Great Xia Kingdom, Tianshu Prefecture.
In June, in Nanfeng City, the scorching sun burned the earth like a raging fire.
Nanfeng Intermediate Academy.
The spacious and bright training ground.
Many youthful, vibrant boys and girls in training attire sat cross-legged all around, gazing toward the center of the field. There, two figures were engaged in a fast-paced sparring match. Their wooden swords collided intensely, producing crisp sounds that echoed through the training ground.
Both youths in the center were around fifteen or sixteen years old. The boy on the right had a slender figure, a handsome face, and bright eyes beneath his brows; his appearance and bearing were both top-tier. Leaving everything else aside, this supreme good looks alone caused some of the girls in the audience to cast bright, sparkling gazes at him, their eyes brimming with autumn water and a hint of shyness.
"Li Luo, come on!"
There was even a bold girl who cheered for him.
Standing opposite the boy named Li Luo was a stocky youth whose features appeared much rougher. Combined with his dark skin, compared to Li Luo, he truly looked like a human standing next to a black bear.
Therefore, upon hearing those girls cheering for Li Luo, he curled his lips in a momentary trace of jealousy, and then shouted, "Li Luo, I'm not holding back anymore!"
He took a step forward, causing the floor to tremble slightly. The wooden sword in his hand cut through the air, faintly producing a whistling sound as it slashed toward Li Luo ahead.
As the sword shadow descended, Li Luo's gaze flickered. Tiptoeing, his figure darted out like a nimble flying sparrow, cleanly dodging that heavy and fierce sword strike.
"It's the Sparrow Wind Step!" someone in the crowd exclaimed with a hint of admiration. This Sparrow Wind Step was a low-grade Resonance Art; quite a few people present knew it, yet few could execute it with Li Luo's level of familiarity.
Li Luo's figure closed in on the stocky youth like a sparrow, drawing his wooden sword with a sudden, sword-drawing momentum. In that instant, a flash of light seemed to sweep past, piercing straight toward the chest of the stocky youth before him with extreme speed.
"Little Spiritual Light Sword!" someone else cried out in surprise. Li Luo's sword was like an antelope hanging its horns by the boughs—a flash of spiritual light, both fast and ruthless. This forced them to sigh in admiration; the number-one prodigy of comprehension in Nanfeng Academy truly lived up to his reputation.
As the sword shadow thrust forward rapidly, the stocky youth's expression also changed. However, his strength was likewise extraordinary. At the critical moment, he forcefully steadied his stance and stamped his foot, rapidly retreating several paces.
At the same time, a faint layer of silver light shimmered across the surface of his body, and the hand gripping the wooden sword seemed to transform into the blurry projection of a silver bear paw.
Simultaneously, low bear roars vaguely emanated from within the stocky youth's body.
Seeing this scene, the many students in the training ground immediately exclaimed in shock: "That is Zhao Kuo's fifth-grade Silver Bear resonance! It looks like he is playing for keeps!"
Amidst those numerous cries of astonishment, Zhao Kuo took a step forward, cracking a fissure into the stone floor. The heavy sword in his hand wrapped in fierce, brute force, kicking up a gust of wind as it savagely slashed toward Li Luo ahead.
Silver light surged on the wooden sword, and the piercing whistle of the wind rang out.
"Savage Chop!"
The stocky youth let out a fierce roar, his crimson-glowing blade descending to directly collide with the rapidly thrusting sword shadow.
Bang!
The next instant, the two swords clashed hard against each other.
In the fierce collision, the wooden sword in Li Luo's hand collapsed almost instantly upon contact. A tyrannical force like that of a rampaging bear surged over, and the entire wooden sword was forcefully shattered to pieces.
The immense force transmitted through the weapon sent Li Luo staggering back more than a dozen steps.
Li Luo steadied his footing, looked down at the shattered wooden sword in his hand, and smiled helplessly. "Alright, Zhao Kuo, you win."
"Sigh."
As soon as these words were spoken, some of the girls in the audience let out disappointed sighs. Conversely, many of the boys revealed smug smiles; after all, being hot-blooded young men, they naturally felt envious and jealous of Li Luo's immense popularity among the girls.
"What a pity. Clearly Li Luo's offense was sharper, and in the application of Resonance Arts, he is also much stronger than Zhao Kuo. If not for the fact that he has no resonance, he definitely would have won this match," someone commented.
