Chapter 61: The "Academic Blockade" by the Elite University Alliance!

The livestream clips of He Yu subduing five violent criminals bare-handed ceased to be mere videos; they evolved into a cultural phenomenon, a digital totem that was repeatedly deconstructed, imitated, and worshipped.

The phrase "The Principal Knows Kung Fu" was printed on T-shirts, adapted into viral internet anthems, and even became the ultimate traffic-generating password for combat-section streamers across major broadcasting platforms.

The name He Yu, coupled with Longhai University, was propelled by this frantic tidal wave of traffic to a dizzying height. He was no longer just an educator, nor was he merely a visionary dreamer.

He had become a symbol.

An idol who was proficient in both literary and martial arts, shrouded in mysterious backgrounds, and completely unpredictable in his actions.

This overwhelming prestige finally completely ignited a long-simmering fury.

Peking University, President's Office.

The archaic and heavy mahogany desk exuded the serene fragrance of a century of scholarship. Yet at this moment, that serenity was thoroughly shattered by a sudden, explosive crash.

"Absurd! Utterly farcical!"

A senior professor with a full head of silver hair and presbyopic glasses slammed his withered palm heavily onto the desk, veins bulging on the back of his hand. His chest heaved violently, every breath carrying a scorching fury.

"An educator, a principal who ought to be a paragon of virtue, actually resorting to street-brawling violence to grab attention! He is turning the sacred halls of higher education into a stage for wild, lawless vagrants!"

Inside the conference room, smoke lingered, and the atmosphere was as oppressive as the sea before a storm.

Those seated here were the supreme power core of Peking University, and indeed of the entire higher education system across the entire realm of Cathay. They were accustomed to strategizing from behind the scenes, accustomed to using rules and seniority to define everything.

Yet now, they were facing a completely rule-breaking "mudslide."

Feng Guotao, the Director of Admissions, wore a complexion ashen as lead. On the screen of the tablet in his hands, a highlight reel of He Yu's video looped endlessly, accompanied by geometrically multiplying likes and comments.

Every single number felt like a resounding slap across his face, burning hot.

"The high ground of public opinion... has been lost."

His low voice carried an inescapable sense of defeated powerlessness.

The official mouthpieces they took such pride in, the promotional copy they had meticulously crafted, and all the traditional media resources they could possibly mobilize appeared so clumsy, sluggish, and vulnerable before He Yu's wildly growing personal charisma.

They were a regular army, heavily armored troops.

Yet He Yu was an airdropped guerrilla force, hauntingly elusive in the jungle of the internet, refusing to give them any chance for a decisive frontal battle.

"We cannot let him continue this madness."

Feng Guotao turned off the tablet, and the office instantly plunged into an even deeper gloom. He raised his head, his eyes behind his lenses flashing with a chilling, cold gleam.

"Conventional methods are ineffective against him. We must deploy true power."

He articulated every single word deliberately. His voice was not loud, yet it sent a shiver through everyone present.

"Squeeze the life out of him at his very roots."

A more vicious, more lethal storm was quietly brewing and taking shape within this enclosed office.

...

A few days later.

The entire academic world of Cathay ushered in a violent, unheralded mega-earthquake.

A joint statement, without any prior warming or whispering campaigns, was simultaneously published on the front pages of all national educational media outlets and official websites.

"Joint Statement on Preserving the Purity and Solemnity of the Domestic Academic Environment."

The title was righteous, brimming with an unquestionable sense of authority.

The signatory institutions were truly terrifying—

Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University...

A string of top university crests from across the nation lined up neatly beneath the title, numbering forty-five in total, encompassing almost every single core member of the prestigious "Project 985" university alliance.

The phrasing of the statement was saturated with a condescending "sacredness" and an academic "mysophobia."

"...We have noted that certain emerging educational institutions are substituting rigorous academic research with commercial hype, and replacing the restrained dignity of teaching with inflammatory personality cults. Such a trend must never be allowed to grow, and such a precedent must never be set!"

"To safeguard the century-old academic spine of our nation and ensure the solemnity and purity of higher education, we forty-five universities have reached a consensus through joint deliberation: Effective immediately, this alliance will subject all cooperative entities within the academic circle to stricter and more comprehensive background vetting..."

Every word hit like a pearl, every sentence resonated like a bronze chime.

Yet, insiders who viewed this statement directly skipped over these high-sounding clichés and locked their gazes firmly onto the final paragraph.

That paragraph was the true revelation of the dagger hidden within the map.

That paragraph was the real killing blow.

"...Any experts or scholars who choose to take up positions in emerging universities 'lacking a rigorous academic evaluation system' (such as Longhai University) shall, from the date of their employment, be permanently expelled from all national key laboratories and core research projects across all universities within this alliance."

"Any academic papers published by them under the name of said university shall be subjected to the highest level of the most rigorous review in all sub-journals and academic journals affiliated with the universities of this alliance."

Not a single vulgar curse word was used.

Yet it was far more vicious than any malediction.

This statement descended like an invisible yet tenacious giant net, falling from the sky and precisely enshrouding the newly born Longhai University.

Everyone understood.

This was no mere bullshit statement.

This was a "martial arts world purge order" jointly signed by the highest echelons of the academic world of Cathay!

They were mobilizing the immense power accumulated by the entire traditional academic circle over decades to wage the most thorough and cruel encirclement campaign against Longhai University.

An all-encompassing "academic blockade."

They were going to completely sever the source of faculty for Longhai University.

They were going to utterly stifle the academic future of Longhai University!