Chapter 302: Stirring the Fire

Following the completion of the series of ceremonies, the two Purple Glow Mentors departed, and the atmosphere in the plaza, after a brief lull, began to gradually recover.

After all, aside from freshmen like Li Luo and his peers, the students of the other Star Academies were not experiencing such an occasion for the first time, so they ultimately possessed some adaptability.

Numerous sounds of clamor spread across the plaza as students exchanged what they had seen and gained in the Dark Cave this time.

And as the exchanges continued, murmurs of astonishment gradually arose, and one could vaguely hear mentions of Outpost 13, Li Luo, Jiang Qing, and so on.

Evidently, the news regarding Outpost 13 being targeted by a Great Disaster-class Otherworldly Demon this time had spread.

This caused quite a stir.

After all, the students present were well aware of how terrifying a Great Disaster-class Otherworldly Demon was; being targeted by such an existence meant the entire outpost faced the danger of annihilation.

Li Luo, Jiang Qing, and the others had not yet left the plaza when they saw a figure weave through the crowd and rush over in a hurry.

"Li Luo, are you alright?"

Lu Qinger looked at Li Luo with worried eyes; it seemed she had also heard the news and had rushed over to check on him.

Looking at Lu Qinger's pretty face, which was filled with worry, Li Luo smiled and waved his hand: "Aren't I perfectly fine?"

Jiang Qing, standing to the side, watched this scene and seemed to smile, saying: "Junior Sister Qinger is very concerned about Li Luo."

Lu Qinger met Jiang Qing's gaze and said: "I'm just concerned for a friend."

Jiang Qing nodded and said: "Then I shall thank you for your concern on Li Luo's behalf."

Lu Qinger smiled: "It's only right."

Li Luo watched the two women interacting with such courtesy and felt the atmosphere was slightly off. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a sturdy figure exuding a fierce aura emerge from behind Lu Qinger.

Some of the two-star academy students nearby cast sideways glances.

"Li Luo, your strength has improved a lot!" That figure looked at Li Luo with burning eyes.

It was Qin Zhulu.

Li Luo looked at him, smiled, and nodded: "Just a small improvement."

His gaze swept over Qin Zhulu, his eyes narrowing slightly as he said: "You... have also reached the third pattern of the Pattern-Generating Stage?"

In his perception, the resonance power fluctuations radiating from Qin Zhulu were also more formidable than before; clearly, the latter had also made significant gains in the Dark Cave this time.

He even felt that this guy's third pattern had condensed to the extreme, qualifying him to attempt the fourth pattern at any time.

However, this was not surprising. Previously, when he was still at the Upper Flower Seed stage, Qin Zhulu was already at the second pattern of the Pattern-Generating Stage. Now, by utilizing the cultivation in the Dark Spirit Pool to forcefully elevate himself, he had narrowed the gap that had existed between them.

"In the Dark Cave, he went out every day to fight White Erosion-class Otherworldly Demons, and several times he was nearly killed." Lu Qinger revealed the reason for Qin Zhulu's improvement.

Li Luo clicked his tongue; this guy was truly a battle-hungry madman who wouldn't even spare Otherworldly Demons.

"Li Luo, when will you have a match with me? In the current one-star academy, only you can be my opponent." The gaze Qin Zhulu fixed on Li Luo was full of heat.

Previously, although Li Luo was also very strong, there was a gap in their levels, and he disdained using his level to suppress the other party. But now that Li Luo and he were both at the third pattern, he imagined the fight would be quite exhilarating.

He had long wanted to experience what it felt like to fight against the power of dual resonances.

Li Luo felt slightly uncomfortable with the longing and intensity in the eyes of this tough guy, so he could only brush it off: "There will always be a chance."

Qin Zhulu still wanted to challenge him, but at this moment, a shrill cry suddenly rose from behind: "Li Luo! Li Luo! My good brother!"

Hearing this exceptionally familiar voice, Li Luo's face couldn't help but darken. He then looked with unkind eyes at Yu Lang, who had rushed out of the crowd, and said: "Are you holding a funeral?"

Yu Lang, having squeezed out of the crowd, looked at Li Luo immediately and walked up quickly, looking relieved: "Good brother, I was worried to death when I heard you encountered a Great Disaster-class Otherworldly Demon."

He patted Li Luo's arm and then gave a reassuring smile to Bai Mengmeng, who was beside Li Luo: "Mengmeng, are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere? Do you need to have your body checked?"

Li Luo: "..."

You dog, are you actually concerned about me?

Bai Mengmeng glanced at Yu Lang, then said nothing, silently hiding behind Li Luo.

Yu Lang still wanted to show concern, but a cold voice came from behind: "Get lost, don't block the way."

He glared in that direction and saw Bai Doudou standing behind him. He immediately shrank his neck, hurriedly made way, and at the same time whispered to Li Luo: "Did you really encounter a Great Disaster-class Otherworldly Demon?"

Seeing Li Luo nod, he couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva and sighed: "You survived even that? It seems Senior Sister Jiang spent quite a bit of effort protecting you."

