Now that she had impressed the gravity of the situation on all of them, Vice Principal Su Xin returned to her usual, soft, and kindly manner.
“And there’s one more thing to talk about: the format to choose the ultimate winner.
“After the first hall-level battle, there will be four victors—the four strongest students. They will each be awarded a golden resonant tree brooch…” She summoned the image of one to show them a small, gold badge about half the size of her palm. The image of a tree was carved on the flat, shiny gold, its majestic canopy stretching to the ends of the accessory.
“The number of golden resonant tree brooches determines the ultimate winner. And I might be a little arrogant,” she said, smiling at Jiang Qing’e, “but I daresay one of those brooches is already in our hands.”
No one disagreed. Even the other schools had marked her down as the top contender.
“However, the first hall-level competition only provides some advantages. The decider is the second half, the mixed-level competition.
“In the mixed-level competition, each school forms three-student squads, and all three must be from different Halls. For example, 4-3-2, or 4-3-1.”
The students listened intently.
This was very interesting indeed… Li Luo glanced over at Jiang Qing’e, and found her looking back at him. They both smiled briefly.
Alright, locked in. No matter who the third person was, he was tagging along with Jiang Qing’e.
No—Li Luo was no longer the same kid he was back in the Umbra Cave. He was much stronger now, much more useful… Perhaps even more useful than the deadweights in the Two Star Hall.
“The squad that wins the mixed-level competition gets three golden resonant tree brooches, which makes it even more important than the first competition. Usually, no school wins three strongest student titles, which means that whoever wins the mixed-level competition takes the victory and brings home the Dragon Bone Holy Grail.”
Li Luo bit his tongue. Three strongest students? That difficulty level was out of this world. Besides, if one school won three strongest students, they could just form the ultimate team with those three students and steamroll the second round anyway.
Probably no school had managed that feat in the history of the East Divine Continent.
They only dared to aim for the Three Star Hall title because they had a ninth-grade light resonance monster that came once in a lifetime. Which school would have three lifetimes-worth of karma aligned at the same time? Not realistic.
“Golden resonant tree brooches are very special treasured artifacts. They are made specially by the Academic Federation. One of their properties is the ability to act as mini trees of resonant power, allowing them to continuously refine your resonance grade. In other words, it’s as if you are constantly consuming spirit liquids and purifying lights at every minute. Of course, the effect is not as strong, but it will save you a huge expense in the long term.”
You could almost see skygold raining down in every student’s imagination. Even the richest of them—Gong Shenjun and the First Princess—were interested. This was some real value indeed.
Of course, the one most moved by this statement by far was Li Luo. His breathing was ragged with excitement. If there was ever a spirit liquid drinking competition, he would make the leaderboard. He would beat all of the other competitors’ total volume combined. He was the ultimate spirit liquids and purifying lights black hole that vacuumed up money, along with any happiness and hope in Cai Wei’s life. Plus, he had many resonances. That treasured artifact would have an incredible effect on him.
To him, this was even more attractive than a violet-eye treasured artifact.
He licked his lips. Target acquired. Ignore the mixed-level competition for now. One step at a time. He had to win the hall-level competition for sure.
Plus, the mixed-level competition would be messy, as there would be too many variables to plan for properly. Plus, he was only a small mouse among giants there. With Jiang Qing’e and other Four Star Hall students around, it was naive to think that a puny Resonant Master like him would change anything drastically. Which was why if he wanted a golden resonant tree brooch, the hall-level competition was the time and place to get it.
“Oh, and if someone gets two golden resonant tree brooches, they can request for it to be merged into a violet resonant tree brooch. I trust you are all familiar with the difference between gold and violet…
“Violet resonant tree brooches are much stronger than their golden counterparts, and with it will come unimaginable glory. Few get golden resonant tree brooches, but the number of violet resonant tree brooches is even lower.” Su Xin seemed to be directing her words to Jiang Qing’e. As one of the top seeds, she had a shot at one.
It was hard to say for the mixed-level competition, but at least things seemed more or less guaranteed for the hall-level competition.
Jiang Qing’e just nodded neutrally. In truth, a resonance-improving treasured artifact might be useful for others, but she was already a ninth-grade. The limit was there.
On the other side, Li Luo was staring at the sky. He could not afford to let his jaw point downwards, or his saliva would brim over.
He shook his head at the sky.
“Vice Principal Su Xin, you tease. You devil. You… tease.
“You sure know how to turn a decent, little boy bad.
“I’m so bad, and the only cure is a violet resonant tree brooch.”
