The steamy atmosphere in the cultivation chamber had been purged clean with Wang Xuanjin's loud proclamation. Jiang Qing'e's glazed, golden eyes swiftly regained their clarity and she lightly pushed away from Li Luo's chest, sending him reeling. Her beautiful face was flushed red, a far cry from her usual cool and collected demeanor. There were even some light bite marks on her seductive, cherry lips. This caused her to glare at Li Luo in irritation. "Are you a dog?"

Li Luo laughed apologetically, but his eyes were still focused on the girl before him. She was simply too gorgeous, and even her frustrated but coy appearance made her resemble a sacred goddess who had been tarnished by mortal dust. "Principal Wang is truly adept at ruining such prized moments. I can easily tell he's been single his entire long life!"

Li Luo feverishly licked his lips, savoring that intoxicating flavor yet again. He truly felt a little disgruntled at the untimely interruption.

Jiang Qing'e no longer bothered with him. Once the marks on her lips faded, she turned around and walked outside the cultivation chamber swiftly. However, it almost seemed as though she was running away... That fellow Li Luo had become more and more unscrupulous and audacious ever since their relationship had deepened.

Li Luo tidied up his appearance before leisurely following her. At the same time, he felt a hint of pride that he was capable of making the proud goddess of war run away from him. Who else could match him in this world? As the two left, they saw that everyone had gathered around the area, including Lu Qing'er, Li Hongyou, Chi Chan, and the rest.

"Congratulations, Li Luo and Qing'e. You've taken another step on the Path of Ascension," Chi Chan said with a smile. Mi Er and Cao Sheng were similarly full of smiles. They had basked in Li Luo's brilliance, obtaining an opportunity that allowed them to break through. When they returned to the Astral Sage College, their ranking amongst the mentors would rise greatly.

"Likewise." Li Luo grinned. He then turned towards Li Hongyou and noticed she had forged a nine-pillar Duke Bergfried, becoming a second-grade Duke. This was good news too as although her battle strength wasn't the best, her supportive abilities were so critical that even a sixth-grade Duke would not be as useful as she was. With her by his side, Li Luo felt that there were only a handful of individuals who could truly threaten him in the Celestial Mirror Pagoda.

"What's the situation with the other participants?" he asked.

In these three months, the numerous experts present had done their best to improve themselves in anticipation of the gruelling battles during the Celestial Mirror Martial Exchange. Thus, he had to know if there were any significant changes.

Chi Chan had already long prepared for this, so she quickly cut to the chase, explaining the numerous developments.

"Diwu Mingxuan has reached the Sixth Duke Stage and forged a Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfried?" This particular piece of news caused Li Luo's eyes to shrink. Didn't that mean that Diwu Mingxuan now had three Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfrieds? In addition to his three nine-pillar Duke Bergfrieds, this meant that the fellow had quite an amazing configuration for his Bergfrieds.

That said, only Jiang Qing'e was capable of contesting against these peak experts.

"That person is a powerful enemy that we cannot underestimate," Li Luo reminded Jiang Qing'e.

Both Jiang Qing'e and Diwu Mingxuan walked on the path of light resonant arts. If the two were to find the Light Transcendent Art, a bloody battle between two equally fearsome foes would erupt. This was a massive opportunity that neither side could give up on.

Jiang Qing'e nodded and her expression reverted back to its usual calm. "I truly want to see just how accomplished this Duke of Light is when it comes to the cultivation of the light."

Fighting intent blazed within her eyes. Amongst all of the experts present, she held the most interest in Diwu Mingxuan. It was a pity that they had not met during the Domain Traversal Battles.

That said, they would definitely have a chance to cross blows during the Celestial Mirror Martial Exchange.

"Sheng Qiao'er, Zhou Jun, Li Jun, and Song Jing have all reached the upper eighth-grade."

Li Luo was a little surprised. One had to remember that Jiang Qing'e and him had faced off against the upper eighth-grade Qin Lian just a year ago, and they had struggled all the way to the end of the line before finally being able to emerge victorious. However, the notion of facing off against an upper eighth-grade Duke didn't seem as daunting as before. That said, Sheng Qiao'er and the other three were definitely not in the same league as Qin Lian, who had been at the Eighth Duke Stage for countless years, having accumulated ample experience.

"Lu Ruyan has reached the Seventh Duke Stage and has forged a nine-pillar Duke Bergfried," Chi Chan continued.

