Li Luo did not respond to Lu Cāng’s taunts. He knew his opponent was simply trying to make him lose his cool.
His water and wood resonant powers circulated within him, healing his wounds quickly.
“The Blue Abyss Sage College has done well to bet on a horse like you. Or should I say snake?” Li Luo grinned.
He did not even bother to protest that this was actually a two-on-one. If the Astral Sage College’s invigilators had not called a halt to the compet.i.tion, then it was legal. No news was good news for Lu Cāng.
So the time for speeches was over. Now was the time for action. He had to take down the snake with cold steel.
Easier said than done.
Lu Cāng’s boast was true indeed—he was by far the strongest opponent that Li Luo had encountered that was at the same cultivation level. These two brothers’ resonance transfer was stupidly strong.
In terms of raw resonant power, there was no doubt that Lu Cāng had him beat.
But size wasn’t all that mattered. That was why matches were fought.
Li Luo grinned to himself. A light of interest and battle will lit up his eyes.
BOOM!
Lu Cāng had stopped the taunting as well, seeing that Li Luo was unaffected. He instead dug deep and produced another two streams of energy. Solar and lunar pythons, their unique elements a deadly combination.
There were Three and Four Star Hall talents present, already at the Earth Fiend or even Heavenly Dipper General level. For them, a fight between Resonant Masters was usually quite underwhelming. But now they were all watching intently. Lu Cāng had brought something new and deadly to the table.
The fact that these seniors had taken notice of a One Star Hall battle proved that Lu Cāng was indeed something very special.
Their absolute faith in Li Luo was suddenly looking sort of frail. If they lost this battle, they wouldn’t even be able to go to the Holy Grail Meet! This would be a devastating blow to the reputation of the school, and the morale of all its students.
The green python staff smashed into the lake.
Cras.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+
The water parted, and from the watery gap rose a ten-meter-long twin-headed snake. It was striped elegantly down its length in scarlet and stone-gray. It lunged at Li Luo.
Li Luo ran as far back as he could, his woodearth resonance throwing up a tree-shaped s.h.i.+eld before him. It sparkled beautifully in the sunlight.
“Arboreal Bindings!
“Heavy Water Art!”
Again, he used his trusty combination, wrapping his solid tree in sheets of heavy water to further reinforce it.
Clang!
The twin-headed serpent smashed into the tree, sending splinters flying.
The red-and-black snake crashed through the obstacle that Li Luo had put up with a dreadful hiss, then it charged at him again. Swinging around, its muscular tail sent a powerful wave of water sweeping out towards Li Luo.
The wave crashed down… and Li Luo was nowhere to be seen.
Water Shadow Art.
Li Luo reappeared on the other side of the lake. In the same moment, the lake water exploded before him, and a sizzling light of red and black shot out, narrowly missing him. He could smell singed hair. Lu Cāng was somehow already in front of him, his green python staff crackling with boundless energy.
He pointed it at Li Luo’s chest, the snake head carving at the top seemingly ready to bite Li Luo at any time.
Lu Cāng had seen through his Water Shadow Art and predicted where he would escape to.
The Astral Sage College students groaned in dismay.
“You can’t hide, Li Luo!” Lu Cāng cackled.
The staff steadily grew larger in Li Luo’s view, but he remained calm as he faced Lu Cāng’s attack. Lifting his shortswords, his eyes flashed.
All nine resonant bubbles within him burst at once.
The boost of resonant power flooded his body.
“You’re not the only one who can boost!”
Li Luo’s shortswords flashed up to meet the python staff.
A sapphire-blue light flashed against the staff, boosted power against boosted power.
Clang!
There were no more spider-shaped impacts now that they were in a watery terrain instead of a land one. However, they managed to raise impressive waves that rose and fell on the crowd.
Wiping the water from their eyes, the spectators watched on.
To everyone’s surprise, Li Luo had not fared too badly. He was just about equal.
“So you were hiding more!”
Lu Cāng barked a short laugh as he sensed Li Luo’s increased power.
Li Luo ignored him. Instead, he shook out his sleeves, sending several light b.a.l.l.s flying out to explode between the two. They released blinding lights.
Waterlight b.a.l.l.s!
Li Luo had developed a thin film of water resonant power over his eyes that would cut away most of the light. One-way blinding was a perk that he had deemed worth the effort of training that tricky bit of resonant power control, and now he leaped at Lu Cāng with clear eyes.
Clang, clang, clang!
Amazingly, his opponent was able to sense him somehow, and he blocked all of Li Luo’s slashes.
Lu Cāng hadn’t been affected by the light, somehow.
They traded more furious blows back and forth. When Li Luo’s blades landed on Lu Cāng’s body, they raised sparks, but the red and black scale armor on his body was another layer of defense that frustrated Li Luo’s attacks.
Lu Cāng’s attacks on Li Luo were not doing too much damage either. There was a thin water coat on Li Luo’s body that quickly dispersed the blows all across its frame.
Heavy Water Toga.
For the moment, neither could find a gap in the other’s armor.
The fight time ticked on.
Clang!
Another furious exchange sent both Li Luo and Lu Cāng staggering backwards.
“Li Luo, your boosted resonant power ran out too quickly.” Lu Cāng was panting, preparing another vicious swing of his staff as he caught his breath.
“Your state doesn’t last very long either though.” Li Luo laughed.
“Longer than yours!” Lu Cāng retorted.
Li Luo looked over at the joss stick that marked time on the viewing platform. “But I can hold out until the end of the round. Do you know what’s going to happen if it’s a draw? According to the rules, there’ll be a tiebreaker. The two strongest representatives will fight again. Probably Gong Shenjun against Zhong Nan.
“Not even Gong Shenjun can take down Senior Zhong Nan’s defenses,” Lu Cāng sneered confidently.
“Aha. Perhaps, perhaps… and then we go to the next tiebreaker at the Three Star Hall level,” Li Luo pointed out with relish.
This drew Lu Cāng up short. Another Three Star Hall match? They would be screwed. Jiang Qing’e was unbeatable. Not even their better option, Zhao Huiyin, who hadn’t lasted long in their first encounter, would be able to fight. It was impossible to win there.
“You think I’ll let things go that far!?” Lu Cāng snarled. He took a decisive step forward, stomping the ground. His s.h.i.+rt exploded, falling to the ground in shreds to leave him topless.
Li Luo saw red and black cursed snake patterns burrowing in and out of Lu Cāng’s flesh. They were impressive inkings, vividly lifelike and with a hypnotic, scaly pattern. Li Luo followed their twists and turns up Lu Cāng’s well-muscled body and saw that they both ended with their fangs bared on his cheeks.
His face was absolutely horrifying to look at, and Li Luo could not help shuddering.
From afar, it seemed like a twin-headed snake speeding across the lake.
Li Luo could feel the incredible threat.
BOOM!
Before he could react, Lu Cāng had already made his next move. An enormous tsunami, thirty meters high, had risen up and was bearing down on Li Luo.
Cries could be heard from the crowd.
Li Luo scrambled to find his rhythm. Behind the wave attack, Lu Cāng himself was speeding towards Li Luo, his green python staff revving up for a follow-up strike. He smashed the water, disrupting Li Luo’s energy flow and causing him to stumble into the waves.
A humongous serpent tail swung out at him.
Clang!
Li Luo met it with his blades.
In the next instant, his blades shattered, and he himself was badly injured. The multi-layered attack from Lu Cāng smashed him deep into the lake, fossilizing him in the muddy silt at the bottom. The wave died down and the ripples slowly faded in the horrified silence of the crowd.
All was silent in the mountains.