Chapter 486

Boom!

Wild dragon blood fire shot out like meteorites in all directions, stirring up massive crimson waves across the sea, the surging tides roaring without end.

Li Luo was blasted backward in disarray, sliding over a hundred meters across the water's surface; his internal blood and qi churned violently from the explosive force, but he had no time to attend to his own injuries—he immediately turned his gaze to the Tian Ling Dew membrane on his body's surface.

One look, and his heart sank sharply.

The once-bright Tian Ling Dew membrane had now dimmed considerably, as if stripped of several layers, growing increasingly thin and frail.

Clearly, that explosion had inflicted severe damage upon their Tian Ling Dew membranes.

Li Luo muttered a curse under his breath, then quickly looked to the others—Qin Qin Zhulu, Bai Bai Doudou, Lü Qing'er—all similarly thrown back, though fortunately not far; they immediately converged toward Li Luo.

But every one of their faces was grim, for the degree of damage to their Tian Ling Dew membranes was even greater than Li Luo's.

"We're done. Our Tian Ling Dew membranes won't even last long enough to reach Dragon Bone Island," Yi Yi Lisha said with a bitter laugh.

Damn it!

Qin Qin Zhulu was furious, his eyes filled with bitter resentment.

Bai Bai Doudou sighed. No one had expected things to turn out like this—they'd assumed such an extremely dangerous place as the Dragon Blood Fire Zone would deter anyone from starting conflict, since it was simply insane.

But Jing Jing Taixu had come.

This man was a lunatic too.

Simply because he felt Li Luo was a threat, he'd willingly risked everything to strike.

And now, Jing Jing Taixu had paid an extremely heavy price for it.

She looked toward a hundred meters away, where the Sacred King Academy's team had gathered; their disarray was no less than theirs—even Jing Jing Taixu's face was deeply dark.

Judging by the dimness of their Tian Ling Dew membranes, they too had suffered massive damage.

Like them, the other side probably couldn't make it to Dragon Bone Island.

For this absurd outcome, Bai Bai Doudou felt a speechless emotion—so after all that, the two academies most likely to compete for the title of Strongest Student had been eliminated before even reaching Dragon Bone Island?

At this moment, Li Luo took a deep breath, his eyes darkly fixed on Jing Jing Taixu; the killing intent in his gaze was barely concealed.

In response to Li Luo's gaze, Jing Jing Taixu calmed his anger and smiled: "Li Luo, it seems I misjudged this time."

"You're truly stupid," Li Luo said coolly.

"Perhaps."

Jing Jing Taixu shrugged. "But for me, the situation hasn't reached despair yet."

"Your Tian Ling Dew membrane is so badly damaged, it won't last until Dragon Bone Island," Bai Bai Doudou sneered.

Jing Jing Taixu smiled. "That's not certain."

Seeing his indifferent expression, Qin Qin Zhulu and the others frowned—what trick did this guy still have up his sleeve?

"The Tian Ling Dew membrane should still hold for a while. If I move fast enough, I can make it… after all, what I'm best at is speed."

Jing Jing Taixu chuckled, looking at Li Luo. "Sorry. Though things turned out far worse than I expected, I still have a chance to turn this around."

"I really wanted to fight you with everything I've got, to see if my intuition was right. Of course, the result might disappoint me—but it doesn't matter…"

Jing Jing Taixu shook his head, said nothing more to Li Luo and the others, and turned to his teammates. "Lu Chen, I'll go ahead."

As the second-strongest student in Sacred King Academy's First Court, Lu Chen sighed. "We don't have your speed—we won't make it to Dragon Bone Island. So once you land, you're on your own. Hope you bring back the Strongest Student title."

Jing Jing Taixu nodded slightly, sighing. "Don't worry. And as for Lu Ming—I'll settle this account with her properly."

With those words, he made no further hesitation, said nothing more to Li Luo, and suddenly unleashed emerald-phase energy, forming a pair of emerald light wings behind him. As the wings flapped, his figure shot skyward, slicing through the wind as a streak of emerald light racing into the distance.

His speed was swift as thunder and wind.

Qin Qin Zhulu, Wang Wang Hejiu, and the others saw this and their faces darkened—so Jing Jing Taixu had been holding back this trick.

Even with his Tian Ling Dew membrane severely damaged, he might still reach Dragon Bone Island before it vanished entirely.

Damn it!

Bai Bai Doudou couldn't help but curse, then slumped in defeat.

