Chapter 385: The Battle for the Fortieth Floor

Clang!

On the platform of the fortieth floor, Li Luo stood holding twin blades, with Qin Zhulu standing by his side gripping a heavy spear, and the four members of their two teams a little further back.

At this moment, their gazes were fixed firmly ahead; the fortieth-floor platform appeared exceptionally spacious, with thick cyan mist churning violently, and as the mist slowly receded, three cyan figures appeared in their field of vision.

The three Cyan Spirit Puppets were clad in cyan battle armor, their frames hulking, with a giant cyan axe resting by their feet.

A faint, lingering sense of pressure radiated from them.

However, as Li Luo looked at these three high-level Cyan Spirit Puppets, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief, because although these three Cyan Spirit Puppets appeared stronger than any he had encountered before, they had not yet reached the fourth transformation of the Resonance Stage.

Judging by the energy intensity radiating from them, they should be considered at the peak level of the third transformation.

In terms of energy intensity alone, each one was a notch stronger than Lin Suo, whom they had met at the Golden Dragon Dojo.

However, puppets also have their drawbacks: they have sufficient energy but lack intelligence, and their combat methods are relatively limited, which, for them, was the easiest point to exploit.

"To think there are three high-level Cyan Spirit Puppets of this caliber."

Qin Zhulu gripped his heavy spear tightly, licked his lips, and said to Li Luo, "I can only hold off one."

Li Luo gave him a slightly surprised look and laughed, "Little Lu is getting a bit cocky, aren't you? Have you forgotten the miserable state you were in when you were chased by Lin Suo at the Golden Dragon Dojo?"

Qin Zhulu's face turned dark, and he retorted angrily, "I was only at the third pattern when I was at the Golden Dragon Dojo, but now I am at the first transformation of the Resonance Stage. If I were to meet that Lin Suo again, even in a one-on-one fight, he wouldn't necessarily be able to get the better of me!"

"It's a pity, I'm afraid you won't have much chance to meet him."

Li Luo smiled and said, "Then you handle one."

Qin Zhulu's mouth twitched; he had only said he could hold one off, not that he could directly handle one... but he couldn't back down in front of Li Luo now, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "No problem."

It didn't matter anyway; it couldn't be any more miserable than dealing with Lin Suo that day. After all, his strength had increased significantly, and as he broke through to the Resonance Stage, his own "Gold-Devouring Demon Tiger Resonance" had gradually begun to transform, with both his strength and defense increasing exponentially.

"What about the other two?" Qin Zhulu asked.

"I will deal with one, and the remaining one will be left to Xin Fu, Qinger, and Mengmeng's group of four. If they work together, they should be able to stall for some time," Li Luo thought for a moment and made the allocation.

"Can you handle it?" Qin Zhulu looked at Li Luo.

The results of this special training were quite unexpected; everyone's strength had improved significantly, but only Li Luo, who had originally been in the lead, had yet to break through to the Resonance Stage. So, Qin Zhulu wasn't looking down on Li Luo, but rather giving him a reminder.

After all, these high-level Cyan Spirit Puppets were stronger than the Lin Suo they had encountered before!

Facing Qin Zhulu's worried reminder, Li Luo glanced at him sideways and said, "It seems you've forgotten who the main force was in defeating Lin Suo."

Qin Zhulu didn't say anything more. After so many collaborations, he knew that Li Luo was not someone who would act recklessly or beyond his means. Since he had arranged it this way, he would do as he said.

"The arrangement is set, but there is a difficulty now: even if Xin Fu and the others join forces, they will likely only be able to stall for some time. If neither of us can free ourselves within that time, they might face a collapse."

"And... even if they stall for longer, if our speed in clearing the level is slower than Wang Hejiu and Ye Qiuding's group, it won't actually have much significance."

Li Luo was silent for two seconds before saying, "So, whether we can clear this level depends on us."

He stared at Qin Zhulu with a solemn expression: "The glory of the First Star Academy will be guarded by us!"

Qin Zhulu's expression also gradually grew heated, his eyes filled with high fighting spirit, clearly full of excitement and agitation.

"Let's fight!"

Violent resonant power suddenly surged from Qin Zhulu's body, and with a roar, he stomped his foot and charged out like a wild beast.

Li Luo watched the high-spirited Qin Zhulu and nodded with a look of gratification; this big dummy was still quite easy to fool.

He turned his head to look at Xin Fu, Lu Qinger, and the others. Before he could speak, Xin Fu said with a serious expression, "Captain, there's no need to give us useless pep talks. We'll hold out for as long as we can, but if you can't handle yours, just give us a shout, and we'll run together."

Li Luo sighed melancholily; such clever teammates were of no use, they only knew how to argue. Qin Zhulu, that simpleton, was better; he would charge forward with all his might with just a little encouragement.

"Take care of yourselves."

Amidst his melancholy, Li Luo reminded them once more, then gripped his twin blades and shot out suddenly, heading straight for the second high-level Cyan Spirit Puppet.

Xin Fu and the other four also shifted their positions without hesitation, circling toward the last one.

And just as Li Luo's side began to act, Wang Hejiu's side had also made their allocations.

Ye Qiuding was the strongest, having already reached the second transformation of the Resonance Stage. With his many methods, even though the Cyan Spirit Puppets this time were equivalent to a peak third transformation of the Resonance Stage, he was still able to deal with them, though it would also require some time.

Ye Qiuding's other two teammates were to deal with another one, while the three-person team of Wang Hejiu and Duze Beixuan faced the last one.

In terms of lineup and strength, anyone with eyes could see that Wang Hejiu and Ye Qiuding's side held a great advantage, especially once Ye Qiuding finished off a Cyan Spirit Puppet, the entire situation would be completely broken.

Therefore, no matter how one looked at it, Li Luo and his team's chances of being the first to clear the fortieth floor were very low.

On the high platform, the five Purple-tier mentors watched the battles on the two platforms below in silence.

Mentor Xi Chan's face was as heavy as water, her gaze cold, while the other Purple-tier mentors did not speak or express their stance.

Shen Jinxiao wore an apologetic expression. He had brought some vintage fine wine today; he filled the cups, flicked his fingers, and the wine cups floated up, landing gently in front of the other Purple-tier mentors.

Facing Shen Jinxiao's apologetic gesture, the other Purple-tier mentors found it difficult to make things too awkward, so they could only accept with a smile.

Only Mentor Xi Chan reached out with a cold expression and wiped her hand across the cup, crushing it directly into powder, the wine evaporating into thin air, before she said coldly, "Hypocritical posturing."

Shen Jinxiao ignored the insult, unbothered by Mentor Xi Chan's sarcasm, and continued to pour and drink for himself, a faint smile appearing in his eyes as they occasionally swept over the two platforms below.