Three days later.
Clang, clang, clang...
Several urgent peals of a bell suddenly rang throughout the Inner Academy, shattering its tranquility.
Elders across the Inner Academy rose into the air and flew swiftly away.
"Elder Shen, that's the academy's Assembly Order for the elders. Come along with me!" an Inner Academy elder who was a Seven-Star Dou Wang explained when he saw Shen Luo staring blankly.
Everything was fine. Why gather the elders?
A meeting?
Through his spiritual perception, Shen Luo could sense that the entire Inner Academy stood as steady as Mount Tai. No powerful enemies had invaded!
What the hell was there to meet about?
Besides, even without me, the Inner Academy has the Qianbai Elders, both at Peak Dou Zong, guarding it.
There isn't a single Dou Zun in the entire Black-Corner Region. Those two must be its ceiling!
Then again, the higher one's cultivation, the different one's mindset became.
Especially in a fantasy world, no one devoted themselves to others without something to gain!
Shen Luo remembered that, in the original story, Han Feng had led numerous experts from the Black-Corner Region in a direct assault on the Inner Academy for the Fallen Heart Flame.
Although Su Qian was a Dou Zong, the Gold and Silver Elders had kept him pinned down, leaving him unable to break away.
Jia Nan Academy had been battered into a boiling mess, with many students killed or injured. Numerous Dou Emperors and Dou Wangs had competed to show off their Dou Techniques, yet despite all that commotion, the Qianbai Elders had never appeared.
Otherwise, how could Han Feng have caused so much trouble?
Su Qian had apparently even led Jia Nan Academy's elders against the Black Alliance for an entire year. Not only had they gained nothing, they had come away with their noses rubbed in the dirt!
Inside Jia Nan Academy's Council Hall, the atmosphere was so heavy it could almost have dripped water.
More than twenty elders sat along the two sides, with Su Qian occupying the seat of honor. Although he did not deliberately release his Four-Star Dou Zong aura, the grave look on his face was enough to show how serious the situation was.
Hu Gan stood in the hall, clutching a black War Declaration, his face ashen.
"The information has been confirmed." Hu Gan took a deep breath. "Seventeen factions in the Black-Corner Region have united under the name of the Black Alliance, led by Medicine Emperor Han Feng. Three days ago, they issued a War Declaration against the academy from Maple City. They intend to fight us to the death!"
Hu Gan paused!
"The Black Alliance is still recruiting independent cultivators and other factions. Even established powers like the Black Emperor Sect and Demon Flame Valley have sent elders to join them. They're expected to attack the academy within seven days."
An uproar swept through the hall.
"Han Feng? That Sixth-Tier Alchemist, Medicine Emperor Han Feng?"
"The Black Emperor Sect and Demon Flame Valley are involved too? Those are major factions with Dou Zongs backing them!"
"Seventeen factions... they're trying to wipe out Jia Nan Academy!"
Su Qian raised a hand to silence the discussion and swept his gaze over those below.
"The War Declaration claims that people from our academy recently plundered numerous factions in the Black-Corner Region and even killed quite a few experts. Even Han Feng's Maple City was robbed. Is this true?"
The hall fell silent for a moment.
"First Elder, it is indeed true. Some time ago, the Black-Corner Region even issued a Black List wanted notice for two people!" a Dou Wang elder from Jia Nan Academy's Enforcement Team said coldly, stroking his beard.
"According to the intelligence from Maple City, those two claimed to belong to Jia Nan Academy. One was named Shen Luo, and the other Zi Yan!"
The air seemed to freeze!
Everyone's eyes turned in unison toward Shen Luo, seated at the far end of the right-hand row, and Zi Yan, who stood behind him.
Sure enough, Han Feng moved pretty fast!
Shen Luo had roughly guessed what this was about and had brought Zi Yan along.
Although Zi Yan did not hold the title of elder, she was still a Dou Wang expert. She was qualified to attend this meeting!
"Elder Shen." Hu Gan swallowed and chose his words carefully, keeping his tone as tactful as possible. "Was this... Miss Zi Yan's doing? If her reckless behavior alone provoked a war on this scale, Jia Nan Academy certainly cannot let her off..."
Before he could finish, Shen Luo raised his eyes.
There was no anger in them. They were almost excessively calm.
Yet that very calm made Hu Gan instinctively swallow, choking back the rest of his words.
"Deputy Dean Hu Gan." Shen Luo's voice was quiet, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. "It is true. And I was the mastermind!"
"Elder Shen, given your standing..."
"I did it, and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it!"
Shen Luo rose and surveyed the hall.
