Chapter 457: Two Strikes

Boom!

The Mountain-Carrying Golden Staff arrived through the air, accompanied by an astonishing momentum. Yet, as Li Luo looked up at the heaven-shaking staff that seemed to cover his entire field of vision, his expression remained as calm as an ancient well. He simply rested his hand on the hilt of his blade, his five fingers slowly tightening.

The two streams of resonant power within his body flowed, then converged and merged.

Dual-Resonance Power!

However, the Dual-Resonance Power fused this time was only at the "Minor Fusion Stage," not the "Unity Stage," because although Sun Dasheng's staff strike was strong, it was not strong enough to require him to use the Unity Stage of his Dual-Resonance Power.

Having successfully mastered the "Unity Stage" of Dual-Resonance Power, Li Luo was now able to switch freely between the two states.

The Dual-Resonance Power flowed out, directly enveloping the Gold-Jade Profound Elephant Blade. Li Luo then took a step forward and slashed his straight blade down fiercely.

"Thousand Flowing Water Blade Art!"

Hum!

In that instant, a blade-humming sound seemed to ring out. A blade light of about a dozen feet, accompanying Li Luo's downward slash, suddenly shot out.

The blade light was shimmering, as if ten thousand water currents were surging within it, releasing an incredibly astonishing piercing power.

The blade light tore through the air, emitting a piercing, shrill whistle.

In just an instant, that blade light collided head-on with the roaring, heaven-shaking golden staff at an astonishing speed.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing rang out abruptly.

The next instant, a violent resonant power shockwave raged in mid-air. The already devastated surroundings suffered even more severe destruction; deep gullies were torn into the earth, and the surrounding trees were not spared.

However, what made everyone's eyelids twitch was that when the shockwave dissipated, both the staff shadow and the blade light had completely vanished.

Li Luo stood in his original spot, holding his archaic straight blade, his figure completely motionless.

A mountain breeze whistled, fluttering his clothes.

The team members from both sides watching the battle had slight changes in their expressions. Sun Dasheng's astonishing strike had actually failed to achieve any effect?!

"How is that possible?!"

"How did he take the boss's staff strike so easily?"

The people from Shengshan Academy found this even more unbelievable; they gasped in shock. Even Captain Lu couldn't help but twitch his face, his expression gradually becoming grave.

This kid from Shengxuanxing Academy is no simple character.

In the mountain forest, Sun Dasheng was also somewhat stunned. He stared at Li Luo, and then the astonishment in his eyes faded, replaced by a burning fighting spirit.

"I didn't expect that in this Holy Grail War, besides that Lu Ming, there would be others possessing dual resonances. This really surprises me," he said slowly.

In the previous exchange, he had finally clearly felt the peculiarity of Li Luo's resonant power; it contained more than just a change in resonance attribute!

Clearly, the person before him possessed dual resonances!

Li Luo smiled and said, "What about the other staff strike?"

"Hahaha, interesting!"

Sun Dasheng laughed out loud, his eyes filled with undisguised joy. Who would have thought that this opponent he originally didn't pay much attention to would suddenly change and reach a level worthy of his respect? For someone like him who lived for battle, this was undoubtedly the unexpected joy of discovering a treasure by chance.

"It seems I really underestimated the other geniuses of the First Star Hall in the Eastern Divine Continent!"

Sun Dasheng's face was flushed with excitement. The thick veins on his muscular arms, which tightly gripped the golden staff, were pulsing. The gray-white resonant power rising from his body became increasingly violent, and behind him, the shadow of a gray-white giant ape seemed to become clearer.

"What is your name?" Sun Dasheng asked.

Such an opponent was worthy of him knowing their name.

"Shengxuanxing Academy, Li Luo," Li Luo smiled.

"Good, Li Luo."

Sun Dasheng nodded and said, "You are worthy of my respect, but although you possess dual resonances, you are still quite a bit behind Lu Ming. If your Dual-Resonance Power is only at this level, you might not be able to take my second strike."

Li Luo's heart stirred. Judging by his words, had he actually fought that Lu Ming before?

However, before he could think too much, he felt a dangerous aura beginning to radiate from Sun Dasheng's body. The latter gripped the golden staff in his hands, then slowly raised it. In his eyes, a murderous aura seemed to be gradually condensing.

"Three Strikes of the Ape King, Sea-Flipping Staff!"

Boom!

The gray-white resonant power erupted violently, as if transforming into gray-white sea waves. The golden staff in his hand left his grip, like a golden angry dragon breaking through the waves, carrying a monstrous murderous aura as it slammed directly toward Li Luo's position.

Wherever this staff strike passed, the ground was torn apart.

It was like a golden rainbow piercing the sun.

The golden rainbow rapidly enlarged in Li Luo's pupils. He gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands, his face calm, but the resonant power within his body roared like two angry pythons, once again converging and merging.

A Dual-Resonance Power, even more vast and powerful than before, surged out.

Sensing this surging, brand-new power, a smile appeared on the corners of Li Luo's lips. This power really gave one a sense of absolute security.

He gripped the hilt, took a step forward, and slashed diagonally downward.

Before the blade light even appeared, the ground in front of him had already been cut by an incomparably sharp blade aura, leaving a bottomless mark.

Clang!

