Chapter 0507: Clash of Styles
When the legendary wind spirit avatar appeared behind Jing Taixu, there was a sudden increase in the speed of worldly natural energy that gathered towards him, as if he had turned into a vacuum with a stronger setting.
His green plantain fan swept out at Li Luo.
Splash! Roar!
This fan attack raised dust and pebbles along into its wind blast, sweeping up debris that further augmented its offense.
Weng!
Li Luo cut through the wind with a slice from his sword, parrying the debris with deft bladework.
The two clashed with blasts of resonant power that shook the mountains.
They fought on grimly, matching each other blow for blow.
Jing Taixu had a half smile on his face as he swept his fan out again.
"Windfinch."
Chirp, chirp.
Small green blurs shot out at Li Luo—they were little birds made out of pure wind resonant power. Their beaks were especially sharp, even though the points were minuscule.
Their sheer number blotted out the sky, and the chirping reached a frightful volume. They gathered in the sky like a gigantic, green cloud.
And then they rained down on Li Luo.
The Astral Sage champion's eyes were locked onto the opponent in front of him, and he planted his feet.
Resonant power flooded into him from beneath.
"Water Wall!"
A solid barrier of clear water rose up, then another. And then another. Each layer rose beautifully into the air, a sturdy impediment against the incoming attack.
But this alone could not block Jing Taixu's attack completely, not when it was enhanced by his wind spirit avatar in both speed and power.
Still, Li Luo had his own advantages.
Namely, the interactions he could call upon between resonances.
Earth resonant power was also at his behest.
"Crumbling Sands!"
The crystal-clear water barriers clouded over immediately. If one looked closely, one would see that the water barriers were reinforced by sediment within them. They not only fortified the defenses of the water walls, but also bit back at any who sought to tear them down.
Cheep, cheep, cheep!
The cloud of windfinches came at the walls, and they exploded into little puffs of green smoke.
"Eh?"
Jing Taixu's eyes widened. Was Li Luo's water resonance art really combined with a wood resonance art? Why did it look like an earth resonance art instead?
Li Luo did not give him much time to consider. He jumped at Jing Taixu with his blade raised as if for an all-out attack.
Jing Taixu reversed the direction of his wind energy to power his retreat.
"Arboreal Bindings!"
Li Luo was ready. His vines sprang out of the ground to tie Jing Taixu down.
Having a quasi ninth-grade wind resonance meant that Jing Taixu was even faster than Lu Ming's lightning resonance. If he could not even compete with the latter in speed, how could he hope to best the former?
Best to limit his greatest advantage.
Jing Taixu was equally aware of what Li Luo was trying to do. He barely paid the vines any attention, shrugging out a pair of pale, green wings.
The translucent wings looked frail, but each individual feather was as sharp as crystal. They broke apart and flashed out as a flurry of knives, shredding the vines to bits.
His retreat no longer impeded, he backed away to a safe distance and readjusted to an offensive stance.
Jing Taixu did not seek other advantages even though Li Luo was targeting his main one. He made a seal with one hand.
Wind resonant power roared forth again, billowing out his clothes as the power was concentrated within him.
This time, the green energy manifested as a spear that he hurled at Li Luo.
Li Luo immediately activated Level One Divine Elephant Power, the skin on his hand tearing apart as he blocked the attack with utter concentration.
Swish, crack!
The two slashes from his sword split the spear cleanly in half, and it fizzled away into thin air.
Jing Taixu had retreated away already.
The electrifying battle was being watched by many more spectators outside.
……
Over at the Heavenly Inferno Sage College's tower, Lu Ming watched with a small frown of concentration, hands crossed in front of her.
"Li Luo's being completely eclipsed by Jing Taixu's speed. How can you threaten your opponent when they're running circles around you?"
"Tsk, Li Luo only beat Senior Lu because of his poison. Seems like he's nothing much after all."
Although poison was ultimately allowed by the rules of the tournament, it was still a sour way to win, and many were using it to insult Li Luo.
"A loss is a loss," Lu Ming said sharply. "No need for excuses. Li Luo's current showing proves that he has enough power to defeat me. He only used poison to save his strength for the finals."
The bootlickers fell into an embarrassed silence.
"Senior Lu, who do you think will win?" One person hastily changed the subject.
Lu Ming considered it. "Jing Taixu has the advantage in speed, and his wind resonance makes him elusive. It will be very difficult for Li Luo to land a deadly blow on him. On top of that, he has all the time in the world. He can wait for a mistake from Li Luo and dish out the damage then. All in all, Jing Taixu has a better chance of winning.
"But Li Luo knows this just as well, which is why he's seeking ways to limit Jing Taixu's speed advantage. It is a difficult challenge."
The others nodded like sheep. "Seems like Jing Taixu's going to win this one, then."
Lu Ming did not reply, her eyes still fixed on Li Luo's image on screen. She stood by what she had said, but Li Luo had a way of making her wonder.
It was not him as a person, but something about his resonant power.
He was a dual resonance user, and yet his resonant power was strange.
The guy was hiding something else.
And before those hidden cards were played, the reality of the field was still unknown.
……
At the Sacred Summit Sage College's tower.
Sun Dasheng was squatting ungainly before the screen, his face pale and eyes still twitching with discomfort. He was still feeble and recovering, but watching the battle put the itch back in him to join the fight.
It was a pity that he had been eliminated.
He scratched his face violently, irritated. "Jing Taixu, that bastard, he really pushed this one. Fourth fucking Changing? That's madness.
"If I were just a bit stronger, he might not have been able to withstand my Demon Ape's Will." He had only been able to sustain his skill for a dozen breaths of time, and he could see that Jing Taixu had been visibly forced to the limit already. A while more, and the one eliminated would have been the wind bastard for sure.
Still, it couldn't be helped. A loss was a loss.
Jing Taixu had the wind spirit avatar, and now he was Fourth Changing. He was indeed stronger.
"Come on, Li Luo... as if. No way you're gonna beat Jing Taixu's skills and speed."
...
"Li Luo, you cannot limit my speed." Jing Taixu laughed gaily. Li Luo had tried all sorts of tricks to trap him, and each attempt had been denied.
Meanwhile, his green plantain fan was wearing down on Li Luo with more and more wind attacks.
Li Luo ignored this, simply raising his blade and attacking again. Jing Taixu flew out of the way easily like a bird.
"Li Luo, you're panicking," he taunted.
Li Luo's blade froze mid-attack.
"Am I?" He smiled.
Jing Taixu's eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation plop on his arm.
He looked down to see a little, brown droplet of liquid.
It looked as unremarkable as a drop of muddy water, and yet his body suddenly felt heavier.
Another drop of brown liquid. Then another, and another, until he was drenched in it.
His body felt as heavy as lead.
Li Luo looked at him with a bright smile.
Speed, eh? But what about the speed of your brain? That counted for a lot in a battle.
Water resonance art, Heavy Water Art.
Earth resonance art, Unchanging Mud.