Chapter 0576: The Weakness

The four One Star Hall geniuses swarmed the possessed Ao Bai from different directions, each using their killer moves without holding back.

Mercy could mean their own deaths.

They understood that the disparity against a quasi General Stage cultivator was huge. Although the four of them were good for their level, it meant nothing against this.

Although it was their first time fighting together as four, each came with a ton of battle experience, and they were able to hammer out some working synergy on the fly.

Four mighty attacks came smashing down towards Ao Bai's weak spots.

Ao Bai showed no emotion against his four opponents. Only the crimson moth continued to flutter in his eyes, weaving in and out as it created a hollowness that continued to deepen.

"Dragon's Bulwark!"

In a flash, Ao Bao's resonant power formed a suit of silver-scale armor around him. Each scale was wrinkled in the mystic manner of a dragon's coat, imbued with an additional magical resistance.

Boom!

All four attacks landed on Ao Bai's scale armor in a cacophony of bangs and sparks.

The four gasped as one.

Many scales were lost, but the underlying armor itself was unbroken.

"I've seen information on Ao Bai before. This is his best defensive resonance art, a low grade dragon-general resonance art! Be careful, its defenses are scary strong," Jing Taixu called out to them.

Ao Bai's hands were already moving again, forming a succession of new patterns.

Weng!

The silver scale armor was moving now, reforming into the figure of a dragon. Its muscular tail struck out with a pompous flick.

Boom!

The energy released was enough to smash the ground nearby to fine dust.

The four One Star Hall students retreated a dozen steps hastily. The latent power in that flick was enough to put them on guard.

They could feel their blood heating up just from the passive energy released by that blow.

"Like attacking a tree with a penknife." Li Luo scowled. This dragon-general resonance art was trouble indeed. Even the four of them together could not break through it.

"Dragon's Bulwark is split into two tiers," Jing Taixu told them. "Silver scales and golden scales. It seems like he hasn't reached the second tier yet; otherwise, it'd be a toothbrush instead of a penknife." It seemed like Jing Taixu had indeed done his homework regarding Ao Bai.

"Dragon-general resonance arts are much stronger than tiger-general resonance arts," Li Luo mused to himself. He made a mental note to get some dragon-general resonance arts after the Holy Grail Meet. It seemed like tiger-general resonance arts would no longer serve his needs against stronger opponents.

Dragon-general resonance arts had a much more demanding requirement of resonant power, which was why he had not considered them before. Along with their much higher price point and rarity, it had made the whole prospect rather daunting. Even in House Luolan's archive, dragon-general resonance arts were few and far between.

Out of the four One Star Hall students, only Jing Taixu had a low grade dragon-general resonance art, with the exception of the unique case of Sun Dasheng. Still, even that was only barely executable with the help of his quasi ninth-grade wind spirit avatar's additional worldly natural energy.

"I'm only a step away from the General Stage though," Li Luo thought to himself. "After the Holy Grail Meet, I'll have enough funds to get some dragon-general resonance arts. I really need more weapons up my sleeves before the Housemeet comes around."

Meanwhile, Ao Bao was attacking again. He moved with the sinuous deliberation of a scaled-dragon, his trident poised dangerously.

Both Li Luo and Jing Taixu squirmed as they were the designated head-on tankers of the attack.

Even together, they felt the danger that they were in.

Still, neither was a coward, and they calmly gathered their resonant power and met him accordingly.

CLANG! CLANG!

The Onyx-Elephant Blade and green plantain fan answered with parallel swings that clashed against Ao Bai's trident, releasing a wobbling blast of energy on impact.

The three fought on intensely.

The two One Star Hall fighters in the melee felt the stress of facing a much stronger opponent. Each time the trident swung, it contained enough power to rattle them from head to toe. A few swings later, both felt their arms going numb, and they began to dread the next attack.

