The huge, crimson sword wheel barreled through the city, smashing through everything in its way.
The crimson knight-general's face changed.
He could feel the lethality of that attack, even for him.
What had the kid done?
The crimson knight-general did not dare disrespect the attack. Opening his mouth, he pulled out a rose-silver stopwatch from within himself. With each chime of the piece, a ruby sonic wave pulsed out.
The rose-silver stopwatch had runes on it that absorbed worldly natural energy, causing it to pulse even more strongly.
There was also a golden eye mark on the back of the piece, marking it as a gold-eye treasured artifact.
The rose-silver stopwatch rose in the air to meet the crimson sword wheel from Li Luo.
SWOOSH!
The collision shook the entire city. Dusty walls brittle with neglect crashed down into dust, raising a cloud all across the city that hung like fog.
The aftershocks were awesome and terrible to behold.
Li Luo was duly impressed by himself. When would he have such power for real, he wondered. At the same time, he was closely watching the clash of attacks.
The crimson sword wheel spun at great speed, producing a fearsome cutting power that the rose-silver stopwatch did its best to defend against.
Li Luo could sense that the defenses of the rose-silver stopwatch were failing. The cycle of swords had no end, and the slashes were relentless. The stopwatch would soon fail.
"What a powerful Kingmark!"
With the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf's power alone, he would only have been level with the crimson knight-general, barring his acquisition of the Heavenly Libation Chant's second half that would unlock the full power of a Greater Heavenly Resonance cultivator.
But he was winning this battle hands down all because of the Kingmark that was inscribed on the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade.
The additional layer of golden power that had turned his crimson sword wheel from good to epic.
Clang, clang, clang!
The urgent smashing of knives against the rose-silver stopwatch continued, and a satisfying crack rang out a moment later.
The crimson knight-general paled. His eyes widened and then narrowed in realization.
He had spotted the golden aura around the attack.
"That's... King qi?!" he screamed shrilly in disbelief.
King qi was, as the name implied, produced by Kings. “How could a mere Resonant Master have such power?! Is this kid the progeny of a King or something?! No wonder he is so strong!”
The crimson knight-general turned to flee now. This was no place for him to linger. He had thought about killing off all of the students after creating his true form, but now it seemed like the last part of his plan had gone awry. There was a big, bad wolf hiding among the students!
"I just need to get out. Now that I have my true form, I just need to return to Thunderpeal Mountain and devour the Thunderpeal Tree, and I might well make it to Duke in the future!"
The temptation of reaching the Duke Stage in the future incentivized him to let the Red Clay Province go. Now that all the schools had their attention on it, it was time for him to flee anyway.
Li Luo was taken aback by the crimson knight-general's choice to flee, and he inhaled sharply, his killing intent still rising within him.
He had paid such a heavy price to activate the power of the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf and even the Kingmark on his weapon. If his foe got away, wouldn’t that be a loss?
Li Luo's face was already badly ravaged by the corruptive power of the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf, but he continued to dig deep and take more power, sacrificing the flesh of two fingers so that they became nothing but white bone.
Beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead from the exertion.
Swoosh!
Forcing more power into the attack, it finally broke through the rose-silver stopwatch, which fell from the air.
Li Luo reached out to pluck it from its fall, then he stuffed it into his pocket sphere.
Hey, a gold-eye treasured artifact was quite valuable. The young lord of House Luolan had to watch his finances properly.
With the blocking artifact out of the way, Li Luo's attack continued on its forward path, and it caught up to the crimson knight-general in a trice.
The crimson knight-general swore. If he had known such a danger awaited him, he would have escaped after merging with the Bloodtailed Other.
Still, no point in crying over spilled milk.
He knew what he had to do. He reached down into his chest and pulled the face right off his flesh.
The demonic face struggled and screamed in pain.
He hurled the Bloodtailed Other's essence out behind him with a vengeance. All these years of plotting to merge with it, and now he had to sacrifice it.
The demonic face was thrown directly into the path of the sword wheel.
“EEEK!”
The painful screams of the Bloodtailed Other, now reduced to a passive face, rang out loudly and miserably as it was cut to pieces by Li Luo's attack, although the attack was stopped as well.
Finally, the attack had been defended against, although the price had been almost too high to bear for the crimson knight-general.
He could not care about it at this time. Removing the Bloodtailed Other from his body had scrambled his own internal flow of power, and the remaining vestiges of corruption were wreaking havoc within him.
He had to flee.
He cursed Li Luo all the while. He would remember him well. After he left the Red Clay Province, he would report this up and get more information on the kid. The little bastard would pay in the future!
Li Luo would have loved to finish off the crimson knight-general and tie things up, but he was already losing control of his body. If not for the Thunderpeal Avatar, he would have already been reduced to a skeleton.
He could also feel that the wolf's power was overtaking him, and the animalistic instinct was starting to rule his body.
He wanted to kill. Had to kill.
His eyes turned red.
He tried to close them. He could pay no more attention to the crimson knight-general.
As his eyelids drooped down over the crimson knight-general, he saw a brilliant flash of light in the air. Nails of light and fire, blazing down to smash into the crimson knight-general. BOOM!
A howl of misery from the enemy.
"Demonbane Nails... Qing'e's recovered!"
Li Luo relaxed and let himself fall.
He did not land. Inches from the ground, he was caught in a tender and fragrant embrace.
"Don't... don't touch me."
Through the remnants of his blurred vision, he knew who had come for him. He was afraid that he would hurt her in his madness, and reached out weakly to push her away from him.
The person did not leave, and he saw a blurry face lean over his own.
A cool sensation near his lips.
And then a wondrous burst of energy flooded into his mouth and then the rest of his body.
