Chapter 260: Li Luo

Half a bottle of Emperor Flowing Nectar for one Dark Spirit Leaf.

When Li Luo said this, many students present widened their eyes slightly, because this price was not low.

One bottle of Emperor Flowing Nectar is worth five thousand academy points; half a bottle is two thousand five hundred points!

After all, not every team can be like Jiang Qing'e and her group, sweeping through everything; most teams have likely only conquered a single Level 1 Purification Tower so far.

According to past estimates, the vast majority of squads ultimately obtain an average of about five thousand points by the time they leave the Dark Cave.

And spending two thousand five hundred academy points is a significant cost for many people.

However, while this cost is high, if it allows one to enter the Dark Spirit Pool for cultivation, it is actually not unacceptable.

After all, the purpose of academy points is to exchange them for more cultivation resources to improve oneself, so the Dark Spirit Pool before them undoubtedly has that effect.

Some students present were starting to feel restless.

Jiang Qing'e was also left somewhat amused by Li Luo's brazen maneuver; she hadn't expected Li Luo to go to such lengths to earn Emperor Flowing Nectar.

However, these Dark Spirit Leaves were obtained through his own ability, so he could do whatever he wanted with them.

"Li Luo, these Dark Spirit Leaves were originally going to fly out with the surging energy of the Dark Spirit Pool. Now, relying on your advantage of entering the pool first, you've snatched up these leaves that belonged to everyone and are now selling them back to us at a high price. Isn't your calculation a bit too shrewd?"

Just then, a cold sneer rang out; it was Song Qiuyu.

Other students who heard this couldn't help but look strange.

Li Luo glanced at Song Qiuyu and said indifferently, "First of all, even if I took these Dark Spirit Leaves, more will continue to emerge from the Dark Spirit Pool. If anyone isn't interested in the leaves I have here, they are free to keep waiting."

"Furthermore..."

"The number of Dark Spirit Leaves that emerge from the Dark Spirit Pool each time is extremely scarce. With so many teams present, generally speaking, only squads with stronger strength like yours have the competitiveness to grab them, while most other teams will likely return empty-handed time and time again."

"And now that I can allow more squads to obtain Dark Spirit Leaves in such a simple way, you are so dissatisfied with this—is it that you don't want to see others get the chance to enter the Dark Spirit Pool for cultivation?"

Song Qiuyu's expression shifted slightly; she clearly hadn't expected Li Luo's counterattack to be so sharp. This guy was actually trying to incite opposition against them from the other squads of average strength.

"Li Luo is actually right. The wait time for Dark Spirit Leaves blown out of the pool is too long, and the quantity is so scarce each time that we can't compete for them at all. Rather than waiting here in vain, we would rather pay two thousand five hundred academy points to exchange for a leaf," a student suddenly said.

"Yes, that's right!"

"I'd also rather just use two thousand five hundred points to exchange for one!" More students chimed in; most of these students belonged to the group that could only rely on luck to compete for the leaves.

To put it bluntly... they were all underachievers.

Seeing more and more people agreeing, Song Qiuyu's face turned a bit green, and she had to swallow her words to avoid inciting public anger.

Seeing this, Li Luo felt secretly pleased.

At this moment, a student asked sheepishly, "Li Luo, we don't have the Emperor Flowing Nectar on hand to exchange at the academy right now. Can we put it on a tab and pay it back when the purification mission ends?"

Hearing this, Li Luo replied nonchalantly, "That's a small matter. I worked so hard to snatch these Dark Spirit Leaves mainly to create convenience for everyone's cultivation. If you don't have the nectar on hand now, just give me an IOU and pay it back later."

The crowd was overjoyed and began to praise him, while only Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth in secret. This guy was clearly just trying to earn academy points, yet he insisted on making it sound so high-minded.

Li Luo smiled and accepted the flattery; as long as he had the IOUs in hand, if anyone dared to default on their debt later, he would bring Sister Qing'e along to hunt them down one by one!

More and more people became interested in the Dark Spirit Leaves in Li Luo's hands, eventually leading to some scrambling. Li Luo quickly stepped in to stop it and finally settled on a lottery system to exchange the leaves.

