Chapter 1102: Spiritual Pool Surge

"All students, prepare to get on a platform. The position each of you can occupy in the Spiritual Tree Tide will depend on your strength."

Hearing the soft voice of Vice Principal Qing Man, many of the sage college students looked excited and expectant. The Spiritual Tree Tide was an experience that the students of the ancient college could only enjoy once a year. Being able to experience it themselves was an extraordinary boon.

With the mobilization mission about to start, any tiny improvement to their strength could save their lives when the time came.

At the next moment, all the students of the sage colleges jumped up and landed on the huge flight of stairs.

Li Luo didn't miss a beat; he moved out and then tentatively landed on a step meant for Four Star Hall students.

He looked at the pyramid-shaped steps and gazed at the lone Green Wood Portal at the highest point. The closer to the portal one was, the more Spiritual Tree Tide one would be able to absorb. Of course, the tide was bound to be stronger and more pressure-filled the higher one went, so one would need the strength to withstand such pressure in the first place.

This format was not a rare sight, but it was a true test of one's abilities.

Li Luo reflected silently. With the imminent mobilization mission and the lurking dangers within the Fifth Minor Earthly Branch Realm, it was absolutely essential for him to increase his strength as much as he could now.

At his current level, the fifth Heavenly Pearl Tier, it would take him about one or two more months of regular cultivation before he could even think about breaking through to the sixth Heavenly Pearl Tier. This was already considered quick, as other people would probably take twice that amount of time.

But Li Luo did not want to wait.

If he wanted to complete his breakthrough quicker, he would have to rely on external stimuli such as the Spiritual Tree Tide.

"I hope I won't be disappointed," Li Luo muttered to himself. Today's goal was to utilize the Spiritual Tree Tide to advance into the sixth Heavenly Pearl Tier. And the Four Star Hall step was not nearly high enough in order to achieve that breakthrough.

Thus, Li Luo set his eyes set on a higher step from the beginning. It was a Heavenly Star Hall position.

While he was forming plans in his mind, he saw an ancient talisman fly out from within Vice Principal Wu Yu's sleeve. It pierced through the air and plastered itself directly above the Green Wood Portal.

In the next moment, the countless mysterious glowing runes on the Green Wood Portal lit up and the closed door slowly began to swing open.

Whoosh!

The moment the Green Wood Portal opened, a turquoise wave gushed out of its depths, sweeping out violently and vigorously down the steps. This was the Spirit Tide.

The sight of the gargantuan turquoise tsunami was spectacular.

However, this was not just a simple tsunami, but one filled with pure and condensed worldly natural energy.

All the sage college students standing on the steps wore grave expressions when they saw the wave. In the next instant, all of them expended as much resonant power as they could muster.

At the front of the Four Star Hall, brightly dazzling Heavenly Pearls began to appear one by one.

And at the very, very front, a few Heavenly Resonance Golden Seals appeared. They belonged to the top titled students like Gao Xuhan, Tong Yan, and Gu Jing.

Li Luo also did not hold back—five glowing Heavenly Pearls materialized behind him. Although this number did not stand out amongst those that stood at the front of the Four Star Hall, the gazes surrounding him were full of scorn.

After all, everyone was already clear of the quality of Li Luo's five Heavenly Pearls.

Just then, the turquoise Spirit Tide roared like a tsunami crashing against the shore, smashing directly into the bodies of the students.

Deafening sounds of impact rang out as many students were violently hit, their feet even slipping back some distance from the collision.

Only the students at the sixth Heavenly Pearl Tier or higher were truly able to stabilize themselves.

Or course, there was also Li Luo. He stared calmly at the incoming Spirit Tide that roared and crashed upon his body. As he resisted the immense pressure, he immediately felt majestic and pure energy wildly rush into his body.

The energy was extremely gentle and did not possess any aggressiveness. After entering his body, it obediently coiled and gathered itself neatly before moving along his meridians.

Li Luo immediately activated the Triple Palaces Six Resonances Pearl Condensation Art, which rapidly absorbed and refined the pure and gentle energy.

In just a few moments, the growth of resonant power in his body was more than a regular day's worth of cultivation.

Unfortunately, it was still far off from condensing the sixth Heavenly Pearl.

Li Luo raised his head and looked towards the students at the forefront position of the Four Star Hall. He realized that after a short period of adaptation, Gao Xuhan and the other titled students whose strength was at the Illusory Seal-grade were starting to move forward one step at a time against the impact of the spirit tide. They were ambitiously heading towards the steps further ahead.

They naturally understood that greater benefits could only be reaped by continuously moving forward.

The Spiritual Tree Tide was a once-a-year event, and even the students of the Heavenly Origin Ancient College could only enjoy it four times in their lifetimes, so everyone wanted to maximize this opportunity.

Li Luo was no different.

So without much further consideration, he began to ascend the stairs.

