A cool night breeze blew through the City of Southwind.
It did nothing to cool the heated celebrations going on within, as the crowd started to shuffle out of Whitespirit Mountain in an outpouring of excitement.
Li Luo and the others decided to celebrate at the Tower Qingfeng.
The Tower Qingfeng was built along the Qingfeng River, hence its name. It was a beautiful location, and also the tallest restaurant in the City of Southwind. This gathering was wholly sponsored by the rich lady, Lu Qing'er.
She had booked the entire Tower Qingfeng and invited many young men and women to join in the celebration.
Li Luo was sitting with Lu Qing'er, and they had indulged in a couple of drinks. Her rosy blush was especially clear on her snowy skin. Under the warm lights, she captured the hearts of all present.
One student came to offer a toast. "Brother Luo is truly awesome. You and Sister Qing were the perfect duo, getting first and second. You'll be a legend in Southwind Academy."
Li Luo glared at the guy. It was the sort of stuff you could only say here at the City of Southwind. If it were Xia City, it would be a completely different story!
Beside him, Lu Qing'er twinkled a smile, touching glasses with the student.
"Damn Song Yunfeng, that traitorous vulture. He's from Southwind Academy, but he helped other schools attack Sister Qing! Scumbag!" Some drunken students were beginning to get rowdy.
These curses drew calls of support from the others. After all, this was a classic betrayal, which was hard to stomach.
Difa Qing came looking for Lu Qing'er with her cup, guilt written on her face. "Qing'er, I'm really sorry about what happened. If I hadn't left the marks, you would not have been ambushed."
Lu Qing'er shook her head with a small smile and touched cups with her. It was a consolatory gesture, but Li Luo acutely sensed some stiffness in her gaze. Evidently, there was now a black mark next to Difa Qing's name in Lu Qing'er's book. Perhaps in her heart, she had already labeled Difa Qing as someone not worth associating with.
After all, whether on purpose or accidental, such a blunder was not one that Lu Qing'er approved of.
Making friends with fools would cause one trouble again and again, and they would bring out the pitiful, innocent face afterwards.
"Li Luo, I was biased against you before. I hope you don't hold it against me. I didn't have foresight. Your performance today marks you well worthy of Sister Jiang," she said to Li Luo in a small voice.
Li Luo waved it off with a smile, but he did not comment further.
Perhaps sensing the coldness from Lu Qing'er, Difa Qing took the hint and left.
Li Luo looked at Lu Qing'er, seeing a hard look on her face after Difa Qing's apology. "What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled.
"Nothing much. Just thinking that fools make me angry," Lu Qing'er said emotionlessly.
Li Luo was quite confused by this answer, but it was best not to guess the minds of young girls. He changed the topic. "Although Song Yunfeng got eliminated outside of the top 10, doesn't it mean he gets a slot too?"
In the preliminaries, Song Yunfeng had ranked second. If placements were given out according to that, Song Yunfeng was guaranteed a place.
"Logically, yes."
Lu Qing'er thought about it. "But our dean is known to be a stingy man with a stingy heart. Song Yunfeng tried to take money from both sides. He almost cost Southwind Academy the best school title. I don’t think he’ll let Song Yunfeng have his way."
Li Luo nodded. That made him feel better.
It would leave a bitter taste in his mouth if he had slogged his butt off just to help Song Yunfeng enter the Astral Sage College.
Now the old dean's pettiness looked like an especially endearing trait.
While Li Luo and Lu Qing'er were heartily celebrating, there was a table higher up in the Tower Qingfeng, where some people were looking down at them with a amused looks.
Among them was a girl in a yellow shirt. Her features were lovely, although her perfectly arched brows were on the thin side, giving her a mean look.
She listened emotionlessly to the curses about Song Yunfeng drifting up from below, some anger flashing across her eyes.
Her name was Song Qiuyu, and she was Song Yunfeng's sister. She a student in the Astral Sage College. She had just arrived in the City of Southwind today and was already greeted by some unwelcome news.
"To think the champion in the Tianshu Province's exams would be that trash Young Lord." Two young men were sitting on either side of Song Qiuyu, and the one who had spoken was a short-haired man in green, toying with his wine cup.
"Jingming, he's trash no longer. If he can become the champion, he must be quite competent," Song Qiuyu said.
The one she called Jingming was Difa Jingming, Difa Qing's elder brother.
"Still, the Tianshu Province as a whole is weak. I hear that other stronger provinces had Tenth Seal fighters during their final exams," the other young man pointed out casually.
"Mo Ling, we know your Beiqiu Province has an abundance of talent. It ranks well in the top 10 provinces, doesn't it? The Tianshu Province is only average, so stop comparing us," Song Qiuyu said peevishly.
Mo Ling was from a house in the Beiqiu Province that was blooming with talent as well. Plus, the Beiqiu Province was far larger and had far more talent compared to the Tianshu Province, so it was understandable that he looked at them with a slight sense of superiority.
The youth called Mo Ling chuckled. "I meant no offense. No one would dare to underestimate the Tianshu Province after they produced Jiang Qing'e."
Mo Ling had feelings for Song Qiuyu. He had accompanied her back to the Tianshu Province on the pretext of protecting a beautiful lady.
They were all students at the Astral Sage College.
Mo Ling could tell that Song Qiuyu was not happy about the gathering of juniors below. He gave a slanted smile. "I guess those peeps below could be considered our juniors next time we see them. Shall we go say hi?"
He had already risen to his feet.
"Forget it. They're inconsequential," Song Qiuyu said.
Mo Ling waved her off. "As their future senior, I feel it is necessary to familiarize them with the character of the Astral Sage College."
He headed down.
Song Qiuyu smiled, but she called out after him with a hint of impatience. "Don't overdo it. Don't scare them."
Difa Jingming downed his cup in one gulp. "The night is long. Some entertainment sounds good."
Neither were worried about Mo Ling. After all, he was at the second Resonant Master Stage, Pattern Genesis Tier. The students celebrating below, who were not even Tenth Seals, were like newly-hatched baby chicks compared to him.
Precisely how big was the difference between the Ten Seals Stage and the Resonant Master Stage? They were about to be given a thrilling lesson on that just before entering the Astral Sage College.