Chapter 0476: One Attack

The trees on the mountainside were a verdant coat that softened the craggy, harsh surface of the rock beneath, but they were being stripped apart from below by fire, glowing lanes of power in the dim blue of night.

Intense fights were raging on along all three routes to the anima cumulonimbus.

As time ticked on, more squads from more schools were converging. They were also eying the grand prize, and their thoughts turned to the battles that they might have to join.

They did not immediately join the fray.

Firstly, the squads that had rushed here first were still waiting for the rest of their schools to arrive. Secondly, entering the fray blindly might cause the current fighters to team up against them. They chose the smarter, prudent way: watch and wait to see how the battle would develop.

Ideally, they would swoop in when both sides were injured.

Most of the eyes were on the main battle, where the Astral Sage College's commander had revealed... dual resonances.

They were stunned. No one had known that the Astral Sage College would hide an ace like this.

It was a one versus three, yet he was holding his own. That was stupendous power indeed.

But as the number of watchers and backup arrived, an extended battle was not in the Astral Sage College's interests.

They would want to end things quickly and decisively with overwhelming power that declared their strength to the watchers and dissuade any further attacks.

But did the Astral Sage College have such power?

A blast of power rocked the trees nearby, and they all bent obediently in one direction. Leaves and grass billowed in a wave of green.

All four combatants were locked in the ebb and flow of the battle.

As the battle continued, they slowly began to level out the forest around them.

"Saffron Crawler Palm!"

Zhao Xingying slammed his fists into the ground, and bright, yellow vines sprouted forth, bunching up and twisting themselves into a giant palm print that pushed forward at Li Luo.

The Onyx-Elephant Blade twisted out in response, delivering a keen, diagonal slice.

Swish.

The Saffron Crawler Palm was sliced into two and dissolved into golden sparkles.

Zhao Xingying grimaced. He stared at the blade in Li Luo's hand and gnashed his teeth.

His Saffron Crawler resonance was supposed to be resilient! Yet all of his previous attacks had been cut by Li Luo's weapon as easily as a sharp scythe through wheat. His blade was magical... it wasn't just Li Luo!

He could see that it was a gold-eye treasured artifact, and a good quality one at that!

Li Luo's dual resonances were hard enough to deal with on their own. Wielded in conjunction with this godly weapon, he was a real terror.

Zheng Fuxing and Ding Chi appeared by Zhao Xingying's side, looking just as frustrated and concerned. Now they knew just how strong Li Luo was.

Even combined, they could not find a single bit of advantage over him.

No matter how much power they poured, how well synchronized their attacks, Li Luo dealt with it all.

Besides, they could feel that Li Luo was looking for a way to take them down. None of them were his match in a one-on-one, and all of them knew it. The moment they were split up, he would take them down faster than they could blink.

Although all three were fighting together for the first time, their years of battle experience helped them quickly form a working rhythm that kept them alive and fighting.

Still, they knew that the three of them could not take Li Luo down.

Zhao Xingying's eyes flicked to their surroundings. "Friends from other schools," he shouted, "if you're interested in the medium anima cumulonimbus, come join forces with us. We can split the loot!"

They were locked in a stalemate with Li Luo, and perhaps some chaos would break things wide open again.

He believed that even Li Luo would not be able to hold on if one more school joined the fray.

Zhao Xingying's shout echoed around, and some squads stirred restlessly. With his invitation, they now had a clear side to enter the battle on. Zhao Xingying had chosen his moment well.

However, they were still locked in a moment of hesitation.

Li Luo was surprised by Zhao Xingying's straightforward approach. "Any more helpers, and you'll barely have a drop of anima dew for yourself," he laughed.

"A bird in hand," Zhao Xingying said coolly.

"Commander Li Luo, more squads are amassing, and the situation is chaotic. Will you not reconsider our offer? Split the anima cumulonimbus with us, and we can have it peacefully," he pressed.

Li Luo shook his head with a smile.

"It's almost there," he said.

Zhao Xingying's eyes narrowed. "What? What's almost there?"

"Why, the number of people, of course," Li Luo said.

"What do you mean?"

"You see, there weren't enough people just now," Li Luo said patiently. "Even if I beat you all then, it wouldn't have generated enough reputation for me. I thought more people would make for a better show."

Zhao Xingying barked a laugh. "Commander Li Luo, you mean to say you weren't fighting us with all your strength?"

"Fighting? That was barely warm up, you pompous fool."

Ignoring their outrage, he wrapped his fingers anew on the grip of the Onyx-Elephant Blade.

His Resonant Bubble Art could already produce 11 bubbles, just one away from maxing out the art.

Although right now, two of the eleven had poison in them, and Li Luo wouldn't dare to touch those.

He popped seven out of the nine resonant bubbles for now.

The rush of resonant power flooded his two resonant palaces.

He combined them swiftly before they faded.

Dual resonance power!

It burst from his hand and leaped to the Onyx-Elephant Blade, which shimmered with rippling water and the vitality of wood.

The Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade began to hum from the power charged within it.

The sword itself was reacting, satisfied with the power that it was getting.

At the same time, a halo of teal power surrounded the blade.

"Becoming One level?!" Zhao Xingying and the others' eyes almost popped out.

"I guess I'd be happy to give the anima cumulonimbus away to whoever can take this one attack," Li Luo said lightly.

It was not an offer. He didn't let them say yes or no—he simply delivered the attack.

"Thousand Watery Knives Art."

His quiet voice was followed by a thunderous roar, and their vision filled with blue.

Countless blades of water flew towards them in a swarm.

They covered the entire forest.

The forest was shaken, the watchers thrown into a stunned silence.