Chapter 184: The Shen Jinxiao Plan

Boom!

When the final rankings for the new students were confirmed, a firework shot into the sky and exploded, forming four large characters.

Justice Team.

"Wow, so beautiful, Captain! The whole academy probably knows about our Justice Team now!" Bai Bai Mengmeng gazed happily at the sky, the fireworks reflected in her bright, sparkling eyes, dazzlingly brilliant.

Li Luo stared at the fireworks and smirked dismissively. "All this pointless show."

This firework was just to satisfy the students' vanity—no real benefit at all. Bad review!

Student Xin Fu nodded in agreement; he too disliked such public exposure and was about to voice his support for the captain.

But before he could speak, Li Luo's voice came again: "The real problem is this firework's too small. If they could make one visible all the way to Daya City, that'd show real sincerity."

Student Xin Fu swallowed his words, gave Li Luo a blank look, and thought: Captain, I really overestimated you—you're still just as shallow.

Boom!

At that moment, another firework suddenly burst above the Shengxuan Star Academy, revealing another team name.

Fire Immortal Team.

Li Luo and the others looked over in surprise—the direction was where the two-star academy's competition was held. Clearly, this "Fire Immortal Team" was the top team from that division.

This reminded Li Luo of Ye Ye Qiuding, whom he'd met while with Jiang Jiang Qinge. I wonder if that guy's in this Fire Immortal Team?

He'd also heard the three-star academy's competition had ended—the first-place team was called the Black Swan Team. No need to guess—this was definitely Jiang Jiang Qinge's team.

As for the four-star academy, it was said the senior students no longer participated in these ranking battles. After all, many talented prodigies had already reached the Earth Demon General realm, and some top ones had even entered the Heaven Gang General realm. Such strength, anywhere in Daya City, qualified them as elite backbone—unignorable.

For them, these student battles lacked the blood and fire needed for true cultivation.

While the new students were distracted by the Fire Immortal Team's fireworks, Instructor Xi Chan stepped forward. Li Luo's gleaming eyes instantly locked onto the purple jade slip in her hand—and his heart leapt.

Though her face was veiled in black silk, Li Luo felt she was smiling at him, then a soft voice rang out: "The winning team will also receive an additional Hou-level energy guidance technique: Twelve Brocade. Worth three thousand academy points."

"But since there's only one energy guidance technique, only one member of your team may choose it; the other two will each receive an extra three thousand points."

Envious glances shot toward them. Twelve Brocade was a special Hou-level guidance technique, cultivable by those with a Sixth-Rank Phase—highly attractive to many with Sixth-Rank Phases. But its exchange cost of three thousand points deterred most students early on; by the time they saved enough, they'd likely already advanced to the two-star academy.

After all, not every team could be like Li Luo's Purple Radiance Team, consistently earning thousands of points in every ranking battle.

Even if you didn't need Twelve Brocade, you could exchange it for an equivalent three thousand academy points—still a massive gain.

Amid the envious stares, Li Luo, as team captain, stepped forward, solemnly took Twelve Brocade from Instructor Xi Chan, then turned to the group and said gravely: "Today, I received this award mainly to thank Shen..."

But before he finished, a strange pressure surged from the space around him, making his breath suddenly choke.

Fortunately, the pressure lasted only a few breaths—Instructor Xi Chan sensed it, stepped forward, and crushed the pressure beneath her foot.

Instructor Xi Chan gazed coolly at Shen Shen Jinxiao. "Shen Shen Jinxiao, you have no right to prevent a student from delivering an award speech."

Shen Shen Jinxiao smiled faintly, said nothing, but fixed Li Luo with a dark, piercing stare—silent, yet an invisible pressure settled over Li Luo.

Clearly, this was a warning.

A signal for Li Luo to stop while ahead, not to overreach.

Li Luo naturally understood Shen Shen Jinxiao's message. He stared back, then smiled. Threat? A sealed marquis strength, reduced to warning him with just a glance—means the man is out of options.

The Purple Radiance Instructor status of Shengxuan Star Academy gave Shen Shen Jinxiao many reasons to target him—but it also restricted his methods.

