Chapter 283: Headmaster Pang Pang Qianyuan

Gulp.

Li Luo swallowed hard, his eyes filled with shock as he stared at the middle-aged man in blue robes and white brows before him. Beneath that abyss-like gaze, every secret he possessed seemed laid bare.

The middle-aged man on the bluestone looked at Li Luo's startled expression and gave a gentle smile. "You're Li Luo, yes? My name is Pang Pang Qianyuan, I'm the headmaster of the Sacred Sun Star Academy."

Li Luo blinked. Pang Pang Qianyuan — so that was the headmaster's name.

He put on a smile. "Headmaster, your great name is like thunder to my ears. I've always heard everyone in the academy say the headmaster is a divine being. Seeing you today, the reputation is well deserved."

Meeting a King-level powerhouse for the first time, Li Luo had no idea what posture to strike. But no matter what — flatter first, show respect.

"Oh? I haven't shown myself in the academy for quite some years now. There shouldn't be many students in the Sacred Sun Star Academy who've actually seen me, right?" Pang Pang Qianyuan said with a smile.

"Uh..."

Li Luo felt a little awkward. I was just saying it off the cuff, old man, why take it so seriously?

Pang Pang Qianyuan looked at Li Luo with a beaming smile. "The boy has a sweet mouth. No one in the past has called me a divine being, but there have been those who cursed me as a charlatan."

Li Luo frowned. "That person must have been jealous of your achievements, Headmaster. You need not mind them. Give it a few years, then we'll see how they fare."

Pang Pang Qianyuan nodded. "That person's name is Li Taixuan."

"Li Tai—"

Li Luo was about to say something when his voice suddenly cut off. His expression went through a remarkable series of changes as he stared at the smiling headmaster, and he said with a bitter laugh, "Li Taixuan... my old man?"

Pang Pang Qianyuan nodded.

Li Luo didn't quite know what to say, so he could only laugh dryly. "My old man sure has some nerve."

The old man seems a bit crazy. This Pang Pang Qianyuan is, after all, a King-level powerhouse, and he just cursed the man as a charlatan — wasn't he afraid of getting beaten up?

"Li Taixuan, well... a fierce dragon crossing the river. His courage is naturally extraordinary," Pang Pang Qianyuan said with a smile.

Li Luo gave another dry laugh. The old man was only at the marquis level — how could he be called a fierce dragon crossing the river in front of a King-level powerhouse like Pang Pang Qianyuan?

As if reading Li Luo's thoughts, Pang Pang Qianyuan smiled faintly and said meaningfully, "Although a King-level powerhouse is one step above your old man, your old man's background is no small matter either."

Li Luo was stunned, and said, a little unconvinced, "No matter how strong the background, can it really compare to the Academy Alliance?"

Pang Pang Qianyuan said with a smile, "The Academy Alliance is indeed one of the most top-tier powers in this world, but... it isn't invincible. There exist forces in this world that can stand against it on equal footing."

Li Luo was somewhat shocked. In all the information he'd known before, the Academy Alliance was practically a colossal entity guarding this world. Yet from what the headmaster was implying, there were forces in this world no weaker than the Academy Alliance?

He hesitated, then asked, "My old man's so-called background — is it one of them?"

Pang Pang Qianyuan paused thoughtfully. "It seems your father and mother really haven't told you anything."

Li Luo said with a bitter laugh, "Maybe I was picked up off the street."

Pang Pang Qianyuan burst out laughing, then shook his head. "Since they didn't say, there's no need for me to tell you either. Perhaps soon enough, you'll have the chance to find out on your own."

"As for your old man's background, I can only say..."

He paused, then said slowly, "The Li Li Tianwang lineage — how could it be simple?"

Li Luo was stunned. The Li Li Tianwang lineage? What did that mean? Was it referring to where his old man should have been? And what exactly was Li Li Tianwang?

He'd never heard of it.

Pang Pang Qianyuan looked at the bewildered Li Luo and said with a smile, "This world is far vaster than you imagine. The Great Xia you're in — even the vast Outer Shenzhou where Great Xia sits — is just one corner of this world. Some people even call the Shenzhou we're in the Outer Shenzhou. The sense of superiority and condescension in that should be plain enough."

"Outer Shenzhou..."

Li Luo murmured. If there's an Outer Shenzhou, then there must be an Inner Shenzhou, right? He'd truly never heard of such a thing before.

After chatting a bit with the headmaster today, he'd learned quite a bit of information that had been hard to come by before. And from the sound of it, his old man seemed to have a background beyond imagination?

Then why had the old man come to a remote backwater like this Outer Shenzhou?

And in the past, neither his old man nor his old lady had ever breathed a word of such things to him — clearly they didn't want him to know.

Although he didn't know their intentions, Li Luo understood there must be considerations of their own. Perhaps knowing this information might not be a good thing for him.

Li Luo's thoughts churned, but in the end he gradually pressed them down. No matter what background his old man and old lady had, it was of no use to him right now. The most important thing was still to follow the plan and lure out that Forbidden Area spirit beast.

"Headmaster, you should know why I've come here, right?" Li Luo stopped wasting words and got to the point.

Pang Pang Qianyuan nodded slightly.

"It's a Great Calamity-level aberration that slipped out from deep within the Dark Cave, right? For the outer perimeter, that truly is a disaster," he said.

"Can you intervene, Headmaster?" Li Luo asked hopefully.

With Pang Pang Qianyuan's vast powers, if he could act, wiping out that Great Calamity should be an easy task, right?

Pang Pang Qianyuan said helplessly, "Right now, this is only a wisp of my will. My true body is at the deepest part of the Dark Cave, locked in a standoff with some extremely terrifying aberrations. If my true body were to act, it would set off a chain reaction, and the upheaval that followed might far exceed your imagination."

Although he'd half-expected this, Li Luo was still a little disappointed — after all, it was the simplest solution.

"Although I can't act directly, I already know your plan. Heh, you were just saying your old man has plenty of courage, but I think you're not far behind him."

"Using yourself as bait to lure the Forbidden Area spirit beast into fighting the Great Calamity, and using the chance to relieve the outpost — such a dangerous plan, others probably wouldn't even dare think of it." Pang Pang Qianyuan smiled, a hint of appreciation in his gaze at Li Luo.

"I will support your plan. The seal here, I will lift for you. And as thanks for saving the students at this outpost, I'll also give you a small gift."

Li Luo's spirits lifted as he looked at Pang Pang Qianyuan, but the latter only smiled faintly before his figure began to gradually dissipate.

Whooosh!

The howling of the mountain wind suddenly rushed back into his ears. Li Luo came back to himself, as if the world around him had come alive again. He stood atop the mountain peak, and Pang Pang Qianyuan's figure on the bluestone had long since vanished.

And along with him, the ancient seal on the bluestone had also disappeared.

Li Luo felt something, and opened his palm. There, in the center of his hand, an ancient seal character flickered in and out of sight.