Chapter 902: Li Luo's Sprint

Ah!

When the dark-golden flames engulfed Li Jingtang, he immediately let out a wail of ghostly weeping and wolfish howling.

"It hurts too much! I won't climb anymore!"

Li Jingtang stomped his feet in place; layers of peculiar, differently colored scales on his body melted at an astonishing rate, and even the dragon-tortoise-like phantasmal shadow behind him was being burned by the dark-golden flames until it was nearly dissolving into nothingness.

At this very moment, Li Jingtang finally understood why even Li Li Qingfeng had not chosen to take this step and face the Nine Dragons Fusion Fire head-on.

So this thing's power is this terrifying.

Even though Li Jingtang excels in defense, he still found it unbearable beneath this fire.

Feeling layer after layer of defense constantly collapse, Li Jingtang gritted his teeth, endured the terrifying pressure, and suddenly stepped forward one stair.

Two thousand nine hundred and seventy-one zhang.

Exactly one zhang more than Li Li Qingfeng!

After taking this step, Li Jingtang no longer had the heart to improve; his feet hurriedly retreated.

And this retreat of his was equivalent to abandoning the climb, so his figure flashed, and he retreated back to a position parallel with Li Li Qingfeng, Lu Lu Qingmei, and the others.

But at that spot of two thousand nine hundred and seventy-one zhang, a light-shadow symbolizing his achievement remained.

Silence blanketed the heavens and earth.

Everyone looked at the light-shadow left by Li Jingtang with complex expressions, because this result was far too unexpected.

Who could have thought that in this Dragon Ascent, the one with the best result was not Li Li Qingfeng, but Li Jingtang, whose name was not prominent in the Twenty Flags!

"Well done!" Li Li Fengyi couldn't help but clap her hands and laugh, her beautiful face full of excitement; Li Jingtang's final step was truly a stroke of divine inspiration.

Although he only surpassed Li Li Qingfeng by one zhang, that one zhang would surely make the Dragon Blood Lineage feel extremely depressed.

Especially Li Li Hongli!

Thinking of this, Li Li Fengyi looked toward Li Li Hongli's position and indeed saw the other's beautiful face turn iron-green; instantly, her mood became even better.

The other Great Flag Leaders also had strange expressions; this result was truly peculiar.

On the high steps, Li Li Qingfeng's face grew a bit colder; looking at Li Jingtang, he said, "One step higher than me—is Great Flag Leader Li Jingtang trying to humiliate me?"

Li Jingtang hurriedly waved his hands and said, "How could I have such thoughts? It's just that the 'Nine Dragons Fire' is too terrifying; I could only endure it for a bit and happened to take one step."

Li Li Qingfeng lowered his eyes slightly and said indifferently, "This Dragon Ascent suits your temperament; when we reach the 'Scale Plundering' stage, I really want to test how hard your turtle shell is."

After his words fell, he turned his gaze away, no longer paying attention to Li Jingtang; after all, saying anything now was useless, and whatever grudges existed would be settled at the 'Scale Plundering' stage.

And while these Great Flag Leaders sighed over the current situation, the high-ups of the Five Lineages in the void above also had peculiar expressions.

"So Li Jingtang cultivates the 'Eight Armors Art'; I recall this art is the only Derivation God-level Body Refining Marquis Art in the Dragon Tooth Lineage, correct?" said Li Li Xuanwu, the Dragon Bone Lineage Leader, with a smile.

Li Li Jingzhe nodded slightly; indeed, the Dragon Tooth Lineage had few Body Refining Marquis Arts, since the Dragon Tooth Lineage was famous for its offensive might, and the 'Eight Armors Art' that Li Jingtang cultivated was the only Derivation God-level Body Refining Art; moreover, this art had extremely weak offensive power, and its sole characteristic was abnormal defense. Ordinary Body Refining Arts also enhanced physical strength, but this art had no such effect, completely allocating all its special effects to defense.

