Absolute Resonance

releasing a whole cloud of green mist.

He was an incredibly impressive sight.
His entire body thrummed with power, and the tiger-shadow of burnished gold layered over him was intimidating, to say the least.

Now he was at the Evolving Resonance tier, his Snarling Golden Demon Tiger resonance was starting to reach a new dimension of strength.

Lu Qing'er immediately spotted Li Luo's arrival, and hurried towards him with a smile.
“Stuck at level 36?”

“You even know that?” Li Luo blurted out.

Lu Qing'er waved it away.
“We're near our own limits, so we know all too well what you must be facing.
We had to fight level 35 a few times before we could pass it.
I guess we won't be able to beat 36 by ourselves as well.
If you didn't come to find us, I would probably have gone to find you to talk about the exact same thing.”

Li Luo nodded, then explained the enemy line-up of level 36.

“Four Second Changing advanced absinthe puppets…” Lu Qing'er was stunned.
That was indeed much stronger than the level 35 lineup.
It was going to be difficult for one squad to beat it alone.

“I wonder if we could work together.
Both of us could get rewards otherwise unattainable,” Li Luo offered brightly.

Lu Qing'er cocked her head at him, then suddenly smiled.
“Sure, I've no objections.”

She looked over at where Qin Zhulu was sitting with his eyes closed, absorbing absinthe energy.
“Don't worry, I make the decisions in this squad.”

Li Luo grinned and nodded.

She hesitated for a moment.
“Are…
you alright? You're not affected by the whispers going around school, are you?” Of course, she was referring to Li Luo's slump over the last two weeks.

“Don't worry, I expected as much.
Evolving Resonance tier…
that wall won't hold me forever,” Li Luo reassured her with a smile.

She was relieved to see him in good spirits, and pumped her fist.

“Go, Li Luo! You can do it!”

…

The alliance between Li Luo's and Qin Zhulu's squads to take on level 36 had been well noted by the other three Violet Vibrance squads.
They had to respond accordingly as well – a different approach was going to be needed once the going got too difficult.

After some consideration, Bai Doudou's squad went looking for Wang Hejiu's squad.
After all, they were the next strongest squad available.

To their amazement, Wang Hejiu's squad rejected the offer to cooperate.

Bai Doudou was a proud personality as well.
From the first word “No”, she was already stalking off angrily.

“Why did you reject Bai Doudou?” Duze Beixuan asked Wang Hejiu doubtfully, watching her go.

Wang Hejiu smiled thinly.
“Bai Doudou's squad does not meet my requirements.
Even if we work with them, we can't catch up to Li Luo and Qin Zhulu.”

“You can't be thinking of Yi Lisha, surely? They're even weaker!” Duze Beixuan frowned. 

Wang Hejiu smiled smugly.
“Don't you think there're other better choices?”

“Nonsense,” Duze Beixuan said irritatedly.
“There are only five of us One Star Hall Violet Vibrance teams…” His voice trailed off in realization, then looked up at the platforms far ahead.
“You…
want us to work with Two Star Hall Violet Vibrance squads?!” “The other One Star Hall squads are going to call us freeloaders!”

“Words,” Wang Hejiu said coldly, “are just words.” “As long as we can find a Two Star Hall Violet Vibrance squad willing to cooperate, we might even break level 40.
We could make history in the One Star Hall records.
Or do you want to see Li Luo get the majority of the absinthe energy day after day? I'm not going to play second fiddle to that guy!” Those words stiffened the back of Duze Beixuan, and he fell silent.