266 Information (1/2)
When Hei Gou and Lin Xiao made it to the challenger's platforms, they found that almost everyone was looking at them with curiosity.
The two of them were new people whom they had never seen before, and there was much curiosity towards them. Although the two-eyed experts were the most numerous in Yan Dalu, they were also the least talented and thus they would rarely make it into the Garden of Shadows.
Seeing two new people with two eyes only meant one of two things; they were either Primordial Beasts or talented Qi cultivators.
When the students in the crowd observed them using their spiritual energy, they were incapable of sensing the level their Qi had reached, but they could sense their spiritual energy was rather pitiful, and thus their curiosity was piqued.
”Hello, I am Shen Longyue, a core student of the academy,” a young man stepped forward to greet them. ”I think I have previously seen you and two other experts in the core area of the academy, and all of you seem to have only two eyes. Are all of you Primordial Beasts?”
Everyone nearby listened in as Shen Longyue asked this. Some were pretending to do other stuff, while others completely ignored common etiquette and openly eavesdropped.
Normally, it would be unpopular to eavesdrop, but Lin Xiao really needed to get attention from everyone; he needed them to be paying attention to them and to become friendly to gain information, and therefore he just smiled amiably and answered the question.
”Amongst our group of four, only one is a Primordial Beast. That is my friend here, Hei Gou.”
Lin Xiao spoke casually, but everyone within range heard it and their hearts leapt with excitement. Only one Primordial Beast out of four new experts with only two eyes. Then if there was only one Primordial Beast, what were the other three?
”Are you human?” Shen Longyue could not help but ask, his eyes narrowed as if he did not truly believe what Lin Xiao was insinuating. Lin Xiao just chuckled. ”I am indeed a human,” he acknowledged readily.
”How can this be? I thought humans were incapable of cultivating Qi above the Heavenly Warrior rank!” someone muttered in the crowd.
But then a loud voice cut through the silence, ”That's not true, have you not heard about the seniors who came back from the bandit hunt? All of them were Ordinary Knights at their return, and they claimed to have been assisted in their breakthrough by a group of experts who just joined the academy!”
”I thought that was just a rumor?” someone else asked.
The person who had argued before vehemently returned, ”It is true! I have seen it myself—their strength really did break through!”
”Then do you think that their breakthroughs have something to do with this Lin Xiao?”
At this point, all of them looked at Lin Xiao with a bit of suppressed greed in their eyes.
They knew that they prioritized in spiritual energy, but even though they did not cultivate their Qi as the main focus, they still wished for breakthroughs as they could assist them and even turn into a life-saving power at a later time.
Xue Wei had since discovering their cultivation system suspected that there would be others who were eager to break into the Ordinary Knight rank, and he had concocted many pills to use in exchange for information or merit points.
In their last full-party meeting, Xue Wei had handed these pills to Hei Gou and Lin Xiao to be used as bargaining chips when the two of them were out snooping for information.
And now it was already possible to gain something without even having to pull the classic power move with a show of strength to impress and befriend them. They had already become the subject of everyone's attention.
”I can help you,” Lin Xiao spoke slowly, pronouncing each word clearly. He looked at the many people that were staring at him and noticed how they all lit up with glee.
”My comrade Xue Wei is a dual cultivator of both Qi and spiritual energy. He is also a formation master and an alchemist. We come from outside of your continent, from a continent where the majority cultivates Qi, and thus we have many pills which can help you break through to the Ordinary Knight rank.
”Xue Wei already gave me a few of these pills, but I need you to do something for me in return.”
The truth was that he actually had enough pills to supply the entire student body, but Lin Xiao had no intention of telling them this. By telling them all that he only had a few, they would definitely do their utmost to satisfy his demands. On the other hand, if he were to act generously, it was likely they would only do a halfhearted job.
Just as he had expected, the moment the others heard his words, all of them were eagerly crowding around him.
”What do you need from us?” one of them asked curiously, lightly licking his lips while imagining himself becoming an Ordinary Knight.
”Information!” Lin Xiao grinned. ”We are very new to this academy, and even the continent. We know nothing about this place, so we would like to know all the information that you might have.”
”That is it?” Shen Longyue looked at him skeptically. ”You will give us a pill that makes us break through into the Ordinary Knight rank as long as we can provide you with information that you deem useful?”