"Yeah, Zhao Kuo possesses a fifth-grade Silver Bear resonance with astonishing strength, and his resonance power has probably reached the fifth seal stage. He truly deserves to be the strongest person in our Second Academy right now."
"Li Luo's comprehension and talent in cultivating Resonance Arts are indeed formidable, but he was born with an empty resonance—that is simply a fatal flaw. Without sufficient and powerful resonance power to support him, no matter how seasoned his mastery of Resonance Arts becomes, it's of little use."
"Haha, stop sympathizing with others. Who is Li Luo? He is the Young Mansion Master of Luolan Manor, one of the four great manors of our Great Xia Kingdom! His parents are the youngest King-Marquis figures in our Great Xia Kingdom; in a mere ten years, the Luolan Manor they founded has risen to become one of the four great manors of the Great Xia Kingdom. Not to mention within the Great Xia Kingdom, even beyond its borders, they enjoy quite a reputation."
"Hah, what era is this to still be bringing up old history? Ever since Li Luo's parents disappeared in the 'King-Marquis Battlefield' three years ago, Luolan Manor has fallen from its peak. Furthermore, from the news I've heard, there are extreme divisions within Luolan Manor right now, and who knows if it might split apart in the future. I'm afraid his position as Young Mansion Master won't last much longer either."
"Oh? There's such a thing? The current helm of Luolan Manor should be Senior Sister Jiang Qing'e, right?"
The moment this name was uttered, the eyes of all the boys present grew much more passionate, because that name was practically a legend in their Nanfeng Intermediate Academy.
However, upon second thought, linking this legendary senior sister to her relationship with Li Luo, the gazes they cast toward the latter inevitably turned somewhat strange.
While the many boys and girls on the field were whispering among themselves, Zhao Kuo in the center walked over to Li Luo. He patted the latter's shoulder and grinned, "Are you alright? Don't blame me for winning an unfair fight."
Li Luo smiled. This Zhao Kuo had a straightforward personality and usually got along well with him, and in this matter, Zhao Kuo hadn't broken any rules.
After all, being born with an empty resonance was his own greatest flaw, and it couldn't be blamed on Zhao Kuo.
At the edge of the field, a middle-aged man withdrew his gaze from the two youths in the center. His name was Xu Shanyue, and he was an instructor of this Second Academy.
His eyes were likewise filled with a sense of regret.
Li Luo's comprehension was exceptionally brilliant; any Resonance Art in his hands could be mastered faster than by ordinary people. In this regard, he clearly inherited the advantages of his two gifted parents, even surpassing them.
Yet what was deeply regrettable was that Li Luo was born with an empty resonance, making his cultivation of resonance power rather troublesome.
Human cultivation relied on one's own resonance, which was the fundamental basis of cultivation.
Using the resonance to absorb the energy of heaven and earth, the ultimate manifestation formed thereby was called resonance power.
The human body's resonances came in countless types, but broadly they were divided into two major categories: elemental resonances and Myriad Beast resonances.
Elemental resonances were the many elements of heaven and earth, such as water, fire, wind, and lightning, while the so-called Myriad Beast resonances originated from legends of the dawn of the human race, when supreme experts wished to strengthen the power of mankind, and thus took the spirits of myriad beasts and integrated them into human bloodlines, giving birth to the so-called Myriad Beast resonances.
Regardless of whether it was an elemental resonance or a Myriad Beast resonance, they all had grades, simply and easily categorized from the first to the ninth grade.
When human children grew to be around ten-odd years old, an acupoint within their body would naturally open up; this acupoint was called a Resonance Palace.
And when the Resonance Palace appeared, it would naturally give rise to one's own resonance.
Take Zhao Kuo, for example: within his Resonance Palace, a fifth-grade Silver Bear resonance had awakened, belonging to the Myriad Beast resonance category.
The characteristic of this resonance was possessing immense physical strength, and when combined with one's own resonance power, the destructive might could be described as quite astonishing.
Yet Li Luo's problem lay precisely here: ever since the Resonance Palace in his body opened, it had failed to display any resonance whatsoever, remaining completely empty inside. Therefore, it was known as the extremely rare empty resonance.
Without a resonance as a foundational basis to absorb and refine the energy of heaven and earth, Li Luo naturally found it difficult to cultivate powerful resonance power—this was the fundamental reason why he lost to Zhao Kuo.