His gaze passed over every elder's face. The innate pressure of his Heavenly Tyrant Body left all the Dou Wang and Dou Emperor elders present feeling as though they were suffocating.
"I smashed up Maple City, I beat Han Feng, and I killed those Dou Wangs in the Black-Corner Region!"
He paused, a cold smile curling his lips. "What, do you elders think I did something wrong?"
An aura at the middle stage of Two-Star Dou Zong quietly spread from his body.
The hall fell so silent that not even a crow or sparrow could be heard.
Several elders who had been brimming with righteous indignation exchanged glances, their faces burning.
Seated at the head of the hall, Su Qian also found himself losing face. He gave a dry cough. "Elder Shen, that isn't what everyone meant..."
"Elder Su." Shen Luo interrupted him, his tone softening somewhat, though it still carried an unquestionable edge. "The people of the Black-Corner Region have always been ruthless and killed as easily as scything hemp. I merely administered a little punishment."
"But their forces are so formidable!" Hu Gan blurted out. "Even the Black Emperor Sect and Demon Flame Valley have joined in!"
Shen Luo did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand and waved.
More than a dozen pills flew from his Storage Ring and hovered before the elders. Each pill was perfectly rounded, radiating a rich medicinal fragrance and pure fluctuations of energy.
Fifth-grade Pills, twenty-five in all. Each corresponded precisely to a Dou Wang elder.
Not one too many or too few. Just enough!
Breathing in the hall suddenly grew heavy.
Fifth-grade Pills were precious even to Dou Emperors, let alone these Dou Wang elders.
Some of them had remained stuck at the lower stars of Dou Wang for years. What they lacked were pills that could accelerate their cultivation.
"This..." A white-haired elder cupped the pill before him in trembling hands, tears streaming down his aged face. "A Fire Origin Pill... and at the peak of the fifth grade... I've been stuck at Peak Dou Wang for more than a decade!"
Before anyone could recover from their shock, Shen Luo waved his hand again.
Three pills hovered before the three Dou Emperor elders. Their medicinal fragrance was even richer, and faint Pill Patterns flowed across their surfaces. They were unmistakably of the sixth tier!
"Sixth tier... peak sixth-tier pills!" Hu Gan held the sixth-tier Sect Breaking Pill before him, his entire body trembling. He had been stuck at Peak Dou Emperor for almost twenty years. This pill was enough to give him hope of breaking through to Dou Zong!
As Su Qian watched, a complicated expression flashed across his aged face.
He recalled the Seventh-Grade Pill he had taken and the opportunity that had allowed him to smoothly break through to Four-Star Dou Zong. His face twitched.
Could anyone really be this extravagantly generous?
What Alchemist could afford to throw their wealth around like this?
Why even bother running an academy?
"Han Feng's crimes are piled to the heavens! How dare he bring trouble to Jia Nan Academy? I, Hu Gan, will never spare him!" Hu Gan roared.
The elders hurriedly put away their pills, every one of them overflowing with righteous indignation.
"Elder Shen is Jia Nan Academy's great benefactor! Never mind taking a few medicinal ingredients-even if he wiped out the entire Black-Corner Region, what of it?"
"Anyone who makes trouble for Elder Shen makes an enemy of Jia Nan Academy..."
"The Medicine Emperor isn't worth a damn! Kill him!"
Su Qian coughed dryly twice, then spoke slowly.
"Elder Shen, from this day onward, you are the Second Elder of Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy, second only to me in standing. You may deploy all the academy's resources without reporting first."
He rose, releasing his Four-Star Dou Zong aura without restraint. His aged voice resounded through the hall. "The matter of Han Feng will be placed entirely under the Second Elder's authority. All elders are to cooperate fully. There must be no mistakes!"
"Yes!" the elders answered in unison, their voices more than ten times louder than before.
Late that night!
In Shen Luo's room!
Zi Yan's entire body burned hot, violet light spilling from her. Eventually, it condensed into a violet cocoon of energy that enveloped her completely.
Shen Luo no longer dared to venture into the Earth Core World to hunt Flame Lizardmen. Instead, he remained in the courtyard, guarding Zi Yan!
A short while later, a graceful figure hidden in the darkness opened her rainbow-colored, slit-pupiled eyes. An icy curve formed at the corner of her lips.
Her figure flickered, transforming into a streak of rainbow light that appeared in Shen Luo's courtyard.
"Come in, Your Majesty!"
"Hmm? You know me?"
Wearing a red veil, Queen Medusa approached Shen Luo, her slender waist swaying!
"Your Majesty, I have... admired you for a very long time!"
Before you continue