Chapter 237: Choice

The enormous ancient wooden gate seemed to grow out from the root of the Phase Force Tree, and from within its dark crevices, a chilling, hair-raising cold continuously gushed forth, causing people to feel an unconscious, creeping dread.

It was the fear of the unknown.

As the gate of the Dark Cave opened, Vice President Su Xin's gaze swept outward, and she said in a deep voice, "Aside from the Purple-Glow mentors remaining to guard the academy headquarters, the rest of the Purple-Glow mentors will enter the Dark Cave with me first to clear the way."

"The assignment of teams among the students, you will each handle yourselves."

When Vice President Su Xin's words fell, beams of Phase Force light flickered, and several figures radiating terrifying Phase Force fluctuations appeared before the gate of the Dark Cave.

These figures all wore the robes of Purple-Glow mentors, emanating astonishing pressure.

On Li Luo's side, Mentor Xi Chan also said to the three of them, "Next I will also enter the Dark Cave. You should first find a Three-Star Academy team willing to go with you, and once inside the Dark Cave, they will teach you exactly what to do."

Her voice paused. Although her cheeks were covered by a thin veil, Li Luo and the other two could still sense her solemnity: "I hope that when I return, I will see the three of you safe and sound."

Li Luo and the other two's expressions also grew somewhat heavy. From Mentor Xi Chan's words, they could feel the danger contained within the Dark Cave—one careless slip, and it could cost them their lives.

"Mentor, please be careful as well." The three of them finally nodded and said.

Mentor Xi Chan inclined her head, said nothing more, and with a single movement of her figure, crossed through the layers of people as if by teleportation, appearing before the gate of the Dark Cave.

Afterward, under the gaze of countless eyes, these Purple-Glow mentors filed one after another through the crevice of the gate and vanished.

"Such a scale..."

Li Luo watched this scene, sighing inwardly. Those Purple-Glow mentors were all Marquess-level powerhouses. With a deployment of this scale, to put it bluntly, if this were aimed at the Luo Lan Mansion, even with the protection of the "Strange Formation" at the Luo Lan Mansion headquarters, it would probably still be easily trampled flat.

The strength and foundation of the Holy Mystic Star Academy was truly terrifying.

After Vice President Su Xin also entered the gate of the Dark Cave, the silence on the plaza gradually began to break, and many students started whispering to one another.

At this moment, a mentor maintaining order also shouted loudly, "All students, prepare yourselves. If there are teams that need to pair up, please select your own partners."

The scene instantly became somewhat chaotic.

However, Li Luo also noticed that the Four-Star Academy side was not infected by this atmosphere. The teams over there were all preparing in silence. Clearly, as the most senior students in the Holy Mystic Star Academy, they were long accustomed to the Dark Cave.

But the danger of the Dark Cave could not be completely avoided by mere familiarity. Every purification mission carried a high probability of casualties, and no one knew whether, when the classmates who entered the Dark Cave this time returned, they would still be able to see one another again.

Compared to Li Luo and these One-Star Academy newcomers, these Four-Star Academy students had actually already experienced many partings of life and death. Although there were indeed some who would rather choose to be expelled from the academy than enter the Dark Cave, compared to that, more students chose to silently shoulder their share of responsibility.

After all, they had cultivated in the Holy Mystic Star Academy for many years, and they too held deep feelings for this place.

"Captain, should we go over to the Three-Star Academy side and find a team to cooperate with?" Bai Bai Mengmeng asked somewhat nervously.

Judging from the rules Vice President Su Xin had stated earlier, if their newcomer Purple-Glow team could find a strong Three-Star Academy team, it would undoubtedly enhance their safety.

At this moment, several of the One-Star Academy's Purple-Glow teams were also walking toward the Three-Star Academy's area.

When the senior students of the Three-Star Academy saw these One-Star Academy Purple-Glow teams, they felt a slight headache. Generally speaking, they would rather cooperate with a Two-Star Academy team than team up with these newcomer squads—even if the latter were the top teams of the One-Star Academy...

In a dangerous place like the Dark Cave, taking on the task of teaching these newcomers was still rather taxing.

However, some mentors explained on the side that if one successfully led a newcomer team to complete the mission and return, the academy would also grant a certain amount of points as a reward, which did stir the interest of some Three-Star Academy teams.