Chapter 0590: Final Score
Li Luo was unconscious for some time.
In his fevered sleep, his spirit succumbed to the red haze of violence invading his mind, and his own consciousness faded to a whisper of what it had been. The killing intent surged again and again within him. Luckily, Li Luo was resilient, and he managed to hold on to a sliver of consciousness.
Just when he was about to fully fail, a burst of holy energy flooded into his mind and body. It was radiant and wonderful, and the demented thoughts fell away like bats scattering from the midday sun.
Li Luo's consciousness quickly seized control of his body again.
His eyelids slowly fluttered open.
Before him was the wreckage of the city, and some new bones among the old.
"Awake?" A familiar voice murmured beside his ear. The voice was clear and calm, but he knew it well enough to detect poignant worry in it.
Li Luo turned his head to see a beautiful figure sitting in the lotus position. She was as beautiful as he remembered, perfection from every angle.
For him, the most stunning aspect of her beauty were those golden eyes. They held strength to match her beauty.
Li Luo's gaze dipped a little to her lips, and he was startled to see that there were bite marks on them.
With a jolt of realization, he recalled a vague memory from when he was semi-conscious.
The warm feeling on his face, and the infusion of light resonant energy.
Could it be...
Li Luo closed his eyes, letting his body crumple and fold as he moaned.
"Qing'e, I need more light resonant energy healing!"
"Seems like you've been corrupted. Let me ease your pain and send you along to your death," she said. There was steel in her voice as she reached for her sword.
Li Luo unfolded himself faster than a squashed spring. "Ah, what a terrible corruption this is," he moaned, "but I have managed to overcome it with great difficulty."
"Tell me if you feel yourself succumbing," she urged him strongly. "I will ease your pain."
Li Luo sulked. "Qing'e, that's too cruel."
"Weren't you the one who started this charade first?"
Li Luo laughed nervously, then he snuck another look at her pretty, little mouth. "So... it was you who saved me just now?" he asked innocently, already knowing the answer.
She inclined her head. "The violent energy within your body was too strong. I had to use light resonant energy to nullify it, as well as treat your injuries. It took almost all the resonant power I had."
"Qing'e, thank you," Li Luo said gratefully.
She smiled and shook her head.
"Qing'e," Li Luo asked with a very cheeky grin, "how exactly did you transfer that light resonant energy to me?"
She lifted up her heavy sword and pointed it at him. Li Luo took a look and cringed. The skewered head of the Bloodtailed Other was on the tip of her sword, although the face was now bloated and lifeless.
"I pressed its lips against you and then transmitted light resonant energy down the sword," she said.
Li Luo's eyes widened, and he felt suddenly nauseous. "Er, surely not?"
He looked at her face, but it was too emotionless for him to tell if she was joking. "Come on, tell me the truth. This one's not very funny."
She retracted her sword and then gestured towards a nearby wall. Li Luo looked to see another corpse, and he gasped.
It was the crimson knight-general!
Dead as a doornail.
"Speaking of the truth, who was it that injured the crimson knight-general so severely?" Her look pierced him, and Li Luo squirmed uneasily.
"Well, I, uh, can't recall. I think I saw an old grandfather descend out of the skies and smash the crimson knight-general to a pulp without saying a word. Maybe someone from the Academic Federation? Must be divine intervention or something? I mean, the crimson knight-general committed so many unspeakable sins. He definitely offended somebody. Somebodies. You know?" He did not want to tell Jiang Qing'e about the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf. Not because he did not trust her, but because he did not want her to worry about how dangerous the power was.
She just stared at him. Clearly, the lie had failed badly. "There were some savage wounds on the body. It almost feels like... the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf we met in the Umbra Cave? Did Principal Pang help you seal it away?"
She pointed to the crimson bracelet on his wrist. "He sealed it away for you, and you used it against the crimson knight-general."
Li Luo rolled his eyes. This was ridiculous. No way she had just guessed it like that! “You're a demon! Plump swan demon!”
"Back when Principal Pang gave you that mark, I had already guessed," she said primly.
Li Luo gave her an abashed smile.
"Principal Pang is really reckless. Why would he grant the power of a Greater Heavenly Resonance beast, bordering on the Duke Stage, to a Resonant Master? If you used it too much, you'd be utterly corrupted. That would be the real tragedy!" She burst out unhappily.
"Qing'e, I just wanted to help relieve some of the burden from your shoulders," Li Luo said grumpily.
"The Housemeet is near, and given my current strength, there's not much I can do for you if I keep up this rate of cultivation. I had to gamble a little. But don't worry, I won't use this power recklessly."
Her eyes softened. How could she not know the risks that he had taken? But even while he longed to share her burden, her heart hurt every time he was injured.
"Well, be careful in the future." She let the topic drop. Since Li Luo had made the decision, she would, of course, support him. She had faith in his ability and strength of mind.
Li Luo nodded. "I will. And will you help keep the secret of the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf?" He pointed to the crimson knight-general's corpse. "I had nothing to do with its death."
She nodded with understanding. "I can say I killed it. A ninth-grade light resonance is always an exception. Others will find the story curious, but they won't pin it on you. But this way, the credit will come to me."
"Hey, credit and two skygold can buy a bun worth two skygold. We're in the same squad anyway. Surely the rewards will come my way too."
He decided things were safe enough to push the situation a little. He grinned. "Besides, what can compare to the reward I just received?" He caressed his lips deliberately.
She turned away from him. “Even her side profile is beautiful,” he thought to himself.
"Hey, check your spirit mirror," she said.
He pulled it out and looked at the scoreboard, then he sucked in a deep breath.
Their squad was still in first place.
But the points had changed.
1.2 million points!!