Chapter 0549: Who's Who
"So you want me to get rid of the black knight with this arrow, huh..."
The unremarkable-looking arrow was the secret weapon of the Thunderpeal Tree.
It was obvious why the tree had handed it over to him.
The tree understood that their fates were tied together now. Li Luo was its only hope. If it missed its chance with him, there would be no way to escape the corruption.
Nothing could be held back at this point.
Li Luo was happy to be entrusted with the secret weapon. He too understood that they were on the same boat. The black knight before them was a common enemy, and he would use anything available to him to ruin his day.
He reached out eagerly for the lightning arrow and gave it a tug.
He winced. He could not lift it.
This was very embarra.s.sing.
Li Luo took a deep breath and channeled his resonant power into both arms, reaching for it again.
This time he could lift it, but barely. His face was red and contorted from the exertion, and he looked extremely foolish holding an arrow with both arms trembling.
Lu Ming understood immediately. "This silver arrow is made of pure lightning power. Since you don't have a lightning resonance, it's taking you an enormous amount of physical and resonant power to lift it."
Li Luo huffed and nodded. He was only a Resonant Master. This tree was really asking a lot of him.
Lu Ming laughed. "The smartest thing you've done so far is bring me along," she said proudly. Lu Ming laid her palm on the back of his hand, sending lightning resonant power to him.
"Don't reject my energy. I can use you as a conduit so you can lift it."
With the rush of lightning power from her, he reached out for the lightning arrow again.
He still felt the same heaviness from before, but it was much more bearable.
He felt a rush of grat.i.tude that he had brought Lu Ming along. It was as she said. He had thought two people would be able to look out for each other, but she was proving to be a real a.s.set, creating illusions to save his life, and now providing lightning energy that allowed him to lift the arrow.
Li Luo had already fitted the arrow to the Lambent Hawkeye, and he tried pulling the string. It would not budge.
He knew that he was not strong enough.
He gripped the Onyx-Elephant Blade with one hand and activated his Divine Elephant Power.
Level One Divine Elephant Power!
Li Luo's arm bulged, his veins like earthworms under the skin. At parts, it was stretched so tight that it split.
Li Luo sat with this new strength for a moment. It was not enough.
He notched it up again.
Level Two Divine Elephant Power!
Another hit of energy flooded his arms from the Onyx-Elephant Blade, and now his skin and flesh were peeling badly.
"Wood resonance art, Spirit Vine Threads.
"Light resonance art, Healing Sprites.
"Water resonance art, Spirit Water Art."
Again, he brought out his best combination of resonance arts to heal his arm even while it was broken down by his skill.
Even though he was physically able to carry on, the strange feeling of having his arms destroyed and healed at the same time was not a comfortable sensation.
He took a deep breath and drew his bow again. This time, he could slowly do it with great effort. The arrow quivered on the string, like an electric dragon ready to strike.
Or maybe it was quivering from Li Luo's trembling arms.
Without Lu Ming's resonant power removing a large part of the burden for him, his arms would have split apart from the effort.
Li Luo aimed it carefully at the black knight.
With the lock-on of the arrow, the black knight sensed danger.
The Thunderpeal Tree was really out to get him.
He could sense an itch of trouble tingling. His instincts told him that he could not deal with the power in that arrow!
Li Luo was already struggling to get the arrow in place. The black knight knew that he just had to avoid this one, and there would be no chance for a second arrow. The situation would turn to his favor again.
The black knight turned into a streak of black light and fled.
"He's getting away!" Lu Ming yelled.
A canny fighter, he was retreating to wait out their attack.
Clearly, Li Luo had sacrificed much of his power to prepare this one attack. If the black knight got away, he might not be able to pull it off again.
Li Luo looked at the fleeing black knight.
His eyes narrowed, then he shouted, "Commander Huang Lou, do your brothers and mother at the hamlet know what you're doing?"
The black knight froze, his eyes narrowing.
A chill ran down his spine.
How did Li Luo know his ident.i.ty?
He froze in a moment of shock and indecision.
Li Luo saw his chance and let fly, his bleeding finger gratefully straightening.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning, faster than the eye could see.
It cut through the air faster than the air itself realized, sizzling belatedly in the arrow's wake. The arrow thudded into the black armor.
BOOM!
The package of electric power was unleashed all at once.