Chapter 1066: Commotion

After reaching the so-called wager with Vice Dean Wu Yu, Li Luo departed directly with Mentor Xi Chan.

After they left, Vice Dean Qing Man finally cast a glance at Wu Yu and said unhurriedly, "That Li Luo was clearly trying to provoke you, and you actually fell for it?"

"So what? Just a junior. Even if he's wrapped in the tiger-skin of Li Li Tianwang's lineage, this is the Tianyuan Ancient Academy, not his Dragon Fang Lineage." Vice Dean Wu Yu said flatly.

"With the strength of a mere five-star Tian Zhu Jing, wanting to rely on himself alone to claim a first-class quota from so many Holy Academies is far too arrogant."

Qing Man smiled and said, "This Li Luo is no ordinary fellow. In the Spirit Phase Cave Heaven, he suppressed Qin Yi, General Zhao and other peers of his generation, and now he's even left a mark on the Fenghua Ranking."

"Just borrowed external power." Vice Dean Wu Yu was not surprised—clearly he had long known of this intelligence.

"I see that Li Luo came prepared. He's also cunning, deliberately using Pang Pang Qianyuan to provoke you—clearly he wanted to lure you into his trap." Qing Man couldn't help but laugh as she spoke, saying, "Setting a trap for a king-level expert, that's quite a bold junior."

"Boldness alone won't take the resources of our Tianyuan Ancient Academy." Vice Dean Wu Yu's expression remained flat.

Li Luo's talent and strength were indeed extraordinary—Vice Dean Wu Yu wouldn't completely deny that—but these things could not change the difficult situation Li Luo was about to face.

Li Luo was now a three-star academy student of the Holy Academies. This level of strength, not to mention among the same academy-tier students of the many Holy Academies, even within the Ancient Academy would count as top-tier. But unfortunately, in the "Academy-Tier Evaluation," what he faced was not just students of the same tier, but also those four-star academy students, even the "Title Students" that the major Holy Academies had poured their efforts into cultivating.

These "Title Students" were the true roadblocks.

Qing Man glanced at Wu Yu and said, "After all these years, you still hold onto the grudges between you and Pang Pang Qianyuan. If you keep acting like this, when Lan Lan Lingzi returns, I'm afraid he'll come after you."

Wu Yu frowned and said, "Everything I do follows the academy's rules. What can Lan Lan Lingzi say? The Holy Academies destroyed over these years aren't just his Sacred Mystic Star Academy."

"You're the managing vice dean, so what you say goes." Vice Dean Qing Man didn't argue with him—she didn't want to get involved in the grievances between Wu Yu, Pang Pang Qianyuan, and Lan Lan Lingzi.

Wu Yu didn't mind and continued, "The Academy-Tier Evaluation will be set for three days from now."

Vice Dean Qing Man gave a faint smile. This timing was already considered early. Clearly, although Wu Yu claimed not to care much about Li Luo, he didn't want to lose either. Of course, more likely it was because if he lost, he'd have to dig into his own pocket to make up double the resources.

Given Wu Yu's status, he wasn't exactly heartbroken over these resources. Although they were indeed quite valuable, with Wu Yu's wealth he could naturally afford it. But... if these resources fell into the hands of the Sacred Mystic Star Academy, it would be equivalent to funding Pang Pang Qianyuan, and that was something Wu Yu found somewhat unacceptable.

She didn't say anything more and turned to leave directly.

After Qing Man departed, Wu Yu waved his hand, and Elder Wang Ling stepped into the council hall, came to his side, and bowed in salute.

"Spread the news that Li Luo will represent the Sacred Mystic Star Academy alone in the 'Academy-Tier Evaluation,' and that he intends to claim a first-class quota. I want every Holy Academy participating in this 'Academy-Tier Evaluation' to know about this." Wu Yu ordered casually.

Elder Wang Ling responded respectfully. Once this news spread, the other Holy Academies would likely be shocked. After all, having a single person represent a Holy Academy in an "Evaluation" was extremely rare—let alone the fact that Li Luo wanted to claim a first-class quota. How would the teams of the other Holy Academies view this?

Do they take us for soft clay to be molded?

Especially the Holy Academies of the Inner Shenzhou. They were accustomed to looking down on the Holy Academies of the Outer Shenzhou with a sense of superiority. In the past twenty years of Academy-Tier Evaluations, the first-class quotas had all been controlled by the Inner Shenzhou Holy Academies—how could they possibly allow an Outer Shenzhou Holy Academy to touch them?

So once this news spread, Li Luo would surely attract a lot of hatred. When the Academy-Tier Evaluation began, Li Luo would also face a great deal of targeting.

Watching Elder Wang Ling depart, Wu Yu slowly turned the crimson beads in his hand, through which fire-pattern veins flowed. The two crimson beads gently collided, and the terrifying fluctuations faintly emanating from them were like meteor-stars crashing into each other.

"Since the young man likes to show off, I'll help him show off to his heart's content."

Tianyuan Ancient Academy, Outer Academy District.

This was where many Holy Academies had set up camp, naturally forming various gathering and exchange spots.

However, because there were too many Holy Academy teams, various circles naturally formed. For instance, the Inner Shenzhou Holy Academies held themselves in high esteem and didn't interact much with the Outer Shenzhou Holy Academy teams. The Outer Shenzhou Holy Academies naturally didn't want to press their warm faces against cold backsides, so the two sides ended up clearly separated.

In a lakeside area, Holy Academy teams from the Eastern Region Shenzhou often gathered here to spar with each other. Back in the Eastern Region Shenzhou, these Holy Academies had regarded each other as competitors, but now in this unfamiliar foreign land, their bonds had actually deepened somewhat.

