Chapter 1093: The Tree Spirit Tide Steps

Boom!

In the void, thunderclouds spread, and within them raged thunder of extreme violence. Accompanied by flashes of lightning, a massive figure could faintly be seen writhing within the clouds.

The next instant, the thunderclouds were suddenly torn apart, and a colossal silver dragon revealed its majestic form. Its silver dragon scales, bathed beneath the thunder, flickered ceaselessly with electric light.

Its ferocious dragon eyes fixed upon a human figure beneath the thunderclouds. Then the silver dragon, wrapped in a tremendous pillar of thunder, came crashing down with a force of annihilation.

Boom!

Even the void seemed to shatter in that instant.

Li Luo opened his eyes at this moment. Within his pupils, lightning flickered faintly, then gradually subsided.

Hoo.

He exhaled a long breath, and within the white mist, there was a faint trace of lightning.

Since obtaining the "Silver Dragon Heavenly Thunder Banner" yesterday, he had been unable to wait and immediately began cultivating. Yet after an entire night, he had endured the baptism of the thunder dragon several hundred times, but still had not managed to master this art.

Li Luo was not disappointed by this. He recalled that when he had first cultivated the "Black Dragon Dark Water Banner," he had needed to rely on the academy's treasure, the "Curry Golden Lotus," to truly grasp its essence at the very last moment and barely manage to master it.

However, the main reason back then was that Li Luo's strength was only at the Sha Palace Realm. Cultivating a Marquis-rank art at that level was extremely risky, but in order to cope with the subsequent Prefecture Sacrifice, he had no choice but to brace himself and try.

But now Li Luo had advanced to the Five Star Tian Zhu Jing. Not only had he cultivated the "Black Dragon Dark Water Banner" to Great Completion, he had also cultivated a Marquis-rank art of extremely high grade like the "Myriad Aspects Dragon Fang Sword Array." So cultivating the "Silver Dragon Heavenly Thunder Banner" came considerably more easily to him.

Precisely because of this, he was able to withstand the annihilating baptism of the thunder dragon. Otherwise, if anyone else had endured such torment for an entire night, their foundations would likely have been damaged long ago.

"It seems I still need several more days of tempering," Li Luo murmured to himself. This "Silver Dragon Heavenly Thunder Banner," compared to the "Black Dragon Dark Water Banner," was clearly more adept at the way of offense. That majestic thunder might directly annihilated everything in its path with overwhelming force.

However, through this cultivation, he could faintly sense that the "Silver Dragon Heavenly Thunder Banner" and the "Black Dragon Dark Water Banner" had a tendency to resonate with each other. He supposed that once mastered, the two arts should be able to amplify each other. When both dragons emerged together, their power would surely surge dramatically.

With such anticipation in his heart, Li Luo walked out of the cultivation chamber, and there he saw Mentor Xi Chan waiting in the living room.

"Today is the day the 'Tree Spirit Tide' opens. According to reports, the day after tomorrow, you will depart directly for that 'Little Chen Heaven,'" Mentor Xi Chan said.

"Truly urgent," Li Luo remarked with a sigh. The actions of the Tian Yuan Ancient Academy undoubtedly carried a strong sense of urgency. Clearly, the situation within "Little Chen Heaven" was not optimistic.

"You must be especially careful within Little Chen Heaven. The Other Beings are extremely bizarre, and what's more, there exist Other Being Kings of the Three Crown King level there," Mentor Xi Chan reminded him with a solemn expression.

Li Luo nodded in acknowledgment.

"Once you enter Little Chen Heaven, if I obtain resources on my end, I'm afraid I'll have to rush back to the Holy Mystic Star Academy. Vice Principal Su Xin and the others are still waiting for me to bring the resources back, so I cannot stay here waiting for your final news," Mentor Xi Chan said with a hint of apology.

"It's fine. The Holy Mystic Star Academy needs you more. There's no need to worry about me," Li Luo said with a smile.

