The gorge was in a woeful state, as though every natural disaster in the book had just passed through.
Wang Hejiu and Duze Beixuan walked out from the smog, smiling as they looked at Xin Fu’s slumped form.
“One down, Li Luo,” Wang Hejiu said. Xin Fu might have stopped their attack, but he had paid a heavy price. He was out for the count for the rest of the battle.
Without his interference, they could run more concerted attacks against Li Luo. A powerful advantage for them.
“Anything else that can turn the tables?” Duze Beixuan sneered.
Li Luo looked at them calmly. “You know what? Turning the tables is, like, the most classic of classic plots for the hero.”
Wang Hejiu snorted. “Still living in your sweet, summer dreams? Li Luo, every single student in the Astral Sage College fancies themselves a hero. They were all elevated above the rest around them, hailed as geniuses.
“Only after arriving at the Astral Sage College do they realize that they’re merely better than average. Here, they see greatness above them.
“You… should realize that too.”
Li Luo shook his head. “I guess you still don’t believe in me.” He sighed. “I guess I’ll have to show you another special quality a hero has… breakthrough in battle.”
He took a long, shuddering breath, and the flow of worldly natural energy warped around him. Wang Hejiu and Duze Beixuan jumped back, alarmed.
Water resonance and wood resonance energy!
The two aspects flowed deep into Li Luo’s body, resonating deeply within him. His resonant power suddenly jumped to the Upper Flowering level.
A sub-tier improvement.
The two of them stared in disbelief at the newly improved Li Luo.
“Believe me now?” Li Luo said with a smug grin.
“You purposely withstood our attacks to stimulate the resonance seeds within your body,” Wang Hejiu said clinically. “The great pressure of battle forced the resonance seeds within you to the point of breakthrough.
“Li Luo, that was ballsy. If it hadn’t gone well, your internal organs would be exploding right about now, and your resonance seeds would be shattered.”
Li Luo grinned. “Well, they’re looking very unshattered at the moment.”
“And don’t get ahead of yourself. You’re pressuring us well, I’ll grant you that. But beat us? I think that’s more than you can handle.”
Duze Beixuan was of the same mind. “One small step, from Lower to Upper Flowering. You think that changes anything?
“We’ve dragged this out enough. Let’s finish him,” he said to Wang Hejiu.
Wang Hejiu nodded. The two shot forth like identical cannon bursts. Toxins and the Kun’s sonic attack came at Li Luo again, with a terrifying magnitude that declared the resolve of the two attackers.
Li Luo faced the roiling mass of venom and vibrations, searing the picture into his mind. He closed his eyes and gripped his swords.
Two different-colored resonant powers covered a blade each.
He pressed the swords together, scraping blade against blade.
Screech!
The shrill grating sound echoed against the gorge walls.
From the instant the blades touched, Li Luo’s two resonant powers began to resonate with each other, creating a blinding light!
A terrifying burst of resonant power.
Weng!
He sent out two crescent slashes of resonant power from his shortswords, far more powerful than anything his resonant powers could have individually produced.
They cut through the destructive wave easily, both poison and sonic attacks vaporizing upon contact.
A rare moment of silence gripped the gorge as rocks quietly fell apart, cleanly sliced in two.
Duze Beixuan and Wang Hejiu stared in shock.
Their combined resonance arts, defeated by one slash from Li Luo?
“That power…”
Wang Hejiu’s face was twitching. “It’s beyond a First Pattern,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Dual resonances.” Duze Beixuan spat these words like a curse.
“But his control is probably unstable. He might not be able to use it a second time…”
Before he finished speaking, Li Luo sent his blades slashing down again, and two more identical slashes of energy fanned out.
Weng!
They were headed straight for the pair.
Their fear showed, and they answered with their best resonance arts.
Daaaang!
A hollow, metallic ringing, then their resonant powers were brushed aside.
Wang Hejiu’s folding fan and Duze Beixuan’s spear shuddered from the impact, and both were forced a dozen steps backwards.
Desperation and anger.
This was the power of dual resonances? Li Luo had only just reached the Upper Flowering Tier, and yet he was stronger than two First Pattern cultivators combined?
“Dual resonances are finicky in control. He must be faking it somehow. Surely not a third…”
“Quiet.” Wang Hejiu interrupted Duze Beixuan. “Li Luo must be in the zone, a temporary high after getting his dual resonances for the first time. It will definitely end. Don’t force the issue now. We retreat, play for time, and wait for him to lose focus. He’ll be weak then.”
Duze Beixuan was prickly at being overruled, but he swallowed it. Defeating Li Luo was the priority here.
“Let’s back off.”
The two began to move away as quickly as they could.
A black curtain fell upon them, and they lost their sense of direction for the moment.
Xin Fu’s hood fell off his face, exposing his gaunt face, which was even paler than usual. “Leader,” he groaned. “There’s really not a drop of power left in me…”
“Damn, it’s Xin Fu!” Duze Beixuan snarled. Hadn’t they wiped him out already?
Wang Hejiu was frustrated too. The black veil was harmless enough, but it confused their orientation. They might well be walking straight into Li Luo.
As they stumbled around in panic, a familiar rumbling came from the ground, and they felt something grab their ankles.
“Don’t panic, it’s Qi Luozi!” Wang Hejiu hurriedly stopped Duze Beixuan from snapping them in two.
Shoosh!
The vines swept them off their feet, dragging them out of the black veil.
They landed heavily beside Qi Luozi. “Retreat!” Wang Hejiu shouted.
The three turned around, but instead of the singular passage of the gorge, there were now dozens of paths before them.
“An illusion.” Bai Mengmeng’s doing.
It was just about useful enough in slowing them down.
Li Luo closed his eyes and crossed his swords, this time digging deep into the shining points of light within him and channeling his twin powers down into the ground.
The ground split open, and a jade tree began to grow at super speed, sprouting leaves as it grew. After a few moments, it was already a tree of resonant power about two meters tall.
Wang Hejiu and Duze Beixuan stared at it warily.
“Tiger-general resonance art, Warrior Cultivar?”
“How did it grow so fast? What’s he up to now?”