Chapter 166: The Ranking Battle Begins

The month-end ranking battle that all students of the Holy Profound Star Academy had been looking forward to finally arrived, wrapped in a boiling, clamorous atmosphere.

The sonorous sound of war drums echoed through every corner of the academy from early morning, adding even more fuel to the already heated atmosphere.

As new students, the ranking battle site for Li Luo and the others was on the west side of the Holy Profound Star Academy, where mountains rose and fell and the terrain was complex — a fine place for fighting all the same.

Several thousand new students were scattered among entrances in several different directions, waiting for the match to begin.

Li Luo stood among the crowd, looking at the teams around him; on the chest of each team's captain was a badge — Gold Radiance teams wore gold badges, Silver Radiance teams wore silver badges.

And once the ranking battle began, as long as the badge on the captain's chest was taken, it meant that the entire team was eliminated.

Purple badges were worth five hundred academy points, gold badges worth one hundred academy points, silver badges worth twenty academy points.

Most importantly, defeating the opposing team also granted one-fifth of the opponent's spoils as an additional reward.

Simply put, if a defeated team had previously plundered five badges, then one of those five would count as the additional reward and could be taken directly.

So in Li Luo's eyes, these students were no longer classmates now, but walking points; if he could rob this entire area clean, he would end up with a whopping ten thousand points!

When the time comes, he'll buy two vials of Imperial Dew — one for refining medicine, one for tasting!

What energy fluid, three hundred points — child's play.

"Captain, could you please stop looking at other people and swallowing your saliva?" Bai Bai Mengmeng suggested kindly from the side, her face a little flushed.

Student Xin Fu also looked at Li Luo with a strange expression; the way the latter was now gazing at the others was like a hungry ghost eyeing roasted chickens strewn across the ground.

The surrounding teams, under the gaze of Li Luo, all felt uncomfortable and retreated a good distance.

Only then did Li Luo come back to his senses, an awkward smile surfacing on his face.

"Heh, actually I was just missing the food at home a moment ago," Li Luo explained.

"Hmph, Li Luo, does the food at your home look like people?"

Someone gave a cold snort. Li Luo looked over and saw that the speaker was a youth with somewhat pallid skin. He stared at the latter, hesitated, then said: "You look a bit familiar. Oh, I remember now — you're that Shi Xiang who tried to cause trouble for me during the Master Selection match... what was your name again?"

During the Master Selection match, Li Luo had been intercepted by two people, one of whom was this Shi Xiang youth.

What Li Luo didn't know was that after this person failed to intercept him, he ran into Duze Duze Beixuan, and because of the latter's bad attitude, he spitefully pointed him toward a random path.

"Hmph, remember my name — I am called Yehua."

"I will definitely become a Purple Radiance student in the future too!" the Shi Xiang youth declared passionately.

Li Luo nodded in agreement: "I see promise in you; you'll surely get what you wish for."

After saying that, he didn't really want to bother with this Yehua anymore, because he felt the other fellow didn't seem all that bright.

Li Luo's gaze shifted to the right side of this area, where there was a raised platform with seats. At the highest point sat Instructor Xi Chan, Shen Shen Jinxiao, and the other five Purple Radiance instructors; just below them were some senior Gold Radiance instructors.

Clearly, they were the hosts of this new-student ranking battle.

"The ranking battles for the other houses also start today, right... I wonder how things are going on Miss Jiang's side?" Li Luo looked toward the other directions of the Holy Profound Star Academy. The academy was simply too vast, and its grounds were extremely expansive, fully capable of accommodating large-scale competitions for several houses at once.

As for Jiang Jiang Qinge's side, he actually had nothing to worry about, because within the Three Star House, Jiang Jiang Qinge had long reigned supreme; this monthly ranking battle was probably just a channel for her to harvest academy points.

Truly envious.

I want to harvest leeks without restraint too.

While Li Luo was sighing inwardly, a deep, resonant voice from a Purple Radiance instructor came down from the high platform: "All students, prepare. This ranking battle ends at sunset. During this time, you may fight to your heart's content; as long as your badge has not been taken, you must fight without cease!"

"When the bell and drum sound, the first batch of Silver Radiance teams will enter. Ten minutes later, the Gold Radiance teams will enter, and the Purple Radiance teams will enter last."

Hearing this, Li Luo felt somewhat helpless — this was a kind of protective mechanism for the relatively weaker teams, to prevent a swarm rushing in at once and most Silver Radiance teams being wiped out first.

After all, in this kind of ranking battle, it was almost always the big fish eating the small fish, and the small fish eating the shrimp.

And their Purple Radiance teams were undoubtedly at the top of the new-student food chain.

While Li Luo was thinking this, the first bell and drum sounded abruptly.

Boiling clamor erupted in an instant.

Hundreds of Silver Radiance teams surged out like a flood, charging from the passage into the competition grounds, then swiftly scattering far away like a pack let loose.

Li Luo watched those Silver Radiance teams vanish from view and felt an inexplicable reluctance — it was the feeling of points walking away on legs.

Boom!

Ten minutes after the Silver Radiance teams entered, the second bell and drum sounded, and the Gold Radiance teams also began to enter.

