Chapter 0554: Mission Complete
The great battle on Thunderpeal Mountain had subsided some time ago.
Jiang Qing'e, the First Princess, Qin Yue, Zhao Beili, and the others were seated in a tired huddle, recovering as they waited for Li Luo and Lu Ming to emerge.
All of them were in good spirits, because each was clutching a silver Thunderpeal Fruit.
They were gifts from the Thunderpeal Tree after the battle had ended.
A gesture of goodwill, or perhaps an apology for its actions against them from before.
Of course, they had received them gratefully. The Thunderpeal Fruit was one of the reasons why all of them had come to Thunderpeal Mountain.
But after the last close shave with the seeds of corruption inside fake fruits, they were all a little apprehensive about these fruits. No one dared to refine theirs quickly, and everyone was looking to Jiang Qing'e instead.
"Junior Jiang, you have the ninth-grade light resonance. Any signs of corruption?" Qin Yue asked with a tentative smile.
Jiang Qing'e knew what he was asking. She placed her hand on a Thunderpeal Fruit and closed her eyes. After a moment, she shook her head. "These Thunderpeal Fruits should be fine."
They all heaved sighs of relief and smiled more widely, holding on to their fruits possessively.
Except Jiang Qing'e. Her eyes were fixed in the direction of the Thunderpeal Tree. “Why hasn't Li Luo come out yet? Has something happened?”
"Qing'e, no need to worry. Since the Thunderpeal Tree is responding well to us, Li Luo and Lu Ming should be alright as well. If something has happened to them, it must be a good thing," the First Princess said, trying to soothe the other girl's worries.
"We even got Thunderpeal Fruits. Li Luo was the MVP who broke the stalemate. I'm sure the Thunderpeal Tree is richly rewarding him at this moment."
The others overheard this remark as well, and their eyes lit up. They could not imagine what Li Luo and Lu Ming had pulled off to break through this situation for them.
Jiang Qing'e gave a small nod, and she was just about to speak when a flash of silver light appeared from the trunk of the Thunderpeal Tree, and two figures were left in its wake.
Li Luo and Lu Ming.
Everyone rushed over to them.
"Lu Ming, are you guys alright?" The Heavenly Inferno Sage College's Zhao Beili came over, all concerned.
Lu Ming nodded in response to her senior's question.
"Li Luo... you've grown stronger again?" the First Princess asked, looking closely. Indeed, his aura seemed to have made yet another breakthrough.
Li Luo nodded with a grin. "Some good luck helped me get to the Fourth Changing."
This was greeted by general amazement. Jing Taixu was the only One Star Hall student who had reached the Fourth Changing.
But now Li Luo had managed to catch up to him.
Which meant that Jing Taixu would lose soundly in a fight now.
Li Luo had truly made good of his opportunities here at Thunderpeal Mountain.
Jiang Qing'e was checking him from head to toe for injuries, and found nothing serious.
"What happened down there?" she asked. The others' ears perked up in interest as well.
Li Luo and Lu Ming looked at each other, then recounted their adventure without leaving much out.
"What? The black knight? The same one from Riverguard City was here at Thunderpeal Mountain too? And you killed him?! That's a Fiend Palace Tier expert!" The First Princess gasped in disbelief.
The others looked over at Li Luo as though he were some sort of monster, especially Ao Bai from the North Sea Sage College. He was at the quasi General Stage himself, not yet as strong as a true Fiend Palace Tier cultivator, and yet a Resonant Master like Li Luo had beaten one.
"I didn’t do the heavy lifting," Li Luo quickly explained. "The Thunderpeal Tree gave me a special lightning arrow that helped me defeat the black knight."
"Even so... it's a very impressive feat," Qin Yue said. Even with external help, it was likely still great work done on Li Luo's part. It would be foolish to believe otherwise.
And they all knew the difference in power between the Evolving Resonance Tier and the Fiend Palace Tier.
The First Princess was looking at Li Luo with wide eyes, and she laid a trembling hand on Jiang Qing'e's shoulder. "Qing'e, the dragon of House Luolan is growing in power by the day. I think he will soon overtake the phoenix."
Jiang Qing'e smiled, a happy and pure smile that made the other male students forget to breathe for a moment. They had not been so struck by her beauty before this.
Everyone could see that she was truly happy.
Was it because she was happy that her husband was growing to become her equal?
Li Luo coughed hastily. "Qing'e, Your Highness, can you guess the identity of the black knight?"
The two girls looked at each other in surprise. After a moment's thinking, they ventured a guess. "The man we met earlier, Huang Lou?"
"You even guessed that?" Li Luo was stunned.
"The tone of your voice gave it away," the First Princess said with a sly smile and a twinkle in her phoenix eyes. "It had to be someone surprising, and we only met one Earth Fiend individual since entering the Red Clay Province," she pointed out.
Jiang Qing'e nodded. "Still, very surprising. Wasn't he the protector of that village? Why would he help the attackers? He should know better than anyone that they were the cause of the situation that the village was in." Li Luo sighed and shook his head. He could not understand it either.
But Huang Lou was dead now, and there was no one to ask. "Oh, do you want a Thunderpeal Fruit? The Thunderpeal Tree gave us some. And you did the most work, so you should get the best rewards," Jiang Qing'e said casually, handing her Thunderpeal Fruit over to him.
"Hey, Jiang Qing'e!" the First Princess cried, waving her hands agitatedly. "You can be fond of this guy, but you can't spoil him rotten! The Thunderpeal Fruit is useful to you too!"
Qin Yue, Zhao Beili, and the others were taken aback by this level of coddling. Were these two that close?!
Li Luo pushed it back to her with an embarrassed smile. "Qing'e, I got stuff much better than a single fruit down there. You keep this."
She took it back without asking more.
"Oh, and there's the mission," Li Luo said, slapping his thigh. He turned around and knocked on the trunk of the Thunderpeal Tree.
There was a flash of light, and then three large cocoons rolled out from within, bundles that were tightly wrapped in leaves. The leaves fell away easily to reveal three unconscious people within.
"The missing team," Li Luo said. "They swallowed the corrupted Thunderpeal Fruits and ended up in a deadly sleep."
"Well, we can just send them out. As for the corruption problem, I'm sure the higher-ups in the Academic Federation can sort them out. It's none of our concern." The First Princess walked up and snapped the spirit mirrors of the team, and they were transported out in a column of light.
At the same time, Li Luo and the others pulled out their own spirit mirrors and checked the points.
Mission accomplished.
Li Luo was feeling quite satisfied. All in all, this Thunderpeal Mountain mission had ended in a fruitful and meaningful way.
Very fruitful. In more ways than one.