Chapter 21: Preliminary Examination

Around the wooden platform on the Phase Force Tree, the air was filled with a constant buzz of chatter, and all the students except those from the First Courtyard were clicking their tongues in admiration.

No one had expected this outcome.

At first, everyone had assumed today's match was merely the First Courtyard's excuse to seize the five golden leaves from the Second Courtyard, but who could have known that Li Luo alone would single-handedly overturn all three of the First Courtyard's Six-Seal Realm students.

This truly was a rare and wonderful show.

The key point was that it was also laced with a great deal of dramatic effect. For instance, Li Luo had originally been demoted from the First Courtyard to the Second on the grounds that he was born with an empty phase and had limited potential...

But given the phase affinity and strength Li Luo had suddenly revealed, the instructor Lin Feng over at the First Courtyard must be feeling quite complicated, right?

As the students marveled, they couldn't help but reassess Li Luo on the platform. Could this once-fallen figure be rising once more? But right now... wasn't it a little too late?

The chatter continued unabated, while the First Courtyard side was comparatively much quieter, its students exchanging glances, their expressions equally complicated.

Ti Ti Faqing stared blankly at Li Luo's figure, and only after a moment did she say, somewhat incredulously, "Wasn't he born with an empty phase? How could a phase affinity suddenly appear?"

Song Song Yunfeng's face was expressionless; he was equally unable to answer this question.

"An acquired phase is extremely rare, but not unheard of. Some special natural treasures can cause one to be born with an acquired phase, though they are exceedingly scarce—our Great Xia Kingdom has gone centuries without seeing one. Still, Li Luo's parents are two outstanding figures, so it's not impossible they found a way." Lv Qing'er spoke from the side.

The Gold Dragon Treasure House dealt in an extremely wide range of items, and Lv Qing'er's second uncle was the head of the Gold Dragon Treasure House in Nanfeng City, so through constant exposure she was privy to many things ordinary people did not know.

"If he had such a natural treasure, why did he wait until now to use it?" Ti Ti Faqing asked.

"Perhaps it required some special conditions. As for the specifics, I don't know either." Lv Qing'er replied with a faint smile.

Ti Ti Faqing was silent for a moment, then finally said, "This guy—is he really about to flip over from being a salted fish?"

Her tone carried a hint of complexity. The Ti Fa family she belonged to naturally had some interest conflicts with Lu Lan Mansion, but far less than the Song family. She had no particular grudge against Li Luo either; the only thing that displeased her was Li Luo's engagement to Jiang Jiang Qinge.

"It's not that easy."

Song Song Yunfeng said flatly, "Li Luo's phase should be a water phase. From his fight with Bei Kun just now, we can roughly guess its grade—somewhere between Fifth and Sixth Ranks. A phase affinity of this level, while decent, is far from outstanding."

"And his phase force level is at the Five-Seal Realm tier... do you really think a Five-Seal Realm practitioner with a Fifth or Sixth Rank phase is all that remarkable?"

Ti Ti Faqing nodded thoughtfully. With this configuration, he wouldn't even crack the top ten in the First Courtyard. Even if Li Luo had exceptional talent in phase arts cultivation, reaching that once-dazzling level would still be very difficult.

Of course, the most important thing was that the Academy Grand Examination was less than a month away... could Li Luo really catch up in such a short time?

To this, Ti Ti Faqing could only say it was impossible.

Thinking of this, Ti Ti Faqing seemed to quietly heave a sigh of relief within her heart. For a moment, even she didn't know whether she truly wished to see Li Luo rise again.

Lv Qing'er did not join their conversation; her beautiful eyes lingered on Li Luo.

You've finally resolved the empty phase problem... so in the time that remains, can you really catch up?

As the many students boiled with excitement, up on the high platform, the senior members of Nanfeng Academy were rather quiet.

Even Xu Xu Shanyue himself was somewhat taken aback by the current outcome.

