Chapter 261

Kujo Lu Zai stood in place with a grave expression,

with dozens of professionals kneeling beside him.

In the Sakura Kingdom, the Kujo family is supreme;

when the eldest son of the Kujo family travels, those who see him must kneel and bow.

A middle-aged man in military officer attire walked up to Kujo Lu Zai

and asked respectfully: "Young Master, that Li Yao..."

"The live broadcast wasn't faked."

Kujo Lu Zai's expression was terrifyingly gloomy, a complete contrast to how he was in front of Li Yao just now.

"That person is likely the biggest opponent our Sakura Kingdom will face in this National Border Trial."

The officer was somewhat shocked;

it was the first time he had heard the Young Master make such an evaluation of a peer!

"If the Young Master were to face him personally, would you have confidence?"

"No confidence," Kujo Lu Zai shook his head gently.

"No confidence?!"

The officer couldn't believe his ears.

"Young Master!"

"You are already close to level 60 and the fourth turn, while that Li Yao is still some distance from level 40."

"How could you not have confidence?"

Kujo Lu Zai turned his head abruptly, staring at him with icy eyes.

Then, a smile appeared on his face again:

"Officer Takeuchi, don't panic; I just said I have no confidence, not that I can't defeat him."

"You go busy yourself first. By the way, please help me call Lord Shima over."

"Yes, yes," the officer nodded in fear and hurried away.

Serving a monarch is like serving a tiger;

Kujo Lu Zai's expression just now had truly scared him.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

Soon,

an old man called Lord Shima came to Kujo Lu Zai's side.

"Young Master, you called me?"

"Hmm, is there any definite news on whether the relationship between Kujo Mise and that Li Yao is really that good?"

The old man paused and pondered carefully:

"It's uncertain. They are both at the Some Jingyu Martial Academy in the Dragon Kingdom, and we have no source of information on the situation there."

"However, Miss Mise once went to the Indian Kingdom to rescue Li Yao; that can't be faked. Judging by actions rather than intentions, the relationship should be good!"

"It seems my sister still has some value," Kujo Lu Zai smiled,

then whispered softly:

"Kujo Mise, during the National Border Trial,"

"you will help me, right?"

"By the way,"

"Young Master, please instruct."

"Help me send Officer Takeuchi on his way."

"Since he can't understand human speech, let him go to the Mother Goddess of the Yellow Springs."

"Let him study well there."

In less than half an hour,

Li Yao saw the end of the staircase.

【Heavenly Crane Altar】 and 【Tragic Snow Mountain】 have the same flow.

Climb to the top and compete for the secret treasure.

While climbing the stairs, Li Yao encountered many monsters.

Kha'Zix gained nearly two hundred attributes.

The people who came in from the Sakura Kingdom side were only the professionals brought by Kujo Lu Zai,

and they were all lying below now.

As for the Dragon Kingdom side,

Li Yao also roughly guessed why no professionals entered the 【Heavenly Crane Altar】.

"It should be the teacher's doing, right?"

In this kind of competitive dungeon, besides a meager amount of experience points,

the only reward is the peak secret treasure.

Knowing that he would come in,

wouldn't it be a waste of time for other Some Jingyu students to come in?

Li Yao climbed to the top of the staircase,

a platform about the size of two football fields.

Under normal circumstances, this would be the place for a decisive battle between professionals of two countries.

Now, however, there was only Li Yao.

In the center of the platform was a pavilion-like structure resembling an ancient one.

Li Yao didn't hesitate and walked straight toward the pavilion.

The door wasn't locked, and it opened with a push.

The smell of decaying dust rushed into his nostrils.

A hoarse, muffled voice followed:

"Professional, you have finally come; I have waited for you for a long time."

Li Yao looked toward the source of the sound.

It was a Sakura Kingdom samurai armor about three meters high,

covered tightly; Li Yao didn't know what was inside the armor.

It held a samurai sword, its hollow eye slits staring straight at Li Yao.

Three minutes later,

the armor lay scattered on the ground.

A black-gray heart

and a loot treasure chest

floated quietly in mid-air.

Li Yao put them into his storage ring.

"Do I need to go out and come back in?"

