleased with this news as well.

I have to report this matter right away!

Before that, Sun Yuan went to check on the sound-asleep Fang Che, and he was relieved to find that Fang Che's soul had already settled.

He instructed Ye Meng to look after him, then hurriedly departed.

***

That night, at the One Heart Church headquarters.

Yin Shengong was chortling with glee.

"What's gotten you in such a good mood, Pope Yin?" Mu Linyuan asked.

"Night Demon has already slain the seed of the Divine Heavenly Church!" Yin Shengong declared with an ecstatic expression.

He had already forgotten Ximen Xuri's name, all he knew was that the Divine Heavenly Church's seed had been eliminated.

He clasped his hands behind his back as he sneered, "The Divine Heavenly Church went out of its way to send a letter to mock me after our failed attack on the Iron Will Fort. I hope they're enjoying the taste of karma!"

"Should we send a letter to the Divine Heavenly Church?" Mu Linyuan asked.

"No, that would expose Night Demon," Yin Shengong replied. "Those bastards of the Divine Heavenly Church have no sense of honor, so there's no telling what they'll do if it's revealed that Night Demon is the seed of our church."

"That's true," Mu Linyuan agreed.

However, internally, he was thinking to himself that Yin Shengong wasn't any less dishonorable than the people of the Divine Heavenly Church.

It was really a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

***

The next morning.

Upon his arrival at the academy, Fang Che received widespread consolation from everyone.

"It couldn't be helped. No one would've been able to hold back in the situation that you were in. Ximen Xuri was asking for it, and it's not your fault."

"Exactly! He deserved to die! Not only did he use hidden weapons on you, he tried to take your life even after you spared his!"

"Don't worry about it."

Fang Qingyun was very pleased at the support that Fang Che was receiving, and he remarked, "You're the academy idol now, Cousin."

"How?" Fang Che asked.

"The four most handsome male students of our academy are all in the higher year levels, so they're a bit out of reach. You're a new student, and you've already made a really strong showing for yourself, so we've decided to make you the one and only academy idol!" a female student declared in an excited manner.

Fang Che: "......"

"In the past, some people have tried to select an academy idol among us female students, but we didn't like that very much. It's just a glorified beauty contest, and what gives them the right to rank us on beauty? All of us girls were really opposed to the idea, and thankfully, it never happened again. However, when choosing a male idol, there are many factors that can be considered..."

Fang Che was rendered speechless.

It seemed that White Cloud Warrior Academy was a matriarchy! 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The boys couldn't rate a female academy idol, yet the girls were free to rate the boys as they pleased!

What an incredible display of double standards!

"No one can compare with you in this new student cohort, so everyone unanimously agrees that you're the one and only academy idol!"

Fang Che was flabbergasted to hear this.

Me? The one and only academy idol?

He felt like he would die from embarrassment if everyone started calling him Academy Idol Fang!

"No, I refuse!" he vehemently protested.

"Denied!" Liu Xueyun said in a gleeful manner. "All of the girls collectively made the decision yesterday, so you can protest all you like, but you're stuck with the title!"

"......"

Fang Che felt as if his entire world had been plunged into darkness.

"All the girls were talking about how you were so adorable and vulnerable yesterday after what happened with Ximen Xuri yesterday. Some of the girls from the higher year levels were saying that they wanted to scoop you up in their arms to console you," one of the male students said in a jealous manner.

Fang Che couldn't help but feel bewildered by all of this, and he fled in a panic before any more embarrassment could be heaped on him.

All of the girls burst into laughter at his embarrassed display, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of turning the tables to tease a guy.

It was particularly enjoyable teasing a handsome and well-mannered boy capable of capturing their hearts, and it certainly livened up their otherwise grueling and monotonous lives at the academy.

Fang Qingyun caught up to Fang Che before handing him some files.

"This is the information that we've compiled on the other twenty-four winners. There's probably going to be a lot of people going broke this year."

"Who did you bet on, Cousin?"

"I've never bet on anyone, not even last year. That's why I have so many friends," Fang Qingyun replied in a meaningful manner.

He didn't elaborate, but Fang Che immediately understood what he was implying.

When everyone around you goes into debt, while you're the only one left with a bunch of merit points, it's difficult not to be popular!

Of course, Fang Qingyun's reliable and honest personality certainly helped in that regard as well.

"How's your cultivation been going recently? Are you still ranked 7,476th?" Fang Che asked.

Fang Qingyun's expression instantly darkened at the mention of his rank.

"I can still beat you up just fine!"

It was immediately clear to Fang Che that the ranking tournament for Fang Qingyun's year level hadn't taken place yet. Otherwise, the Heaven Vein Vermilion Fruits would've surely already had some effect.

"You can do it, Cousin. I believe in you," he encouraged.

"I believe in myself too," Fang Qingyun said.

"You can still potentially drop down twenty-four ranks, so you have to work hard to make sure that doesn't happen! Actually, a rank of 7,500 wouldn't be too bad. At least it would be an easy number to remember!"

Fang Qingyun's expression instantly darkened once again as he growled through gritted teeth, "Fang Che! You're overdue for a beating, aren't you?"

Fang Che immediately fled the scene, while Fang Qingyun found himself surrounded by several hostile female students.

"What did you just say to him?"

Fang Qingyun: "......"

His friends had betrayed him to side with his cousin in the blink of an eye.

***

For the next round, the field of twenty-five was going to be reduced to thirteen.

Fang Che drew the ninth seed, which was a very comfortable matchup for him, but he intentionally made the battle a long and drawn out one to give the impression that it had been a struggle.

The other battles were all decided within five attacks, and there were even five that had each been decided by a single attack. Hence, Fang Che was the least convincing of the winners for this round.

In everyone's eyes, he had to have been the bottom-ranking prospect among the remaining field of thirteen.

At this point, Qiu Yunshang, Ding Jieran, Xie Gongping, Huo Churan, and Mo Ganyun each already had over thirty thousand merit points' worth of cumulative bets placed on them.

All of their battles thus far had been decided with just a single attack, and it only took two hours for the third round to conclude.

It was still quite early in the morning, so it was decided that the fourth round would take place right away.

This time, fortune no longer smiled upon Fang Che, and he drew the sixth seed, Mo Ganyun, one of the hot favorites to win the entire tournament.

How am I supposed to hold back now?

Mo Ganyun was a hulking young man, standing at over two meters tall with a brawny frame, and he was glowering at Fang Che with eyes that were as sharp as daggers.

Mo Ganyun was eighteen years of age, but he possessed the physical maturity for someone many years his senior.

Despite how tall and muscular he was, his frame was very proportionate, looking like a perfectly normal person, except enlarged by a few degrees.

He had a head of luscious hair and bushy eyebrows, and judging from his stubble, it was clear that he had to shave regularly even at his young age.

Even just standing there, he was the very embodiment of adjectives like mighty, imposing, and powerful.