Chapter 1450: Xi Li

Li Luo gazed at the light steles of the four great ancient academies. On them, team after team kept shifting and changing, revealing just how fierce the competition was at this moment.

As for Jiang Jiang Qinge's team, they were currently ranked thirteenth with a record of "four wins, zero losses."

Several other teams were tied at that same position.

At the very top of the light steles, four teams had pulled far ahead of the rest, all maintaining a proud record of "seven wins, zero losses." Among them, Li Luo spotted the team led by that Sheng Que'er.

The other three teams were likewise led by the "Four Scholars" of the remaining three great ancient academies.

As eighth-grade titled marquis experts, their advantage was undoubtedly crushing.

Additionally, at the eleventh position, Li Luo also spotted a name that sounded faintly familiar.

"Mystic Spirit Ancient Academy, Xi Li, five wins, zero losses."

Li Luo's gaze sharpened slightly. If he remembered correctly, this Xi Li was most likely the Xi family expert that Xi Chan had mentioned. The fact that this person could lead his team to eleventh place among the four great ancient academies—even slightly higher than Jiang Jiang Qinge's team at the moment—showed just how formidable his strength was.

Of course, this didn't mean this Xi Li was necessarily much stronger than Jiang Jiang Qinge; it was simply because in the early elimination rounds, neither had yet encountered a truly powerful opponent.

Li Luo turned to look at Mentor Xi Chan and found that her gaze was likewise fixed on the light steles of the four great ancient academies, her eyes shifting, brimming with disgust and fear.

Sensing Li Luo's gaze, Xi Chan forced a somewhat strained smile at him.

Seeing the usually poised and cool Mentor Xi Chan uncharacteristically reveal a hint of vulnerability, Li Luo gently reassured her: "Mentor, don't worry. As long as you're unwilling, no one can take you away."

Looking at Li Luo's gentle yet resolute gaze, Xi Chan pressed her red lips together slightly, a trace of warmth flowing through her heart. She gave a small nod and said, "Thank you."

Li Luo smiled and shifted the topic: "These four great ancient academies really do have profound foundations."

Any one of the top twenty teams right now could probably dominate out in Outer Shenzhou, yet here they could only struggle to climb toward the top ten among the four great ancient academies.

No wonder the Sky Mirror Tower trial separates the ancient academies from the saint academies. If they were all thrown together, the combined teams from the six Outer Shenzhou regions probably wouldn't be enough for a single ancient academy team to handle.

Li Luo's gaze shifted away from the four great ancient academies and turned toward the saint academies of Inner Shenzhou. In a sense, the intensity of competition there, aside from lacking teams led by four eighth-grade titled marquis experts, seemed no less than that of the four great ancient academies.

Among them were teams led by top-tier upper seventh-grade titled marquis experts.

Strength like that could rank quite well even within the four great ancient academies.

But thinking about it, it made sense—after all, these teams were likely ones that the saint academies of Inner Shenzhou had piled all their resources into building, and naturally included some exceptionally gifted titled marquis experts.

After all, being situated in Inner Shenzhou, the resources these saint academies could obtain were far beyond what the saint academies of Outer Shenzhou could compare to.

Li Luo's gaze swept across the light steles of the Inner Shenzhou saint academies, then paused at the third-place position.

Holy Mist Academy, Lv Ruyan's squad.

This Young Lady of the Lv branch from Golden Dragon Mountain possessed strength that could not be underestimated either. Although she had not participated in the Sky Mirror Tower trial under the name of an ancient academy, the Holy Mist Academy she belonged to was considered a top-tier saint academy within Inner Shenzhou, with extremely profound foundations—reportedly because of the sponsorship and support of Golden Dragon Mountain behind it.

The Academy Alliance didn't mind Golden Dragon Mountain's reach, because they had far too many academies to look after. Although Golden Dragon Mountain's behavior would earn them some say within the saint academies, in a sense it also shared some of the resource burden on the Academy Alliance's side.

So sometimes, as long as Golden Dragon Mountain didn't go too far, the Academy Alliance turned a blind eye to their behavior.

Li Luo's eyes showed a contemplative look. Because of Xi Chan and Lv Qing'er, both this Xi Li and Lv Ruyan were now enemies rather than friends. If they met later, it would be hard to let things rest easily. Fortunately, one was in the ancient academy zone and the other in the Inner Shenzhou saint academy zone, so for now they wouldn't cross paths.

But this situation wouldn't last long either. Once the Crossing Zone ended, the two sides would eventually meet.

"Lv Ruyan's side will have three top Inner Shenzhou saint academy teams going after her, so you don't need to worry about her having the energy to come cause us trouble." Just as Li Luo was thinking, Lv Qing'er's cool voice suddenly came from beside him, her tone like a clear spring flowing down a snow mountain—crystalline and cold.

Li Luo looked at Lv Qing'er with some surprise and asked, "Are those people here to protect you?"

"More or less," Lv Qing'er replied casually.

Li Luo teased, "With so many better options, you still chose to participate under the name of Saint Xuanxing Academy. Looks like you really do love Saint Xuanxing Academy."

