Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Can’t Hide it Anymore
“This person…”
Dean Lu Mingrong involuntarily frowned.
This elderly coachman, whom he had seen yesterday, he had thought was just here to skimp by, believing it to be meaningless and expecting him to give up, yet he came again today.
Seeing his gaze fixed on Zhang Xuan, Yu Longqing’s expression changed, and with a slight smile, he said, “Dean Lu, I have a suggestion, though I’m not sure if it’s correct!”
Lu Mingrong shifted his gaze and looked over, “City Lord, please speak!”
Yu Longqing, “Since we are talking about a super genius, he must have been able to activate the Source Pool at a very young age, otherwise, where does the talk of talent come from?”
Lu Mingrong was taken aback, “That makes sense, but…”
Yu Longqing, unfazed, deliberately misdirected, “What do you mean but… I think if we search by age, we can definitely spot something!”
“Let me try…”
Lu Mingrong nodded, immediately turned his attention to the younger students, and scrutinized carefully.
Seeing him being fooled, Yu Longqing breathed a sigh of relief, then looked back at Zhang Xuan again, and to his shock, he almost fainted.
The young man was now absorbing even faster, and because the Heavenly Mandate Vitality was disappearing so quickly, a slight trembling of the air appeared around him.
Just absorbing pure Heavenly Mandate Vitality, with his cultivation not reaching the 8th dan of Source Pool and soul energy not being sufficient, it was indeed hard to notice without getting close. However, with the current situation almost causing a sonic boom, only a blind person couldn’t see it!
Cautiously looking at Lu Mingrong, he saw him having looked around and found nothing, seemingly also noticing something odd about Zhang Xuan and just about to turn his head…
City Lord Yu quickly stood up, blocking the line of sight, “Dean Lu, Xiaoyu’s performance also seems quite good…”
Lu Mingrong looked up and indeed saw on one of the Dragon Pillars, Yu Xiaoyu’s numbers were also climbing, already reaching the mark of ‘eight paths’, tied for first place with Mo Yanxue.
Eight paths, Sixth Grade Source Pool!
Although it was not particularly dazzling, it was not weak either; besides, considering the promotion speed, it was far from the limit.
“It seems Miss Yu has inherited the City Lord’s exceptional talent…”
Lu Mingrong remarked sentimentally, just about to continue searching, when he saw City Lord Yu still blocking the view without any intention of moving; feeling puzzled, he then heard the other party speak, “In that case, does she qualify to enter Dean Lu’s tutelage?”
Lu Mingrong was taken aback.
He had always felt it odd that this city lord had come over just to see a prodigy; after all this time, his main goal was this.
“Taking on a student, it’s not just about the teacher, but also whether the student is suitable. If Miss Yu is suitable for my method of impartation, I would be more than willing…”
With a slight smile, Lu Mingrong did not make any definite assertion.
The daughter of a city lord, with decent talent to boot, taking her as a disciple would also be a good thing for him, of course… as long as not for that “Unrecorded” genius!
The latter was simply too dazzling. If he could take him on as a disciple, any Yu Xiaoyu, even if the city lord offered himself as a disciple, he would reject without hesitation!
“That’s true, but rest assured, my daughter will definitely not disappoint you…”
Yu Longqing said.
Lu Mingrong nodded, “The Yu family has a deep lineage of learning; as a teacher, I am merely supplemental after all, even I do not have absolute confidence…”
“That won’t be the case…”
Yu Longqing shook his head, “Dean Lu’s Bone Tempering Method ranks first throughout Baiyan City, I have always envied it!”
“You flatter me…”
After exchanging these casual pleasantries, Lu Mingrong slightly furrowed his brows.
At this moment, he also sensed something was off.
If Yu Longqing truly believed in his Bone Tempering Method, he wouldn’t have let his son Yu Feng, instead, choose to enter the tutelage of First Elder Ran Qingxu.
Yu Feng’s talent was similarly not lacking at all, having absorbed 15 paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality, only one path short of Fifth Grade’s 16 paths!
“Could it be…”
As suspicion arose, seeing the other party continuously blocking his view, Lu Mingrong’s heart “thudded”, as if understanding something. Without a word, he slightly shifted to the side, bypassing the opposing gaze, and looked toward the north field once more.
“Dean…”
Seeing him evade, Yu Longqing frowned.
Lu Mingrong shook his head, “Let’s discuss Miss Yu’s matter of becoming a disciple later; let’s first look for that genius…”
“Right!”
Knowing that continued obstruction would only arouse more suspicion, Yu Longqing had no choice but to give up blocking and stealthily glanced at Zhang Xuan again.
At this moment, the coachman, realizing he had absorbed too fiercely just before, had slightly slowed down, losing his previous dazzle.
