Chapter 0914: Challenging Lu Qingmei

When Li Luo saw her, a helpless smile emerged on his face. His opponent, on the other hand, was staring at him with a look of burning anticipation. Her slender fingers were tightly grasping the glazed rod in her hands as she grinned with utmost happiness at the sight of her next opponent.

"Banner Leader Qingmei, I had hoped not to encounter you." Li Luo clasped his hands respectfully with a smile.

"It was just a matter of time." Her beautiful eyes focused upon Li Luo. "After watching what happened on the Dragon's Ascent, my desire to exchange blows with you has far exceeded my desire to face Li Qingfeng."

Faced with Lu Qingmei's fervor for battle, Li Luo smiled weakly. "Isn't this the second time we are fighting? I still have to thank you for taking it easy and throwing the battle that time."

Their first battle was in the Fiendish Devil Cave, where Lu Qingmei had not roused her full strength. In the end, she had even gifted him a God Origin Pill.

"If you truly want to thank me, you'll go all out now," Lu Qingmei replied.

"Although my resonant power is slightly stronger than yours, I believe that with your triple resonances, Fiend Finisher Tier cultivation, and dual resonance power at the third realm, we should be basically on the same level. We can fight each other on equal grounds now."

Li Luo's expression gradually turned serious. He then waved his hand, and a mottled, ancient blade appeared.

He knew that with her personality, truly expressing his gratitude would involve giving everything he had in this fight.

Bang!

Lu Qingmei wasn't courteous in the least. Behind her, a dot of light manifested before quickly expanding into a Heavenly Pearl. The worldly natural energy in the vicinity was roused and resonant power poured into her body.

She radiated the pressure of a Heavenly Pearl Tier cultivator.

This was much stronger than what Li Luo had previously experienced.

Entering the Heavenly Pearl Tier would cause one's resonant power to strengthen qualitatively. Additionally, it would allow the user to absorb endless amounts of worldly natural energy, supplementing their reserves. It was their greatest advantage.

If one were to compare the two stages, the Heavenly Pearl Tier was like being equipped with an engine delivering extra power to the user. Broaching this gap was not a simple feat. Li Luo's gaze turned serious. The Heavenly Pearl Tier Lu Qingmei was no easy opponent. If he had not broken through, he might not have had much chance of victory.

Additionally, she had a sturdy foundation. However, both of them possessed superior battle strength when compared to others; Li Luo could probably compete with two-pearl Heavenly Pearl cultivators from outside the lineage.

He activated the three resonant palaces within him. His strongest resonant powers, water and wood, fused together, forming a mighty dual resonant power.

Bang!

The dual resonant power burst forth, surrounding Li Luo's body. It contained Vestiges of Spirituality, which gave the resonant power sentience.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

With his eighth-grade water resonance and seventh-grade wood resonance, the resulting fusion was likely stronger than Lu Qingmei's quasi ninth-grade resonant power.

A flash of excitement could be seen in Lu Qingmei's eyes. She took a step forward with great force, causing the ground beneath her to crack. At the same time, she dragged her heavy, glazed rod along as she rushed towards Li Luo like a prancing deer.

Majestic and dense resonant power wrapped around the glazed rod before she slammed it towards Li Luo's cranium with barbaric force.

This single strike carried all of the power available to her at the Heavenly Pearl Tier and was sufficient to smash apart any opponent at the Fiend Finisher Tier.

Faced with this attack, Li Luo did not plan to retreat. He similarly wanted to know for himself just how strong those geniuses at the Heavenly Pearl Tier were.[1]

Weng!

The Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade started humming, and a moment later, it radiated light. Li Luo took a step forward, gathering his four hundred feet of Fiend Dipper Energy while his dual resonant power intertwined with the radiance on the blade. He then hacked downwards towards Lu Qingmei.

The four hundred feet of Fiend Dipper Energy was like a massive blade that sliced through the skies. The sheer might it exuded seemed capable of leveling even mountains.

Blade light clashed against the rod.

Deng!

A metallic ringing reverberated throughout the air.

In the end, berserk energy undulations roiled in every direction and terrifying explosions could be heard.

Li Luo and Lu Qingmei both felt their palms trembling from the aftershock before wild remnants of energy rampaged towards them. The two glared at each other eye to eye, both refusing to take even a single step back. Instead, they channeled more energy from their bodies to neutralize the aftereffects.

Behind Lu Qingmei, the lone Heavenly Pearl began to swallow up boundless amounts of worldly natural energy to replenish her resonant power.

Within Li Luo's body, the dual resonant power was gradually being depleted, but he was able to hold on thanks to his three resonant palaces full of reserve energy.

The blast of energy finally scattered after ten breaths. Lu Qingmei’s foot stretched out before her figure flashed forward. Countless afterimages of her rod were left in the wake of her speedy strikes, each filled with savage and brutal strength that were all directed at Li Luo's vitals.

Li Luo grasped his blade as he mustered all the power he had, causing his weapon to glow brightly with a solidified layer.

Clang! Clang!

Numerous blows were blocked and the afterimages were shattered.

It was like a tempest had kicked up when the two started exchanging blows. The ground was shattered into pieces and constant explosions could be heard in the sky as a result of their strikes.

After yet another ten breaths, their weapons had collided over a hundred times.

As the fight continued, the fighting spirit within Lu Qingmei's eyes became even more roused. She realized that her current attacks were ineffective and thus no longer held back.

"Duke Art: Heavenly Dragon Scale Armor Art!"

As soon as her voice rang out, numerous scales emerged from Lu Qingmei's slender body, quickly turning into a complete suit of scale armor covering it in its entirety.

The Heavenly Dragon Scale Armor was form fitting, so it wrapped around her delicate body tightly, revealing curves that would make any man's heart stop.

There were even scales that appeared on the side of her face, giving her a charming look.

Her speed, strength, and resonant power all received a substantial boost as a result. She smashed downwards heavily with the glazed rod, easily shattering the blade lights from Li Luo's counter attacks. At the same time, her rod collided with Li Luo's blade, and a terrifying force erupted forth, causing him to be thrown backwards tens of meters.

There were numerous gazes observing the battles from above. Quite a few were focused upon Li Luo and Lu Qingmei's battle. The two were amongst the elites of the Banner Leaders, so their battle was worth paying attention to.

Even the Dragon's Blood Lineage’s Lineage Chief, Li Tianji, was observing their battle. He then turned towards Li Qingying. " Lu Qingmei is a good seedling. She has cultivated the Heavenly Dragon Scale Armor Art to minor completion."

Li Qingying gave a slight smile. "She indeed isn't too bad. Although she is not part of the direct bloodline, her talent is excellent and she will inevitably be a pillar of the Dragon's Scale Lineage in the future. Let’s see how Li Luo reacts to her Heavenly Dragon Scale Armor Art now."

1. TL Note: Makes sense, he fought other Heavenly Pearl Tiers before. ☜