Chapter 0900: Pseudo Duke Art
The banner members gathered around the field before the Fiendish Devil Cave as Li Luo and Deng Fengxian prepared for the showdown. The place was bustling with cheers and chatter, mainly coming from the Green Nether Banner and the Gold Light Banner cheering for their respective Banner Leaders.
They understood that today’s battle would ultimately decide who would be the real head of the Dragon's Fang Lineage's four nanners.
The winner would be able to command the four banners under certain special circ.u.mstances, and the other three Banner Leaders would have to obey.
At this point, the members of the other two banners were mainly present to watch the fight. Their eyes were filled with mixed emotions as they sighed and looked at Li Luo. Just half a year ago, they would have laughed out loud if anyone had told them that the Third Young Master who had just returned from the outer divine continent would be contesting for the position of leading the Dragon's Fang Lineage's four banners.
Li Luo was merely at the Fiend Palace Tier back then. He was barely on par with the elite banner members, let alone a Banner Leader.
However, none of them had expected the Third Young Master to experience such amazing growth in the past six months. Although he was only at the Fiend Palace Tier, he had not only earned the Banner Leader position in the Green Nether Banner, he had also obtained the Golden Dragon Pillar during the Dragon Pool's battle. It was a real surprise for everyone. Now, he was about to compete with Deng Fengxian, the presumed leader all this while, to be the head of the four banners.
The insane speed of his progress had totally changed everyone's views of him. They would no longer belittle this guy who had wasted so much time in the remote outer divine continent since birth. Clearly, his talent was exceptional.
He had lived up to the expectation of being the son of the Third Master.
Back in the field, Li Fengyi and Li Jingtao had gone off to the side to spectate the match.
"Deng Fengxian has recently bought significant amounts of spirit materials in order to refine his Fiend Dipper Energy. He has nearly used up all his allocated resources for this year. I believe he has acc.u.mulated at least nine hundred feet of Fiend Dipper Energy by now," Li Fengyi said with a little frown as she turned her eyes towards Deng Fengxian. She could feel an extremely sharp energy faintly emanating from his body.
Nine hundred feet of Fiend Dipper Energy was considered top-cla.s.s within the Fiend Finisher Tier. Among the Twenty Banners, only people like Li Qingfeng and Lu Qingmei had obtained this level of cultivation.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, such an amount of Fiend Dipper Energy would be enough to enter the Heavenly Pearl Stage already.
Hearing her remarks, Li Jingtao replied with a smile, "Although Third Brother is slightly lacking in terms of cultivation, he has always ascended each stage steadily. The Tri-Radiance Gla.s.s Fiend Tier was something that not even Li Qingfeng could acquire."
"Although the Tri-Radiance Gla.s.s Fiend Tier is strong, there is still a huge gap in their cultivation levels. Third Brother may not have enough power to fend off the Gilded Armor Spirit Blade," Li Fengyi responded with some worry. After all, Deng Fengxian was not your common fellow either. Li Fengyi had always been defeated by him in their numerous clashes in the past. No matter how unwilling she was, she had to admit that he was indeed a strong fighter.
Without a prestigious background like them, he had fought his way up one step at a time in the Gold Light Banner. And his achievements had been nothing short of spectacular.
If not for the sudden appearance of a dark horse like Li Luo, the position of the leader of the four nanners would inevitably belong to him.
"Didn't I tell you to challenge him to start? At the very least, your turtle sh.e.l.l art would be able to fend off his Gilded Armor Spirit Blade," Li Fengyi lamented.
Hearing this, Li Jingtao simply shook his head. He responded with a laugh, "I am afraid Third Brother does not want to obtain the position using such methods. He won't be able to win the people's hearts with such an act."
"All you stupid guys care about is face," Li Fengyi replied with a pout. However, she did not continue with this topic any longer. As the two of them were chatting, two enormous blasts of resonant power surged up in the field like a wild storm. An explosive ringing sound erupted in the air.
In the next moment, golden resonant power circulated around Deng Fengxian. A giant beast with dragon claws appeared faintly behind him, and everyone's attention was drawn to its unusually bright, golden horn.
This was the upper eighth-grade Golden Horned Dragon Beast resonance.
It belonged to the family of dragon resonances. Initially, Deng Fengxian's resonance was only a lower eighth-grade. However, all these years of cultivation and the use of spirit liquids and purifying lights had paid off. It had finally transformed into an upper eighth-grade now.
This perfectly matched his Gilded Armor Spirit Blade, making it an incredibly terrifying skill.
Wave after wave of immensely strong resonant power pulsed out of Deng Fengxian's body. All the spectators could sense the extremely huge pressure coming from him.
"Banner Leader Li Luo, I would probably not be your match if we were at the same tier. Therefore, please do not blame me for taking advantage of my higher cultivation level," Deng Fengxian calmly said. Since he was at a higher tier, his resonant power was naturally stronger. This was like a hard limit on how strong one's resonant power could grow.