Seeing that it was difficult to notice without careful Sensing, Yu Longqing again breathed a sigh of relief, just thinking there was no problem, but then he saw Lu Mingrong’s eyes staring straight at him, as if trying to discern something from his face.
“What’s wrong? Is there something off about my face?” Yu Longqing asked, slightly embarrassed.
“There is something not quite right, it seems the City Lord knows something, and you’ve been finding reasons to chat with me the whole day…”
With a light smile, Lu Mingrong followed the direction past City Lord Yu’s intense gaze and his eyes immediately fell on Zhang Xuan.
This youth had already been noticed earlier but had yet to be properly observed when he was interrupted by the other party.
For them to be so wary of being seen, could it be…
With doubts in his heart, his focus intensified as he carefully sensed beyond, and immediately, his pupils sharply constricted.
In the sensing, this slightly older-looking youth, seemingly harmless, was in fact like a giant black hole whenever nearby Heavenly Mandate Vitality, whether passing or flying by, approached him. It would vanish instantly without a trace, as if he could endlessly devour anything!
“This… ”
The genius they had been searching for all day turned out to be neither a student under assessment nor a young scion from a prominent clan, but a… Coachman!
No wonder there were no traces left.
Who could have thought of that!
“Have you figured it out?”
Seeing his expression, Yu Longqing no longer hid the truth, lowering his voice, “You wouldn’t want such a talent to be leaked and let more people know about it, would you!”
Dean Lu Mingrong nodded.
Though being powerful in the Origin Pool doesn’t guarantee becoming a top expert in the future, having a high capacity for Origin qi means boundless possibilities later on.
Not to mention Saint-tier, even being just a grade-2 or tier-3, the chance to impact the Ninefold Source Pool could reach over ninety-nine percent!
This means, as long as one does not fall, even with just a tier-3 Origin Pool, one could eventually become a 9-dans powerhouse, and no one in Baiyan City could compete!
Such talent… it’s best not to let many know, or else, even the royal palace might come to poach him, leaving none for them.
“You mean…” School Head Lu looked over.
With a flash in his eyes, Yu Longqing showed the assertiveness of a city lord, “It’s simple, aside from you and me, let no third person in Baiyan City know. Publicly claim that a malfunction in the Nine Dragons Pillar caused the earlier situation. As for the genius… just find someone to replace him.”
“This…”
Lu Mingrong fell silent.
It must be said, this truly was the best method.
Although this genius would advance rapidly once he began to cultivate, making it hard to keep a secret for long, it was enough to establish a relationship with him before he developed!
“Alright, let’s do it this way!”
Not struggling with the decision for long, Lu Mingrong made up his mind.
Though more people now knew, it was still better than not finding the source, and having discovered it within his own school made it easier to forge a good relationship. Once he became his student, his reputation would surely resound throughout the entire Source World…
“Pleased to cooperate!”
Seeing his agreement, Yu Longqing nodded satisfactorily and extended his palm.
“Pleased to cooperate!”
Lu Mingrong smiled slightly as the two strongest masters of Baiyan City firmly shook hands, regardless of what the other thought, the agreement had already been reached!
Just as the two masters were secretly planning for their future, an extremely excited voice erupted.
“Headmaster… No wonder we couldn’t find out about that genius after such a long search, turns out he was previously a coachman!”
Yu Longqing and Lu Mingrong’s pupils constricted at the same time, and they quickly turned their heads, only to see Wu Yunzhou already excitedly approaching them.
“How did you know?”
Lu Mingrong couldn’t hold back anymore.
With his Transcendent Mortal 7-dan pinnacle cultivation, only by leveraging the slip-up by City Lord Yu and carefully investigating did he find a clue, how could this guy have figured it out so quickly?
“How did I know?”
Not expecting the dean to ask this, Wu Yunzhou was confused and couldn’t help but point towards the direction of the platform, “In this situation, wanting not to know… seems a bit difficult, doesn’t it!”
Yu Longqing and Lu Mingrong simultaneously looked towards the platform, and immediately saw at Zhang Xuan’s location, a funnel-shaped airstream vortex appearing, resembling a tornado, hanging over the Destiny Plate which absorbed any released Heavenly Mandate Vitality at such a high speed that the air emitted a tearing sound.
This damn thing wasn’t just licking the plate clean; it was eating the whole plate!
As for the numbers on the Nine Dragons Pillar, they flashed like neon lights.
3000 paths!
5000 paths!
8000 paths…
The flashing was as rapid as a rocket launch.
“???”
Yu Longqing and Lu Mingrong stood rooted to the spot, almost feeling like crying.
Although not too many elders and teachers had come for the evaluation, there were still nearly a hundred present. They had just said to not let a third person know, yet the news hadn’t been concealed for even half a minute…
Wasn’t he very low-key before?
So much for low-key!