Therefore, even if someone in the Dragon Tooth Lineage wanted to cultivate a Body Refining Art, they would not choose this one.

This was an extremely obscure Body Refining Marquis Art.

However, the only praiseworthy aspect of this art was that terrifying defense; it was said that if one cultivated the 'Eight Armors Level' of the Eight Armors Art, its defense would be enough to rival a Destiny-level Marquis Art. In the past, an ancestor among the Five Heavenly Dragon Lineages had cultivated this art to a profound realm and, with the strength of an Eighth-Rank Marquis, had forcibly endured an attack from a King-level powerhouse without dying, becoming famous throughout Tianyuan.

Moreover, the difficulty of cultivating this art was equally extremely high; it was unknown how this young man Li Jingtang managed to cultivate it. Observing his previous display, he had already reached the 'Four Armors' level, obviously having immersed himself in this for a long time.

"This little fellow is the first I have ever seen who climbed this step purely by relying on defense alone," said Li Li Qingying, the Dragon Scale Lineage Leader.

"It seems this young man aspires to become the hardest person among our Five Heavenly Dragon Lineages," said Li Li Jinjiao, the Dragon Horn Lineage Leader, with a strange smile.

"However, his ability to reach this step was also a bit of a trick; the mechanism of the Dragon Ascent suited him extremely well; otherwise, he should not have been able to surpass Li Li Qingfeng and Lu Lu Qingmei."

This remark indeed drew agreement from the crowd; Li Jingtang did indeed take a bit of a shortcut with the mechanism of this stage, but sometimes, luck is also a form of strength.

"It seems this Dragon Ascent will end more or less like this," said Li Li Tianji, the Dragon Blood Lineage Leader, with a faint smile, having remained silent until now.

"Not necessarily."

Li Li Jingzhe lowered his gaze and said, "Li Luo has not stopped his steps yet."

Many gazes turned toward the Stone Dragon, and indeed they saw Li Luo's steps still climbing step by step; although slow, he was gradually approaching the position where Li Li Qingfeng and the others were.

"He is using the Stone Dragon's pressure to temper his own Xiang Force," Li Li Qingying said slowly.

"He wants to break through under extreme pressure and thereby nurture the Evil Qi," Li Li Xuanwu nodded and said.

"That shows some boldness; using the Dragon Ascent to 'sharpen the sword' is something ordinary people dare not do, for if one is not careful, even the sword's edge would be unable to withstand the pressure and collapse directly," Li Li Jinjiao commented casually.

"He has great ideas and courage; after all, his own strength is inferior to Li Li Qingfeng and the others. If he wants to rise up and catch up, he can only take a crooked path. If he can truly nurture this 'Evil Qi', then he will be able to unleash extremely astonishing power in that instant."

With their superlative strength as Lineage Leaders, they naturally saw through Li Luo's intentions at a glance.

"Then let us see if he can reach three thousand zhang."

When the gazes of the Five Lineage high-ups focused on Li Luo, the other Great Flag Leaders on the Stone Dragon also turned their gazes over, since currently, only Li Luo was still continuing to climb on the Stone Dragon.

The others had basically already confirmed their results.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Li Luo's body radiated the Glazed Three Lights; the Xiang Force within his body was also driven without reservation, and the three Xiang Palaces hummed and vibrated.

Finally, his steps slowly brought him to two thousand nine hundred zhang.

Li Luo's slightly lowered eyes finally slowly lifted at this moment, gazing at the mottled stone steps ahead.

"Third Brother, keep going!" Li Jingtang's voice came from the side.

Neither Li Li Qingfeng nor Lu Lu Qingmei spoke; they simply watched Li Luo, who had arrived here, in silence.

Li Luo smiled at Li Jingtang and said, "Big Brother is truly hiding his depths; you actually achieved the highest result."

Although he had previously been immersed in the tempering within his body, he had still paid attention to Li Jingtang's sprint.

