Chapter 1066: Heavenly Origin Ancient College
Ten days later, the flying ship that Li Luo was on finally arrived at the western side of the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent. His fifth Heavenly Pearl had condensed successfully during the journey.
After hurrying for a few more days, Li Luo rushed across the area and arrived at his destination. He stood at the front of the ship as he looked into the distance, eyes full of surprise.
Endless rows of mountains with steep peaks stood tall in front of him, shrouded in clouds and mist. From time to time, he spotted shadows of huge beasts as they swallowed up the dense worldly natural energy in the area.
However, this was not what caught his eye. Deep within the mountain range stood an ancient tree that stretched across the horizon. It was far bigger than he had always imagined. The ancient tree looked peculiar, with branches extending outwards like giant, wooden dragons, shrouding everything for thousands of miles.
The branches were shaped like lotuses. Right at the epicenter of the titanic organism, the trunk of the tree was surrounded by a dense web of leaves that gave it a bud-like appearance.
The scale of the tree was simply gigantic, extending way into the clouds above.
The surrounding mountain range was definitely awe-inspiring, but it paled in comparison to the ancient tree.
Gigantic amounts of condensed worldly natural energy gathered in the vicinity of the tree. It was so thick that an energy mist wafted in the areas around it.
The energy density was leagues above that of the Dragon's Fang Mountain Range.
"Tree of Resonant Power..."
Li Luo stared at the gigantic, ancient tree that he could easily identify with a glance. In the past, he thought that the Tree of Resonant Power in the Astral Sage college was considered massive! It was able to shelter the entire campus under it's shade. However, the Tree of Resonant Power in front of him was on a whole new level.
Despite looking from a distance, Li Luo could see the countless buildings on the Tree of Resonant Power that seemed to be places of study. The buildings stood tall like skyscrapers built on the branches of the tree.
In contrast, the Tree of Resonant Power back in the Astral Sage college was planted in the college grounds.
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Origin Ancient College was built on the Tree of Resonant Power itself.
They were on completely different scales.
"This must be one of the Mother Trees of Resonant Power," Li Luo guessed in his heart. Its existence seemed to be a miracle in and of itself.
At this point, the ship continued to travel ahead. After two more hours, they finally approached the Heavenly Origin Ancient College.
There were a few cities in the surrounding area. They were all quite large, and the air was bustling with flying ships going in and out in all directions.
Li Luo's ship landed on the bottom-most part of the Tree of Resonant Power. Upon stepping off, he found himself before a majestic gate. Dangerous energy undulations could be felt coming from the defensive wards set upon it.
This location was known as the Sky Gate, the main entrance to the Heavenly Origin Ancient College.
It was the only way for outsiders to enter the college. If they tried to enter from the sides, they would be attacked by defensive wards.
"Third Young Master, we will stop by the cities outside and wait for you over there. If there's a need, just break the communication dragon fang. We'll be able to sense it and rush over," one of the two Dukes that had escorted Li Luo said. It wasn't exactly courteous for Dukes from other powers to loiter around the Heavenly Origin Ancient College itself. As such, they were unable to follow Li Luo the whole way.
"Thanks for your hard work, seniors." Li Luo nodded and smiled.
"It's nothing. Please be more careful, as we're far from the lineage, Third Young Master," the other Duke replied with a smile.
The duo then turned around and left.
Li Luo watched them leave before walking into the Sky Gate. A guard from the gate walked up to check his identity and purpose for visiting.
"I am Li Luo. I came to visit two of my friends, Jiang Wanyu from the Three Star Hall and Zong Sha from the Four Star Hall. Please inform them that I'm here," Li Luo said.
He was not a student of the Heavenly Origin Ancient College, so he would need a guide to enter the campus. This was one of the reasons why he had chosen to establish good rapport with Zong Sha and Jiang Wanyu back in the Spiritual Resonance Cave.
After all, he couldn't possibly walk up to the guards and say that he wanted to meet Vice Principal Lan Lingzi immediately. The guard would probably ignore him and possibly even throw him out!
Moreover, he had no idea what Lan Lingzi was like. Was the individual approachable? What relationship did they have with Principal Pang? This was all information that he had to gather.
Students like Jiang Wanyu and Zong Sha would be a good starting point to accomplish that goal.
The guard replied politely and did not display any form of arrogance. He nodded in acknowledgement before walking off to pass the message onwards.
A few moments later...
"We've passed your message onwards. If they're willing to meet you, they'll be here in an hour or so."
The Heavenly Origin Ancient College was extraordinarily large, and it clearly took quite some time to travel back and forth.
"Thank you," Li Luo said before he proceeded to wait patiently.
During his wait, he noticed quite a few groups of students in other colleges' uniforms walking by. These groups consisted of at least ten members, and they were each led by a powerful teacher.
