Chapter 1076: Attention
Throughout the following days, the news that Li Luo would represent Astral Sage College alone continued to spread. It became a very hot topic amongst the students of the sage colleges.
Even though the academic evaluation had been held for many years, this was the first time such a thing had happened.
Naturally, the information regarding Li Luo's strength and status had also spread. Many of them had learned about Li Luo's background.
However, some of the sage colleges from the inner divine continent continued to sneer at him. They recognized his exceptional talent and strength and they acknowledged the dazzling achievements written in the Empyrean Chronicle. If this were a single one-on-one battle, there was likely not a single Three Star Hall student in any of the sage colleges that would stand a chance against him. However, the academic evaluation was not a simple brawl, it was a team battle consisting of four students in each team.
In particular, the Four Star Hall students were the key determining factor. Did he really think that the other sage colleges would play by his rules and send only their Four Star Hall students to deal with him? Strictly speaking, most of the Four Star Hall representatives were titled students. If they really had to be placed into a hall, it would be more appropriate to put them in a hypothetical Five Star Hall.
This was a commonly known loophole in the academic evaluation. However, it was not really unfair, since everyone had been exploiting it. As such, the Heavenly Origin Ancient College had never bothered fixing it.
Unfortunately, the Astral Sage College had become a victim of the loophole.
The majority of the teams that Li Luo would face off against would be led by titled students.
In the situation of a one versus four, it did not matter if the One and Two Star Hall students were mainly there to make up the numbers, because the Three and Four Star Hall students would still pose a huge threat to Li Luo. As such, they did not understand why Li Luo would dare to claim so boldly that he'd end up in first tier. Did he really think that all the squads from the other sage colleges were just there for show?
They were furious at him for his unbridled arrogance. Some had even proclaimed that they'd make him pay for his words if they had the opportunity to meet Li Luo during the evaluation.
As the commotion continued to grow, it even caught the attention of the various halls in the Heavenly Origin Ancient College. It was important to remember that under normal circumstances, they did not care much about the academic evaluation of the sage colleges. Just like how the sage colleges from the inner divine continent looked down on the sage colleges of the outer divine continent, the individuals from ancient colleges viewed all the sage colleges in a similar light.
It was not that they truly sought to discriminate against them, but the truth of the matter was that they believed they were superior!
In this chain of contempt, the ancient college stood at the very top of the pyramid.
However, their interest was piqued following Li Luo's appearance. He was from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. His achievements in the Spiritual Resonance Cave had been extraordinary. He had also stood out above Qin Yi, Zhao Shenjiang, and the other geniuses from his generation. In particular, it had been written in the Empyrean Chronicle that he was unrivaled amongst his peers. Many of the prideful talents in the ancient college were highly skeptical of those words. They had always believed that the Heavenly Origin Ancient College was not inferior to the Heavenly Emperor powers in any way.
However, they did not have the chance to voice out their opinions before. Li Luo was with the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li, and he had barely interacted with the Heavenly Origin Ancient College. Fortunately, Li Luo had traveled to the Heavenly Origin Ancient College for the academic evaluation. It would be a wonderful chance for them to witness how miraculous and invincible the so-called genius of their generation truly was.
As such, the evaluation had garnered even more attention when it was fueled by the students from the ancient college.
Time slowly ticked by as everyone waited with much anticipation for the event to start.
Three days later, the academic evaluation finally began.
......
Li Luo walked out of the cultivation chamber in the small building he had chosen to stay in. He entered the living room and saw a slender figure working busily in the kitchen, preparing their breakfast.
Mentor Chi Chan was wearing an apron, and her exquisite curves were beautifully outlined. It was an extraordinarily captivating sight. Li Luo was a little taken aback. He suddenly recalled a familiar scene back when he was still cultivating in the Astral Sage College. Every morning, Bai Mengmeng would prepare breakfast for Xin Fu and himself after his daily cultivation sessions.
Those were truly heartwarming days.
"Are you done with your cultivation? I've made breakfast for you," Mentor Chi Chan said as she looked at Li Luo. The veil covering her cheeks shook slightly as her red lips curled up.
"How could I have allowed my mentor to be the one to prepare breakfast?" Li Luo answered. This was the first time he had enjoyed such privileged treatment.
After Mentor Chi Chan finished preparing everything, she brought it over to the table with a bright smile. "I don't have much of a choice. The entire Astral Sage College is depending on you now."
Li Luo hurried over to the table and enjoyed the meal that his mentor had personally put together for him.
"Oh right, three people came looking for you whilst you were cultivating. Their names were Lu Ming, Jing Taixu, and Sun Dasheng. However, I didn't want to disturb you," Mentor Chi Chan said gently.
"Oh, it's them..."
Li Luo revealed a smile, feeling nostalgic. Those were his rivals back at the Holy Grail Meet, especially Jing Taixu. The two of them did not get along very well back then.
Nonetheless, he would be able to meet them soon since the academic evaluation was going to begin today.
As Li Luo thought about it, he took a glance at the veil on Mentor Chi Chan's face. He asked out of concern, "Mentor, is your curse yet to be removed?"
Chi Chan nodded. She hesitated for a moment before reaching towards her veil. She took it off and revealed her cool and charming cheeks. However, there was a black fish mark around the size of a thumb on the right side of her face. The black fish appeared to be alive and exuded a peculiar aura. It gave off a gloomy and chilling feeling that appeared particularly eerie in contrast to Chi Chan's fair and jade-like skin.
Mentor Chi Chan always gave off a cool and calm aura, but when the creepy, devilish mark was on display, it felt as though her entire demeanor had changed.
"This curse is extremely problematic. I've been trying to remove it for years, but the methods of the Other King are simply too strange. As of now, I have no idea how to remove it," Mentor Chi Chan told him calmly. After all these years, she had long gotten used to it.
Li Luo thought about it for a moment. "Mentor Chi Chan, if you some time to spare, you can come with me to the Dragon's Fang Lineage. I'll ask my grandfather to help you out with it."
"It's fine, there's no hurry. After all, I've gotten used to the curse," Chi Chan answered.
The situation back at the Astral Sage College was precarious after all. She could not afford to stay in the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent for too long. She would have to hurry back as soon as she secured the resources.
Li Luo nodded. After a while, he finally stood up.
"It's about time. Let's go, Mentor."
Mentor Chi Chan took off her apron and put on her mentor robes from the Astral Sage College. She took another look at Li Luo and smiled all of a sudden.
"Are you going to change your clothes?"
Li Luo was taken aback for a moment. After a while, he understood what she meant. Mentor Chi Chan was referring to the Astral Sage College uniform. However, this was something he had not been prepared for, and his uniforms from back then had long been thrown away.
When Mentor Chi Chan saw this, her hands swiped past the pocket sphere on her wrist and she removed a set of Astral Sage College robes.
"I had some extra sets of uniforms prepared when you and the other two became my students."
Li Luo stared at the uniform as it was handed over to him. He fell into a daze when he focused on the emblem of Astral Sage College. It had only been a year since he had left the Xia Kingdom. However, it felt like an entire lifetime had passed with what he had gone through.
Emotions flooded him as he put on the robes.
The young man had a slender figure. His handsome face had sharp, refined features like a chiseled statue. Coupled with his gray-white hair, he radiated a unique temperament that none could match.
Mentor Chi Chan nodded in satisfaction.
Li Luo sighed once again. "It's a pity the evaluation is not based on looks. If it were, I don't think anyone would stand a chance against me."
Mentor Chi Chan rolled her eyes and shook her head. She proceeded to push the door open, and the two left the building.
They then walked along a path leading towards an area bustling with cheers.