Free Web NovelChapter 280: Chapter 280: Toward the Next Hundred
By the time Qin Yuheng cleared Floor 128, Heavenly Gate City no longer saw him as merely a genius climber.
That title had become too small.
He was a system builder.
A commander.
A family reformer.
A hidden axis around which academy protections, child path protocols, contract safeguards, identity verification, talent protection, and anti-corruption methods were forming.
This was dangerous.
Because systems threatened Blood Sun more than duels did.
A genius could be killed.
A system had to be infiltrated, corrupted, discredited, or outgrown.
Mo Cangyan understood this.
So he stopped trying to rush Qin Yuheng for a while.
Instead, he began planting seeds elsewhere.
Other cities.
Other academies.
Other families with weaker protections.
Reports arrived slowly:
A small academy in the north discovered dream-script tokens too late.
A merchant clan lost two young talents to "private compatibility testing."
A ruin team near western borders vanished after following a complete shadow-road map.
A minor family opened a sealed inheritance early and suffered bloodline collapse.
None were directly Qin Yuheng’s responsibility.
But all were connected to the same doctrine.
Children as roads.
Talents as harvest.
False maps as destiny.
Desperation as currency.
Qin Yuheng could not solve everything.
The Living Values Compass helped him stay clear.
He focused on what he could influence:
Heavenly Gate region.
Qin family.
Academy standards.
Allied protocols. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Information sharing.
Yu Qingmei began pushing protective standards upward to regional councils. Central Academy responded positively. Military Youth Division began classifying Blood Sun derivative child-path exploitation as strategic threat.
Jiang Clan sent limited old-record warnings to trusted forces.
Lin Xian’er built market alerts.
Wei Chen’s family strengthened contract review.
Zhao Lan quietly helped monitor Zhao-linked channels.
Even Zhao Tianyu participated by training younger academy students in resisting provocation.
He was terrible at gentle encouragement.
But good at showing what not to become.
Qin Mo called this "weaponized personal growth."
Zhao Tianyu threatened to hit him.
Progress.
Floor 129’s file arrived.
[Floor 129: The Assembly of Broken Standards]
Type:
Multi-faction governance / failed protective systems / corruption spread.
Estimated Duration:
8 Tower days.
Warning:
A standard ignored in one hall may become disaster in another.]
This floor matched the real-world expansion of protective standards.
Qin Yuheng entered with a sense that the Tower was preparing him for broader responsibility.
The floor involved a coalition of towns that each had partial protections against corruption but refused to coordinate. Dream scripts banned in one town were legal in another. Talent testing regulated in one region moved across borders. Contract debt prohibited in one market returned under new names elsewhere.
Qin Yuheng had to create shared standards without becoming ruler.
This was difficult.
Some towns feared losing autonomy.
Some merchants feared profit loss.
Some families feared exposure.
Some leaders wanted Qin Yuheng to take full authority so they could avoid responsibility.
He refused.
Instead, he built a standard council.
Clear minimum protections.
Local flexibility.
Evidence-sharing.
Mutual inspection.
Child-path protections.
Contract transparency.
Identity verification.
Talent testing ethics.
The boss, Broken Standard Devourer, fed on gaps between rules.
It attacked through loopholes.
Qin Mo nearly lost his mind fighting a loophole monster.
Lin Xian’er would have loved and hated it.
The Devourer weakened only when the towns accepted common baseline standards.
Qin Yuheng did not force unity.
He showed consequence.
The towns chose.
SSS evaluation.
Rewards:
[SSS Grade Shared Protective Standard Core]
[SS Grade Loophole Devourer Fang]
[SS Grade Cross-Region Evidence Seal]
[SS Grade Minimum Law Consensus Tablet]
This floor became extremely important.
The Shared Protective Standard Core allowed Heavenly Gate Academy to produce safer regional protocols without requiring all factions to submit to Qin authority.
Qin Wanshan approved.
"This is how influence grows without conquest."
Qin Yuheng nodded.
Conquest would be faster.
But false sun loved forced direction.
His path required chosen coordination.
Floor 130 file arrived soon after.
[Floor 130: Thirteenth Gate — The Council Without a Crown]
Type:
Gate threshold / shared standards / coalition leadership / anti-conquest governance.
Warning:
If all roads need one crown, the roads were never trusted.]
Qin Mo looked at Qin Yuheng.
"No crown again."
Qin Yuheng smiled faintly.
"No crown."
The Thirteenth Gate awaited.
