"What? There’s such a thing, the Investigation Bureau gave the Golden Academy spot to Gu Mengping?"
At this moment, inside the Peace Finance Building.
Li Yi, Lin Yue, Zhao Lingfu, Zheng Gong, Lv Jue, and others gathered for a small team meeting, but they didn’t expect that as soon as Li Yi woke up, he would receive such terrible news after just leaving the Investigation Bureau. The less favored Gu Mengping had actually surpassed Li Yi and secured the spot.
This caused Lin Yue to become furious immediately.
"This is so unfair. Although Gu Mengping is a bit more senior, we dealt with and solved the recent incidents, especially this demon extermination operation. Without us, who knows how many people would have died. If the Investigation Bureau really insists on doing this, then there’s nothing to discuss, I will resign from my position as an external combatant right now."
"Lin Yue, calm down." At this moment, Zhao Lingfu said very calmly, "Li Yi, is there an inside story to this? I can’t believe that the Investigation Bureau would be so shortsighted as not to give you the Golden Academy spot but give it to Gu Mengping instead."
Not to mention, Li Yi’s backing alone is enough to make the Investigation Bureau take notice.
Zhang Lei is aware of the particularities concerning Li Yi; if he isn’t sent to the Golden Academy and something happens, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Therefore, in his view, the only possibility for Gu Mengping to have taken the spot is that the Investigation Bureau has reasons they couldn’t ignore.
Li Yi sat on the sofa and slowly said, "Zhao Lingfu, your intuition is sharp; indeed, there is an inside story. The reason why Gu Mengping was able to push me out and successfully nab the spot to enter the Golden Academy is not because of his achievements or seniority, but because his realm broke through in the last few days."
"Gu Mengping is no longer just a master of Spiritual Perception. He has successfully condensed his soul and has become a Soul Realm practitioner."
"What? There’s such a thing?"
Upon hearing this from Li Yi, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
A breakthrough at this critical juncture?
It’s not a joke, right?
But seeing Li Yi’s serious demeanor, everyone understood that Li Yi wasn’t lying, and this was true.
"No wonder the Investigation Bureau capitulated. The emergence of a Soul Realm cultivator indeed has to be taken seriously. If they don’t give the Golden Academy spot to Gu Mengping, and he makes a fuss, it would be unmanageable. Tianchang City doesn’t have a second Soul Realm practitioner now," Zhao Lingfu said with a frown.
At this moment, Lin Yue’s anger had also subsided greatly, but she still disagreed, "If it’s about competing for the Golden Academy spot based on realm, then we shouldn’t have accepted missions in the first place. We should have just focused on cultivating in the Mysterious Object Cultivation Room. Once the strength is there, everything else will follow, and the Investigation Bureau’s actions really disillusion us."
"It can’t be helped. Li Yi is currently only in the inspiration realm, which is two levels lower in realm, indeed making his competitiveness weaker. If Li Yi were at the level of Spiritual Sense, maybe there would still be some hope," Zhao Lingfu said, shaking his head. "It’s the era of cultivators now. Personal martial prowess must be respected. To put it bluntly, if Gu Mengping becomes difficult to handle, who among us could stop him?"
"To put it bluntly, the Investigation Bureau is now afraid of Gu Mengping. That’s why they offered the spot to appease him, so Li Yi has become the one sacrificed," he added.
Li Yi then said, "The Investigation Bureau is not completely unreasonable. They’ve offered to compensate me with Cross-border traveler status, but I’m considering whether or not to agree to it."
"Compensated with Cross-border traveler status, really?" The disappointed crowd all turned their attention back to Li Yi simultaneously.
They thought they’d lost the Golden Academy spot, but then suddenly there was a pleasant surprise.
"This was said by the top brass of the Investigation Bureau; I think it’s highly credible," Li Yi said. "The Investigation Bureau would not bother to deceive me with false news."
Lin Yue immediately said, "If we can really get a Cross-border traveler status, then it’s not a bad deal, at least better than nothing. After all, we’ve been busy with so many things; it’s too unreasonable not to give some compensation. Li Yi, we deserve that status, agree to it first, to avoid ending up with nothing if you really do resign later."
"It makes sense. Getting Cross-border traveler status is already very good," Zhao Lingfu said. "According to what I’ve heard, it’s uncertain whether one could become a Cross-border traveler even after entering the Golden Academy. Rather than that, it’s better to become one now. Moreover, Li Yi, you have the Mysterious Object Cultivation Room, which is a very good cultivation environment, so you temporarily might not need to enter the Golden Academy."
"Yeah, Li Yi, becoming a Cross-border traveler first means an extra layer of security. At least you’ll have a place to hide after the Sky Tipping incident and won’t be left with no way out," Lv Jue chimed in at this time, advising Li Yi to take the status. After all, competing with a Soul Realm practitioner now would indeed be very difficult.
"So many people wanted you to enter the Golden Academy just so you could eventually cross borders, right? Now you can directly become a Cross-border traveler. Whether you go to the Golden Academy or not seems unimportant," Zheng Gong said earnestly.
At this moment, Lin Yue lightly huffed, "That may be true, but I just can’t swallow the fact that we’re letting Gu Mengping get off so lightly by giving up the competition."
Listening to everyone’s advice, Li Yi roughly had an idea in his mind.
That was to become a Cross-border traveler first and then enter the Golden Academy later.