Li Luo was able to take a bit more roughing thanks to the strengthening of his Thunderpeal Avatar, but Jing Taixu was already badly shaken up. Both his palms were bleeding badly, and he had to grit his teeth through the pain of each block.

The difference between a Fourth Changing and a quasi General Stage.

"Monkey King's Three Strikes: Strike That Raises the Heavens!"

Sun Dasheng leaped up, his staff shining like never before. He had strengthened it to an awesome thickness, until it looked like a pillar that held up the sky itself. He brought it crashing down towards Ao Bai's head.

Ao Bai turned to face this new threat, and his trident shifted into a bolt of silver light that he thrust upwards, sharp points glinting like the fangs of a scaled-dragon.

BANG!

Blood flowed freely out of Sun Dasheng's mouth, but his fingers continued to scrabble desperately against the bulk of his staff. He would not let go.

He was only a Third Changing, one sub-tier weaker than Li Luo and Jing Taixu, so he was clearly not going to fare well in a hard clash of powers against Ao Bai.

Ao Bai's eyes locked on to Sun Dasheng and narrowed as he prepared to move in for the killing blow.

Boom!

But at this moment, a mystical power crackled. The images of Sun Dasheng, Li Luo, and Jing Taixu wavered, and then a new figure appeared behind Ao Bao.

The sound of lightning gathering nearby caused Ao Bai to freeze for a moment, and the moth in his eyes fluttered a lot more slowly. It could not tell which of these were real or illusions.

The hesitation lasted only a second. With one heroic sweep from Ao Bai's trident, it smashed through everything around him, clearing a breathing space.

However, this brief interaction was enough for the shrewd Lu Ming to notice something.

She came around to stand behind Li Luo and Jing Taixu.

"I sensed that the moth is afraid of lightning resonant power. If I can send one good jolt into Senior Ao Bai's body, it might be able to chase the moth out and un-possess him," Lu Ming quickly said. Li Luo and Jing Taixu turned to stare at her in surprise.

That was very good news indeed.

"There's just one problem. His Dragon's Bulwark armor protects him too well. If we can't break that armor, my lightning resonant power can't reach his actual body," she quickly supplemented.

All four of them were at the Evolving Resonance Tier, so they were all quite stumped against a quasi General Stage expert's defensive dragon-general resonance art.

"Well, Dragon's Bulwark is very strong, but it doesn't mean we don't have a way to punch through it," Li Luo mused thoughtfully. "Besides, I don’t think his full power is unlocked under possession. I mean, the moth couldn't tell the difference between Lu Ming's illusions and reality. So I don’t think it's a very smart moth. I propose we keep it busy with illusions, then the three of us use our best moves to attack the same point all at once to break through Dragon's Bulwark."

Sun Dasheng grinned. "I can use Demon Ape's Will. It's my strongest attack, but I can only keep it up for ten seconds."

Li Luo nodded. This had to be the unfinished Duke Art that Sun Dasheng had. It was probably stronger than his and Jing Taixu's moves, although the ten-second limit made it a bit uncomfortable to pull off.

"I have a dragon-general resonance art too," Jing Taixu offered. Of course, he was talking about the Wind Demon's Wrath that he had used against Li Luo at the end of their fight.

"Li Luo, what about you? Don't have one yet, do you?" Jing Taixu asked smugly.

Li Luo just gave him a small smile. "Didn't need one to beat you. Imagine if I had one."

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Jing Taixu snorted. "You think dragon-general resonance arts are cultivated based on what? A desire that they fall out of the sky and into your head?"

Li Luo did not argue with him. "Don't worry about me. You all just focus on giving your best. I'll break the final defense."

Jing Taixu shot him a suspicious look, but he said no more.

"When the last illusion vanishes, that's the signal," Li Luo said. Lu Ming's illusions were already almost fully dispersed by Ao Bai's trident.

They closed in, improving their positions and preparing their attacks. Then, when the last illusion winked out, all three shot forward at the same time.

Do or bust, this was it.