When Li Luo opened his eyes, he found himself on a hillside of ocher soil, surrounded by forest.

Swiveling his head around, he confirmed that Bai Mengmeng and Xin Fu were close by. Both quickly moved to his side once they had shaken off their disorientation.

Li Luo nodded to them, then he pulled out the crystal compass. He checked the light dots and noted that they had subtle differences in shade so one would know which team was which.

"Looks like we're all over the place," Xin Fu noted.

Li Luo nodded. "Well, we're spaced out, but the distance isn't actually too far. They should all be making their way over as fast as they can. Let's poke around this area to see if we can find any anima dew nearby."

"Hopefully we walk straight into an anima cumulonimbus," Bai Mengmeng said happily.

Li Luo snorted. “As if.”

Anima cumulonimbuses were not actually floating clouds, despite their name. They were regions dense with anima dew.

Anima cumulonimbuses often became major battlegrounds in the first half of the hall-level competition. Collecting all the anima dew in an anima cumulonimbus was a big deal, and much more efficient than going around collecting sparse droplets.

However, anima cumulonimbuses were not easy to find. Moreover, they were not easy to hold. Once discovered, they announced their presence with an ostentatious flash of rainbow light that would attract other schools over.

This was one of the mechanisms in the hall-level competition.

Anima cumulonimbuses were bonanzas of treasure that every school aimed for. Bai Mengmeng's dream that they would stumble on one was understandable, if a little unrealistic.

They combed the forest for an hour, and found nothing.

Hot, sticky, and bothered, they curbed their growing irritation at how elusive the anima dew was. It seemed like collecting 99 drops was not going to be easy at all. If they couldn't even get 99, did it mean that they wouldn't even be able send a single person to Dragonbone Island?

They pressed on.

Soon, Yi Lisha's squad showed up, joining their party.

Together they searched, and finally, a few hours after the start, they came to a lake in the middle of a long river that ran through a valley between two towering mountains. They spotted a drop of pale-gold liquid on a lotus leaf in the middle of the lake, glistening beautifully as the leaf spun slowly around in the current.

There was a mystical aura about it.

They recognized it immediately. This was the anima dew.

Li Luo darted forward and put their first drop of anima dew into the anima gourd. 

That was the easy part. The hard part was finding dew in the first place. This single, pathetic drop was all they had to show for several hours of hard work.

Li Luo stuffed the anima gourd away. "This isn't going to work," he said unhappily to Xin Fu, Yi Lisha, and the others. "We have to go find anima cumulonimbuses. Otherwise, we'll be here forever."

No risk, no reward.

Yi Lisha was still in his usual sandals, splashing back out through the water. "Choosing that approach means big battles," he pointed out amiably. "We won't have such a peaceful time anymore."

"It can't be helped. The hall-level competition is structured to eliminate people. It's hard to go against the meta and think we can reach the core region with full strength," Li Luo replied.

Yi Lisha nodded. He put his hands on his hips and took a relaxed stretch. "Well, you're the boss. We're yours to command," he said with an easy smile.

Beside Yi Lisha, Si Qiuying remained silent. She could hear the respect in her squad leader's voice... It was not because of Li Luo's status, but because of the sheer weight of his performance in the past year. Especially at the ticket match—Li Luo had wowed the entire class there. Even the other Violet Vibrance squad leaders like Yi Lisha had no more doubts about his strength. He was the undisputed king.

It was hard to imagine that this young lord from the Tianshu province had once strolled into school without a single eye on him. Yet now Li Luo was number one in the Astral Sage College's One Star Hall... this was as good as it got.

Si Qiuying no longer dared to offer her opinion. It was best to focus on the Holy Grail Meet for now.

Bai Mengmeng suddenly interrupted Li Luo and Yi Lisha. "Leader, there's a squad sending a distress signal!"

The two guys turned in alarm. It was best to bring and maintain numbers in the hall-level competition. If any squad was eliminated prematurely, it would be a great loss to their strength.

Three small dots had turned red and were blinking urgently on the crystal compass.

Distress signal.

With a jolt of surprise, Li Luo realized that the squad was Qin Zhulu, Lu Qing'er, and Yin Yue!

"Looks like Qin Zhulu's in trouble." Yi Lisha had reached the same conclusion himself. Qin Zhulu was pretty strong even against this level of competition. If he was in trouble, then it was some real trouble indeed. Or was he being ganked?

"Let's go!"

Li Luo shouted to them. Turning, he led the way, resonant power propelling him swiftly across the terrain.

At the same time, he used his leader's privilege to set the gathering point on the crystal compass to Qin Zhulu's location.

This meant that all squads would get the signal and head over immediately.. The dots on his crystal compass obediently changed directions, converging on the new location.

It seemed like the Holy Grail Meet had gotten real exciting real quick.