Jing Jing Taixu was the root cause of their current predicament, yet now he could escape while they were left here to be eliminated.

Li Luo stared at Jing Jing Taixu's vanishing figure, his face like ice.

"Li Luo, you should leave now too. Our Tian Ling Dew membranes are too damaged, but yours is better. If you push full speed, you might still have a chance," Bai Bai Doudou said calmly, taking a deep breath and looking at Li Luo.

Qin Qin Zhulu and Yi Yi Lisha nodded. "We can't all be stuck here."

Wang Wang Hejiu grunted. "Useless. Li Luo's speed can't surpass Jing Jing Taixu's."

Qin Qin Zhulu and the others had no rebuttal—Jing Jing Taixu was a Wind Phase, Ninth Rank, and his speed was unmatched. Combined with his Phase-Level Third Transformation, Li Luo had no hope of catching up.

"We can't just give up like this!" Bai Bai Doudou's eyebrows shot up.

Li Luo waved his hand, silencing their argument. Wang Wang Hejiu's words were gloomy, but they held truth—if speed was the criterion, Li Luo knew he couldn't outpace Jing Jing Taixu. Yet to reach Dragon Bone Island in the shortest time, he wasn't truly without options.

Li Luo touched the crimson bracelet on his wrist. If he harnessed the power of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf, his speed and phase energy would surge dramatically—he could surely reach Dragon Bone Island in time.

But…

Using this power here would be a terrible waste.

It was his final trump card.

He hadn't even wanted to reveal it during this academy-level competition.

But now… even if he didn't want to, he had no choice. Otherwise, with his current state, he couldn't guarantee reaching Dragon Bone Island before the Tian Ling Dew membrane vanished.

Huh.

Li Luo exhaled deeply, his mind made up.

He shifted his intent, readying to activate the Tian Ji Zhou and unleash the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf's power.

"It's not completely hopeless."

At that moment, a voice came from beside them.

Everyone—including Li Luo—froze, then turned to see Lü Qing'er, her face filled with deep thought.

And being watched by everyone like this, Lu Qing'er hesitated slightly, then said earnestly: "Li Luo, do you trust me?"

Li Luo smiled and said: "Of course."

A smile instantly appeared on Lu Qing'er's beautiful and delicate face; she said: "I have a physiognomy technique that might be able to bestow a layer of ice armor upon you. This ice armor can slow down the consumption rate of the Heavenly Spirit Dew Film. With its blessing, you might just be able to reach Dragon Bone Island before the Heavenly Spirit Dew Film is exhausted."

Upon hearing these words, everyone widened their eyes, staring at Lu Qing'er with utter astonishment.

"Classmate Qing'er, this cannot be a joke... You should know how formidable the Dragon Blood Fire is here. How could our meager Physique Power possibly be of any use against it?" Bai Bai Doudou reminded.

Lu Qing'er's strength was considered the weakest among them. Although they knew Lu Qing'er's Ice Physique had evolved to Dao Xia Ba Pin, everyone here was at least an Eighth Grade Physique, wasn't she?

"Trying it won't hurt."

Li Luo smiled with some curiosity. Although Lu Qing'er was merely a Dao Xia Ba Pin Physique, ever since the incident after they passed through the Golden Dragon Dojo, he felt that Lu Qing'er seemed far from simple. Her background behind her might well involve some connections extending beyond Great Xia or even the Divine Lands of the Eastern Region.

With such a background, possessing some special methods was not strange.

Hearing this, Lu Qing'er extended her hand: "Give me your hand."

Li Luo obediently extended his hand.

Lu Qing'er took off her Ice Silkworm Silk gloves, revealing hands that were perfectly slender, as if carved from jade. She hesitated slightly, then, with a blush rising on her cheeks, extended one hand and grasped Li Luo's palm.

The moment their hands touched, Li Luo felt a chill surge forth. Lu Qing'er's hands were practically self-contained cold storage; surely, holding these small hands in one's embrace during a hot summer day would be a very pleasant thing.

Lu Qing'er forcibly endured that strange, sensitive sensation brought about by the contact of their palms. She bit her own finger, and with blood on her fingertip, she quickly pressed it onto Li Luo's palm, tracing out a strange curse mark.

The curse mark radiated extreme cold, turning the very blood into a deep azure color.

Once the curse mark took shape, Lu Qing'er closed her eyes slightly, and a low murmur sounded within her heart.

"Bloodline Physiognomy Technique, Eternal Ice Nightmare Armor."