Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 224 Preparing for the Start of School

By mid-July, the college had transformed from quiet to bustling.

The new cohort of students comes from all over the world, all hoping to significantly improve their overall abilities through a year of advanced studies.

Of course, the fact that students can enjoy comprehensive protection within the rules provided by Beixing is also very attractive to them.

In the previous year, many students were able to pass the rules thanks to the immediate assistance provided by the authorities.

For example, when the Blood Plague Virus was rampant, as mentioned in Rule 6, the authorities immediately provided the students with the highest level of protective clothing, ensuring that the vast majority of students were not infected.

In contrast, those living outside the academy and within the designated gathering points did not receive this treatment. Many didn't even get their official protective suits until midway through the rules, and even then, they were the lower-level type.

This has sparked numerous controversies and online arguments, with many people outside the school expressing their dissatisfaction and protesting.

But in the end, nothing came of it, because since the authorities were cultivating college students as the future of the country and the backbone of society, they naturally had to give them the best protection.

This has led to an unusually large number of people registering this year.

Even though the admission requirements have increased dramatically this year, from a maximum of 80 points in the first year to 140 points, there are still many people who meet the requirements and pass.

Moreover, unlike the first cohort of students who were almost entirely from North Star, this year's freshmen likely have foreign students making up 10% to 20%. This means that one or two out of every ten students are foreigners, which is quite remarkable.

So when these new students wearing translation headsets arrived, the senior students responsible for welcoming and guiding them were quite overwhelmed.

Most of the first batch of students were assigned to work in various government departments, but some outstanding students stayed in the college as freshmen helpers, counselors or other similar positions.

Fang Qian and her friend Qin Qing were two of the people who stayed behind.

The two of them have been receiving new students at the college since this morning, explaining the enrollment process and what they need to do.

The work wasn't particularly difficult, but the workload was enormous; by the end of the morning, both of them were exhausted.

When lunchtime arrived, the two finally had a break and sat together, eating canned food and complaining to each other.

"Xiao Qing, how many new students did you welcome today?" Fang Qian asked.

"I can't remember, but I feel like there were hundreds. I'm almost dizzy."

"I'm in a similar situation. Many international freshmen don't speak the language and don't have translators with them, so communication is not easy."

"Yes, I didn't expect so many international students this year... Has our college become so famous?"

"Who knows."

Although their safety was highly guaranteed during the past year, their lives as college students were not much different from those of people living in shelters.

Even though the college is relatively large, since students cannot leave the campus freely, it is essentially a large shelter.

Living in a closed environment, one can only learn about changes in the outside world through the internet, which can sometimes lead to blind spots.

"Hey, are there new students again?" Qin Qing saw someone walking in from outside the school gate.

Fang Qian looked up and was immediately stunned.

It was Guan Tong who entered the school gate.

"Xiao Qing, yes...you go and greet them!"

After Fang Qian finished speaking, she got up and hid behind the welcome sign for new students. Qin Qing was a little puzzled at first, but after looking closely at the person, she suddenly remembered. This person seemed to be Fang Qian's high school classmate whom she had bumped into on the street before.

Qin Qing didn't know what had happened between her friend and this person, but she knew it couldn't have been anything good, otherwise Fang Qian wouldn't have needed to avoid him.

Looking at Guan Tong, whose expression was rather indifferent, her first impression was that this person was somewhat aloof and gave off a feeling that he was not easy to get along with... Could it be that he had hurt her friend?
Qin Qing was thinking when she saw Guan Tong walking towards the faculty building. She quickly ran over and stopped him, saying, "Hello, classmate, are you a freshman this year? Do you need any help?"

"...?"

Guan Tong looked at her questioningly and said, "Thank you, but no need."

He continued walking after saying that, but Qin Qing stopped him again and said, "Student, you've got the wrong place. That's not the freshman dormitory building; it's the faculty and staff building. The freshman dormitory building is on the other side!"

Guan Tong was speechless and said to her, "I'm not a freshman."

Because of her friend's behavior, Qin Qing had some preconceived notions about Guan Tong. Hearing him say this, she couldn't help but ask, "Not a freshman? Or are you a teacher?"

It was just a casual joke, but Guan Tong nodded slightly and said, "I am indeed a teacher."

"……what?"

Guan Tong didn't say anything more and walked around Qin Qing towards the faculty and staff building.

Qin Qing was stunned for several seconds, glanced suspiciously at Guan Tong's departing figure, and muttered as she returned to the freshman reception area.

Fang Qian, who had been hiding, also came out. She saw Guan Tong heading towards the faculty and staff building and said to Qin Qing, "Qing, why didn't you tell him that the freshman dormitory isn't over there?"

“I told him. But he said he wasn’t a freshman, he was a teacher.”

"Teacher?" Fang Qian was taken aback. "You don't believe me either, do you? Qianqian, what exactly is this classmate of yours..."

"No." Fang Qian shook her head before Qin Qing could finish speaking. "Since he said he's a teacher, then he probably really is. He's not the kind of person who would lie."

