Chapter 122 The Unexpected Holiday
Li Tianlan experienced for the first time the feeling of having a little brother knelt before him after he shook his body.
The pleasure stuff was complete bullshit.
He had only an inexplicable feeling of astonishment.
“Young Master Tianlan?”
“He seemed to call me, but when did I become a young master?”
He was one hundred percent sure that he had never seen the little giant before. A man whom he had never met knelt suddenly before him. This feeling was really a little indescribable.
Li Tianlan had no time to think. The moment the giant knelt in front of him, he instinctively crouched down to help him up. However, the giant was resolute and of great strength. Caught off guard, Li Tianlan went down on one knee after him.
“No, young master!”
Xu Chu’s expression altered sharply. He was on one knee previously, but he was now on his knees. Moreover, he planned to bow down and kowtow to Li Tianlan. His sheer force still struck everyone until now. At this moment, Li Tianlan even felt that given Xu Chu’s strength, his kowtow was powerful enough to smash the corridor to pieces.
“Stop stop stop!”
Li Tianlan finally reacted and the corners of his mouth twitched. Lifting Xu Chu’s big head, he asked, “Who are you?”
Everyone present was dumbfounded.
Everyone present was struck dumb.
The scene in front of them was too weird. Besides Li Tianlan, the teacher from the teaching affair office who led Xu Chu to the classroom was unable to recover for a moment.
“I’m Xu Chu.”
Xu Chu looked at Li Tianlan and introduced himself carefully, but the content was quite hollow. “Aunt Bai asked me to take care of you, young master,” said Xu Chu. After hearing that, Li Tianlan was more confused.
Xu Chu grinned. When he didn’t smile, he gave people a sense of toughness, but once he laughed, he appeared somewhat simple and honest. “Young master, I can cook, drive, fight...”
“First Senior Brother?!”
Ning Qiancheng finally came to himself from this strange scene. When he watched Xu Chu kneeling in front of Li Tianlan, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he asked inconceivably, “Why did you go downhill?”
“Aunt Bai asked me here.”
Xu Chu smiled at Ning Qiancheng with a soft expression. His smile and simplicity then gradually faded, leaving only a surging force full of ferocity.
“Aunt Bai?”
Li Tianlan was confused instinctively as he heard this address once again. He asked tentatively, “Is it Secretary Bai, Bai Qingqian?”
Xu Chu nodded and looked at Li Tianlan with increasing kindness. It was a kind of heartfelt reverence and even piety.
Li Tianlan’s blood froze. Wang Yuetong just told him that Bai Qingqian was on bad terms with the Old Master of Dongcheng Clan. Under normal circumstances, it would be nice if Bai Qingqian didn’t take it out on him, because the Old Master thought highly of him. How could she send this bulky man to take care of him?
First Senior Brother...
That meant Xu Chu was the first disciple of Jade Pool and his status was by no means something trivial. But given his current expression, it was clear that he regarded himself as Li Tianlan’s servant. How he addressed Li Tianlan had fully explained his inner sense of superiority and inferiority.
“What else did Secretary Bai say?” asked Li Tianlan.
He was kind of confused. There were questions which he was unable to think through even if he was willing to do so; for example, Dongcheng Clan’s attitude toward him and the intention of Bai Qingqian. For him, these were mysteries.
Xu Chu wished to speak but stopped on second thought. At last, he scratched his big head and said honestly, “You’d better ask Elder Youming about this, young master.”
Bai Youming was the nominal disciple of Jade Pool and her seniority was ambiguous. But she was now the youngest Thunder-shocking Realm Elder of Jade Pool, which showed that her status was very honorable.
Bai Youming and he came to the Sky Academy to register at the same time, and Bai Qingqian indeed left some words to them. That extraordinary woman in the political circle of Zhongzhou State said bluntly that the Old Master of Dongcheng Clan was unfathomable and scheming before they came to Huating. She told them to warn Li Tianlan to be cautious and not to fall into the trap carelessly, lest he should be beyond redemption.
The words were absolutely straightforward. However, Dongcheng Wudi was Xu Chu’s youngest martial uncle. He could never speak ill of his martial uncle’s father. It was better to let Elder Youming speak.
