Chapter 0387: The Level 40 Fight

Clang!

On level 40, Li Luo led the way with his shortswords in hand, Qin Zhulu and his heavy spear right behind him. Backing them up were the other four members.

They were focused firmly on the front, eyes straining to see what awaited them when the mist cleared. The answer was three figures.

Three absinthe puppets clad in full battle armor, their slightly crooked bodies bent over giant halberds blade down in the ground.

They could feel the pressure radiating from these three.

Surprisingly, Li Luo was quite relieved. These three might be stronger than any puppet they had fought before, but they were not Fourth Changing yet.

From the energy around them, he judged them as elite Third Changing.

Each of them were a notch stronger than Lin Suo had been at the Golden Dragon Dao Fields.

However, puppets still had the dullness of puppets. They might have power, but not the higher intelligence needed to fully utilize it. Their battle tactics were limited, which made them slightly easier to deal with.

"Wow, three advanced absinthe puppets of this level..."

Qin Zhulu gripped his spear tightly and licked his lips. "I can only hold off one," he said to Li Luo.

Li Luo stared at him with amazement. "That's a very bold statement, Little Lu. Do you recall how badly Lin Suo trounced us back at the Golden Dragon Dao Fields?"

Qin Zhulu scowled at him. "I was only a Third Pattern then. I'm a First Changing now! If I had to face Lin Suo again, I'd beat him one-on-one!"

"Well, it’s a good thing you'll probably never see him again." Li Luo grinned. "Well, as you wish, one of them is yours to beat."

Qin Zhulu stared back at him. He had only said he could hold off one, not take one down... but then again, he wasn't about to admit that to Li Luo's face. "Sure. No problem."

Surely things couldn't get any worse than when they fought Lin Suo. He was much stronger now that he was at the Evolving Resonance Tier, and his Snarling Golden Demon Tiger resonance had also grown accordingly.

"What about the other two?" Qin Zhulu asked.

"I'll deal with one, and the last one will be left to the other four. If they team up, they should be able to buy some time," Li Luo stated.

"You can deal with one?"

The special training had given them all surprising improvements, and only Li Luo had remained at the same level as he was. Qin Zhulu was not trying to put him down, but rather give him a good reminder.

These advanced absinthe puppets were stronger than Lin Suo!

Li Luo gave him a haughty look as thanks for his concern. "Looks like you forgot who did the most work in defeating Lin Suo."

Qin Zhulu gave no further comment. After all their time working together, he knew that Li Luo was not a reckless person. Since Li Luo had decided this was the arrangement, Qin Zhulu was happy enough to follow along.

"Well, this is the plan, then. Still, even if Xin Fu and the others work together, they probably won't be able to buy much time. If neither of us can secure a win, they might be the first to crumble.

"Besides... even if they can buy time, if we lose in speed to Wang Hejiu and Ye Qiuding, then there's not much point."

Li Luo paused for a moment for his point to sink in. "In the end, it all comes down to us."

He looked Qin Zhulu square in the eye. "The glory and reputation of the One Star Hall—we are its protectors!"

Qin Zhulu was getting fired up as well, flexing his muscles enthusiastically.

"Let's fight!"

His savage resonant power roared forth, and suddenly he was more beast than man.

Li Luo nodded approvingly at him. This berserker was really easy to rile up.

He turned to Xin Fu, Lu Qing'er, and the others, but Xin Fu cut him off before he could deliver his rousing speech. "Dispense with the chicken soup for the soul, Leader. We'll buy you every minute we can. If you can't take yours down, shout and we'll all run away together."

Li Luo sighed. Smart teammates were useless. He preferred big, dumb muscle like Qin Zhulu. Shout and bluster a little, and they would run forth like madmen.

"Well, take care of yourselves," Li Luo called out to them as he turned to face the second advanced absinthe puppet.

Xin Fu and the others turned towards the last one.

Over on the other side, Wang Hejiu's alliance had made their own decisions as well.

Ye Qiuding was the strongest among them, a Second Changing. With his versatile skillset, he should be able to deal with one of the advanced puppets, although he would probably need quite a lot of time. His two teammates would deal with one more, while Wang Hejiu's squad would face the last.

In terms of line-up, it was clear that Wang Hejiu's side had a big advantage. And it was basically a guarantee that Ye Qiuding would take down his puppet, and the way forward was clear for them.

On the other hand, Li Luo's side didn't even have a victory guaranteed.

Above, the five Violet Vibrance mentors watched the two fights silently.

Chi Chan was tense, her lips white from how hard she was pressing them together.

Shen Jinxiao's own lips were slightly parted in a smirk. He had brought many fine wines with him today, and he sent full cups flying towards the other Violet Vibrance mentors with a flick of his finger. The other mentors were not inclined to make a fuss over his facetious attitude, and smiled politely as they accepted the cups.

Only Chi Chan reached out to crush the cup to dust, its contents evaporating with a harsh hiss. "Professionalism."

Shen Jinxiao was unfazed, drinking happily as he occasionally looked down at the battles. He smiled.