At the same time that Li Luo finished choosing his mentor, in another part of the woods.
Lu Qing'er's fair skin was heavily splotched with toxins now. They had run amok within her body, and she was in excruciating pain. Still, she grimly held on quietly.
Opposite her, Wang Hejiu's frozen arms were beginning to thaw out under his own resonant power.
"Friend Qing'er, it seems like your Glacial Prison's limit is here. It's quite an impressive move. If you had just a bit more resonant power, I'd be held here by you for the whole day." Wang Hejiu congratulated her.
"You've successfully delayed me, but do you think that Li Luo can fend off the others?"
Lu Qing'er did not reply. Her consciousness was fuzzy.
But before she faded into blackness, purple light blazed in the sky. Two columns of violet light appeared before Lu Qing'er and Wang Hejiu.
Within them, two violet talismans.
One floated gently down on Lu Qing'er's head. Its light neutralized the poisons in her body, making wisps of poisonous, green energy rise from her head and dissipate.
Wang Hejiu looked at the violet talisman before him and bowed courteously before reaching out for it.
He was not surprised. Given his talent, he was not worried about being chosen by a Violet Vibrance mentor.
Lu Qing'er receiving one was a surprise. After all, strictly speaking, she had not held her own at all in this battle with Wang Hejiu. She had simply held him there for a while with her Glacial Prison.
Although surprised, Lu Qing'er was still grateful. "Thank you, Mentor," she said softly as she took it.
...
In another small forest.
Zhao Kuo and the other three were lying on the ground, too tired to move. They had been trounced soundly by Bai Doudou, and they were still aching and stinging all over.
"I wonder if Yu Lang was beaten to death," Zhao Kuo said with some sympathy.
Still, they knew that that, at least, would not come true. After all, the mentors were watching over the Choosing, and they would not allow the students to die.
Pain, however... was absolutely on the menu. One look at Bai Doudou and you knew she was no gentle spirit. Plus, Yu Lang was the kind that was just begging to be beaten up. They winced just imagining the combination.
Suddenly, a golden light appeared in the air.
Zhao Kuo looked up in wonder. "Am I hallucinating? I thought I saw a gold talisman."
The other three were staring up at the sky silently as well. A few beats later, they leaped to their feet, pain forgotten. They rushed like mad men towards the golden light.
The four snatched gleefully. Each held a gold talisman, their faces lit up with unbridled joy.
"We've been graced with gold talismans?" Zhao Kuo whooped.
Zong Fu nodded vigorously. "They're really gold. Was our work really acknowledged by some mentor?!" They were ecstatic. After all, it was difficult for those of their strength level to get gold talismans. Especially Zhao Kuo, who was especially lacking in both strength and potential. Therefore, he had set his sights on a Silver Spark mentor from the beginning. But now he had gold?
This was beyond their wildest dreams.
All four whooped and cheered, over the moon at their gold talismans.
Getting beaten up was worth it!
......
Far away in the forest.
Bai Doudou looked up instinctively. A ray of purple light was before her. She stretched out and took the violet talisman with great pleasure.
"Many thanks, Mentor," she said respectfully.
Although she had also been expecting one, having the talisman in hand was still a relief.
She opened it to see a "Mi" on it.
"Mentor Mi Er?" She naturally knew about this Violet Vibrance mentor. Mentor Mi Er was the mentor she wanted the most because they both had wind resonances.
If she could train under this mentor, she would definitely grow very quickly.
Still lost in the glow of pleasure, Bai Doudou was startled by a second flash of purple light.
"Who else is there?" And then her eyes fell on the unconscious Yu Lang.
"This guy?!"
Bai Doudou was absolutely aghast. This good-for-nothing was shameless and useless, not to mention he was rather weak. He? Win a Violet Vibrance mentor's favor?
Surely this was some sort of joke?!
The purple light did indeed land on the unconscious Yu Lang. In the light, his injuries rapidly healed, and his eyes flew open.
The first thing he saw was the violet talisman.
Yu Lang hesitated for a few seconds, then he pounced on it, pinning it to the ground under his body. "This one's mine! I got it! It's mine!" he yelled. He looked up warily at Bai Doudou. "It's mine, I say!" he repeated.
She was speechless. "What are you so worried about? It came for you. No one can take it away."
"For me?" Yu Lang said in sheer disbelief. "A Violet Vibrance mentor chose me?"
"Maybe they made a mistake,” she said huffily.
"No way!" Yu Lang objected furiously. "It's here already! It's mine! Even if it's a mistake, I'm gonna stick to this Violet Vibrance mentor! He has to take responsibility for me!" Bai Doudou facepalmed. There was no end to this guy's shamelessness.
Yu Lang pulled out the squashed violet talisman and then bowed deeply to it. "Hey, Mentor, I've already done the thing. I've called you ‘Mentor’ now, you know? We can't change things anymore."
Satisfied, he held it up for a close look. "Who's this Mentor Mi anyway?"
Bai Doudou blanched. "What?" She choked. "Mentor Mi Er as well?!" She ran forward and snatched his violet talisman. True enough, the character “Mi” was carved on it. She took out her own. The two were exactly the same.
Her face turned grey.
How could this be?
This shameless scumbag had the same mentor as her?
"Hey, you too? Does it mean we have the same mentor?" Yu Lang peered over and was surprised.
She threw one of them back to him, stomping over to a rock and sitting down.
She was seized with a sudden urge to change mentors.
Yu Lang carefully stowed his own and then sidled up to her with a grin. "Friend Bai Doudou, I hear each Violet Vibrance mentor only takes three students. We'll be companions in the future. Please take good care of me.
"As for my character, I think you already have some understanding of it. I'm the kind of guy who would stick knives in my armpits for a friend. We might have had some misunderstandings in the past, but it's okay. We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other.
"But I'm thinking that after you get to know me, is there just the teeniest, tiniest possibility that you could, you know... introduce me… to Bai Mengmeng....?"
She kneaded her temples. "One more word and I might just kill you," she said softly.
Yu Lang fell silent, sitting down ruefully at the side. He pulled out his violet talisman, rubbing it and examining it, his face still pleased as could be.
She let her head fall into her hands and groaned inwardly. This mouthy, shameless bastard? One of her companions?
Blasphemy.