Chapter 0503: Li Luo Breaks the Stalemate

RUMBLE!

The clouds above maneuvered and milled like armies on a battlefield, marshaling a spectacular ball of electrical energy that roiled wildly before blasting out towards the tree above Li Luo.

Meanwhile, Li Luo was sitting under the tree, watching the lightning ball gather above his head.

His eyes were calm, his body still. But within him, his resonant palaces were in overdrive, sending more and more energy into the tree.

The tree continued to grow, its trunk thickening and lengthening, and more and more branches appearing.

This tree was made from the wood resonance within Li Luo, and it was strengthened with his waterlight resonance and earth resonant power.

It was not just an ordinary tree, but one that was born of four different elements.

Boom!

Finally, the lightning ball reached a crucial point and exploded on the tree.

CRACKLE! POP!

The leaves at the top were incinerated instantly. About a tenth of the entire crown was gone in a blink.

But soon enough, the ethereal attack faded away, energy spent.

The tree was in a miserable state, with more than half its trunk blackened. The entire thing was swaying and rocking slightly in the breeze.

Lu Ming's shoulders relaxed in satisfaction.

But before she could celebrate, she saw the blackened areas of the tree heal rapidly, and a new pulse of vital energy flowed through it. The tree was whole again a moment later, standing tall with new leaves and branches in the same verdant green of before.

Lu Ming's jaw dropped.

This tree was unbelievably strong. It was almost too resilient for her to believe.

She had seen similar moves before, from wood resonance users that she had faced in the past. But those were much weaker—she had blasted through them with a single lightning attack and rendered their regenerative powers ineffective.

Li Luo's tree was different.

"Is it because he's strengthened it with his water resonance?" she wondered. But surely water resonant power alone could not create such restorative power, right?

"Let's see how many waves you can withstand, then!"

It seemed like this was going to be Li Luo's final defense. He was going to make her work for it, and she saw no other way than to pour her blood and sweat into it.

Once this tree was down, the battle would be over.

She stretched out a finger again, injecting lightning resonant energy out into the clouds.

More clouds gathered, layer upon layer, until the sky was all but blotted out.

Boom!

Several moments later, the next attack was ready, and another sizzling ball of lightning flew down.

Ping, ping, ping!

The tree was shaken madly in the storm.

The crown was constantly sheared away and charred by lightning.

It stood silently, accepting the baptism of lightning, wind, and rain. No matter what was thrown at it, the tree stood firm.

Qin Zhulu, Lu Qing'er, and the others all watched, completely engrossed. They had not thought that Li Luo would choose this way to deal with Lu Qing'er.

Both sides were playing to their respective strengths.

Vice Principal Su Xin was full of admiration for Li Luo's rational approach to the problem. Lu Ming's illusion formation was there to confuse. Once you were trapped inside, you were within her control.

Li Luo had not panicked, instead retreating into his own defenses within it. His passivity had nullified the disorientation of the illusion formation.

However, this merely kept Li Luo safe while posing no kind of threat whatsoever to Lu Ming.

As long as this situation did not change, the advantage lay with the latter.

Still, it was hard to think of a better possible outcome. Lu Ming was a dual resonance user as well, and a Third Changing. It was already very good that he was keeping things level.

It was not just the Astral Sage College who was watching—all the other competitors in the Holy Grail Meet were all waiting to see as well.

Who would be the victor?

Boom! Rumble!

The lightning storm was relentless.

The rest of the sea of flowers had already been burned to a crisp.

The tree was the only thing standing in the entire illusion formation.

Li Luo lifted his head and closed his eyes. Another pulse of vital energy, and again his tree was renewed, standing strong against the lightning attack.

He could feel his resonant power draining away rapidly.

Surely Lu Ming was the same.

"Lu Ming," he called out with a laugh, "you didn't expect things to turn out this way, huh?"

"Li Luo," she said coolly, "I'll admit that you're full of surprises, but there's no need to get cocky. You can't break my illusion formation, and you are doomed within it. If you just surrender now, you can keep a little dignity."

"A loss is a loss. No such thing as dignity in a loss," Li Luo called back.

"What's the point of this pointless struggle?" Lu Ming countered.

"Hmm! Wait, you actually think YOU can win this?" Li Luo called out in an astonished tone.

"You can hold out, but the advantage lies with me as long as you are within the illusion formation, since you can't reach me. You can waste time in here, but victory will not be yours."

"Oh really?" Li Luo chuckled. "I disagree." Lu Ming rolled her eyes. It had to be bravado.

Li Luo watched the lightning above him carefully. If he used the power of the three-tailed heavenly wolf, he could definitely break through it with sheer power, but it was not going to be his choice.

He still had other moves.

And they were about to succeed.

"Lu Ming, I think I'm going to win soon." He laughed.

"Li Luo, looks like you've added your own hallucinations to my illusions." Lu Ming snorted.

Li Luo lifted his head again, looking towards the crown of his tree. It had been broken and regenerated countless times.

To be more specific, Li Luo was staring at a black fruit at the top of his tree.

The fruit had been zapped by lightning numerous times, and was releasing a black gas that was slowly spreading throughout the illusion formation. Li Luo gripped the Onyx-Elephant Blade and examined his other arm. The black poison had spread through half his arm, turning it a diseased gray.

Li Luo's sword flashed down.

With a quick twist, he cut out a huge chunk of meat from his arm, deep enough to reveal bone.

Gritting his teeth to resist a groan, he quickly used his resonant power to repair his cut.

"Are you mad?"

Li Luo's self-mutilation shocked Lu Ming.

But at this time she suddenly felt a sharp pain within her body, and her resonant power went haywire.

"What? What's going on?" She paled and checked her body to see black spots spreading across her skin.

"Poison?!" Lu Ming felt a chill run down her spine.

“When was I poisoned?! Is this Li Luo's doing?

“But how?!”