Shaking his head, Li Tianlan stood up and pulled Xu Chu up, saying, “Go to class first, or we’ll be late.”
He didn’t know what to do with Xu Chu. Bai Qingqian’s attitude was even weird than that of Dongcheng Clan. No matter how the matter was handled in the end, he intended to let Dongcheng Wudi know of this matter. He would figure out his thought first and then decide what to do.
“Okay.”
Xu Chu nodded and stood up, stamping his foot casually.
He didn’t seem to exert much of his strength, but the whole corridor trembled slightly. Li Tianlan and his partners could even hear the faint trembling sounds emitted by the windows in the nearby classroom. With such strength, Xu Chu was really able to pull up mountains and hold up tripods. The corner of Li Tianlan’s eyes twitched. Even if he were blind, he could tell that the first disciple of Jade Pool in front of him possessed the Thunder Vein. Moreover, his Thunder Vein had grown to a certain extent. With such power, he was a valiant warrior wherever he was placed.
Li Tianlan glanced at the instructor from the teaching affair office, who was standing there with a strange look on his face, and nodded, saying, “Sorry to trouble you.”
“Your welcome, it’s my job.”
The teacher smiled and replied in a more cautious tone. After killing Liu Xiuwei and Xu Yunzong, at least in the Sky Academy, Li Tianlan was no longer a nobody, and even the entire East Emperor Palace had a terrifying reputation outside. He was a thorn in the side of Gu Yunxia—director of teaching affair office, and a well-liked person in the eyes of the headmaster. Among the freshmen of this cohort, Li Tianlan and the members of the East Emperor Palace were the last ones to be ignored. Even the majority of the faculty should retain some basic respects to such a figure.
Li Tianlan watched the instructor of the teaching affair office leave with Xu Chu and narrowed his eyes subconsciously.
“If so, the arrival of Bai Youming is a good thing instead of a bad thing for senior brother.”
Wang Yuetong said, after a moment of silence.
“If there are too many so-called good things, it is not necessarily a good thing, especially when these things happened without rhyme or reason.”
Li Tianlan shook his head and looked at Ning Qiancheng.
Ning Qiancheng’s identity was almost the same as that of Xu Chu, because they were all disciples of Jade Pool. However, the former was sent to his side by Dongcheng Wudi, while the latter was sent to him by Bai Qingqian. What did this allegedly estranged couple really want?
“I don’t know much about First Senior Brother.”
Noticing the expressions in Li Tianlan’s eyes, Ning Qiancheng slightly shook his head. “I just heard that he was picked up by the Old Master of the Bai family many years ago and was then sent to Jade Pool. He’s arguably a member of the Bai family. As the self-imparting disciple of the Sect Leader, he’s seldom left the sect since he was a kid, so he’s not famous.”
“How about his strength?”
Li Tianlan asked softly.
“Very powerful.”
Ning Qiancheng’s eyes glistened instinctively. “He’s now achieved the fulfilment of the Fire-flaming Realm, but his combat strength is equal to that of experts at the stabilization phase of the Thunder-shocking Realm. He possesses the Thunder Vein and is born with extraordinary power. In terms of pure power, there are few people in the entire Jade Pool who are stronger than him. He mainly practices Fiery Sword Storm and Wind & Thunder Sword. At least in terms of pure power, his power is the ultimate of the Fire-flaming Realm.”
Li Tianlan’s countenance suddenly changed.
Even Li Baitian and Wang Yuetong were slightly shocked.
A super master with the battle strength that was almost at the stabilization phase of the Thunder-shocking Realm was regarded as the central character among the faculty of the Sky Academy. Why would such a person come to the Sky Academy as a freshman?
There were plenty of elder freshmen in the Sky Academy. In their class, there was a freshman who was now 35 years old. He was the deputy director of the Special Operations Bureau of a sub-provincial city in the south. Public officers like him came to the Sky Academy in order to gain an undeserved reputation by receiving the so-called further education. Xu Chu was not a public officer, but he was of great strength. Thus, there was no need for such a figure to follow suit.
“Is he really here to be a servant?”
“I should go to class first.”
