On the way back, Liu Bai's group encountered no further accidents, and by the time they returned to Northern Heaven Spirit Academy, everyone's emotions had already settled.
The baleful aura that once lingered over them had also dissipated or more accurately, it had been brought under their control, able to be wielded at will.
As strength grows, so too does the bloodshed one is stained with. These murderous auras accumulate without end. A true powerhouse can strike fear into the hearts of weaker cultivators with nothing more than the release of their killing intent.
Along the way, Liu Bai also took the time to sort out his own gains from this mission.
The most significant was his experience points, a full four hundred thousand. If the timing were not so poor, Liu Bai would have already been unable to resist breaking through immediately.
As for Spiritual Pulse Awakening Points, the amount seemed paltry in comparison. If not for running into Fan Tong who was a Spiritual Pulse possessor, he would not have even obtained a hundred points.
At this point he was still more than halfway short of advancing to the Fourth Earth Pulse. It seemed that the advancement of Spiritual Pulse was far more difficult than he had imagined.
They safely returned to the Academy, and without a word the group headed straight for the Mission Hall.
"Hahaha, so the youngsters have all returned. Not bad, not bad. I have already received word from the Discipline Hall. Your mission this time was well completed." The elder of the Mission Hall laughed heartily as soon as he saw Liu Bai and the others.
"Mm, none of you are missing. And judging by your complexions, you are all in good condition. It seems the mission went smoothly."
Chu Lin revealed a bitter smile. "Elder, please don't praise us. This time was entirely thanks to Junior Brother Liu Bai. The rest of us were little more than assistants at best."
Before setting out, he had believed this group of freshmen to be a burden. In the end, the clown turned out to be himself.
Every time he thought of it, Chu Lin's heart felt bitter. Yet regarding Liu Bai's displayed strength, he could only be utterly convinced.
"Oh?" The Mission Hall elder showed surprise.
Although he already knew Liu Bai was powerful, to see even Chu Lin so genuinely impressed meant he had underestimated this youth after all.
"Well then, since the mission is complete, your rewards will also be issued. According to the rules, each of your two teams will receive four million Spiritual Values. As for how it is divided within the team, that is for you to decide."
"This…" Chu Lin opened his mouth, originally wanting to refuse.
After all, the success this time was mainly due to Liu Bai. Strictly speaking, his team had not contributed much. To take away half the Spiritual Values made Chu Lin feel uneasy.
Especially since the other team consisted of freshmen juniors, it made it even harder for him to accept.
"Very well, thank you Elder." Liu Bai spoke first, forcing Chu Lin to swallow his words.
After receiving their rewards and offering thanks once more, the group left the Mission Hall.
"Junior Brother Liu, you did the most in this mission. Dividing it this way is unfair to you. I suggest you take an extra one million." At the hall's entrance, Chu Lin finally voiced his thoughts.
The four veteran students beside him did not object. Even Wu Ting chimed in, "Yes, yes. Junior Brother Liu, please accept it. Without your grand Array, we would not have known how to deal with Fan Tong and his people."
But Liu Bai only smiled and shook his head. "Senior Brother Chu, that is not correct. Without every member here, we could not have completed the mission so smoothly. Moreover, if not for you holding off that group, I would not have succeeded in activating the Array. Besides, this was the distribution we agreed on beforehand, so where is the unfairness?"
Seeing Liu Bai's firm attitude, Chu Lin said no more. To insist further would only seem petty.
"In that case, I will accept this favor from you, Brother Liu. In the future, if you ever need help, just speak, and Chu Lin will come without hesitation."
"Good." Liu Bai naturally nodded in agreement.
There is an old saying: make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible.
This way, life in the Academy would be much easier, and it would benefit those who followed after him as well. Was that not better than constantly facing a mountain of enemies wherever one went?
Of course, perhaps it was Liu Bai's protagonist's aura that attracted unusual encounters. After all, most of the people he met were reasonable, rather than the sort who picked fights for no reason and stubbornly fought to the death.
You won't kill me and still expect to leave? Such fools are rare in the world. Usually, they do not live long. How had Liu Bai ended up running into them so often?
