Chapter 1095: Teaming Up
In the end, the news of the Mobilization Order spread like lightning across the whole Heavenly Origin Ancient College. It also reached the ears of the sage colleges who had just finished the academic evaluation and hadn't left the place in time. As expected, it caused a huge commotion.
The students from the Heavenly Origin Ancient College were nervous to receive such a sudden and urgent mission. The squads from the sage colleges were in confusion and chaos.
They had come here for a competition. How had it turned into a mission?
The college was mobilizing the Heavenly Star Hall as well. With that in mind, were the squads from the sage colleges up to task? Weren't they just being asked to be cannon fodder for the mission? With such rampant thoughts in their minds, many students from the sage colleges protested as expected. The mentors leading them were scratching their head at this situation too. They went around frantically looking for the higher executives in the ancient college, trying to figure out if there was an error in the message.
Unfortunately, the reply they got back was that the message was right. The Heavenly Origin Ancient College had issued a Mobilization Order. According to the rules of the Academic Federation, the lower tier sage colleges were not allowed to turn down a Mobilization Order from the ancient colleges. Otherwise, they would not be allocated any more resources in the future and might even lose their sage status.
As a result, the students from the various sage colleges burst into cries like the wailing of vengeful ghosts. Thankfully, the news of the Spiritual Tree Tide came swiftly as well. This appeased many of them as it was a privilege that was unique to the students from ancient college. It was hard for them to resist its temptation.
The Heavenly Origin Ancient College continued to strike while the iron was hot. It promised many other benefits to the sage college students in order to keep them satisfied.
High-grade spirit liquids and purifying lights, Duke Arts, violet-eye treasured artifacts from one to three marks, rare cultivation resources... These were all precious treasures that the sage college students, especially those from the outer divine continent, could barely imagine. In the end, the voices of protest from the sage colleges died down.
Although the mission was dangerous, it was also a precious opportunity for the students. Under normal circumstances, they would have no chance of tagging along on a mission with the ancient college.
As their hearts gradually accepted the mission, the squads from the sage colleges began to get busy again. They were running all over the ancient college, trying to find the best partners to team up with. Ideally, it would be a senior from the Heavenly Star Hall so that their chances of survival could be maximized.
As such, the various sage colleges tried to use whatever connections they had to arrange for stronger leaders for their students.
......
"Li Luo, we're here to join up with you!"
When Li Luo opened the door, he heard Lu Ming's voice. He could not help but laugh out loud.
There were six people standing in front of his door. The three at the front were Lu Ming, Jing Taixu, and Sun Dasheng. Behind them were the seniors from the Four Star Halls of their own colleges.
They were all looking at Li Luo with warm and friendly smiles.
Li Luo said with a grin on his face, "Are you guys also planning to participate in the mission?"
"Won't we be labeled as deserters if we don't?" Lu Ming replied eagerly without much fear. "When there is risk, there is opportunity. With such generous rewards offered by the Heavenly Origin Ancient College, who wouldn't want to give it a try?"
"It's not as if we've never fought Others," Sun Dasheng added.
Li Luo nodded. "But shouldn't you all pull some strings first and see if you can tag along with a squad led by a Heavenly Star Hall student from the ancient college?"
Lu Ming shrugged her shoulders with a look of helplessness on her cute face. "We're from the outer divine continent. Why would any of them even consider us? We'd just be asking to be embarrassed if we had gone over. It's much better to come here and look for you."
Jing Taixu added calmly, "If you're willing to accept us, we'll follow your orders in everything. After all, you'll need to form a team too. Isn't it better to team up with those that you can trust? We may not be as strong as the squads from the inner divine continent, but I believe we're more trustworthy than them. n a fight against the Others, trust in your comrades can be more important than strength."
Li Luo took a look at them and replied jokingly, "Are you sure you want me as the leader? With your personality?"
The two of them were rivals once. As such, Li Luo knew that Jing Taixu had a lot of pride.
Jing Taixu's face became a little gloomy. He was indeed pretty arrogant in their first meeting. However, his experiences in the Heavenly Origin Ancient College had really put him in place.
Li Luo did not disturb him any further. He took a look at the three students from the Four Star Hall and said, "Seniors, are you okay with this too?"
Amongst the three of them, Deng Zhu and Lu Jinci were familiar faces. He had met Deng Zhu during the academic evaluation, and Lu Jinci happened to be the opponent of Jiang Qing'e during the previous Holy Grail Meet.
A smile appeared on the round and friendly face of Deng Zhu as he replied, "You're too kind, Brother Luo. We may be one hall above you, but everything should ultimately be decided based on true strength. We've been convinced by your performance in the academic evaluation. If we were to team up with you, it'd only be natural for us to follow your orders!"
The seniors of Lu Jinci and Sun Dasheng nodded in agreement.
It seemed like they had all agreed on it before they had come over. If they were able to team up with Li Luo for this mission, they would all follow his lead.
Even though he was younger, if they encountered Others... they wouldn't go easy just because of their ages.
Everything would be determined by their strength. Looking at their attitude, Li Luo could not find any reason to say no. What Jing Taixu had mentioned was correct as well—if he really had to look for a team, it'd be better to form one with trusted comrades.
In the Holy Grail Meet, Li Luo had fought against all three of them and knew their temperaments well. As a result, there was already a certain level of trust between them.
As such, Li Luo thought about it for a while and did not refuse their proposal. He answered with a grin, "Since I am all alone now, it will save me a lot of trouble if you are willing to group up with me. In line with the team requirements set by the school, I will also pull some strings tomorrow and see if we can find a strong teammate from the Heavenly Star Hall. This will boost our team's strength considerably.”
When they heard this, Lu Ming and the others were overjoyed. Li Luo's reputation was different from theirs. If he was willing to speak up, the people from the Heavenly Star Hall might be willing to listen to him!
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Just as they were rejoicing, a loud bell suddenly rang three times.
"Eh? Three bell rings? Does this mean someone from the Heavenly Star Hall has returned?" Lu Ming and the rest looked at each other in surprise as their conversation got interrupted by the bells.
They had already heard such bells numerous times today. It was said that this was a tradition of ancient college. Every time one of the top ten students from the Heavenly Star Hall returned, the bells would ring to welcome them.
There wasn't much meaning to it; it was simply for face. However, this was enough to motivate the Heavenly Star Hall students, making them fight each other fiercely just to earn a spot in the top ten and receive this special treatment.
Clearly, the school's elders had a good grasp of these young students.
"Three bell rings. This is the greeting that belongs to the top student of the Heavenly Star Hall!" Lu Ming exclaimed in shock.
"Oh? The top student?" Li Luo was surprised to hear this. He looked up into the sky and saw a golden flying leaf passing by, leaving behind a long wave of clouds and attracting the admiration of everyone.
"What's his name?" Li Luo could faintly make out a strong figure with a domineering aura on the golden leaf.
Lu Ming thought about it for a moment.
"I think his name is Wu Changkong."