Chapter 1081: I Refuse

Sword-light like a river of stars unfurled in a heaven-and-earth-filling sweep, vast and mighty, and wherever it passed, even the world's energy seemed to be annihilated into nothingness.

Under countless stunned gazes, the sword-light swept sideways and slammed head-on into the strongest attacks that Gao Xuhan and his two companions had unleashed with everything they had.

A terrifying shockwave of energy erupted, blinding radiance flooding the field of vision, a blank white expanse that made it impossible to see where the collision had occurred.

In the stands, countless students' eyes stung with pain, yet they wanted to see the result at once, so they kept their eyes wide open, letting tears slip unbidden from the corners.

Under the watch of countless gazes, the raging wild sword-light within the battle platform finally began to fade, and the blinding radiance dispersed along with it.

The scene within finally became clear.

The first thing to meet the eye was the devastation everywhere.

Countless bare stone peaks had been razed flat, the ground covered in sword-marks so deep the bottom could not be seen; each mark was different—some had edges smooth as a mirror, some had tender sprouts growing from the cuts, some burned like holy fire.

The once-vast battle platform had nearly half its area destroyed.

Countless gazes swept frantically across the field, and the next moment they converged on the peak of the tallest stone peak, for there Li Luo, in his half-dragon form, still held his stance with blade planted, his ash-white long hair whipping wildly behind him in the wind.

Li Luo was still standing there!

Only, the powerful phase-force fluctuations surging around him were fading at a startling speed; including his dragonized body, the dragon scales dispersed and his frame began swiftly returning to normal.

But what about Gao Xuhan and the others?!

Had they withstood it?!

Many gazes searched hurriedly, and after a moment they finally found, amid the ruined field, several figures wrapped in faint cyan light.

It was Tong Yan, Gu Jing and the others.

But judging by their present state, they had clearly been grievously wounded and knocked unconscious; if not for the protective mechanism, they would likely have been reduced to bare bones by Li Luo's earlier attack.

Hiss!

At that moment, sounds of sharply drawn breaths rose one after another across the ring-shaped stands.

Once Tong Yan, Gu Jing and the others were revealed, the outcome of this final was already decided.

That one terrifying sword-light from Li Luo had swept the entire field clean, taking out all three squads in a single wave?!

In the stands, a tidal wave of uproar thundered forth.

"Wait, I don't see Gao Xuhan!" someone suddenly cried out.

Only then did the crowd realize—indeed, there seemed to be no sign of Gao Xuhan being gravely wounded; where had that fellow gone?

"There!"

Someone shouted, and immediately countless gazes followed the direction, only to see, amid a pile of rubble in the battle platform, pitch-black poisonous water flowing out.

The poisonous water swiftly gathered, finally forming a figure lying on the ground.

It was Gao Xuhan!

At this moment his face was deathly pale, his whole body covered in wounds; he lay among the rubble unable to move, but from his expression he was clearly still partly conscious.

Though also gravely wounded, Gao Xuhan had at least kept a breath left and had not yet been eliminated!

Even so, Gao Xuhan's eyes were full of terror; the sword-light that had swept away everything earlier had left him with an immense psychological shadow.

At the peak of the stone peak, Li Luo also saw Gao Xuhan emerge from the poisonous water, and was somewhat surprised—this fellow actually had some life-preserving tricks, to have survived that sword-light.

But from the look of it, he should also be at his last gasp.

Li Luo mobilized the thin phase-force remaining within his body, his figure drifting slowly down from the stone peak; then his palm dragged the Dragon Elephant Blade, its edge scraping across the ground with a piercing sound as he walked step by step toward Gao Xuhan.

Seeing Li Luo approach step by step, the terror in Gao Xuhan's eyes deepened; he desperately tried to gather a wisp of phase-force, but found his body would not move at all.

"Li Luo, Li Luo, wait!" Gao Xuhan said hurriedly.

"I have a proposal!"

Li Luo's footsteps slowed, but did not stop; the faint smile at the corner of his lips made Gao Xuhan's blood run cold.

"Li Luo, you've already eliminated the other two Holy Academies, and there are two first-grade slots, so you don't need to strike any further!"

"Those two slots can simply be taken one each by our two sides!" Gao Xuhan said quickly.

At this moment he had none of his earlier momentum, for now he was a fish awaiting the knife—only when Li Luo chose to bring it down.

Though Gao Xuhan could also tell that Li Luo was already at the end of his rope, he himself was in even worse shape, barely able to move.

Li Luo's footsteps paused slightly, as if a thoughtful look crossed his face.

In the field now, only representatives from their two academies remained; in a certain sense, they indeed did not need to fight any longer.

Seeing Li Luo stop, Gao Xuhan was overjoyed and continued, "Li Luo, the more friends you have, the more paths you have; there's no need to wipe us out completely!"

Li Luo laughed, and just as Gao Xuhan was ecstatic, he once again dragged the Dragon Elephant Blade over and stood beside the latter.

"Your proposal is very interesting," Li Luo said, flashing a brilliant smile at Gao Xuhan.

"But I suddenly recall that the mentor from your academy threatened my mentor a few days ago, trying to seize our Sacred Mystic Star Academy's qualification."

"So unfortunately..."

Li Luo slowly raised the Dragon Elephant Blade in his hand.

"Your proposal—I refuse."

Although even leaving Gao Xuhan alive would not affect Li Luo's qualification for a first-grade slot, Li Luo felt—why should I give you this benefit? Before the fight you didn't talk about a win-win, now that the fight is over and there's a result, you want to come out with a win-win? Where's such a beautiful thing?

Sometimes, he can be a very grudge-bearing person.

Gao Xuhan said furiously, "Li Luo, are you trying to offend our Sacred Swamp Academy? You don't need to be this ruthless!"

There was clearly no need for this! With the current result, they could clearly have a win-win, heading together for the first-grade slots!

Li Luo was taken aback, stared at Gao Xuhan oddly, and said, "Then call your dean to come hit me at the Dragon Fang Vein."

Damn!

Gao Xuhan cursed inwardly, nearly forgetting that this fellow was not only a member of the Sacred Mystic Star Academy, but also a member of Li Li Tianwang's vein!

And the direct grandson of the Dragon Fang Vein Head!

It is said that the Dragon Fang Vein Head is already a Two-Crown King, far stronger than their dean!

Therefore, his threat had no effect whatsoever.

So, under Gao Xuhan's despairing gaze, the Dragon Elephant Blade in Li Luo's hand slashed straight down toward his head.

Hum!

The blade-light came howling in. Even though Gao Xuhan knew full well the arena's protection was there, he still couldn't just ignore it. He could only muster his last bit of strength to rasp out: "I concede!"

The frost-glinting blade edge stopped right in front of Gao Xuhan.

"Good boy."

Li Luo smilingly tapped Gao Xuhan's ashen face with the tip of his blade, then, forcibly suppressing the intense wave of weakness surging from within his body, he planted both hands on the blade, using it to prop himself against the ground, and at the same time looked up at the referee standing in the air above, asking: "Did I win this final?"

The referee from the Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy in midair only just now came back to his senses. He looked at the devastation in the arena and couldn't help being somewhat moved. In the eyes of a powerhouse like him, Li Luo's methods this time might still be a touch immature, but the potential faintly revealed was enough to make one's heart tremble.

This is yet another monster.

That thought flashed through the referee's mind, and the next instant, his deep, resonant voice rang out at the ears of every single person in the arena.

"Academy-Grade Evaluation Final — the victor is..."

"Holy Void Star Academy!"

"Li Luo!!"

The entire arena erupted, boiling over completely.