With four million Spiritual Values in hand, the next step was dividing them within his own team.
"These Spiritual Values, I will split one million each with Brother Li and Brother Shen. Su Xuan and Brother Xu, you two will each receive five hundred thousand. How about it?"
No one objected to such a distribution.
In fact, Su Xuan and Xu Huang felt as though they had profited greatly, or rather, they had simply gone along for free Spiritual Values.
Looking at the sudden increase of half a million Spiritual Values on his token, Xu Huang took a deep breath, cupped his fists to Liu Bai, and said solemnly, "Brother Liu, I cannot thank you enough. From this day on, should you ever require my aid, I, Xu Huang, will not hesitate."
Liu Bai smiled and nodded. This was exactly what he wanted.
Xu Huang was very aware that among them, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong were already strong in their own right, and had even risked themselves as bait in the mission. Only he and Su Xuan had been little more than mascots.
But everyone could see that Su Xuan and Liu Bai had been together since their first day at the Academy, always advancing and retreating together. Many even speculated that the two of them were already a couple.
Xu Huang did not care for such gossip. What he knew was that in this group, he was the sole outsider, perhaps only brought along to fill the numbers.
Yet even so, Liu Bai had not looked down on him. Instead, he had generously shared the rewards. For this, Xu Huang felt only deep gratitude.
He knew well just how much benefit half a million Spiritual Values would bring him.
"I will go into seclusion. Call me if there is something." With a flick of his finger, a streak of spiritual light fell into Liu Bai's palm. Shen Cangsheng gave a slight nod to the group before heading into the depths of the Academy, toward the Spirit Convergence Array.
After this mission, Shen Cangsheng felt more than ever that his strength was insufficient. This cultivation maniac would no doubt become even more obsessed.
Opening his palm, Liu Bai found a cyan-blue jade slip shaped like a water droplet. With it, no matter where Shen Cangsheng was in seclusion, Liu Bai could directly contact him.
Perhaps Liu Bai was the only one in the entire Academy to possess such a token. It seemed his friendship with Shen Cangsheng had indeed deepened.
Soon after, Li Xuantong also left. Liu Bai guessed that all three of them would go into seclusion. Beyond the Spiritual Values rewards, the greater gains from this mission were the changes it wrought within their hearts.
As long-standing prodigies, whether they admitted it or not, each of them carried incomparable pride.
Unless they were like Shen Cangsheng, who was a cultivation maniac by nature, pride could often give way to complacency.
This mission had forced them to face reality and recognize the world once more. The world was vast, the strong innumerable. The so-called pride of a prodigy was not worth much, for there would always exist those even more monstrous.
Thus, if one did not wish to be belittled, if one desired to grow stronger, then youth, you must devote yourself to cultivation.
Thinking of this, Liu Bai could not help but smile lightly, then turned his gaze to the gentle young woman beside him.
"Would you like to go back and rest?"
After such a bloody mission, the psychological pressure on a girl must be considerable. Su Xuan was a gentle soul by nature, disliking conflict and wishing only to quietly improve herself. Liu Bai worried that this would leave her with an unpleasant shadow.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing his question, the girl only shook her head silently. "No need. I want to continue cultivating in the Spirit Convergence Array."
Although their cultivation levels were the same, the gap in actual strength was vast. The stubborn resolve in her heart refused to allow herself to be left behind.
Liu Bai nodded. "Very well. Go train. As for Ling'er, you need not worry. I will look after her."
"Mm. Thank you."
With the existence of the Willow God Society, Su Xuan's life had become much easier during this period. At the very least, when she went into seclusion to cultivate, there was someone to look after her younger sister, so she did not need to worry.
However, when it came to her sister's cultivation progress, she still felt a bit uneasy. Now that Liu Bai was watching over her, she no longer feared that little girl would slack off.
Watching the young girl's departing figure, Liu Bai quickly returned to the freshmen quarters.
When Liu Bai arrived, Guo Xiong immediately came to him with the news.
"Boss, I've found the place you wanted. It's located within the academy grounds, beside a massive lake. There are large clusters of buildings along the shore, and many separate walkways extend out into the lake, forming individual cultivation pavilions. It's very suitable to be our headquarters."
