Chapter 169: Encounter

Yehua ultimately left with two golden badges, cursing and grumbling all the while.

"Will they do as you said?" Student Xin Fu watched the departing Golden Radiance squad and asked Li Luo.

"This Yehua is a smart man. Earlier when he gathered people to surround us, it really couldn't be counted as an offense—after all, that's just the mechanism of the ranking battle. If he could pull people together, that was his own ability, and we can't blame him for it."

"But now I've let him go, and we've even laid out the terms clearly, and even paid him in advance. If he doesn't honor the agreement, then that truly would be offending us..."

"So I think he'll make the right choice." Li Luo smiled.

Student Xin Fu nodded. Li Luo was the captain; since he'd made the decision, that was how it would be done. After all, Xin Fu was too lazy to think it through himself—and more importantly, if he offered a suggestion and something went wrong later, wouldn't he be the one taking the blame?

Now that the captain was stepping up, all he had to do was lie back and enjoy the ride.

Li Luo tossed the golden badge in his hand. He'd gotten nine earlier, gave Yehua two as payment, leaving seven now—which meant seven hundred academy points.

"Seven hundred points each, not a bad start." Li Luo broke into a brilliant smile. Although he'd been chased rather raggedly before, these seven hundred points were enough to smooth everything over.

Student Xin Fu likewise showed a satisfied smile. Any student of the Sacred Profound Star Academy would be salivating over these points—seven hundred points was enough to exchange for two vials of energy fluid.

"The captain's really amazing." Bai Bai Mengmeng said with a grin, equally delighted.

"Actually, the biggest credit this time goes to Bai Mengmeng. Without her Phantom Force interference, we couldn't have so easily thrown those squads into chaos." Li Luo gave Bai Bai Mengmeng a thumbs-up.

This wasn't flattery, but genuine praise. Though Bai Bai Mengmeng's Water Nightmare Butterfly Phase was relatively weak in attack, its functionality was astonishing. If used well, the effect it produced was no weaker than those other attack-heavy phases.

Student Xin Fu nodded in agreement, while on Bai Bai Mengmeng's pure, sweet little face, a shy smile appeared.

"Let's go, the ranking battle has only just begun. There's plenty of leeks waiting for us further on." Li Luo smiled, then without lingering, took the lead at once, charging swiftly toward the deeper parts of this region.

As time gradually slipped away within the competition grounds, the ranking battle's situation began growing ever more intense.

Over a thousand squads fought within, each employing their own methods—it could indeed be called splendid.

On the high platform outside the grounds.

Five Purple Radiance mentors' perception blanketed this vast competition field; none of the many battles occurring within escaped their notice.

"Mentor Xi Chan, what's the current points ranking?" Mentor Cao Sheng suddenly asked. Among the five, it was Mentor Xi Chan who was calculating the points ranking.

Hearing this, Mentor Xi Chan said in a cool voice: "Currently the highest points belong to Bai Bai Doudou's 'Wind Rider Squad'—one thousand seven hundred points."

"Second place is Qin Qin Zhulu's 'Clear Moon Squad'—one thousand six hundred points."

"Third place is Wang Wang Hejiu's 'Golden Gate Squad'—one thousand five hundred points."

"Fourth place is Li Luo's 'Justice Squad'—one thousand four hundred and eighty points."

"Fifth place is Beside Yi Yi Lisha's 'One Leaf Autumn Squad'—one thousand four hundred points."

"Although some other Golden Radiance squads have also performed outstandingly, none of their points have broken a thousand yet."

Mentor Cao Sheng laughed upon hearing this: "This 'Wind Rider Squad' has three wind phases, most adept at speed and harvesting. Given the current situation, any Golden Radiance squad that runs into them probably can't even run away—so these points aren't surprising."

Shen Shen Jinxiao smiled lightly: "No rush. Right now it's the stage where big fish harvest small fish. Once the harvesting is mostly done, the big fish should start clashing with each other—that's when it'll be most exciting."

Mentor Xi Chan said: "This time Mentor Shen Shen Jinxiao even dipped into his own pocket to add a 'Twelve-Section Brocade' worth three thousand points. If it isn't exciting, wouldn't that effort be wasted?"

The other three Purple Radiance mentors also wore smiles. How could they fail to catch the sting in Mentor Xi Chan's words? After all, they too understood the reason this 'Twelve-Section Brocade' had appeared.

Still, everything Shen Shen Jinxiao did was within the rules—whether taking the Twelve-Section Brocade or making it an extra reward for the ranking battle. So even though they knew Shen Shen Jinxiao's private motives were involved, they had no reason to interfere.

Shen Shen Jinxiao's expression didn't change as he said: "As long as it can give these new students a bit more motivation, I'm willing to pay some academy points out of my own pocket."

"Just don't wait until the competition ends and Mentor Shen Shen Jinxiao suddenly becomes unwilling." Mentor Xi Chan said.

Shen Shen Jinxiao looked over with a smile: "Mentor Xi Chan wants to say that if Li Luo takes first place, I might be unwilling?"

"There's no need to worry about that at all—it's merely three thousand points. If Li Luo can achieve it, that only proves he's worked hard at his cultivation, and I'd be happy for him."

"However..."

His voice paused, and he said with a half-smile: "I'm just afraid that Li Luo won't be able to live up to Mentor Xi Chan's expectations."

"Then we'll have to wait until the end to find out." Mentor Xi Chan smiled faintly.

The two sparred with words here, smiles masking hidden barbs. The other mentors acted as if they hadn't heard, laughing when they should laugh, watching when they should watch—clearly long accustomed to it.

"I say, brothers, are you guys a rabbit squad? I chased you for ten minutes just for this one badge!"

Beside a stream, Li Luo caught his breath, then reached out and pulled the badge from the chest of a Golden Radiance squad captain whose face was full of despair, complaining as he did so.

"You ran off the moment we met—way too disrespectful, huh?"

That captain wore a look of utter hopelessness. We're just an average-strength Golden Radiance squad, and we suddenly ran into you three walking disasters. If we didn't run, were we supposed to stick around and serve ourselves up?

Li Luo tucked the golden badge into his pocket, then smiled at Bai Bai Mengmeng beside him: "Now it's one thousand six hundred and eighty points in total."

He counted on his fingers—three thousand points for the Twelve-Section Brocade, five thousand points for the Imperial Dew... seemed like the gap was a bit too big.

"Too hard."

Li Luo sighed. As the competition wore on, these Golden Radiance squads grew increasingly slippery—sometimes they ran the moment they saw him, and chasing them down took time. At this point, Li Luo was genuinely missing that first wave Yehua had so graciously delivered.

Although it had been a bit ragged at the start, the harvest had been satisfying.

Sighing inwardly, Li Luo bent down to wash his hands in the stream, intending to continue seeking out other squads to harvest.

But just then, on the other side of the stream, the leaves rustled, and three figures stepped out from the shade of the trees.

Li Luo looked up immediately, and the three who had emerged from the woods likewise fixed their gazes on him.

For a moment, the atmosphere fell silent.

The leader of those three was a youth in light clothing. His skin was sallow, his eyes unusually bright. A dark-yellow ribbon was tied around his forehead, he wore shorts below, and flip-flops on his feet.

Quite an unusual look.

Beside this youth were another boy and girl. The boy was unfamiliar, but that girl—Li Luo recognized her at a glance.

Si Si Qiuying!

Then the identities of the other two were obvious.

Yi Yi Lisha, Qiuye.

Li Luo's gaze sharpened slightly. He hadn't expected the first Purple Radiance squad he ran into to be them...