Li Tianlan thought for a moment, but could not get the point. He shook his head and walked to the classroom first.
“Tianlan.”
Tribulation’s deep, husky voice suddenly rang.
A shadow suddenly appeared in the corridor. Before the shadow was fully formed, Tribulation had already transposed with the shadow and stood in front of Li Tianlan.
Li Tianlan was startled. Looking at the deadpan Tribulation, he raised his eyebrows and asked, “What’s the matter, martial uncle?”
“Follow me. I’ll show you somebody.”
Tribulation spoke slowly, his voice grave.
“Is it teacher Bai Youming? But I’m having the Snipe Lesson...”
A name came to Li Tianlan’s mind and he hesitated slightly.
“Not her.”
Tribulation added in a cool tone, “It’s Dongcheng Qiuchi. Don’t worry about the course. I have already asked for your leave. Teacher Wang Tianqing has received the written request for leave personally approved by the president.”
Li Tianlan was even more puzzled. Dongcheng Qiuchi, the incumbent member of the Huating Standing Committee just called him in the morning, however, she didn’t say anything about the meeting on the phone. So why did she suddenly come to the Sky Academy?
He glanced at the other members of the East Emperor Palace.
Tribulation’s gaze also fell on Wang Yuetong and the rest.
“You...”
Tribulation spoke slowly, “All of you have been asked for leave, except the little princess. Someone will probably be looking for you guys in a minute.”
He continued after a short pause, “Take care of yourselves.”
He then turned and walked to the stairs.
“Teacher...”
Li Baitian looked puzzled and let out a cry unconsciously.
Tribulation, however, directly went downstairs instead of looking back.
Li Tianlan looked at his partners and followed Tribulation down the stairs.
In the corridor, Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng looked at each other. The former then asked, “None of us seems to have asked for leave, have we?”
“Obviously, we were asked for leave.”
Ning Qiancheng responded, his face deadpan.
“Does that mean we don’t have classes anymore?”
Li Baitian clicked his tongue and added, “Why do I feel like something big is going to happen?”
Wang Yuetong quietly stood where she was, as if she was absorbed in thought.
A series of footsteps rang downstairs.
A staff member of the teaching affair office in military uniform, probably in his 40s, ran upstairs. Seeing the several people standing in a daze on the corridor, he was slightly surprised.
“Li Baitian, Ning Qiancheng, Ye Huayu, Yu Qingyan.”
The middle-aged man called a few names and then asked, “Are these students all here?”
“Yes.”
Li Baitian replied calmly.
The middle-aged man smiled with relief and said, “Well, your written requests for leave has been approved by the headmaster. Come with me, four of you, somebody wants to see you.”
“Teacher, can you tell me who wants to see us?”
Ning Qiancheng asked in a deep voice, with a slight frown.
“Group Leader Bai of the Actual Combat Lesson and Group Leader the Enchantress of the Camouflage & Lurk Lesson.”
“Bai Youming and the Enchantress?”
The four people were surprised again.
“Teacher, how about our written requests for leave?”
Li Baitian asked casually.
“They have been approved.”
The middle-aged man smiled like before and added, “The headmaster himself approved them.”
“How long were we asked off?”
Li Baitian kept asking and his eyes gradually became piercing.
The middle-aged man lowered his eyelids and answered calmly, “About 40 days.”
The Sky Academy just officially had the classes started less than a week ago, but Zhuang Huayang granted them a forty-day leave. What the hell did he plan to do?
“Teacher, we didn’t ask for leave. Without our knowledge, the school granted us a leave of up to 40 days. Shouldn’t we be given an explanation? We’re really treated well. I want to ask who else enjoys the same treatment as us?”
Ning Qiancheng asked bluntly, taking a deep breath.
The middle-aged man was still smiling. He hesitated a little, and then continued, “In fact, the leave requests of all the 50 students in your class, except for Wang Yuetong, have been approved, including the freshman who just came here and several incoming freshmen. Your holidays are the same, about 40 days, with a slight difference in terms of treatment.”
He looked at Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng with a meaningful smile. “I can assure you that your treatment is the best. Enjoy the next 40 days.”
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