Li Luo couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind.

"I heard people say you extorted a lot of 'Imperial Flow Nectar' from people? Are you that short on this stuff? Do you want me to lend you a bottle? But we have to agree that you have to pay it back later; it's not easy for me to scrape together points." Yu Lang thought of something and continued to ask.

Li Luo was stunned. He had indeed collected some IOUs for Imperial Flow Nectar at the Dark Spirit Pool, but how had it turned into extortion? This rumor was a bit outrageous, but he didn't pay much attention to it, only smiling and shaking his head.

"You should keep it for yourself; I've already gathered enough of what I need." Although this kid Yu Lang was a bit of a wanderer, he was very loyal. One bottle of Imperial Flow Nectar was five thousand points; while it didn't count for much to the current Li Luo, for Yu Lang, it was likely the result of his hard work over the past half-year.

The purified towers that were activated at Outpost 13 were all re-contaminated in the end due to the arrival of that Great Disaster-class Otherworldly Demon, but the academy did not treat it as a failed activation. Instead, they gave points according to the map records before the re-contamination, so even without counting the bonus points the academy might give, Li Luo had made a full harvest this time.

While the two were talking, Bai Doudou had already nervously grabbed Bai Mengmeng's small hand, asking after her well-being and worrying about whether she was injured. When she heard the news that Outpost 13 had encountered a Great Disaster-class Otherworldly Demon, her face had turned pale with fright, because Bai Mengmeng was at Outpost 13.

"Senior Sister Jiang, thank you so much this time." Bai Doudou looked at Jiang Qing with gratitude. In her view, the fact that Bai Mengmeng and the others were able to safely survive this crisis was likely due to Jiang Qing's protection.

Bai Mengmeng giggled and said: "Sister, Senior Sister Jiang did indeed provide great help during this crisis, but actually, the greatest credit goes to our captain. In the end, even that Heavenly General-class Great Spirit Beast in the forbidden zone was sealed by him."

Bai Doudou and Yu Lang were both stunned, and even Lu Qinger and Qin Zhulu looked over in surprise.

Afterward, Bai Mengmeng proudly recounted Li Luo's performance in detail.

As expected, it garnered shocked gazes from everyone around.

No one had expected that the crisis at Outpost 13 was actually resolved by Li Luo...

Li Luo modestly waved his hand and said: "Actually, this is what I should have done. Although I risked my life for this, for the sake of my classmates' lives, I was willing to pay this price."

"And I also believe that the academy will see my contribution."

After finishing, he patted Yu Lang's shoulder hard and said: "Do you understand?"

Yu Lang understood in a second: "For a spirit like yours, Brother Luo, the academy must give commendations and provide extremely generous point rewards to encourage the students. If the academy's reward is unsatisfactory, even a passerby like me wouldn't be able to stand it and would definitely call on the students to protest."

"I think, at the very least, they should reward thirty thousand points?"

Li Luo coughed lightly and said: "Young man, your ambition can be a bit bigger."

"Then... fifty thousand?"

Li Luo glanced at him: "Conservative."

Yu Lang was a bit shocked. Is your appetite that big? Extorting the academy, aren't you afraid of being expelled?

"One hundred thousand?"

Li Luo nodded with satisfaction and gave Yu Lang an appreciative look, signaling that this matter was left to him. At the moment, he didn't know whether the Dean had passed on the word, so for those one hundred thousand points, he could only light a fire himself to give the academy's higher-ups a reminder.

However, it was clearly not appropriate for him to come forward, and Yu Lang was a very good target to stir the fire.

Good brother, it's you. I won't treat you poorly once it's done.

After quietly discussing some details with Yu Lang, Li Luo suddenly heard a shout. He looked up and saw a beautiful figure waving at them from the edge of the plaza.

It was Yan Lingqing.

Jiang Qing looked at him and said: "Go find Lingqing first; there are some matters."

"What matters?" Li Luo asked in confusion.

"Haven't you always been worried about how to expand Xi Yang House? Over at the Resonance Tempering Academy, some high-star Resonance Tempering Masters are graduating soon this year..." Jiang Qing smiled.

Upon hearing this, Li Luo's eyes brightened, and a surge of excitement welled up in his heart.

The Saint Profound Star Academy's Resonance Tempering Academy possessed the most outstanding Resonance Tempering Masters in the Great Xia Dynasty, and every year, these Resonance Tempering Masters who were about to leave the academy became the targets of competition for all the major Spirit Liquid and Wonder Light houses. He had long been coveting this resource.

If he could really recruit a batch of high-quality Resonance Tempering Masters, the rise of Xi Yang House would truly be unstoppable.

And the growth of Xi Yang House would drive the rise of the Luo Lan Mansion. Of course, most importantly, this would strengthen the "momentum" of the grand array at the Luo Lan Mansion headquarters... This was undoubtedly a necessity for dealing with the great change in the Luo Lan Mansion half a year later.

Therefore, this opportunity must not be missed.