As for Lin Feng, he hadn't said another word from start to finish, his expressionless face as stiff as a wooden stake.

The other instructors only occasionally let their gazes drift toward Lin Feng, a hint of amusement in their eyes.

In the end, it was the old headmaster who clapped his hands and laughed, "Worthy son of those two, isn't this what they call a late bloomer?"

Lin Feng said flatly, "Headmaster, you may have used the wrong term. The strength of a Five-Seal Realm practitioner and a water phase that appears to be Fifth or Sixth Rank—by no measure does that qualify as a great talent."

The old headmaster shook his head. He naturally knew Lin Feng was perhaps feeling a bit sour, so he immediately laughed, "You're just too proud. You'll suffer for it sooner or later."

Lin Feng neither agreed nor disagreed, then looked toward Xu Xu Shanyue and said, "This time my First Courtyard was outmatched. The ten golden leaves will be handed over in full. Those brats lacked the ability to hold onto them, so letting them pay a price is fine."

Xu Xu Shanyue mocked, "I thought you were going to say let Li Luo return to the First Courtyard."

Lin Feng chuckled dryly upon hearing this and said, "You overthink it. As I said before, he doesn't count as any great talent, and my First Courtyard doesn't lack one ordinary student. What he should be thinking about now is whether he can catch up in the less than a month remaining, and then meet the admission requirements of the Holy Mystic Star Academy."

Indeed, although Li Luo's sudden water phase had caught him somewhat off guard, if one were to talk about regret, he truly didn't feel any.

After all, this water phase had come far too late. Li Luo right now was only at the Five-Seal Realm phase force level, and on top of that, the water phase wasn't necessarily all that high-grade either. So in Lin Feng's view, Li Luo had merely struggled halfway out of that mud pit; as for wanting to stand at the peak once more—did he really think the outstanding students of his First Courtyard were just for show?

And most importantly, the Academy Grand Examination was approaching, and Li Luo no longer had much time to catch up. If he missed this chance, he would miss the Holy Mystic Star Academy's age requirement. In that case, would Lin Feng even need to care what achievements Li Luo might have in the future?

Losing the chance to enter the Holy Mystic Star Academy would be a loss Li Luo could hardly make up for, and this would not change just because he was the young mansion master of Lu Lan Mansion.

Thinking these thoughts, Lin Feng's demeanor grew even more casual.

At this moment, the old headmaster waved Li Luo over from the platform. Seeing this, Li Luo deliberated briefly, then walked along the wooden platform up to the viewing stand.

"Good day, Headmaster." Li Luo greeted with a smile.

The old headmaster gazed at Li Luo with a kindly smile and asked, "Has your empty phase problem been resolved?"

Li Luo nodded and said, "Yes, it's a Fifth-Rank water phase."

Upon hearing "Fifth-Rank water phase," Lin Feng couldn't help but smile faintly and said, "Li Luo, this water phase grade counts as middling, but with a bit more effort, you can still achieve something in the future."

"There's no need for Instructor Lin Feng to worry about that. While phase affinity grade does influence phase force cultivation, in this world, it is not necessarily true that a Fifth-Rank phase cannot ennobles one as a marquis or king." Li Luo replied.

Lin Feng said with amusement, "A Fifth-Rank phase, ennobled as a marquis or king? Truly the naivety of a child—to believe even this?"

The old headmaster waved his hand, halting Lin Feng's words, and instead said to Li Luo, "It's best that you have this confidence, but the Academy Grand Examination is less than a month away. If you want to catch up, you'll need to put in far more effort."

Li Luo nodded: "Understood."

The old headmaster gave a few more instructions, then let Li Luo go. Taking advantage of the crowd, he announced to everyone, "The Academy Grand Examination is less than a month away, so in two weeks, the academy will hold a preliminary examination. Additionally, this year's baseline requirement from the Holy Mystic Star Academy has been released—phase force level must be no lower than Seven-Seal Realm."

