Chapter 0921: Greater Completion
After Li Taixuan activated the fist seal, the worldly natural energy around him flared up and the two Heavenly Pearls behind him began to churn, constantly swallowing up copious amounts of it, turning it into resonant power that gushed into his body.
A moment later, a fist rippled outwards from Li Taixuan.
Roar!
A loud and clear draconic roar exploded, and a one-hundred-meter-wide fist manifestation shot outwards. The fist manifestation seemed to be covered in scales that reminded one of a dragon's scales, giving it its distinct name.
There were countless runes flowing over the dragon scales, increasing its might.
As the dragon fist penetrated the air, it was accompanied by the roar of a dragon, giving it an intimidating and astonishing momentum as it soared through the skies, causing everything to shake in its presence.
That wasn't all—waves of dragonfear pulsed from the dragon fist. Any weak-willed individual might simply have their ability to resist sapped away before even confronting it.
This one strike had caused all of the Banner Leaders face's to change. Even Lu Qingmei turned solemn. She could tell that if she were in Li Luo's position, she might very well have tried to evade this.
The reputed Li Taixuan, who could be considered of the three strongest Dragon's Heads of all time, naturally dazzled the crowd with his strength.
It wasn't just them. Even the elders who were sitting in the air above had complicated expressions on their faces. This familiar blow elicited painful memories.
The Hundred Battles Dragon Fist was the first Duke Art Li Taixuan had cultivated. Although it was only Communion-grade, he had brought it to the realm of Grand Perfection. Thus, the might it could display was superior to countless Soul Ascension-grade Duke Arts.
While everyone else sighed in amazement, Li Luo's expression turned grim. Although the Hundred Battles Dragon Fist demonstrated by Li Taixuan was not out of his expectations, relying purely on his Fiend Finisher cultivation brought about immense pressure.
Li Luo exhaled deeply and activated all three resonant palaces within his body. Resonant power started flowing out of him like a tide.
Several hand seals were formed, then his blade hacked outwards.
The void was split open, and the sound of rushing water could be heard. A black dragon coursing across an abyssal, black, frigid stream of water soared out. Before the eyes of the crowd, it directly clashed with the tyrannical dragon fist.
"Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner!"
Bang!
An energy tempest kicked up immediately, causing the air around the epicenter to tremble.
Li Luo's expression changed slightly. He could distinctly feel that when the two arts had clashed, the tyrannical force of the dragon fist was not eroded by his dual resonant power.
In the end, the black dragon was the first to collapse, and the remaining energy that made up the dragon fist slammed fiercely towards Li Luo.
At that moment, lightning crackled throughout Li Luo's body.
Pseudo Duke Art: Thunder Flash!
Leaving an afterimage in his wake, he instantly vaulted over a hundred meters away.
The fist manifestation struck the afterimage and left behind a humongous imprint on the ground, causing fissures to erupt in every direction.
During this collision, the Underworld River's Black Dragon had been unable to halt Li Taixuan's Hundred Battles Dragon Fist for even a moment.
"My old man's Hundred Battles Dragon Fist is clearly just a Communion-grade Duke Art, but its might is far greater than its grade," Li Luo mused to himself with a frown. However, his eyes flickered slightly at this moment. "Perhaps he has already cultivated the Hundred Battles Dragon Fist to the Greater Completion realm."
A Duke Art had three realms of mastery: Lesser Completion, Greater Completion, and Grand Perfection! Li Luo's Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner had only reached the realm of Lesser Completion. It was only with the aid of his dual resonant power that he was able to bring about a power stronger than the average person's Duke Art.
However, based on this, he had clearly fallen into a disadvantage.
Even though the opponent had a superior cultivation level, Li Luo could tap upon his triple resonances, Four Sonic Pulses, Divine Elephant Power, and other secret arts to bolster his power to even out that gap.
Thus, the only sensible reason why he had been completely crushed in the exchange was that the Hundred Battles Dragon Fist was at a higher realm.
Additionally, when Li Taixuan formed the fist seal, Li Luo could feel something familiar coming from it. It was only now that he finally realized why.
There was Heavenly Dragon Energy within it.
Li Taixuan's attack contained Heavenly Dragon Energy, which allowed it to reach the next realm.
This revelation allowed him to understand how Heavenly Dragon Energy could be utilized to improve Duke Arts with dragon resonance affinities. Still, doing so was not some sort of brutish fusion of energies, it had to be precise in order to bring about the best effect.
