Chapter 164: Governor Squad

Before they knew it, Li Luo and the other new students had been in the Sacred Profound Star Academy for nearly a month.

That month had allowed them to gradually grow accustomed to the academy's rhythm, and after shedding the initial awkwardness and wariness toward an unfamiliar environment, they began to develop many hopes and expectations for the future.

And with the end of the month approaching, the atmosphere within the Sacred Profound Star Academy began to liven up once again.

Because the monthly Ranking Battle was about to arrive.

In the Sacred Profound Star Academy, at the end of every month, there would be a so-called Ranking Battle, conducted in squad format, to determine the rankings of the teams within each house.

The Ranking Battle was a hallmark of the Sacred Profound Star Academy, designed to temper the students while letting them continuously improve through mutual competition. It also offered generous academy points as rewards, so many students regarded it as one of the biggest sources of academy points each year.

The importance of academy points within the Sacred Profound Star Academy went without saying; this alone was enough to make the vast majority of students prepare thoroughly for it.

So at the end of every month, the Sacred Profound Star Academy was full of non-stop excitement.

South Wind Academy, cafeteria, by the window.

Li Luo and Seeing Yu Lang sat together, with Zhao Kuo, Zong Fu and a few others beside them.

"Three days from now is the end-of-month Ranking Battle."

Seeing Yu Lang glanced around with a rather bold air: "I hope you won't be so unlucky as to run into me in this Ranking Battle, otherwise don't blame this brother for not showing mercy."

Zhao Kuo said disdainfully: "You're just throwing your weight around thanks to Bai Bai Doudou's prestige. What's there to be cocky about?"

The others also one after another condemned Seeing Yu Lang's tiger-assuming-fox-might attitude.

Li Luo smiled, just about to speak when he caught sight of Lü Qing'er's graceful figure not far away, so he waved to her.

Lü Qing'er's gaze fell on Li Luo, her expression a little complicated. She hesitated for a moment, but still walked over and sat down.

"Why do I get the feeling you've been a bit afraid to see me these past few days? Even when I told you to come out for a meal you were so slow about it." Li Luo asked, somewhat puzzled.

"N-no, that's not it." Lü Qing'er hurriedly said, lowering her head to drink water.

"Really?" Li Luo was also a bit baffled, but he didn't press further and turned to chat with Seeing Yu Lang, Zhao Kuo and the others.

Seeing that he didn't pursue the matter, Lü Qing'er quietly let out a sigh of relief. She lowered her head, gazing at the pretty face reflected in her water cup, and couldn't help but recall the clash she'd had with Jiang Jiang Qinge a few days earlier.

Especially those fierce words Jiang Jiang Qinge had said... they had scared Lü Qing'er so badly that she hadn't slept well these past few days.

"She's truly gone mad."

Thinking of this, Lü Qing'er's little face couldn't help but flush hot, even her body temperature rising.

"Are you sick?" Li Luo beside her noticed the change and asked.

"No!" Lü Qing'er snorted coldly, turning her head away, not wanting to look at Li Luo.

Li Luo was baffled, just about to speak, when Zhao Kuo's voice came over: "Brother Luo, the reason I called you out this time is mainly to share some intel."

Li Luo saw the mysterious look on Zhao Kuo's face and said with amusement: "What intel?"

"Do you still remember Shi Kong?"

Li Luo nodded. He had to remember — back in Tian Shu Prefecture, Shi Kong had been his biggest rival. Only after entering the Sacred Profound Star Academy, he had barely run into Shi Kong; after all, with thousands of new students, how could they bump into each other all the time.

"Has he been up to some trick again?" Li Luo asked thoughtfully.

Zhao Kuo clearly wouldn't bring up this Shi Kong for no reason.

Zhao Kuo nodded and said: "Brother Luo, you guys are a Purple Radiance Squad, at the top among the new students, so your eyes are all on the other Purple Radiance Squads. That's why you don't know how fierce the competition is among the Gold Radiance Squads beneath the Purple Radiance Squads."

"In this nearly a month, who knows how many Gold Radiance Squads have clashed in all sorts of ways."

"And among these clashes, the Gold Radiance Squad with the biggest reputation right now is called the 'Governor Squad.'"

Li Luo was taken aback: "Governor Squad? What kind of ridiculous name is that."

"The reason others gave them this name is mainly because the four members of this Gold Radiance Squad share one thing in common — their fathers are all governors of a prefecture in the Great Xia." Zong Fu explained from the side.

