Accept the deal?
Li Luo stared at Pang Qianyuan with some confusion. What could a mighty King like Pang Qianyuan need from a weak little Resonant Master like himself?
A king asking a beggar for a favor?
If the principal ever left the Umbra Cave, the whole Xia Kingdom would bow in submission before him. Duke experts were nothing before him!
And now this King was asking him, humble Li Luo, for a favor…
He shrugged off the dissonance. "What does the Principal want of me?"
For now, the opening offer of the three-tailed heavenly wolf's power was very tempting. It would allow him to participate in the battle at House Luolan's Housemeet in half a year's time. He would not have to sit on the sidelines and let Jiang Qing'e face the wolves alone.
Pang Qianyuan did not answer him immediately. "I'll tell you in a bit. First, let me warn you that the three-tailed heavenly wolf's powers might be very tempting for you, but you're clever enough to know that no power in this world comes for free.
"The heavenly wolf is a feral creature," Pang Qianyuan continued slowly. "And you are far from it in strength. The power you borrow will be tainted with its feral nature, and it will affect you. It will make you bloodthirsty… a process I call 'lycanthropy.' Once you go too far, you will be a slave to the wolfish nature. It is a terrible fate.
"So I have to warn you to use the power judiciously—only in the most dire of situations."
Li Luo nodded gravely. He had considered such a possibility as well. Every power had its drawbacks. He knew this too well from the price that he had paid for his acquired resonances. He fully intended to use it sparingly.
Just another trump card up his sleeve. "My thanks to the Principal for the warning."
Li Luo was still grateful that Pang Qianyuan was looking out for him to such an extent.
The principal nodded with a smile. "You are a clever child. I sense that you would have felt that corrupting tug on your mind even without my warning. But as your teacher, I guess I do have a duty to warn you. And more importantly…
"I wouldn't want your mother to come after me."
Li Luo smiled sheepishly. Was his mother really that much of a tigress? She could be very motherly… although he admitted that it wasn't often. "As for the favor…" Pang Qianyuan brought the topic back, his face turning serious.
"In truth, you should probably do it even without me asking you to."
Li Luo cocked his head, puzzled.
"At the end of this year, the various schools in the East Divine Continent will participate in the Holy Grail Meet, a grand affair organized by the major schools in the East Divine Continent.
"The winner will be awarded a holy object known as the Dragon Bone Holy Grail, something handed down by the Academic Federation. It's incredibly powerful, and one of its functions is its ability to suppress the Umbra Cave."
"If our Astral Sage College can take the Dragon Bone Holy Grail this year, the Umbra Cave will remain silent for many years, and the dark tide will also subside. We will not have to risk student lives to purge the corruption.
"That is why the Dragon Bone Holy Grail is so coveted among the schools in the East Divine Continent," Pang Qianyuan continued seriously. "Do you see how it could boost a school's resources? Many cultivation resources and lives could be saved."
Li Luo was awed by this information. Now that he had experienced the Umbra Cave first-hand, he had a newfound appreciation for its dangers. Even though they had gotten over the past crisis largely unscathed, there had still been a few casualties. Bright young men and women of roughly the same age were now dead, their potential gone. As for the survivors, they had come in laughing and smiling, but the harsh reality of Umbra Cave had left them grim. Everyone had lost friends here.
What if his friends had been among the dead? Yu Lang, Lu Qing'er, Zhao Kuo… how would he feel?
A look of resolution crept over his face.
The Umbra Cave was endless, a yawning abyss that demanded the constant sacrifice of lives to keep it placated.
The burden could not be given up—holding it was the purpose of the Astral Sage College after all.
To suppress the Umbra Cave and prevent the Others from rushing out into their world and causing untold destruction.
At that time, the innocent humans in the Xia Kingdom would be devastated.
Li Luo believed that their Astral Sage College was not the only one who faced such problems. Every other school had to be pained by the toll of lives that the Umbra Cave exacted on them.
The Dragon Bone Holy Grail was a reprieve from that heavy burden. With the few years of time it could buy, the school that held it would see their talent pool flourish.
They would save a ton of cultivation resources, including, of course, their most precious resource: human talent.
Which was why the prize was so attractive.
"Sir…" Li Luo snorted in disbelief. "You would have me go compete for the Dragon Bone Holy Grail? I'm just a newcomer. I wouldn't be able to do well in a competition with such heat."
Pang Qianyuan chuckled along. "Of course not… each school sends their creme de la creme to the Holy Grail Meet. You might be one of our best, but it wouldn't completely be on your shoulders.
"I want you to do something if we end up winning the Dragon Bone Holy Grail."
He contemplated Li Luo carefully. "If we can get the Dragon Bone Holy Grail, I need you to put some of your blood essence into the cup at a special place. Li Luo, that is my request.
"Your blood essence," Pang Qianyuan said soberly, hiding nothing from him.
Li Luo started at the strange request. It was bizarre, and he had not seen it coming at all.
What on earth did Pang Qianyuan want with his blood essence?