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Today, exactly four years after Xiao Lin joined Jia Nan Academy, he had spent two years staying peacefully within the academy.
However, today, Grand Elder Su Qian had unexpectedly summoned him. Knowing that Su Qian would not call for him unless an emergency had occurred, Xiao Lin did not hesitate. He set aside the matters at hand and went directly to find Grand Elder Su Qian.
As for the matters regarding the Trial Grounds, after such a long period of development, they no longer required his personal attention. Even the rewards placed within those formations were now handled by Jia Nan Academy, requiring no further consumption of Xiao Lin's own inventory.
Xiao Lin's current status was merely that of a Guardian of the Trial Grounds.
At most, those formations simply required Xiao Lin to perform occasional maintenance. The Trial Grounds had now become an existence within the entire Jia Nan Academy that complemented the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
Normally, after students practiced for a period of time in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, they would come to test their cultivation results by attempting the Trial Grounds.
If their strength was insufficient and they failed the challenge, they would return to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to cultivate again. It had to be said that the existence of the Trial Grounds provided the students of Jia Nan Academy with an additional choice!
In fact, the reputation of the Trial Grounds had already begun to slowly spread beyond the walls of Jia Nan Academy!
Many people already knew that in today's Jia Nan Academy, there was not only a Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower but also the existence of a Trial Ground. Because of this, Jia Nan Academy, possessing these two cultivation holy lands, attracted even more students to enroll!
This caused Grand Elder Su Qian to be so busy that his feet barely touched the ground recently, but the smile on his face was nearly stretching from ear to ear. But while he was happy, he was still attending to serious business.
Just recently, he had encountered a major matter.
Under circumstances where he could not leave his post and the two Guardians, Elder Qian and Elder Bai, refused to manage affairs, he could only seek help from Xiao Lin—the Dou Zong powerhouse who appeared to be the most idle in Jia Nan Academy.
This was because the matter to be handled next was something that even a Dou Huang powerhouse was not qualified to participate in!
Soon, Xiao Lin arrived at the academy's administrative office where Grand Elder Su Qian was located.
"Grand Elder, is there something you summoned me for? You know, I am very busy."
As soon as he entered the room, Xiao Lin began to complain.
As for whether he was truly busy or falsely busy, only he knew. He was simply afraid that the task Grand Elder Su Qian was about to give him would be too troublesome.
Hearing Xiao Lin's complaints, Grand Elder Su Qian couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Could he not know Xiao Lin? A total cultivation fanatic!
If Xiao Lin had said he was busy a year ago, Su Qian would have believed it.
After all, at that time, the Trial Grounds had just been opened, and everything required Xiao Lin to personally oversee it. But now, the matters of the Trial Grounds basically didn't need Xiao Lin's concern; what on earth could he be busy with?
Therefore, regarding this sentence from Xiao Lin, Grand Elder Su Qian directly and automatically filtered it out. Seeing that Grand Elder Su Qian remained unmoved, Xiao Lin shrugged and found a random sofa to sit down on.
Seeing this, Grand Elder Su Qian finally spoke.
"Old Lin, there is a matter that I must trouble you to take a trip for."
After putting down a document he was currently approving, Grand Elder Su Qian spoke with a heavy and sincere tone.
"I knew it..."
Xiao Lin muttered a small complaint.
"Cough, cough."
Grand Elder Su Qian also let out two awkward coughs to hide his guilty conscience.
"Speak, what matter requires me to step forward this time?"
Complaints aside, since Grand Elder Su Qian had come to find him, it was clearly a major event.
He was not a person who didn't understand the weight of priorities. Unless his ability was truly limited, he might as well take the trip.
It wasn't like he would lose a piece of flesh, right?
"Don't be in a hurry, listen to me finish first. Regarding this matter, I was actually very conflicted, but considering the benefits the other party promised us, I feel we can agree to it."
Grand Elder Su Qian opened with a string of mysterious words that left Xiao Lin completely bewildered. Thus, as Grand Elder Su Qian's voice fell, Xiao Lin only blinked his eyes and looked at him without speaking.
Seeing Xiao Lin's confused eyes, Grand Elder Su Qian awkwardly slapped his own forehead.
"Look at my memory. You've been holed up in the Trial Grounds for several months, so of course you wouldn't know about this. Actually, just a short while ago, a guest visited our Jia Nan Academy. The matter I am talking about is related to this mysterious guest."
Grand Elder Su Qian continued to explain slowly.
"Oh? What kind of mysterious guest could make you so conflicted, Grand Elder? I imagine this guest's identity must be quite extraordinary? If I'm not mistaken, the other party's identity involves at least one Dou Zong powerhouse!"
In Grand Elder Su Qian's office, Xiao Lin poured himself a cup of tea. After taking a small sip, he looked at the other party with a meaningful expression and spoke.
After all, if it didn't involve a powerhouse of Dou Zong level or higher, why would Grand Elder Su Qian choose to have him step forward?
One must know that within the entire Jia Nan Academy, although the number of Dou Huang was not vast, one could still count a handful of them, including many high-level Dou Huang powerhouses.
Now, Grand Elder Su Qian had bypassed these Dou Huang elders and come directly to him. If Xiao Lin didn't have even a bit of a guess, he might as well find a piece of tofu to crash his head against.
However, the words the Grand Elder spoke next made Xiao Lin's guess only half-correct!
"No, what you said isn't entirely correct. That mysterious guest not only involves a powerful Dou Zong faction, but they are also a Dou Zong powerhouse themselves. Furthermore, behind the other party, there are several more Dou Zong powerhouses!"
This sentence from Grand Elder Su Qian directly stunned Xiao Lin.
Although with his current strength, fighting a Dou Zong was as simple as beating a dog—and even if several Dou Zong joined forces, he was confident he could easily suppress them—within the Northwestern Region, a faction with several Dou Zong powerhouses was definitely at the ceiling level!
For instance, in the Jia Nan Academy where Xiao Lin currently resided, after excluding Headmaster Mang Tianchi and himself, there were still three Dou Zong powerhouses!
In other words, the faction behind the mysterious visitor Grand Elder Su Qian mentioned was likely not weaker than Jia Nan Academy. In the entire Northwestern Region, factions not weaker than Jia Nan Academy could definitely be counted on one's fingers.
At this moment, Xiao Lin's mind turned rapidly.
Before long, the name of a faction surfaced in his heart.
"People from the Sky Serpent Mansion?"
Putting down the teacup, Xiao Lin looked at Grand Elder Su Qian and asked calmly.
"No, it's not the Sky Serpent Mansion. It's the Imperial Family of the Sky Serpent Empire!"
As Xiao Lin's voice fell, Grand Elder Su Qian spoke a name that Xiao Lin could never have imagined!
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