The drop of blood from Li Yuanshan hovered above Li Luo's palm. Without further ado, Li Luo activated the Dragon Blood Affliction Art.
He had spent much time mastering this art over the past few days.
He bit the tips of his fingers, and fresh blood fell out of the wounds. The blood quickly gathered up and transformed into a crimson doll shaped like a person. However, the doll had no face and its head was blank and featureless.
Seeing this, Li Luo dripped the droplet of fresh blood from Li Yuanshan onto the face of the doll. The blood flowed into the doll, then its head began to twist and change.
Gradually, its facial features surfaced.
The doll's face was exactly the same as Li Yuanshan's.
As he did all this, many spectators watched in confusion. They couldn't understand what was happening. However, the members of the Five Guardian Armies knew what he was trying to pull off. They had seen others use the Dragon Blood Affliction Art in the past, so it was not surprising to them.
The baffling thing was that Li Luo was actually trying to stop Li Yuanshan with this art.
The stronger the opponent, the higher the chance that Li Luo would suffer a backlash. Didn't he know about this?
Li Yuanshan was now in tip-top shape thanks to the Blood Fusion Secret Art. If Li Luo tried to use the Dragon Blood Affliction Art with his Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier strength, he would simply be asking to fail, and miserably for that matter.
They had never seen anyone use this art so recklessly.
"That brat really should know his limits better!" Li Hongque laughed out coldly. It was not a secret that Li Luo had chosen the Dragon Blood Affliction Art from the Heavenly Dragon Treasury. As such, they had considered the possibility of Li Luo using it against Li Qingbai. However, they had not expected Li Luo would dare to use it against Li Yuanshan.
Li Zhihuo frowned as he watched the battle. Li Luo’s decision was completely irrational. He was definitely not a rash and reckless individual, so why would he choose to do this? Did he have some secret up his sleeve?
"I heard from Li Qingfeng that he used the Dragon's Blood Judgment Art against Li Luo during the Battle for the Dragon's Head. However, Li Luo's blood was of much higher purity, resulting in a devastating loss for Li Qingfeng. Perhaps this is Li Luo's ace in the hole?" the Left Dragon's Blood Envoy Yuan Tianzhao commented from the side.
Li Zhihuo shook his head gently. "No matter how pure his blood is, it won't be enough to bridge the difference between an upper third-grade Duke in peak condition."
Yuan Tianzhao shrugged. "In that case, I have no idea what he's up to."
"It's probably just a desperate struggle before his final gasp. Ultimately, Li Yuanshan holds an absolute advantage at this moment," Li Hongque said.
As they discussed what was happening, their eyes remained fixated on the battlefield. When the doll took form in Li Luo's hand, his lips began to move as well. Some strange murmurings could be heard, and the worldly natural energy in the surroundings began to quake.
Drops of fresh blood began to rise from his fingertips. Then the droplets writhed in mid-air before transforming into strange-looking blood charms that resembled worms.
Li Luo reached out, and the blood charms gathered up in the middle of his palm, taking the form of a blood-red blade that was as thin as a cicada's wing.
Occult scarlet runes decorated the surface of the blade.
Li Luo grabbed the blood red blade with his fingers and took another glance at the doll. He couldn't help but feel like this was an unorthodox art.
However, he did not mind using it as long as it was helpful.
As he stared at the doll, he lifted the blade into the air. He could sense that it was locked onto the human doll. Suddenly, the blade became a thousand times heavier.
Li Yuanshan was in peak condition at the moment. Immense pulses of energy were coming from him as he shot Li Luo a lightning-sharp gaze, shouting, "Li Luo, there's no need to struggle needlessly! You will be gravely injured by the backlash if that fails! Why don't you conserve your strength and join hands with Jiang Qing'e for a final stand?!"
Brilliant beams of light shot out of his three Duke Bergfrieds as his voice boomed. They then rose high up into the sky like three gigantic suns.
Terrifying pressure swept through the battlefield.
Li Yuanshan was infinitely close to reaching the level of a fourth-grade Duke at this point.
However, Li Luo remained unfazed. The hand that was holding the blood-red blade trembled slightly. What seemed like a simple movement felt incredibly difficult to execute at this moment.
The 95,000 feet Heavenly Resonance Diagram above Li Luo's head began to vibrate violently. The only thing he was focused on was the blade in his hand. All the blood in his body began to churn like a raging river as he prepared himself, and an ancient, domineering draconic roar could be heard in the depths of his body.
Li Luo's dragonoid form was beginning to transform, gaining both height and muscle. A faint, golden glow began to appear on his scales.
