Chapter 0592: Champions

When the dizziness from being transported faded away, Li Luo opened his eyes to see the familiar courtyard around him, filled with spectators.

They were back in the Holy Grail Meet area.

Li Luo turned to see Jiang Qing'e and the First Princess by his side, and the other squads from the mixed-level competition nearby.

Rapturous applause and cheers were ringing out all around, welcoming them back and celebrating the safe return of their champions.

Even the school administrators were smiling down from their platform, approval clear in their eyes.

Through difficult battles, the competing teams had successfully laid down an extensive network of cleansing dew all through the Red Clay Province, and the administrators had witnessed all of it through their special viewing method involving the cleansing dew points.

Except for what had happened at Russet Rock City, after the crimson knight-general had merged with the Bloodtailed Other.

The crimson knight-general's ability had blocked the scrying ability of the dew, and that was the only time throughout the entire competition that the administrators felt like things were slipping out of control. All the spectators were extremely nervous at the time.

After all, the eight squads that had disappeared in Russet Rock City were the best and brightest of the East Divine Continent. These people all had the potential to reach the Duke Stage in the future, so it would be a terrible loss if they perished.

Even so, the schools had no way to save them. The spirit mirrors had been the ultimate rescue tool, but the illusion formation of the crimson knight-general had disabled them. However, just at the height of the panic, the vision from the cleansing dew had been returned, and somehow the crimson knight-general had been killed.

A shocking but happy ending.

Even the school administrators were completely stumped.

No one knew what had happened. Merged with the Other, the crimson knight-general had surged to the Greater Heavenly Resonance Stag. Who had killed him?

But the points told the story.

When everything had ended, it was the squad of Gong Luanyu, Jiang Qing'e, and Li Luo who had rocketed up to 1.2 million points, far beyond all the other squads.

This meant that both the Bloodtailed Other and the crimson knight-general had fallen to that squad.

But everyone had been trapped within the crimson knight-general's illusion, so how had a single squad eluded that and even overcome the enemy?

Their squad was the center of curiosity at the moment.

Moreover, the points meant that the winner of the Holy Grail Meet was very obvious. This part was not too surprising, as the two strongest students from the Hall-level competition were in that squad. Even though the One Star Hall Li Luo did not count for much, Jiang Qing'e was a formidable asset in the competition.

The two girls together combined would rival even the Four Star Hall winner, Lan Lan.

But if they went up against the Greater Heavenly Resonance crimson knight-general, the difference would be too unreasonable.

But in any case, that was the result. The crimson knight-general was dead, the points were in the pockets of Gong Luanyu's team, and the only possible explanation was that the squad had some unspeakable trump card hidden away, which they had used under the cover of the illusion formation to secure a win.

In any case, that was a good ending for all. No one wanted to see their entire elite force wiped out at the hands of the enemy.

It would not only be a terrible loss for the schools, but student morale would be absolutely crushed. It would also reflect badly on the organizer and all future organizers.

Elder Ling Yu from the Academic Federation stepped forward, beaming kindly down at all of them. "Welcome back! We are pleased that all of you have returned safely. Your efforts have been closely watched, and all of the schools across the East Divine Continent are proud of your achievements.

"Together, you have cleansed the Red Clay Province of corruption, bringing purity to a tortured and dark land. You have planted seeds of hope that will sprout into very real progress in the not-so-distant future.

"All of you are heroes."

His proclamation was greeted with thunderous applause.

The Astral Sage College students were the most emotional. They had won.

"Wow, Brother Luo is really amazing," said analyst Yu Lang, immediately offering his expert opinion to everyone within earshot. "Truly the strongest student of the One Star Hall throughout the East Divine Continent. Although I did not personally witness what happened, based on my understanding of Brother Luo, I'm sure he was the one who contributed the most to the killing of that crimson armor whatever."

Duze Beixuan snorted so loud that his nose rattled. "What the hell are you talking about? Do you even know how strong that crimson knight-general was? A Greater Heavenly Resonance, for Gods' sake! How about Li Luo? A Resonant Master! He couldn't even get close enough to see his reflection in the armor! Even you have to have a limit to your exaggerations.”

“It must have been the First Princess and Senior Jiang who did something," Wang Hejiu said with a confident drawl. "Li Luo's contribution was probably clapping from the sidelines or something."

Yu Lang shook his head as though he were talking to particularly slow children. "Oh, my sweet summer child. What do you know of the greatness of Brother Luo?"

His condescending attitude absolutely infuriated Duze Beixuan and Wang Hejiu, but they were drowned out by the cheers of the other students, who could not care less who the credit belonged to. All they knew was that their school had won, and all of them were lightheartedly laughing at Yu Lang's bragging.

"Maybe Yu Lang's version is a little too much, but even though Li Luo's only a Resonant Master, I'm sure not even Her Highness the First Princess had any complaints about his contributions to the team," Lu Qing'er said happily.

"Leader's results shine brightly on all of us. He's set a new record," Bai Mengmeng said earnestly.

Duze Beixuan and Wang Hejiu rolled their eyes. Let it go. What was the point of arguing with these Li Luo simps? Both of them wisely chose to shut their mouths.

High on the platform, Elder Ling Yu conferred briefly with the other school administrators, and then the students saw Vice Principal Su Xin's face light up.

Elder Ling Yu's warm voice rang out again.

"With this, all phases of the Holy Grail Meet have come to a close. The team that won the mixed-level competition comes from the Astral Sage College."

All eyes turned to the exalted trio in a mix of envy, curiosity, and respect.

"Gong Luanyu.

"Jiang Qing'e.

"Li Luo."

Several golden nimbuses flew out from elder Ling Yu's sleeve, and they shone brightly in the air for all to see. Each was a small palm-sized golden badge with the crest of a tree in the middle.

The Golden Resonant Tree Brooches!