Chapter 380

Splash!

Brilliant water-wave blade light slashed through at high speed, delivering astonishing killing power; where the blade light passed, even the air seemed torn apart, with piercing shrieks echoing continuously.

After several breaths, the water-wave blade light struck hard against the Advanced Green Spirit Puppet's body, instantly tearing a deep gash through its green wooden armor, with clear cutting marks visible along the wound.

The Advanced Green Spirit Puppet's wooden armor clearly possessed considerable defensive strength, yet it proved useless—because Li Luo's "Thousand Flowing Blade Art" inherently possessed exceptional armor-piercing capability.

"Impressive offensive power."

Li Luo himself murmured in admiration at the result of this strike; this "Thousand Flowing Blade Art" was the talisman art he had recently trained in—a progression of Water Spike Art. Previously, Water Spike Art mostly coated both blades, enhancing their penetration and lethality, but this "Thousand Flowing Blade Art" could transform talisman energy into high-speed flowing water-blade light that detached from the body, greatly increasing both power and attack range.

Among the Tiger General Arts, this technique was undoubtedly one of the most profound and difficult to master. Li Luo had long desired to attempt it, but had never succeeded until now; with his strength rising to the Fifth Mark of the Life-Scar Stage, his talisman energy finally met the requirement.

Though satisfied with his first attempt at this technique, Li Luo felt there was still considerable room for evolution—such as fusing it with Light talisman energy to accelerate the water-phase force, which could further enhance penetration and armor-piercing power; perhaps then it might rival the power of the "Dragon General Art."

But such improvements required gradual progress; after all, "Thousand Flowing Blade Art" was currently the most difficult talisman art he was training, and he couldn't expect instant mastery.

As Li Luo's thoughts turned, his gaze remained fixed on the Advanced Green Spirit Puppet; its chest had nearly been pierced, the emerald talisman energy surging through its body rapidly weakening, yet it had not dissipated—after all, puppets felt no pain. It still clutched its wooden spear, swaying unsteadily as it charged toward Li Luo.

Li Luo tapped his toe, lunging forward, both blades slashing through the air as talisman energy flowed like ripples across his body.

Clang!

The two figures crossed paths; Li Luo's left blade blocked the spear's tip, while his right blade swept like a stream striking a rock, slicing cleanly through the gash in the Advanced Green Spirit Puppet's chest. The puppet split cleanly in two, collapsing into a pile of green mist.

Having swiftly eliminated the Advanced Green Spirit Puppet, Li Luo immediately turned his gaze toward Bai Bai Mengmeng and Student Xin Fu; Student Xin Fu was holding off the Transformation Stage First Transformation Green Spirit Puppet, but clearly falling behind—he was inherently unsuited for direct combat, and now forced into a frontal battle, he was visibly struggling.

Bai Bai Mengmeng, meanwhile, was weaving among the other Green Spirit Puppets, never making direct contact; relying on the unique properties of her talisman nature, she continuously created illusions. Since the puppets lacked sentience and could not distinguish truth from illusion, they were now being toyed with, spinning helplessly around her.

Li Luo rushed immediately to Student Xin Fu's side; with his arrival, the rest of the battle held no suspense. Together, the two dismantled the Transformation Stage First Transformation Green Spirit Puppet in under a minute, reducing it to a pile of green mist.

With the two Transformation Stage Green Spirit Puppets gone, the final threat vanished. As Li Luo and Student Xin Fu joined Bai Bai Mengmeng to eliminate the remaining puppets, the twentieth level was thoroughly cleared.

The three, relieved, collapsed onto the ground without caring for appearances; though their faces were streaked with exhaustion, their eyes sparkled with uncontainable excitement.

On the twentieth-level platform, emerald light surged, then split into three streams that descended from above, landing directly upon Li Luo and the others.

Feeling the pure, gentle energy surge through them, all three closed their eyes in rapture, savoring the hard-won reward.

While Li Luo and the others absorbed this Green Spirit energy, several other teams on different platforms noticed the emerald mist around them gradually dissipating.

They had seen this often in recent days—it signaled that today's quota of Green Spirit energy had been fully consumed.

