Chapter 150: From 7 to 20
Chapter 150: From 7 to 20
.
The academy did not keep them waiting long before finally announcing the results of the tournament.
Although much of what was said was already within the students’ expectations, a few points in the announcement made many frown, leaving some not satisfied at all.
First of all, they confirmed the participants of the expedition, from the instructors down to the students themselves.
As for the instructors, everyone already knew who would be going, and even for the students, though with the outcome of the last battle things had become uncertain, especially concerning Li Duoji.
Although the students hadn’t heard what the instructor said back then, it wasn’t hard to tell at a glance that his situation was far from good.
For many it was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to take part in the expedition at this point, yet there were still quite a few who hoped this might not be the case.
Unfortunately, that was not how things turned out. After Li Duoji was taken away, and once his wounds and treatment times were examined more carefully, it was confirmed that his recovery would take weeks if not months.
External damage could be healed with various medicines, including restoring skin or even regrowing hair, but what was far more problematic were the internal injuries, especially concerning some organs that had been completely destroyed.
It wasn’t impossible to fix even those, but it would take too much time. Therefore, it was officially confirmed that Li Duoji would not participate.
This created a lot of dissatisfaction among many, especially when they heard that the one responsible for all this had not been disqualified, and that his victory had been confirmed as legitimate, without the use of dirty tricks or anything else.
This made many angry, but more importantly, it made many others doubtful.
And why shouldn’t they be? After all, they were talking about a second year student who had somehow managed to reach the third stage, an incredible feat in everyone’s eyes, immediately establishing him as a rare prodigy without a shred of doubt.
But to learn that this prodigy had actually defeated his opponent, who was not only a year older than him, but also had a higher cultivation level, and more importantly, had developed his spear intent to the point of forming spear aura...
Normally, against someone like that, even cultivators at the fourth stage would struggle to win, and yet someone at the third stage had managed to do it?
And without any tricks?
That sent chills down many spines, particularly among those students who had openly mocked him repeatedly over these two years at the academy.
At the same time, it brought joy to others, especially those acquainted with Zhu Rong, like the two girls he had saved during the end of semester test, or even the instructors themselves, who couldn’t help but wonder which deity had decided to bless the academy with so many geniuses all at once.
But among all these people, there was one who was hit harder by this news than anyone else, and that was none other than Zhu Rong’s cousin.
Hearing the academy’s confirmation, and having personally witnessed everything with his own eyes, his legs trembled as his instincts told him he might have dug a hole too deep to ever climb out of.
He already felt that the situation between Zhu Rong and the family had reached a critical point, in fact, he was certain of it.
He had heard from his father that, at this rate, Zhu Rong might be cast out, something that at first had made him happy, but now only terrified him.
That said, while the academy’s announcement was a source of uproar for many, the one directly involved had already left to check on how his own business was going.
He had one day to settle any important matters he had, after which he would have to meet up with the academy’s expedition team and prepare to depart.
The seventh day was when they were scheduled to leave, and he had time until then.
He wasted no time and first went to the pavilion to check on some materials.
Although he now had his own company collaborating with the pavilion, which had in part taken care of supplying materials for all his departments,
he still came here personally to see if there were any cultivation materials available.
The pavilion, being a place where people of all kinds and professions gathered, was the ideal spot for this, so whenever he was missing certain materials, this was usually where he came, especially for cultivation ones.
He had gotten his low grade ice crystal here, and now he had come back to try his luck with some lightning element materials.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any.
That said, the attendant told him that the annual auction of the Jinfeng Auction House was coming next month, and if there was a place where he had a good chance of finding rare materials like those of the lightning element, that one would be it.
Zhu Rong knew this place, it was the largest and most popular auction house in Qiyan City, managed by the Mu family, the same family of Mu Qinglan, the girl he had saved during the end of semester exam.
Zhu Rong had already visited this auction house several times in the past, so he knew the attendant was right.
If there was a place to look for rare materials like those, that was definitely the right one.
That said, the auction would only be held more than a month from now, so there was no point in thinking about it just yet.
He told the attendant to contact him as soon as they got any lightning element material and went on his way.
He intended to form his lightning core, but it seemed it would really take some time.
That said, he still managed to get his hands on another low grade ice crystal, so at least by the end of the day he would be able to finish forming the first layer of the golden core of his ice core.
Although his strength was already at a level where he could face opponents two grades above him, that didn’t mean he took things lightly.
The number of factions that would participate in the secret realm expedition was large, with many influential and important ones, such as the four families, very likely even the Yun family, the academy, and several others.
Even with the cultivation level restriction, he knew very well that just like him, there were others whose strength far exceeded their cultivation level.
The number of trump cards he could have up his sleeve would never be enough, so he didn’t dare underestimate this expedition.
What happened inside the secret realm stayed inside. He was certain that these organizations, peaceful as they might appear on the outside, would go wild once inside,
each with their own goals, and none of them would think twice before eliminating others to achieve them.
He was sure a bloody battle would almost certainly erupt, and he had no intention of succumbing to it.
He soon reached the building of his company, and he had to admit that although it was smaller than what he had founded in his past life, seeing it still gave him a certain sense of satisfaction.
As he entered, he was immediately greeted by a wide, clean, and spacious area with several counters at the back where attendants received customers’ requests, buying and selling items.
As he walked in, he nodded slightly to the two guards at the entrance, both of them third stage cultivators, assigned by the pavilion.
The cost of maintaining them wasn’t high, not when considering how much he was earning.
At the beginning of the month, his earnings were around 10 high grade spirit stones a day, which after taxes came down to 7.
A good amount, though still far from what he used to earn in the past.
That said, even just one day of profit was more than enough to cover the wages of all regular employees, and even much of the cost of materials.
An attendant who had been checking on the situation inside the hall noticed his presence and immediately rushed toward him, clearly recognizing him.
"Mr. Zhu, I wasn’t expecting your visit," she said, trying to keep her composure but clearly failing.
It was obvious that although she was professional in front of everyone else, she couldn’t keep her calm in front of him.
This was due to his status within the company he had founded.
Everyone knew that Ye Ning was the one managing things, but they also knew the true boss behind everything was him, a 17 year old boy who in no time had built a thriving business like this one, starting with talismans and then moving into alchemy and forging as well, three very profitable fields in which he was excelling, even making many other companies envious.
Although little was known about him, and even fewer people had actually seen him, she was one of those personally chosen by Ye Ning to welcome him whenever he came.
Zhu Rong looked at the graceful elf before him, nodded calmly, and said,
"Hahaha, don’t worry, I won’t eat you. I’m just here to check on some things, I won’t stay long," he said, teasing the elf, who grew visibly more nervous, but soon managed to regain her composure.
Although it didn’t look like it at first glance, it was clear this girl had a talent for these things. It was obvious Ye Ning had chosen well.
She led him to the third floor where his office was.
He had heard that Ye Ning had gone into seclusion to cultivate today, so he decided not to disturb her and simply asked for the weekly activity reports.
He wanted to see how things were going, from profits to business itself, which products were most in demand and which weren’t, and what else could be improved for now.
He examined the various documents and finally saw the daily earnings, and as soon as he read them a smile appeared on his face.
"Seems like we’re growing faster than I thought," he thought, seeing that their daily average profit had gone from 7 high grade spirit stones to 20.