Li Luo nodded. Lu Ruyan was a ruthless character with a deep foundation as well. Now that she had broken through, her strength had undoubtedly soared, but the good thing here was that their side had improved by an even greater margin. Thus, if she came to cause trouble, they would be able to suppress her.

"What about Chi Li?" Li Luo asked.

Chi Chan paused. "He's reached the lower eighth-grade and forged an eight-pillar Duke Bergfried."

Li Luo grinned at the thought of this. It looked like losing all that Celestial Mirror Sand had detrimentally affected Chi Li. Otherwise, with his talent, he would have had the opportunity to obtain a nine-pillar.

"Qing'e's squadmate, the girl by the name of Ning Meng, has broken into the Third Duke Stage and forged a Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfried," Chi Chan continued.

"Oh? Ning Meng has forged yet another Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfried?" Li Luo was slightly taken aback. Ning Meng possessed a middle ninth-grade Light Chaser Beast resonance, which was quite high of a grade. However, her second resonance was a little worse, being a quasi ninth-grade Swordscale Bamboo resonance. Normally speaking, this wouldn't have been enough to forge a second Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfried.

"The Hallowed Coruscation Ancient College has placed a lot of importance on Ning Meng. The Principal has a close relationship with her and should be the reason why she was capable of forging the Ten-Pillar," Jiang Qing'e explained.

That was when it dawned on Li Luo that if a peak King were to assist with one's breakthrough, they could likely make up for some of one's shortcomings. However, it was likely that it would deplete one's potential as well, and as one's cultivation level increased, it would be increasingly difficult to forge a Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfried.

Perhaps it was because the principal of the Hallowed Coruscation Ancient College had seen that Ning Meng's cultivation level was not too high and thus gave a hand. No matter what, the cost of forging a Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfried was always great.

"It looks like all of the experts have greatly risen in strength in these three months. The Celestial Mirror Martial Exchange is definitely going to be fun." Li Luo smirked.

Looking at the bigger picture, things had not changed significantly. However, many new contenders for the top had arisen from the shadows.

Everyone around him agreed with this sentiment as well.

At this point, Mentor Mi Er asked a question with a hint of embarrassment. "Mentor Li Luo, could I trouble you with something?"

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Li Luo was a little taken aback as this was the first time Mi Er had taken the initiative to speak to him. He gave a disarming smile and said, "Go ahead and speak your mind."

Mi Er paused to think before continuing, "If you're able to reach the higher layers of the Celestial Mirror Pagoda, could you assist me with finding a secret art? Well, actually, this secret art is really for Yu Lang. I'm looking for it for his sake."

Li Luo paused in surprise. "For Yu Lang?"

"When you left the Astral Sage College, Yu Lang started cultivating under my tutelage and I've treated him as my personal disciple. However, I've always understood that his talent is merely average and that he cannot compare with you. Normally speaking, he should not be comparing himself with you at all." Mi Er then fell silent.

"That said, Yu Lang doesn't feel this way. He's been working very hard and he's always said that he knows that the day you return to the Xia Kingdom, the Other Disaster will be resolved. When that day comes, he doesn't want to merely stand from afar watching you, not having the ability to fight by your side. Furthermore, there's also Bai Doudou's family... Thus, for the sake of overcoming his limits, he's taken on the most dangerous tasks and experienced countless life-and-death battles against Others. I've already passed the secret art I've cultivated to him. It's known as the Resonance Transformation Art, and it sacrifices one's resonance affinity for the sake of resonant power growth. It is precisely because I have this art that I was able to reach the Duke Stage."

Mi Er looked a little bit helpless as he continued, "However, even this has a limit. Principal Pang later on told me that this Resonance Transformation Art actually originates from the Celestial Mirror Pagoda, and what I've cultivated is only a derivative version of it. The original art is known as the Resonance Origin Transformation Art. Legends say that within the Sacred Void Resonance Sect, this was a demonic art that none dared to learn. After all, the more one practiced this art, the lower their resonance grade would become. I was thinking, if you reach the upper layers of the Celestial Mirror Pagoda and if you chance upon it, please bring it back for him."

Li Luo paused upon hearing Mi Er's long explanation, a complicated look in his eyes. At the same time, a familiar face that perpetually held a lackadaisical expression but yet had an indomitable spirit appeared in his mind. It looked like Yu Lang had truly experienced a lot in their time apart. The boy that once drifted like the wind had changed immensely as well.

Li Luo didn't say much in the end. He didn't attempt to persuade Mi Er otherwise, despite the clear dangers of the art. This was Yu Lang's choice, and the only thing he could do as his friend was help him till the end.