Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Li Qingzhi, now somewhat stunned, turned his head. He glanced at the two stone lions on either side of him. After regaining his composure, he was about to speak when he suddenly noticed a familiar bag hanging from one of the lions: it was the very same treasure pouch that Senior Apprentice Sister Qing Lian had given him to store items!

He quickly recalled that when he left Three Silent Mountains, he had indeed placed Senior Apprentice Brother Qing Xuan's two stone lions in this very same treasure pouch.

But...

Even with this realization, Li Qingzhi still felt a bit bewildered. Although the stone lions at Qing Xuan's door were incredibly lifelike, they were still inanimate objects. Why would they suddenly burst out of the treasure pouch and run out of his summoning circle?

Li Qingzhi was now deeply pondering the situation, trying to find an explanation. Meanwhile, the students in class, having witnessed the surreal scene, were buzzing with excitement. Even Teacher Ernest couldn't resist adjusting his glasses repeatedly, his eyes fixed on Li Qingzhi's summoned creature, unable to tear them away.

Many students from the School of Plants had gotten to know Li Qingzhi quite well over the past few days. Having initially been captivated by the peculiar golden array hovering above the magic origin stone, they now found themselves discussing Li Qingzhi's strange stone beast, which had caused such an immense disturbance that it was impossible to ignore:

"Look, the magical beast Li Qingzhi summoned is completely different from ours!"

"I've never seen a type like that. Why does it seem unrelated to plant elements? But he's clearly a mage of the plant element."

Even as Bruce, Li Qingzhi's closest companion in Elmont, couldn't help but be astounded once more by the magical beasts Li Qingzhi had summoned. He murmured to Amelia beside him, "Li Qingzhi truly... broadens my horizons again!"

At that moment, the students' animated chatter was relentless, with all eyes fixated on those two uniquely extraordinary stone beasts.

"Th-this..." After a few minutes of stunned silence, Ernest finally found his voice, still grappling with what he had just witnessed. His assessment carried an undeniable hint of uncertainty, "These magic beasts don't seem to belong to the plant elemental category."

Instead, they appeared to be creations of the earth elements!

In Elmont, there had been no precedent of students summoning beasts from other elemental realms. Thus, Ernest found it difficult to evaluate this situation.

His thoughts swiftly returned to Li Qingzhi's distinctive flying posture during the previous flight lesson, which had sparked a frenzy.

Could it be that the magical beast Li Qingzhi summoned in this summoning class...?

Just as the elderly teacher was grappling with this dilemma, a faint green glow began to emanate from the two stone lions beside Li Qingzhi. A vibrant, life-infused magic started to spread gently across their bodies.

Upon sensing that familiar magic, Ernest heaved a sigh of relief, as if he had found a savior. He promptly shared his discovery, thus conclusively identifying Li Qingzhi's summoning result:

"Although they appear to be of the earth element, these are indeed plant elemental magic beasts, with strong vitality and defense."

After his comment, Ernest composed himself and refocused on the summoning lesson at hand, guiding the next student to summon their magical beast. "The next student may come forward."

The other students, initially curious about Li Qingzhi's magical beast, now pondered after hearing Ernest's evaluation. "So it's also a plant elemental. I thought Qingzhi summoned a creature from another element, judging by its stony appearance!"

Meanwhile, Li Qingzhi had almost fully processed the fact that his magical beasts were stone lions. Though he still couldn't fathom how they came to life, he now regarded them as his spirit beasts.

Like he did with Ling Shen's crane, Qingzhi gently patted the two lions' heads. Despite their sluggishness, they exhibited the same innate affection for their master as other summoned creatures, allowing Qingzhi to stroke them without resistance.

Moments later, as Qingzhi removed a somewhat wrinkled treasure bag from one of the lions and inspected its contents, he stumbled upon another bewildering discovery.

Perceiving something amiss, Qingzhi hastily retrieved the medicinal gourd his senior sister had prepared for him. The light weight of the gourd seemed to tell the whole story. As Qingzhi shook it in disbelief, it was indeed empty.

Could it be...

Suspecting the truth, Qingzhi swiftly turned his gaze towards the stone lions beside him. True to his suspicion, the two sentient lions, seemingly aware of Qingzhi's thoughts, yawned nonchalantly while shifting their guilty gazes away.

Though not overly enraged, Qingzhi couldn't help but feel a sting of regret as he looked at the lions, considering the precious pills his senior sister had specially brought for him.

"How could you have consumed all those pills?!"

No wonder they had come to life from being inanimate objects.

Recalling the copious amounts of pills, Li Qingzhi couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He finally understood why these two stone lions had revived: with such an abundance of medicinal power, even a stone pig could gain sentience, let alone stone lions that absorbed the essence of heaven and earth daily on Three Silent Mountains.

