Chapter 75: You Want to Assassinate Me

After three rounds of drinks, Li Luo figured it was about time and suggested they wrap things up. After all, the great exam had only just ended that day, everyone was exhausted, and they ought to head back early to rest.

The others, though still somewhat reluctant, nodded in agreement.

Slap!

But just at that moment, a crisp slap rang out from beyond the curtain, followed by a voice: "Are you walking without eyes?"

At the same time the curtain was flung open, and a student from Southwind Academy stumbled backward in a sorry state, one hand covering his face, and plopped down on his bottom, looking rather dazed.

Behind him, a young man stepped out. He surveyed the many boys and girls inside and smiled. "Sorry to interrupt your celebration."

"This little fellow wasn't watching where he was going and stepped on my foot." He pointed at the boy sitting on the ground, still smiling.

"And so you hit him?" Lü Qing'er frowned slightly, her voice cold.

When Mo Ling saw Lü Qing'er, his eyes did brighten a touch. He had caught a glimpse of this striking, coolly composed girl from up above earlier; now, up close, she was indeed a rare beauty. Looks and bearing like hers would count as top-tier even in the Holy Void Star Academy.

He looked at Lü Qing'er and smiled. "Sorry, my hand was a bit too quick."

"You're students from Southwind Academy? Looks like you did pretty well this year. I'm a student of Holy Void Star Academy — by rights, that makes me your senior." Mo Ling smiled.

The Southwind Academy students present were startled at once, casting wary glances at the man before them. This person was actually a student of Holy Void Star Academy?

Li Luo stared at the man and said, "Looks like you're not here with good intentions?"

"I just wanted to come see for myself the top scorer of this year's Tianshu Prefecture great exam, that's all."

Mo Ling's gaze swept over Li Luo, then he broke into a careless smile. "But honestly, if someone with eight-seal phaseforce can take first place in the great exam, then the quality of this Tianshu Prefecture cohort is seriously lacking."

Everyone glared at him at once.

"This guy is here to cause trouble," Lü Qing'er whispered to Li Luo.

Li Luo Face Shows Solemnity and nodded, then stepped forward on his own, walking up to Mo Ling, and said in a low voice, "Friend, we don't know each other. No need to come looking for trouble, right?"

Mo Ling put on an innocent look and smiled. "What are you saying? I just wanted to come greet everyone as your future senior, that's all."

"What did you say? You want to assassinate me?" Li Luo's voice shot up abruptly.

Mo Ling was taken aback. "Assassinate? What?"

Is this guy out of his mind? Where in my words was the word 'assassinate'? I just came here to ruin the mood and help Song Song Qiuyu vent a little, that's all.

"Protect the young palace master!"

And while he was still stunned, several figures suddenly darted out from behind some screens nearby. Phaseforce surged around their bodies — every one of them was at the Phase Master realm.

These were Li Luo's guards.

As the young palace master of House Luolan Mansion, even though things were rough now, having a few guards accompany him out was perfectly logical, right?

These guards normally wouldn't intervene, but the moment any assassination attempt against Li Luo appeared, they would immediately leap in to protect him.

Like right now — the instant they heard the word "assassinate," they rushed out without hesitation and went straight for Mo Ling.

Mo Ling's face changed at the sight, and he hurriedly said, "I didn't — I was just here to say hello!"

He hadn't expected that he hadn't even done anything to Li Luo, yet the guy had simply called his guards in.

But the guards paid no heed to his words. Fists and kicks imbued with phaseforce came hammering in. Mo Ling hastily circulated his own phaseforce and met them in a rush.

But his strength was at best on par with a single guard. Outnumbered and beaten by a group, within just a few breaths, blows landed squarely on his face, and he let out a string of miserable cries.

The surrounding students of Southwind Academy were stunned. As expected, the young palace master stuck to his usual reckless style—when it came to fighting, he either reported it to the teachers or simply summoned his guards. If you wanted him to fight one-on-one, you'd have to meet a whole set of stringent conditions...

But this time, that wild style felt pretty damn satisfying.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Song Song Qiuyu and Ti Ti Faqing were startled by the scene and quickly set down their wine cups, hurrying down.

"What are you doing?!" the two of them shouted.

At the same time, phaseforce surged around their bodies as they prepared to step in.

Li Luo waved his hand, and the several guards withdrew, leaving Mo Ling on the floor clutching his head, his face covered in bruises.

