Chapter 169: Encounter

Ye Hua finally left, cursing and swearing, carrying two golden badges.

"Will they do as you said?" Xin Fu asked Li Luo, watching the Golden Radiance team walk away.

"This Ye Hua is a smart man. The fact that he gathered people to surround us earlier doesn't really count as an offense; after all, that is the mechanism of the Ranking Battle. It is his ability that he could recruit people, and we cannot blame him for that."

"But now that I have let him go, and we have agreed on terms—even paying him in advance—if he fails to honor the agreement, then it would truly count as offending us..."

"So I think he will make the right choice," Li Luo said with a smile.

Xin Fu nodded. Li Luo was the team leader, so since he had made a decision, that was how it would be done. After all, he was too lazy to use his brain, and most importantly, if he offered a suggestion and things went wrong later, wouldn't he be the one to take the blame?

Now that the team leader was stepping up, he only needed to lie back and relax.

Li Luo tossed the golden badges in his hand. He had obtained nine earlier and given two to Ye Hua as payment, so seven remained, which represented seven hundred academy points.

"Seven hundred points per person in hand; a good start." Li Luo revealed a bright smile. Although they had been chased in a sorry state earlier, these seven hundred points were enough to smooth everything over.

Xin Fu also revealed a satisfied smile. As long as they were students of the Astral Sage College, there was likely no one who didn't crave these points. Seven hundred points were enough to exchange for two bottles of energy liquid.

"The team leader is truly amazing," Bai Mengmeng said with a giggle, equally happy.

"Actually, the greatest credit this time goes to Mengmeng. Without the interference of her phantom power, we wouldn't have been able to easily make those teams lose control and fall into chaos." Li Luo gave Bai Mengmeng a thumbs-up.

These words were not flattery, but genuine praise. Although Bai Mengmeng's Water Nightmare Butterfly resonance had relatively weak attack power, its functionality was quite astonishing. If used well, the effect it produced was no weaker than other resonances with powerful attacks.

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

"Let's go. The Ranking Battle has only just begun, and there are plenty of leeks waiting for us ahead." Li Luo smiled, and without further delay, he took the lead and headed quickly toward the deeper parts of this area.

As time gradually passed in the competition venue, the battle situation of the Ranking Battle began to grow increasingly intense.

Thousands of teams fought within it, each using their own methods, which could be considered quite spectacular.

On the high platform outside the venue.

Five Purple Radiance mentors had their perception covering this spacious competition venue, and the many battles occurring within did not escape their observation.

"Mentor Xi Chan, what are the point rankings now?" Mentor Cao Sheng asked suddenly. Among the five, it was Mentor Xi Chan who was calculating the point rankings.

Upon hearing this, Mentor Xi Chan said in a calm voice, "Currently, the team with the most points is Bai Doudou's 'Wind Rider Team' with 1, 00 points."

"Second place is Qin Zhulu's 'Clear Moon Team' with 1, 00 points."

"Third place is Wang Hejiu's 'Gold Gate Team' with 1, 00 points."

"Fourth place is Li Luo's 'Justice Team' with 1, 80 points."

"Fifth place is Yi Lisha's 'One Leaf Autumn Team' with 1, 00 points."

"Although some other Golden Radiance teams are outstanding, none have broken a thousand points yet."

Mentor Cao Sheng smiled upon hearing this: "The 'Wind Rider Team' has three wind resonances, which are best at speed and reaping. In the current situation, any Golden Radiance team that encounters them probably can't even run away, so it's not surprising they have these points."

Shen Jinxiao said with a faint smile: "No rush. This is the stage where big fish reap small fish. Once the reaping is mostly done, the big fish will collide with each other; that will be the most exciting time."

Mentor Xi Chan said: "This time, Mentor Shen Jinxiao even paid out of his own pocket to add a 'Twelve-Segment Brocade' worth 3, 00 points. If it isn't exciting, wouldn't this effort be in vain?"

The other three Purple Radiance mentors also wore smiles. How could they not hear the sarcasm in Xi Chan's words? After all, they also understood the reason for the appearance of this 'Twelve-Segment Brocade'.

However, everything Shen Jinxiao did was within the rules, whether it was taking the Twelve-Segment Brocade or using it as an extra reward for the Ranking Battle, so even if they knew there was personal motive involved, they had no reason to stop him.

Shen Jinxiao's expression remained unchanged: "As long as I can provide these freshmen with more motivation, I am willing to pay a few academy points out of my own pocket."

"Don't wait until the competition ends and find that Mentor Shen Jinxiao is unwilling again," Mentor Xi Chan said.

Shen Jinxiao looked over and smiled: "Is Mentor Xi Chan trying to say that if Li Luo happens to take first place, I will be unwilling?"

"There is no need for that. It is merely 3, 00 points. If Li Luo can obtain them, it only shows he has practiced diligently, and I would also feel happy for him."

"However..."

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

"That will only be known when we see the end," Mentor Xi Chan said with a faint smile.

The two engaged in a war of words here; beneath their smiles, sharp edges were hidden. The other mentors acted as if they heard nothing, laughing when they should and watching when they should, clearly long accustomed to it.

"I say, brother, are you a rabbit team? I chased you for ten minutes just for this one badge of yours!"

Beside a stream, Li Luo caught his breath, then reached out and tore the badge from the chest of a despairing Golden Radiance team leader, complaining at the same time.

"You run the moment you see us; isn't that a bit too disrespectful?"

That team leader looked utterly hopeless. *We are a Golden Radiance team of average strength, damn it. We suddenly ran into you three fiends; if we don't run, are we supposed to stay and be served up as a meal?

Li Luo put the golden badge into his pocket and then smiled at Bai Mengmeng, who was to the side: "That makes 1, 80 points in total."

He counted on his fingers: 3, 00 points for the Twelve-Segment Brocade, 5, 00 points for the Emperor Flowing Sap... it seemed they were still quite far off.

"It's too hard."

Li Luo sighed. As the competition continued, these Golden Radiance teams were becoming increasingly slippery. Sometimes they would run the moment they saw them, and chasing them down would take time. At this moment, Li Luo really missed the wave that Ye Hua brought to them at the very beginning.

Although it was a bit of a sorry state at the start, it was satisfying to eat.

Sighing in his heart, Li Luo bent down to wash his hands in the stream, intending to continue searching for other teams to reap.

However, at this very moment, the leaves on the other side of the stream fluttered, and immediately after, three figures walked out from the shade of the trees.

Li Luo looked up immediately, and the three people who walked out of the woods also had their gazes fixed on him.

For a moment, the atmosphere went quiet.

The leader of the three was a youth in cool clothing. His skin was pale yellow, and his eyes were exceptionally bright. He had a dark yellow ribbon tied around his forehead, wore shorts on his lower body, and flip-flops on his feet.

His style was quite peculiar.

Beside this youth were another man and a woman. The man was a stranger, but Li Luo recognized the girl at a glance.

Si Qiuying!

Then the identities of the other two were obvious.

Yi Lisha, Qiu Ye.

Li Luo's eyes narrowed slightly. He hadn't expected that the first Purple Radiance team they encountered would actually be them...