As the golden lights interweaved with each other, the faint manifestation of a gigantic dragon materialized behind him.
When the dragon appeared, the members of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li could feel a terrifying pressure pressing down upon all of them.
They had no idea what was going on. However, Li Jiluo, Li Qingpeng, and the others on the elevated platform raised their eyebrows a little when they saw this. They muttered in surprise, "Is that... a Heavenly Dragon Manifestation?!"
Li Jiluo's gaze turned serious upon this revelation. The appearance of the Heavenly Dragon Manifestation indicated that Li Luo’s blood was a lot purer and denser than expected.
In the same moment, Li Luo could feel incredible amounts of energy surging up within him. His gaze turned resolute and he slashed downwards with the blood-red blade, viciously striking the doll.
"Dragon Blood Affliction Art, Sever the Bloodline!"
The blade fell towards the doll.
"Argh!"
Li Yuanshan's hair suddenly stood on end, as if a formless wave of energy had crashed down upon him. His face was furious and his loud shout resounded throughout the battlefield.
"A puny Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier ant dares to sever my bloodline?! Since you're asking for trouble, I will ensure you get a good taste of the backlas.h.!.+"
Li Yuanshan's long howl echoed in the air. Worldly natural energy burst out of his three Duke Bergfrieds, overflowing in all directions. At the same time, a layer of white lava slowly covered up the grayish-yellow dragon manifestation that was coiled up behind him.
Li Yuanshan was pus.h.i.+ng his strength to the limit at this moment. He was trying to use his cultivation level advantage to retaliate and inflict a backlash upon Li Luo.
With his condition right now, he didn't believe he would lose to a mere Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier cultivator!
Everyone held their breaths as they watched. Such a clash was truly an eye-opening experience.
The blood-red blade cut through the air and lightly sliced across the body of the doll.
As the blade traveled across the human doll, smoke began to rise up and the blade rapidly disintegrated.
An indescribable force suddenly traveled throughout Li Luo's body, spreading into every corner of his limbs and bones.
This was... the effects of a backlas.h.!.+
Li Luo's blood started to churn. However, the ancient draconic roar continued to reverberate throughout his body in response. Thanks to its resistance, the effects of the backlash began to weaken.
However, the force that struck him was much stronger than expected.
The remaining power that had not been whittled down quickly spread across the interior of Li Luo's body in an attempt to destroy his internal organs.
Nonetheless, Li Luo did not panic. He focused his mind and tried to amplify the effects of the draconic roar to protect himself. Most importantly, he attempted to direct all of the remnant force into a specific location of his body.
That was none other than where the mysterious Auric Halo was quietly waiting.
Gradually, he managed to do so.
When the external force entered the vicinity of the Auric Halo, the halo began to stir. It seemed to possess a life of its own as it disdainfully turned, though only slightly.
Another cry could be heard.
And with that, the remnant force dissipated with a mere rotation of the Auric Halo.
Li Luo slowly breathed out a sigh of relief. He raised his eyes at this point and smiled confidently at the worried Jiang Qing'e by his side.
"Everything's under control."
The spectators were all lost for words as they watched this. Li Zhihuo and Li Hongque couldn't believe their eyes either
"Was he not affected by a backlash force?!" In the next instant, their eyes turned towards Li Yuanshan. Didn't this mean that the Dragon Blood Affliction Art had succeeded?!
Under all their shocked gazes, Li Yuanshan's face turned extremely ugly. He slowly raised his head and looked up at the three brilliant Duke Bergfrieds above him.
At this point, one of the Duke Bergfrieds turned really dim. Worldly natural energy retreated and the Duke Bergfried turned into a ball of light, flying back into Li Yuanshan.
At the same time, the terrifying energy waves coming from his body subsided at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed.
Li Qingbai, who was holding onto the other lamp, watched with his eyes wide open.
Many of the Dukes spectating this were similarly gasping in disbelief.
They all understood what this meant.
Li Luo had managed to seal one of Li Yuanshan's Duke Bergfrieds. Although it was only temporary, this meant that Li Yuanshan had fallen from a third-grade to a second-grade Duke all of a sudden. This was a huge development!
In Li Luo's hands, the effects of the Dragon Blood Affliction Art were truly tyrannical!
The spectators cried out loudly.
In the same moment, Jiang Qing'e's charming face turned ice-cold. She slowly stepped forward, heavy sword in hand. The Sacred Crown of Thorns that sat atop her head began to glow.
"It's my turn now, right?"
Jiang Qing'e's gaze was so cold and merciless that Li Yuanshan and Li Qingbai could feel chills running up their spines.