One leaf for half a bottle of Royal Sap.
The other students' eyes widened at the price. It wasn't cheap.
One Royal Sap was 5,000 school points. Half a bottle was 2,500 points!
Not everyone could bulldoze purification towers like Jiang Qing'e's group. Most teams might aim to just take one tower down.
According to past calculations, most squads left the Umbra Cave with about 5,000 points.
2,500 school points was no small price to pay.
But, but, but. If the trade-off was the opportunity to cultivate in the onyx lake, it might just be worth it.
After all, school points were traded for cultivation resources… the onyx lake was skipping this whole process to help them achieve the end goal of cultivation.
The students stirred restlessly, tempted.
Jiang Qing'e did not know whether to laugh or cry. Li Luo's entrepreneurial spirit was on another level.
Still, he had earned those onyx leaves with his own strength, so he could do whatever he wanted with them.
"Li Luo, onyx leaves are released for free with the pulses of the onyx lake. Now you've gone in earlier to take leaves and intend to sell them at outrageous prices? That's a little too underhanded, isn't it?" Song Qiuyu's cool voice sounded.
The other students paused, doubt creeping back on their faces.
Li Luo lazily cocked an eye at her. "Firstly, even though I've taken these leaves, there are more that will continue to be released by the lake. If people aren't interested in my leaves, they're more than welcome to keep waiting.
"Secondly…
"Only a few leaves are available every time they come up, and there are a lot of teams here. Only the stronger teams like yours stand a chance, while the others are going to end up empty-handed.
"Now I've come up with a simple solution for more teams to get leaves, but you're not happy. I guess you want to keep the privilege of cultivating in the lake for yourself?"
Song Qiuyu's eyes narrowed. Li Luo had turned the tables back on her.
"Li Luo's right. The waiting time for the lake's leaves is too long, and the leaves are too few. We can't get any. Rather than pining away here, we might as well spend 2,500 school points to get a leaf," a student suddenly said.
"Yeah!"
"Me! I'll pay!" Once the floodwaters broke, the students all clamored for the leaves.
Poorer students.
Seeing them flood forth, Song Qiuyu held her tongue, fearful of incurring more wrath.
Li Luo cheered inwardly.
"Li Luo," one student cried, "we don't have Royal Sap with us right now. Can we pay you when we get back?"
"By all means," Li Luo said expansively. "Such minor problems—don't let them trouble you. I went through all this effort to get the leaves just so that everyone could cultivate more conveniently."
They cheered at that, with the exception of Song Qiuyu. This guy was just here for a profit. Noble support of their cultivation? My foot!
Li Luo was happy enough to accept their notes. If anybody tried to default, he'd bring Sister Qing'e when he went knocking!
More and more people were lining up, and then a squabble even broke out. Finally, Li Luo had to organize a raffle.
Soon, seven happy squads were departing to cultivate in the lake.
They were pleased with their purchase. The energy in the onyx lake each time was limited, and an early entry promised better rewards.
Wang Yufeng and Song Qiuyu were looking sour. No one knew when the next wave of leaves were coming out. Which meant that they would be using a weaker onyx lake compared to these teams!
The cultivating effect was getting worse and worse by the moment.
Li Luo counted his seven promissory slips with satisfaction. Three and a half bottles of Royal Sap. 17,500 school points. A big chunk off his 100,000.
Bai Mengmeng and Xin Fu were looking at the new tycoon in awe. He had not only mined the onyx lake for all it could give him, he had gone one step further to mine it for all it could earn him. He was truly the king of business acumen.
"Neatly done." Tian Tian whistled appreciatively.
Qiu Bai too didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Li Luo dusted off his hands, then he sauntered over to Wang Yufeng, Song Qiuyu, and Difa Jingming.
They looked very wary to see him approach.
"Li Luo, what do you want?" Wang Yufeng stepped forward aggressively.
Li Luo smiled cheekily at Song Qiuyu. She'd been bothering him all day, and he always took his revenge.
However, some days he preferred to serve it cold. Like today.
"Want to buy a leaf?"he asked politely.
They stared at him. In truth, they very much wanted to buy a leaf, but their pride had held them back before. They also assumed that Li Luo would refuse to sell one to them.
They watched desperately as Li Luo's seven leaves were traded. Although they stood a chance in snatching free leaves, the timing of their release could vary. More importantly… the people that had just entered the lake were going to diminish the energy within.
So even if they managed to snatch leaves later, their cultivation would be affected.
To them, 2,500 points wasn't a big deal. They would gladly pay it for an early entry into the onyx lake.
"What do you mean? You still have a leaf?" Wang Yufeng asked cautiously, trying hard to keep the hunger out of his voice.
"One last one, yeah." Li Luo nodded with a smile.
Wang Yufeng swallowed. One last leaf… what was Li Luo up to?
Song Qiuyu looked at the smiling man and felt a twang of unease.
"Are you buying it? Half a bottle of Royal Sap, no credit though." Li Luo grinned.
Wang Yufeng was tempted, sorely tempted. Half a bottle of Royal Sap was nothing… but he didn't believe that Li Luo would be so kind to them.
But were they really going to give up on the onyx leaf just because of their suspicion…?
He looked over at Song Qiuyu, and she nodded guardedly.
"Sure," he said. "We'll take it."
Li Luo took out the leaf, then he exclaimed in surprise. "Oh goodness, this onyx leaf seems to be damaged."
They looked closely. Only half a leaf was left.
Half a leaf wasn't enough for three. It was only enough for two.
A squad had three people though.
Li Luo sighed with some regret. "It's a little damaged, but I guess it sort of works."
He lifted it up. "Do you still want it?"
Now the deal was changed, and they stared at it, tormented. So close yet so far.
Song Qiuyu glared at him. Now she understood Li Luo's game.