Quang Binh.
The setting sun was exceptionally beautiful, save that it was nearing twilight.
The crimson evening glow spilled across the sea, dyeing the earth and sky in deep hues.
It was a scenic masterpiece, yet today’s sunset lacked its usual brilliance.
Instead, in Vuong Minh’s eyes, it cast an eerily gloomy shade.
He stepped out of the vehicle looking sullen, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot, his eyes—usually brimming with laziness—now holding only a bone-chilling coldness.
Having lived through two lifetimes, when had Chairman Vuong ever suffered such an injustice?
The whispering gossip of his classmates and surrounding neighbors about him “buying a false reputation” and “forging his application” to get rejected by Victoria Academy felt like daggers piercing his heart.
His thick-skinned capitalist mentality remained completely unfazed by it all, but when these rumors began to implicate the entire Vuong family—along with the people who had backed him, such as his uncle and Principal Ngo, as well as homeroom teacher Ly Manh Hung—they truly crossed Vuong Minh’s ultimate bottom line.
He admitted it: he had indeed bought a false reputation and engaged in staged matches.
But all of those things operated entirely within the rules, recognized as unspoken underground laws.
Nobody had any right to point fingers.
Especially since he was no parasite; he possessed the genuine strength to match his reputation, his virtue perfectly suited to his standing.
This matter could not be let go.
Some people definitely needed to be taught a harsh lesson.
— Great Emperor Vuong swore internally.
Stepping into the living room of the Vuong estate, Vuong Thanh and Nguyen Ngoc Linh were already waiting with expressions of deep anxiety.
Like towering waves, public opinion outside was pushing the Vuong family into the spotlight, turning a notoriously prestigious household into the epicenter of public mockery.
Leaving work behind early, the two of them had hurried back and waited at home like this.
The moment she saw her son step inside, Nguyen Ngoc Linh anxiously hurried forward and grabbed his hand:
“Baby, are you alright?
Don’t worry too much; this must just be some kind of clerical error by the admissions committee.
It’ll be cleared up very soon.”
Gently patting the back of his mother’s hand with a reassuring look, Vuong Minh smiled faintly:
“Mom, don’t worry, I’m not that fragile.
Victoria didn’t choose me—that’s their loss, not mine!”
Hearing him speak with such overwhelming, overbearing dominance, the chuunibyou teenager Vuong Thanh slammed the table in excitement:
“Good!
Son, a true man should be like this!
But don’t worry, Dad will secure justice for you.
Though our Vuong family isn’t some ancient aristocratic conglomerate, not just anyone can walk all over us and trample us into the dirt.”
His face turning gloomy, Old Vuong gnashed his teeth:
“I’ve already used my connections to investigate.
It’s that old bastard Trinh Duy Hung and his eldest son Trinh Thanh Long pulling strings behind the scenes in Ha Thanh.
On one end, they bribed the admissions examiners, and on the other, they spread fabricated rumors to smear you in order to prop up their little Hieu.
That damned old fogey—if I don’t ram the Trinh Family Group so hard it turns upside down, this old man won’t rest!”
Sharing the same hatred as her husband, Nguyen Ngoc Linh’s eyes turned sharp and icy:
“Son, Mom won’t let this go either.
I’ve already called your uncle; he has reported this matter to the Provincial Department of Education and the Alliance.
Your name will be cleared very soon.”
Seeing his parents so enraged on his behalf that they were ready to risk everything, a wave of warmth washed over Vuong Minh’s heart.
But he didn’t want the two of them to damage the interests of the Vuong family or his uncle over this.
Smiling, he led the two elders back to the sofa to sit down and gently consoled them:
“Dad, Mom, calm down a bit.
I said it before—this isn’t our loss, and Victoria hasn’t necessarily locked in the examiners’ list yet.
There’s no need to go to war with them or burn through our connections just yet.
Now that the enemy has shown their hand, we might as well play along with them for a bit.”
