Chapter 0504: Lu Ming's Elimination
Lu Ming's white palm was gradually becoming infested with a black poison, resulting in her ma.s.sive fright.
She could not comprehend what was happening.
Her entire body was hidden within the illusion formation, and she had never clashed directly with Li Luo. How could this poison have entered her body?
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" She recomposed herself very quickly, and her aloof face had an ugly expression upon it. Focusing intently, she channeled her resonant power into the poison, hoping to scatter it and resolve her predicament.
At the same time, the realization that this was hopeless dawned upon her. As she attempted to remove the poison, its toxicity only intensified as it reacted with her resonant power. In fact, she felt as though her entire body's resonant power was gradually being stained by this corrupting malady.
The reaction of the poison made Lu Ming break out in cold sweat. It was truly virulent! Was it able to erode even resonant power?
Lu Ming could only attempt to seal off the poison to prevent it from infecting her body any further. However, as a consequence, she was unable to keep the illusion formation active, helplessly watching her painstaking creation gradually fall to pieces.
The sea of flowers began to recede and so too did the clouds of thunder.
The surroundings gradually morphed back into the desolate forest, and Li Luo was able to see a familiar silhouette not too far from him. "Haha. It looks like your illusion formation fell apart on its own!"
Lu Ming unceremoniously replied, "Hmph. When did you manage to poison me?"
With a smile, Li Luo pointed at the black fruit at the top of the half-destroyed tree. "I turned the poison into a fruit, and whenever the lightning struck it, the toxic air slowly mixed into the worldly natural energy, eventually poisoning you and the formation itself…”
"And whenever I summoned worldly natural energy to attack you, I inevitably absorbed some of the poison..."
"Bingo!"
Unfortunately, Lu Ming was completely displeased to have gotten this right. In fact, she was so incensed that she was on the verge of exploding as she gritted her teeth. "Don't you think this is too dishonorable? That you'd even fiddle with poison!"
"To be fair, if you were just a little more cautious, you would have detected the poison within the worldly natural energy. Plus, I'm not actually a poison expert, and this tactic would hardly qualify as exquisite."
Lu Ming was slightly taken aback at the tart reply. This was completely unexpected as she would never have expected such a move from Li Luo... much less so considering that he didn't possess a poison resonance.
"Ahem... I'd also like to point out that this poison is completely unparalleled and mighty... and I don't have complete control of it either..."
Li Luo stood up and lifted his arm, which was still bleeding. He had sliced off quite a bit of flesh, and he looked a little exasperated as he eyed the cut that he himself had inflicted. "Well, this is just another means to manage the poison, and it's not like I'm not allowed to."
What had poisoned Lu Ming was the dual poison that was stored in a resonant bubble. Using the poison from a single bubble had allowed him to create that dubious-looking black fruit.
What he had failed to mention was also that this toxic tool was not really a part of his strength, and he had no easy way to control it. As a result, he also suffered from its backlash when he attempted to take advantage of it.
This was why he had mercilessly taken rather extreme measures to rid himself of the residual poison.
"Breaking your illusion formation was truly troublesome. I may have other methods, but this was the easiest," Li Luo explained.
Lu Ming pouted upon hearing Li Luo's humble brag. “Keep showing off, you idiot!” What other methods was he babbling about? Anyone who believed his words was a fool.
Perhaps the only saving grace was that she did not retort like the typical antagonist, spewing comments of her invincibility before all this and ruining her reputation further... Li Luo's poison was insidious and his methods were actually sublime. Having been focused on operating the illusion formation, she had not adequately prepared herself and thus fell into his trap.
The winner was king, and she wasn't a sore loser... Well, not outwardly at least.
She stretched out her hand and coldly said, "Give me the antidote."
An awkward look could now be seen on Li Luo's face. He once again waved his b.l.o.o.d.y arm before her. "h.e.l.lo! Do you see this? Do you think someone with an antidote would take such extreme measures? You haven't been poisoned that badly yet, so let me help you detoxify your body. I think a chop or two will solve your predicament..." He raised his blade as he walked towards Lu Ming.
Shocked, she stumbled backwards a couple of steps before shouting, "Stay away from me! The further the better. UGH! I don't want your antidote anymore."
What a joke. What was this, the middle ages? What if she was left with a couple of large scars after Li Luo's "treatment?" Her beauty would be tarnished forever! She wasn't some barbarian from the wilderness.
Li Luo paused and helplessly replied, "Well, you should probably admit defeat. Find someone from your college or an adjudicator from the Holy Grail Meet and they should be able to resolve your predicament."
Lu Ming was exceptionally depressed right now. Everything had been in the palm of her hand, but this d.a.m.ned Li Luo had pulled some stinky tree out of his hat full of tricks, and that was only the start of her problems. The tree alone would not have been enough to stop her, and she still seemed invincible at the time, at least within the context of her illusion formation as it would have just been a matter of time before she eked out a victory.
However, who would have expected another trick hidden beneath the surface? The poison had thrown her plan into shambles.
"Well now, don't be salty. You gave us an underhanded blow in the Dragon's Belly, and now I'm just returning the favor." Li Luo smiled.
Lu Ming snorted loudly. "Well, you might have won with your little tricks now, but what about the final battle? I doubt Sun Dasheng will be able to stop Jing Taixu's ascent. You will undoubtedly engage in a decisive battle against him. "
"Well, that would be a good thing." Li Luo truly wanted to challenge Jing Taixu.
"Seems like you're truly the humble sort," Lu Ming coldly replied with furrowed eyebrows. "If you're already having so much trouble with me, how can you even compete against him? You meeting him is as good as delivering the strongest One Star Hall student t.i.tle on a platter. Maybe you can give up now and I'll fight Jing Taixu on your behalf. Once all has been said and done, I can even let you have half the credit."
Li Luo guffawed. "Lu Ming, you seem to be good at math at least.”
"Frankly speaking, my odds of beating Jing Taixu are higher than yours by quite a bit."
Li Luo shook his head and seriously replied, "I disagree. I promised someone that I would deal with him. If I can't, well... I might be subject to some domestic violence..."
Lu Ming didn't pursue this further. She knew that Li Luo would never agree and just wanted to try her luck.
"Regardless, you have won. Thus, you're the one who deserves to partic.i.p.ate in the final battle. However, I will be watching you closely and I hope you don't let me down. If you let Jing Taixu win effortlessly, my loss here will be the ultimate humiliation!" After she finished, she shattered her anima gourd, transforming into a beam of light that ascended into the skies, disappearing in a flash.
Lu Ming. Eliminated.
Li Luo stared at the s.p.a.ce where she had last been, sighing lightly. It seemed as though he had finally entered the final stages of the compet.i.tion.
After taking some time to recuperate, he gradually ascended the mountain.
The path was quiet and peaceful, with no obstructions, allowing him to reach the summit rather quickly.
Upon reaching the peak, his steps gradually slowed to a halt. Atop the cloud-shrouded cliffside stood a familiar silhouette with his hands behind his back, overlooking Dragonbone Island.
A person he would not forget.
Jing Taixu. The Duke Art-wielding Sun Dasheng had been eliminated.