Chapter 0591: Mixed-level Compet.i.tion Ends
"1.2 million points?!" It was lucky Li Luo was already lying down, because his knees went weak for a moment. They had left the second placed Lan Lan squad far in the dust.
"We only had, like, 700,000 or so when we entered Russet Rock City," Li Luo blurted out.
"Not surprising. Since I got the kill on the Bloodtailed Other, that bounty came to us. Then 500,000 points for clearing Russet Rock City, split between all the squads as it should be." Li Luo nodded slowly. The 500,000 points for clearing Russet Rock City had to be split between multiple squads, which meant maybe 100,000 points or so for them. Which meant the majority must have come from the Bloodtailed Other.
Although the other squad leaders had to be credited for injuring the Bloodtailed Other, the final hit belonged to them. Besides, they had also brought down the even more fearsome crimson knight-general between the two of them.
"Seems like we're winning this, then," Li Luo said happily. The heavy burden that Princ.i.p.al Pang had laid upon him could finally be lifted. He could already smell the second half to the Heavenly Libation Chant.
Besides, the champion of the Holy Grail Meet would be heavily rewarded by the Academic Federation as well.
The prospect of riches in his future flooded him with ecstasy. The mixed-level compet.i.tion had been tough as h.e.l.l, and the danger they had faced in the form of these Others seemed somehow unreasonable for what should have been an inter-school compet.i.tion.
"The Astral Sage College only won because of you," Jiang Qing'e said, smiling fondly down at Li Luo. "Are you sure you don't want to announce your achievements? Maybe the First Princess will take a liking to you and give you a little something extra."
"I have no interest in her extras," Li Luo said piously. "The First Princess might be a G.o.ddess to others, but I have a different religion. I wors.h.i.+p a plump swan that resides in House Luolan."
Jiang Qing'e had no interest in engaging in his rubbish. "The rest are waking up," she said simply.
Li Luo turned to see auras of resonant power starting to form around Lan Lan, the First Princess, Gong Shenjun, and the others, which was a sign that they were regaining consciousness.
After the crimson knight-general had been killed, the illusion on them had faded as well.
All of them were awake a few minutes later, and they were looking around them in wonder.
They were amazed to see no trace of the crimson knight-general.
"No need to look, everyone. The crimson knight-general has been finished off," Jiang Qing'e said.
"Finished off?!" They all stared at her in disbelief.
Jiang Qing'e merely pointed to the corpse by the wall.
They all stared at it in disbelief.
The crimson knight-general had been killed?!
How was that possible?!
He had merged with the Bloodtailed Other and reached the Greater Heavenly Resonance Stage in power. Their combined efforts could not take him down. Who had defeated him?
Qin Yue frowned with uncertainty. "Er, am I still in an illusion?"
Lan Lan shook his head. "The illusion is shattered. The crimson knight-general before us is real. That resonant power trace is unfalsifiable."
Zhao Beili pinched himself. "Dead? How?"
The First Princess looked to Jiang Qing'e, who had awakened before all of them. "Qing'e, did you do this?"
The other squad leaders fell silent. Jiang Qing'e might be a ninth-grade light resonance user, but she was only a Fiend Finisher cultivator. Even with her superb skills that put her on par with a Heavenly Pearl Stage cultivator, the crimson knight-general was at the Greater Heavenly Resonance Stage!
The strongest possible existence below a Duke.
Surely not even a ninth-grade light resonance could cross two stages in strength?
"Open your spirit mirrors and take a look," Jiang Qing'e said. It was the simplest way to convince them.
They looked at the points, and their eyes went round.
"1.2 million points?!"
"Qing'e, you're the best!" the First Princess shouted in joy. Her face was lit up in pleasure and she ran up to hug Jiang Qing'e exuberantly.
Jiang Qing'e was not used to such unrestrained physical affection, but she did not resist, instead patting the other girl awkwardly on the back.
Li Luo was enjoying the extremely s.e.xy view. The others looked around at each other numbly. The facts spoke for themselves. There was only one way that the First Princess' squad could have reached such a score—they had to have killed off the crimson knight-general.
And since the First Princess had been in the illusion with them, she could not have been the one.
Which only left one possibility in the squad.
Perhaps Jiang Qing'e had pulled out some amazing trump card to turn the battle.
Slowly, they came to terms with the fantastic turn of events, each coming up with their own explanations in their heads. In any case, they had to thank Jiang Qing'e for killing the crimson knight-general and saving all of their lives.
"Junior Jiang is truly amazing. A ninth-grade light resonance lives up to its legendary reputation and more," Lan Lan said with an envious sigh.
The only one who did not look too happy was Gong Shenjun. This was not the conclusion that he had expected.
His mission had been to deny the Astral Sage College the win and the Dragon Bone Holy Grail, but he had thoroughly failed. Both the Bloodtailed Other and the crimson knight-general had fallen, and the First Princess' squad had won first place far beyond all of the other squads.
There was no way for anyone else to catch up now.
But he was very suspicious. How in the world had Jiang Qing'e pulled it off? How could she have posed such a threat to the Greater Heavenly Resonance crimson knight-general?
Had the two house lords of House Luolan left something to her?
Forcing a smile, he hastened forward with the others to offer his congratulations.
Even though his mission had failed, he could not afford to blow his cover. If the school was angered, his father would be even more troubled than he was sure to be.
The other non-Four Star Hall students were starting to come around as well, and they started to flock over too.
When they heard that the crimson knight-general had been killed by Jiang Qing'e, another round of surprise broke out.
Lu Ming was surprised as well, but she edged in close to Li Luo. "The crimson knight-general's death," she said softly, "are you sure it had nothing to do with you?"
Li Luo felt a nervous jolt run through his spine, but he kept a cool front. "What are you talking about? A Resonant Master like me? The crimson knight-general could stand there with his pants down, and I couldn't make a dent in his b.u.t.tcheek."
Lu Ming harrumphed, not thrown off by his disgusting description. "I still think it had something to do with you."
Li Luo winced. Was this what they called a woman's intuition? It was completely illogical.
"Everyone, the crimson knight-general and the Bloodtailed Other are both dead. The mixed-level compet.i.tion must be over, so we should leave," Lan Lan announced to them.
They all nodded. This place was too dangerous, and none of them wanted to stay in the Red Clay Province a moment longer than they had to.
"Finally, we can go back. The school administration is really unreasonable, to get us to do such a dangerous mission," the students grumbled.
"Yeah, they'd better give us lots of compensation to keep us happy."
"Do they know how much we've suffered?"
Amidst the complaints, they all pulled out their spirit mirrors and snapped them.
The sky was soon filled with light columns, transporting them out.
When each column disappeared, the person within it disappeared as well.
Soon, Russet Rock City was empty again, and it would stay that way for a while.
Only when the neighboring powers gathered their strength together and came in would the area be properly revitalized again.