Chapter 0909: Tortoise Dragon Resonance
Chapter 0909: Tortoise Dragon Resonance
There were countless sighs after Li Qingfeng had failed to reach the thirty thousand foot mark. After all, many were hoping to see the birth of a new legend. It had been a number of years since anyone had managed to reach it.
As the most famous talent in this generation, Li Qingfeng had the highest chance to pull it off. If even he had failed, they would most likely have to wait for the next generation.
Amidst all their sighs, Lu Qingmei began to make her advance as well.
She did not back down just because Li Qingfeng had failed. Instead, the spirit of competitiveness within her eyes blazed as she took each step forward without any hesitation.
The ninth flame dragon materialized, and the terrifying dragonfear slammed her hard.
Under the gazes of the audience, Lu Qingmei made her way up the challenging, stone steps. She had pushed the resonant power in her body to the maximum at this point too.
A golden deer with a nine-colored glow emerged behind her. This was her quasi ninth-grade Nine-Colored Golden Deer resonance.
At the same time, the Heavenly Pearl behind her shook violently. A ringing sound echoed in the air as it continuously absorbed the worldly natural energy and transformed it into resonant power for her.
Lu Qingmei's steps were slightly heavier than Li Qingfeng's. Clearly, her foundation was not as strong as his even though both had reached the Heavenly Pearl Tier.
As such, the crowd was certain that Lu Qingmei would not exceed Li Qingfeng.
The result was exactly as expected.
When Lu Qingmei reached twenty-nine thousand, six hundred and eighty feet, a ringing sound erupted from the Heavenly Pearl behind her. Ripples of energy pulsed out of it continuously. This was a sign that it had reached its maximum load and could not go on any further.
The domineering dragonfear fell down like a heavy mountain, bringing immense pressure onto the Heavenly Pearl.
At this moment, Lu Qingmei's face started to turn a little pale. She began to feel a little dizzy in her mind. When she sensed the changes in her body, she could not help but let out a sigh.
She actually had the strength to take a few more steps and possibly be on par with Li Qingfeng. She could have gotten the chance to challenge the nine dragons becoming one too.
Unfortunately, she had lost because she was not a direct descendant of Heavenly Emperor Li. The Heavenly Dragon Energy in her body was simply not as pure as that of Li Qingfeng and the others.
As such, she had to pay a heavier price for each step that she had taken.
As someone not of the direct bloodline, getting so far was truly a remarkable achievement.
Lu Qingmei shook her head lightly. She paused her ascension and did not take any further steps. In the same moment, the domineering dragonfear started to weaken and the nine dragons circulating around her body began to fade.
A faint light flashed by, and Lu Qingmei appeared back at the twenty-nine thousand foot mark.
Li Qingfeng took a look at her and said, "What a pity, Banner Leader Lu Qingmei. If not for the weaker Heavenly Dragon Energy within you, your achievements would not have paled in comparison to mine."
However, Lu Qingmei did not seem to mind his words. She replied, "It's fine. Neither of us would have made it to the thirty thousand foot mark either way."
Hearing this, Li Qingfeng sighed and responded, "Climbing the full thirty thousand feet is a true trial. The Nine Dragons Becoming One is not something that a first-grade Heavenly Pearl Tier cultivator can endure. I guess our generation will have no luck with this."
"Not necessarily so. It has yet to end... right?" Lu Qingmei said.
Li Qingfeng took a quick look behind him before he smiled and said, "Are you referring to Li Luo? It seems like he's moving even slower than before; even Li Jingtao is catching up to him already."
Indeed, Li Luo's pace had slowed down not far behind them. Was it because the pressure was too great for his body to endure?
Just a little behind him, a figure was catching up to him slowly but steadily.
That was none other than Li Jingtao.
His endurance had exceeded everyone's expectations.
Apart from Li Qingfeng and Lu Qingmei, many curious gazes from within and outside the stone dragon were watching him. They wanted to see just what surprises this unreputable fellow had in store for them this time.
Under the numerous gazes, Li Jingtao slowly climbed towards Li Luo's position. He noticed that Li Luo was completely focused on himself, paying no attention to the outside world at this moment. He knew that Li Luo was using the dragonfear from the stone dragon to aid in his cultivation. As such, he did not plan to disturb his cousin.
"Third Brother, I'll help you scout out the road ahead," Li Jingtao whispered to him before he continued climbing. Before long, he reached twenty-nine thousand feet as well.
"You've hidden your true strength really well, Banner Leader Li Jingtao," Li Qingfeng said slowly as he watched Li Jingtao approach.
Shaking his head, Li Jingtao smiled humbly and replied, "I'm not hiding it. It's just that I've never fought over anything with you, so no one has paid any attention to me."
"So you're finally going to compete with us this time? If you reveal your true strength now, you can no longer be so carefree in the future. Others will surely put pressure onto you," Li Qingfeng responded.
Hearing this, Li Jingtao replied with a bitter smile, "I didn't expect them to climb so slowly either! Before I noticed anything, I was already up here!"
Li Qingfeng's mouth twitched a little. This guy was really an oddball.
