A ferocious battle kicked off in a flash, akin to a spark setting off an explosion.

The majestic brawl occurred right outside the corrupted city, three distinct groups of mighty resonant power igniting and emanating in all directions. 

The most eye-catching sight was the First Princess and Lan Lan's scuffle. The two possessed seven-pearl Heavenly Pearl resonant power, immediately clashing with full force without hesitation, endless resonant power overflowing out of them and into the air. 

Although Lan Lan had eked out a victory over the First Princess in the previous round, he would not fall into complacency. Their strength did not differ by much, and his only trump card over her was the Enlightened Sage Scripture.

At the same time, there was an understanding that he had to rely on said scripture to win.

Thus, from the moment blows started being exchanged, he had begun to quietly circulate this technique, taking every opportunity to prepare the Duke Art.

Meanwhile, curious gazes shifted to focus upon Jiang Qing'e and Lu Jinci's battlefield. Everyone knew that the First Princess' aim was to stall for time, to give Jiang Qing'e the opportunity to turn the tables. Once Lu Jinci was captured, Lan Lan's hands would definitely be tied.

Why? Based on the mixed-level competition rules, the moment one member in a team was eliminated, the overall points of the team would also be deducted accordingly. 

However, this was an overt ploy that even Lu Jinci was clearly aware of. He had first-hand understanding of the gap in power that existed between the two of them. Even when all of the other Three Star Hall students ganged up upon her, they were only unceremoniously beaten down in the blink of an eye. By his estimations, ten seconds would very possibly be the absolute most he could last against her.

Thus, he chose to race away, helter skelter without any hesitation.

Lu Jinci heroically burst out with all his might, completely ignoring the terror known as Jiang Qing'e, concentrating all his effort into running away.

This was going to be a game of time.

Jiang Qing'e was not surprised as she followed in pursuit. Despite the short distance between the two, bridging the gap would require quite some time. Lu Jinci was also at the Fiend Finisher Tier and thus even someone like her would not find it a simple task to catch this rat.

The gazes of some of the individuals hiding in the hilly forest turned dark. They could vaguely make out that a massive avatar had started to materialize behind Lan Lan, bringing about a sense of indescribable pressure.

Time almost seemed to stop at this very instant.

Weng!

Whilst attention was focused upon the two peak level skirmishes, a certain somebody was being forgotten. The majestic resonant powers that constantly collided with utmost force had overshadowed a much quieter battle between Resonant Master Stage cultivators. 

Jing Taixu was brandishing his green plantain fan, summoning countless green wind blades whilst summoning the full power of his quasi ninth-grade spirit avatar. He was basically a force of nature in human form. 

Yet for all that disastrous splendor, it fell apart almost as quickly as it started before a rapidly rotating blade, leaving Jing Taixu with an unpleasant expression. 

"You've reached the Fourth Changing?" Jing Taixu probed before falling silent. 

During the hall-level competition, Li Luo had taken advantage of all kinds of strange tricks to temporarily reach the Fourth Changing. The current situation had changed and he could feel that Li Luo's resonant power had truly become denser and stronger, indicating his breakthrough. 

On the other hand, Li Luo remained unfathomably calm in the face of Jing Taixu's question, intensely focused upon him. "Well now, I wonder if the current me can repeat my achievement once again," he quipped whilst tightly grasping the Onyx-Elephant Blade.

Level One Divine Elephant Power!

Li Luo's limbs trembled as berserk power rushed into them. He might have been able to resist the strain in the past, but it would come with numerous injuries that would leave his skin and muscles torn apart. But things were different now. Despite wielding the power, he remained completely unharmed, taming it.

All this was thanks to the benefits borne from the Imperial Fluxpool.

His body had been elevated to a new level.

Feeling the might course through him without issue brought a smile to Li Luo's face. With a thought, he kicked the lightning forge into overdrive as well.

Boom!

Thunderous roars crackled mysteriously within him when the lightning forge ignited. 

As the sound of thunder passed through, whether it was his flesh, blood, meridians, or bones, they all seemed to have been awakened by some esoteric power, becoming abnormally active and boiling with vigor.

All of this happened within him, and the only outward sign was that a few ripples of lightning seemed to bathe Li Luo's skin. A glimpse of it could also be seen flickering through his pupils occasionally. 

The end result? His body felt invincible!

Thus, with this in mind, he activated the Level Two Divine Elephant Power without hesitation.

Boom!

The Onyx-Elephant Blade trembled and a frightening wave of violent energy exploded outwards and into him, as though an ancient elephant was stampeding directly.

Both of his arms swelled up massively, demonstrating the titanic strength he now possessed.

Blue veins could be seen criss-crossing his arms, throbbing like moving earthworms with every pulse of energy, encasing the earth-shattering power that was ready to erupt at any moment.

With great power came great strain. Tiny blood rivulets gradually started to bead on his arms as his body was stretched a little past its tolerable limit.

Despite feeling the pain, Li Luo was only all smiles at this point. 

His arms had not been completely wrecked this time!

With the tempering of his fleshly body and the benefits from the Thunderpeal Avatar, Li Luo had managed to resist the strain of the Level Two Divine Elephant Power without the need for recovery resonant arts.  

He was finally ready. A cold gaze focused upon Jing Taixu. 

On the other hand, this sight had frightened the crap out of his opponent. Jing Taixu could vaguely sense that Li Luo carried an unfathomable sense of danger!

Furthermore, this far surpassed whatever he had seen in the hall-level competition.

"Just what the heck did this guy do to get so strong?" Jing Taixu's felt cold sweat running down his back, and he immediately started to retreat. Waving his green plantain fan, tons of green resonant power began to agglomerate and even the slight hint of a dragon's roar could be heard. 

"Dragon-general resonance art, Wind Demon's Wrath!" With another wave of the fan, the gathered resonant power materialized into an azure-black spear possessing unfathomable power. It flew towards Li Luo, its mere presence causing the space around it to distort.

He hadn’t shown a shred of hesitation to bring out his strongest killing move to deal with him.

This very same move had almost disposed of Li Luo during the last competition.

The spear rent the air as it whizzed past, causing a sonic boom with its sheer speed.

Li Luo could see the spear gradually growing larger as it approached him. Without skipping a beat, he braced himself, activating his Water Edge and then directly cleaving towards the attack!

Weng!

A single chop. Terrifying resonant power was emitted from the blow, seemingly warping the space around him. At the same time, a sword gash spanning dozens of feet could be seen arcing through the ground in front of him.

This was the power of a single strike. It had far surpassed anything Li Luo had managed to pull off thus far.

Ding!

The sword light clashed directly with the heavy spear.

A crisp and clear ring reverberated immediately upon contact. Then came a thunderous boom that deafened the corrupted city.