Lv Qing'er shot him a glance with frost flowing through her eyes, then turned expressionlessly and walked toward the back.

Li Luo, who had gotten the cold shoulder, could only shrug awkwardly.

Mentor Xi Chan beside them couldn't help but chuckle quietly and said, "You still don't know why she came to Saint Xuanxing Academy?"

Li Luo could only sigh.

While Li Luo and the others were resting, time gradually passed. All six Outer Shenzhou regions finished their first round, and the winner and loser zones were separated.

Thunder Fire Shenzhou, East Domain Shenzhou, and Ten Thousand Wind Shenzhou entered the winner zone.

While Cang Ming Shenzhou, White Spirit Shenzhou, and Polar Night Shenzhou fell into the loser zone.

At this result, the saint academy teams of White Spirit Shenzhou and Polar Night Shenzhou expressed extreme shock. In previous sessions, it had always been the three of them—brothers in misery—competing to see who was worse in the loser zone. Yet this session, East Domain Shenzhou had defeated Cang Ming Shenzhou and squeezed into the winner zone.

Their expressions were complicated one by one, their mood somewhat... uncomfortable.

In this world, was there anything more vexing than a brother you'd agreed to slack off with suddenly pulling himself together and even getting rich?

Working so hard like that makes it really hard for us to explain things to our respective deans when we get back!

While they were feeling depressed, the first round in the ancient academy zone and the Inner Shenzhou saint academy zone was also drawing to a close, with teams from all sides withdrawing from the Crossing Space one after another.

After Jiang Jiang Qinge withdrew, she immediately looked toward the East Domain Shenzhou platform, clearly also concerned about Li Luo and the others' results.

And when she saw that East Domain Shenzhou had defeated Cang Ming Shenzhou and squeezed into the winner zone, a faint smile couldn't help but surface on her exquisitely beautiful face.

At the same time, on the platform where Mystic Spirit Ancient Academy was located, a thin man with dark red pupils also cast his indifferent gaze toward East Domain Shenzhou. His cold, fierce stare settled on Xi Chan.

"So it really is that bitch Xi Chan!" He slowly wiped the blood-red longsword in his hand, coldness and viciousness flowing through his pupils.

"Big Brother Xi Li, that Xi Chan now has someone protecting her. That kid is called Li Luo, from the Li Li Tianwang branch of Tianyuan Shenzhou. His background is very strong. It's probably because of him that Xi Chan dares to come to the Sky Mirror Tower." Beside this man, someone spoke up—it was precisely Xi Chi, who had previously suffered a loss at Li Luo's hands.

"Tianyuan Shenzhou, Li Li Tianwang branch."

Xi Li's brow furrowed slightly. This was an unexpected development. That Xi Chan had fled to Outer Shenzhou—how had she managed to connect with the Li Tianwang branch of Tianyuan Shenzhou?

In front of the Li Li Tianwang branch, their Xi family's background held no intimidation at all.

Fortunately, though, the Li Li Tianwang branch was the Li Tianwang branch of Tianyuan Shenzhou. If this were their Mystic Spirit Shenzhou, Xi Li would have to rein himself in considerably.

Xi Li's eyes flickered between cold viciousness and violent fury. This emotional instability further stirred up his anger toward Xi Chan. If it weren't for that bitch escaping back then, causing his Mi Fa to fail to reach completion, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

That bitch was clearly a furnace cauldron he had planned for years, yet she dared to sneak away!

If she fell into his hands later, he would make her beg for death in vain!

Xi Li took a deep breath, suppressing the emotions in his heart, and said in a dark, heavy voice: "I will find a chance to meet that Li Luo. As long as he's willing to give up sheltering Xi Chan, I can offer him a reward that will satisfy him."

Xi Chi, hearing that Xi Li actually planned to soften his stance toward Li Luo, felt somewhat unwilling and said: "Big Brother, what if that Li Luo isn't willing?"

Xi Li stared at the blood-red longsword in his hand, his face gradually twisting, and said: "This is the Sky Mirror Tower, not Tianyuan Shenzhou. I may not be able to kill him, but I have plenty of means to make every step he takes difficult!"

"If he truly intends to make things difficult for me over some lowly wretch, then he's throwing away the face I'm giving him. Since that's the case... don't blame me for being unkind."

As time gradually passed, the major tournament zones all entered a rest phase, while Outer Shenzhou was the first to advance into the next round.

The other two major tournament zones cast many gazes of attention their way.

The six Outer Shenzhous began the second-round draw.

The current winners' zone consists of Thunder Fire Shenzhou, East Region Shenzhou, and Ten Thousand Wind Shenzhou.

So this round of drawing will have one side sitting out — undoubtedly the most effortless path to advancement.

Thus, carrying everyone's anticipation, Vice Dean Guo Guo Jiufeng once again stepped forward confidently.

Several minutes later.

On the East Region Shenzhou platform, silence reigned. The crowd stared with complex expressions at the other end of the glowing lot — where... Thunder Fire Shenzhou stood.

For this next round, they faced the strongest among the six Outer Shenzhous.