Chapter 1087: Throwing In One's Lot

The matter of the conscription order spread throughout the entire Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy with the speed of a thunderclap, and at the same time it reached the ears of those Holy Academy teams that had just finished the house-level review and hadn't yet had time to leave.

Then, as expected, the entire Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy was nearly turned upside down.

Not to mention that the many students of the Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy were somewhat nervous about this sudden emergency mission, those Holy Academy teams were almost in a state of complete bewilderment.

How did they come here for a competition and suddenly get conscripted?

And this top-tier mission that even the Celestial Star House would deploy for—was it something their Holy Academy teams were qualified to participate in? Wouldn't this just be going to be cannon fodder?

Clutching such panic, the teams of the major Holy Academies erupted in protest as expected, and the leading academy mentors were also breaking out in cold sweats, one after another seeking out the senior leadership of the Ancient Academy, wanting to figure out whether this was a miscommunication.

But unfortunately, the reply they ultimately received was that there was no miscommunication. The Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy had indeed issued a conscription order this time, and according to the rules of the Academy Alliance, subordinate Holy Academies were not permitted to resist the Ancient Academy's conscription, otherwise in the future they would not only find it difficult to obtain resource support, but would even have their "Holy" title revoked.

Thus the teams of the various Holy Academies immediately burst into wails and howls.

But fortunately, the Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy quickly sent word about the "Tree Spirit Tide," which did soothe quite a few people. After all, this kind of treatment that originally only Ancient Academy students could enjoy was truly enviable.

Then the Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy struck while the iron was hot, promising numerous benefits, and the rewards offered also made many Holy Academy students' hearts flutter.

What high-grade Spirit Water Wonders, Marquis-Grade Arts, single to triple-eyed Purple-Eye Treasures, all sorts of rare cultivation resources... Holy Academy students, especially those from the Outer Shenzhou, when had they ever seen this level of sugar-coated bullets?

In the end, the protests from the major Holy Academies began to weaken.

In a certain sense, although this mission was certainly dangerous, for these Holy Academy students, wasn't it also a kind of opportunity? Otherwise, under normal circumstances, Ancient Academy missions in the past generally wouldn't bring them along.

And after gradually accepting the mission in their hearts, the Holy Academy teams began to bustle about again, because they wanted to find a strong backer in the Ancient Academy—preferably a senior or senior sister from the Celestial Star House. That way, the safety guarantee for this mission would undoubtedly increase greatly.

Thus, the major Holy Academies exhausted every connection they had, trying to arrange a stronger captain for their students to reduce the difficulty of this mission.

"Li Luo, we've come to throw in our lot with you!"

When Li Luo opened the courtyard gate, Lu Ming's voice reached his ears, causing him to smile involuntarily.

He looked toward the doorway, where six people stood. The three in front were Lu Ming, Jing Jing Taixu, and Sun Sun Dasheng, and behind them followed the respective Four Star House seniors from their academies.

At this moment, they all revealed friendly smiles toward Li Luo.

Li Luo smiled and said, "You all plan to participate in this conscription mission too?"

"What else, become deserters?" Lu Ming didn't have much fear, and instead was eager to try, saying, "Risk comes with opportunity. The Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy's rewards are too generous—who wouldn't want to take a gamble?"

Sun Sun Dasheng also grinned and said, "It's not like we haven't fought Otherness before."

Li Luo nodded and said, "Then you should also go find connections first, see if you can sneak into a team led by a Celestial Star House student from the Ancient Academy, right?"

Lu Ming spread her hands, a hint of helplessness on her pretty face, and said, "For us Holy Academy teams from the Outer Shenzhou, how could they possibly think highly of us? Going would just be pressing our warm faces against their cold backsides, so we might as well come find you."

Jing Jing Taixu also said calmly, "If you're willing to take us in, then everything will be led by you when the time comes. After all, you should be looking for a team too—you need to find people you can trust, right? Our strength might be lacking compared to Inner Shenzhou teams, but I believe we'll be more trustworthy than them."

"When fighting Otherness, the trust of companions is sometimes more important than strength."

Li Luo glanced at him and teased, "With your personality, you'd actually be willing to follow my lead?"

The two had been rivals in the past, and Li Luo was well aware that Jing Jing Taixu harbored no small amount of pride in his heart.

Jing Jing Taixu's expression turned somewhat gloomy. He had originally been very proud, but this experience at the Heavenly Yuan Ancient Academy had given him a thorough beating.

Li Luo didn't prod him further, but glanced at the three Four Star House students and said, "These three seniors are willing too?"

Among the three, Deng Zhu and Lu Lu Jinci were both somewhat familiar. The former had been encountered just at the house-level review, while the latter had been Jiang Jiang Qinge's opponent during the Holy Cup Battle.

Deng Zhu's round face was full of affability as he smiled and said, "Young Master Luo is too polite. Although we're one house-level above you, everything is based on strength. Your performance at the house-level review is enough to make us sincerely convinced, so if we follow you afterward, of course your commands come first!"

Lu Lu Jinci and Sun Sun Dasheng's senior also nodded, indicating their agreement.

Presumably when they came, they had already unified their stance: for this conscription mission, if they could follow Li Luo, they would acknowledge him as their leader.

Even though Li Luo's actual house-level was one tier lower than theirs... but when they encountered Otherness, would it hold back just because your house-level was higher?

Everything comes down to strength.

Regarding their attitude, Li Luo couldn't find any fault with it, but Jing Jing Taixu's words were quite right—if he really was looking for a team, then of course he needed trustworthy companions.

Back during the Holy Cup Battle, Li Luo had crossed hands with all three of them and had a decent understanding of their dispositions, so an initial trust could be established.

So after some consideration, Li Luo didn't refuse, and smiled: "Anyway, I'm a lone wolf right now. If you're willing to come along, it saves me some trouble. According to the team regulations from the academy, I'll ask around tomorrow and see if I can find a strong reinforcement from the Celestial Star House. That way the team's strength should have some guarantee."

Lu Ming and the others were overjoyed upon hearing this. Li Luo's face was naturally different from theirs; if he was willing to step forward, presumably the Celestial Star House people would give him some respect.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Just as they were rejoicing, they suddenly heard three clear, resonant bell chimes ring out across the academy.

"Huh? Three bell chimes? What figure from the Celestial Star House has returned to the academy?" Lu Ming and the others' voices were interrupted by the bell, and they all wore expressions of astonishment.

They had actually heard this kind of bell several times throughout the day. It was said to be a rule in the Ancient Academy: whenever a top student in the top ten seats of the Celestial Star House returned to the academy, a bell chime would sound to welcome them.

It didn't mean much—in simple terms, it was just for show.

But this seemingly unremarkable show was what made the Celestial Star House students pump themselves up like they'd been injected with adrenaline, charging for the top ten seats, wanting to obtain this kind of entrance.

It had to be said, the academy's senior leadership had a very precise grasp of these young people's temperaments.

"Three bell chimes—this is the Celestial Star House First Seat's style!" Lu Ming exclaimed.

"Oh? The Celestial Star House First Seat?" Li Luo was also somewhat surprised. He looked up at the sky and saw a golden "flying leaf" streak across, trailing long ribbons of cloud and mist, attracting the envious gazes of countless onlookers.

"What's his name?" Li Luo vaguely saw a tall, sturdy figure on that golden flying leaf, radiating a faint sense of pressure.

Lu Ming thought for a moment.

"Seems to be called Wu Changkong."