Chapter 0912: Another Record

As Li Luo stood on the head of the stone dragon with his blade in hand, the crowd both within and outside were deathly silent.

They all seemed a little lost at this sight. Their minds were unable to comprehend the sheer impact that this young man had upon them, and their faces were frozen in disbelief.

Li Luo had ascended to the top of the stone dragon, reaching the thirty thousand foot summit.

What was more terrifying to them was the way he had done so!

He had directly vanquished the fused nine dragons!

How had he accomplished it? Was this something a Fiend Finisher was able to achieve?

In that moment, if not for the fact that they knew that the five Lineage Chiefs were closely observing his every action, some would have yelled out that something was amiss!

The nineteen other Banner Leaders were deep in thought and utterly silent.

Even Li Fengyi and Li Jingtao were staring at the scene wide-eyed. They stared at Li Luo's figure in disbelief. Although they had hoped to see him conjure a miracle, the fact that it had actually happened left them incredulous.

This was especially true for Li Jingtao, who had personally experienced the Nine Dragons Becoming One's dark-gold flame. He knew exactly how frightening it was, and even his absolute defenses were unable to resist it. Li Luo, on the other hand, had hacked it to pieces...?

"Impossible... IMPOSSIBLE!" Li Hongli's face was full of confusion and she shook her head. The distraught look on her face could not hide the absolute shock in her heart.

"I heard that a trace of the Heavenly Dragon's Will could be found within that flame. How could a weakling at the Fiend Finisher Tier possibly destroy it? In the history of the Dragon's Ascent, all those who were able to ascend to the peak relied only on their bodies and exceptional resonant power to resist. I have never heard of anyone being able to directly slaughter it!" she babbled. The rest of the Banner Leaders agreed with her. This had never happened before in the history of the Dragon's Ascent.

The ones who had succeeded were geniuses amongst geniuses. Their strength was an entire level above Li Qingfeng’s, and they had borrowed the aid of their resonant power to forcefully block the roasting of the flame dragons, ascending to the top with much difficulty.

There were other geniuses in the past who had attempted a similar strategy as Li Luo, attempting to destroy the flame with their own attacks. However, the flame was enhanced with the Heavenly Dragon's Will, and cultivators at their level did not have the means to even harm such an ephemeral concept. No matter how strong their resonant power was, it was difficult to do so. Even the strongest amongst the participants were only at the Heavenly Pearl Tier and naturally did not have the means to do so. Although it was merely a strand of will, it was akin to an invincible monster that they could not tangle with.

What was thought to be impossible had been achieved today.

It was no wonder all the Banner Leaders were completely taken aback.

They did not know what sort of method Li Luo had utilized to vanquish the Heavenly Dragon's Will.

The method was incomprehensible, but the result was not. Otherwise, the elders who were observing the trial would already have said something.

The silence from them also indicated that Li Luo had not borrowed external means to achieve this victory.

If Li Luo was truly skillful enough to cheat before all five Lineage Chiefs, that ability alone would qualify him to become the Dragon's Head.

Thus, even Li Hongli, who was previously in denial, turned pale and fell silent after her words were said. Otherwise, her unreasonable doubts would only paint her as a clown.

She glared at the blade-wielding figure standing at the top, only consoling herself with the fact that successfully reaching the top of the Dragon's Ascent did not mean that Li Luo would definitely become the Dragon's Head.

If Li Qingfeng was able to achieve victory during the Scales Seizure, the situation would turn in his favor.

Still, regardless of how she tried to console herself, she could not contain the fear that she was feeling in the depths of her heart. She realized that this country bumpkin from the outer divine continent who was supposed to be a level weaker than all of them had truly surpassed the so-called talents from the inner divine continent. And if Li Luo truly became the Dragon's Head, wouldn't the geniuses who had been raised on a wealth of treasures and resources be no different from wastrels? Li Taixuan suppressing his entire generation was bad enough. Would his son repeat the same feat in their generation? The air above had plunged into a brief period of silence. The elders beneath the five Lineage Chiefs had complicated expressions. Many of them were from Li Taixuan's generation, and seeing Li Luo ascend to the top had reminded them of what they had witnessed countless years ago. They could only watch helplessly as Li Taixuan forged his way to the top alone.

