After working out the details with Zhao Kuo and the others, they split up. Li Luo walked back with Lu Qing’er and Yu Lang.
Li Luo was brought to a sudden stop at the foot of the stairs.
Four people were approaching, one of them a familiar face. Li Luo’s greatest rival in Tianshu, Shi Huang.
In the few months since, Shi Huang had lost much of his keenness. His face was haggard, and there was a sunken look about his eyes.
The other three with him were new faces to Li Luo. One among them walked like their leader. He had long, parted hair, which gave him an unkempt look exacerbated by his fierce, bushy eyebrows.
The coarse-looking youth smiled.
“Li Luo, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
Li Luo regarded him for a moment. “Shen Ya?”
Since he seemed to speak on their behalf, Li Luo assumed he was the Governor Squad’s leader.
Shen Ya nodded with a grin. “What an honor, Li Luo knows my name. I guess that means you know our plan too?”
“It’s good for kids to have ambition,” Li Luo told him earnestly.
“Thanks for your encouragement. We’ll do our best to take you down,” Shen Ya said with a lolling smile.
“Good luck. But you should know your own strength. It wouldn’t do to go hunting tigers and ending up mauled. That would be a joke.” Li Luo nodded to them and tthen left with Lu Qing’er and Yu Lang.
He did not speak a word to Shi Huang.
Losers warranted no attention.
Shi Huang sensed it. He stared hollowly after Li Luo.
“Forget it. He’s not the useless young lord he was back at Tianshu anymore.” Shen Ya shook him encouragingly by the shoulders. “He’s a dual resonance user, a genius who can even defeat Duze Beixuan.
“But if we can cause trouble for such a giant, it’s something to celebrate.”
Shen Ya led the three away to the door of a posh suite. They knocked and entered.
Within were Wang Hejiu and Duze Beixuan. “You’re here,” they said, looking up at the four.
“We just met Li Luo.” They sat down. “Riled him up good and proper.” Shen Ya grinned.
“We don’t need you,” Duze Beixuan said stiffly. “We can destroy Li Luo and the others in the ranking battles, barring accidents.”
Shen Ya chuckled. “Didn’t such an accident happen to you once already? Would it be so strange if another happened this time?”
Duze Beixuan’s eyes went flat.
“Shen Ya, do you think I would take the so-called strongest Gold Gleam squad seriously at all?”
Wang Hejiu quickly opened his fan between them. “Now, now. We can talk nicely. No need to get prickly.”
Shen Jinxiao snatched up a cup on the table and took a drink. “Of course, we’ll do our best to cause trouble for Li Luo. We’ve offended him already. What I want to know is: will we get our reward?”
He stared at the pair. “Next year, will Mentor Shen Jinxiao choose a new Violet Vibrance student from our group?”
“Mhm.
“And now,” Wang Hejiu smiled. “Never bring it up again. We will deny it anyway. Got it?”
Shen Ya glowered at him, but he finally nodded.
…
When Li Luo returned back to their tower, he went looking for Xin Fu and Bai Mengmeng to discuss the situation. Especially Xin Fu, whom he needed to dispatch to help Zhao Kuo and the others.
He might be the leader, but he had to respect his squad’s opinions as well.
“The Governor Squad is after us probably because Shi Huang and I have history. You guys are being implicated.”
Bai Mengmeng smiled as brightly as a flower. “Leader, we’re a team now,” she said encouragingly. “If they come and find trouble with you, they’re after all of us. You don’t need to feel sorry about it.”
Li Luo felt very comforted.
“Xin Fu? Regarding helping Zhao Kuo and the others?”
Xin Fu made an unenthusiastic grunt of assent.
Li Luo rolled his eyes. Time and again he was discouraged by the sheer absence of fighting spirit or opinion from the guy.
“Well then, we’re decided. Xin Fu will help Zhao Kuo and the others, Mengmeng and I will keep the Governor Squad busy.
“Also, I hear that the five Violet Vibrance squads will be dropped into separate locations in the battlefield, so there’s no need to fear outside interference in the early phases.”
“Leader, can the two of us hold out? I’ve heard of that Governor Squad also. They’re very strong. We can’t let a Gold Gleam squad lower our guard.
Li Luo rubbed his chin. “Of course we won’t. I’ll make preparations.”
Bai Mengmeng nodded. “Oh, today Mentor Chi Chan said that we have to register for the ranking battles, so we should give our team a name.”
“My sis called theirs the Wind Rider Squad. Qin Zhulu’s team is called the Clear Moon Squad, while Yi Lisha’s team is called the One Autumn Leaf Squad. Wang Hejiu’s is called the Golden Gate Squad…” [1]
One of the names puzzled him. Clear Moon? It didn’t take much brains to realize that the two girls had made the name. But their strongest fighter, the leader, Qin Zhulu? Was he not even allowed to put his name in?
What was going on in their team?
And Wang Hejiu. Could they lick boots any more passionately?
“Well, I’ve had an idea on my mind for a team name since a while back,” Li Luo said, fixing them with a bright, knowing smile.
They looked at him in surprise.
“From hereon, we’ll be called the Fairness & Justice Squad! Because our looks are super fair, and fairness is justice,” Li Luo said seriously.
It couldn’t get any lamer.
Xin Fu fought a spasm on his face, and he opened his mouth.
“Anyone who objects,” Li Luo continued, “has no confidence in their looks. That’s a sad, sad thing.”
Xin Fu swallowed his comments back down. He did not care about looks that much, though he didn’t think of himself as ugly.
Bai Mengmeng blinked innocently with her large, liquid eyes. “I think Leader’s name is very well thought out.”
“Mengmeng, your taste is impeccable,” he praised.
“Well, since no one objects, then I’ll have Mentor Chi Chan sign us up with that name tomorrow.”
Li Luo stood up and stretched out his hand. “Let’s celebrate the birth of a legendary squad. The future trembles because it knows we are coming.”
Bai Mengmeng obediently put her little hand on top of his.
Xin Fu indicated that it was too childish and lame for him.
Li Luo smiled at him in a fatherly way. “Mengmeng, Xin Fu looks very tired from cultivation. If he’s too tired, maybe you could make a few more meals for him so he doesn’t have to go all the way to the canteen.”
A hand quickly slapped down on top of the other two. Xin Fu forced a smile from under his hood.
“Leader, there’s no need to bother Mengmeng.”
Li Luo smiled back at him understandingly.
“That all depends whether you’re on board.”
1. TN: Clear Moon is Qingyue, taken from Lu Qing’er and Yin Yue. One Autumn Leaf is Yi Ye Qiu, which comes from Yi Lisha, Qian Ye, and Si Qiuying’s names. The “gold” in Golden Gate Squad is Jin, which comes from Shen Jinxiao’s name.
