Chapter 499: Chapter Five Hundred and Seven: The Decisive Duel

When that mysterious "Wind Spirit Envoy" appeared upon Jing Jing Taixu's body, the wind energy in heaven and earth instantly converged upon his location at a startling speed; at the same time, his gaze fixed on Li Luo, who drew his blade and struck straight at him, and he gave his green banana-leaf fan a mighty sweep.

Whoosh!

With that sweep, boundless gales seemed to howl, tearing up a layer of the ground beneath their feet, while countless boulders were swept along by the gale; instantly, sand flew and stones rolled, forming a torrent of chaotic rocks that crashed down heavily upon Li Luo.

Hum!

Li Luo brought his blade down in a single strike; the blade-light was like a rainbow, leaving faint traces in the void before him, and the ear-splitting sonic boom nearly drowned out the howling wind.

The two collided, instantly sending out violent power fluctuations, with the thunderous sound echoing across the mountain peak.

Yet neither Li Luo nor Jing Jing Taixu showed the slightest change in expression, and their attacks resumed.

A faint smile hung on Jing Jing Taixu's face as he swept the banana-leaf fan down once more.

"Wind Birds."

Chirp chirp.

Amid the gales howling around Li Luo, countless green shadows suddenly shot forth; these green shadows were actually small green birds, formed purely from wind-phase power, their beaks exceptionally sharp and flowing with green light; as the green birds rode the wind and swept past, it was as if ten thousand swords were piercing the sky to arrive.

These wind birds were densely packed, descending upon Li Luo in an extremely fierce manner like a rainstorm.

Li Luo's gaze remained locked on Jing Jing Taixu's figure as he stomped his foot heavily on the ground.

Power surged forth.

"Water Wall Technique!"

The ground beneath Li Luo's feet cracked open, and water walls erupted upward; within the water walls flowed water-phase power, resembling layers of walls.

Yet relying solely on this technique clearly could not block Jing Jing Taixu's move, for his Wind Bird Technique was evidently bolstered by the "Wind Spirit Envoy," making it not only faster but also more powerful.

But while the opponent had the support of the "Wind Spirit Envoy," he too possessed his own advantage.

That was the combination of different elemental affinities.

Therefore, within Li Luo's body, earth-phase power surged into the ground beneath his feet.

"Sand-Shattering Technique!"

The color of the water walls suddenly changed at that moment; if one observed closely, one would discover that within the flowing water-phase power inside the water walls, countless slightly sharp sand and gravel particles had appeared.

These sand and gravel particles moved at high speed within the water walls, not only strengthening the defensive power of the water walls but also possessing lethal force.

Pfft pfft pfft!

Countless wind birds shot forth, crashing into the water walls, where they were instantly shredded into blossoms of green fireworks.

"Eh?"

Jing Jing Taixu's eyes flickered slightly at that moment, showing some surprise; Li Luo's water-phase technique did not seem to be combined with wood-phase technique? Why did it look, instead, like a combination with earth-phase technique?

However, Li Luo gave Jing Jing Taixu no time to ponder; his figure shot forward, rushing straight at Jing Jing Taixu, while the Xiang Xiang Blade in his hand hummed and vibrated, as if craving a great battle and slaughter.

Seeing this, Jing Jing Taixu's figure turned into a light wind and retreated, becoming elusive and hard to find.

"Ten Thousand Tree Bindings!"

Li Luo was well prepared; with a low shout, countless green wooden vines surged rapidly from all sides, attempting to bind Jing Jing Taixu.

Jing Jing Taixu possessed a Void Ninth-Rank Wind Phase, making his speed even faster than Lu Ming's Thunder Phase; if it were a pure contest of speed, Li Luo could not even catch up to Lu Ming, let alone Jing Jing Taixu.

Therefore, he still needed to restrict Jing Jing Taixu's speed and Su Du Shen Fa advantages.

However, Jing Jing Taixu clearly knew this as well, so facing those rapidly surging tree vines, he merely smiled faintly, shook his body, and a pair of green wings appeared on his back.

The wings flowed with green light and were entwined with gales; every single feather was as sharp as a blade; as the wings vibrated, they transformed into countless blade-lights that directly shredded all the encircling tree vines.

His figure swept away in retreat, his toes hovering a foot above the ground, as if riding the wind, his form ghostly.

Jing Jing Taixu clearly understood Li Luo's intent, and he did not arrogantly abandon this great advantage of his own, so he quickly increased the distance between himself and Li Luo while forming a seal with one hand.

Massive wind-phase power surged rapidly.

Jing Jing Taixu's sleeves became puffed up at that moment; in the next instant, several beams of green light shot forth, transforming into green spears condensed from wind-phase power; the green spears pierced the void and roared straight toward Li Luo.

Li Luo held the Xiang Xiang Blade, bringing down a fierce blade-light; the First Layer of Xiang Divine Power was activated at that moment, causing his arm to instantly become much thicker, with veins bulging and his skin showing signs of tearing.

Swish swish!

With two blade strikes, the ground was directly split open with deep cracks, and the green spears shooting forth were also cleaved apart.

But during this blocking, Jing Jing Taixu's figure had already retreated.

