"Damn, I can't believe the crimson knight-general's still skulking around!" Lu Ming swore angrily.

"We're in trouble now. That's another Heavenly Resonance Stage enemy to take down. Whether he’s at the lesser or greater stage, the squad leaders are all exhausted. How can they fight another one?" Jing Taixu said dispiritedly.

"Son of a bitch!" Sun Dasheng swore.

Li Luo was not happy about the situation either, but he was too busy thinking of a plan to waste time getting angry. He had foreseen such a possibility before, but there was no other way to get around it. The Bloodtailed Other had to be taken down, a nonnegotiable part of the process.

As for the crimson knight-general, he represented the forces that had brought about the Other Disaster that had been the ruin of the Blackwind Empire. They shared a complicated relationship with the Others, but they were equally untrustworthy.

Which meant that their situation was truly shitty.

If the Bloodtailed Other was whisked away a moment away from death, then all they had worked hard for would have been for nothing.

Li Luo stared at the crimson knight-general in the sky, and cold fury crept into his eyes. He looked down at the dark-red bracelet on his wrist. A Heavenly Resonance Stage expert was hard to overcome, but he was not without his own ways of putting up a fight.

The Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf had Greater Heavenly Resonance power, and its strength could be considered elite even at that level. It had been aiming to reach Duke back in the Umbra Cave, and even the grinning demon had been swallowed whole by the wolf. As far as Li Luo could tell, neither the Bloodtailed Other nor the crimson knight-general were comparable in strength.

Which meant that if he were to use this, he would stand a good chance of defeating the crimson knight-general.

Li Luo's eyes flickered. If push came to shove, he would use it, unwilling as he was. He would rather keep this trump card for the Housemeet.

Above him, the First Princess, Lan Lan, and the others were seething quietly. Nobody would appreciate their hard-won fight being claimed by another.

Still, there was nothing else they could do. All eight of them were thoroughly exhausted. The chances of winning against a Heavenly Resonance Stage expert were slim.

"What are we going to do?"

Lan Lan looked down. He had already revealed his Enlightened Sage Scripture and it had wiped him clean of resonant power. He was completely out of this one.

If forced, he might be able to pull out a second Three Kowtows of the Enlightened Sage, but the price to pay would be too terrible to bear.

"I'll give it a try," a quiet voice said.

They all looked to see Jiang Qing'e take a step into the air.

"Qing'e..." the First Princess said, astonished. Although she had a ninth-grade light resonance, she was still only a Fiend Finisher. The gap to the Heavenly Dipper General Stage was too huge, surely.

How was she to face the crimson knight-general, who wasn't even an Other that was weak against light resonance?

The other squad leaders were equally surprised, but this was not the time for naysaying. They had no better idea anyway, and if Jiang Qing'e was stepping forward, then perhaps she had something up her sleeve.

Jiang Qing'e ignored their doubtful looks, clasping her hands together to form a gesture. The ninth-grade light spirit avatar obediently moved back within her body, settling as a glow of light around her torso.

The brilliance of that light resonant energy made even the squad leaders gasp.

Such robust energy... she was indeed stronger than some Heavenly Pearl Stage cultivators they knew!

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Is a ninth-grade light resonance really that unfair?" Qin Yue said in disbelief. The difference between an Earth Fiend and a Heavenly Dipper General was one that they had all experienced firsthand, and they understood best how hard it was to overcome.

And now the Fiend Finisher Tier Jiang Qing'e was delivering power outputs equivalent to the Heavenly Pearl Stage.

Even the First Princess let her surprise and joy show. "Oh, Qing'e, you're such a dear. Who knew you had this hidden!"

Jiang Qing'e's movements were, of course, being watched closely by the crimson knight-general as well. "Ah, a ninth-grade light resonance. I see. No wonder you are so strong. But as I see it, you've only reinforced your resonant power temporarily. How long can you last in that state? One hit? Two?"

"Come find out," she offered calmly.

She extended a hand, then curled two fingers.

Weng!

The thick light resonant energy bunched into threads that weaved themselves into a halo that burned bright and hot, causing a heat blur in the air around it.

Jiang Qing'e attacked decisively, sending the light bunch flying out without hesitation.

The crimson knight-general blinked once. A ninth-grade light resonance was truly a miracle of this world, and not to be underestimated.

His plan had gone perfectly smoothly up to this point. He could not let it fall apart now.

Thinking thus, his armor began to glow red in response, and his crimson resonant power flared out.

Heavenly Resonance Stage!

Finally, his power was officially confirmed to all the witnesses.

Only those at the Heavenly Resonance Stage could ignite the worldly natural energy around them and use it as their own power.

Could Jiang Qing'e's attack really cause harm to the crimson knight-general?

A fiery fist from the crimson knight-general roared out, creating a column of fire that reached the skies. It connected with the light bunch attack from Jiang Qing'e.

But the expected explosion did not happen. Instead, the light vanished at the first moment, winking out completely and suddenly.

The crimson knight-general was stunned.

Was his opponent that weak?

"No!" Reacting too late, he whirled around and saw a stealthy light attack aimed for the Bloodtailed Other!

"Tricked!" So Jiang Qing'e's true intent had been to kill the Bloodtailed Other!

The attack aimed at him had only been a feint!

He was too late to intervene, and again she scored another punishing hit on the Bloodtailed Other.

The students cheered.

"All those with strength left, help her! If we kill the Bloodtailed Other, we can all break our spirit mirrors and leave!" Lan Lan shouted.

Gong Shenjun stepped forward with a suffering smile. "In that case, let me force the impossible and try to help what I can."

He took a deep breath and then spat out a jet of silver light from his mouth. It flew out in the form of a scaled-dragon.

Roar!

The roar of a scaled-dragon could be heard as it flew out beside Jiang Qing'e's attack, clipping on the injured tail of the Bloodtailed Other.