Month 2 Week 5 Academy Part 15 Night and Changes

Tang Bo continued his arrogance anytime he took pills to recover his Qi. But caught on to the fact quite a few students gave him an evil look at times despite knowing he was suffering from Qi Deviation.

Once camp was made one night, Leroy and those from the former Hamlet turned Town he was a part of settled in and cultivated with each other for safety sake they said. Trying to gain small control of Tang Bo's condition as well in the process with different methods.

Before they got really started Victora passed a pouch to Leroyfull of resources. Inside were natural Qi Stones to help with Cultivation. As well as a few pieces of broken artifacts made of various metal. She was after all from a Noble House and had some resources to help advance her cultivation.

The only way she would have reached the level she currently had despite her protest they did care for her. Well in a way to fatten her up to be of actual use. That and the time she spent with Chu Xue for "healing" and whatnot allowed her to bounce back quickly to continue her cultivation.

The exchange was clear. She wanted the two to be even and for her not to owe him anything. As well as her family from having to get involved. Leroy was not gonna turn that done at all as the Qi inside the stones was exactly what he needed for a few tests.

Observing the Qi stones he understood a method with Inscription and Formations to keep his own Qi inside objects.

Tang Bo watched the girl leave just as fast as she came. The notion that she liked her Senior Martial Brother immediately left his mind after seeing Leroy's look of contempt.

"I do not understand what is going on with you!" Tang Bo shouted loud enough the concentration of the others was broken. Despite being told to keep it down. It was night time after all. "Why did you treat those.. fools like they were people?"

He was about to say Commoners but the last time he said the word, Leroy gave him what he called a rug burn. With actual fire added on it was really painful to the arms.

"Ok, for the last time, Commoners are not that useless as you think. In fact, they outnumber nobles and the military officials is mostly composed of them." Leroy was going to make this the last time he explained it. "Rebellion is building up all over the country in every Kingdom of the Empire. Soon they will make their move and the Clear Tang Family will be in danger if they all act and think like you. I am sure you have heard the rumors already in your travels after the Demon Plant incident as well as whispers among students when moving about."

Leroy had tossed the artifact metals, demonic beast blood from today, and a few low-ranking herbs that couldn't be used for anything unless in large quantities into the Flame Vortex Core. He wanted to try something to help the Flamelighting Martial Arts reach higher.

As Tang Bo talked Leroy circled his Spatial Sense along with his Fire-lighting Body. The combination of the two worked together easily enough but not with the precision of running either one by itself.

At least he wasn't pulled into his Internal Space to be refined. Trial and error for now with this thing.

"The Tang Family is unbeatable, no one dares mess with us." Tang Bo spoke with a manic look in his eyes. His mind went wild when fear took over at the silly notion of them losing. His cousin Tang Xui didn't look away from him for a second. "They definitely are thinking twice after seeing you put that fool in his place!"

"You must not forget I am not part of the Tang Family no matter is fall or rise in Nobility Rankings. Just a doctor who has some patients in the family." Leroy spoke with a small smile as he reminded him of this.

"Tch! You should be!" Tang Bo stared at the ground like it was his worse enemy. He did forget that the other was not part of the Tang Family briefly. "It won't be long before we go from the Rank of Clear to that of Dark!"

"Today how many people messed with the Clear Tang Family without a second thought really during the Test?" Leroy shook his head at the stubborn young man. Speaking up when nothing was said. "Several family members of the Tang saw this happen to you, talk to them if you don't believe my words. In fact, check the rumors of others who have gathered to see why they didn't help you."

"These fools need to know their place!" Tang Bo bared his teeth in anger. Unable to calm himself down over the matter. "Why are you not as mad about what happened?" He stared at Tang Xui in frustration.

"I am upset but not overly so." Tang Xia wiped her hair behind her shoulders. "Making a move would have been easier if you were not suffering Qi Deviation!" That shut Tang Bo up briefly. "What bothers me more is that Dark Rose bitch is friends with the North King's daughter! The terms at the end of the duel were a joke as she knew Leroy had no way to enforce it."

"Well it was an interrupted duel reward, I agreed to it all the same." Leroy cocked an eyebrow at her.

Understanding what she was really trying to say. A gentle reminder that the North Kingdom was pretty much stronger than they let on.

"Besides, I can not kill a fellow student as well as a disciple of the Vice-Principal, that is stupid. That girl is interested in him, it was expected she would act to help her friend. As for Victoria, her attack was most likely due to the way I treated her and Chu Xue. Of course, heightened by her feelings that keep growing."

"She hangs with other people more than before when going out. Even walking away from other members of the Dark Rose House." Tang Bo folded his arms slightly angsty. His eyebrow twitched for some reason. The air in the roof was stifled by something. 'Why does my chest feel so funny all of a sudden?'

The qi in the room was reacting to Leroy's cultivation. Tang Bo was feeling the effects hands-on due to his Qi Deviation.

Internally the Champion's Dantian was slowly spinning in response to the changes of the Flame Vortex Core.