"You've done the Holy Mystic Star Academy a great favor this time. The academy has nothing to repay you with at the moment, so we can only do our utmost to support the Luo Lan Mansion, until the day you all return."

Li Luo sighed and said, "For me, this is already the greatest reward."

Although with his current position within the Dragon Fang Vein, a single Luo Lan Mansion industry amounted to little, in Li Luo's heart, Luo Lan Mansion was irreplaceable. It carried too much of his emotions and memories.

"Let's go, broaden our horizons a bit, and see just how impressive this Ancient Academy's 'Tree Spirit Tide' is," Li Luo said with a smile.

Mentor Xi Chan naturally did not refuse. The two left the small building, where someone arranged by the academy was already waiting. So they boarded a "Flying Leaf" and swiftly shot off into the depths of the academy.

After quite some time, the Flying Leaf came to a stop at a place buzzing with voices.

This was a massive stepped plaza. The steps rose layer upon layer, and on each layer were placed thousands upon thousands of rock cushions, quite a spectacular sight.

At the highest point of the steps, a simply shaped, ancient and unadorned green wooden portal stood solitary. Upon the portal were inscribed ancient runes, and as light flowed across them, it appeared quite mystical.

When Li Luo arrived here, he noticed that on a side high platform, three figures were already standing there. A faint, intangible pressure emanated from them, drawing reverent gazes from the countless students and mentors present.

They were precisely the three Vice Principals currently still within the academy: Wu Yu, Lan Lan Lingzi, and Qing Man.

On a slightly lower high platform beside them, many figures were gathered. At the very front, Li Luo even spotted the figures of Feng Lingyuan and Jiang Jiang Wanyu.

Seeing Li Luo appear, Jiang Jiang Wanyu even waved lightly in his direction.

Feng Lingyuan's expression remained as cold as ever. She merely glanced casually at Li Luo before looking away, showing no extra warmth just because the two sides had reached a cooperation.

Li Luo did not mind this, because Feng Lingyuan's personality seemed to be exactly like that, and it was not directed at him personally.

His gaze swept across that high platform, and he found that the figures there all carried extraordinary auras. Many of them had reached the Da Tian Xiang Jing level. Clearly, many of them came from the Heavenly Star Court, or even held seats in the Upper Court.

As Li Luo's gaze swept across, he suddenly noticed some movement among the crowd on that high platform. Then, surrounded by a throng of people, a man walked straight to the very front of the high platform.

He was a tall, dashing youth with a heroic bearing. His pupils were a pale blue-green, and when his gaze shifted, a sharp aura emanated from him, giving people a strong sense of pressure.

And when this person appeared, the faces of those top students around him who clearly held seats in the Upper Court all revealed a trace of reverence.

Seeing their reactions, Li Luo immediately knew the identity of the newcomer.

Besides the Chief of the Heavenly Star Court's Upper Court, Wu Changkong, who else could possess such prestige among a crowd of students?

As Li Luo's gaze fixed upon Wu Changkong, the latter's gaze also projected over at this moment. The two exchanged a glance, and no sparks flew. On the contrary, a faint smile even appeared on Wu Changkong's face, and he gave Li Luo a slight nod in greeting.

If not for the previous setback of trying to find teammates, Li Luo might really have thought Wu Changkong quite magnanimous.

Wu Changkong withdrew his gaze from Li Luo, then looked at Feng Lingyuan beside him and said with a smile, "I heard that Student Feng has teamed up with this Junior Li Luo?"

Feng Lingyuan's eyes were cold. She replied casually, "What? Is that not allowed?"

Wu Changkong said with a smile, "I just find it strange. Given Student Feng's personality, shouldn't you have found a better choice? This Junior Li Luo's claim to fame relies on borrowing the external power of spiritual beasts. But the situation within 'Little Chen Heaven' is special. I've heard that if one carelessly uses Berserk Energy, it will instead invite trouble."

