Chapter 259: Li Luo's Business Sense

When Li Luo shot out from the Dark Spirit Pool, his heart still pounding with lingering fear, and landed somewhat in a sorry state, every gaze in the area suddenly turned toward him.

However, everyone quickly noticed that the resonant power fluctuations emanating from Li Luo's body were clearly stronger than before he had entered.

Li Luo had completed a breakthrough inside the Dark Spirit Pool, but no one knew... whether he had actually reached the thirty-eighth step.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's graceful figure flashed down, arriving beside Li Luo. She looked at the hint of fright still in his eyes and asked, "What happened?"

Li Luo's earlier racing heartbeat gradually calmed down at this point. He hesitated for a moment, unsure whether that vicious perception he had felt in the depths had been an illusion.

After all, the moment he emerged from the Dark Spirit Pool, that vicious perception had vanished completely, as if it had never appeared.

So in the end, he simply shook his head at Jiang Jiang Qinge, his expression gradually steadying.

"Did you reach the thirty-eighth step?"

Seeing this, Jiang Jiang Qinge didn't press further. She sized Li Luo up, and then a smile of relief surfaced on her exquisitely beautiful face.

She could sense the strengthened resonant power fluctuations within Li Luo — that was definitely not something an ordinary breakthrough could achieve.

Li Luo met her gaze, smiled and nodded, saying, "I was lucky enough to reach the thirty-eighth step, completed a breakthrough, and jumped two grades."

"Right now, I'm at the third pattern of the Vein Forging stage."

Whoa!

As his words fell, waves of exclamations immediately erupted around them, every gaze filled with shock.

Li Luo had actually reached the thirty-eighth step?!

And just like Jiang Jiang Qinge, he had jumped two grades during his breakthrough?!

This guy... is he really that monstrous?

Senior Qiu Bai and Tian Tian also showed a momentary daze at this moment, then exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

They hadn't expected either that Li Luo had actually done it...

"How is that possible?!"

Compared to their shock, Song Song Qiuyu couldn't help crying out, and then her face alternated between pale and green, her eyes filled with annoyance and unwillingness.

That Dark Spirit Leaf of Li Luo's had been snatched from them, and now Li Luo had leveraged it to make such progress — didn't that mean they had contributed to it as well?

At the thought of this, Song Song Qiuyu's face turned green, a surge of pent-up frustration making her chest ache.

Wang Wang Yufeng nearby also wore an expression of utter disbelief. The thirty-eighth step was a place even he couldn't reach right now, yet Li Luo, a freshman from the One-Star House, had actually done it?

But no matter how much they didn't want to believe it, the resonant power fluctuations emanating from Li Luo were indeed far stronger than before.

He must have made tremendous progress in that short span of less than an hour.

"The captain is amazing!"

The cheers of the resident cheerleader Bai Bai Mengmeng rang out, celebrating Li Luo's triumphant return.

Student Xin Fu also looked at Li Luo with a mix of envy and admiration. When they had first entered the academy, his resonant power grade had still been a notch above Li Luo's, but after this Dark Spirit Pool, Li Luo had actually surpassed him by two grades.

And despite Li Luo's previously lower resonant power grade, he had still defeated Wang Wang Hejiu. It was hard to imagine how much his combat power would rise with this latest boost.

Perhaps Li Luo was now qualified to compete with Qin Qin Zhulu for the true strongest freshman of the One-Star House.

The many students around them also looked on with envy and jealousy. Jumping two grades straight to the third pattern of the Vein Forging stage — that kind of strength would already count as outstanding even in the Two-Star House.

After all, even someone as strong as Wang Wang Yufeng was only at the fourth pattern of the Vein Forging stage right now.

And Li Luo had only been in the academy for a little over half a year, yet he was already nearly catching up. This pace was simply comparable to Jiang Jiang Qinge's.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's eyes also held a hint of joyful smile as she said, "Since you're out, we can leave now."

The trip to the Dark Spirit Pool had been extremely fruitful, and now it was time to continue their purification mission.