When they arrived, they all peered at the towering Tree of Resonant Power in awe and admiration.
"It seems like they're from other colleges. Are they here for some sort of exchange?" Li Luo thought to himself curiously.
After an hour of patient waiting, the sound of hearty laughter came from afar. "Haha, Brother Li Luo. You really came to the Heavenly Origin Ancient College."
Li Luo turned around and saw a jade-green flying carpet coming from the distant sky. Riding on it were none other than Zong Sha and Jiang Wanyu.
As the flying carpet got closer, he noticed that it was actually a jade-green leaf that was dozens of feet long. There was a special energy circulating through it that was likely the source of its power.
Such leaves had been plucked straight from the Tree of Resonant Power. After some special refinement, they were transformed into the main mode of transport for the students in the Heavenly Origin Ancient College.
Li Luo walked up to them with a smile. "Well, I did tell you that I had a need to visit the Heavenly Origin Ancient College to take care of something. Thus, I made my way here to visit you two."
Zong Sha acted very hospitable as he responded with a bright smile, "Thank you for looking after us back in the Spiritual Resonance Cave, Brother Li Luo. Now that you're in our college, we will definitely repay the favor."
Jiang Wanyu stared at Li Luo with her beautiful eyes. Her red lips lifted slightly as she said, "It is our honor to play host for the invincible Dragon's Head Li Luo."
She was wearing the uniform of the Heavenly Origin Ancient College. The well-fitting uniform highlighted her exquisite figure with full curves. Her long hair was tied up and her charming face had a certain coolness to it that drew the gazes of many. As she chatted with Li Luo, the slight aloofness on her charming face grew warmer, and this made her seem even more attractive.
However, Li Luo did not pay much attention to any of this. As he chatted with her, he understood that the news of the Empyrean Chronicle had begun to spread.
"It must be Mu Yao's fault. What a shameless guy," Li Luo saidhelplessly.
Zong Sha and Jiang Wanyu smiled in response. They knew about the conflict between Li Luo and Mu Yao back in the Spiritual Resonance Cave. They had guessed that some of the words in the Empyrean Chronicle had been written due to Mu Yao's influence.
"Although he played a shameless trick, it's been pretty effective. The Empyrean Chronicle is very popular in our college, and many students pay attention to it. After being titled as one who is invincible amongst your peers, you've garnered the attention of many students here," Jiang Wanyu said.
Zong Sha nodded. "When you're in the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li, it's probably fine. But now that you're here in the Heavenly Origin Ancient College, there will be people looking for you."
A hint of a warning could be heard from Zong Sha's words. Li Luo grinned but did take it to heart. There were many prized geniuses in the Heavenly Origin Ancient College, and they were all prideful. It'd be hard for him to fit in, considering his background as a decedant of a Heavenly Emperor lineage.
However, that was fine. He was not planning to join the Heavenly Origin Ancient College. "Let's go, Brother Li Luo. I'll take you around the college for now. If there's anything you need later, we'll help you pass the message," Zong Sha said.
"I'll trouble you two, then." Li Luo nodded as he followed the two onto the jade-green leaf.
The leaf flew steadily towards the main trunk of the Tree of Resonant Power. Along the way, they passed various wide roads and tall buildings.
Zong Sha enthusiastically explained the ongoings of the college to Li Luo.
Li Luo listened attentively. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Senior Zong Sha, I've noticed many students from the other colleges."
"Oh, those are the teams from the sage colleges in the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent as well as some from the outer divine continents... they're here to participate in the bi-annual academic evaluation," Zong Sha explained.
"Academic evaluation?"
"Yep. To be honest, it's just an evaluation to see how much cultivation resources will be allocated to other colleges. Ordinarily speaking, the higher one's evaluation score, the more resources they'll be allocated. As such, it's of utmost importance for the sage colleges," Zong Sha said.
Li Luo understood him well and sighed immediately. If the Astral Sage college had not encountered that disaster, they would likely have been here for the evaluation as well.
"That's right, Brother Li Luo, you mentioned that you're from a sage college in the outer divine continent? Could you tell us its name?" Zong Sha suddenly asked.
"The Astral Sage college from the Xia Kingdom," Li Luo replied.
Zong Sha thought about it and smiled. "Haha. The reason I asked is because I happen to be helping out with hosting the teams from the sage colleges, so I've interacted with a few of them. There's a representative from the Astral Sage College, but it's only a mentor. I don't think they're here to participate in the evaluation."
Li Luo was surprised as he asked in a hurry, "There's a mentor from the Astral Sage college? Who is it? What's their name?"
Zong Sha scratched his head.
"It's a female mentor, and she's quite pretty. I think she's called... Chi Chan?"