Otherwise, at this moment, a sealed marquis could just crush him with one palm—he would have no chance to escape.

But since you're reduced to glaring, I'm not afraid...

So Li Luo coughed and laughed: "Actually, there's nothing much to say."

The Purple Radiance instructors who'd been waiting for drama raised their eyebrows, slightly disappointed—they'd hoped for a show, but Li Luo seemed intimidated.

As others shook their heads, Li Luo spoke again: "First, I still want to thank Instructor Shen Shen Jinxiao for personally funding extra benefits for us new students. So I'd like to sincerely say one thing to Instructor Shen Shen Jinxiao..."

"Keep going! Don't stop!"

Many new students clapped and cheered: "Don't stop! Don't stop!"

These students didn't understand the hidden meaning behind Li Luo's words—they didn't know why Shen Shen Jinxiao had taken Twelve Brocade. They only knew: this time, Instructor Shen Shen Jinxiao had funded new student benefits. Even though they didn't get the benefit, they still applauded: Shen Shen Jinxiao, awesome!

Such benefits? Definitely shouldn't stop!

Dozens of eyes turned toward Shen Shen Jinxiao, filled with anticipation.

Li Luo smiled warmly. "Instructor Shen Shen Jinxiao's generosity—I boldly petition: I hope you'll continue this spirit of encouragement. The points don't matter—it's the encouragement itself."

"I've even named the initiative: 'The Shen Jinxiao Plan!'"

More new students nodded in agreement; their hopeful gazes toward Shen Shen Jinxiao grew even stronger.

"Instructor Shen Shen Jinxiao," Li Luo looked at him sincerely, "could you fulfill this small, immature request of ours?"

Under all those stares, Shen Shen Jinxiao's eyelid twitched slightly; deep in his dark eyes, fury surged.

This little brat Li Luo—truly, he kills without a blade...

With just a few words, he'd forced Shen Shen Jinxiao to keep funding extra rewards for these ranking battles? Sure, once or twice didn't matter—but over one or two years, this would add up to a massive sum.

Worse, while ordinary students didn't know the reason, the other instructors would laugh themselves sick at this "Shen Jinxiao Plan."

He glanced at Xi Chan, Cao Sheng, and others—they remained silent, eyes scanning elsewhere, as if they hadn't heard Li Luo. But Shen Shen Jinxiao sharply noticed the suppressed laughter in their eyes.

Who could've imagined that the small trap Shen Shen Jinxiao set for Li Luo had turned into a grave for himself?

Shen Shen Jinxiao's gaze shifted, then settled into calm. "Your suggestion is good. But this isn't trivial. If it's long-term, it requires the Deputy Dean's approval."

"I'll discuss it with Deputy Dean Su Xin and give you an answer later."

After saying that, he turned and walked away.

Li Luo smiled, waving. "Alright, Instructor Shen Shen Jinxiao, take your time—I'll be asking you regularly about the progress of the 'Shen Jinxiao Plan!'"

Far away, Shen Shen Jinxiao's figure seemed to stumble slightly in the moonlight.

Instructor Xi Chan and the other Purple Radiance instructors exchanged silent smiles, glanced at Li Luo, said nothing, and waved goodbye before departing.

"Li Luo, you won first place, and today's the Mid-Moon Festival—aren't you going to celebrate?"

A clear voice rang out—Lü Qing'er walked over, her slender, graceful figure rising and falling in the moonlight, her bare white legs beneath the short skirt brighter than the moonlight itself.

Walking along the way, she drew quite a few gazes from the opposite sex.

Li Luo looked up at the bright moon hanging in the sky upon hearing this, and felt a slight daze. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival again, a day for family reunion, which made him think of Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan.

He wondered how they were faring now in the King-Marquis battlefield...

His emotions churned within, but in the end Li Luo suppressed them. Such worry was useless; the only thing he could do now was to grow stronger as fast as possible, because only by stepping into the King-Marquis Realm could he go search for traces of his parents.

He looked at Lv Qing'er and smiled.

"Made a small haul today. Call Yu Lang, Zhao Kuo and the rest... I'll give them a chance to treat the champion captain to a meal. Tell them they absolutely must seize this opportunity."