Chapter 463

After deciding on the next course of action, Li Luo and the others did not delay any further and chose to activate the Spirit Gathering Altar immediately.

Bai Mengmeng was chosen for the activation because the activator must remain motionless, continuously channeling their own resonant power into the altar to stir the heaven and earth energy contained within, thereby acting as a catalyst.

Among the group, Bai Mengmeng's strength was indeed the weakest; after all, she was not a combat-oriented member and leaned more towards support, so it was best for her to be responsible for activating the altar, as the others needed to fight outside to hold off teams from other academies.

Under the gaze of the group, Bai Mengmeng leaped as lightly as a butterfly to the center of the pool, her skirt settling like a flower as she landed and sat cross-legged on the water's surface.

"Let's begin," Li Luo said, nodding at her.

Bai Mengmeng gave a slight nod with her fair, delicate chin, and then starlight-like resonant power radiated from her body, pouring into the Spirit Gathering Altar.

As her resonant power flowed in, the altar immediately reacted violently; the colorful heaven and earth energy began to glow, the calm surface of the water started to ripple, and streams of energy mist continuously emerged from the depths of the pool, only to be absorbed by the twenty-three exotic flowers.

On those petals, beads of moisture became increasingly apparent.

This was a sign that the Heavenly Spirit Dew was condensing.

However, the group did not pay attention to this, as their gazes were fixed above the valley; as the altar was activated, those brilliant rays of light projected outward, piercing through the energy membrane above the valley and illuminating the sky.

Now, the commotion here could be clearly seen for a hundred miles around.

"That's quite a stir," Li Luo sighed.

"This damn mechanism is clearly designed to make the academies beat each other's brains out," Yu Lang cursed.

"The Holy Grail Meet is meant to determine the strongest students and academies, so it was never going to be easy for us," Bai Doudou remarked, not feeling that there was anything excessive about it.

Li Luo smiled and nodded, saying, "Everyone, the Spirit Gathering Altar has been activated, and now comes the most troublesome part. Such a commotion will surely attract many academy teams, and we will inevitably be forced into a situation where we are outnumbered."

"Unless we are willing to find a partner and share the Heavenly Spirit Dew, but as I said before, now is not the time for sharing. This is the first major battle of our academy-level competition; if we show weakness now, the road ahead will be even harder, and others won't fear us."

"Therefore, this difficult battle is to ensure that other academies will be more wary of us when we seize Spirit Gathering Altars in the future."

"I believe that any academy truly aiming to reach the end must have the same idea."

Everyone nodded; with heroes gathered at the academy-level competition, if you want to prove you are a lion and not just one of the mediocre wolves, you must demonstrate absolute strength and fight your way out of the pack.

Li Luo clearly wanted to become a lion that others would fear, so that the path ahead would be smoother.

"Our mission is to use any means necessary to hold off the enemies coveting this altar. As long as we can hold out until tomorrow morning, the Heavenly Spirit Dew will be born. Mengmeng will immediately collect them, and once the dew is stored in the spirit gourd, it cannot be plundered, at which point the other academy teams will naturally retreat."

It is worth mentioning that in this academy-level competition, once the Heavenly Spirit Dew is taken and stored in a spirit gourd, it cannot be stolen; in other words, it is first come, first served. Once it is in your bag, even if you are eliminated, no one can take a single drop of the dew.

But thinking about it, it makes sense; after all, the purpose of the Holy Grail Meet is to hone students and encourage academies to cultivate more outstanding talent. This is not an external trial where one must stop at nothing to obtain treasures.

Between academies, a degree of civility is ultimately maintained.

As for the mutual tempering, the mechanism of the Spirit Gathering Altar already achieves that.

After all, if an academy can hold an altar for an entire night without being breached, they are naturally qualified to enjoy the benefits it brings.

"Mengmeng, send a signal once you've collected the Heavenly Spirit Dew," Li Luo said to the girl in the center of the pool.

"Understood. Also, thank you all for your hard work; I'll be slacking off just a little bit here," Bai Mengmeng said with a sweet smile on her pure face.

Seeing this, Yu Lang's eyes lit up—what a heart-touching smile.

Beside him, Bai Doudou looked over with a sharp gaze and said, "If you dare to give my sister that lecherous look again, I will kill you."

The smile on Yu Lang's face instantly stiffened.

"Alright, everyone, let's head out; we need to prepare our defensive lines."

Li Luo clapped his hands, then turned and headed out of the valley.

The others quickly followed.

And as the rosy light shot up from the valley, in a certain part of the mountain forest, several gathering teams looked up.

"The light is overflowing; it really is a Spirit Gathering Altar. Judging by the brilliance, it might even be a medium-sized one." Among the crowd, a youth in yellow robes looked up, his eyes burning as he stared at the sky-piercing light deep in the forest.

Beside him, the others also had eyes filled with greed and desire.

"Liu Xiao, it seems your intelligence was indeed correct."

The yellow-robed youth turned his gaze toward a pale figure—it was Liu Xiao.

In the previous chaotic battle, Liu Xiao had managed to escape nimbly, though he appeared to have suffered significant injuries.

The yellow-robed youth was the captain of the Chisha Holy Academy's one-star division, named Zhao Xingying, who possessed the strength of the second transformation of the Resonant Master stage, placing him among the top tier of the entire one-star division.

"Although a medium-sized Spirit Gathering Altar offers high rewards, it has already been occupied by the Shengxuanxing Academy. As I just mentioned, they might possess two 'Dual-Resonance' users," Liu Xiao said in a hoarse voice.

Zhao Xingying narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "It is already quite rare for two Dual-Resonance users to appear across all four divisions of an academy. Now, the Shengxuanxing Academy has produced two just in the one-star division? Honestly, I have some doubts about that."

"I have some doubts as well."

Liu Xiao nodded and said, "I don't know much about that Yu Lang, but that person named Li Luo is definitely a Dual-Resonance user, and he is very strong."

Zhao Xingying looked thoughtful. At least one Dual-Resonance user... one is already quite difficult to deal with. If Li Luo's Dual-Resonance cultivation has reached the level of Lu Ming from the Tianhuo Holy Academy, he is indeed a formidable enemy.

On his own, he might not be confident of victory.

Moreover, there was the unverified second Dual-Resonance user.

"Captain, are we going to seize this Spirit Gathering Altar?" Liu Xiao asked with some trepidation.

Zhao Xingying smiled faintly: "Since we've encountered it, how could we easily give up?"

"Regardless of whether the intelligence about their Dual-Resonance users is true or false, we have an advantage: we can call for reinforcements."

As he spoke, he looked in another direction, where figures were leaping through the forest, quickly descending toward their location.

"Friends over there, are you from the Chisha Holy Academy? I am Zheng Fuxing, captain of the Shenglongyu Academy." Among those figures, a youth with a physique as sturdy as an iron tower stepped forward.

"I am Ding Chi, captain of the Tiantong Holy Academy." Another youth with fiery red hair also walked out with a smile, cupping his hands toward Zhao Xingying's group.

Among the teams Li Luo and his group had defeated earlier were members of these two academies, which is why they arrived the fastest.

Zhao Xingying looked at the newcomers, a bright smile appearing on his face.

He cupped his hands in return.

"I am Zhao Xingying, captain of the Chisha Holy Academy. Friends, would you be willing to discuss the ownership of this medium-sized Spirit Gathering Altar?"

The two captains laughed upon hearing this.

"We would be more than happy to."