Back when Liu Bai decided they would relocate, he had informed Guo Xiong and asked him to keep an eye out for any suitable locations. He hadn't expected Guo Xiong to be so efficient, managing to find one in just a few days.
"How could such a place be unoccupied?" Liu Bai asked with some curiosity.
From Guo Xiong's description, since there were buildings here, it was likely that someone had once lived there. Perhaps it had even been a former base for a faction.
"Oh, I already investigated. This place did belong to a faction before, but they've decided to relocate into the Fifth-Rank Spirit Convergence Array zone. Since this area has no Spirit Convergence Array, they abandoned it, and I bought it for fifty thousand Spiritual Values."
Hearing this, Liu Bai nodded in understanding.
Still, being able to move their entire faction into the Fifth-Rank Spirit Convergence Array zone meant that this faction was by no means ordinary.
"Fifty thousand Spiritual values is not too expensive. Take the cost from the Society's funds and report it to Li Qing for reimbursement."
Since the founding of the Willow God Society, a considerable amount of time had passed, and the organization had gradually become more structured. They now had their own warehouse, finances, and other systems in place.
Whenever members formed squads to carry out missions, they would contribute ten percent of their rewards to the Society's treasury. This pool of Spiritual Values would then be used as communal resources, primarily to nurture elite members, who in turn would lead teams on more missions, earn more Spiritual Values, and thus create a perfect cycle.
This was also the operational model for every faction in the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy. Members worked for the faction, while the faction provided protection and opportunities to earn Spiritual Values.
For ordinary students, this could not be considered exploitation. Without capable leaders, they would not even qualify to undertake many missions, let alone survive them. Therefore, countless students flocked to join such organizations.
"Let's go take a look."
Under Guo Xiong's lead, Liu Bai arrived at the place he had spoken of.
From the top of a small hill nearby, one could see at a glance the vast expanse of a shimmering, boundless lake.
Faintly, scattered green islands dotted its depths, like pearls cast across the heavens.
By the shore at their feet, rows upon rows of reddish-brown wooden structures rose up, topped with brilliant glazed tiles that glistened under the sunlight.
As Guo Xiong had described, aside from the numerous residences along the shore, long corridors extended into the water, winding across the lake's surface and branching into pavilions of varying shapes, some circular and some square. Around these pavilions bloomed clusters of pink lotuses, and colorful Spirit Fish occasionally leaped out of the water, filling the atmosphere with tranquility and delight.
"Mm, very good."
Liu Bai nodded in satisfaction.
Guo Xiong also smiled, though a hint of regret soon appeared on his face. "It's just a pity there's no Spiritual Array here. Otherwise it would be perfect."
"Haha, if that were the case, this place would never have ended up in our hands." Liu Bai laughed, clearly unconcerned.
"And besides, it's only a Spiritual Array. From now on, you all must give your utmost effort to gather materials for a Spirit Convergence Array. Once we've collected everything, we will construct our very own Spirit Convergence Array!"
At those words, even Guo Xiong was left momentarily dumbstruck.
After all, within the entire Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, no one had ever attempted something like this before.
"Wouldn't that be too wasteful? Actually, using the academy's Spirit Convergence Arrays is already good enough. At our current pace of missions, the Spiritual Values we earn are more than sufficient to sustain cultivation."
Liu Bai shook his head. "If you want to truly increase your strength, merely raising your cultivation is not enough. You also need Spiritual Arts, Spiritual Artifacts, and elixirs. All of these are indispensable. If they rely only on themselves, they will eventually obtain them, but it will take far too long."
"By setting up our own Spirit Convergence Array now, it may seem like an enormous expenditure at first. But in the long run, every member of the Willow God Society will save a tremendous amount of Spiritual Values. We don't need anything too high-grade, just a Fifth-Rank Spirit Convergence Array will suffice. Within a year, the investment will pay itself back."
"But what about the academy?" Guo Xiong asked worriedly.
After all, everything here belonged to the academy. Privately constructing a Spirit Convergence Array might not be something they would approve of.
"You don't need to worry about that. I will handle it."
....
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