Thus, through his maneuvering, seven squads finally obtained their desired Dark Spirit Leaves.

These squads were all beaming with joy and excitement; after all, the energy in the Dark Spirit Pool is limited each time it opens, and entering earlier means better cultivation results.

Meanwhile, Wang Yufeng, Song Qiuyu, and the others had rather ugly expressions. Since they didn't know when the next wave of Dark Spirit Leaves would appear, didn't that mean they would have to wait for these people to finish their energy infusion before they could enter the pool?

By then, the cultivation effect would truly be at its worst.

Li Luo tucked the seven IOUs into his robe with satisfaction. This was three and a half bottles of Emperor Flowing Nectar—seventeen thousand five hundred academy points secured. This would greatly alleviate the pressure of his one-hundred-thousand-point goal.

Beside him, Bai Mengmeng and Xin Fu looked at him with admiration. Although there were few people who could reach the thirty-eighth tier of the Dark Spirit Pool, they weren't non-existent, but Li Luo was truly the first person since the founding of the Astral Sage College to have plucked a handful of Dark Spirit Leaves after coming out of the pool.

"Impressive."

Even Tian Tian sighed, her pretty face filled with admiration.

Qiu Bai also shook his head, unable to laugh or cry. This time, they had truly had their eyes opened.

Li Luo sold all seven Dark Spirit Leaves, clapped his hands, and then walked toward Wang Yufeng, Song Qiuyu, and Tifa Jingming with a smile.

Seeing him approach, the three of them immediately put on guarded expressions.

"Li Luo, what else do you want?" Wang Yufeng stepped forward and said coldly.

Li Luo smiled as he glanced at Song Qiuyu. This woman had been disgusting him for a long time, and he wasn't the type to let a grudge go unavenged—though sometimes, revenge didn't necessarily require force.

"Do you want to buy a Dark Spirit Leaf?" he asked with a smile.

As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Yufeng, Song Qiuyu, and Tifa Jingming all looked at him in astonishment. Previously, they had actually wanted to buy the leaves from Li Luo, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it, and they felt Li Luo wouldn't sell to them anyway.

So, seeing Li Luo sell out all seven leaves, they couldn't help but feel some regret. Although they might still be able to snatch leaves flying out of the pool later, the timing was too uncertain, and most importantly... this current batch of people would consume the heaven and earth energy in the pool in advance.

Therefore, even if they managed to snatch a leaf later, the cultivation effect would be discounted when they entered.

Two thousand five hundred points wasn't expensive for them; if possible, they would certainly prefer to enter the Dark Spirit Pool sooner.

"What do you mean? You still have Dark Spirit Leaves?" Wang Yufeng asked.

"I have one last one left," Li Luo nodded with a smile.

Wang Yufeng was stunned. He looked at Li Luo with suspicion and exchanged a glance with the silent Song Qiuyu. Li Luo really had one left... what was he trying to do?

Song Qiuyu looked at Li Luo's handsome, smiling face, feeling a faint sense of unease in her heart.

"Are you buying or not? Half a bottle of Emperor Flowing Nectar, no credit." Li Luo asked with a smile.

Wang Yufeng's expression shifted slightly. He remained silent for a few seconds. Half a bottle of Emperor Flowing Nectar was a small issue for them, but he really couldn't believe Li Luo would be so kind.

Yet, they were reluctant to give up this Dark Spirit Leaf.

Wang Yufeng looked at Song Qiuyu, who gave an almost imperceptible nod.

So he said, "No problem."

Li Luo smiled and pulled the last Dark Spirit Leaf from his robe. As he took it out, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, this Dark Spirit Leaf seems to have a defect."

The three of them looked over and saw that the last leaf in Li Luo's hand was actually only half a piece.

And this half-leaf was clearly not enough for three people to share; at best, it could only be used by two.

But their squad had three people.

Li Luo sighed and said with some regret, "Although it has a defect, it can barely be used..."

He raised his hand and asked, "Do you still want it?"

The three of them stared at the damaged Dark Spirit Leaf in Li Luo's hand, their expressions becoming extremely complex.

Especially Song Qiuyu; she stared fixedly at Li Luo, finally understanding exactly what kind of thoughts the other party was harboring.