Chapter 1455: Seventh-Rank, Yet Still Can Fight!

When Li Luo silently activated the "Little Dragon Sacred Seed," the two celestial dragons above the ten-pillar golden platforms suddenly erupted with boundless, majestic mystic light.

Everyone clearly saw that, at this moment, the dragon forms expanded at an astonishing rate—the fangs and claws grew sharper, and the violet-gold dragon scales became more lifelike, as if truly alive.

An indescribable divine dragon aura spread through heaven and earth like a tidal wave.

Even this space seemed to tremble beneath the weight of this mysterious dragon aura.

Not only did the celestial dragon form change—Li Luo's body also underwent transformation; violet-gold light patterns emerged across his skin, intertwining and spreading over his surface.

Eventually, these violet-gold light patterns converged at Li Luo's third eye.

Forming a violet-gold ring, within which coiled an ancient, mysterious dragon shadow, roaring to the heavens and shaking the sky.

At the same time, Li Luo's originally gray-white hair turned into dazzling violet-gold.

That was... the Ancient Tracing Phase Mark!

Only a Middle-Ninth Affinity Rank could manifest this mysterious symbol; this phase mark could trace back to antiquity and origin, allowing Li Luo to align more perfectly with heaven and earth.

The phase force emanating from Li Luo's body also surged upward at this moment.

As the Middle-Ninth Celestial Dragon Phase appeared, a dark expression surfaced on Fang Xingyun's face, for at this instant, the two dragon phases above his head began to move with unnatural sluggishness.

He understood—it was the natural suppression exerted by the Celestial Dragon Phase over ordinary dragon phases.

"Ancient Tracing Phase Mark... Middle-Ninth Celestial Dragon Phase?!"

Fang Xingyun's heart was shaken by a storm of shock—he could not comprehend how Li Luo, who had merely a Void-Ninth Celestial Dragon Phase, had suddenly evolved into a Middle-Ninth one!

What kind of technique was this?

"This... must be Li Li Tianwang's lineage 'Little Dragon Sacred Seed,' " said Wang Xuanjin, Jin Xi, and Bai Yu, watching from atop the golden platforms.

They immediately recognized the truth—Li Luo's sudden surge in affinity rank stemmed from a special, mysterious power.

They were not unfamiliar with such power.

After all, Sacred Seeds—these divine artifacts—were the most closely watched treasures of the top factions across heaven and earth; only a Li Tianwang-level existence could create them, forming the core foundation of every Li Tianwang faction.

Within Li Li Tianwang's lineage, the only thing capable of elevating a dragon phase to Middle-Ninth was the "Little Dragon Sacred Seed," slightly lower in rank than the "Dragon Sacred Seed."

"So he was hiding this trick," Wang Xuanjin chuckled. "A Middle-Ninth Celestial Dragon Phase will suppress Fang Xingyun's dual dragon phases—this shift will narrow the gap."

Jin Xi elder shook his head slightly. "The suppression effect is real, but bridging the gap between them won't be this simple."

Bai Yu elder flicked her slender tongue, whispering softly: "A leap of five ranks to fight—that kind of miracle is exceedingly rare even among peerless prodigies. Even with the 'Little Dragon Sacred Seed,' Li Luo has merely shifted from being utterly crushed to barely withstanding Fang Xingyun's assaults."

Wang Xuanjin nodded in agreement—such a terrifying feat of fighting across five ranks was extraordinarily rare; a single "Little Dragon Sacred Seed" likely still fell short.

Yet undeniably, Li Luo's chance of victory had increased.

While the three Wang-level experts commented, the numerous academy teams below were utterly stunned by Li Luo's display—after all, not everyone possessed Wang Xuanjin's insight to instantly discern the source of his power.

They could only find his explosive affinity rank increase incomprehensible.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze fixed on Li Luo's figure, a faint smile appearing in her eyes as she murmured: "Little Dragon Sacred Seed—you truly obtained it."

Li Luo acquiring the "Little Dragon Sacred Seed" naturally meant he had become the Great Wei Zun of the Celestial Dragon Five Guards.

Jiang Jiang Qinge had once held eligibility to compete for this position, but since she lacked a dragon phase, the Little Dragon Sacred Seed offered her little benefit, so she had little interest in it; moreover, she felt this position would suit Li Luo better.

And now, Li Luo had indeed lived up to expectations.

With the Little Dragon Sacred Seed, Li Luo's own abilities would strengthen—his chances against this Seventh-Rank Feng Hou warrior had just increased another fraction.

"So what if you have a Middle-Ninth Celestial Dragon Phase?"

"Even if my dual dragon phases are slightly suppressed by your dragon aura, the level gap between us remains unchanged!"

After a brief moment of shock, Fang Xingyun quickly calmed his mind—no matter what, his own rank advantage was glaringly obvious; in this duel, he still held absolute superiority.

Fang Xingyun clenched his palm, gathering Lei Guang, which formed into a Heavy Halberd at his palm—etched with thunder patterns, the halberd occasionally emitted thunderous roars.

Middle-Rank Feng Hou Artifact: Lei Guang Halberd!

As the strongest vice-dean among the six Outer Shenzhou sacred academies, Fang Xingyun had received abundant support from the Thunder Catastrophe Sacred Academy; this Middle-Rank Feng Hou Artifact had been gifted by their academy's dean.

"Li Luo, before absolute power suppression, all flashy techniques are useless!" Fang Xingyun's voice boomed like thunder, rolling across heaven and earth.