But this stirring of interest was limited to some of the less outstanding Three-Star Academy teams, because the truly top-tier teams would not care about these point rewards. After all, as long as they purified a bit more contamination or dealt with a few aberrations inside the Dark Cave, these points would be earned back easily.

Dead weight was something they truly did not want.

And the One-Star Academy's Purple-Glow teams were also somewhat helpless about this. They were, after all, considered top-tier within the One-Star Academy, yet at this moment they were being picked over and looked down upon.

"Captain, the seniors of the Three-Star Academy look down on us." Bai Bai Mengmeng sighed, though she said she understood. After all, there had never been a precedent of a One-Star Academy team entering the Dark Cave before.

Li Luo smiled helplessly, but said nothing. Earlier, Jiang Jiang Qinge had indeed said she would bring him along, but at that time he did not yet understand the danger of the Dark Cave as clearly as he did now, so at this point... he actually felt a bit reluctant to be a burden to Jiang Jiang Qinge. If it really came down to it, he would just muddle through this first entry into the Dark Cave.

Although this might not earn many academy points, he would treat it as gaining a bit of experience.

And just as Li Luo was thinking this in his heart, the crowd of Three-Star Academy students suddenly split apart to form a path, and then, under the gaze of countless eyes, Jiang Jiang Qinge's tall, slender figure walked out.

Behind Jiang Jiang Qinge, there were also two teammates with somewhat helpless expressions.

Jiang Jiang Qinge walked straight toward Li Luo.

But just at that moment, a voice came from the side: "Senior Jiang, for this purification mission, our 'Mountain Water Cauldron Team' will serve as your support. How about it?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge's footsteps paused, and she looked over to see a Two-Star Academy team approaching quickly. The leader was no stranger—it was Ye Ye Qiuding.

Ye Ye Qiuding had a handsome face. Meeting Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze, he revealed an obedient yet confident smile: "Senior Jiang, our team has previously cooperated with you on missions, so we know each other fairly well. If we team up, I believe we won't disappoint you."

He also smiled at Qiu Bai and Tian Tian behind Jiang Jiang Qinge: "Senior Qiu, Senior Tian, what do you think?"

Qiu Bai and Tian Tian exchanged a glance and shrugged helplessly. Actually, they had previously taken a liking to Ye Ye Qiuding's team, but unfortunately, their captain was too domineering.

"Captain, should we reconsider? Ye Ye Qiuding's team is of interest to many teams on the Three-Star Academy side. Li Luo and the others are, after all, entering the Dark Cave for the first time. There's really no need for them to go with us—that would only be more dangerous." Qiu Bai said in a low voice, making one last effort.

Because according to the academy's rules, Three-Star Academy teams had to shoulder the responsibility of leading lower-star academy teams. Compared to leading these pure newcomers from the One-Star Academy, clearly more people preferred Two-Star Academy teams, because the latter could truly provide them help rather than needing their protection.

On Jiang Jiang Qinge's breathtakingly beautiful face there was no ripple. Her golden eyes seemed even more dazzling and piercing than the blazing sun in the sky. She said nothing, merely shaking her head gently.

Li Luo needed a large amount of academy points to exchange for Imperial Nectar, so he had no more time to muddle through and gain experience in the Dark Cave. To obtain one hundred thousand points, he could only take risks and be aggressive.

And by following her, at the very least, she could still provide help.

Although this might be somewhat unfair to her two teammates, Jiang Jiang Qinge had also given them her promise: whatever gap came from the choice of teams, she would shoulder it all on her own.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze fell on Ye Ye Qiuding, who was full of expectation, and she shook her head slightly, saying calmly, "I'm sorry. I believe that with your team's ability, you will have other, better choices."

Once her words fell, she did not linger. Under the gaze of everyone, she walked straight toward Li Luo, then directly reached out and grabbed Li Luo's wrist, her gaze sweeping over the somewhat dumbfounded Bai Bai Mengmeng and Student Xin Fu.

"Your team, follow me."

Those casual words made Bai Bai Mengmeng and the other one feel what true dominance meant.

And while they were feeling Jiang Jiang Qinge's dominance, the surrounding Three-Star Academy students could not help but burst into a stir, with countless gazes turning over in astonishment.

None of them had expected that Jiang Jiang Qinge would be the first to choose a newcomer team.

This choice greatly exceeded their expectations.