Li Jingtang shook his head and said, "Great Flag Leader Li Li Qingfeng was actually right just now; this Dragon Ascent just happened to suit me a bit; anyway, I just relied on my thick skin and held on stubbornly."

"Having thick skin is also something you cultivated yourself; it's not something people are born with," Li Luo said with a smile.

Li Jingtang scratched his head and said, "That sounds pretty reasonable too."

Li Luo smiled, said no more, and instead took a deep breath, stepped forward without the slightest hesitation, and crossed the two thousand nine hundred zhang mark.

Whoosh!

Nine fire dragons instantly manifested around his body, and at the same time, a terrifying dragon pressure poured down, causing Li Luo's shoulders to sink involuntarily.

"Glazed Three Lights." Li Luo's body erupted with glazed radiance, pushing it to the extreme at this moment; three-colored glazed mysterious light flowed continuously, protecting his flesh.

"Three-Light Divine Patterns!" The three-colored glazed divine patterns appearing on his body were also activated at this moment, making Li Luo's Glazed Body even more pure and solid, the mysterious light blazing intensely.

"Dual-Phase Power, Third Realm." Dual-Phase Power flowed, within it seeming to contain countless minute and subtle spiritual marks; this high-grade Phase Power could endure the scorching of dragon flames for a longer time. In terms of Phase Power quality, his Dual-Phase Power, fused from an Eighth-Rank Water Phase and a Seventh-Rank Wood Phase, was absolutely more pure than the False Ninth-Rank Phase Power of Li Li Qingfeng and the others.

"Thunder-Resounding Body." Li Luo even activated the Thunder-Resounding Body; thunder echoed within his body, strengthening his flesh and blood.

At this moment, Li Luo had clearly unleashed all his means.

And the effect brought about by this was that the mottled stone steps were passed step by step beneath his feet.

After a long while, Li Luo arrived at the position Lu Lu Qingmei had reached earlier: two thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight zhang.

Here, his body paused for a moment; the dragon pressure surging from the outside suppressed his body until it emitted faint sounds, while the searing pain spread through his body, as if his very form was about to be ignited.

But Li Luo did not stop there; after waiting for two breaths, he surged upward.

He directly stepped into the two thousand nine hundred and seventy zhang mark.

The nine fire dragons surrounding his body condensed at this moment, transforming into dark-golden dragon flames that watched Li Luo with predatory intent, and a terrifying aura radiated forth.

The fusion fire of the Nine Dragons.

Inside and outside the Stone Dragon Space, countless gazes were cast over at this moment, as if holding their breath.

They had already witnessed the terror of this fire before; even someone as strong as Li Li Qingfeng, after hesitating for a while, had chosen to preserve himself and give up.

Only Li Jingtang, relying on his terrifying defense, had forced a single step forward, but he was burned until he howled in agony and retreated after just one step.

And Li Luo, although possessing Three Phases and even having cultivated the Three-Light Glazed Body, was after all only at the Fiend Body Realm.

With such strength, reaching the two thousand nine hundred and seventy zhang mark could absolutely be considered an alternative record; however, if he were to attempt to assault the three thousand zhang mark, I am afraid anyone would think it the dream of a madman.

In Li Luo's pupils, the dark-golden dragon flames were reflected; the dragon flames seemed to possess sentience, locking onto him tightly, and as long as he showed any sign of advancing another step, these dark-golden dragon flames would unleash their terrifying power.

Hoo.

Feeling the threat like a spear at his back, Li Luo deeply inhaled air so hot and scalding that his lungs felt slightly uncomfortable, then his eyes suddenly became resolute.

Although assaulting these dark-golden dragon flames might exact a heavy price, and might even affect the performance of "Seizing Scales" afterward, Li Luo still did not intend to give up.

Since he had already decided to do it, he naturally had to do it to the best of his ability; hesitating and holding back would only put himself in an awkward position.

With this thought, Li Luo directly stepped forward amidst countless cries of shock, facing the dark-golden dragon flames head-on.