The straight blade slashed down, clashing head-on with the golden rainbow staff shadow that had pierced through the sky. A piercing sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the mountain forest, whipping up a howling gale.

The ground where Li Luo stood began to crack inch by inch, then collapsed by a full half-meter, forming a sunken pit.

Dust filled the air.

In the mountain forest, pairs of eyes stared nervously at the dust. Sun Dasheng's second strike was clearly even more domineering and savage; such power was simply shocking.

Could Li Luo still take it?

As everyone's thoughts raced, the dust there gradually dissipated, and then they saw a figure slowly walk out from within.

It was Li Luo.

Li Luo carried his straight blade, his body free of any wounds. He met Sun Dasheng's slightly changed gaze, raised the straight blade in his hand, and revealed a smile: "Is the Dual-Resonance Power of that Lu Ming you mentioned like this?"

It could be seen that on the Gold-Jade Profound Elephant Blade in his hand, resonant power flowed, shimmering, and most eye-catching of all was a peculiar halo that had appeared on the blade.

The halo circled the blade, as if formed by water light, and within it was stained with a verdant green color, radiating a vigorous vitality.

Sun Dasheng stared at the halo on the straight blade in Li Luo's hand, his expression becoming grave bit by bit, his voice dropping much lower: "Unity Stage Dual-Resonance Power."

He really did know about the three stages of Dual-Resonance Power.

"I really didn't expect that in this academy-level competition, someone like you was hidden." Sun Dasheng licked his lips, his gaze toward Li Luo filled with an extremely high-spirited and eager fighting intent. Such an opponent was worthy of him truly going all out.

Li Luo smiled: "You are also very strong; the three favorites to win the championship are well-deserved."

His heart was actually full of gravity at this moment. Although he had blocked Sun Dasheng's two strikes in their brief exchange, it was undeniable that the opponent's two heaven-shaking strikes had also put significant pressure on him. This second strike had even forced out his Unity Stage Dual-Resonance Power.

From this, one could see Sun Dasheng's true strength. Moreover, according to intelligence, this Sun Dasheng still had his strongest trump card that he hadn't used yet.

That so-called... Duke-level Art.

Once such a powerful and astonishing trump card was unleashed, what would the final result be?

And if Sun Dasheng was already this formidable, then Jing Taixu, who had even higher acclaim for winning the championship, would likely be even stronger.

Tsk, the task Sister Qing'e gave me seems to have quite a high difficulty.

While Li Luo was using Sun Dasheng's strength to guess the depth of Jing Taixu in his heart, the gray-white resonant power surging all over Sun Dasheng's body gradually receded at this moment. He gripped his palm, and the golden staff shot back into his hand. He shouldered it and waved his hand: "No more fighting."

Hearing this, Li Luo looked over with some confusion. This Sun Dasheng was clearly a battle maniac; why was he planning to stop now that he had encountered a strong opponent?

"Although I really want to decide the winner with you here, the conditions don't really allow it."

Sun Dasheng was also a bit helpless, saying: "Your strength is good. Even if I were to defeat you, I would likely have to pay a price. And right now, we don't have any conflict of interest, so fighting a battle of this level here for no reason is a bit irresponsible to my teammates."

Li Luo smiled. This Sun Dasheng still possessed some rationality to choose to stop voluntarily. That was fine; it also aligned with his own thoughts, as the purpose of testing him had already been achieved.

After Sun Dasheng finished speaking, he leaped and arrived at the side of the Shengshan Academy team. He waved his hand at everyone, then looked at Qin Zhulu not far away: "This friend from Shengxuanxing Academy, what is your name?"

"Qin Zhulu," Qin Zhulu replied indifferently.

"Haha, Qin Zhulu, your strength is very good. If I hadn't occupied the advantage of a one-level higher resonance grade, it probably wouldn't have been easy for me to defeat you. Your Shengxuanxing Academy hides very deeply. It seems there will be a good show to watch later on Dragon Bone Island," Sun Dasheng laughed loudly.

The teammates beside Sun Dasheng were somewhat surprised; they didn't expect the usually arrogant leader to be so easy to talk to.

It was Captain Lu who glanced in Li Luo's direction. This was because Li Luo had truly taken Sun Dasheng's two strikes, and the boss couldn't bring himself to truly apologize; this recognition of Qin Zhulu was his way of bowing his head.

As for Qin Zhulu, he stared at Sun Dasheng without yielding: "If there is a chance in the future, I will defeat you myself."

"Good, I'll be waiting!"

Sun Dasheng smiled indifferently, then cast his gaze toward Li Luo: "I hope to meet you on Dragon Bone Island. At that time, I want to see if you can take my third strike."

Then, without waiting for Li Luo to answer, he waved his hand, turned around, and leaped away.

The students of Shengshan Academy followed one after another.

Wang Hejiu, Duze Beixuan, and the others watched the departing figures of the Shengshan Academy group, all secretly breathing a sigh of relief, while their hearts inevitably became more complicated.

Because anyone could see that Sun Dasheng's stopping was because he was wary of the strength Li Luo had revealed.

Clearly, Li Luo's strength had become even more refined compared to the ticket matches.

Now, he had reached a point where he could make someone like Sun Dasheng, one of the three favorites to win the championship, treat him with gravity.