56. The First Trial (II)

"What if I am jealous!" Libao refused to let go of the bowl after taking a big sip of the porridge.

He looked at Ye Lan with a provocative look on his face, as if he was saying that you could rob it from my hands if you had the strength. Ye Lan didn't have enough strength to rob it from him, so she pouted and looked at Libao, then turned to Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei shrugged his shoulder to show that he couldn't help either.

Ye Lan's feeling was hurt. She saw thelast bowl of porridge right on the center of the table at the same time as Libao. She rushed toward it.

A moment later, the arguing between the two rose, "Let it go! This is mine!"

"Why! I want to eat it too!" "I am your master!" "I saved your life yesterday!" "I don't care. The porridge is mine! I want this!" "You had your share! You have eaten enough. Are you a pig?" "I am not! You are a bear! Clumsy bear! Let go!" "Don't even think about it! I want it." "I am your master!" "I carried you back home yesterday. I have to make up for my strength loss!" Watching Ye Lan and Libao bickering with each other, Feng Ming shook his head and had no way of stopping them. Thus, the two of them continued fighting, leaving Xiao Hei quietly made his exit with the porridge. Xiao Hei thought it was best for him not to meddle in their fights.

Ye Lan didn't know that she was already a legend in the Fengtian Academy. People would talk about her wherever she went, regarding what she had done, her life, and her trial tower experiences. Though people were jealous of her accomplishments, they were still amazed whenever they talked about it. A few days later, Ye Lan reluctantly dragged herself back to the Fengtian Academy.

Once again, she walked on the square of the Fengtian Academy and she had an entirely different feeling from the first time she was here. Back then, she was still feeling curious, but now, all she had was endless boredom, bored by the female students following the dean inseparably. The sight of them could almost drive her crazy.

Nowadays, Fengtian Academy had grown more elegant. Twelve jade pillars carved with dragons and phoenix standing evenly around the square, climbing up to the sky. Dustless Fengtian Square was majestic and solemn enough that ordinary people dared not go near it. Fengtian Academy was shielded by a thick enchantment, protecting it from foreign attacks and also limiting its power from separating out. Through the enchantment, the spiritual energy could store and circulate within the Fengtian Academy. After years of accumulation, it enjoyed a rich spiritual energy within the Fengtian Academy that normal people couldn't bear.

If people wanted to take what was not meant for them by force, they would be hurt. For this reason, after a few accidents of spiritual energy exposure injuries, people had learned their lessons not to go near here.

Ye Lan noticed that the sun rose gradually, shining upon her. Thanks to the lush trees in the Fengtian Academy, it provided a sunshade for her. This was a perfect example of the so-called “every dog has its day”. Ye Lan crossed her arms in front of her chest, sizing up and down at the Fengtian Academy. Here, at the Fengtian Academy, even a slight leak of the spiritual energy could nurture the trees to grow luxuriantly, some of which even cultivated spirit root. No wonder this neighborhood was green at all times. Supported by such rich spiritual energies, how could the trees here not to be green?

When her mind was wondering around, she thought of herself. What a miserable girl she was. She was woken up early in the morning, strolling slowly all the way to the Fengtian Academy. God knew how much she hated to go in there. What was so good about this place that could attract all those students, not to mention those students? Ah! She sighed and condemned those people before she went to knock on the door. Yet, before she could lay her hands on the door, the door opened from the inside. It was the dean who had opened the door, standing at the doorway to welcome her. Such grand welcome really shocked her.

"Emm..."

"I was just talking about you, and here you are. How are you? Did you rest well?" The dean bombarded her with questions. Ye Lan nodded subconsciously.

Filled with excitement, the dean stepped forward, putting his hands on Ye Lan's shoulders, "You must be tired after passing the Shilian Tower. Did you rest well these days?" His voice was so loud that everyone around could hear clearly. Witnessing his acts, Ye Lan knew what was going on, and she played along with his acts, "Thank you very much for your concerns. I am all good now."

"You're finally back. It's not easy. I thought you weren't coming." pulling Ye Lan by his side happily, he treated Ye Lan as a piece of treasure. After the two of them had enough distance from the others, the dean whispered into her ears, still wearing the kind and gentle look on his face.

"Do you think I want to come?" Ye Lan hissed at him, along with a large roll of eyes within her heart. If it weren't for the origin of the spiritual energy here, I wouldn't return to this crappy place.

