Li Luo thought that Principal Pang was being a real wet blanket on their cheerful, little departure.

Still, he knew that the principal had not exaggerated. He had simply laid out the facts, facts that perhaps most of the students vaguely knew but would choose to ignore. Ugly, horrifying facts were seldom pursued voluntarily.

The tension hung heavy like a watery mist in the air, yet it was unaffected by the gentle breeze.

Within the mirror, Pang Qianyuan looked slowly around the crowd. "I did not wish to speak of these things at first. I know it will only increase the pressure on the competing students. But I had to say it, to ask you to fight with the future of the Astral Sage College on your shoulders.

"Do not think of it as a competition. Think of it as a cruel war."

Li Luo could smell urgency in the principal's message. Why? Had things in the Umbra Cave taken a turn for the worse? If they could not bring back the Dragon Bone Holy Grail, what would happen to the Astral Sage College in the future?

He sighed. None of this was in his control. All he could do was fight as hard as he could so that that question would not have to be answered. "I'll not drag this out any longer. I just have one last thing to ask—to beg of you..."

He lifted his eyes to the platform where Li Luo and the others stood.

His expression solemn, he bowed before them at the waist, head lowered.

"Please do your best to bring the Dragon Bone Holy Grail back. You will be the heroes of the school!

"Your names will be carved onto the plaques of the schools, remembered forever.

"Most importantly... I will thank you on behalf of all the student lives that you would have saved from a dark fate."

With that chilling yet exciting parting shot, his image faded away from the surface.

The courtyard was silent.

Everyone was absorbed in their thoughts.

Vice Principal Su Xin lifted her hand, and the mirror formed back into a crystal sphere that returned to her hand. She resigned herself to the fact that the principal was not one for lifting spirits.

He had always worked in a straightforward and dry manner. Stress he felt, and stress he would express, letting it ripple through the Astral Sage College student body.

Still, the student representatives were the cream of the crop. A little pressure should be bearable for them.

"I have just one last thing to say," Su Xin said.

She looked directly at Li Luo at the others.

"Chosen ones, triumph!"

She said it like a command and a plea, packed with enough emotion to bring tears to the eyes of the students.

"Triumph!"

"Triumph!"

The tip of her finger glowed, and the Tree of Resonant Power responded accordingly. A branch bent down and began to elongate, a snaking root that ran across the floor before arching back up again on itself.

In a short time, a door of wood was formed.

With a gentle creak, it swung open, light pouring out from within.

"You can enter the Holy Grail Meet grounds by going through here. Of course, I will be with you throughout." Vice Principal Su Xin gestured at the door with a smile. An entire frame of leaves spread out like a shimmering hedge around the door, each one the size of a large plate.

"Don't be afraid that your heroic actions will not be seen. These leaves will relay the action at the meet. Do your best, and know that the whole school is cheering you on from behind."

The thought gave the student representatives heart, and they smiled.

"If we're ready, let's go," she said simply, then she led the way through first. The light swallowed her up.

Next were the Four Star Hall students, led by Gong Shenjun and the First Princess.

The Three Star Hall students, led by Jiang Qing'e and Duze Honglian.

The Two Star Hall students, led by Zhu Xuan and Ye Qiuding.

Finally, the One Star Hall students, led by Li Luo and Qin Zhulu.

Right before he stepped through, Li Luo took one last look back, and the raw emotion he felt from the watching students blasted him like a heat wave. Their cheers rang loud in his ears.

"Principal, you're really one to lay on the pressure," he mumbled to himself as he stepped through.

...

While the representatives were departing.

In the deepest depths of the Umbra Cave.

The elements ran riot here, raw energy morphing freely between whatever forms were decreed to them in the lawless space. Fire raged against wind, forming a tornado of fire that melted into water, then rose again as a mountain of stone. Amidst the madness sat Pang Qianyuan, surrounded by an invisible barrier and untouched by all of it.

The space was further tainted with corruptive energy and maddening howls that wormed their way into one's brain. Not even a Duke could last long here.

Pang Qianyuan sat there as calmly as a hunter listening to the wolf pack's howls.

He cast his gaze deep into the void, where a crescent gash marked the liminal space between two worlds.

A vast river of darkness was in the gap, filled with unspeakable vileness, evil, and every sort of negativity that existed in the world.

It roiled and rolled, and then a shadow emerged from its depths.

An enormous, black fish, its every scale reflecting a tortured human face. Its flat, fishy eyes were the pale-white color of bleached bone, and they were fast on Pang Qianyuan.

"Pang Qianyuan, are those tiny beings your best shot at this?" it mocked him.

He looked at it expressionlessly, choosing not to engage. He knew that the Others picked away at the darkness in one's heart. After their long years of struggle, he already knew what a wily foe it was.

"The black river widens," it hissed at him. "You cannot stop it. When it brims over and out of the Umbra Cave, your school will fall. All that land will be food for us."

With a slap from its colossal tail, it raised a dark wave of water that crashed down emphatically.

It snickered softly, then sank back into the black river.

Pang Qianyuan watched it go, then sighed softly to himself.

In his mind was a single face, the youthful one of Li Luo.

The Astral Sage College's representatives were strong, stars of their respective generation that eclipsed many of those that had come before them. There was even Jiang Qing'e, the monster that was all but guaranteed the title of strongest Three Star Hall student. Yet the one he favored was Li Luo.

If his plan paid off, this would be the most brilliant chess move he had ever played.

His piece was no simple pawn, but the son of Li Taixuan and Tan Tailan.

Of the bloodline of Heavenly King Li.

“Don't let me down now.”