"Young Palace Master Li Luo, quite the impressive display you put on — do you just call in guards to beat people whenever you feel like it?" Song Song Qiuyu's pretty face was rather dark as she spoke.

"Brother." Ti Ti Faqing, seeing Ti Ti Faqing arrive, cried out.

Lü Qing'er, standing beside Li Luo, said, "That's Song Song Qiuyu, Song Song Yunfeng's older sister, and Ti Ti Faqing. Looks like this guy came to cause trouble — most likely because of Song Song Qiuyu."

Li Luo looked at Song Song Qiuyu and the other and smiled. "Are you two in league with this guy? He just tried to assassinate me — was that on your orders?"

Good lord — meet someone and the first thing you do is sling a giant pot of blame their way.

Song Song Qiuyu snapped, "Assassinate you? Don't slander people. He's our friend — he only came to greet you all as a senior, that's all."

Mo Ling had also scrambled to his feet, his bruised face glaring at Li Luo with fury in his eyes. "When did I ever say I wanted to assassinate you?"

Right now he was full to bursting with rage and grievance. Damn it — he hadn't even started his act yet, and who would've thought this Li Luo would slander him out of nowhere, claim he was plotting an assassination, and immediately call in his guards.

Simply shameless!

Li Luo murmured, "I heard you just say you wanted to..."

Mo Ling roared, "I said I wanted to greet everyone as a senior!"

"Is that so..."

Li Luo clapped his hands. "Today I ruined a lot of people's plans, so I was worried someone might be furious enough to come assassinate me — my nerves were a bit on edge. Looks like I misheard."

Mo Ling trembled with rage.

"How about this — tonight's bill goes on me, as an apology." Li Luo smiled.

Song Song Qiuyu's pretty face was icy. Given their status, who would care about the cost of a single table? Li Luo's move was clearly deliberate — he had obviously seen through Mo Ling's intent to cause trouble, so he simply picked some random pretext to strike first.

"You think I care about your measly money?" Mo Ling gritted his teeth.

Li Luo smiled faintly. "Well then, what can you do about it?"

Song Song Qiuyu fell silent for a moment. Their original plan had been to have Mo Ling stir up the atmosphere and provoke Li Luo. If the latter, blinded by anger, had recklessly challenged Mo Ling to a bout, they could've made him pay for it tonight. But to their surprise, this young palace master didn't seem to have that kind of youthful bravado — especially not in front of some pretty young girls.

This young man wasn't the arrogant, reckless type.

And with things having blown up like this, they realized there wasn't much they could actually do to Li Luo. Were they really going to gang up and beat him up? Setting aside all those guards nearby, if things really escalated, there'd be no point.

So in the end, Song Song Qiuyu merely gave Li Luo a long, deep look, said nothing more, and supporting Mo Ling, turned and left.

Di Fa Jingming's gaze paused on Li Luo for a moment, then he smiled, nodded to Ti Ti Faqing, and stepped forward to follow.

Although Song Song Qiuyu and the others had left, the atmosphere here had been ruined as well, so the crowd lost interest and began to disperse one after another.

Li Luo and Lv Qing'er stood beneath the Clear Wind Tower.

"Song Song Qiuyu cultivates in the Tempering Phase Academy of the Sacred Mystic Star Academy. Coming back this time, he's probably targeting your Xiyang House," Lv Qing'er said.

Recently, because of the spirit water Li Luo provided, Xiyang House's quality had greatly improved, and its market sales were extremely good, almost crushing Pine Seed House until it could barely breathe.

"It's because of next month's Spirit Water Splendor Festival in Tianshu Prefecture, isn't it?" Li Luo murmured.

In Tianshu Prefecture, every year there is a ceremony concerning Spirit Water Splendor, at which all the Spirit Water Splendor Houses in the entire prefecture will participate. At this ceremony, each house will engage in much rivalry, vying for attention and seizing the Spirit Water Splendor market.

Li Luo also knew that their Xiyang House was likewise preparing for this.

And Song Song Qiuyu returning at this time was surely aimed at this ceremony.

Li Luo's brow furrowed slightly. With his support, the Xiyang House branch in Tianshu Prefecture was now flourishing day by day, with a steady daily stream of massive gold flowing in, providing him the funds to purchase sixth-grade Spirit Water Splendor.

At this moment, how could he possibly be willing to let this Song Song Qiuyu interfere with his greatest source of funding?