"No matter how deeply you've concealed yourself, I'm not giving up the Dragon's Head. If we meet in the Scales Seizure later, I would love to see just how strong you truly are," Li Qingfeng commented calmly. From his words, it was clear that he had acknowledged Li Jingtao as a contender for the Dragon's Head.
Previously, Lu Qingmei was the only one in this category.
Li Jingtao hurriedly waved his hand. "Well, I don't want it."
With an earnest smile, he continued, "However, my Third Brother has a good chance to get it. If we meet during the Scales Seizure later, I may have to work a little harder even if I do not want to compete for it."
"I'm only afraid Li Luo will not meet your expectations," Li Qingfeng responded.
At this point, Li Jingtao simply smiled in response and did not chat with him any further. He looked up ahead at the mottled steps. With a bitter frown evident on his face, he sighed.
If he had the choice, he would not want to endure the pain of the last thousand feet.
However, he had already attracted the attention of everyone by reaching this point. If he did not even give it a try, Li Fengyi would surely torture him for the next month or so. Although he was very thick-skinned and could withstand her scoldings, seeing Li Fengyi's nasty expression hollering at him for a month would be a terrible experience.
Hence, he decided to take a step forward under the countless curious looks.
In that instant, the ninth dragon appeared.
Li Jingtao took a deep breath. His plump face had become slightly twisted as the immense pressure had increased considerably.
Moreover, the domineering dragonfear was strong enough to flatten even a mountain. One could only imagine the tremendous pressure on his body.
A yellow resonant power flowed deep in Li Jingtao's body, and the manifestation of a yellow beast slowly emerged behind him.
The huge beast looked like a giant tortoise, but it had the head and claws of a dragon. With a thick, black shell, it gave one a sense of extreme stability and indestructibility.
This was Li Jingtao's resonance.
The upper eighth-grade Tortoise Dragon resonance. His upper eighth-grade resonance seemed to possess a hint of sentience to it, making others feel like it was close to a breakthrough into the quasi ninth-grade.
The spectators noticed that a bright glow had also appeared behind Li Jingtao. When the brilliant energy condensed into its purest form, rays of dazzling light shot out of it.
This was a familiar sight to the spectators now.
It was a Heavenly Pearl!
However, Li Jingtao's Heavenly Pearl appeared a little illusory and faint, as if it had not materialized completely.
Quasi Pearl!
Li Jingtao had taken his first step into the Heavenly Pearl Tier. He was the next guy after Li Qingfeng and Lu Qingmei in this generation to reach this stage.
“Oh!”
This scene caused a huge uproar amongst the crowd. Behind him, the faces of Deng Fengxian and Li Hongli changed completely. Now they finally understood how he had overtaken them so easily.
He had already taken half a step into the Heavenly Pearl Tier!
Li Fengyi was stunned for a moment. She bit her teeth and shouted, "You're really a tortoise, only moving when pushed!"
Among all the excitement and surprise from the crowd, Li Jingtao started to form hand seals with both of his hands. Wrinkles started to appear on his skin rapidly, becoming something like a shell glowing in bronze light.
This was not all. Following the bronze glow, layer after layer of light started to enveloped the surface of his skin.
When the fourth layer of bronze carapace enveloped him, Li Jingtao finally heaved a sigh of relief. He then began to make his way up, one step at a time.
Just like previously, he moved up slowly and steadily.
In the end, he made his way all the way to twenty-nine thousand, six hundred and ninety feet, a whole ten feet ahead of Lu Qingmei.
The next step would be twenty-nine thousand and seven hundred feet, where Li Qingfeng had ended earlier. That was where the toughest challenge would manifest, Nine Dragons Becoming One.
At this moment, Li Qingfeng stared at Li Jingtao's figure intently.
Li Jingtao hesitated for a moment before he took his next step, stepping onto the twenty-nine thousand and seven hundred foot mark.
As soon as Li Jingtao crossed the threshold, the nine dragons fused into one. The enormous, lively fire-dragon emerged and stared down at him.
Earlier, Li Qingfeng had chosen to retreat here as he was not confident that he could endure the dark-gold dragon flame.
Similarly, Li Jingtao could feel the same threat. He was thinking about retreating deep in his heart too. He understood that although he had made it past Lu Qingmei and caught up with Li Qingfeng, he was not stronger than them. It was simply because he had an advantage in this particular test.
His specialty was in defense. The Dragon's Ascent didn’t assess one’s offense at all, so all one needed to do was endure it silently and make their way up. This was why his performance had far exceeded everyone's expectations.
If this was a fight against the other two, all he would be able to do was thicken his skin and defenses and perhaps force them into a draw.
Li Jingtao hesitated for a while before he finally made his decision.
"Third Brother must be aiming for the Dragon's Head. In that case, let me try out the intensity of Nine Dragons Becoming One first. With my thick skin, the burn shouldn't be that bad, right? When he arrives later, I can share this information with him."
With that in mind, he faced the giant fire-dragon directly and took a step forward. Everyone gasped in disbelief.
Roar!
The giant dragon roared and transformed into a dark-gold dragon flame, diving straight into Li Jingtao.