Chapter 251 - 249: Yang’s Disciples Club

On the Jiangti Campus, some twenty-odd people marched forward in a grand procession. Yang Shen was at the front, his three main disciples were behind him, and over a dozen Named Disciples trailed after them.

From a distance, you might have thought they were gathering to stage an uprising.

"Master Yang! I heard someone saw you on campus earlier, so I came to welcome you without a moment’s hesitation! I was just saying that the sun felt warmer than usual this morning. It turns out our sun has returned!"

Yang Shen bit his lip. "We haven’t seen each other in a month... and you’ve... certainly made a lot of progress."

’My cringe tolerance, which had long since gone numb, was suddenly feeling sensitive again today.’

Yuan Rui chuckled. "You’re too kind, Master. In your absence, we must only redouble our efforts! By the way, Cao Wei, Tian Zihan, and I have all reached Late-stage Marrow Refining and are preparing to break through to the Innate realm..."

Yang Shen cut him off. "Let’s discuss Cultivation back at the Yang Residence. No need for details here at school."

’All three of them have been practicing Qi Daoist Techniques like the *Vomiting Valley Qi*,’ Yang thought. ’I’ll definitely have to test them when we get back.’

Yuan Rui nodded. "No problem. On another note, the ’Yang’s Disciples’ club has grown quite a bit. We’re up to 30 members now. Applications have been flooding in, especially after this last Ranking Challenge."

Yang Shen was already aware of this, as it was how he’d completed his main quest. ’Still, that’s more people than I expected.’

"Since we have enough members now, we applied for a club room. It can serve as your base of operations on campus from now on. We even did some light renovations. We’ll take you to see it right now."

Yang Shen glanced around. "Where’s Xu Bamboo?"

"Zhu doesn’t have classes this afternoon, so she should be back at the Yang Residence."

"Alright... Let’s go see this club room you mentioned."

The group headed toward an old building. The Jiangti Campus was vast, with numerous buildings, and many of its empty rooms were made available for student clubs.

Most of these rooms weren’t in prime locations, but rather in out-of-the-way spots. The Night Owl Club, which Yang Shen had visited before, was also technically a student club room.

Of course, not just anyone could successfully apply for one. Yuan Rui had clearly pulled some strings to get it.

About ten minutes later, Yang Shen found himself in a corner of the campus, standing before a detached, old red-brick villa. It wasn’t huge—probably around two hundred square meters for both floors combined.

A sign hung by the door, bearing two words: Yang Clan.

It didn’t say "Disciples."

’Well, damn... has he set himself up as a king on campus or what?’

Yuan Rui explained, "Originally, they only gave us one room. But Cao Wei offered to handle ’repairs and renovations’ in exchange for the rights to use the whole building. We use this as our regular meeting spot now."

They walked in through the main entrance. The first floor had roughly three rooms, renovated to serve as a lounge, a conference room, and a tea room.

The second floor also had three rooms, the largest of which was a luxurious office with a sign that read, "Club President’s Office."

The executive desk was a full three meters long, and next to it was a fish tank... with a small shark swimming inside.

Yang Shen raised an eyebrow. If he hadn’t known he was on the Jiangti Campus, he would have thought he’d walked into the office of some high-end corporation.

Yuan Rui was the president of this club. Yang Shen clapped him on the shoulder and chuckled. "Taking the opportunity to treat yourself, huh, kid? Getting such a fancy office for yourself."

Yuan Rui declared with stern righteousness, "Master, what kind of person do you take me for?!"

He pointed to the enormous executive desk. "This is your seat!"

Yang Shen froze. "Then you...?"

Yuan Rui pointed to a small, shabby, flimsy desk in the corner.

It looked like it had been salvaged from a trashy elementary school that had to shut down after years of mismanagement—the kind where the principal ran off with the foreign language teacher, prompting the gym teacher to go on a vengeful rampage that left the place in ruins. It was the kind of desk whose cubby was caked with old chewing gum and boogers.

"That is my station, where I can help share your burdens, Master! Frugality and Self-Control, remembering past hardships to appreciate present bliss—I have not forgotten your teachings for a single moment."

’Did I ever say any of that...?’ Yang Shen wondered.

"Isn’t this all a bit too formal? It’s just a student club. Is there really this much work to do?"

Yuan Rui immediately waved his hand. Someone behind him carried over a whiteboard. Meanwhile, Cao Wei guided Yang Shen to the executive chair, had him sit, and then stood demurely by his side.

Her fair white knee secretly pressed against her master’s chair.

’From a microphysical standpoint, that counts as making physical contact with Master!’