Li Luo already had some ideas about implementing the energy into the Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner as it was the Duke Art he was most familiar with. He had been stuck at a bottleneck just a single step away from Greater Completion, yet he had been unable to go any further. This was the inspiration he needed. His body flashed backwards and he began to form hand seals. A few breaths later, the void tore open once again.
Another black dragon zoomed out, surrounded by frigid waters whilst roaring. However, it did not attack directly, only coiling itself around Li Luo.
Li Luo sighed deeply. The Heavenly Dragon Energy within his body was truly miraculous. It had permeated every inch of his blood and flesh. Even he found it difficult to rouse it, yet his father had done so. Perhaps it was the benefit of having a Heavenly Dragon resonance.
As a result, he had to resort to other means.
He sliced his palm open with his blade and allowed fresh blood to ooze out and fall upon the black dragon's corporeal body.
The fresh blood innately contained Heavenly Dragon Energy, and since he had no way to activate it, he would directly use it as a medium to strengthen the Duke Art. In the future, he would think of a better solution to this.
When the fresh blood dripped onto the black dragon's body, it immediately tunneled inside. Under Li Luo's close inspection, he fused the blood into the dragon.
After cultivating the Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner for such a long amount of time, Li Luo had a deep understanding of the intricacies of the art.
With his actions, the black dragon seemed to undergo a slight transformation. Firstly, its body started to swell and become more robust. Then its fangs and claws gradually began to glint with mysterious light, looking much more savage.
Additionally, a trace of bloodlust seemed to appear in the dragon's eyes, and it began to give off a fiendish aura.
Roar!
The black dragon let off an explosive howl, and the stygian river beneath it began to turn even more frosty. The aura of the Duke Art was clearly a level higher than before.
The transformation of the black dragon brought about great joy to Li Luo. Although he had to utilize fresh blood with Heavenly Dragon Energy to bolster the Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner to the Greater Completion realm, doing so signified that his understanding of the Duke Art had advanced.
And this improvement was very important to him.
Bang!
Just as Li Luo was relishing in happiness, the sound of a sonic boom reverberated around the field, and yet another hundred-meter-wide dragon fist roared towards him.
He no longer tried to hide. The black dragon thunderously cried out as though its majesty had been encroached upon, engulfing itself with the obsidian water and directly clashing with the domineering dragon fist.
Bang!
The resulting resonant energy storm blasted across the field, causing even the air to ignite and explode with ear-piercing booms.
This time, the black dragon did not show any signs of fragmenting. It entangled itself with the tyrannical dragon fist and, with a final wail, both attacks shattered into motes of light.
Li Taixuan's terrifying and tyrannical dragon fist, a move that had instilled fear into countless peers, had been resisted.
This scene shocked the elders.
Those who were part of Li Taixuan's generation glanced at Li Luo with complex looks. None of them were able to resist his strike back in the day, and it had given rise to his invincible legend.
However, Li Luo had done it today!
It went without saying.
The son would outdo the father!
Even though the two were fighting at low cultivation levels, the battle power they had demonstrated was truly eye-opening!
"Haha!" Li Luo guffawed. He had not only managed to block his father's iron fist, he had also furthered his understanding of the Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner and attained the Greater Completion realm. Although he had to use his blood to do so, he was confident that after a brief period of seclusion, he would truly step into the realm without the need of external aid.
At that time, the sheer power of the Underworld River's Black Dragon Banner would reach a new stage.
"Old man, it looks like you were useful for something after all!" Li Luo laughed. After the last contest of attacks, he realized that victory could only be obtained through their biggest moves. Ordinary moves were useless here!
Li Luo's hands came together and his fingertips formed a complicated sword hand-seal.
The cry of a sword rang out through the skies and the earth, then an indescribable sword energy surged outwards.
Waterlight resonant power rose from Li Luo into the sky and, before everyone's surprised eyes, transformed into a light-blue Dragon Fang Sword. The elders above froze at the sight of this sword. Li Luo was similarly observing the sword that was floating above his head. There was a deep longing for it in his eyes.
This was the Embryonic Transcendent Duke Art he had toiled endlessly for. Today, it would finally see the light of day.
"Old man, just to express my gratitude, this son of yours will use your energy replica as a sacrifice to my sword!"
Li Luo smirked.
This was a House Luolan specialty. Beating each other up was how they demonstrated their endless love between father and son.