Chapter 0801 – 8,000 Member Harmony
When Li Luo's resonant power surged into the torrent of energy produced by Harmony, he could distinctly feel that using it with the whole banner was entirely different than using it with just the fifth division.
The combined efforts of the entire banner could challenge a Duke, and even if it was just a first or second-grade Duke, he could still wield Duke-level strength. The Duke Stage was a qualitative jump in cultivation realms, and one would be a true expert at that point, regardless of whether they were in the inner or outer divine continents. They were the pillars supporting any power, including the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li.
Thus, many of the Banner Leaders who had experienced going through the state of Harmony with the entire banner had drowned in the pleasure of power. Some even felt completely lost. As a result, being able to maintain one's mental state was considerably difficult, much less wielding the power to launch all sorts of empowered attacks.
On the other hand, this was nothing new to Li Luo.
Within the tempest of energy, the consciousnesses of the eight thousand banner members were also condensed together. Although the stream of thought was guided by the Nine Revolutions Draconic Breath Fiend Art, Li Luo was still temporarily overwhelmed by the influx of thoughts at first, turning slightly dizzy.
At the same time, seemingly endless amounts of energy tugged at his resonant power, giving him a hard time trying to maintain order.
Li Luo began to frown and a look of pain arose on his face.
In the surroundings of the drill grounds, the eight thousand banner members had serious faces. They could similarly feel the chaos brewing within the state of Harmony, but they could not assist Li Luo in any way. He was the only one who could maintain control. The only thing they could help with was to reduce the impact their conscious thoughts had on the situation and facilitate Li Luo's assimilation into a whole.
Zhao Yanzhi continued to look on in worry. Li Luo did not seem to want to take a step back. Clearly, he was not going to give up anytime soon.
"He has a strong personality," Zhao Yanzhi helplessly muttered to herself. Many Banner Leaders failed to achieve Harmony together with the entire banner on their first attempt, this also included the Dragon's Blood Lineage's Li Qingfeng from the Gold Blood Banner.
Li Qingfeng had to try thrice before finally succeeding.
Thus, the first failure did not mean much. Additionally, there was a devious Zhong Ling hidden into the mix. He still held sway over several individuals in the first division, and if they secretly chose not to cooperate, the difficulty for Li Luo to achieve Harmony would only increase.
In another area of the drill grounds, Zhong Ling's eyes were half open and half shut. A smirk surfaced on his face as he continued to spy on Li Luo.
"Li Luo, oh, Li Luo. You've chosen to ruin my plans, yet you still want things to go your way without trouble. How could something like that be possible in this world?" Zhong Ling thought to himself.
He understood that Li Luo had severed his path of advancement, and the enmity he felt was not a small one. Thus, he would have to find ways to take revenge.
He would not give Li Luo the opportunity to kick him out of the Green Nether Banner. His position had been arranged by Zhong Yushi, and if Li Luo wanted to see him gone, he would need an appropriate reason. He would also need to obtain the resolutions approved by the other Hall Masters, and it would not be easy for him to obtain them in any short amount of time.
Only by remaining could he be a thorn in his path.
At this point in time, Zhong Ling could feel that there was endless chaos brewing within the torrent of energy above them, and Li Luo's resonant power did not seem to have reappeared. Now the eight thousand banner members were like headless flies, completely uncontrolled and wandering.
"It should be over..." Zhong Ling thought to himself. It seemed as though he had managed to vent some of his malicious intent.
But just as this thought surfaced, a sudden change occurred in the torrent of energy. Slight movement could be seen before a particularly striking stream of resonant power emerged, wrapped in a special aura that continued to rise.
This feeling was not foreign to Zhong Ling. It was something that was radiated by the Banner Leader's gold seal.
This caused his mood to sink. “How did Li Luo manage to find a path through the tumultuous situation and take control of the torrent of energy? Impossible!
“Even Li Qingfeng failed on his first try, and what is Li Luo compared to him?!”
As Zhong Ling remained in shock, Li Luo heaved a sigh of relief. He had almost been assimilated into the chaos.
The Harmony produced by the whole banner was indeed slightly tyrannical.
The good thing was that he had already experienced the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf and Principal Pang's powers, and the latter was significantly more terrifying than wielding a Duke's power. Li Luo might have merely been a puppet for Principal Pang, but it was a feeling his body still remembered very clearly.
The Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf was at the quasi-Duke Stage, and the strength in his hands now was not too far off from it.
Without these experiences under his belt, it might have been tricky for Li Luo to achieve the state of Harmony. He managed to get through this situation without problems in the end, managing to maintain his state of clarity and taking control of the power.
Still, things were not over. After managing to achieve clarity, the next step was to assimilate everyone's energy into a whole. The energy itself was still in a state of chaotic flux.
Li Luo circulated the Draconic Atavism Scripture, and with the aid of the Banner Leader’s gold seal, he experimented with controlling the entire banner's energy as one.
Alas, progress was slow.
He took almost two hours to just barely fuse a small portion of the banner's strength. This made him feel a little helpless. He had spent time preparing earlier today, seeking guidance from Li Fengyi and Li Jingtao. Based on their words, Li Qingfeng had only managed to reach a state of clarity after three tries, and that included wielding everyone's strength as one.
It was only through personal experience that he understood the sheer difficulty of this task.
This was why he was seen as a genius of a generation. One could see how difficult such a task was.
Li Luo quashed the complicated thoughts in his heart as he perceived the torrent of energy. In his previous tries, he discovered that the reason why he was unable to control everyone's energy as one was mainly because the energy had come from eight thousand different individuals. Even though they all practiced the Draconic Breath Fiend Art, their energy still held a trace of their consciousness.
Additionally, there were some who were trying to cause trouble, such as Zhong Ling.
If he was able to restrain these threads of consciousness, then he would be able to control all of the energy within a short amount of time.
Simply speaking, if he could concuss the crap out of everyone's minds, then the energy would remain obedient as the members would be in a daze!
His thoughts began to fly as he pondered over a viable solution.
However, everyone's energy was mixed together, so how could he find a way to intimidate these threads of consciousness into submission? This was a fanciful idea indeed.
Even a Duke Art couldn't be used in this situation. Anything else was even less useful.
"Hmm?" At this point, an idea popped up in Li Luo's head. Something to awe everyone's hearts and mind? Wait a minute, he did have something like that.
It would be the second Nine Revolutions Art he had picked up from the Dragon Stele!
Heavenly Dragon Resonance Enlightenment. It could condense the manifestation of a Heavenly Dragon and use its energy to give birth to draconic pressure that could intimidate and shock one's heart and mind.