Chapter 0492: Perilous Situation

When Jing Taixu appeared, the rest of the Astral Sage students immediately understood what had happened.

They were being ganged up on.

By two powerhouses, one of which was last iteration's champion, no less.

Li Luo turned a cold smile to Jing Taixu. "Looks like Friend Jing Taixu is still upset by the one-step difference on the Stairway to Heaven."

"Not exactly," Jing Taixu answered seriously. "More accurately, your performance on the Stairway to Heaven made me realize that you were a real threat. That was why I gave you respect and set a trap. I felt that if I didn't do so, the Hall-level competition might well end up with an upset."

"Well, what an honor," Li Luo said. "And where is Lu Ming?" he asked, looking around. "I feel like getting two champions to gang up on me is quite an impressive accomplishment."

"Ah, not here." Jing Taixu smiled. "I just asked her for help with this illusion formation. I'm sure she's more than happy to see the two of us fight."

"Happy to fight someone while others wait to clean us up?" Li Luo said sarcastically. "You can't be that stupid, Jing Taixu."

"I had no choice." Jing Taixu shrugged. "You're more dangerous than she is."

"So an early ambush... aiming to take out the Astral Sage College's whole contingent in one hit. Not afraid you've bitten off more than you can chew?"

"Please, Li Luo. You should give me some credit. Do you think I would give you even a sliver of a chance in my plan?"

Jing Taixu pulled out a huge plantain fan, the leafy fan shining with a golden dot on the stalk. "Don't blame me for being so cruel. All's fair in war."

A gold-eye treasured artifact.

"Although I would have loved to fight you fair and square on Dragonbone Island, I have the school's win to think about. Eliminating you with the terrain advantage is the most prudent move. But don't worry, I'll carry your hopes on and win the One Star Hall strongest student title for us," Jing Taixu finished with a small snicker.

He brought the fan down in a massive sweep.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The fan called forth a tornado dozens of meters wide, flying out towards Li Luo's group.

The wind swept the Dragon's Belly fire into a new fury, catching flames into its deadly swirl and becoming a fire tornado.

The temperature climbed dramatically.

The sea below them was bubbling furiously.

Li Luo and the others were staring down in dismay. Their anima dew membranes were evaporating at a frightful pace. That was Jing Taixu's plan.

He did not intend to fight them head-on. Instead, he would just keep fanning the flames until they were all eliminated through heat.

Their best move now was to leave the area, but the illusion formation was preventing it. And if they panicked and moved too recklessly, the fire tornado would sweep them up and eliminate them anyway.

If they did nothing, they would die like sitting ducks. Roasted. Roasted ducks.

But what could they do against that fire tornado?

It was a mini natural disaster of its own.

"I'll do it!"

Bai Doudou stepped forward, short hair blowing backwards majestically. Her face was grim as she prepared to deal with the tornado. She knew that Jing Taixu was fueling it with his wind resonant power, wielding the tornado like a hammer to crush them. She was the only wind resonance user they had. If she could change the direction of the tornado, perhaps not all of them would die.

Bai Doudou leaped right in without bothering to wait for Li Luo's response. By the time she shouted, her Cherry Blossom Spear was stabbing out with wind resonant power charged in it.

"Wind, rise!"

She sent forth her own green tornado, although it was clearly nowhere as powerful as Jing Taixu's.

Jing Taixu was not only stronger in terms of cultivation level, he also had a quasi ninth-grade resonance. And to top it all off, his plantain fan was no ordinary weapon.

Bai Doudou's wind resonant power howled forth, picking up speed before it clashed with the larger fire tornado.

Boom!

It was winds that clashed, and yet the resultant sound was loud as thunder.

The heated environment welcomed the new winds, greedily taking up the extra air. The temperature climbed.

The situation grew bleaker and bleaker.

Both sides backed away from the winds, unable to get too close.

But the clash of tornadoes did not last long. Bai Doudou's strength waned before Jing Taixu's. A few minutes later, her own tornado was completely dispelled.

With a soft cry of pain, Bai Doudou stumbled backwards.

She gritted her teeth and made ready to try again.

Li Luo's arm stopped her. "Don't force it. It'll only make our situation worse."

He gestured to their anima dew membranes. The two tornadoes had only made them evaporate faster than ever.

"What do we do, then?" Bai Doudou said exasperatedly. "Sit here and wait for death?"

Li Luo's mood was grave. This illusion formation did not do much in the way of offense; its purpose was simply to hold them here. Ordinarily, it should not be difficult to unravel, given enough time. But they had to deal with the fire tornado, both a threat in itself, and a constant engine cranking up the heat around them. Their anima dew membranes were evaporating too quickly, and time was a precious and scarce resource right now.

"Yeah, we're going to have to go for it," Li Luo stated.

"This fire tornado is destructive. It's going to break down the illusion formation too. If we can just hold out for a while more, the illusion formation should break, and we can leave.

"I'm the commander, so I'll go first!"

He stepped out, resonant power bunching behind him as he prepared to leap into the cyclone.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him, and the person stepped ahead of him.

Qin Zhulu.

"Li Luo, what you need to do right now is remain behind. You alone stand a chance at defeating Jing Taixu and winning the strongest student title.

"You're not cannon fodder.

"If cannon fodder is needed, let it be us. Go and win this for us."

Bai Doudou stepped beside Qin Zhulu, punching him gently on the shoulder. "Well, we won't die from this, I guess."

Yi Lisha grinned. "Hey, never thought the day would come when Li Luo would depend on us for protection, eh? How moved are you right now? Gonna cry?"

Lu Qing'er smiled wordlessly and stepped to stand by their side.

Wang Hejiu was last, his face emotionless. "Li Luo, don't let us down."

Li Luo felt a blaze of warmth within him, a comfortable sensation unlike the scorching heat outside. He smiled and shook his head, then he shouldered his way between them to stand beside Qin Zhulu, Onyx-Elephant Blade in hand.

"First, last, front, back, phooey. Let's do this together." He laughed.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He turned his eyes forward with a grim smile on his face. Jing Taixu felt the killing intent.

Boom!

The fire tornado roared ahead of them as all six gathered their powers, then they jumped forward to meet it.