Chapter 0497: Red Carpet to the Core Arena

Dragon tribe... an extremely strong and mysterious tribe.

They were part of the apex layer of the food chain among spirit beasts.

Of course, a dragon resonance was considered a beast resonance.

It was said that those who possessed dragon resonances had a special ability called dragonfear, which weakened the effects of other beast resonance users significantly. Of course, the effect was slightly weaker against pure elemental resonance users.

Still, this unique ability proved that dragon resonances were, at some fundamental level, superior to the other common beast resonances.

Back when Li Luo had been considering his third acquired resonance, he had of course thought about this unique and mighty beast resonance, but he was well aware that he would have to procure something with dragon essence.

Objects with dragon essence were extremely hard to come by. Li Luo had scoured all the treasures of the Golden Dragon Bank and found none.

With that, he had given up on the notion—no point dying on this hill.

But he had found one here in the Hall-level competition. A dragon essence object.

The dragonpearl he was now holding in his hand.

He could clearly feel the heat of the dragon fire within, and he had no doubt that it was worth trying to use it to temper an acquired dragon resonance.

If he succeeded, it could well be his third primary resonance.

Then again, dragon resonances were further split into many different types, each of different strengths. And there might be no way to find out before he refined it.

His fingers tightened around the pearl, savoring the feel of latent energy at his disposal and the potential of what he could achieve with it.

He looked down at the black plaque in his hand. Materials with dragon essence were rare, and they had strict and complicated conditions and creation processes. It wasn't as simple as gathering some dragon's bloodfire.

Which made the black plaque all the more enigmatic and powerful.

"Heavenly King Li's bloodline... What in the world is it, actually?”

He had no answers, so Li Luo gave up on the thought. He carefully stowed the garnet dragonpearl and black plaque.

It was really a piece of unexpected luck. A dragon essence object was immeasurably valuable, especially to an acquired resonance user like himself.

Perhaps it alone was enough to justify his participation in the Holy Grail Meet.

Li Luo looked up from his possession management and finally took a good look at Dragonbone Island, considering his next move.

The island itself was red ocher in color, with large, reddish-brown trees that stretched up to the skies. These trees were completely bare of leaves, and their red, skeletal branches were menacingly raised across the skyline. Beyond them was a jagged mountain range that promised a harsh and chilly terrain at the top.

"So this is the stage for the final battle, huh..." Li Luo found the island especially quiet, but he was not too bothered by it. After all, he had been in the Dragon's Belly for a long time. A round of eliminations had probably passed him by already.

Silence just meant that people were resting up.

By Li Luo's estimation, less than 10 percent of the students who reached the island remained.

That was good. It saved him time.

"I must be the guy who had the easiest journey here." Li Luo chuckled to himself. Thanks to Lu Qing'er's Nightmarish Eversnow Platemail and the black plaque absorbing most of the dragon's bloodfire for him, his journey through the Dragon's Belly had been as good as a leisurely stroll. The others would have been yelping their way over hot coals just to make it here.

Even someone as strong as Jing Taixu had no choice but to flee once his anima dew membrane weakened, not daring to linger.

After a moment's rest to compose himself, Li Luo set off for the middle of Dragonbone Island.

He moved briskly but without hurry, giving himself time to take in the surroundings and note signs of battle.

Each time he came across a battlefield, he tried to get a rough gauge of the numbers remaining and strength of the fighters before moving on.

As he neared the middle, Li Luo spotted a few heavily injured students. They were on the verge of being eliminated, but they had not yet broken their anima gourds, choosing instead to linger on this island for a while longer. When Li Luo appeared in front of them, they acted as though he were a ghost.

They did not understand why he would appear at this time and place.

Had he been hiding?

But Dragonbone Island was not large. With so many people crowding it, there wasn't much room to hide. But the sauntering Li Luo did not seem like he had been in many fights. He looked fresh as a spring flower, as if he'd just gotten out of bed or something.

Li Luo smiled affably at them, then he asked a few simple questions. Had they seen Jing Taixu? Where was Lu Ming?

But they merely rolled their eyes at him. Some even chose to break their anima gourds on the spot and leave. They had fought tooth and nail for a chance here, and their efforts had been frustrated. Seeing Li Luo strolling through the battlefield like a visitor was doubly frustrating.

Li Luo did not mind. He continued on deeper into Dragonbone Island.

Approximately two hours later.

Li Luo was nearing the core arena now.

He had to be the only one on Dragonbone Island to have reached so deep and showed up to the finals without having fought a single battle yet.

The core arena was an extremely tall and steep mountain that reached all the way into the clouds.

There were two paths that wound up its conical face.

At the top was the Dragonbone Throne. If anybody could sit on it without facing resistance, the strongest student title of the Hall-level competition would belong to them.

Surely Jing Taixu was hauling ass there so he could plant said ass on the throne.

Although the Enlightened Sage College had been similarly decimated in the Dragon's Belly, Jing Taixu alone was probably strong enough to reach the core arena, Li Luo believed.

Which route would he have chosen?

Li Luo looked at the two routes and scratched his head. Then he fished out a piece of skygold.

He flipped it in the air, then he smothered the gleam of the golden coin between his palm and the back of his hand.

He decided to take the left path.

He liked this path. It was a good path.

And a little ways up the path, he could hear the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.