Both sides in this lightning-fast exchange held nothing back; this scene fell into the eyes of countless onlookers, who shouted in admiration.

Before the tower of the Heavenly Fire Holy Academy, Lu Ming stood with her arms crossed, her willow brows slightly furrowed as she stared at the two figures dueling within the light screen.

"This Li Luo is completely suppressed in terms of speed and Su Du Shen Fa; Jing Jing Taixu has the speed advantage, so Li Luo finds it difficult to pose a significant threat to him." Beside Lu Ming, others were conversing.

"Tsk, this Li Luo only defeated Sister Lu through clever trickery and poison; it seems his true ability is not that impressive." Someone close to Lu Ming sneered, for although Li Luo had defeated Lu Ming using poison gas—a tactic allowed within the rules—it did not prevent them from criticizing Li Luo to curry favor with Lu Ming.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming frowned and said, "A loss is a loss; there is no need to make excuses. The strength Li Luo has displayed now is sufficient to defeat me head-on; his use of that poison gas move was simply to achieve victory with minimal expenditure, which is quite normal, especially since he has another decisive battle ahead."

The person beside her had flattered the wrong horse and could only smile awkwardly.

"Sister Lu, who do you think has a greater chance of winning?" Others quickly changed the subject.

Lu Ming pondered slightly and said, "Jing Jing Taixu has the speed advantage; his wind phase is too ethereal, making it difficult for Li Luo to launch a fatal attack against him, while Jing Jing Taixu can act opportunistically; once Li Luo reveals a flaw, he might be instantly severely injured."

"So, from the current situation, Jing Jing Taixu holds the advantage."

"Li Luo should also know this, so he is trying to find a way to restrict Jing Jing Taixu's speed advantage, but this seems quite difficult."

Upon hearing this, the others all nodded and sighed, "It seems the title of strongest in the First Star Academy will ultimately fall into Jing Jing Taixu's hands."

Lu Ming did not answer; her cold eyes merely stared at Li Luo's figure within the light screen. Although the situation was indeed as she had previously stated, this Li Luo always made her feel somewhat special.

This specialness was not about his person, but about his power.

Although he clearly possessed dual phases, his power seemed to have an alternative kind of special quality.

This fellow must also have some hidden things.

Therefore, who will win this decisive battle, I fear, can only be determined by watching until the very end.

At the same time, before the tower of the Holy Mountain Academy.

Sun Sun Dasheng squatted on the steps before the building, his complexion somewhat pale, yet his eyes danced with restless agitation; his gaze fixed on the battle within the light screen, looking as though he could barely contain his urge to jump in and join the fray.

But alas, he had already been eliminated.

So he could only anxiously scratch his face and say unwillingly, "Jing Jing Taixu, that son of a bitch, is truly too treacherous; his strength has actually risen to the fourth transformation of the Form-Transformation realm, it was truly just a hair's breadth away..."

"If I were just a bit stronger, Jing Jing Taixu might not have been able to withstand my 'Demon Ape Ultimate Intent'."

Sun Sun Dasheng was deeply unwilling; alas, his 'Demon Ape Ultimate Intent' could only last for a dozen or so breaths; he had seen clearly at the time that Jing Jing Taixu had also been pushed to his limit by him; if he could have held out a bit longer, the one defeated would likely have been Jing Jing Taixu.

But there was no way; a loss is a loss.

Jing Jing Taixu possessed the blessing of the Wind Spirit Envoy, plus the boost of the fourth transformation; this indeed made him slightly stronger than Sun Sun Dasheng.

"Li Luo, it's up to you now."

"However, if you cannot restrict Jing Jing Taixu's movement and speed, I fear you will find it difficult to win."

"Li Luo, you cannot restrict my speed."

On the mountain peak where countless gazes converged, Jing Jing Taixu's figure was ethereal; he seemed to ride the wind, smiling faintly as he looked at Li Luo, who had attempted to approach him by various means but was ultimately forced back by him.

At the same time, the green plantain fan in his hand unleashed endless green winds; the green winds were like blades filling the sky, continuously wearing down Li Luo.

Yet facing this assault, Li Luo did not utter a single word; he simply raised his blade to pursue, with extremely fierce and domineering blade lights erupting constantly, but whenever the blade lights swept toward Jing Jing Taixu, they were easily dodged by his wind-riding figure.

"Li Luo, you are anxious," Jing Jing Taixu smiled.

Li Luo's blade light suddenly paused.

"Is that so?" A smile appeared on his face.

Jing Jing Taixu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Suddenly, he felt as though something cold had fallen onto his arm in the air.

Jing Jing Taixu looked down; it was a drop of somewhat brownish water.

Yet it was this unremarkable drop of water that made him feel his body suddenly become a bit heavier.

In that instant of his astonishment, more and more brownish drops came with the wind, falling directly onto his body.

His body grew increasingly heavy.

Li Luo watched Jing Jing Taixu, whose expression had suddenly changed, and the smile at the corner of his mouth grew even more intense.

Is speed really that impressive...

Combat requires the use of one's mind.

Water Phase technique: Heavy Water Art.

Earth Phase technique: Unmelting Mud.