Tang Bo and Tang Xui were both unaware of what was going on inside Leroy really. The others had been close to him when he cultivate already and didn't feel odd at all.

*Twitch!* The small sound outside was picked up by Spatial Sense.

"Gonna get worse most likely, considering..." Leroy pinpointed the location of the person to his tent. They were subtle but not subtle enough after stepping on a tree branch. "...so many idiots have bright ideas!"

His left hand moved behind him as he grabbed at a small stone and infused Qi into it. With a flick of the wrist, it was launched at the creeper outside.

*Pow!* A small explosion was heard outside from all the fire qi pumped into the stone. No matter what Leroy did, anytime he circled the Flame Vortex Core Qi and used the regular Qi, the former would always slip a little into it if he was not really careful.

Why, he had a few theories but he needed to understand cultivation more.

"What the heck is going on out there?" Tang Bo questioned. "Don't they know people are trying to rest?" Considering just minutes ago he was loud and generally yelling was not missed by anyone. 'Ugh, what is this pain!'

Tang Bo felt a sharpness in his chess. Potent Qi had gathered there and was now heading to his Dantian. Almost beckoned by it in a way.

"Just a little rat causing trouble outside maybe." Leroy felt the presence scurry away.

Paying close attention to the room, he was able to feel the change in Tang Bo. Green remains left inside his body from the Qi Deviation pushed out. Not missing the chance, the Tang noble sat down to concentrate.

Tang Xuan, Tang Xui, Tang Luo, and Tang Xia all helped him the best they could. Circulating a little of their Qi to help flush out and stabilize the other via the method Leroy told them about. They were not at the Cultivation Realm in which it could be done easily but with time they could at least fix it.

*Fwish!* Flames swirled around Leroy as he entered the Qi Refining Rank IV for the Flamelighting Martial Arts easily. The majority of the energy causes his Dantian to almost hum in joy. Before he could inspect it more, he had to deal with Tang Bo who started to have weird fluctuations.

The circling of the Qi he took in was going well at first but the Qi Deviation pushed on his mind. He was trying to abolish it after all which had conflicted with some of the benefits it gave. In a crazed state, his power did become higher.

The pressure from the possibility the Tang Family was in danger did not help.

*Boom!* A few eruptions of Qi out of control caused the other members of the Tang Family to stop their help. Slight injuries had them setting away and now trying to fix their own cultivation states.

"All we have to do is kill them and show them their place once more. If those Commoners die.." Tang Bo closed his mouth as he felt a chill. Leroy gave him a glare that was extremely hostile. He fell back almost out of the tent even. "We are on the same side Leroy!"

"We were fine until now. I am trying to keep you from getting killed and becoming better as a man, but you just refuse to listen. I can only do so much before I stop caring." Leroy calmed himself as he said his goodbyes a moment later. "I wish you the best in your next life."

No reason to help him anymore especially when danger was present from himself. It was time to change focus back to what was more important. His own survival and finding some damn artifacts. Only a small thought into if Old Jin headed his warnings about the person he hunted before.

Tang Bo scurried away. Bumping into a few other students who gave him a wide berth of room. Seeing he was covering his mouth they thought he was just sick.

"Maybe a bad meal." A student said offhand. The student looked at the tent he ran from and just shrugged. "The Tang family is just odd lately. At least Leroy is not causing trouble by being with them."

Inside the tent, Leroy went back to cultivating as best he could. The Tang and Town members focused more on their cultivation and pushed out outside influences to make sure they were ready.

The Qi stones were thrown into the Flame Vortex Core once he finished studying them next as the Champion circulated it to the maximum. The stones were turned into powder as they were deprived of the power inside them fully.

It took about an hour before it was finished and he circled the Qi once through his entire body.

'Success!' Leroy cheered happily as he slipped into the next rank for the Flame Vortex Core. Instead of just increasing in strength like before, it actually increased in size by 3x this time. Information poured into his mind so fast that he was happy he wasn't observing himself internally at this time. 'Almost got sucked in by observing with a small trace during this time. Man, this thing is just dangerous.'

*Fwish!* Blue-white fire danced in front of Leroy. As it moved about, it formed an image of someone. The flame looked the same as Tang Bo who left not too long ago. A small check and the Connection tally when using the screen showed a change.

"Why... him?" Leroy rubbed his chin in thought. The more he cultivated the more the detail increased. Up until the image looked to be puking its guts out and taking a shit did he get annoyed with the flame image. "I did not need to see that."

As for the information that rose up inside him, it directed him to head to the Monument. A chance for a lot of power was there he could feel it in his soul. Something that could not be ignored if he wanted to do things his own way before returning home.

But that was not a problem immediately. After all, the rebels had the numbers and some strength and would attack the Akademy if the rumors and patterns were true so far. Even though they might attack him at this time the effort still had to be attempted.

'Whatever is in this Monument definitely needs to be mine.' Leroy stood up ready to gamble his life. 'And if I get a nice little boost in power I can take everything in the hidden caves during the Trials that the former student talked about. I could really use a good weapon.'