Chapter 0500: Lu Ming's Illusion Formation
Bang!
Two extremely berserk resonant powers clashed in a vicious struggle, the shockwaves resonating throughout the forest. The surrounding scarlet-red trees were directly snapped into two by the resounding collateral force, with the remnant pieces splintering into shreds by the sheer force of resonant energy.
Lu Ming retreated through the air, landing atop a ma.s.sive tree that had survived. Her cold eyes a.s.sessed the source of this attack. Along one side of the ground also lay a deep sword scar, a chasm gashed into the earth extending all the way in front of her, ending with a large cloud of dust. The entire area was also scorched black, as though it had been bombarded by some judgment from the heavens.
There was no hesitation behind that last strike of hers.
She had unreservedly mobilized the full brunt of her Becoming One resonant power to summon forth Lightning Walker and was very fully cognizant of its destructive potential. Even a Third Changing would struggle to keep up.
On the other hand, Li Luo had chosen to meet it with force.
In a normal situation, victory would have easily been hers for the taking.
Yet the situation did not seem simple. Lu Ming did not lower her guard as she continued to peer intently at the cloud of dust that had yet to settle from the clash of t.i.tans. A brief moment later, her gaze narrowed as a familiar figure strutted out of the dust.
Perhaps to no surprise, Li Luo had walked out.
He was gripping his blade, and his arms had grown in size and musculature. The skin on them was torn and fresh blood was oozing down his forearms, dying the blade red. However, this seemed to be the extent of his injuries—there were no lightning or sword scars upon him!
Lu Ming's vicious attack had clearly been deflected completely!
"You really are a strange one," Lu Ming murmured.
The quality of Li Luo's resonant power far surpa.s.sed anything she had expected.
An average Second Changing dual resonance user could never summon up such might.
"Did he practice some sort of storage resonance art?" Lu Ming asked herself. Thinking through the clues available, this sort of resonance art was rarely seen and could allow one to increase the amount of resonant power they could bring forth at a crucial moment. The disadvantage was that the amount of power one could store also had limits. At the same time, the sheer amount and quality of resonant power Li Luo could muster was of a completely different cla.s.s.
Meanwhile, while Lu Ming continued to ponder over the source of Li Luo's strength, Li Luo was not simply going to wait there idly. Raising his palm, he grasped in the direction of Lu Ming's current position.
"Arboreal Bindings!"
The tree beneath Lu Ming began to shudder and the branches seemed to have gained a life of their own as they twisted and rushed towards her, attempting to ensnare.
In response to the multiple branches that were swarming her like wooden snakes, Lu Ming's body flashed with a layer of lightning, gathering onto a point on her foot.
Boom!
Upon making contact with a single tap, the entire tree instantly charred black in an instant and the once lively branches were turned into ashes that rustled with the wind.
Li Luo remained unfazed as he continued to channel his wood resonant power, rousing all of the trees surrounding Lu Ming. At the same time, water resonant power surged from within him, and he executed another resonance art. "Heavy Water Art!" With the casting of this resonance art, the numerous tendrils that lashed towards Lu Ming were now engulfed with a layer of blue water, which simultaneously served to improve their might and also their resilience. The improved bindings then smashed towards Lu Ming with renewed fury!
In response, Lu Ming hopped into the air with the a.s.sistance of her lightning resonant power before firing out tens of lightning bolts, attempting to completely disintegrate the irritating wooden branches.
Pss.h.!.+
However, the result was not the same as the first time. Some of the bindings had managed to escape destruction, appearing before Lu Ming and attempting to bind her limbs.
Li Luo's aim was simple: to restrict Lu Ming's movements. Her lightning resonance provided her with just too much speed, which was simply too hard for Li Luo to handle if left unchecked.
"You do have some ability in combining water and wood resonant arts," Lu Ming dryly commented. Lighting resonant power crackled from beneath her heels, allowing her to float in mid air, directly avoiding the range of the tree branches that struggled to ensnare her. Immediately after, her body flickered at the limit of speed, directly appearing in front of Li Luo.
