Bang! Bang!

The inside of Li Luo's body was like an oven right now. His resonant power was boiling over, fully concentrated on the refinement of earth fiend energy.

As time passed, the tempering of the resonant palace reached 80%.

However, trouble struck when Li Luo realized that he was almost out of juice.

The pool of spiritual liquid seemed to have almost dried up, and the tree's branches were bare and the leaves withered. 

Clearly, his resonant power was insufficient.

He quietly observed the earth fiend energy being refined by his dual resonant power. This was the last shred he could muster, and it was insufficient to complete the tempering of his resonant palace.

“Is this the end?”

He felt a sense of dissatisfaction. Although he had not fully succeeded, he was currently in the Quasi General Stage, a significant step up from before. However, his aim was greater than that. The Quasi General Stage was only stronger than the Fourth Changing by a bit and not considered to be a qualitative upgrade.

Him taking such a huge risk to break through now would be for nought if all he had to show for it was a crappy jump to the Quasi General Stage!

“UNACCEPTABLE!”

He had to break through. 

He had promised Jiang Qing'e that that dog Pei Hao would be left in pieces.

His wistful gaze stared longingly at the dwindling dual resonant power. What could he do now? First, he had to think. His valiant and surging mood had now turned calm. Everything had turned silent as he immersed himself in the emptiness. At this very moment, he felt like he could pick up a faint trace of a mysterious sound calling out to him as it flowed through his body. 

It was coming from his blood. 

No, it was something that was contained within his blood!

It was a mysterious power hidden within.

Was it his blood vessels themselves?

Li Luo's heart rippled with slight interest, and he attentively focused on the source of this calling. 

"The Young Lord's resonant power shouldn't be able to hold on any longer." 

Even Cai Wei was able to make this assessment from her observations. Li Luo's resonant power undulations had turned weak and seemed to be on its last legs.

"Hmm, he has yet to completely temper his resonant palace." Yan Lingqing sighed before forcing herself to see the bright side of things. "The Quasi General Stage isn't bad though. Even the Two Star Hall champion, Ao Bai, is only at this point. Li Luo has surpassed him by an entire year, and it's sufficient for him to dominate anyone at the same age group in the college."  

Jiang Qing'e pursed her lips in response. This was still an achievement worthy of celebration. However, she understood that Li Luo possessed pride ingrained into his very bones, despite not showing it outwardly. His aim was greater than this result.

He would definitely be dispirited if he failed to achieve his goal.

Whilst the cheerleaders continued to worry, the last strand of resonant power within Li Luo dissipated. Unfortunately, the earth fiend energy it was refining was not complete, and it began to break free, ready to wreak havoc on its surroundings.

Li Luo quietly observed the earth fiend energy that was on the cusp of breaking loose. At the same time, it felt like something within him had responded to it. He could distinctly discern the sound of his blood flowing through his body. It even seemed to be increasing in speed, and the sound got louder as time passed. 

Realizing that this might be a good thing, he surrendered himself to the rhythm of things, letting his mind and spirit roam free. 

It was as though the floodgates were finally thrown open. An unconscious suppression had finally been unwound.

Li Luo suddenly felt that the blood within him was coming to life. Roiling, blood-red energy was being oozed out of every blood cell, and within the energy was a hint of a mysterious, violet light. This magical energy then directly consumed the earth fiend energy like a starving beast  craving a meal. The originally berserk earth fiend energy immediately settled down upon being consumed, even faintly trembling as though it felt a sense of fear at the power that had contained it.

In a brief moment, the arrogant and untameable earth fiend energy had been turned docile.

Li Luo was left completely bewildered by this scene. However, this didn't stop him from quickly guiding the earth fiend energy into his resonant palace to continue the tempering process. Only after that did he slowly proceed to inspect the strange, new, blood-red energy within him. The power was extremely peculiar as even with his best efforts, nothing he did could control or affect it. It simply existed and did as it pleased, circulating within him.  

On the bright side, he could feel a natural sort of affinity with it, despite lacking the ability to handle it.

This was a completely unexpected development. Could he be any luckier that a miracle had fallen from the sky? This was a wonderful development, and he could now continue his refinement of earth fiend energy.

Thanks to the morale boost the energy had provided, he was determined to continue to guide more earth fiend energy from the environment into his body.

Boom!

Just as the thought surfaced in his mind, he could feel the blood-red energy starting to act restless once again. He desperately tried to suppress it, but the blood-red energy began to coalesce into some sort of vortex, spinning rapidly.

Taken aback once again, a bad feeling arose in his heart and he felt a sense of terror.

Before he knew it, countless times more earth fiend energy was sucked in violently, and it surged towards him in a tide!

The sight left Li Luo numb with shock. With how berserk the earth fiend energy strands were, he had only dared to take them in one by one. Now there were tens of them flying towards him, so just how was he supposed to save himself? Would he be left as a crippled mess after this? 

His body might just blow up from the influx of energy!

Li Luo was screaming in grief deep down. The miraculous blood-red energy had just brought him elation and joy, but the tables turned soon after! Now all he felt was regret!

Would he be ended by some wilful, mysterious power that had just awakened within him? 

What should he do now?

As he continued to gripe and panic in his heart, Jiang Qing'e's expression changed as well. She had similarly felt the presence of a surge of earth fiend energy entering Li Luo's body. Understanding that something might have gone wrong, light resonant energy was roused within her delicate body as she prepared to rush forward and interrupt Li Luo's advancement.

"Qing'e! You must calm down!" Ox Biaobiao grabbed her and held her back.

"Uncle Biao, something's not right!" Jiang Qing'e shouted anxiously. Even the usually calm Jiang Qing'e was completely riled up by this scene.

There was too much earth fiend energy, and Li Luo definitely could not handle it. The only result was a gory explosion!

"Believe in him!" Ox Biaobiao commanded.

Hearing those words, she forcibly halted herself. Her dainty palms were clenched so tightly that veins could be seen. Heaving a deep sigh, she composed herself. Ox Biaobiao would never seek to harm Li Luo after all.

Even Yan Lingqing and Cai Wei could sense the severity of the situation, and traces of strained expressions could be seen on their dignified faces.

A tense mood filled the atmosphere.

On the sidelines, Jiang Qing'e stared at the dozens of strands of earth fiend energy violently being sucked into Li Luo's body.

At this critical moment, Li Luo's body suddenly swelled up, with the blood vessels clearly visible through his skin. Endless amounts of fresh blood began to ooze from every pore as he cut a bloody figure.