That's right, in the Sacred Profound Star Academy, Purple Radiance Squads have three members, Gold Radiance Squads have four, and Silver Radiance Squads have five.

Only then did Li Luo understand, and he immediately said: "Shi Kong is in this squad?"

Zhao Kuo nodded, his expression somewhat solemn as he said: "The captain of this Governor Squad is named Shen Ya. This fellow's strength is no joke — he was previously ranked tenth on Seeing Yu Lang's strength roster. Everyone thought he'd be picked by a Purple Radiance mentor, but in the end he was filtered out."

"That really is a bit unlucky." Li Luo shook his head. Five Purple Radiance mentors, picking fifteen new students in total — by rights, this Shen Ya, ranked tenth, had a high chance of being selected, but he actually missed out. What an unlucky kid.

"Besides Shen Ya, the other two in this Governor Squad are one called Feng Ze and one called De Xiyan. They were previously ranked in the top twenty as well..."

"This squad is very strong. It's said that their goal in this Ranking Battle is to defeat a Purple Radiance team." Zhao Kuo said slowly.

"You're not saying... they've set their sights on me, are you?" Li Luo said with a smile.

Zhao Kuo, Zong Fu and the others all nodded seriously.

Li Luo said helplessly: "Are they treating our squad as a soft target? That shouldn't be the case — isn't there still Seeing Yu Lang as the dead last here?"

Seeing Yu Lang beside them said angrily: "Stop your nonsense. Do you think my captain Bai Doudou's intimidation factor is something you can compare to?"

Zhao Kuo said: "The reason they chose Brother Luo's squad should partly be because of Shi Kong, but they really did come prepared. From what we've gathered, the Governor Squad isn't planning to act alone — they've also allied with another top Gold Radiance Squad, intending to deal with you together."

Li Luo frowned. Two top Gold Radiance Squads? If that was the case, then it really couldn't be underestimated. After all, the opponents were no pushovers either; with their numerical advantage, his squad might not be able to handle them.

"This intel is indeed very important. Thanks, brothers." Li Luo said slowly. Without proper preparation, being ambushed by these two Gold Radiance Squads might really capsize the boat in a ditch.

Zhao Kuo chuckled and said: "What are you saying, Brother Luo? Actually, that's not even the main thing today."

"Is there more than just them?" Li Luo's expression darkened. Is my popularity really that bad? Everyone wants to take me on!

"No, no..."

Zhao Kuo hurriedly shook his head and grinned: "Actually, it's like this. The top squad that the Governor Squad allied with happens to have some past friction with us. Plus, we're also eyeing the points they'll have then, so..."

Zong Fu cut in: "So we've also secretly allied with a squad, wanting to take them down."

Li Luo was shocked. So this is a mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? Do the students nowadays really play with this many layers?

"This idea is great, I support it." Still, Li Luo was quite supportive of this — after all, he was very willing to cause trouble for those who harbored ill intentions toward him.

Zhao Kuo said: "But there's a problem now... even with our squad plus the squad we've allied with, it seems we still might not be able to beat that top Gold Radiance Squad."

Li Luo: "......"

Sorry, so it's not an oriole behind, but a grasshopper eyeing the mantis and drooling.

"Then what's the point of telling me all this?" Li Luo couldn't help but complain.

"Our idea is... Brother Luo, in your team, could you spare someone to come support us? As long as your side delays the Governor's squad a little, at the end we can devour the whole lot of them." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.

Li Luo's expression was a touch colorful. He stared at Zhao Kuo, Zong Fu, Chi Su and the others, and only after a long while said: "You guys really are something."

After all that fuss, it turned out they were coming to borrow his people to help them eat a big meal.

But their plan was indeed feasible. The three people on his side—if he had to lend one out, it could only be Student Xin Fu, since Bai Bai Mengmeng's strength was still insufficient. But if it came to that, he and Bai Bai Mengmeng would be the only two holding off that Governor's squad for a while?

Li Luo thought it over for a moment, and finally, under the eager, pleading gazes of Zhao Kuo and the others, he nodded.

"It can be done."

Zhao Kuo and the rest were overjoyed at once, then immediately said: "Knew you'd agree, Brother Luo. We even came up with a name for this plan."

"You even have a plan name? What is it?"

"Protect Our Brother Luo!"

Li Luo nearly sprayed a mouthful of rice onto their faces.