His piercing gaze locked onto Li Luo, denying him any further chance—he stomped the ground, instantly transforming into a streak of Lei Guang, slicing through the sky at astonishing speed, his Heavy Halberd becoming a torrent of thunder, directly blasting toward Li Luo.

Within his own Feng Hou Zhong Jie, Fang Xingyun's speed had been amplified to an terrifying degree.

Even Li Luo could only vaguely perceive the streak of Lei Guang tearing through the sky.

The next instant, the torrent of Lei Guang erupted violently in Li Luo's pupils—the ferocious energy, wrapped in thunderous roars, shook his ears into ringing.

Li Luo roared to the heavens, the violet-gold light patterns on his body glowing brighter; within the violet-gold dot at his third eye, the dragon shadow let out a deafening dragon roar.

He gripped the Dragon-Elephant Thunder Blade, his phase force pushed to its absolute peak.

Li Luo swung the blade, summoning a vast torrent of thunder—lightning blade slashes shattered the heavens, meeting Fang Xingyun's assault head-on without yielding.

He wanted to test whether, in his current peak state, he could directly withstand an Upper-Rank Hou's attack.

CLANG!

Before the eyes of countless onlookers, the next instant, the Thunder Blade met the Thunder Halberd—the collision was like two furious thunderbolts crashing together, layer upon layer of space rupturing.

The surrounding mountains were reduced to blackened, charred earth by the thunder.

BOOM!

Lei Guang exploded outward—Li Luo's figure was flung hundreds of zhang backward, silver lightning surging through the blade into his body—the Lei Long phase force from Fang Xingyun.

But before these phase forces could ravage his body, they were immediately seized and swallowed by Li Luo's "Ten Thousand Phases Wheel," swiftly neutralized.

Li Luo gripped the Dragon-Elephant Thunder Blade tightly, pain throbbing in his palms, his bloodline violently agitated—clearly, in this direct clash, he remained utterly disadvantaged.

Yet Li Luo's eyes grew brighter than ever.

For compared to their first clash, when he had been slammed directly into the mountain, he had improved immeasurably.

Clearly, elevating the Celestial Dragon Phase to Middle-Ninth had significantly boosted his combat power.

Moreover, with the empowerment of the "Ancient Tracing Phase Mark," his physical body had become extraordinarily resilient, outright resisting Fang Xingyun's Lei Long phase force.

"Again!"

Li Luo threw his head back and let out a long roar, then slashed down directly with his blade, instantly sending forth a vast, surging torrent of golden thunder-light.

Dragon-Elephant Thunder Blade, Divine Thunder Slash!

The golden thunder-blade light tore through the sky, striking at the figure of Fang Xingyun.

Yet, facing Li Luo's counterattack, Fang Xingyun waved the heavy halberd in his hand with a blank expression; the energy within this Feng Hou Zhong Jie domain gathered, forming a thunderous dragon claw that slapped the entire golden thunder-blade light to pieces in one blow.

The golden thunder remnants scattered across the sky, but Fang Xingyun's eyes grew somewhat gloomy, for he likewise perceived that Li Luo was gradually beginning to withstand his assaults.

Now, he actually dares to counterattack!

The Mid-Ninth Grade Heavenly Dragon Aspect not only bolstered Li Luo's aspect power but also made his physical body exceptionally formidable; the power of the Dragon Aspect naturally enhances the flesh, a point Fang Xingyun understood deeply, let alone the fact that Li Luo possessed the Heavenly Dragon Aspect, the supreme of all Dragon Aspects!

Anger rose within Fang Xingyun's heart; he had originally intended to use his absolute rank advantage to crush Li Luo in a withering, decisive manner, thereby utterly destroying the morale of the Eastern Region of Outer Shenzhou, but now, he had failed to succeed for so long, which was undoubtedly a humiliation for him.

With this thought, Fang Xingyun hesitated no longer; he took a step forward, swung the heavy halberd in his hand, transforming it into ten thousand silver thunder-rays that, carrying immense killing intent, rained down upon Li Luo from all directions.

Seeing this, Li Luo gripped the Dragon-Elephant Thunder Blade tightly; the purple-gold thunder patterns on his body's surface grew even brighter, and his entire person radiated a wild, violent aura.

"Hahaha, come, come! Let me see how great a High-Rank Marquis truly is!"

His laughter echoed as the blade swept through, forming countless rays of golden thunder-light that rushed straight to meet the attack.

Boom-boom-boom!

Earth-shattering collisions rang out one after another; the two figures clashed like lightning within the void, exchanging hundreds, even thousands of blows in a mere instant.

Yet every collision resulted in Li Luo being knocked back, with silver thunder-marks even etching themselves onto his body's surface.

But these silver thunder-marks, the moment they appeared, were dissolved by the purple-gold thunder patterns on Li Luo's body.

His physical body was extremely formidable at this moment; bathed in golden thunder-light, he resembled armor made of golden dragon scales. Though he had fallen to a disadvantage, he still met Fang Xingyun's myriad killing moves head-on, blocking them all.

Thunder roared, echoing throughout the entire Zhengdu Space.

At this moment, whether inside or outside the space, countless gazes watched with some shock at Li Luo, who, though constantly retreating, maintained a momentum like a surging tide and had never been crushed by Fang Xingyun.

At this very moment, Li Luo was truly engaging Fang Xingyun in direct, head-on combat!

This left many people dumbfounded, yet they could not help but feel their blood boil with excitement.

Li Luo was answering all doubts with facts.

What does a difference of five grades matter?!

Even at the Seventh Grade, one can still fight!