Chapter 0485: Head to Head

The roar of surprise from the students was uplifting to behold.

They stared at Li Luo in disbelief as he made his mad run up the Stairway to Heaven. No one had expected that he would accelerate past Sun Dasheng and Lu Ming.

What in the world was going on?

Nobody understood at all.

Even Qin Zhulu, Bai Doudou, and the rest of the Astral Sage students were just as perplexed.

The other three schools that were supposed to support the Astral Sage College were staring open-mouthed. When this endeavor first started, they were worried that Li Luo would not be able to activate the anima storm.

They had decided to gamble on this cooperation, but this development wiped away any remaining doubts they had.

Li Luo was really something special!

He alone had a serene expression on his face. His move was nothing special—he had just utilized the Waterlight Demon Mirror to trigger a rebound of power. It was a niche move that worked as well as the incoming attack, although Li Luo had managed to master it to the point where the odds were always in his favor, thanks to the light resonant energy that he imbued in it.

And he had actually used not just his normal Waterlight Demon Mirror, but the scaled-up version that he had modified himself—the Waterlight Demon Mirror Phalanx.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

After some tricky finessing, the reflecting effect of the Waterlight Demon Mirror Phalanx was brought to new heights. The torrent of energy sweeping down the Stairway to Heaven was tremendous, which meant that the Waterlight Demon Mirror Phalanx was even more tremendous. With the energy that he reflected, Li Luo had torn a swath deep into the torrent of energy and ran through like a madman.

The gap in the energy was closing ahead of him, but the newly formed energy wave was still weak. Without breaking stride, his Onyx-Elephant Blade flashed out and cut it in pieces as he bounded past the 30th step.

His eyes flicked over to the side...

He was level with Jing Taixu.

Both of them were on the exact same step. The crowd could not believe it.

Another powerful wave of energy roared out.

Jing Taixu did not look over at Li Luo, but he knew that the Astral Sage commander was neck and neck with him. He grew even calmer than before.

Li Luo might be slightly weaker in terms of resonant power, but his arsenal was incredibly versatile and could not be underestimated.

Technically, there was no direct competition on the Stairway to Heaven. One person ascending did not affect the ascension of the others in any shape or form. But after a moment's hesitation, Jing Taixu decided that he would be the first to ascend.

It was not a decision with any real reason behind it. If it had been Lu Ming or Sun Dasheng ahead of him, perhaps he would be a little more graceful in conceding.

But the person was Li Luo.

The fiancé of Jiang Qing'e... That fact alone meant that Jing Taixu could not bear to lose to Li Luo. Not in anything, not even a race to the top of the Stairway to Heaven, even if it had absolutely no bearing upon anything. But to him, how could he talk to Jiang Qing'e ever again if he lost here?

Jing Taixu smiled grimly to himself. “Too bad, Li Luo. It's all Jiang Qing'e's fault for being so damn charming!” He lifted his head and slammed his palms together, summoning a howling, green wind that cycled between his hands at a screaming pace.

A moment later, he moved his hands up to his mouth, cupping it on either side, and he blew.

Demon Wind Funnel!

Whoo!

His wind energy was so concentrated that it was no longer the pale, green hue typical of wind resonance users. It had been concentrated into a forest-green color, and the cone of wind energy blasted out like a horizontal tornado.

The students watched in awe. Some even shuddered as they watched the colossal funnel spin out towards the wave of energy.

Boom!

It sheared through the air itself, a dark-green cyclone that ate up anything in its way.

It paved the way like a bulldozer, shredding a channel through the energy wave.

Jing Taixu pushed on behind it, swiftly climbing the stairway.

The students exclaimed at the sheer power that he had shown.

BOOM!

Just at this moment, another thunderous sound came from Li Luo's side, and the students swiveled to see another tremendous force blast through on his side as well. Li Luo shot forth, just as fast as Jing Taixu.

The crowd watched rapt as the two figures pushed on grimly. It looked like a head-to-head competition.

It was amazing that Li Luo was competing at all. There were few in this competition who could force Jing Taixu to get serious.

Most dumbfounded of all were Sun Dasheng and Lu Ming.

They looked at the two figures way ahead of them, unsure of what to feel.

"Is he using the Profound Water Mirror's reflective capacity? It's a smart move, but his resonance art seems too strong to be true," Lu Ming thought to herself. The water mirror that Li Luo employed was not that rare a move, but she had no idea why his was so strong.

Both Lu Ming and Sun Dasheng understood that Li Luo had grasped the meta of this challenge way better than they had. He had used the most efficient way: harnessing the energy wave against itself. It was effective, fast, and saved him strength.

Neither did it go against the rules.

All they could do was acknowledge his brilliance.

Just like that, Li Luo and Jing Taixu surged ahead, while Lu Ming and Sun Dasheng were left in the dust. But neither of them panicked. On the contrary, they slowed down their pace even more. It did not matter who finished first or last. What mattered was that they finished. There was no point in throwing precious strength into meaningless competition.

Jing Taixu should know this very well as well, which was why they found it very odd. Why was he competing?

Why was he so concerned with Li Luo?

In front of them, Li Luo and Jing Taixu continued their frenzied race up the Stairway to Heaven, like a pair of vigorous salmon climbing up the waterfall.

Wave after wave of energy hit them, and they pushed onwards past each one, undaunted.

The students watched with eyes wide.

Who would be the first to activate their anima cumulonimbus?