Chapter 41: The Young Prodigy Feng Xiaotian, Lu Yu's Barbecue Tactic, Poaching Right in Front of Everyone!

The first young man to bring back prey was Feng Xiaotian, the captain and leading figure of the Kamikaze Academy's student representative team.

The rule set by Lu Yu was simple: the students had to rely on their own abilities to hunt game, and the first ten to bring their prey to him would secure a reward.

On the surface, Lu Yu appeared approachable and willing to sacrifice his own cultivation time to roast meat for others.

However, no one knew that he actually harbored an ulterior motive...

The cultivation levels of the students from the various academies were generally low, mostly hovering around level thirty, with only a handful having reached level forty.

Since Lu Yu intended to build his own faction, he naturally could not pin all his hopes on Blue Aqua Academy.

While he seemingly acted as a camp cook, he had actually spread his spiritual power outward to observe each student's hunting process.

Once he spotted promising talent, he would not hesitate to poach members from the five elemental academies.

This Feng Xiaotian was one of the targets he had set his sights on.

Feng Xiaotian's cultivation had reached level forty-one. Although he had just obtained his fourth soul ring, he was already the strongest among the five elemental academies. Moreover, Lu Yu knew that this person possessed innate full soul power, a mutated Twin-Head Gale Wolf martial soul, and had even created his own soul skill at a very young age—truly a genius.

In Lu Yu's view, Feng Xiaotian was superior to many members of the Shrek Seven Devils, simply lacking a few fortunate encounters.

Before long, a freshly roasted rabbit was ready, and Lu Yu tossed it to Feng Xiaotian.

During this process, nine other students had successively delivered their prey.

Lu Yu placed all the game over the fire simultaneously, roasted them, and distributed them to everyone before finally eating his own portion.

After finishing the wild boar leg in his hand, Lu Yu clapped his hands to draw the surrounding crowd's attention and said softly, "Everyone, once we enter the borders of the Star Luo Empire, I will be concentrating entirely on my cultivation inside the carriage."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone instantly understood his meaning. Many faces fell, and the roasted meat in their hands suddenly seemed much less appetizing.

After enjoying delicious food all the way, Lu Yu was suddenly dropping his duty; this news came far too abruptly.

At that moment, a smile appeared on Lu Yu's face as he changed the subject:

"If anyone is willing to join our Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, I wouldn't mind sparing some time for my fellow schoolmates..."

At this, everyone froze.

The expressions of the academy teachers, who were watching the commotion from afar, instantly turned exceptionally colorful.

Goodness!

This was outright poaching!

Looking at Lu Yu in the campsite, everyone's gazes turned peculiar.

This guy...

Did he actually want to poach the geniuses present into Heaven Dou Imperial Academy using nothing more than roasted meat?

Are you kidding me?

Right at that moment, a blue-haired short-haired girl, cheeks bulging as she chewed her roasted meat, raised her hand and mumbled indistinctly, "Me me me! Handsome Lu! I can!"

"Bang!"

However, the next instant, a long-haired girl who looked seventy to eighty percent similar to her smashed a fist onto her head. Glancing at Lu Yu, she offered a cool and apologetic smile:

"Apologies, my sister has a stutter. What she meant to say was 'cannot'."

With that, she dragged the short-haired girl away toward the carriage of Tianshui Academy.

Students from the other academies also scattered in a flurry. Feng Xiaotian ran toward the carriage of Blazing Flame Academy, approached a stunningly beautiful, tall girl with shoulder-length dark red wavy hair, and handed over a roasted rabbit leg, saying, "Junior Sister Huowu! I saved this specially for you! Hurry up and eat while it's hot!"

In the distance, Lu Yu laughed and shook his head, turning to board his carriage.

Among the students of the various academies, there were indeed a few rather eccentric characters.

For instance... that lovesick short-haired girl Shui Yueer...

And... Feng Xiaotian, who possessed the martial soul of a "two-headed simp"...

Along with Huyan Li, who possessed "unyielding backbone" yet bent his waist for roasted meat...

In another carriage, Meng Shenji was overjoyed inside. He never expected Lu Yu to pull off such a stunt.

If Lu Yu could genuinely poach a few geniuses from the various academies, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous boon for Heaven Dou Imperial Academy!

However, among the five elemental academies, the students of Thunder Academy consistently drew a clear line between themselves and Lu Yu.

Both Meng Shenji and Lu Yu knew that Yu Tianxin, the captain of Thunder Academy's student representative team, was Yu Tianheng's cousin, and the two had a very close relationship.

Presumably, because Yu Tianheng had suffered a crushing defeat at Lu Yu's hands and his state of mind had taken a heavy blow, Yu Tianxin held some hostility toward Lu Yu.

Lu Yu didn't really care. The overall quality of Thunder Academy's students was low, and only Yu Tianxin had any redeemable qualities. However, since the other party was a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family and could not possibly betray his clan, Lu Yu couldn't be bothered to waste time on him.

Early the next morning, the convoy set off once more, driving deep into the territory of the Star Luo Empire.

Although the students remained relaxed, the imperial powerhouses brought by Xue Qinghe and the teachers from the various academies visibly grew much more cautious.

Inside the carriage, Lu Yu, who had been meditating cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, frowned, and fell into deep thought.

Ever since their departure, he had sensed something amiss.

The various academies had only dispatched a few teachers.

The reason Meng Shenji came personally on behalf of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy was because Lu Yu was of utmost importance to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy of Medicine.

As for Tianshui Academy, Academy President Shui Ningyan's stepdaughter Shui Yueer and biological daughter Shui Bing’er were both among the student ranks, so her personal participation in the exchange delegation was entirely reasonable.

However, Huyan Zhen, the sect master of the Pachyderm Sect, was truly suspicious.

As one of the seven major sects of the Heaven Dou Empire, the Pachyderm Sect, though relatively weak in strength, was far superior to the individual academies and could easily have dispatched other soul doulos of the eighth rank to oversee things. Why did the sect master himself need to make the trip?

Most importantly...

Although Xue Qinghe was only the crown prince, he wielded control over the majority of the Heaven Dou Empire's authority. The Heaven Dou imperial family and the Star Luo Empire were at loggerheads; why would a crown prince personally risk danger?

If the Star Luo Empire disregarded the consequences, forcibly detained Xue Qinghe, or even secretly eliminated him, the Heaven Dou Empire would undoubtedly descend into chaos!

When things go against the norm, there must be a demon. Combined with Xue Qinghe's true identity, and the fact that the Pachyderm Sect had long been colluding with the Spirit Hall in the original storyline, Lu Yu increasingly felt that something was wrong.

This seemingly simple bilateral exchange likely harbored hidden dangers!

And it was definitely related to the Spirit Hall!

Lu Yu knew that the Spirit Hall harbored massive ambitions. Before laying out its plans thoroughly, Bibi Dong would never let the two great empires detect any anomalies, and naturally would not stir up trouble in the capital of the Star Luo Empire.

That meant...

If the Spirit Hall wanted to make a move, they could only do so while the exchange delegation was on its way back and forth!

Everything had been peaceful all the way through the Heaven Dou Empire, but now they had entered the Star Luo Empire. If anything happened to the delegation, the blame could easily be shifted entirely onto the Star Luo Empire.

Therefore, Lu Yu concluded that the journey ahead would definitely not be peaceful!