Crash!
The Dragon’s Belly was a scene of molten chaos, lava and rocks spraying in all directions. A spectacular wave of crimson roared up from underneath, hissing at their feet.
Li Luo backed away in fright, skidding backwards with his water resonant power for a good hundred meters. The lightning and lava explosion had not only done physical damage, it had completely scrambled his insides as well. His entire system was screaming with pain and disorientation, but he ignored it to check the anima dew membrane on his skin instead.
His heart sank.
The once-sparkling membrane was now much, much dimmer. It seemed much thinner than before as well.
The explosion had badly worn down their anima dew membranes.
Li Luo swore inwardly, then he turned to the others. Qin Zhulu, Bai Doudou, Lu Qing’er, Yi Lisha, Wang Hejiu. All of them had also scrambled as far away as they could, for safety. Now they were coming back to Li Luo, making their way over as quickly as they could.
They all looked grim, having checked their anima dew membranes as well. Some of theirs were in an even worse state than Li Luo’s.
“We’re screwed,” Yi Lisha said with a resigned smile. “I’m afraid the thickness of our membranes won’t even carry us to Dragonbone Island.”
“Damn! Damn!!” Qin Zhulu shouted, his voice trembling from frustration.
Bai Doudou ground her teeth in silence. It was incredibly frustrating—their minds had all been on the final battle at Dragonbone Island, and they had tripped on their first step there, before they had even expected any trouble.
That damned Jing Taixu.
The man was a maniac.
All because he thought Li Luo was a threat, he had risked it all to bring him down.
And now Jing Taixu himself was paying the price as well.
A short distance away, the Enlightened Sage students were huddled together as well, just as miserable.
Their anima dew membranes were severely depleted as well.
They would not make it to Dragonbone Island either.
This sudden slip into their doom left Bai Doudou speechless. The two most likely schools to win were going to be eliminated without even reaching Dragonbone Island?
Li Luo stared at Jing Taixu with a deep loathing. The killing intent was building up within him.
Jing Taixu gave him an apologetic smile. “Friend Li Luo, I miscalculated badly.”
“You are an idiot,” Li Luo said witheringly.
“Perhaps.” Jing Taixu agreed with a shrug. “But maybe not all is lost.”
“Your anima dew membrane is as badly depleted as ours. You won’t make it to Dragonbone Island either,” Bai Doudou said with a barking laugh.
“Maybe I won’t make it, maybe I will.”
Qin Zhulu and the others frowned. What else did this guy have up his sleeve?
“The anima dew membrane will hold out for a while more. With enough speed, I should be able to make it out. After all, speed is what I’m good at,” Jing Taixu said with a soft laugh.
“Sorry,” he said to Li Luo. “The situation’s bad, but not all hope is lost for me. I wanted to have a good fight with you in the end, to see if my instincts were right… but that’s not possible now.”
He turned to his teammates. “Lu Chen, I’ll head off first.”
Even the second-in-command of their school knew that there was no other choice. “We don’t have your speed,” Lu Chen said resignedly. “We won’t make it to Dragonbone Island. You’ll be on your own, but I hope you bring home the title.”
“Don’t worry,” Jing Taixu told him with a small nod of reassurance. “And I’ll make sure to settle the score with Lu Ming as well.”
He wasted no more time, sprouting a pair of green wings filled with wind resonant energy. He was gone a moment later.
Gone like the wind.
The Astral Sage students watched with a sick feeling in their stomachs.
With that sort of speed, it was indeed possible that he might make it to Dragonbone Island before the anima dew membrane evaporated completely.
“Damn it all!” Bai Doudou screamed in frustration.
Jing Taixu had dragged them all into the mud and then escaped by himself, leaving them doomed for a slow, unsatisfying elimination.
Li Luo watched Jing Taixu go with a blank look on his face.
“Li Luo, you should go too. Our anima dew membranes are too thin, but yours is a little better. If you hurry, you might make it,” Bai Doudou said dully.
Qin Zhulu and Yi Lisha nodded as well. “Better one lives than none.”
“It’s no use,” Wang Hejiu said with little hope. “There’s no way Li Luo can match Jing Taixu’s speed.”
There was no comeback to this. Jing Taixu was a quasi ninth-grade wind resonance user at the Third Changing.
“We can’t just give up like this!” Bai Doudou snarled.
Li Luo waved his hand tiredly to cease the quarrel. Wang Hejiu’s words were depressing but true. There was no way to match Jing Taixu’s speed, normally. But if he had no other choice, he wasn’t completely out of options…
His hand drifted towards the red bracelet on his other hand. With the power of the three-tailed heavenly wolf, his speed and resonant power would probably get him there in time.
But…
What a waste of energy.
It was his ultimate ace.
He didn’t even want to use it in the Hall-level competition.
But in these circumstances, it seemed like he had no other choice. Otherwise, he could not guarantee that he would reach Dragonbone Island.
“Whew.”
Li Luo made his decision.
He began to recite the Heavenly Libation Chant that would release the wolf’s power.
“Maybe there’s a way,” a voice called from beside him.
Everyone turned around in surprise, even Li Luo. It was Lu Qing’er.
She hesitated for a moment. “Li Luo, do you trust me?”
He smiled at her. “Of course,” he said simply.
She smiled back gratefully. “I have a resonance art that can sheath you in ice armor. It can slow the burn of the anima dew membrane for you.”
Everyone stared at her in surprise.
“Qing’er… you must be joking,” Bai Doudou spluttered. “You should know how strong the fire here in the Dragon’s Belly is. How can our little bit of resonant power possibly make a difference?”
Lu Qing’er was the weakest out of all of them. Although her ice resonance was a lower eighth-grade, the rest of them were on the same level!
“Can’t hurt to try,” Li Luo said with a curious smile. Resonance grade was one thing, but after working with her in the Golden Dragon Dao Fields, he had developed a healthy respect for the riches and powers that backed her.
It made sense to him that she would have options the rest of them did not.
“Give me your hand,” she said.
Li Luo did so.
Removing her ice silk gloves, she hesitated for only a moment before taking hold of his hand with barely a blush.
Immediately, a trickle of cool energy seeped into Li Luo’s hands. In the sweltering heat, he was seized with a sudden thought that it would feel so good to hug a cool thing… such as the owner of these hands.
Lu Qing’er was still a little uncomfortable at having her hand touched, but she pressed on. She bit her own finger, letting blood flow freely from the tip, then pressed it into Li Luo’s palm with a curious chant.
The chant turned her blood into an icy-blue color.
Lu Qing’er’s eyes closed, and she spoke a few words.
“Bloodline resonance art, Eternal Night Ice Armor.”