In a lakeside pavilion, a group of energetic young men were shouting and making a ruckus, exuding an air of vitality.

By the window, a group of young people had gathered, all of striking appearance and bearing—quite eye-catching within this pavilion.

If Li Luo were here, he would recognize some familiar faces among those seated.

Jing Jing Taixu, Lu Ming, Sun Sun Dasheng... these one-star academy prodigies who had once crossed blades in the Holy Cup Battle had now all advanced to the three-star academy, their strength far beyond what it once was.

"Damn it, these Inner Shenzhou Holy Academies are way too arrogant! I went looking for a spar and they completely ignored me!" a burly youth gripping a dark iron staff said indignantly.

The youth had a wild, untamed look, his eyes brimming with wildness. It was Sun Sun Dasheng, who had once fought Li Luo. He was from the Sacred Mountain Academy.

This Sun Sun Dasheng had an impatient personality. Since arriving at the Tianyuan Ancient Academy, he had been seeking out spars everywhere—a true Wu Chi.

Beside him, Lu Ming yawned. She rested her chin on one hand, while on her other slender, jade-like hand, Lei Guang flickered. As the Lei Guang flashed, it transformed into bolts of Lei Ting butterflies that danced around her fingertips.

"They've made it clear they don't want anything to do with you, yet you keep going. You're just asking for it." Lu Ming said lazily.

"Even if you fought, you wouldn't win. Why embarrass yourself?" another youth in blue said flatly, leaning against the window and gazing at the lake outside.

"What did you just say?!" Jing Jing Taixu!" Sun Sun Dasheng roared in anger.

The youth in blue was none other than Jing Jing Taixu, who had once vied with Li Luo for the title of strongest one-star academy student in the Holy Cup Battle. He glanced at Sun Sun Dasheng and said, "Coming to the Tianyuan Ancient Academy this time, I've come to understand the gap between the Outer Shenzhou and the Inner Shenzhou. Clearly our talent is no weaker than theirs, yet their strength is somehow a whole tier above ours."

"We're already considered the cream of the three-star academy, but now we've only temporarily broken through to the Extreme Sha Realm just to represent our academy in the fight for resources. Our Sha Gang has only been nurtured for a dozen or so zhang, but I hear that the top three-star academy students from those Inner Shenzhou Holy Academies all have Sha Gang exceeding thirty zhang..."

His words were flat, tinged with a hint of dejection. Clearly, his exchanges with other Inner Shenzhou Holy Academy teams during this period had left him somewhat discouraged.

Hearing his words, everyone fell somewhat silent, because this was indeed a rather cruel fact.

"I think for this year's 'Academy-Tier Evaluation,' our Outer Shenzhou Holy Academies will probably only be able to scrape by with third-class quotas again." A four-star academy student said with a bitter smile, then looked at the person beside him and said, "Lu Lu Jinci, your seven-star Tian Zhu Jing strength makes you one of the top-tier fighters on our side, but I heard that the strongest students sent by those three Inner Shenzhou Holy Academies have even stepped into the Xiao Tian Xiang Jing. How can we compete?"

Hearing this, the youth named Lu Lu Jinci could only shrug helplessly and said, "What can we do? Unless that big sister from the Holy Cup Battle is here—otherwise, I don't think anyone can compare with those Inner Shenzhou fellows."

Everyone knew who he was referring to as the big sister from the Holy Cup Battle. Besides Jiang Jiang Qinge, who had suppressed Lu Lu Jinci in the Holy Cup Battle and claimed the title of strongest three-star academy student, who else could it be?

Because if Jiang Jiang Qinge were here, she should now be representing the four-star academy.

"Sigh, but unfortunately, I heard the Sacred Mystic Star Academy has already been destroyed, and there's been no news of Jiang Jiang Qinge or Li Luo. They probably can't come to participate in this Academy-Tier Evaluation," someone said.

Everyone's expression turned somewhat gloomy, because over these years, more than one Holy Academy from their Eastern Region Shenzhou had been destroyed.

"Li Luo..."

Lu Ming sighed softly. In her mind flashed the image of that handsome, extraordinarily talented youth from back then. She wondered if he was still alive now.

Just as everyone fell silent, some commotion suddenly rose from below the pavilion, then kept spreading, causing a great deal of noise to erupt.

"What's going on?" Sun Sun Dasheng craned his neck curiously.

Soon someone brought the news over, his face full of shock and disbelief: "It seems to be news from the Sacred Mystic Star Academy. They've also sent someone to participate in this 'Academy-Tier Evaluation,' and they only sent one person. They're saying that one person will take part in the evaluation competition!"

Lu Lu Jinci, Jing Jing Taixu, Lu Ming and the others all showed looks of astonishment.

"One person participating?!"

Lu Lu Jinci's expression shifted and he said, "Could it be Jiang Jiang Qinge? I wonder what level she's reached now. If she's also stepped into the Xiao Tian Xiang Jing, one person might not be out of the question."

The messenger shook his head, his face full of doubt.

"Not Jiang Jiang Qinge, it's Li Luo of the Three Star Hall!"

"And he has also put the word out that in this academy-level assessment, he will definitely claim a first-rank quota for the Holy Mystic Star Academy!"

The moment these words were spoken, everyone widened their eyes, faces revealing expressions of utter disbelief.

"Li Luo?!"

"He's participating alone?!"

"He still wants to claim a first-rank quota?!"

"Has he lost his mind?!"

One after another, voices rising higher and higher rang out jarringly within the tower, then stirred up an even greater uproar.