Compared to the Silver Radiance teams, the Gold Radiance teams' presence was noticeably fiercer; after all, those who made up these Gold Radiance teams counted as first-rate strength among the new students, and some among them were even stronger than certain members of the five Purple Radiance teams.

It was just that, for various reasons, they had failed to become Purple Radiance students.

Once the Gold Radiance teams had entered, only Li Luo's team remained in this area, and the once-boiling grounds instantly fell quiet.

Li Luo looked around at the empty surroundings and said: "Do you guys feel like drawing a sword and looking around, with no one left to fight?"

Bai Bai Mengmeng said quietly: "Captain, don't get cocky."

Student Xin Fu also said: "Keep a low profile."

Li Luo sighed. Actually, he had always kept a low profile before, but ever since meeting Bai Bai Mengmeng and Student Xin Fu, he had come to understand that keeping a low profile also came in grades.

Boom!

At this moment, the third bell and drum sounded.

Li Luo waved his hand and said: "Let's go — the captain will take you to start a feast of slaughter!"

He charged in the vanguard, following the passage into the competition grounds.

Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng quickly followed. The three of them passed through the passage, and their view suddenly opened up, but as far as the eye could see, not a single team was present.

"They really ran clean."

Li Luo shook his head helplessly. Their task from here on out was to track down as many Gold and Silver Radiance teams as possible — at the very least, to start accumulating points.

"Let's go harvest some leeks!"

Li Luo fixed on a direction and then sped off. Those Gold and Silver Radiance teams had already left ahead of time; he had to catch up to find anyone.

Li Luo's three of them galloped in one direction for a while, and a forest appeared ahead. Then he raised his brows and saw, at the edge of that forest, a four-person Gold Radiance team resting.

"Oh? It's you? Stone-head kid!"

As they drew closer, Li Luo was immediately somewhat surprised, because the person leading that squad was none other than the sharp-featured Shi Xiang youth.

"Who are you calling Stone Brat!" Yehua snarled.

"You're not waiting here to deliver warmth, are you?" Li Luo said with a smile.

"Li Luo, I just can't accept your status as a Purple-Glow student, so today I must take you down! If you've got the guts, bring your squad over and wipe us out!" Yehua said through gritted teeth.

The smile on Li Luo's face deepened. Just as he was about to speak, the shadow beneath his feet suddenly stirred, and immediately Student Xin Fu's figure appeared behind him.

"Captain, something's off — there are quite a few people in this forest!" Student Xin Fu, who had just appeared, urgently warned.

Li Luo's eyes narrowed slightly, and he sighed: "Just as I thought. Stone Brat, I didn't expect that behind those bushy brows and big eyes of yours, you're also a schemer. I hadn't even thought of making a move on you, yet you were already dreaming of swallowing an elephant whole? I really underestimated you."

Hearing these words, the expression on Yehua's face immediately grew solemn. He frowned and glanced at Student Xin Fu—his carefully laid scheme had been discovered in advance by this fellow.

"Since the ambush failed, we can only charge in head-on!" Yehua snorted, clapped his palms together, and the thickets in the forest behind him swayed as one figure after another walked out.

At a rough glance, no fewer than ten Gold-Glow squads.

"Li Luo, your Purple-Glow squads are the strongest. If we let you run free, our Gold-Glow squads will eventually be picked off by you one by one. Rather than that, it's better to pool our strength from the start and take down the strongest — you — first!"

"Too bad, people with this kind of insight are still in the minority. Otherwise, I could have pulled in even more." Yehua said with some regret.

Li Luo gazed at those dozens of predatory figures and couldn't help sighing with emotion. This Yehua really was a talent. Other Gold-Glow squads would generally avoid Purple-Glow squads, yet this fellow deliberately went against the grain—not only did he not avoid them, he actually wanted to make a move on the Purple-Glow squads.

And his thinking was actually not wrong at all, because this was indeed the wisest and most courageous decision. To those Gold-Glow squads, the Purple-Glow squads were the greatest threat. The competition had only just begun, and the Purple-Glow squads' momentum hadn't been built up yet. Other squads' awe of the Purple-Glow squads wasn't that strong, so this was the easiest time to gather people.

Once time passed and the Purple-Glow squads' momentum accumulated through victory after victory, other squads would inevitably develop fear, and gathering people to encircle and annihilate the Purple-Glow squads would become much harder.

So this Yehua really had seized the timing just right.

Among the Gold-Glow team members, there really were quite a few quick-witted ones.

If one looked down on them just because of being a Purple-Glow student, one would sooner or later capsize in a ditch.

"Move out! Let's see just how strong the Purple-Glow squads really are!"

At this moment, Yehua let out a roar and was the first to activate his phase force, charging at the forefront.

Behind him, dozens of Gold-Glow students also surged forward with menacing momentum.

"Captain, what do we do?" Seeing such a formation, Student Xin Fu's expression turned Solemn, and Bai Bai Mengmeng gripped her hands even tighter.

"What else can we do?"

Li Luo's expression turned grave.

"Of course, run!"

(One update today)