The stone lions seemed to sense Li Qingzhi's distress as they lowered their heads to nuzzle him after averting their gaze. Despite their solemn appearance, their endearing actions struck a comical chord.

Li Qingzhi lost his temper under their affectionate nudges, eventually saying nothing more than gently poking their heads. He was careful not to apply too much pressure, lest he hurt his own fingers.

Beside Li Qingzhi, Bruce stood with his own goblin, observing the scene with curiosity. He marveled at Li Qingzhi's stone lions, exclaiming,

"Li Qingzhi, your magical beasts are much larger than my goblins, and there are two of them!"

Amelia chimed in, "Yes, they seem to possess immense vitality. They must be defensively oriented magical beasts."

Upon hearing Ernest's commentary, the other students were no longer as astonished, but their curiosity about the unique stone lions, distinct from other plant summoning creatures, remained piqued.

After several days of magic classes together, the students from the Plant Academy were gradually becoming accustomed to Li Qingzhi's peculiarity. This growing familiarity brought them closer to him, with some bolder students even daring to gently stroke the extraordinary stone lions by his side.

The stone lion, after its initial grand entrance, now lounged lazily beside Li Qingzhi, indifferent even when other students brushed past it.

In the meantime, on the other side, the Student Council, who were conducting their routine patrol around campus, detected the intense tremors caused by the summoning of the stone lion and promptly headed towards the Hidden Treasure Pavilion, flying in the direction of the magic ore.

As the council's president, Ludwig flew at the fastest speed, simultaneously summoning his high-ranking magical beast to prepare for any potential chaos within the school grounds.

The students from the Botany Department were oblivious to the approaching Student Council. Excitedly, Bruce was sharing with Li Qingzhi his new discovery about the goblins: a gentle stroke on the grass atop a goblin's head could make them happy.

"Li Qingzhi, give it a try and communicate with your magic creature too," Bruce said, holding his little goblin and demonstrating with a smile. "Look, he's getting along great with me."

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi also smiled and reached out to touch his stone lion's head. However, before he could turn to observe the reaction of his two lions, a large shadow suddenly fell upon the face of the goblin that Bruce was holding. The little goblin, as if confronted by something utterly terrifying, instantly transformed from a state of joy to one of abject fear.

Simultaneously, Bruce, looking behind Li Qingzhi, paled drastically:

"My, my God..."

Bruce's voice trembled slightly.

Noticing the simultaneous terror on both Bruce's and the goblin's faces, Li Qingzhi immediately sensed that something horrifying might have appeared behind him. He froze for a moment before quickly turning around.

Before him stood an enormous, terrifying red ghost, seemingly materialized out of thin air!

The ghastly spirit, engulfed in the flames of hell, fixed its gaze intently upon him, so close that Li Qingzhi could feel the scorching heat emanating from its being. With a hot exhale, the pungent scent of lava and fire spread wildly before him.

Startled, Li Qingzhi's heart raced wildly. In his panic, he instinctively drew on his training at Three Silent Mountains, reflexively reacting without further thought. He swiftly pulled a talisman from his backpack, bit his finger, and with blood, traced the most potent exorcism charm he knew. As he waved his whisk, he poured all his remaining essence into the charm, then fiercely slapped it onto the ghost's forehead.

In an instant, as the talisman flared up and took effect, the ghost, still staring at Li Qingzhi, was suddenly swept away by a mysterious force from the East, leaving behind only ashes.

Relieved, Li Qingzhi looked at the remnants on the ground and the vanished fiery spirit, muttering, "That was too close, I'm glad I remembered how to draw the exorcism charm."

"I guess ghosts do roam during the day in the West, huh."

With a lighter heart, Li Qingzhi turned to check on Bruce and Amelia, who had been standing beside him, "Are you two alright?"

However, as Li Qingzhi turned, he found Bruce staring at him with wide eyes, as if he had seen a real ghost.

Li Qingzhi initially thought that the brown-haired youth had been frightened into a daze. Just as he was about to offer Bruce some more comforting words, the young man, after stammering for a moment, suddenly exclaimed something to Li Qingzhi that he could never have anticipated.

"You... You actually managed to extinguish the Chief Flame Spirit in one go?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qingzhi couldn't help but pause for a moment. After struggling to comprehend Bruce's words, he found himself equally bewildered. His previously relaxed heart was now as disarrayed as if it had been swept by a fierce gust of wind: "Ah?"

Moments later, Li Qingzhi, still in disbelief, turned his head stiffly. To his astonishment, the all-too-familiar figure he had been thinking of stood right behind him, not too far away!