Chapter 0526: Elder Ling Yu

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

A circular arena made of white jade had appeared in the Holy Grail space.

All the participating students at the Holy Grail Meet were gathered there. They were the handpicked elites of their respective schools, but they were only spectators here. Not many of them would play a part in the mixed-level competition.

Squads continued to stream in to rousing cheers from their schools.

"Looks like a transport ward," Li Luo said, noting the regulated light patterns across its surface and a latent energy in the floor beneath him.

His two squadmates, Jiang Qing'e and the First Princess, nodded in agreement.

The two of them standing together was just about the prettiest view in the whole Holy Grail Meet. Moreover, Jiang Qing'e's reputation had spread far and wide over the last few days.

The First Princess was a real beauty as well, and she had that royal bearing as part of her charm.

"Why isn't Jiang Qing'e teaming up with Gong Shenjun for the Astral Sage College?"

"Yeah, that's strange. Gong Shenjun's the strongest Four Star student, right? They'd be unbeatable together."

"You guys don't give Xia Kingdom's First Princess enough credit. She's not that much weaker than Gong Shenjun. With Jiang Qing'e beside her, they're still damned strong."

"Oh and Li Luo too... Keke, a squad with two strongest students? That's sick."

"Ah, but Li Luo's only One Star. His advantages are nullified by the Two Star Hall students who have an extra year of cultivation on him. He might be strong, but how can he hope to compare to the North Sea Sage College's Ao Bai?"

"Well, I think the strongest squad overall is still going to be Enlightened Sage College’s. I hear Lan Lan, Lu Jinci, and Jing Taixu are all in the same group. They might only have one brooch on that squad, but it's the Four Star Hall brooch, which is the most important."

"Well, that's true..."

Li Luo could hear them all clearly. He spotted the familiar visage of Jing Taixu some distance away.

He was talking and laughing with his two squadmates, Lan Lan and Lu Jinci.

As if sensing his gaze, Jing Taixu looked up and their eyes met. The smile on Jing Taixu's face faded a little, and he looked away stiffly.

Lu Jinci saw it happen. "I was about to follow you to taunt them," he said irritatedly.

"At least your loss to Li Luo was a dignified one-on-one. What about me? I fought her with a team and still got nailed." He was rather grouchy at how disproportionate the whole thing had turned out. The idea had been Jing Taixu's, and all he had done was follow him over to see Jiang Qing'e. But he'd been hung up like a slaughtered deer and quartered.

Jing Taixu laughed a little apologetically, then he quickly changed the subject. "Senior Lan Lan, please help us save the situation if you can."

"Junior Jing, you've already sabotaged Lu Jinci. Now you're trying to sabotage me?" Lan Lan laughed.

"Not at all. You're the strongest in the Four Star Hall, a Heavenly Pearl Stage expert. Even though Jiang Qing'e has a ninth-grade light resonance, she is only an Earth Fiend."

Lan Lan shook his head smilingly but did not refute him.

Li Luo only took one look at Jing Taixu before turning his attention to Lan Lan. He could sense what a gigantic threat this guy was.

"That Lan Lan is really something," Jiang Qing'e said to him in a low voice. "He only has an upper seventh-grade water resonance, but he’s strong enough to crush many upper eighth-grade resonance elites."

"Although resonance grade provides a cultivation advantage, it's not absolute. And no one can really compete with the threat of the Enlightened Sage Scripture." The First Princess nodded gravely.

Li Luo nodded, noting the apprehension in her voice. Truthfully, he had never met a King expert before. Principal Pang had been an echo back then as well, and even so, he had felt the crushing mountain of pressure from the echo's presence.

Lan Lan had managed to cultivate the Enlightened Sage Scripture despite that. Truly impressive.

Li Luo cast his eye out across the other squads, spotting a few more familiar faces. Sun Dasheng, Lu Ming... nothing surprising. They were definitely One Star Hall students that held their ground against even the best of Two Star Hall.

Suddenly, Li Luo's gaze stopped.

He saw a handsome, prince-like person with a fan in hand, and he recognized the person from the intel they had received.

The Two Star Hall's strongest student, the North Sea Sage College's Ao Bai.

Although he had not fully broken into the Earth Fiend Stage, his Fiend Palace was already starting to form. This was known as the quasi General Stage, and he was far beyond the other Two Star Hall competitors like Zhu Xuan.

"You could throw a stone and hit a genius by accident in this place," Li Luo noted dryly. The cream of the East Divine Continent crop was truly all gathered at the Holy Grail Meet.

A gong sounded out, and a person walked out onto the stage. The person was followed by the school representatives.

Vice Principal Su Xin was also among them.

But it was the main person that had Li Luo's attention.

He was dressed in the Academic Federation's uniform. The old man had a head of fully white hair, but his eyebrows were dark red and fiery. He had a charismatic aura about him, and Li Luo felt himself heating up physically just by looking at this man, despite the man not showing any signs of resonant power.

It was not just him. Many around him were dabbing at their sweat.

"That's the elder who was sent by the Academic Federation to organize the Holy Grail Meet, Elder Ling Yu," the First Princess informed them.

Li Luo was very curious. Was this some super-high level guy from the Academic Federation?

The red-browed elder took a step forward. Without so much as a word or a smile, his gaze alone was enough to make the chatter of the crowd fade away. When there was silence, he spoke in a gravelly voice.

"East Divine Continent students. Firstly, let me congratulate you on making it here. Being chosen to compete in the mixed-level competition means that you are the strongest of your schools. Even so, for many of you, your efforts for your schools will end here. The mixed-level competition this time is different, for reasons already made clear to you.

"You will soon head for the Blackwind Empire... No, that empire is no more. There might never be a Blackwind Empire again in the future. It is now completely overrun by Others, and your mission is to purge what was once the Red Clay Province. The corruption level in that area is rather light, and perfect for your training.

"One more thing: I'd like to give you all a warning. Others might not be the only thing you have to watch out for."

The students sat up straighter at this. Not just the Others?

His old, wrinkled eyelids opened up wider.

"We suspect that the Umbra Cave that Blackwind Sage College guarded was sabotaged, leading to the Other Disaster."

Silence, and the students reeled.

The seal on the Umbra Cave had been broken on purpose? They could hardly imagine what sick-minded terrorist or evil faction would do such a crazy thing.