At the foot of Whitespirit Mountain, the atmosphere was as volatile as a cauldron of bubbling oil.
"What am I seeing? That's Young Lord Li Luo of House Luolan, right? He's going to fight Shi Huang and Song Yunfeng alone?!"
"Unbelievable! That Li Luo's not even in the top 10 candidates, right? What's making him so plucky?"
"No idea, can't read him."
"But that boy looks so handsome. Maybe he has some real talent."
"Ehhh, all that glitters is not gold."
"You must be blind. That isn't gold, it's a brilliant diamond."
"...."
Cai Wei and Yan Lingqing sighed softly to themselves. "What is that young man up to now?"
It was quite a headache. Previously, Li Luo was a low-profile kind of guy. If others didn't bother him, he would prudently get on with his life. But now he had sprung up to challenge Shi Huang and Song Yunfeng. The gap was quite astounding.
"Can he really beat Shi Huang and Song Yunfeng?" Cai Wei asked doubtfully. She had always had confidence in Li Luo, but it was the enter-top-10 kind of confidence, whereas he was in deep now.
Yan Lingqing had no answer to that. She pinched an elegant brow. "I wouldn't know."
The storm cloud hanging over the two ladies was as though their own little brother was in a rebellious phase.
In the main tent.
The glum dean was watching too. Surprisingly, he did not feel surprised. Instead, a thrill ran through him.
This Li Luo...
Perhaps because he knew Li Luo's parents too well, looking at Li Luo step up put a lightness in his heart.
Logically, there was no way that Li Luo should be able to take on Shi Huang. But instinctively, a glimmer of hope seemed to present itself.
"The bravery of this Young Lord is quite commendable." Governor Shi laughed.
"Pity that he... isn't Jiang Qing'e." He shook his head.
The old dean turned a deaf ear to him. No point in getting into a fight now. Let the kids fight, and all would be clear.
He was busy staring at Li Luo's thin profile. He suddenly recalled the excitement he felt back when Li Taixuan and Tan Tailan had dropped Li Luo off at Southwind Academy.
Back then, Southwind Academy already had Jiang Qing'e. With the addition of Li Luo, Southwind Academy's reputation within the Xia Kingdom would only bloom.
But that excitement had died down quickly after Li Luo's blank palaces came to light. It was a bitter pill of disappointment for him to swallow.
But now...
"Li Taixuan, Tan Tailan, is your son a late-blooming miracle?"
...
With all eyes on him, Li Luo turned to face Shi Huang and Song Yunfeng. "How shall we play," he beamed.
"You're bluffing! I can deal with you alone!" Song Yunfeng jeered.
He had just started forward when he found Shi Huang's hand on his chest. Shi Huang smiled slightly. "Why go alone? Whether he's truly confident or faking, why even offer him a chance? We'll go together. Faster that way."
Song Yunfeng hesitated. "Looks like we're thinking too highly of him."
"I'm not afraid of thinking highly of him. I'm afraid that our plan goes awry," Shi Huang said coolly.
Seeing him so cautious, Song Yunfeng gave in with a resigned nod. The two brought their resonant powers to bear and shot it towards Li Luo.
"Nggh..."
Seeing their simultaneous attack, Li Luo was flustered as well. "Hey! Where's the cliche fight-the-lackey-first, boss later?"
"You're full of crap," Song Yunfeng scoffed, redoubling the intensity of his attack.
Li Luo had been on the verge of pulling out his shortswords to meet the enemy, but faced with one more than he had bargained for, he froze, instead turning tail and running away.
Shi Huang and Song Yunfeng naturally gave chase with all their strength, blasts of resonant power still flying out in pursuit.
Li Luo dodged adroitly.
"Li Luo, weren't you all cocky just now? You're just a chicken!" Song Yunfeng mocked.
Li Luo ignored him, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other as fast as he could. With a final burst of speed, he sprinted into an area with a build-up of broken walls.
Song Yunfeng and Shi Huang had their hands full just chasing him.
Swish, swish!
As they rounded the corner, lightballs greeted them. Strong explosions pierced their eyes with light, disorienting them.
But both were prepared. Shutting their eyes, they thrust their weapons in front of them, calling forth powerful gusts of power that swept away the buildings.
By the time they opened their eyes, Li Luo had vanished.
Shi Huang's face was black. He leaped up on a big boulder, scanning the horizon. He could see a faint shadow fleeing in the distance. Towards... where Lu Qing'er was fighting Xiang Liang and the others.
"Luring the tiger away from the cave? Sneaky devil!"
Shi Huang's eyes went flat. Li Luo was trying to pull them away from Lu Qing'er's fight and then turn back to help.
Help Lu Qing'er secure a swift victory, then face them together?
"He's going to help Lu Qing'er. I'll go stop him!"
Shi Huang shouted to Song Yunfeng. In a flash of lightning, he was gone, a silver streak charging after the fleeing shadow.
He opened his lightning resonant power to the maximum, and soon caught up to the faint shadow. Fashioning his electric power into a spear of lightning, he pinned the shadow to the wall.
It did not even make a sound. Instead, his spear flew on through it and embedded itself against a stone wall.
Shi Huang's face whitened. There was only a faint echo of power that held the shape of the shadow. But Li Luo was not here.
"Shit, it's a trap! This is the real bait! His target is Song Yunfeng!"
Shi Huang was furious. He had been played hard by Li Luo!
Li Luo had no intention of going to help Lu Qing'er. He wanted to separate the two and then take down Song Yunfeng.
But... How could that punk think he could take down Song Yunfeng so quickly?
Dismissing the thought, Shi Huang turned back as fast as he could.
Meanwhile, Song Yunfeng was also speeding across the tricky terrain, trying to catch up to Shi Huang.
But as he leaped over a broken brick wall, a bolt of blue resonant power came arcing his way.
The sudden attack left Song Yunfeng scrambling. And then he understood.
His expression was disdainful.
"You think I'm as soft as a rotten persimmon?
"Li Luo, I'm going to let you know how lucky you were in the last—"
While shouting, Song Yunfeng shook his silver spear, calling forth the depths of his power unreservedly. He sent forth his spear against the blue sword slash.
Dang!
The clash of metal.
When their resonant powers clashed, the resulting shock was enough to crumble the nearby walls, raising a dust cloud that slowly drifted down.
Song Yunfeng's expression only grew uglier as he threw forth his strongest attack with reckless abandon.
Peng!
Song Yunfeng was sent flying, crashing painfully into rubble.
"—draw?"
His voice cracked.