The two cla.s.ses walked together, causing those students who had been bored by the excursion to become intrigued and excited by the new faces.
No one noticed when Ai Hui pulled the badly battered Fatty back to the group.
Most of the girls were surrounding Duanmu Huanghun, chattering non-stop.
Zhou Xiaoxi felt that he had found his G.o.ddess in Cui Xianzi. He tried his best to impress her, making her laugh non-stop. In contrast, Teacher Xu was patiently teaching the students who were listening carefully to his lesson.
“The teachers named this area the Garden of Life. Why that name? There are many wood-attributed teachers in the Induction Ground, and everyone knows that they love breeding new species of plants, which then results in a large number of newly bred plants. These plants, however, are not valuable, yet the teachers are unwilling to destroy them. So, they transplant them here. There are so many bizarre plants here now, that even the teachers can’t keep track of them all, which has resulted in us calling this place the Garden of Life.”
“Won’t there be problems? Isn’t it dangerous?” one student couldn’t help but ask.
“Actually, everyone hopes for exactly that.” Seeing everyone’s puzzled faces, Teacher Xu laughed. “I shall let the wood-attributed Duanmu Huanghun explain why to everyone here.”
The bunch of girls acting like a flock of ducks were driving Duanmu Huanghun crazy. He had not been in a good mood to begin with, so if not for the presence of the teacher, he would have already chased them away.
Teacher Xu’s words caught everyone’s attention.
In the other students’ eyes, Duanmu Huanghun was a mysterious figure, so when they heard Teacher Xu say that Duanmu Huanghun knew the answer, they immediately directed their attention to him. They wanted to know if the legendary Duanmu Huanghun knew the answer.
Even Cui Xianzi stopped talking with Zhou Xiaoxi to look at Duanmu Huanghun with interest.
The rowdy girls surrounding Duanmu Huanghun finally quieted down and stared anxiously at him with their eyes wide open.
Duanmu Huanghun felt like a suffocating fish that could finally breathe some fresh air. He gave Teacher Xu a grateful look, then his facial expression turned cold as he answered, “From a wood elementalist’s perspective, having problems with the plants is a good thing, because it means that there is room for more changes and new possibilities. When breeding a new plant species, the more changes there are, the more beneficial it is. I think this is the scenario all the wood-attributed teachers are hoping for.”
The amount of adoration in those young girls’ infatuated eyes increased significantly.
Duanmu Huanghun ignored these gazes. There was absolute silence in his surroundings.
If this silence could last, Duanmu Huanghun did not mind talking for the rest of the day.
So he did just that; before Teacher Xu could open his mouth, Duanmu Huanghun continued to speak with confidence, “The reason why there are no changes is not that complicated. According to the current theory, elemental energy is the biggest factor that causes changes to occur in plants. The higher the concentration of elemental energy in an area, the more likely changes will occur in the plants there. This explains why there are a lot of mystical plants in the depths of the Wilderness. Even though the Garden of Life is located within the Induction Ground, it is in a place very near the Old Territory, so the concentration of elemental energy there is very low. This is why the likelihood of changes occurring in plants there is also very low…”
Everyone was captivated by Duanmu Huanghun’s words.
Teacher Xu nodded his head repeatedly, feeling especially proud of his student. For a first year student to come up with such conclusion showed a lot about his solid foundation.
Teacher Xu continued from where Duanmu Huanghun stopped, “Cla.s.smate Duanmu is correct. The oldest plant in the Garden of Life can be dated back to when the Avalon of Five Elements was established; however, the number of changes occurring in the plants there are becoming less and less, because the concentration of elemental energy is very low. Even those thousand-years-old ancient trees are no exception.”
Ai Hui shot a glance at Duanmu Huanghun, which was caught by Fatty.
Fatty knew Ai Hui too well. From the look on Ai Hui’s face, he knew something was up. He lowered his voice and asked, “You have a dispute with this guy?”
“A small matter,” Ai Hui replied without batting an eyelid. “He owes me some money.”
“He owes you money?” Fatty’s eyes immediately widened as he rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his palms together. “That’s intolerable! He owes you how much money? I will help you collect the debt!”
“One hundred and fifty million yuan,” Ai Hui replied plainly.
Fatty staggered and almost fell down. He could not help but raise his voice, “How much?”
His voice was exceptionally loud in the silence and everyone turned to look at the two simultaneously.
“One hundred and fifty million yuan,” Ai Hui replied calmly.
Duanmu Huanghun, who was previously filled with arrogance, staggered and almost fell down. Other people may have been baffled when they heard Ai Hui talking about one hundred and fifty million yuan, but Duanmu Huanghun clearly knew what Ai Hui was talking about.
G.o.dd.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
Blue veins appeared at the back of his hands as he clenched his fists.
“One hundred and fifty million yuan?” Fatty muttered, shocked, “It can’t be, how can someone be so stupid? Is it even possible to owe so much money?”
Duanmu Huanghun almost lunged at him.
Ai Hui noticed everyone’s attention on them and stopped talking. After a while, the other students lost interest and directed their attention elsewhere. Ai Hui and Fatty maintained some distance from the main body of students, walking together at the back.
“Really? One hundred and fifty million yuan?” Fatty asked again, solemnly.
“It’s a lie,” Ai Hui replied plainly.
“I knew it. You almost frightened me to death.” Fatty pat his chest.
“Fatty,” Ai Hui suddenly called out to him.
Fatty knew Ai Hui wanted to say something, just by taking a look at his face.
Instinctively, Ai Hui scanned the bushes and trees around them. Without looking at Fatty, he asked, “How’s your training progressing?”
“I have just activated my right hand’s palace,” Fatty replied weakly. When he heard Ai Hui’s question, he had a bad feeling. Fatty might be very stubborn, but Ai Hui still scared him the most.
Ai Hui was expressionless, but deep down he was shocked.
It appeared that Fatty was far more gifted than he was.
If not for his blessing in disguise and his managing to activate two palaces, Fatty’s training progress would have surpa.s.sed his.
“Ai Hui, how about you?” Fatty glanced warily at Ai Hui.
“Left and right hands’ palaces,” Ai Hui replied.
Fatty had an ‘isn’t-it-obvious’ look on his face. It had been like this since the days they were together in the Wilderness. Other than running for his life, there was nothing he was better at than Ai Hui.
“From today onwards, I will be monitoring your training.”
Ai Hui’s tone was cold and without leeway; Fatty’s face filled with anguish. Every time he wanted to open his mouth and say something, he would timidly close it before any words came out. Every time Ai Hui used such a tone to talk to him, he would have miserable days ahead of him.
“You like to meddle in other people’s business, right? Only capable people are qualified to meddle in other people’s business. Those who are not capable would only seek death if they tried.”
Fatty was touched by Ai Hui’s naggy words. He knew Ai Hui wanted the best for him.
Just as Fatty was about to raise his head and declare his determination, Ai Hui suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Fatty, did you hear something?”
Ai Hui squinted his eyes. Fatty was too familiar with this facial expression of Ai Hui’s. Something was wrong. His pupils constricted as he saw Ai Hui’s hand silently move towards his sword hilt.