Absolute Resonance

Chapter 1075: Red and Black Lots

In the building by the lake, the commotion grew so loud that the roof almost collapsed from the sheer clamor.

Jing Taixu, Lu Ming, Sun Dasheng, and the others were all baffled. It was already shocking that the Astral Sage College was only sending one representative, but Li Luo had declared that he would unquestionably come out with a first-tier spot.

That was simply insane.

Sun Dasheng frowned and said, "Has Li Luo gone crazy from shock or something?"

Jing Taixu squinted and exclaimed, "I heard that something drastic happened in the Xia Kingdom. Maybe something happened to his family and he's gone mad."

"More like something happened to your family! Can you stop speaking ill of others?" Lu Ming scolded.

"If nothing happened, why's he doing something so crazy? If Jiang Qing'e were the one saying this, I could understand. However, he's just a Three Star Hall student. No matter how powerful he is, why did he say he's planning to take a first position? Does he have an greement with students at the Lesser Heavenly Resonance Tier?" Jing Taixu replied.

Lu Ming was speechless. Although Li Luo's performance back in the Holy Grail Meet was spectacular, it meant little in the academic evaluation. The crucial determinant of the evaluation was the titled students, not the Three Star Hall students like them.

So even though Li Luo was stronger than them, he was far from the level of the titled students.

Besides... he's the only one from the Astral Sage College.

That was the really crazy part.

Nonetheless, Lu Jinci chipped in from the side after he recovered from the initial shock. "If this Li Luo is the Li Luo that I've heard about, it may really be possible..."

"Senior Lu, what do you mean?" Jing Taixu asked with a frown. Lu Jinci's words had left them even more puzzled.

Meanwhile, Lu Jinci took out an exquisite-looking book from his pocket sphere. Three words were emblazoned on the cover: Heavenly Origin Records.

"The Heavenly Origin Records contain countless legends. It's a compilation of the records of the most spectacular individuals and treasures ever found. Within it, there's the Empyrean Chronicle. Only the most stunning and outstanding talents of the whole younger generation of the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent can leave their mark on it."

At this point, Lu Jinci flipped the book open and quickly turned over to the Empyrean Chronicle's index. He then flipped to the newest page and told them with a complex look on his face, "Take a look at this, guys."

Lu Jinci passed the book over to them. Jing Taixu grabbed it hastily and scanned the page. A moment lalter, his eyes started twitching like an earthquake had occurred.

He saw the information regarding Li Luo.

Each and every word had been engraved onto his eyes, and his gaze wavered. Li Luo's achievements were simply out of this world.

"How is that possible!?" Jing Taixu exclaimed in shock.

"Quick, let me see!" Lu Ming snatched the book and scanned the page. In the next instant, her charming face froze too.

The Heavenly Origin Records was passed around the crowd, and the atmosphere gradually quietened down.

"It must be someone with the same name! Isn't Li Luo from the Xia Kingdom? Why would he run off to the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent and join the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li?"

"It couldn't be Li Luo from the Xia Kingdom, right?" someone asked softly.

"Based on what's written here, Li Luo has already reached the three-pearl tier. How's that possible? You can hardly find such a student in the Three Star Hall of a sage college. Heck, you probably wouldn't even find one in the Three Star Hall of an ancient college, right?"

Jing Taixu had an uncertain expression on his face. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, "This is the Li Luo that we know. I know it because Li Taixuan's name is written on it."

At this point, the crowd finally recalled. The man that had started House Luolan from scratch was none other than Li Taixuan.

In other words, those spectacular achievements written on it had been attained by the Li Luo they knew.

"Th-this guy is too scary." Sun Dasheng seemed shellshocked.

They had all just broken through into the Fiend Finisher Tier, but Li Luo was already at the Heavenly Pearl Tier. He was on a completely different level now.

"When did he leave the Xia Kingdom and come to the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent?" Lu Ming muttered to herself.

Jing Taixu's eyes were a little gloomy. When they fought each other, Li Luo had barely managed to eke out a victory through a razor-thin margin. Now he was way ahead of him. This was a huge blow to his self-esteem.

Someone broke the silence and asked, "However, it'll be tough for him to get a first tier spot even as a three-pearl. How will he deal with the Illusory Seal Lesser Heavenly Resonance students?"

The crowd shook their heads after hearing him.

Lu Ming sighed as she said, "We'll know in three days' time, during the academic evaluation."

.....

In the small building, Mentor Chi Chan looked over at Li Luo helplessly.

"I heard that you're famous amongst all the sage colleges now. Everyone knows that you're representing Astral Sage College alone in the evaluation. Most importantly... the news that you're aiming for first tier has spread like wildfire. It must have been the work of the Heavenly Origin Ancient College."

Li Luo laughed it off. "It seems like Vice Principal Wu Yu is taking our gamble pretty seriously."

Mentor Chi Chan replied, "You're too ambitious. Just obtaining a second tier spot is good enough for me. After all, that's always been our placement in past evaluations."

Li Luo smiled and responded, "I'm just trying my best to help the school fight for a little more resources."

Mentor Chi Chan sighed lightly. She did not mean to scold Li Luo. It was just that news of his bet had spread, and Li Luo would surely become a common target during the evaluation.

"Don't feel too stressed over it. If you really can't do it, it's fine. I'm already prepared to return empty-handed," Mentor Chi Chan said.

Li Luo nodded with a grin. "Don't worry, Mentor. I'll do my best. By the way, what's the format of the academic evaluation?"

With the evaluation happening in three days' time, time was very tight. Li Luo had to gather as much information as he could before then.

Mentor Chi Chan shared whatever she knew candidly with him. "The academic evaluation has been going on for a number of years. The format has remained relatively similar. Before every match, there will be a drawing of lots. There are two kinds of lots, red and black.

"The red lot represents a battle between multiple colleges. This means that multiple teams from different colleges will participate in a battle at the same time. Everyone will be eliminated except for the two teams left standing in the end. As for the black lot, it represents a battle between two colleges. Each college will send out a team and the loser will be eliminated.

"Regardless of the color of the lot, the winning team will receive one star, which works like a point accumulation system. Moreover, every college has three opportunities that will be consumed upon a loss. In other words, you'll be eliminated once you've lost three times."

Li Luo was surprised to hear of the format. A battle between multiple colleges would be a complicated situation as many teams would participate at the same time. There would be many changing variables. On the other hand, a battle between two colleges would be more straightforward, solely depending on who was stronger.

If he had a choice, Li Luo would prefer a battle between two colleges. After all, he was the sole participant in his team. If he went into a battle royale, it would only just spell more trouble for him.

"Mentor, I'll cultivate behind closed doors for the next two days to prepare for the evaluation," Li Luo said as he stood up. He could not underestimate the strength of the titled students from the sage colleges, especially those at the Illusory Seal grade. He was clearly at a disadvantage against them.

As such, he needed to prepare himself.

"I've collected quite a bit of Cosmic Sword Intent, so it's about time I try to condense the third Dragon Fang Sword..."

A light flashed across Li Luo's eyes as he thought about it.

The Third Dragon Fang Sword. Which resonance should it be?