The armor didn't refresh for a long time, Li Yao wondered.

He walked out of the simple pavilion and walked back in again.

"Professional, you have finally come; I have waited for you for a long time."

"Uh..."

A dozen minutes later,

Li Yao appeared in the dungeon hall.

The entire dungeon run took less than an hour.

With three gray hearts plus the two Tragic Delusion Crystals obtained earlier in 【Tragic Snow Mountain】,

Li Yao had five items that increased mission difficulty.

This thing can only use three items at most.

He handed the remaining two to Qin Qin Xuejun.

The teacher's request was also perfectly completed.

Time to go level up.

Li Yao calculated and came to the sixth floor of the dungeon hall.

Seventh-floor dungeons are rare, and most of them are like the 【Tower of Grandmasters】, with extremely harsh entry conditions.

Most of the time, only managers guard the seventh floor, and you can't see a single student.

And the sixth floor that Li Yao was heading to—

all dungeons must be led by a Deputy Team Leader.

It was relatively quiet.

Originally, Li Yao wasn't qualified to come to this floor,

but without the contribution points sponsored by Dean Cang,

Li Yao would have had to keep grinding 【Sea Labyrinth】 until level 38 after level 32.

This was the best route recommended to Li Yao by Xiao Hei.

Only after level 38 would there be a dungeon similar to 【Ant Disaster Grotto】 for Li Yao to level up.

Now that he has become a Deputy Team Leader,

this level 35 large dungeon 【Abyss Fortress】 can be grinded until level 40.

Leveling efficiency has increased significantly!

So much so that Li Yao wasn't even that keen on contribution missions anymore.

To reach Team Leader level, besides meeting the strength requirements,

one needs one hundred thousand contribution points.

Li Yao had no thoughts on that in the short term.

Relying solely on taking ordinary contribution missions, he probably wouldn't be able to reach Team Leader level in a lifetime.

Those large contribution missions are hard to come by.

For example, retaking the Shengxi Pool dungeon rewarded Li Yao with five thousand contribution points,

or passing the selection to participate in the National Border Trial could reward two thousand.

Getting the top spot in the National Border Trial rewards fifty thousand contribution points.

Li Yao might only consider the matter of promoting to Team Leader level after the National Border Trial.

Li Yao came to the 【Abyss Fortress】 room.

There were people, but not many.

It was very quiet.

It required a Deputy Team Leader to lead the team,

so the students who came here usually had already found their teams.

They wouldn't be like the rooms downstairs where you had to organize and find a team on the spot.

Although there weren't many people,

as soon as Li Yao walked in,

someone said in surprise:

"Captain Li Yao?!"

"Holy crap, big boss, you're level 35?"

"No! Buddy! Aren't you a freshman? How is your level higher than mine after I've been here for over a year?"

These days, the news of Li Yao leading a team in 【Sea Labyrinth】 had already spread.

Some veteran Some Jingyu students speculated

that Li Yao is now a Deputy Team Leader,

and would likely grind 【Abyss Fortress】 at level 35,

causing those Deputy Team Leaders who earn points by leading people to avoid the limelight in advance.

But no one expected

Li Yao to arrive here so quickly!

"Damn, Captain Li Yao, you lead; while it's still early, I'll go lead other dungeons."

A Deputy Team Leader level student said to Li Yao.

Li Yao had some impression of this person;

his strength was even stronger than Zhang Zhang Liyu's,

and he was one of the contestants for the National Border Trial.

Because he liked to strengthen equipment,

he owed a lot of points to an internal loan institution of the academy,

so he had no choice but to lead people to grind high-level dungeons every day.

Of course,

the way they lead people is different from Li Yao.

Like this Deputy Team Leader,

he usually leads nightmare-level difficulty

and has certain requirements for the boss's strength—

listen to commands, follow arrangements, and with his own powerful strength, clear the dungeon.

While Li Yao leading a dungeon—

as long as the level is enough, anyone can come!

Anyway, they don't have to do anything inside.

Everyone receives the same points.

That's why this Deputy Team Leader chose to leave early,

not even having the slightest thought of competing with Li Yao for bosses!

The most critical thing is

Li Yao is also leading purgatory-level difficulty!

There's simply no comparison!