The Hall-level competition was in full swing.
A full week passed in the blink of an eye.
All sorts of fights had broken out throughout this period. Each time an anima cumulonimbus was discovered, it attracted plenty of schools.
The nonstop fighting was starting to wear the students down, and this was where the stronger ones were starting to pull ahead. The students began to get a sense of who was truly strong too.
Foremost in many of their minds was the Astral Sage College’s dual resonance user, Li Luo.
Those optimistic of his chances even grouped him up with the top three favorites.
The man himself did not care though. Li Luo couldn’t care less about being in the top four. He was here to be number one.
His reason was simple: he wanted the Golden Resonant Tree Brooch.
Of course, he had the mission from Qing’e as well.
Spank Jing Taixu, that naughty boy.
This concerned the honor of the young lord of House Luolan.
Li Luo’s team had not been slacking off. They had found a total of four small anima cumulonimbuses and one medium. They now had successfully filled an anima gourd with 99 drops of anima dew.
Which meant that the Astral Sage College could now send one person to Dragonbone Island.
This was not enough at all—Li Luo was aiming to send at least three or four people.
He was the commander after all. He couldn’t very well just send himself over and ditch the rest. Besides, the more friends they had in Dragonbone Island, the easier a time he would have. The Hall-level competition was about having a team, and he would be much happier with Qin Zhulu and Bai Doudou by his side.
However, that was easier said than done. They had spent a full week just to get their first batch of 99 drops. At this rate, they would need a full month just to get three or four people’s share.
The Hall-level competition would not last that long.
This method was setting too slow a pace for his taste.
He wanted to fly ahead. And only a large anima cumulonimbus could give him wings.
Unfortunately, large anima cumulonimbuses were notoriously hard to find; Li Luo and the others had not even heard of any discoveries in the last week. But Li Luo was not worried. He knew that as the competition moved on, large anima cumulonimbuses would definitely appear.
As he predicted, they received some rousing news on the ninth day.
…
“An anima storm has finally appeared?”
Li Luo thought to himself when he noted the pace that Yu Lang was running pell-mell towards him with. When he delivered the news to confirm Li Luo’s suspicions, the rest of the group sprang to their feet in surprise, joy and excitement in their eyes.
An anima storm was not just a single anima cumulonimbus, but instead an entire region that had many anima cumulonimbuses.
There would definitely be large anima cumulonimbus within an anima storm, and perhaps not just one.
Anima storms usually appeared deep in the competition terrain. This was the Academic Federation’s way of announcing to the students that they were reaching Dragonbone Island.
It would bring a rousing finale to the first half of the Hall-level competition.
All schools that heard the news would definitely converge on the anima storm’s location at full speed.
This was the news that Li Luo had been waiting for. Of course, every single school had been waiting for such news.
If he wanted to send more people to Dragonbone Island, the anima storm was his only chance.
Yu Lang nodded. “We met another school ahead and exchanged information. It probably checks out, because such information travels very quickly. And the anima storm will cause a huge commotion that cannot be concealed.”
“According to the directions they gave, it’s not too far from us—about a day’s journey.”
The Astral Sage students were very happy to hear that.
“Finally, our meal ticket’s arrived,” Li Luo said, rubbing his hands in glee.
Compared to the anima storm, the medium anima cumulonimbus was like a tiny appetizer at best.
“But I hear that anima storms are very special. I wonder what the challenge mechanic will be for this iteration,” Bai Doudou wondered aloud.
Li Luo shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
“All rested, you all? Let’s go, then.”
The others nodded and then they packed up their scant supplies and headed towards the location at full speed.
Along the way, they spotted many other schools headed in the same direction. Both sides ignored each other, intent on reaching the anima storm as soon as possible.
Perhaps because of the rule that anima dew could not be stolen the moment it was secured in the anima gourd, the schools were quite friendly with each other outside of battle around the anima cumulonimbuses, and there was not much reason to be on guard. After all, no one would want to fight a battle over no rewards.
This was a refreshing change of pace from the competitions up to now.
Or even reality itself.
However, ever since the Astral Sage College had staked its claim in the early days of the Hall-level competition, their reputation had spread like wildfire. This was especially so for their commander, Li Luo. Many teams watched them curiously along the way.
And at the same time, they kept a safe distance.
Their journey was smooth and unhindered, which meant that they arrived at the anima storm’s general location the following morning.
It was an extremely vast lake, perhaps the size of a small sea. All across it were islands scattered like pieces on a chessboard. The schools that had already arrived had staked their flags on the islands, and various designs were waving gaily in the morning breeze.
The loud bustle of people had the atmosphere of some sort of water festival instead of a fighting competition.
Still more teams were arriving, and they each took up position on a small island.
Li Luo looked out towards the middle of the lake. It was presently covered in deep fog, but there seemed to be buildings of some sort within them. It was from that vicinity that worldly natural energy seemed to be rippling outwards across the lake.
There were four especially large palaces in the middle, where the energy accumulation was colossal. Li Luo guessed that they were large anima cumulonimbuses.
He had to wipe his mouth to check for drool. The greed in his eyes was unmistakable.
They were in an anima famine, and now there were four large anima cumulonimbuses…
The largest cake there was to eat in the Hall-level competition.
If he could take a large bite, all of his dreams would come true.
