Absolute Resonance

No one felt that more strongly than Ye Qiuding.

He considered himself better than Li Luo in every regard, except status at birth.
He felt that he could compete with Li Luo…
and now found himself a laughing stock.

“Let's go.
Since you invited us, we will definitely fulfill the task to your satisfaction,” Ye Qiuding vowed.
Squashing his jealousy back down, he stood up.

Wang Hejiu smiled and nodded.
Ye Qiuding's anger was so strong he could smell it.
He would use it, harness it to his advantage.
Both of them wanted the same thing, united in their enmity against him.
That was part of the reason why he had turned to Ye Qiuding's squad as well.
Zhu Xuan's squad was stronger, but they were busy with an even higher level, and had no time to come down to help.

The two squads made their preparations, then began level 39, an intense fight against the absinthe puppets.

Battle raged back and forth.

Both Li Luo's alliance and Wang Hejiu's alliance beat level 39 almost at the same time.

The remaining absinthe energy for the day was drained clean.

Still, everyone knew that level 39 was just the appetizer.
Tomorrow's level 40 was everything.

Whoever passed it first would get the majority of the absinthe energy available.

Bai Doudou's and Yi Lisha's squad gave up on the push.
They knew that they would have no chance to compete against Li Luo and Wang Hejiu, and were now taking the last day easy.

The last day of special training arrived in due time.

When Li Luo and the others reached the Tree of Resonant Power, they found a large crowd of One Star Hall students there.

“Li Luo, Qin Zhulu, do your best! Beat the traitor Wang Hejiu!”

“Wang Hejiu, vile dog! I can't believe you went crawling to Two Star Hall!”

“One Star Hall betrayer!”

“…”

The insults from his peers made Li Luo grin.
He snuck a look at Wang Hejiu's squad.
They were looking embarrassed as hell.

Wang Hejiu met his gaze.
“Li Luo, is this your doing?” he demanded.

Li Luo shook his head.
“Nothing to do with me.
But I would like to formally state my commendation to whoever did it.”

“I care not at all about reputation,” Wang Hejiu said coldly.
“As long as we beat level 40 first today, we would have made history.
I might even reach the Evolving Resonance tier myself.
Who cares about a little chatter in that case?”

“Ah, but what if you're chatted about, and also denied the benefits?” Li Luo laughed.

Wang Hejiu gave him a chilly stare, then turned away.

Li Luo watched him go as he rubbed his own chin.
He beckoned to Yu Lang, who was lurking around behind him.

“A familiar modus operandi,” Li Luo said to his friend, who was grinning ear to ear.
“Your work?” 

Yu Lang waved it away modestly.
“Since he dares to do it, I thought I'd help him get the word out.
He might say that he doesn't care about it, but it sure does satisfy me enormously.”

Li Luo gave him an approving shake on the shoulder.

Amidst the cheers, Li Luo's alliance walked into Angelwood Hollow like heroes.

No judgment, no booing.
It was a heartening feeling.

The two squads prepared themselves to take on level 40 on the final day of special training.