"Being at a higher tier is testament to your own ability," Li Luo replied with a smile.
Although Li Luo was still at the Fiend Body Tier, he had three resonant palaces that could complement each other. Furthermore, he had the power of dual resonances with him. With this, his current resonant power could be said to rival even that of a Fiend Finisher. Therefore, there was no need to worry too much about the immense resonant power coming from Deng Fengxian.
Deng Fengxian nodded slightly in response as he continued staring at Li Luo. He raised his palms, and bright, golden resonant power started consolidating. In the next moment, it took the shape of a small, golden knife.
There was an unparalleled sharpness surrounding the knife, and the s.p.a.ce around it started to show signs of getting sliced.
All the spectators froze as soon as they saw this. They knew that Deng Fengxian had no plans to drag this battle out. He had decided to use his strongest skill right off the bat.
Duke Art, Gilded Armor Spirit Blade.
When he saw the blade materialize, Li Luo's eyes turned serious too. If he was not careful around it, he might very well have a hole torn through his body.
Obviously, he was not going to give his opponent such a chance.
In the next moment, the resonant power within Li Luo's body started to move really quickly. He formed his hand seals rapidly, and his water resonance and lightning resonance power surged outwards.
BOOM!
The worldly natural energy around him started to shudder violently. Dark clouds with traces of lightning appeared above them moments later, then rain started falling down. There seemed to be a faint spark of lightning hidden within each drop of rain.
Pseudo Duke Art, Thunderstorm. This was one of the resonance arts that Li Luo had mastered thanks to the Heart of the Enlightened Lake state.
In an instant, the thunder clouds covered up the whole field. When the curious banner members reached out their hands, they could sense a piercing and numbing sensation as soon as they touched the drops of rain.
"Is this a Duke Art? But it seemed kind of weak, no?"
"This is a special art that has the effects of slowing down your opponents and controlling the battlefield. It's a smart move by Banner Leader Li Luo. We all know how fast and deadly Banner Leader Deng Fengxian’s Gilded Armor Spirit Blade is. With this thunderstorm, he will be able to slow down the blade and weaken its offense slightly."
Deng Fengxian wasted no time. The golden resonant power around him began moving and transformed into a light sphere before expanding across the thunderstorm too.
"Is this some kind of Pseudo Duke Art?" he whispered to himself as his eyes lit up.
If Li Luo expected his Gilded Armor Spirit Blade to be stopped so easily, he was truly underestimating him.
He was sure that Li Luo had other plans hidden up his sleeve.
However, it did not matter.
Deng Fengxian raised his palm up, and the Gilded Armor Spirit Blade materialized completely. With a calm and composed look, he flicked his finger outwards.
Weng!
A ringing sound echoed in the air. In the next moment, everyone could see a flash of golden light tearing through the curtain of rain. The countless raindrops filled with lightning exploded into nothingness as the terrifyingly sharp, golden light zipped across.
For a moment, it seemed like the heavens and earth had been torn apart by the golden light.
Its speed was unbelievably fast.
Li Luo formed another hand seal with a single hand, and lightning flashed around his body. In the next moment, his body launched backwards with the roaring of thunder.
Pseudo Duke Art, Thunder Flash.
This was a resonance art that combined the power of a lightning resonance and a light resonance. It allowed him to move much faster than when he used the Thunderbolt Art.
Once again, the spectators were amazed when they saw his quick reaction. Even Li Fengyi and Li Jingtao were surprised to see this.
"Little Brother, I've never seen you use this skill before," Li Fengyi shouted with some doubts.
Although a Pseudo Duke Art was not a Duke Art, it was still much harder to cultivate than a Dragon-general resonance art. As such, it was really strange to see Li Luo using two new ones just like this.
Li Jingtao laughed and said, "I heard from Father that Third Brother spent a month training with the Respected Elder. This should be the result of his hard work.
"However, only someone like him, a triple resonance cultivator who has attained the third realm of the dual resonance power, could have mastered all of these arts. Others would be better off concentrating on cultivating one Duke Art rather than learning these arts that are all over the place."
Hearing this, Li Fengyi nodded in agreement. Such messy methods were really only suitable for someone like Li Luo. However, there was water, lightning, and light resonance power in the two Pseudo Duke Arts that he had just used. This seemed kind of different from his triple resonances. Was this due to the help of some special item?
As the two of them were chatting about it, Li Luo retreated rapidly and increased his distance from the blade. His face remained calm and composed under the thunderstorm.
In the same moment, his hands started moving as he prepared to use another Pseudo Duke Art.
A vibrant, green light flew out of Li Luo's hands and landed on the ground. In the next moment, the ground quaked violently, and a giant tree started growing out from that spot. Numerous thick and strong branches entwined with each other.
After a few moments, an emerald-dragon emerged. It let out a low roar as its immense resonant power filled the air. With a smack of its claw, it tore through the void and slammed down on the Gilded Armor Spirit Blade heavily. Pseudo Duke Art, Emerald Dragon Ent.