Chapter 99
First Meeting with Jiang Shaoxu
After arriving in Xining, Professor Gu Jing led Lin Chen to the Liyue Hotel, where the exploration team was staying.
In the hotel lobby, Professor Gu Jing spoke with the person in charge of the Hunter Alliance's operation. After learning that people from several other factions had not yet arrived, she asked the Hunter Alliance for room keys and led Lin Chen upstairs in the elevator.
"Here, take this room key." Professor Gu handed a room key to Lin Chen.
"Two room keys. I thought we were staying in a double room," Lin Chen said as he took the keys.
"The Hunter Alliance isn't that poor. The forces involved in this operation are all quite strong, and the Hunter Alliance won't let themselves lose face." After Professor Gu Jing finished speaking, she took her room key and walked to her room door.
After arriving at his room, Lin Chen washed up and then lay down on the bed in an extremely comfortable position to rest.
After all, I'll be spending a long time in the wild starting tomorrow, and there won't be such good conditions available to me anymore.
The next day, as the sun rose, while Lin Chen was still lying in bed having a sweet dream, Professor Gu called and told him to bring the necessary items and meet in the hotel lobby.
Upon arriving at the hotel lobby, Lin Chen looked around and noticed that Professor Gu Jing was sitting in the lounge area on the right side of the lobby with a group of people, discussing something.
Professor Gu Jing, who was in the middle of a conversation, saw Lin Chen walking towards her and immediately stopped talking, waving to him and signaling him to come over quickly.
Upon arriving at the area where Professor Gu Jing was standing, Lin Chen discovered that there were nine other people besides Professor Gu Jing, five of whom were about his age and were likely young people from other factions participating in this operation.
"This is Lin Chen, the young mage representing our Pearl Academy in this event. He is the top mage in our Pearl Academy's Summoning Department," Professor Gu Jing introduced Lin Chen briefly.
"To be the top student in the Pearl Academy at such a young age, one's talent and strength must be quite formidable," said Li Yin, a high-level mage from the Hunter Alliance who was also in charge of the operation.
"It's quite good." The high-ranking mages from the other two factions also expressed their praise for Lin Chen.
Young mages from these three factions also stepped forward to greet Lin Chen and get to know each other.
But just then, a cold snort broke the harmonious atmosphere.
"Hmph, as far as I know, the Beast Academy of Pearl Academy can't even field a full football team. How strong can the top student in this department be? Pearl Academy, which is usually so discerning, how could they have been so blind in this arrangement?"
The speaker was a high-ranking mage from a fourth-party force. Even the young man next to him expressed his disdain for Lin Chen after the high-ranking mage spoke.
"I heard that quite a few Summoning students graduated from the main campus of Pearl River University this year. I guess it's a case of the cat being out of the bag and the mice will play."
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen frowned. It was one thing to talk about himself, but to involve Mingzhu Academy and not even know his own strength? He shouldn't have offended them, could they be a competitor of Mingzhu Academy?
Just as Lin Chen was about to retort, Professor Gu Jing stepped forward and angrily berated the high-level mage.
"If your academic level isn't up to par, then shut up. If you're so capable, get that old guy to publish a few more papers in authoritative journals and suppress my academic standing. Also, I can give my spot at Mingzhu University to whomever I want; it's not something your Zu family can coerce or bribe you into giving it to."
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Li Yin, the leader of the Hunter Alliance, immediately stepped forward and interrupted the argument between the two sides: "Everyone is here, let's go."
"Didn't you say there was one more person?" asked Dongfang Qing, a high-ranking mage from the Dongfang family.
"That person went directly to the border town to wait for us," Li Yin replied.
……
On the way to the border town, after some questioning by Lin Chen, he finally understood why the Zu family was targeting him.
The situation was roughly as Lin Chen had guessed. The one who offended the Zu family was Mingzhu Academy. However, Mingzhu Academy was also a powerful force, so they couldn't target it directly and instead turned their attention to Lin Chen.
After the Hunter Alliance received news of Fire Dragon Valley, the Zu family came to investigate and secured two spots with their family's strength. However, when the Zu family wanted to request more spots, the Hunter Alliance disagreed. But if the Zu family could find an expert in the field of demonic creatures with extremely high academic level, the Hunter Alliance would not mind giving them one more spot.
However, just when the Zu family finally found a highly qualified expert, Professor Gu Jing also learned of this and, with her outstanding academic abilities, qualified to participate in the operation. She also snatched the spot away. The Zu family tried to communicate with Mingzhu Academy about this, but Dean Xiao and Professor Gu Jing refused, saying that it had been given to someone who needed it.
In fact, such a spot is not very important to a large clan like the Zu family. It just so happens that a senior member of the Zu family is trying to secure this spot for several of his descendants. In addition, these large clans generally have a tendency to be arrogant and haughty. They felt that Mingzhu Academy had slapped them in the face by taking this spot, which led to this series of problems.
But for Lin Chen, apart from Instructor Zhan Kong, the impression of the other members of the Zu family was not good, even extremely bad. He would let it go this time, but if they dared to cause trouble again, Lin Chen would definitely let them know why the flowers are so red.
……
When everyone arrived at the border town under the jurisdiction of Xining City, a figure was already waiting at the entrance of the town.
This is a woman with medium-length hair, a tall figure, full breasts, a delicate and classic face, and a very beautiful appearance. Her peach blossom eyes are charming and alluring like a fox, and a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth adds a touch of maturity to her youthful face.
"You must be the rest of the exploration team. My name is Jiang Shaoxu, and I should be the last member of the team."
The figure saw Lin Chen and the others get out of several cars, and immediately came forward, smiling slightly as he spoke.
This smile sent a shiver down the spines of the six young people, including Lin Chen, who were instantly stunned.
A few moments later, the six of them blushed slightly and looked away.
"As expected of Jiang Shaoxu, she really is a vixen. I'm still too inexperienced in cultivation." Lin Chen subconsciously shook his head and muttered to himself.
"Surname Jiang, a member of the Jiang family?" Zu Yuntian asked.
Li Yin nodded without offering any further explanation.
Having received Li Yin's confirmation, everyone immediately understood and didn't even have any doubts about Jiang Shaoxu coming alone.