Chapter 1068: Attention

In the days that followed, news of Li Luo representing the Holy Shimmer Star Academy alone in the "Academy-Grade Review" continued to ferment, sparking enormous discussion among the other major Holy Academies.

After all, in all the years of the "Academy-Grade Review," something like this was truly one of a kind.

Information about Li Luo's identity and strength inevitably spread as well, so the people of the major Holy Academies finally understood the source of his confidence.

However, some Holy Academies from the Inner Shenzhou still scoffed at this. They acknowledged Li Luo's talent and strength—his record on the Fenghua Ranking was indeed dazzlingly brilliant. If it were a one-on-one duel, probably no Three-Star Academy student from any Holy Academy could reach that level. But the Academy-Grade Review was not a solo fight; it was a team of four.

Especially this so-called "Four-Star Academy"—did you really think the major Holy Academies obediently sent Four-Star Academy students? To be precise, those were all "Title Students." If you really had to assign them an academy grade, "Five-Star Academy" would be more fitting.

This was a well-known loophole in the Academy-Grade Review, but when everyone was exploiting it, it naturally stopped being a loophole, so the Tianyuan Ancient Academy never bothered to fix it.

But this time, the Holy Shimmer Star Academy became the victim of that loophole.

So what Li Luo would face alone in the "Academy-Grade Review" were these teams composed mainly of Title Students from the major Holy Academies.

Fighting four against one—even if the One- and Two-Star Academy students on the other side were just there to participate, the main force of the Three- and Four-Star Academy students could still pose a great threat to Li Luo.

Under these circumstances, they couldn't understand what gave Li Luo the right to declare he would claim a first-class quota. Did he really think their Holy Academy teams were here to serve as cannon fodder?

The teams of the major Holy Academies were all filled with righteous indignation, and some even clamored that if they met Li Luo in the Academy-Grade Review, they would make him pay for his arrogance.

In fact, as these matters fermented, they even drew the attention of the various Star Academies of the Tianyuan Ancient Academy. You see, previously they had barely paid any heed to these reviews between Holy Academies, because just as the Holy Academies of the Inner Shenzhou looked down on those of the Outer Shenzhou with a sense of superiority, these Ancient Academies looked at every other academy the same way: sorry, I'm not singling you out—what I mean is everyone here is trash.

In this chain of contempt, the Ancient Academies sat at the very top of the pyramid.

But Li Luo's appearance had piqued their interest; after all, he was now a member of the Li Li Tianwang lineage, and his feats in the Spiritual Phase Cave Heaven had allowed him to overpower Qin Yi, Zhao Zhao Shenjiang, and others, showing every sign of contending for the title of the foremost peer of Tianyuan Shenzhou. Especially the evaluation of his peerless bearing on the Fenghua Ranking made the prodigies of these Ancient Academies deeply resentful—they never believed the Tianyuan Ancient Academy was in any way inferior to those Li Tianwang lineage powers in any aspect whatsoever.

It's just that previously Li Luo was at the Li Li Tianwang lineage and had little interaction with the Tianyuan Ancient Academy, so naturally they had no chance to express this. But now that Li Luo had come to the Tianyuan Ancient Academy, and the Academy-Grade Review was happening right now, couldn't they see for themselves the true level of this so-called "peerless bearing"?

Thus, with the Ancient Academy students adding fuel to the fire, the Academy-Grade Review drew even more attention.

And in the end, time quietly slipped away amid the eager anticipation of all.

The Academy-Grade Review, curtain raised.

When Li Luo stepped out of the cultivation chamber in the small building and came to the living room, he saw a slender, graceful figure bustling about in the kitchen, preparing some breakfast.

It was Mentor Xi Chan. She wore an apron that outlined her exquisite curves, full of charm.

Seeing this scene, Li Luo felt a bit dazed, because it reminded him of his days at the Holy Shimmer Star Academy, when every morning after he finished cultivating, he would see Bai Bai Mengmeng thoughtfully preparing meals for him and Student Xin Fu.

