Chapter 59: White Spirit Ruins

After resolving the interception by the Dongyuan Academy group led by Lian Zhong, Li Luo and his two companions continued forward. During this time, they encountered several more formidable opponents, but the end result was always the same: the other party tearfully contributing their points.

Two hours passed in this manner.

Li Luo and his two companions stood on a high ground, gazing at a vast expanse of ruins that had appeared before them. The ruins had once been an abandoned town, but after being eroded by time, it was already in a state of utter disrepair.

Numerous broken buildings stood tall, stretching all the way to the edge of their vision.

Within the ruins, giant trees and vines burst through the ground, obscuring their view.

This was the White Spirit Ruins, and also the site of the final battle for this Academy Grand Examination.

Li Luo and his two companions scanned their surroundings with vigilance before slowly approaching the White Spirit Ruins. At the edge of the ruins, they discovered a standing crystal wall.

Walking up to it, text emerged on the crystal wall; it was the final rule for this elimination round.

The rule was actually quite simple: when only ten people remained in the White Spirit Ruins, the Academy Grand Examination would be declared over, and at that time, rankings would be determined by the number of points each person held.

Just then, Li Luo and his companions suddenly saw the crystal badges on their chests begin to flicker with light, and then the light projected outward, forming a faint screen of light directly in front of them.

"It's the point leaderboard," Yu Lang said in surprise.

Clearly, once they reached the White Spirit Ruins, they could check the point leaderboard on their own.

Li Luo looked at the leaderboard and saw that the first place was held by Lu Qinger, whose points had reached nine thousand five hundred.

"Tsk tsk, impressive. How many people has she wreaked havoc on?" Li Luo laughed.

They had been using all sorts of methods to fish for points, and even had Lian Zhong come to deliver a gift, yet his own points were only a little over four thousand. Lu Qinger, however, had double his score, showing that she truly was killing gods if gods blocked her and killing Buddhas if Buddhas blocked her, sweeping through everything in her path.

Behind Lu Qinger, as expected, was Shi Kong of Dongyuan Academy, with points reaching eight thousand three hundred.

Following Shi Kong, there were others with around five thousand points, and Li Luo also saw his own ranking: seventeenth.

As for Yu Lang and Zhao Kuo, they were around the thirtieth position.

"Brother Luo, if we encounter a strong enemy later and the situation looks bad, you should just run for it yourself. For us two, this ranking is about our limit, so when the time comes, we'll use our final bit of light and heat to create some value for you. I believe Yu Lang thinks the same, right?" Zhao Kuo stared at the leaderboard for a moment and said.

Upon hearing this, Yu Lang pondered for a few seconds and said, "Actually, I feel like I might still be worth saving?"

Zhao Kuo was choked by this and glared at Yu Lang: "No need to save you, you're already done for."

Yu Lang had no choice but to nod, "Fine, fine, I'm done for."

Although Yu Lang was habitually acting foolish, it was clear that he agreed with Zhao Kuo. The two of them were at the Seventh Seal level, but they weren't as monstrous as Li Luo. If they met an Eighth Seal powerhouse, they would likely lose. As more and more fierce experts arrived at the White Spirit Ruins, their strength would gradually turn them from helpers into burdens if they stayed with Li Luo.

Moreover, the White Spirit Ruins would eventually eliminate everyone until only ten remained. They couldn't count on staying until that point just by sticking with Li Luo; that would only bring Li Luo significant pressure.

Even if Li Luo didn't mind, they couldn't take it for granted.

And most importantly, there wasn't much point in them entering the top ten. As long as Lu Qinger could secure first place, the admission quotas distributed to Southwind Academy would be enough for them to benefit from, given their rankings.

Li Luo heard this, smiled, and said, "We'll see how things go when the time comes."

In truth, his goal was only to enter the top ten and obtain an admission spot. As for the heavy responsibility of fighting for first place, Southwind Academy already had Lu Qinger carrying that burden; he didn't need to steal the spotlight.

"Let's go, let's first enter the White Spirit Ruins and find a place to hide and observe."

Li Luo waved his hand and led the two of them into the complex terrain of the White Spirit Ruins.

Meanwhile, in another direction of the White Spirit Ruins.

Shi Kong stood before a crystal wall, his expression calm as he looked at the point leaderboard formed by the faint light screen in front of him. His gaze lingered on Lu Qinger in first place for a long time.

"Boss, Lian Zhong's name isn't on the list. Did something happen to him?" Behind Shi Kong, a student from Dongyuan Academy suddenly said with some shock.

Shi Kong was also a bit surprised upon hearing this. He then looked toward the back and indeed did not find Lian Zhong's name, though he did see Li Luo ranked seventeenth.

His eyes narrowed slightly. He had previously instructed Lian Zhong to "take care" of Li Luo, so how was it that Lian Zhong had been eliminated instead, while Li Luo had risen up?

"He must have been eliminated by Li Luo," Shi Kong said calmly.

"Ah? Isn't that Li Luo only at the Seventh Seal level? How could he possibly eliminate Lian Zhong?" the person beside him said in disbelief.

"There are always ways, and do you really think that Li Luo is a piece of trash?" Shi Kong smiled, though a cold intent flickered in his eyes.

"This Young Manor Lord has been hiding his true strength all along."

"Then do we need to target him?"

Shi Kong waved his hand and said, "The most important target right now is Lu Qinger. Although Li Luo is somewhat unexpected, he isn't qualified to make us change our plans."

"Ignore him for now. Once we solve Lu Qinger, he will just be a clown, not worth fearing."

As Shi Kong spoke, he stepped into the White Spirit Ruins.

Not long after entering the White Spirit Ruins, Shi Kong saw a mark on a broken wall that had clearly been carved recently. He smiled immediately and followed the mark through a series of overgrown, dilapidated streets.

About ten minutes later, he walked into a broken house.

The room was dark, and as Shi Kong walked in, he saw four figures emerge from the shadows. They were Xiang Liang, Chi Su, and Zong Fu, with whom Shi Kong had previously made an agreement, and the last person was none other than Song Yunfeng.

"Shi Kong, you really have been left behind in points by Lu Qinger," Xiang Liang said with a grin upon seeing Shi Kong.

Shi Kong smiled faintly: "A temporary lead, no need to dwell on it."

"Tell us, when are we going to make our move?" Chi Su asked.

"The most important thing now is to first determine Lu Qinger's location, then devise a foolproof plan so she has no chance to escape. Otherwise, once she escapes, I'm afraid she won't give us a second chance to surround her. By then, she only needs to stall for some time, or reduce the number of people until only ten remain, and she will have forcibly ended the Grand Examination," Zong Fu said slowly.

Shi Kong nodded, then looked at Song Yunfeng and smiled: "I'm afraid we'll have to trouble you for determining her location, Yunfeng."

Xiang Liang and the other two also looked at Song Yunfeng. Under their gaze, the latter felt somewhat uncomfortable, as he could faintly sense a hint of contempt in their eyes.

After all, Xiang Liang and the others had a different stance from Southwind Academy, so it was normal for them to deal with Lu Qinger. But Song Yunfeng was from Southwind Academy, and yet he was helping Shi Kong deal with Lu Qinger; this was a bit like betraying one's own side.

Although from their perspective, they were naturally happy to have a traitor like Song Yunfeng helping them, that didn't stop them from feeling contempt for Song Yunfeng's character.

"I have already made preparations," Song Yunfeng said with an expressionless face, despite his inner irritation.

"Then many thanks, Yunfeng. If this succeeds, you will be the greatest contributor," Shi Kong said with a very sincere expression of gratitude.

(End of chapter)