Li Luo heard this, but suddenly smiled and said, "Hold on a moment, I still have a deal to make."

Hearing this, a flicker of confusion passed through Jiang Jiang Qinge's eyes. But a moment later, when she saw Li Luo slowly pull a handful of very familiar-looking black leaves from his embrace, even with her composure, she was slightly taken aback.

"Ahem!"

Li Luo coughed loudly, drawing every gaze over, then shook out the handful of Dark Spirit Leaves in his hand in front of him, fanning himself with them as he did so.

The gazes converged, and then some people saw the handful of Dark Spirit Leaves in Li Luo's hand. Their first reaction was to rub their eyes, then laugh self-deprecatingly — they must want Dark Spirit Leaves so badly that they were starting to hallucinate.

How could Li Luo possibly be holding a handful of Dark Spirit Leaves?

What kind of joke is this.

Some shook their heads in self-mockery, because this sight hit them even harder than the earlier news that Li Luo had reached the thirty-eighth step.

Although the thirty-eighth step was extremely difficult, someone had reached it before. But who had ever heard of someone grabbing a handful of Dark Spirit Leaves from the depths of the Dark Spirit Pool and bringing them back?

But not everyone shared that self-denying mindset. There were still sharp-minded people who quickly came to their senses, staring fixedly at the handful of Dark Spirit Leaves in Li Luo's hand, their breathing gradually growing heavier.

Li Luo wore a faint smile and announced loudly, "Everyone, when I was going deep into the Dark Spirit Pool earlier, I discovered that Dark Spirit Tree, and was lucky enough to grab some Dark Spirit Leaves from it..."

"Mm, that's right, these here."

He gently shook the Dark Spirit Leaves in his hand, nodded at the crowd, and confirmed, "You're not seeing things, these really are Dark Spirit Leaves."

The field fell silent.

Only the sound of breathing, gradually growing Coarse and Heavy.

Pair after pair of eyes stared at the Dark Spirit Leaves in Li Luo's hand, beginning to show signs of reddening.

Senior Qiu Bai and Tian Tian also stared dumbfounded at the handful of Dark Spirit Leaves in Li Luo's hand — at this point even they couldn't help feeling a bit thrown off.

Because even they had never seen such a miraculous sight!

"How did you take these Dark Spirit Leaves off the Dark Spirit Tree? The ambient energy there is extremely dense, forming a barrier — ordinary resonant power can hardly penetrate through and reach the Dark Spirit Tree." Yet the first to voice the question was unexpectedly Jiang Jiang Qinge.

Her eyes held unconcealable surprise, because she had also reached the thirty-eighth step and naturally seen the Dark Spirit Tree below the thirty-eighth step. She had likewise tried to obtain some Dark Spirit Leaves, but had ultimately fallen just short.

"Because of dual resonant power."

Li Luo smiled and said, "The ambient energy in the depths of the Dark Spirit Pool is extremely dense. Ordinary resonant power would need absolute intensity to break through, but I can wield dual resonant power — a force above the ordinary tier of resonant power — so I got lucky and succeeded."

Jiang Jiang Qinge finally understood — so it was dual resonant power... Although Li Luo's dual resonant power was extremely shallow and crude, it was still genuine dual resonant power.

This was a high-tier force that only Marquis-stage experts could master.

The surrounding crowd also heard Li Luo's explanation, but none of that mattered anymore. They didn't care how Li Luo had obtained these Dark Spirit Leaves; they only cared about how Li Luo intended to handle them.

They also believed that Li Luo hadn't displayed these Dark Spirit Leaves simply to show off — that would be far too childish.

Because it would have drawn the crowd's wrath.

"Everyone here should be interested in these Dark Spirit Leaves, yes?"

Li Luo didn't keep them in suspense any longer. The smile on his handsome face grew warmer, and he shook the Dark Spirit Leaves — the crisp rustle drew every gaze.

"Half a bottle of Imperial Flowing Paste can be exchanged for one Dark Spirit Leaf."

"Honest dealing, no cheating — welcome to grab them while they last."