Those days had felt warm and cozy.

"Are you done cultivating? I made breakfast for you today." Mentor Xi Chan raised her eyes, looking at Li Luo. The veil covering her cheek trembled slightly, as if her red lips had curved into a smile.

"How could I dare let you, Mentor, personally prepare food for me?" Li Luo said, overwhelmed by the favor. This was the first time he had ever enjoyed such treatment.

Xi Chan prepared everything, then brought it to the table and smiled. "Can't be helped. After all, everyone in our entire Holy Shimmer Star Academy is counting on you now."

Li Luo quickly sat down at the table, then squinted his eyes and savored the warm breakfast from his mentor.

"Oh, right. During the two days you were secluding yourself to cultivate, three people came looking for you: Lu Ming, Jing Jing Taixu, and Sun Sun Dasheng. But since you were cultivating at the time, they did not disturb you," Mentor Xi Chan said softly.

"Them, huh..."

Li Luo smiled with a touch of nostalgia. Back in the Holy Grail War, they had been rivals, especially Jing Jing Taixu—the two of them hadn't exactly been on pleasant terms back then.

But the Academy-Grade Review started today, so he should be able to see them.

Thinking this, Li Luo glanced at the veil on Mentor Xi Chan's cheek and asked with concern, "Mentor, that curse still hasn't been removed?"

Xi Chan nodded. She hesitated for a moment, then reached up and removed the veil, revealing a cool, beautiful face—except at the right cheek, where there was a black fish marking the size of a thumb. The black fish was vivid and lifelike, while also emanating a strange, eerie aura. That dark, cold feeling contrasted with Xi Chan's fair, jade-like skin, making her seem somewhat bewitching.

Mentor Xi Chan's temperament was cool and intellectual, and now with this touch of bewitching air, it was as if her entire being had undergone a tremendous change.

"This curse is extremely troublesome. Over the years I've been trying to refine it away, but the Heterogeneous King's methods are too bizarre. I still haven't been able to remove it." Mentor Xi Chan's words were quite calm—she had long grown used to it over the years.

Li Luo thought for a moment, then said, "If Mentor Xi Chan can spare some time later to come with me to the Dragon Fang lineage, I can ask my grandfather to step in and help you."

Xi Chan heard this, and finally said, "Forget it. There's no rush about this curse. After all, I've gotten used to it."

The situation at the Holy Shimmer Star Academy was not good. She really couldn't stay in Tianyuan Shenzhou much longer—as soon as the resources were in hand, she had to head back as soon as possible.

Li Luo could only nod. After a moment, he stood up.

"That's about it. Let's go, Mentor."

Mentor Xi Chan took off her apron, draped on the Holy Shimmer Star Academy mentor's robe, then her gaze swept over Li Luo and she suddenly smiled. "Are you planning to change your clothes?"

Li Luo was startled, then understood. Mentor Xi Chan was referring to the Holy Shimmer Star Academy student uniform, but he hadn't prepared one. The student uniform from back then had long been discarded.

Seeing this, Mentor Xi Chan swept her jade-like hand over the spatial orb on her wrist, took out a set of Holy Shimmer Star Academy student uniforms, and smiled. "When you all became my students, I got a few extra uniforms in your sizes."

Li Luo looked at the uniform handed over. The Holy Shimmer Star Academy crest on it made him slightly dazed. It had been only about a year since he left Daxia, yet he felt as if he had been through so much.

He accepted it with a sigh of emotion and slipped the uniform on.

The youth's figure was tall and slender. His handsome face, bathed in a ray of dappled light, looked like a sculpture—sharp and distinct. His grayish-white hair gave him a unique air.

Mentor Xi Chan nodded in satisfaction.

Li Luo also sighed and said, "Too bad the Academy-Grade Review isn't judged on looks. Otherwise, I really can't imagine who could be my rival."

Mentor Xi Chan couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, shook her head, then pushed the door open and stepped out.

The two left the small building and walked along the road toward the area in the distance where loud noises of commotion were coming from.