The surging tide swept in, continuously depositing majestic and pure energy into Li Luo's body.

His pace was quick, and he overtook most of the titled students from the sage colleges in the span of a few breaths, drawing parallel with Gao Xuhan and the others.

Gao Xuhan eyed Li Luo, his face a tad sullen, but he did not dare to show any dissatisfaction. After all, the psychological impact that Li Luo had imprinted on him the other day was just too big.

"Hmph, although your combat power is extraordinary, you are only at the fifth Heavenly Pearl Tier, so the Spirit Tide will soon fill up the meridians in your body. At that time, it will be difficult for you to advance any further," Gao Xuhan thought to himself. Buoyed by this thought, Gao Xuhan felt a little bit more comfortable. Above his head, the slightly transparent Heavenly Resonance Golden Seal flowed constantly with golden light.

Under the watch of countless eyes, many students of the sage colleges struggled to climb the steps.

The students of the Heavenly Origin Ancient College were also observing.

And almost all of their gazes were trained on Li Luo. After all, he had become somewhat famous over the past few days.

"Li Luo seems to be trying to head towards the steps of the Heavenly Star Hall."

"Ooh, quite ambitious."

"But he is still thinking a little too simply. Although he has shown extraordinary combat power and was even able to defeat Illusory Seal-grade opponents, the Spirit Tide steps are different. No matter how strong his combat power is, his body is still only at the Heavenly Pearl Tier and is simply unable to withstand a large influx of energy. Once his meridians are full, he'll be forced to stop moving forward, or he'll overload himself if he insists on continuing."

The students of the Heavenly Origin Ancient College were obviously extremely familiar with the Spiritual Tree Tide and also knew where its biggest difficulty was.

Li Luo had already begun to experience what they were referring to.

As he began to approach the steps of the Heavenly Star Hall, his body started to feel bloated. Although the energy of the Spirit Tide was extremely mild, the sheer amount made it extremely difficult to deal with.

However, Li Luo did not stop and calmly continued to ascend upwards.

A faint, three-colored light suddenly began to flow on the surface of his skin. It was the Tri-Radiance Glass that he had cultivated at the Fiend Body Tier.

This proved that every step Li Luo had ever taken was based on a solid foundation.

With this kind of foundation, he could endure far more than an ordinary five Heavenly Pearl Tier cultivator.

At the same time, the three resonant palaces in Li Luo's body started buzzing with violent vibrations as the Triple Palaces Six Resonances Pearl Condensation Art exploded into life with all its might.

The energy that poured into his body was indeed boundless, but as long as it was refined fast enough, it would not overfill his meridians.

When Li Luo fully utilized the Triple Palaces Six Resonances Pearl Condensation Art, six faint arcane lights constantly flowed around the surface of his body, as if forming a halo that enveloped him entirely.

The majestic energy pouring into his body began to be refined at an accelerated pace, eventually turning into resonant power and stored within his three resonant palaces.

Li Luo felt his body relax almost immediately.

His footsteps quickly sped up as he eventually took the lead and took the first step onto the Heavenly Star Hall's steps directly under Gao Xuhan's revenant-like gaze.

The moment Li Luo stepped onto the steps of the Heavenly Star Hall, the faces of the surrounding Heavenly Origin Ancient College students who were watching all changed a little.

Wu Changkong, who was originally laughing with his companion next to him, paused and stared calmly.

Feng Lingyuan's slightly droopy eyes rose a bit at this moment.

Being able to rise to the steps of the Heavenly Star Hall while only at the Heavenly Pearl Tier proved that Li Luo's base and foundation were truly solid and terrifying.

Despite the many surprised gazes, Li Luo did not care. Instead, his brows furrowed right then.

The amount of resonant power in his body was climbing at an extremely alarming rate, but the sixth Heavenly Pearl still showed no signs of condensing.

Obviously, if one wanted to advance into the sixth Heavenly Pearl Tier in one go, the amount of energy required was immense.

At this point, Li Luo had already utilized his foundation as well as the Triple Palaces Six Resonances Pearl Condensation Art to the extreme.

He could feel that if he continued to move forward, his energy refining speed would not be able to keep up with the influx of energy.

Li Luo raised his head and looked at the steps in front of him, where there were prayer mats spaced out between the steps. The further he went, the lower the number of prayer mats became, and eventually there was only one stone prayer mat a hundred steps away.

That location was almost just a hundred feet away from the Green Wood Portal.

If he was able to reach that location, then advancing into the six Heavenly Pearl Tier would be assured. As for that position, judging from its unique appearance, it probably represented the chief of the Heavenly Star Hall.

That location exerted the strongest pressure but also contained the most abundant energy.

And it was the exclusive position belonging to Wu Changkong.

The chief's position ought to be rather comfortable, shouldn't it?

Thinking that, Li Luo hesitated no further and took another step.