Lineage Chief Li Tianji from the Dragon's Blood Lineage said, "It seems that the Cosmic Sword Intent that Li Luo utilized was able to overcome the Heavenly Dragon's Will. This Duke Art is no weaker than a Destiny-grade."

The Dragon's Scale Lineage’s Lineage Chief Li Qingying commented, "It is even more impressive than your average Destiny-grade Duke Art. From what I know, the Dragon's Fang Lineage doesn't possess such a Duke Art."

Destiny-grade Duke Arts were considered top-tier techniques in all of the lineages. Even the number of elders who wielded such arts was extraordinarily tiny, so there was no need to mention a young man.

The other lineages were all very clear of the fact that they had never heard of the Dragon's Fang Lineage possessing the Cosmic Sword Intent Destiny-grade Duke Art.

Additionally, the sword intent was so domineering that it seemed like it could even wipe out the sun, the moon, and the stars. This was something even they would pay attention to.

Li Tianji glanced at the silent Li Jingzhe with a wry smile. "Unless this is an art left behind by the Ancestor."

As the Mountain Ruling Chief, Li Tianji was privy to numerous secrets. Thus, he knew that the Ancestor had left behind an incomplete Duke Art in the Dragon's Fang Lineage.

The other three Lineage Chiefs were slightly astounded by this statement, so they glanced at Li Jingzhe. An art left behind by the Ancestor?

With the Ancestor's breadth of experience and means, how could an art he left behind be simple?

Li Tianji continued, "The arts left behind by the Ancestor can only be used by those connected to them by fate. Lineage Chief Jingzhe is the type of person who prioritizes rules beyond anything else, so he couldn't have coached him privately... right?"

His tone was piercing and almost seemed interrogatory.

Each of the Lineage Chiefs were independent, but as the Mountain Ruling Chief, Li Tianji had the right to supervise the rest of them.

Li Jingzhe smiled wryly. "Li Luo possesses extraordinary talent. The fact that he was able to master this technique is proof that he is destined for it. The Ancestor left this art behind for someone to complete it in his stead. I doubt he would want to see it gather dust in the treasury forever."

Still, Li Luo being able to wield the Myriad Resonances Dragon Fang Sword Formation naturally implied that Li Jingzhe had a part to play in facilitating his cultivation. Otherwise, who knew how long it would have taken?

That being said, how he had facilitated it was not something he had to tell the rest. Li Tianji's probing words were meaningless; they would not change anything.

In any case, he could always just send people to the Dragon's Fang Lineage to investigate.

Li Tianji similarly understood this and thus changed his tone with a smile. "Being able to cultivate an art created by the Ancestor is his fortune. It’s no wonder he destroyed the Heavenly Dragon Will. However, I'm not sure if another strand of the Heavenly Dragon's Will can be refined in time for the next Dragon's Ascent."

"Still, this counts as a record. Youths are high-spirited, and despite him ruining the Heavenly Dragon's Will, his performance was exceptional. Li Taixuan's son has truly inherited his talent." Li Qingying grinned in response.

"Now that they have suffered through the Dragon's Ascent, it's time to reap the fruits of what they have sowed." When he finished speaking, he stretched his hand out and pointed into the air. Then the mountain-like, stone dragon shuddered, and a draconic roar resounded throughout the skies and the earth.

After that, everyone on the stone steps could feel dense Heavenly Dragon energy all around them, emanating from the body of the stone dragon they were on. It then poured into their bodies.

Meanwhile, Li Luo, who was on the dragon's head, received an even greater amount of Heavenly Dragon energy.

The Heavenly Dragon energy that was previously within their bodies rapidly merged with the Heavenly Dragon energy surging up from the stone dragon. Immediately after, the fusion of energy seemed to have ignited, and dense energy wafted in every direction.

The energy then solidified into a mist that wrapped around Li Luo's body.

On the steps beneath, something similar was happening to each Banner Leader.

Each and every one of them could clearly feel their bodies undergoing a magical process of infusion with this energy and being reborn.

This was the Sanctified Dragon's Body taking embryonic form.