Chapter 447: The Severest Warning

The first half of the academy-level battle was somewhat beyond Li Luo's expectations.

He had originally thought it would be, at most, a collaboration between small teams, but looking at it now, his perspective had been too narrow; this actually required the cooperation of the entire academy level.

However, thinking about it carefully, it was normal. Although the Holy Grail Battle organized by the Academy Alliance had intense competition, its essence was still to temper the students, and unity among students was also a very important part, because sometimes the power of the collective was ultimately stronger than that of an individual.

Although there was no shortage of existences in the world whose strength had surpassed the shackles of the collective, at the very least, Li Luo and the others were still far from that step.

Cooperating and uniting with the other Purple Glow teams was basically not a big problem, except for...

Wang Hejiu and Duze Beixuan, these two troublemakers.

Thinking of this, Li Luo's gaze turned toward Wang Hejiu and Duze Beixuan; at this moment, they were also frowning, and upon noticing Li Luo's gaze, their expressions both became somewhat unnatural.

In the past at the academy, there had been no shortage of friction between them, and their relationship could hardly be called friendly.

Generally speaking, in this kind of competitive environment, being able to refrain from tripping each other up was already considered good, and now they were expected to cooperate sincerely? Wasn't that a joke?

"Fellow students, I must repeat this once again here: this Holy Grail Battle is extremely important for our Astral Sage College, so I need you to consider the big picture and set aside all personal selfishness. If there are any malicious actions of obstruction during the academy-level competition, once we return to the academy, I will definitely impose the most severe punishment, and the academy may even refuse to admit any students related to you in the future," Vice Principal Suxin said again in a flat tone while thoughts were turning in the minds of Li Luo and the others.

And as soon as she said these words, many students present turned pale, and a thick look of fear appeared in their eyes; no one had expected that the usually gentle and approachable Vice Principal Suxin would say such harsh words and impose such a ruthless punishment.

This was practically collective punishment.

Even Li Luo couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. The academy was the top cultivation ground in the Great Xia Kingdom; if the academy really forbade people from a certain family or force from entering to cultivate, it would absolutely be an extremely terrifying blow.

Therefore, this time, even Wang Hejiu turned pale and put away all his thoughts. The Wang family he belonged to had a very strong foundation in Great Xia, and many descendants of the Wang family entered the academy every year. If, because of him, the academy stopped admitting descendants of the Wang family, he feared his father would personally kill him.

At this moment, Wang Hejiu also sensed Vice Principal Suxin's flat gaze sweeping across his face, and his heart immediately turned cold. It seemed that this Vice Principal, who usually had a very good reputation in the academy, actually knew about the grudges between him and Li Luo in the past.

Now, this was a warning to him.

After all, Li Luo was now also regarded as a contender for the strongest student of the one-star academy in the Eastern Divine Continent; if he were to hold Li Luo back, it would inevitably be something the academy could not tolerate.

Thinking of this, Wang Hejiu could only suppress the grievance in his heart and force a smile as he stated: "Vice Principal, rest assured. The fights I had with Li Luo in the past were just playing around. I can certainly distinguish the situation at hand, and I will definitely cooperate well with the other teams."

Duze Beixuan was a bit too embarrassed to speak, but he felt an exceptionally sharp gaze projecting from the side.

That was his sister, Duze Honglian.

Duze Honglian's gaze was a bit scary, which made Duze Beixuan's heart tremble. His sister also had a very fierce temperament; if he really provoked her, she might beat him black and blue in front of so many people, so he could only nod quickly and say: "I will also cooperate fully."

Only then did Duze Honglian withdraw her gaze. She had also been worried earlier that Duze Beixuan was young and impulsive and couldn't let go of his pride, but now that Vice Principal Suxin had made it so clear, anyone who dared to hold things back in the academy-level competition would be blacklisted by the academy, which was a very serious consequence.

Even the Duze Manor could not afford that.

"It seems that classmate Honglian is still very sensible," Tian Tian, a teammate of Jiang Qing'e, said with a quiet laugh from the side.

Duze Honglian ignored this girl, who was the most well-endowed in the three-star academy, and looked calmly at Jiang Qing'e, saying: "In the academy-level competition, I will naturally cooperate fully. Jiang Qing'e, bring out all your skills and take the title of the strongest student of the three-star academy in the Eastern Divine Continent."

"I have never seen you truly and seriously display your own strength; this time, I hope to have the chance to see it."

Jiang Qing'e looked at Duze Honglian, nodded slightly, and said: "I will do my best. Besides, you are also very strong; with your help, I will be much more relaxed."

When these words were spoken, Duze Honglian couldn't help but widen her beautiful eyes, and then her nose felt sore. She truly found it hard to believe that one day Jiang Qing'e would actually say that her, Duze Honglian's, help was also important to her, Jiang Qing'e.

Ever since the two women entered the Astral Sage College, Duze Honglian had regarded Jiang Qing'e as her greatest rival, but over these three years, the gap between the two sides had only grown larger. If it weren't for a stubborn spirit supporting her from within, Duze Honglian would truly have felt despair.

But competition was competition, yet deep in her heart, Duze Honglian extremely recognized Jiang Qing'e's strength; sometimes she even couldn't figure out if she was competing so hard with Jiang Qing''e just so that she could value her a little more?

However, Duze Honglian quickly forced her emotions down and secretly felt annoyed: "Duze Honglian, oh Duze Honglian, you are too pathetic. A single sentence from someone can move you like this; it's simply ridiculous!"

Compared to the one-star academy, the three-star academy side, and the four-star academy side, things were much more peaceful, because for these years, the four-star academy had basically been divided into two factions: the Gong Shenjun faction and the Princess faction. Both possessed a large number of followers, and both were of the extremely rational type; their relationship in daily life could be considered quite amicable, at least on the surface.

Therefore, they were able to reach a consensus very quickly.

And as for the two-star academy side, how should one put it... they were slightly neglected.

Zhu Xuan and Ye Qiuding could clearly feel that Vice Principal Suxin's gaze did not linger too long on their side, nor was there any specific warning.

This made their emotions very complicated.

Because this meant that Vice Principal Suxin did not place any expectations on the two-star academy. However, it was also normal; compared to the other three academy levels, the two-star academy of this year at Astral Sage College was indeed quite ordinary, and during the ticket qualifiers, they had even nearly caused the academy to lose important tickets.

Under such circumstances, who could expect the two-star academy to have any performance in the Holy Grail Battle?

Perhaps in Vice Principal Suxin's heart, the two-star academy was just there to make up the numbers.

Zhu Xuan and Ye Qiuding looked at each other, both seeing the bitterness in the other's eyes, feeling a sense of shared sorrow.

Was this the treatment for underachievers?

It's fucking... miserable.