"Huh? Really?"

"Really... By the way, Xiao Qing, have you seen the list of lecturers for this year's college?"

Qin Qing shook her head: "I didn't see it. I think the academy has only been established for a year, so there shouldn't be any changes in the lecturers."

"Let me see, the official website has the list!"

Fang Qian quickly took out her phone and opened the official website of the Mind Power Development Academy.

Clicking on the "Faculty" section and scrolling down, when they saw a lecturer, both she and Qin Qing couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"It's really him!"

The lecturer on the list was none other than Guan Tong.

Below a photo of his expressionless face is a brief description.

"Let me see, let me see!" Qin Qing took Fang Qian's phone and carefully read the introduction. "Guan Tong, acting lecturer, excellent ability, in charge of the course 'Flow of Spiritual Power'. My goodness, Qianqian, your high school classmate is actually acting as an agent for Teacher Jingyi's course!!"

The course "Flow of Spiritual Power" is the most popular main course in the academy, and the previous lecturer, Shi Jingyi, was also the most popular lecturer in the academy. However, this year the course was given a different lecturer, and it was Guan Tong who took over. What exactly happened?

Fang Qian was completely bewildered. She had previously thought that someone like Guan Tong wouldn't die young due to the rules, but she never imagined that in just over a year, he would be able to become a lecturer at the academy. What had happened in between...?

"So he really is a teacher, oh no..." Qin Qing looked extremely embarrassed. "I just stopped him and told him to go to the student dormitory. I'm so embarrassed now!"

"..."

"Qianqian, I didn't ask before, but now you really have to tell me about your high school classmate! It's amazing that he can become a substitute lecturer for the college's main courses at such a young age, isn't it? What exactly happened between you two? Why have you been avoiding him? Could it be that he hurt you?"

Fang Qian said with some bitterness, "If we're really talking about who caused the harm, I'm the one who did it."

Qin Qing was stunned when she heard this: "You dumped him?"

"...It's not about that kind of thing."

"Which aspect?"

Fang Qian took a deep breath: "It's a mistake I made that's hard to talk about... I've been very busy these past few days, and my mind is in turmoil. I'll talk to you about it later."

"Alright then. But... Qianqian, you can't keep hiding like this, can you?" Qin Qing said. "He's an acting lecturer now, and we're both freshman counselors, so we're bound to run into each other eventually. You won't be able to avoid it then."

Fang Qian nodded: "I know this isn't something that can be solved by running away. I'll adjust as soon as possible, and then we can have a proper talk next time we meet."

……

During the period when new students enter the school, lecturers of various subjects also need to do a lot of preparation.

Although colleges differ greatly from traditional universities, with no courses or credits, lecturers still need to prepare their lessons.

With the experience gained over the past year, many lecturers have accumulated experience and gained a new understanding of their courses, and they need to reorganize their teaching to achieve a better teaching level.

As for Guan Tong, he wasn't very talkative and had no experience as a teacher. Regarding lesson preparation, he discussed it with Shi Jingyi, who was currently recuperating, and she sent him some lesson plans she had previously created.

During this time, Guan Tong also discussed his "body-mind-spirit power channel" theory with her. Shi Jingyi calmly stated that she had discovered this theory long ago, but it does not have universal applicability.

Because very few students in the world have the opportunity and resources to input and output a massive amount of mental energy like Guan Tong. Therefore, her method is more suitable for the general public.

Guan Tong thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed true. He had been too simplistic in his thinking. Not everyone has a "wordless book" or such unique conditions and advantages as him. Simply extrapolating his own situation to others is completely unworkable.

So he finally decided to teach using Shi Jingyi's old method. Fortunately, he had a firm and thorough grasp of the old method, so teaching students was no problem for him.

During this period, he also had several exchanges with the college's lecturers. Although he was young, after several exchanges, the lecturers were surprised to find that Guan Tong knew a little about their fields, and some of his insights were quite insightful, which made them very benefit from listening to him.

This surprised them, but they no longer dared to underestimate Guan Tong in the slightest, thinking that he might be an all-around genius.

But in reality, Guan Tong simply has a thorough understanding of all aspects of mental power because she has experienced so much.

In contrast, many of these instructors joined the academy as teachers not long after the apocalyptic rules were introduced. Many of them had never even fought anyone and had no practical combat experience whatsoever.

For example, there was a course called "Ascension Combat Techniques". After talking with the instructor in charge of that course, Guan Tong learned that the latter had never fought to the death with other Ascensioners, but had only sparred with them many times.

This left him speechless. Sparring and life-or-death battles are two completely different things. Students taught solely based on sparring experience are unlikely to have any real combat skills.

If you really want students to have some combat ability, you might as well find a mercenary Ascendant who has been spending his life in the wild to be the lecturer for this course; the effect would probably be better.

Of course, he wouldn't comment on the quality of other people's courses. As long as he taught the "Flow of Spiritual Power" course diligently and responsibly, he would consider himself to have done right by Shi Jingyi.

(End of this chapter)