The golden hairpin-sword in her hand crackled with lightning stabbing out before her. And before Li Luo's shocked eyes, the sword moved so quickly that one could only see its afterimage. What added to the problem was that countless illusory sword shadows had appeared simultaneously, attacking every single exposed spot, stabbing at his entire body with pure malice.
The thunderlight sword shadows melded reality with illusions, making this a tough cookie to dodge.
It was a perfect application of Lu Ming's lightning and illusion resonances.
The counterattack was indeed as quick as lightning.
Li Luo was left in a pickle. He couldn't differentiate between what was real and what was not. If that was the case, he would break everything with force! Tightly clutching his Onyx-Elephant Blade, his dual resonances kicked into overdrive as he cleaved downwards.
That single strike was full of immutable power, something so absolute that even the void was rent in its wake. A piercing explosion resounded with the clash.
POOM!
With the blade's strike, the thunderlight sword silhouettes were shattered into pieces one by one before finally clas.h.i.+ng with the true attack hidden beneath the rabble. Lightning roiled forth as the two bodies clashed violently.
The next moment, the two broke off and reengaged with a fast flurry of blows.
One could barely follow the explosive and wild blows that constantly rained upon each of them, inevitably matched with parries and deflects. The surrounding environment was destroyed by the remnant clas.h.i.+ng of resonant power. Together, they were like a whirlwind of doom. Whatever unfortunate shrubbery that happened to be near them would undoubtedly be devastated.
The two clashed many hundred times in the mere span of a few short minutes.
This was a high intensity battle, and the two gradually began to heave heavily.
Clang!
In the end, the first to let up was Lu Ming. The final clash had caused her delicate body to be knocked away. A sense of grim seriousness could be seen in her eyes as she held her weapon with slightly trembling hands.
Li Luo was a monster.
"Does his strength come from his weapon?" Lu Ming examined the Onyx-Elephant Blade more clearly. Whenever their weapons clashed, she could feel a surging force emit from the weapon. It felt unrestrained and wild, much like a feral beast.
"Li Luo, you have my respect. You are truly impressive," Lu Ming admitted. Li Luo, on the other hand, had a calm expression with all of his hairs zapped upright. Every clash had led to him being occasionally electrocuted by Lu Ming's lightning resonance...
"You have my respect as well, if that means anything..." He laughed, but he stopped immediately as a wisp of black smoke had belched from his mouth. This d.a.m.ned Lu Ming's lightning resonance was truly troublesome—it was going to turn him into a human BBQ at this rate!
Glancing at Li Luo's disheveled appearance, Lu Ming gave a wry smile. "Though this ends here. I won't lose to you."
"Huh? Really?" Li Luo's eyes squinted at this point.
The usually cold and haughty Lu Ming was now giving a large smile that would unsettle anyone who knew her. Danger. That was the only thing Li Luo's senses were telling him.
However, he did not move when Lu Ming took a step back.
What was most surprising was that she had completely vanished upon taking that step!
"Li Luo, congratulations. I was saving this move for Jing Taixu, but it looks like you will be the guinea pig." Lu Ming's voice echoed from all around him. At the same time, Li Luo could see that the environment around him was transforming.
The empty forest started to recede, and in its place was an endless sea of flowers spread as wide as the eye could see. Li Luo, on the other hand, was right smack in the middle.
His expression changed for the worse.
"A d.a.m.ned illusion formation?" This flower sea was definitely an illusion, and he had fallen right for it.
Boom!
Right at this moment, gray clouds started to quickly gather above him, gradually blanketing the entire horizon.
These clouds spat lightning without reserve, accompanied by the rumbling of endless thunder.
Li Luo's expression turned grave.
This was not just an illusion formation—it had been bequeathed with the power of lightning as well...
The combination of the illusion resonance and lightning resonance gave birth to the Illusory Thunderbolt, an illusion formation with no comparison.
Lu Ming had finally shown her cards.