Clearly, Li Luo's team had been the first to breach the twentieth-level platform, claiming the final portion of today's energy.

"Pity. Li Luo got there first," Qin Qin Zhulu said on the twentieth-level platform, watching the dissolving Green Spirit Puppets with regret.

Their squad had been preparing to challenge the twentieth level, but they were just a step too slow—today's final portion had been snatched by Li Luo's team.

"How has Li Luo suddenly become so strong?" asked the girl named Yin Yin Yue in their squad, astonished.

In the past, Li Luo had performed exceptionally well, but among many First-Star Academy students, Qin Qin Zhulu was still considered the strongest. Yet in this training, Li Luo's displayed strength had subtly surpassed Qin Qin Zhulu.

"It seems the First-Star Academy's representative for the Holy Cup Tournament will be decided between you two," Lü Qing'er said, gazing at the figure within the emerald light on the distant platform, then smiling at Qin Qin Zhulu.

Heat and anticipation flared in Qin Qin Zhulu's eyes.

"I don't care about being the representative—I've long wanted to fight him with everything I've got."

"This guy really went from zero to hero after visiting the Golden Dragon Dojo," Yu Lang remarked, gazing across at the platform.

Beside him, Bai Bai Doudou shot him a glance and scolded: "Li Luo and you both came from the Nanfeng Academy. Look how far ahead he is now—don't even think about slacking off during this month's training."

Yu Lang nearly wept. Who said everyone from the Nanfeng Academy has to match someone else? Jiang Jiang Qinge came from Nanfeng Academy too—should I go fight her? This woman could be utterly unreasonable sometimes.

But past painful experiences had taught Yu Lang that his only option now was to nod and agree—any emotional display would only invite fiercer criticism.

"Dual Talismans are truly powerful. The Advanced Green Spirit Puppet on the twentieth level must have reached Transformation Stage Second Transformation, right? To overcome such a level gap—Li Luo is becoming more and more inscrutable," Yi Yi Lisha said with a smile.

"Li Luo is almost certainly the ticket representative now. Qin Qin Zhulu may no longer surpass him. I'm curious—if Li Luo competes in the Holy Cup Tournament, could he become the strongest First-Star Academy student in Outer Shenzhou? That's a distinction our Sacred Zhu Xuan Star Academy has never achieved since its founding," Qian Ye said.

Yi Yi Lisha paused, startled. "Strongest First-Star Academy student in Outer Shenzhou… that's a wild idea."

Qian Ye smiled. "You think it's impossible?"

Yi Yi Lisha hesitated. "The difficulty is immense. Li Luo has the advantage of dual talismans, but don't underestimate the depth of other top Sacred Academies. Everyone has prepared thoroughly for the Holy Cup Tournament."

"Honestly, if any prodigy emerges in the Holy Cup Tournament, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Then we'll see."

Si Si Qiuying, listening to her teammates' conversation nearby, felt a faint daze. She still remembered the boy from Tian Shu County who had arrived in Daya City half a year ago—he had been so unremarkable then. Now, he was already being considered as a potential strongest First-Star Academy student in all of Outer Shenzhou?

Has this guy really reached this point without us noticing?

In contrast to the other teams' murmurs, Wang Wang Hejiu and Du Ze Duze Beixuan's group carried a heavier, more oppressive atmosphere.

Both stared at the scene with grim expressions; they were the ones who least wanted to witness this. After all, they each had some grudge against Li Luo, and with Shen Shen Jinxiao's involvement, their resentment toward him ran deep.

Most importantly, when they first entered the academy, neither had ever truly regarded Li Luo as a rival—they had looked down on him.

Yet now, the man they had looked down upon had outpaced them by a step, and this was simply unbearable to accept.

But Li Luo being stronger than them was now fact—how easy would it be to catch up?

After a moment of silence, Wang Wang Hejiu spoke in a low voice: "We need to think of a way. Otherwise, in this training, we'll never catch up to Li Luo. Lose this chance, and we may never get another opportunity to overtake him."

Du Ze Duze Beixuan's eyes flickered, then he nodded.