Yuan Rui began his report:

"Yang’s Disciples currently has 35 members: 28 first-year students and 7 upperclassmen."

"Currently, based on rank and contribution, every member receives extra Supplements. And don’t worry about the cost, Master. I am strictly adhering to your budget. I’ve only subsidized the overages with a *tiny* bit of my own allowance."

Yang Shen’s eyebrow twitched.

’What am I even supposed to say to that?!’

Yuan Rui continued, "The members all help one another, offering pointers on Cultivation. This has proven to be incredibly valuable, especially within the Ranking Challenge system."

"Members who run into trouble can request aid from a higher-ranked brother! If an opponent is especially tough, Zhu will step in and teach them a lesson. This ensures that all the Named Disciples of Yang can live in harmony. Many deeply moving and heartwarming stories have emerged from this."

Yang Shen asked, "For example?"

Yuan Rui pointed to an attractive young woman outside the office.

"Take Qi Cha, for instance. Her boyfriend was maliciously challenged by someone ranked 80 places above him. How could we stand by and do nothing? So, we dispatched Xu Lei, who is ranked 100 places higher than that aggressor, to maliciously challenge him in turn."

Yang Shen nodded. ’I guess that counts as a good deed.’

"That guy has now been thoroughly beaten into submission, and Qi Cha has become Xu Lei’s girlfriend. They’re the first couple in our club."

Yang Shen: ’???’

"Then there’s Zheng Shuhao. He was being constantly harassed by a girl in his class, so we decisively sent a team to wear her down in waves. She still can’t get out of bed."

Yang Shen said, "You’d better be talking about the Ranking Challenge..."

Yuan Rui blinked. "Of course we are! What else would it be? We’re just trying to prevent a tragedy like the one with the Horizontal Training queen from happening to our year."

The senior disciple went on at length, describing how united and vibrant the club was and how it had already made a name for itself at Jiangti.

The brothers and sisters were united in spirit, fierce in bearing, and hard of fist!

Even in Yang Shen’s absence, they had Xu Bamboo, ranked third in their year, to hold down the fort. Of course, most of the time, Zhuzi didn’t even need to act.

Yuan Rui was a capable operator. He didn’t just throw money around, nor did he accept just anyone who applied.

The classmates he selected were good students with potential, talent... and a vulnerability.

His methods for uniting them varied. For example, some people were genuinely short on money and Supplements. For them, he had to be as warm and benevolent as a father, providing life-saving emergency aid.

Others weren’t short on cash but feared being bullied. For them, he had to strike hard, using violence to stop violence.

And then there were the many who were simply looking to date handsome men and beautiful women. Yuan Rui paid close attention to the club’s average attractiveness; since Yang’s Disciples bore the Yang name, they were a reflection of their master’s face, after all.

’How could he possibly let any uggos in?’

With funds and Supplements in his left hand and brotherly loyalty in his right, it was no wonder he had gathered so many people in such a short time, becoming a faction on campus with a distinct banner and a powerful presence.

You might wonder why Yuan Rui, who wasn’t short on money and could have done all this on his own, didn’t just create "Yuan’s Disciples" and make himself the local king.

See, that’s just small-time thinking.

Small-timers always think they can be the boss!

But Yuan Rui was different. He was a pragmatist.

’What real power did he, Yuan Rui, have? And what was the Yuan Family but a third-rate clan? Without his master’s name to back him, how could he possibly have become a major figure at Jiangti within a month of starting school?’

’In terms of wealth, plenty of people had more than him. In terms of strength, even after his rank had soared for two straight months, he was still just mid-tier.’

’And yet now, even those ranked far above him treated him with respect and followed his orders without question. Was it because he, Yuan Rui, was special?’

’No. I was simply standing on the shoulders of a giant.’

’In life, your platform is everything!’

In the long run, the cohesiveness of Yang’s Disciples should stem from their increase in strength, since they were all benefiting from the "Martial Arts Gate" buff.

But in the short term, the group had truly been pulled together by Yuan Rui and him alone.

And everything was perfectly orchestrated... Yang Shen refused to believe that the synchronized kneeling back in the faculty office hadn’t been rehearsed.

After listening to Yuan Rui’s report, Yang Shen fell into deep thought.

’Are we sure the school isn’t going to launch an ’anti-crime’ sweep on us?’

Yang Shen took a deep breath.

"I only have one question. The mutual support model is fine, but what is the main purpose of this club? Don’t most clubs revolve around a hobby or something? Like a dance club, or a film club."

Yuan Rui smiled faintly.

"Filial piety."

"Our club’s hobby is practicing filial piety!"