Is this really my son?
How did he manage to project this high-level, grandmaster aura of pointing at mountains and rivers, completely unfazed even if the sky were to fall?
Stunned by the overwhelming presence exuding from a certain Great Emperor, Father and Mother Vuong failed to collect their wits for a moment.
Under their astonished gazes, Vuong Minh casually pulled out his phone, his fingers flying swiftly across the SkyWeb forum.
Using his verified official account, he directly published a scathing statement.
Not only did he refute all the rumors about a forged application, but he also publicly tagged the official accounts of Victoria Academy, the Quang Tri Department of Education, and the Alliance Education Supervisory Board.
In the post, Vuong Minh directly named and shamed Trinh Thanh Long for abusing his delegated authority to preferentially promote his younger brother Trinh Cong Hieu while intentionally suppressing genuine geniuses from Quang Binh.
He boldly demanded that the Academy re-evaluate the preliminary screening process and restore justice and transparency to the candidates.
“Alright, Mother!
Go have someone prepare dinner; don’t let this trivial matter ruin your mood.
Everything is under control—just let the bullets fly for a bit longer.”
Having finished everything, Vuong Minh calmly consoled his parents and casually headed back to his room as if nothing had happened.
Leaving Vuong Thanh, Nguyen Ngoc Linh, and Uncle Binh staring at one another, their eyes flashing with an inexplicable sense of pride and joy.
Perhaps…
their Lao Vuong family truly had ancestral smoke rising from the tombs, managing to raise a true dragon.
…..
In the days that followed,
Quang Binh remained the same Quang Binh—beautiful and vibrant.
Yet hidden beneath the surface, everyone could sense an undercurrent surging through.
Though Vuong Minh had told his parents not to rush into retaliating against the Trinh family, their relations weren’t on good terms to begin with, and now burdened with this blood feud, Old Vuong couldn’t be bothered to keep up any pretexts of politeness.
He straightforwardly threw several roadblocks in the Trinh Family Group’s path, leaving them bruised and battered.
Pharmaceutical shipments stagnated, and the roads leading to their industrial park were blocked by fleets of Thien Vuong company trucks causing massive traffic jams, causing operational efficiency to plummet straight down.
Telephones rang incessantly with crisis reports, throwing the municipal party committee’s administrative office into complete chaos.
Furthermore, Vuong Minh’s public notice acted like a match tossed into a powder keg, instantly escalating the incident to the peak of public discourse.
Not only were Quang Binh and Quang Tri Province shaken, but thanks to the power of SkyWeb, curious onlookers across the entire Blue Star Alliance also began turning their attention toward Victoria Academy’s admissions scandal.
The provincial capital, the Tran estate.
In the living room, Tran Huyen My was also watching the unfolding events with keen interest.
Having already passed the preliminary selections for Amaterasu Academy, she had no further connection to Vuong Minh, but that didn’t stop her from eating popcorn and watching him make a fool of himself:
“Dad, did Vuong Minh really forge his combat merit?”
Hearing his daughter’s question, Tran Quoc Trung lowered his newspaper, weighed his options, and replied:
“The combat merit isn’t fake; I signed the authorization myself.
But this matter involves high-level classification clauses, so outsiders can’t look up the details.”
“Is that so?”
Tran Huyen My deflated slightly:
“Could Vuong Minh actually have completed a C-rank mission?”
“What?
Does my princess still have a soft spot for that kid?”
“Dad, what nonsense are you talking about!
As if I’d ever care about an arrogant guy like him.
Seeing his daughter get as defensive as a cat whose tail was stepped on, Tran Quoc Trung didn’t dare tease her further and answered honestly:
“He assisted in completing a high-level mission and was evaluated with a C-rank merit.
That mission was originally accepted by provincial police officer Ly Phong, and with Nguyen Hung Cuong tagging along to escort and protect them, completing it was pretty normal.”
So that was it!
