Chapter 59: White Spirit Ruins

After overcoming the blockade by Qin Lian's Weight and the Eastern Abyss Academy, Li Luo and the other two continued forward, encountering several strong opponents along the way, all of whom ultimately surrendered their points tearfully.

Two hours passed like this.

Li Luo and the other two stood on a high ground, gazing at the vast ruins ahead—once an abandoned town, now long since decayed by time.

Countless shattered buildings stood tall, stretching endlessly to the horizon.

Giant trees and vines burst from the ground within the ruins, obscuring the view.

This was White Spirit Ruins—the final battleground of this academy examination.

Li Luo and the others watched their surroundings warily before slowly approaching the ruins, where they discovered a towering crystal wall at its edge.

As they drew near, text appeared on the crystal wall—the final rules of this elimination round.

The rules were simple: when only ten people remained within White Spirit Ruins, the academy examination would end immediately, and rankings would be determined solely by each contestant's point total.

At that moment, Li Luo and the others suddenly saw their chest crystal plaques flicker with light, projecting a faint glowing screen before them.

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

Clearly, once inside White Spirit Ruins, they could now check the leaderboard at will.

Li Luo glanced at the list—the top name was Lü Qing'er, with nine thousand five hundred points.

"Wow, impressive—how many people did she ruin?" Li Luo chuckled.

They'd gone to great lengths to fish for points, even getting Qin Lian's Weight to hand out free points—yet his total was only four thousand, while Lü Qing'er had more than double, clearly slaughtering gods and buddhas alike in her relentless advance.

Right behind Lü Qing'er, as expected, was Shi Kong of the Eastern Abyss Academy, with eight thousand three hundred points.

Behind Shi Kong came a string of contestants with roughly five thousand points each; Li Luo spotted his own rank—seventeenth.

Seeing Yu Lang and Zhao Kuo were around thirty-third.

"Brother Luo, if we run into a strong opponent and things look bad, you should just run off yourself—we two are already at our limit in ranking, so when the time comes, we'll give our last spark to create value for you. I'm sure Seeing Yu Lang feels the same, right?" Zhao Kuo said after staring at the leaderboard for a moment.

Hearing this, Seeing Yu Lang paused for several seconds, then said: "Actually, I think I might still be able to salvage something?"

Zhao Kuo choked on his words, glaring at Seeing Yu Lang: "No need to salvage—you're already dead."

Seeing Yu Lang nodded reluctantly: "Fine, fine, I'm dead, I'm dead."

Though Seeing Yu Lang habitually acted foolishly, it was clear he agreed with Zhao Kuo—they were both Seventh Seal strength, but lacked Li Luo's monstrous power; facing an Eighth Seal opponent, they'd almost certainly lose. As more powerful figures entered White Spirit Ruins, their strength would gradually shift from allies to burdens alongside Li Luo.

Moreover, White Spirit Ruins would eventually eliminate all but ten contestants—they couldn't possibly rely on Li Luo to carry them all the way to that final number, as it would only burden him greatly.

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

And most important: making the top ten held little meaning for them—if Lü Qing'er won first place, the Southern Wind Academy's admission slots would still be granted to them based on their current rankings.

Li Luo smiled and said: "We'll see how things go then."

His own goal was simply to enter the top ten and secure an admission slot; the burden of fighting for first place was already carried by Lü Qing'er of the Southern Wind Academy—he had no need to steal the spotlight.

"Let's go—find a hiding spot inside White Spirit Ruins first."

Li Luo waved his hand, leading the two into the complex terrain of White Spirit Ruins.

Meanwhile, in another direction of White Spirit Ruins.

Shi Kong stood before a crystal wall, calmly watching the faint glowing screen displaying the points leaderboard; his gaze lingered long on the name at the top—Lü Qing'er.

"Boss, Qin Lian's Weight's name isn't on the list—he's been eliminated?" A student from the Eastern Abyss Academy behind Shi Kong exclaimed in shock.

Hearing this, Shi Kong was also surprised; he turned to look—and indeed, Qin Lian's Weight's name was gone, replaced by Li Luo at seventeenth place.

His eyes narrowed slightly—he had ordered Qin Lian's Weight to "take care" of Li Luo, yet now Qin Lian's Weight was eliminated while Li Luo rose?

"He was eliminated by Li Luo," Shi Kong said coolly.

"What? Li Luo's only Seventh Seal strength—how could he eliminate Qin Lian's Weight?" The man beside him said incredulously.

"There are always ways," Shi Kong smiled, though a chill glinted in his eyes. "And did you really think Li Luo was a waste?"

"This young master has been hiding his true strength all along."

"Should we target him?"

Shi Kong waved his hand: "Right now, Lü Qing'er is our primary target. Li Luo is unexpected, but not yet worthy of altering our plan."

"Ignore him for now. Once we deal with Lü Qing'er, he'll be nothing but a clown—no threat at all."

With that, Shi Kong stepped into White Spirit Ruins.

Shortly after entering, Shi Kong spotted a fresh marking carved on a broken wall—he smiled, then followed the mark through overgrown, ruined streets.

After about ten minutes, he entered a shattered room.

Inside, darkness filled the space; as Shi Kong stepped in, four figures emerged from the shadows—Xiang Liang, Chi Su, Zong Fu, and the last one—Song Song Yunfeng.

"Shi Kong, you've still been left behind by Lü Qing'er," Xiang Liang grinned.

Shi Kong smiled faintly: "A temporary lead isn't worth worrying over."

"So when do we move?" Chi Su asked.

"Right now, we must first confirm Lü Qing'er's location, then prepare a flawless strategy to leave her no chance to escape—if she slips away, we won't get another chance to corner her. Once she drags out time or reduces the number to ten, she'll force the exam to end," Zong Fu said slowly.

Shi Kong nodded, then turned to Song Song Yunfeng and smiled: "Confirming her location will be your task, Song Yunfeng."

Xiang Liang and the others turned to Song Song Yunfeng; under their gaze, he looked uneasy, sensing a hint of contempt in their eyes.

Xiang Liang and the others were from opposing academies, so opposing Lü Qing'er was natural—but Song Song Yunfeng was from the Southern Wind Academy, and now he was helping Shi Kong against Lü Qing'er. That was outright betrayal.

Though from their perspective, having a mole like Song Song Yunfeng was convenient, it didn't stop them from despising his character.

"I'm ready," Song Song Yunfeng said, his expression blank despite his inner irritation.

"Then I truly thank you, Song Yunfeng. If this succeeds, you'll be the greatest contributor," Shi Kong said with sincere gratitude.

(End of Chapter)