Chapter 82: The Elite Society

Chapter 82: The Elite Society

Luo Si watched as Li Hongshen sank into contemplation, and a faint smile touched his lips. This time, he truly hadn't deceived Li Hongshen; when he saw him here, Luo Si was even more surprised than Li Hongshen himself.

Known as the cold-faced model, Luo Si had a certain stoic quality and managed to keep his expression in check, but inwardly, waves of astonishment surged within him.

Before, he had merely thought highly of Li Hongshen. After all, with salt in hand and the school allocating resources to the newly arrived, Li Hongshen would surely get a head start in the minor alliances on the outskirts. Moreover, Li Hongshen had been selected as a genius player back in the junior division—a so-called star seed lord. His status as the orphan of a military family spared him the fees for entering the Endless Wilderness, making him a rather suitable and outstanding investment.

Still, Luo Si hadn’t focused too much attention on him. Every year, there were many star athletes, but few continued to shine till the end and translated talent into reality. Even with salt, military family advantages, and a prime camp Luo Si provided for an early lead, once Li Hongshen entered the Endless Wilderness and ventured into the Ten-Thousand-Mile Mountains, salt would lose its scarcity.

After all, the alliances within the Ten-Thousand-Mile Mountains were nothing like the temporary outer alliances—they were ancient, sprawling organizations, some spanning the outskirts, midlands, and inner regions of the Endless Wilderness. These alliances interconnected dozens, even hundreds of cities, and thousands of affiliated lords, stretching across all three grades of Pengcheng No. 1 High. Many of these alliances were older than Li Hongshen himself, bearing the legacy of countless generations.

Their internal trade caravans rendered ordinary resources plentiful. Without unique spiritual resources or formidable personal strength, it was impossible to claim a special status.

But Luo Si never expected that, in just ten short years, he would encounter Li Hongshen deep in the mid-reaches of the Ten-Thousand-Mile Mountains. This time, Luo Si had formed a trade caravan to explore his own investment, never imagining that his first city would offer such a surprise—indeed, a shock.

On the display behind Li Hongshen, goods glimmered with spiritual light—wolf pelts, clearly from war wolves, exceptional spiritual materials for making wolf-hair shaman pens, which enhanced the inscription of shamanic scripts.

There were also neatly packaged spiritual materials, spiritual fruits, and spirit items. While the quantities were modest, the variety was impressive. To cultivate so many spiritual plants, the spiritual energy in the territory must be considerable; perhaps the altar had already advanced.

Looking at the shelves, row upon row of bottles and jars—spirit honey, rice wine, fermented paste, soy sauce, fermented beans, sugar cane, sea salt, spices, and more.

Clearly, these were all workshop products, proof that life in the territory was already well established; they no longer needed to boil or roast everything over a fire.

Even the common cloth—though it was only coarse linen—the sheer quantity was significant. For ordinary subjects, this was invaluable, far better than wearing animal skins, and it saved many resources.

Then there were the items atop the counter. Though the base was pitch black and rather unattractive, the glass dome above and the two intertwined glowing filaments within—wasn’t this an electric lamp? It was unmistakably an electric lamp.

Luo Si couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly. He hadn’t even managed to develop this shamanic technology himself, yet this junior had already taken the lead, surpassing him in the application of shamanic arts. Luo Si was genuinely astonished.

He glanced over at a nearby shed, where a banner bearing the character "Hong" hung high. Beneath it, a panda clung to a warrior’s leg, munching on bamboo.

Besides the panda, Luo Si spotted a fierce tiger, a war wolf, and a storm eagle. The variety and number of battle pets exceeded his expectations. It wasn’t rare for a lord to keep battle pets—he had some himself—but usually, one focused on a single species for easier management and training, avoiding conflict among the pets. Yet here, all the pets coexisted harmoniously in considerable numbers—something most lords simply couldn’t afford.

And that conspicuous war wolf—if Luo Si judged correctly, it was a wild beast. He pondered long, losing two or three hairs, yet still couldn’t fathom how Li Hongshen had raised it.

Luo Si himself had a wild beast pet, but only after relocating deep into the Ten-Thousand-Mile Mountains and trading with caravans from the midlands had his pet advanced. Had Li Hongshen violated some regulation?

"That wild beast—is it yours? May I ask, how did you advance it under such conditions? You didn’t do anything forbidden by the authorities, did you?"

"Oh, you mean Da Ha? Don’t worry, I’d never do such a thing. As for how it advanced… can I just say I was lucky and found it by the roadside?"

Luo Si’s mouth twitched at this.

"I’m not joking. Be serious—this concerns your evaluation!"

"Alright, honestly, it really was luck. When I was subduing a native tribe, someone contributed it."

Hearing this, Luo Si relaxed a little and began to understand. He never thought Li Hongshen would lie about such a thing. Advancing to the second rank so early—perhaps even ahead of schedule—would never escape external scrutiny.

Indeed, Luo Si was right. When Li Hongshen advanced his mammoth shaman, it did cause a minor stir outside. The new lords had only just descended into the Endless Wilderness, yet one of their subjects had already advanced to the second rank, and in the borderlands no less. This immediately triggered an alert and drew official attention.

At the time, the Education Ministry’s inspectors arrived at the school, intending to question Li Hongshen directly. Upon seeing his status as a military orphan, however, they refrained and began with an external investigation.

They first reviewed surveillance footage, focusing on Luo Si, and ultimately confirmed that no one had illegally traded blood crystals to Li Hongshen. Only then did they report to the Ministry and use the system to trace the origin of the advancement blood crystal.

Once the crystal’s source was identified and its path to Li Hongshen tracked, the matter was settled. Li Hongshen himself remained unaware that his name had already been flagged by the Education Ministry and was nearly added to the new generation’s blacklist as a public example.

Having figured things out, Luo Si composed himself and said to Li Hongshen:

"Alright, I think I understand now. I officially invite you to join my society.

You’ve probably heard the name—the Elite Society. You can think of it as a club.

Everyone inside is talented, eloquent, and I absolutely love the Elite Society!

Join us, and you’ll feel as if you’re piloting a skimmer outside—like you’re ready to take off."

(End of chapter)