"If Student Feng cannot find a suitable candidate for now, I can recommend a True Seal level teammate for you."

Beside them, Jiang Jiang Wanyu's willow brows furrowed slightly.

Feng Lingyuan turned her head, but her gaze passed over Wu Changkong and looked toward behind him. There stood a delicate, seemingly gentle and soft girl, and she said, "If you're willing to give me Xu Xi, then I can consider it."

The delicate girl, whose gaze had been fixed on Wu Changkong, frowned slightly upon hearing this and said flatly, "Feng Lingyuan, why are you dragging me into this for no reason?"

Wu Changkong laughed twice, shook his head, and said, "Then I really can't bear to part with her. Xu Xi is the treasure of our team."

The girl named Xu Xi's pretty face flushed slightly, and her gaze toward Wu Changkong clearly carried a hint of admiration.

Feng Lingyuan was not surprised by this answer. Although this Xu Xi only possessed the strength of a Void Seal level and might not rank highly in the Heavenly Star Court, her phase affinity was quite special.

The Immortal Mushroom Phase—its phase arts and defenses were both weak. But when paired with certain unique Marquis-rank arts, it could empower teammates, allowing their phase force to receive a boost in a short period.

This could be considered a support effect. In some missions carried out in team formation, her importance might even be greater than that of a True Seal level powerhouse.

This kind of support phase affinity that could boost teammates' phase force was extremely rare. Within the entire Heavenly Star Court, only two students could achieve this level. One was this Xu Xi, and the other was Li Hongyiu, the tenth seat of the Upper Court. The latter possessed a phase affinity called "Red Heart Vermilion Fruit," whose empowerment effect was even stronger than Xu Xi's.

However, Li Hongyiu herself already possessed a seat in the Upper Court, so according to the rules, she could not team up with other Upper Court students.

Thinking of these things in her heart, Feng Lingyuan could not be bothered to pay Wu Changkong any more attention.

On the high platform where the three Vice Principals sat, Wu Yu saw that the time was about right and said, "All these people from the Holy Academies have arrived. Let them enter the arena directly and choose their steps according to their respective academy rank."

Lan Lan Lingzi heard this, however, and shook her head, saying, "That's not appropriate. Some students, although their academy rank is low, actually possess strength far surpassing it, so they should naturally ascend to higher steps."

According to the rules of their Tianyuan Ancient Academy, the highest position on this stepped platform before them—the spot closest to that "Green Wood Portal"—belonged exclusively to the Celestial Star Academy. Then, descending in order, the Four Star Academy, the Three Star Academy...

And when the "Green Wood Portal" opened and the spirit tide poured forth like quicksilver spilling across the ground, the students positioned at the front would naturally reap the greater benefit.

Wu Yu, hearing these words, immediately frowned and said, "The rules have always been this way. Vice Principal Lan Lan Lingzi, you cannot change the rules just for one person, Li Luo, can you?"

How could he not know that the "some students" Lan Lan Lingzi referred to meant Li Luo.

Lan Lan Lingzi said calmly, "Then according to the rules, students from the Holy Academies wouldn't even need to participate in this mission. They all knew how dangerous this trip would be, yet they still chose to go. So our Tianyuan Ancient Academy should naturally try to give them some exceptions where possible. Otherwise, if such conscription missions arise again in the future and everyone shirks, how would we handle that?"

Wu Yu was displeased and was about to speak further when Vice Principal Qing Wan beside them laughed and played peacemaker: "Stop arguing, you two. I think this time let's just go with a free-for-all mode. Beneath the spirit tide, the pressure will sweep across on its own. Whichever steps they can stand on, we don't need to assign—just depends on their own ability."

Wu Yu furrowed his brow, but in the end said nothing more. After all, given the occasion, there was indeed no need to quarrel with Lan Lan Lingzi.

Lan Lan Lingzi considered it for a moment, then slowly nodded as well.

"Then let it be so."