Chapter 15 Return to the Academy

Li Luo laughed and scolded, "So now you know to call me Little Luo Ge when you need help?" Zhao Kuo had a silly grin, but the smile tugged at the bruise on his face, causing him to wince in pain. "What happened to you?" Li Luo asked. Zhao Kuo furrowed his brows and said, "It's all that guy Bei Kun from the first courtyard. I don't know what's gotten into him these past few days, but he's been looking for trouble with the people from our second courtyard. I couldn't stand it anymore and ended up fighting him a few times." He pointed at the bruise on his face, a bit proud as he said, "That guy hits pretty hard, but I didn't let him get the upper hand; I almost smashed his pretty face to bits." At this moment, some people from the second courtyard gathered around, indignantly saying, "That Bei Kun is simply despicable. We clearly didn't provoke him, yet he keeps coming to stir up trouble." "Fortunately, we have Zhao Kuo; otherwise, no one could deal with him." Zhao Kuo waved his hand to shoo them away, then asked in a low voice, "Have you provoked that Bei Kun recently? It seems he's targeting you." Upon hearing this, Li Luo suddenly remembered that before leaving the academy, Bei Kun seemed to have sent a message through Ti Fa Qing, asking him to host a banquet at Qing Feng Tower. However, he had taken that as a joke. Could it be that this fool really waited at Qing Feng Tower for a whole day? And since he hadn't come to the academy this week, did Bei Kun vent his anger on the people from the second courtyard, leading to this trouble? Li Luo chuckled and patted Zhao Kuo on the shoulder, saying, "It might really be the case; it seems you took a few hits for me." "I don’t mind. If I hadn't fought him a few times, I might not have been able to break through to the Sixth Seal." Zhao Kuo shrugged and then said, "But now that you're back at the academy, he might come looking for you during the afternoon energy class." He thought for a moment and thumped his chest, saying, "Let me handle it then; let's see if I can beat him a few more times and break through to the Seventh Seal directly!" Li Luo smiled. Zhao Kuo was straightforward and loyal, indeed a rare friend. However, letting him hide behind and watch as his friend took the brunt wasn’t his style. So he merely replied, "Let's talk about it then." In the afternoon, during the energy class. To the north of South Wind Academy, there was a vast dense forest, lush and green. When the wind blew through, it looked like waves of green were rolling over. In the center of the forest stood a towering giant tree, its dark yellow color and over two hundred meters in height, with dense branches spreading out like an enormous tree net. The branches of the giant tree were thick, and the most peculiar thing was that each leaf was about two meters long and wide, with a thickness of about a foot, resembling platforms. This was the Energy Tree. The Energy Tree was not naturally grown but was crafted from many unique materials, looking like gold yet not gold, like wood yet not wood. Inside the Energy Tree, there existed an energy core capable of absorbing and storing vast amounts of natural energy. The wide leaves of the Energy Tree acted like cultivation platforms, each leaf capable of supporting one student’s cultivation. This type of Energy Tree was essential for every academy, though their scale varied greatly. In a sense, these leaves were like the golden house in Li Luo's old residence. Of course, in terms of singular effectiveness, the golden house was indeed better, but not every student had such cultivation conditions. The leaves of the Energy Tree were divided into three levels: gold leaves, silver leaves, and copper leaves. From a distance, one would notice that over sixty percent of the Energy Tree was colored copper leaves, with thirty percent silver leaves, and only about ten percent gold leaves. The gold leaves were concentrated at the top of the Energy Tree, their quantity being scarce. Naturally, one could understand that cultivating on the gold leaves would yield stronger results than the other two types. However, most of the gold leaves were occupied by the first courtyard, which was understandable as it represented the prestige of South Wind Academy. In total, the second courtyard had only ten gold leaves for several hundred students, while the third and fourth courtyards had no qualification to enjoy them. This demonstrated just how rare the gold leaves were. The Energy Tree was only opened for half a day each day. When the large bell at the top of the tree rang, it indicated that the tree was open, and at that moment, all the students eagerly anticipated this time. At that moment, amidst the echoing bell sound, many students were filled with excitement, surging into the dense forest like a tidal wave, and finally climbing up the giant tree along the winding wooden ladder that resembled a great python. Li Luo also followed the crowd to the top of the Energy Tree. He looked up at the ten gold leaves above and felt a bit awkward. The ten gold leaves in the second courtyard had once included one that belonged to him. After all, based on strength, he was second only to Zhao Kuo in the second courtyard. However, due to his empty attribute, he had voluntarily given up the gold leaf that belonged to him, leading to the current situation where he seemed to have no place, and he felt embarrassed to reclaim the gold leaf he had previously given away. "Forget it, I'll make do for now." Li Luo thought for a moment and walked toward a silver leaf in the second courtyard. As Li Luo moved toward the silver leaf, some gazes filled with various emotions rested upon him from above the Energy Tree. (End of this chapter)