She thought, "Fengtian Academy, a place looked clear and elegant on the outside, had so many annoying people bumping into her. I really don't know what they are thinking about." She didn't have to listen to know what they were talking behind her back. Why didn't these people think about how they got into this academy? She could even picture a stupid soap opera on their behalf.

How could the dean let these people enter this school? Many thoughts were going on in her little head. But the dean didn't care about it. He looked at her and said, "You are finally here. That’s good. I’m so glad that you’re back."

Ye Lan looked at the dean and said, "I don't want to take classes."

"It's okay. If you don't want that, you can go to the Xuanhuang Pavilion. You’ll find many books there. I’m sure you will like that place."

"Really? Books? Then I’ll go for a look. I don't hate books."

Ye Lan nodded to show her acceptance of his suggestion. And the dean himself took Ye Lan to the Xuanhuang Pavilion to read books.

She hadn't noticed before how magnificent the Fengtian Academy was. Trees and grasses here were hand-picked. Situated in a very costly place in the capital, it was already marvelous that the academy could take up this amount of land; it even wasted their lands on landscapes. Thinking of the small house that cost her millions, she felt a bit upset.

She was playing with a lavender-color flower in her palms that she just picked up when she heard a dissatisfied cough from one of the elders standing behind her. Ye Lan frowned secretly and tossed the flower on the ground, losing her interest in it. "All right, everybody goes back to where you were, go back to your works." Noticing the unpleasantness on Ye Lan's face, the dean said to everyone else on the scene. He turned to the elders and got a general picture of what annoyed her. Ye Lan was not fond of the crowd, and right now, that was true for him as well. If his wooing were seen by a third person, it would be a great shame of him as the dean.

"Yes!" "Yes!" The elders looked at each other, but they dare not disobey his words. So, they could only bow to the dean and left. The students saw their elders were leaving, so they had to leave as well. After all, the dean was no ordinary elder; he was a man of his words. No one in the academy dared go rogue in front of him. It's just that Ye Lan was probably the first person.

After everybody was gone, the dean picked up a pink flower behind him and handed it to Ye Lan, "This is called Xuetuanrong (a kind of flower). It can nourish your beauty. Do you want to have a try?" Ye Lan shivered because of the flattering face of the dean. "It's ok. Don't mind those elders. They were stubborn as rocks. They were just jealous of your power. Don't mind them!"

"I couldn’t care less about them." Ye Lan spat out this sentence slowly and took the flower from the dean. Playing with the flower in her hands, she wore a face that no one could tell what was on her mind, "Dean, you over-praised me."

The dean smiled awkwardly, raising his hand to pat on her head, but Ye Lan avoided it.

With an awkward smile, he said, "what were you thinking? Don’t overthink. Kid, you had too many thoughts for your young age."

"Was it?" Ye Lan replied with a question. The firm look made the dean evade her eyes. His avoidance of eye contact was a clear tell of his guilt. "Am I thinking too much? He was quite a sophisticated man." She thought.

"You promote me to the supreme position in the academy. And if I fall down one day, I would be stamped to death by the others. But, no matter what, the Fengtian Academy will still stand on the peak. Smart play." Ye Lan said gradually, while fiddling with the flower between her fingers.

"So, you have to take good care of yourself. From now on, you are a member of the Fengtian Academy." the dean quitted joking around.

"I hate being threatened the most." a dangerous vibe spilled around her. Just like what she said, once she was threatened by someone, she would certainly kill that person soon!

"This is not a threat!" The Dean turned around and looked at Ye Lan. The smile on his face gradually receded and changed into a serious one, "This is cooperation. Do you seriously think that I don't know what you are here for?"

Ye Lan raised her lips and crossed her arms in front of her chest at ease, "But you are the one who wanted to bet with me."

"So," The Dean sighed, "That's why the negotiation between us will always be led by you."

"Hahahahaha." Ye Lan smiled bluntly.

"You are already a third level spiritual cultivator of the ninth stage, only two levels behind me. There is nothing for you to learn here. You are only here for the spiritual origin of the academy. I won't stand in your way of getting what you want. All I want is the good name of the Fengtian Academy to continue."

"Okay." Ye Lan agreed, patting on the dean's hand gently. The two of them reached a consensus.