At these words, wails immediately rose from all sides, many students' faces falling into dejection. No lower than Seven-Seal Realm was an extremely high threshold for them.

Only a few top students in the First Courtyard wore faint smiles on their faces.

As the foremost academy in Great Xia, and even considered a leading institution among the surrounding nations, the Holy Mystic Star Academy naturally could not be entered by just anyone.

"No lower than Seven-Seal Realm..."

Li Luo smacked his lips, not particularly surprised by this. He was currently only at Five-Seal Realm, two stages away from that. It seemed the next half month would truly require frenzied cultivation.

And Seven-Seal Realm was only the baseline requirement—there would surely be further competition after that. So if Li Luo wanted to play it safe, he felt he would probably need to further enhance his "Water-Light Phase."

However, the gap between a Fifth-Rank phase and Sixth Rank was no small matter. Li Luo estimated that if he really went all out, Lu Lan Mansion's income from Tian Shu Prefecture would be devoured clean by him alone.

As Li Luo was pondering, the students on the platform gradually dispersed amid their wailing, and he suddenly noticed someone walking up beside him.

Li Luo turned his head and saw Lv Qing'er looking at him with a calm expression.

"Congratulations, Young Mansion Master," she said.

When Li Luo saw her, he instinctively wanted to dodge, but his foot had barely moved when he awkwardly stopped.

"Hi, hi there," Li Luo offered the most perfunctory greeting.

"Not running away anymore?" Lü Qing'er said.

"I really wasn't dodging," Li Luo said awkwardly.

Lü Qing'er made no reply, then said: "Li Luo, I'm grateful you once guided me in physiognomy, but I think you shouldn't have been so childish hiding from me all these years—I never took your position, and you should know this position isn't given by anyone; it must be seized by strength."

"Li Luo, I am now the top student of the Southern Wind Academy. If you want to reclaim this position, come defeat me. Earlier, I held back these words out of concern for your sensitive feelings, but now that you've resolved the Kong Xiang issue, if you're still a man, you should take back everything you lost."

Li Luo nodded with a bitter smile: "Then… I'll try my best."

Lü Qing'er smiled, then Li Luo saw a cold, faintly irritated glint flow through her eyes.

"I'm waiting for you… Also, I'll tell you—your behavior these past years has greatly diminished my admiration for you, so if the chance arises…"

She paused there, but her icy gaze had already said everything.

With those words, she turned and walked away.

Li Luo watched her back, helplessly shaking his head—he'd clearly offended Lü Qing'er this time. Sure enough, the prettier the woman, the more petty she is!

As he sighed, he suddenly felt a gaze prickling at his back, like thorns, and turned his head.

He saw a figure on a nearby wooden platform staring at him with cold eyes, filled with a warning.

It was Song Song Yunfeng, the current second-ranked student of the First Yard.

Their gazes met—Song Song Yunfeng's eyes brimmed with sharpness and aggression; then he sneered, shook his head, and moved his lips in silent speech.

"Li Luo, don't cause trouble. Stay away from Lü Qing'er."

He believed Li Luo would understand his lip movements—he thought this was basic conduct.

But Li Luo, not far away, frowned and muttered to himself: "What's this idiot doing? If you want to say something, just shout it out! Moving your lips like that, like a rat sneaking grain—who knows what you're even saying?"

Unable to decipher what the man was up to, Li Luo finally shook his head, too lazy to pay this guy any more attention, and turned away.

On the wooden platform, Song Song Yunfeng watched Li Luo's retreating figure, his eyes narrowing slightly, dark and brooding.

To ignore me like this? How arrogant.

Li Luo's earlier gaze reminded him of when Li Luo was at the peak of his glory in the Southern Wind Academy—back then, Li Luo shone brilliantly.

But…

Song Song Yunfeng's hand involuntarily clenched the wooden pole, cracking it with deep fissures.

What are you pretending to be…? Do you really think a Fifth-Rank Physiognomy can restore you to your former glory?