Getting the answer she wanted, Tran Huyen My turned her annoyance into smug laughter:
Hmph, I knew it.
A regular high school student daring to touch a C-rank combat merit—look at him dropping a rock on his own feet now.
Serves him right.
“You can’t say it like that!
Regardless of what Vuong Minh’s motives were, a combat merit is a combat merit; it’s not fake.
The people at Victoria handled this inappropriately, so nobody can blame him for filing a complaint.”
As a man of strict integrity who favored neither side, Tran Trung Trung offered an objective evaluation.
But his daughter wouldn’t listen:
“Hmph hmph, Dad, I’m not arguing with you.”
With that, the long-legged girl skipped back to her room and began sharing the gossip with her circle of friends.
And news travels on wings; it quickly reached the ears of the professional simping dog, Hoang Gia Bao.
Young Master Hoang was triumphant!
March truly was a sweet month for Brother Hoang.
He felt the goddess showing him favor, his mecha rank had advanced to Gold, his Amaterasu Academy preliminary screening had successfully passed, and now seeing Vuong Minh run into bad luck—Hoang Gia Bao felt like he was reaching climax.
During a youth mecha exchange tournament in Quang Tri, this fellow even intentionally accepted an interview regarding the Vuong Minh situation.
He deliberately avoided mentioning the time he got thrashed by Vuong Minh in the past, offering a vague, ambiguous reply instead:
“I won’t comment on whether his application was real or fake, but in the martial arts world, strength is the absolute truth.
If we actually had to step into the arena—whether for live combat or Mecha Combat—I think I could finish Vuong Minh off in a single move.
Of course, Student Vuong needs to reach the Gold tier first; otherwise, the system probably won’t be able to match us up.
Haha.”
This declaration instantly reignited fiery online debates regarding King Ming’s actual combat prowess.
Mainstream public opinion even began peddling the narrative that the Vuong family had used money to pressure the Hoang family, forcing Hoang Gia Bao to intentionally throw a match back then just to build up hype for the great young master.
They completely ignored the fact that Hoang Gia Bao’s father was the Head of the Provincial Education Department, whereas the Vuong family was merely a local nouveau riche—what leverage did they possibly have to pressure anyone?
Yet the truth didn’t matter.
To the melon-eating masses, having gossip to consume was the biggest thing in the world.
Public opinion acted like an invisible hand, trying to crush Vuong Minh and the Vuong family out of existence.
Fortunately, one of the insiders, Lam Phong, held his ground.
That brother probably still held out hope for Vuong Minh’s massive contract exceeding 100 Low-grade spirit stones, or simply because the Trinh family hadn’t paid enough.
Thus, he firmly rejected all interview requests and absolutely refused to acknowledge having ever thrown a match to Vuong Minh, allowing members of the Vuong family to recognize his precious integrity.
Only, little Lam was small in stature and light of word; he couldn’t change a thing.
Across the forums, netizens continued flooding in to mock Vuong Minh without holding back, treating him as a blot on the reputation of Quang Binh First High School and a prime representative of the privileged rich kids of today.
Every day, tens of thousands of active visitors swarmed Ming Vuong’s personal page, hurling heavy, venomous abuse.
Still, a bright spot remained: a fraction of the little fairies, utterly infatuated with the great handsome young master’s dragon-among-men appearance, stubbornly jumped out to defend their idol.
Even when Playboy Hieu used a burner account to self-expose, declaring that Young Master Vuong was GAY, those little fairies refused to abandon him.
In fact, it drove even more girls to defect and water-mouth their way back to defend him.
Some daring ones even messaged back saying they wanted to simultaneously comfort the fragile young hearts of both little brother Vuong and his boyfriend, grinding Trinh Cong Hieu’s teeth in sheer fury.
Fortunately, the number of fangirls was limited and couldn’t turn the tide.
Relying on seizing the initiative and public opinion, the Trinh family steadily suppressed Vuong Minh’s matter, gradually turning it into an established narrative.