In the dead skies of Russet Rock City.
The crimson knight-general looked around at all the hollow-eyed students. "Which should I kill first?" he mused to himself happily.
It pleased him greatly to see all these annoying gnats now standing around like docile lambs waiting for the slaughter.
Finally, his gaze stopped on Lan Lan. The strongest of them, the one who had the Duke Art that had wounded the Bloodtailed Other. Even he had been shocked by that level of power. Pre-merge with the Bloodtailed Other, that attack would have wounded him seriously as well.
"Finis.h.i.+ng a Duke Art while still at the Heavenly Pearl Stage is really extraordinary," he chuckled. It was easy to be generous to the walking dead. He stuck out a finger with a drop of blood energy on it.
"Too bad for you. Killing geniuses is my favorite thing to do," he stated, eyes alive with pleasure.
But his finger froze before he struck. He sensed a sudden surge of threatening energy nearby.
Within the city, a column of crimson energy shot up into the sky, 30 meters high.
The entire city shook with an explosion of power that spread to its outer walls.
The crimson knight-general whirled around in alarm to see a figure rising up through the column.
He frowned. “Wasn't that guy a Resonant Master? He should have no more power than a puff of gunpowder. How has he become this strong?”
He now looked to have Greater Heavenly Resonance power as well. Within the crimson pillar of power, Li Luo was struggling to contain his newfound power. His body was breaking down before his very eyes, with new wounds appearing all across his torso, power spilling out of his body.
And this was only the physical wounding.
More dangerous was the overwhelming l.u.s.t to kill, a craving for violence that grew within him like an urgent hunger. His handsome features were turning more feral by the moment, and it was clearest in his eyes.
Besides the fact that he lacked some bones sticking out of his shoulders, Li Luo was actually looking pretty similar to the crimson knight-general right now.
Li Luo held on desperately to his last sliver of clarity, battling furiously to stay conscious. If he lost his reason here, he would not only be unable to take down the crimson knight-general, but also make things worse.
Li Luo clenched his fist, a white pearl within it.
That was the Seraph's Pearl that he had taken from the Golden Dragon Dao Fields. Although it was only an upper white-eye treasured artifact, it helped him keep his mind intact and control his emotions.
He put the pearl in his mouth and felt a cool, calming wave spread through his entire body, clearing the violent thoughts in his mind. The redness in his eyes faded away a little.
He looked up and locked on to the crimson knight-general.
"You surprised me. So small, to have such a big trump card..." the crimson knight-general said lightly.
"You're a bats.h.i.+t, insane lunatic. You could have been human." Li Luo's voice was ragged, torn apart by the new power within him.
Each word was painful to speak.
"Kid, you're too naive. All you know is good and evil. You don't know anything about the reality of the world. Others feed off the negative emotions of humans. As long as humans exist, Others will not disappear.
"Killing Others is the stupidest thing ever. There is only one way to truly destroy the Others: combine humans with them. When good and evil return to being one, there will no longer be Others, and we will gain even more power. What is there to dislike?
"Only this method can truly save the ma.s.ses from evil," the crimson knight-general said. Even in his bloodthirsty state, Li Luo was shaking his head in disgust throughout the speech.
"You're insane. If humans merged with Others, then the world would be full of abominations like you!"
The crimson knight-general laughed. He stuck out his chest, revealing the alluring demon face. "And what is wrong with me? Again, naive. This is the true me. You are blinded by the incomplete form that humans love so much. When you experience the power of this body, you will understand that the true form is everything." The crimson knight-general paused here. "Your power, it's external. I see how quickly it corrupts you. You won't be able to hold out for long. You might be strong, but not so much stronger than me that you can turn things around. More naivety."
His drivel had also been calculated to buy him time to sense out Li Luo's power.
Li Luo did not reply. The crimson knight-general was correct. With only the first half of the Heavenly Libation Chant, his power transfer was incomplete. He was only at the early stage of Greater Heavenly Resonance power, so he was evenly matched with his foe.
Just as the crimson knight-general had said, Li Luo was too weak to keep this up for long. He would be completely reduced to dust before he could inflict any serious injury to the crimson knight-general.
But he had actually seen through his opponent's delaying tactic. He had welcomed the additional time.
Li Luo slowly raised his hand, summoning his weathered sword.
The Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade.
When Li Luo's energy first surged, he had discovered a golden symbol that suddenly appeared on his weapon's body.
The symbol was majestic.
A Kingmark.
Left on the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade by its last owner, Pang Qianyuan!
"No wonder Gong Shenjun wanted this sword so much—it even has a Kingmark on it." Li Luo had not been able to discover this before because he had not been strong enough. Only a user at the Heavenly Resonance Stage could activate it.
And with this mark, the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade grew much stronger.
It was a superpowered killing weapon right now.
Li Luo wrapped his fingers around the hilt and took a deep breath.
He would have only one chance.
But with the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade's Kingmark, one chance was all he would need.
Li Luo hesitated no longer. Summoning all his energy, he put it into the Onyx-Elephant Blade until it hummed with enough power to warp the void around the blade.
He weaved his sword in a swift pattern, creating a sword wheel that hissed and whispered in the air before him.
"Thousand Watery Knives Wheel."
He slashed out.
The Kingmark on the sword glowed, and a golden light flowed into the sword wheel.
Swis.h.!.+
The blood-red sword wheel blasted out, thundering across the s.p.a.ce between Li Luo and his foe.
Hundreds of meters long, it tore through the rubble of Russet Rock City.
The sword wheel was reflected in the eyes of the crimson knight-general, open wide in terror. He could sense that this attack had enough power to kill him.
This kid was supposed to be equal to him in strength. How had he managed such an attack?!