Because his Resonance Palace had no resonance.
Regarding Li Luo's empty resonance issue, the academy had conducted numerous tests. After all, because his two parents were far too outstanding, the academy's upper echelons had pinned high hopes on Li Luo's enrollment, believing that he would inevitably advance into Great Xia Kingdom's supreme higher academy, Saint Xuanxing Academy, in the future.
During his very first year of enrollment, Li Luo did not disappoint; he displayed astonishing talent in the practice of Resonance Arts and was directly promoted into the First Academy of Nanfeng Academy, where the most exceptionally talented youths of the entire Tianshu Prefecture gathered.
Yet as time went on, when the students reached the age where their Resonance Palaces manifested, he revealed the most awkward situation imaginable.
While everyone else possessed their own resonance, his Resonance Palace, though born, was entirely empty inside.
Lacking his own resonance, although Li Luo's practice of Resonance Arts was always a step ahead of others, his own resonance power improved rather slowly, falling even below the average level of the First Academy after a year.
The practice of Resonance Arts was meant to unleash resonance power to greater effect, but if the resonance power was weak, no matter how advanced the Resonance Art, its might remained limited.
After repeated testing, the academy's higher-ups reached a conclusion: this was likely due to Li Luo's physique.
This type of physique lacked a resonance within the body, making it difficult to absorb and refine the energy of heaven and earth, rendering subsequent cultivation exceptionally arduous.
As soon as this result came out, the instructor of the First Academy directly submitted an application to the academy's higher-ups, demoting Li Luo from the First Academy down to the current Second Academy.
This was actually normal. After all, the First Academy was the pride of Nanfeng Academy, and that instructor naturally did not want Li Luo to drag them down. Of course, most importantly, Li Luo's parents had already been missing for quite some time by then. Having lost those two main pillars, Luolan Manor—whose foundation was considered the weakest among the four great manors—had also found its circumstances within the Great Xia Kingdom appearing somewhat awkward in recent years.
Thus, Li Luo ultimately arrived at the Second Academy.
Xu Shanyue sighed inwardly. When Li Luo first came to the Second Academy, Zhao Kuo was actually no match for him, yet now, merely half a year later, Li Luo was already beginning to be suppressed by Zhao Kuo.
At this rate, probably over the next half year, Li Luo's ranking in the Second Academy would continue to gradually slip.
If Li Luo's results ultimately amounted to only this, that Saint Xuanxing Higher Academy in the Great Xia Kingdom—which everyone yearned for—would likely remain out of his reach.
Xu Shanyue gazed at Li Luo's slender figure and handsome, calm face with growing regret. In truth, this boy had already worked extremely hard, but because his parents were far too exceptional and outstanding, it raised everyone's expectations of him to great heights. Now, those brilliant parents had instead become a source of pressure for him.
After all, outsiders would only spout clichés about a tiger father begetting a dog son, without bothering to understand deeper matters.
Facing the many looks of pity, Li Luo dusted off the wood shavings from his body and sat down cross-legged to the side. Of course, he knew what everyone was thinking in their hearts at this moment.
An empty resonance...
This practically signaled a bleak future.
It was just that Li Luo curled his lips slightly, his hand involuntarily touching his lower abdomen. In truth, apart from himself, no one else knew that his peculiarity went far beyond a mere empty resonance.
Practitioners in this world initially opened up and gave birth to only one Resonance Palace within their bodies. In the future, upon stepping into the Duke Stage, a second Resonance Palace would be born; upon reaching the King Stage, they would possess a third Resonance Palace... Yet the Duke Stage individuals could be counted on one's fingers across the entire Great Xia Kingdom, and as for the King Stage, it was rarely even heard of within this powerful Great Xia Kingdom.
Of course, this wasn't absolute; rumor had it that individuals with freakish talents had an extremely low probability, when advancing their resonance power grade, of giving birth to a second Resonance Palace before ever reaching the Duke Stage, though such a probability was likewise extremely rare.
And Li Luo's other peculiarity lay right here—although he was still merely at the initial Tenth Seal Stage, what existed within his body was not a single Resonance Palace, but an unheard-of three!
That's right, this was a level that originally only peak experts stepping into the King Stage could attain, yet it had inexplicably manifested within Li Luo's body.
What made the situation even more emotionally roller-coaster-inducing, however, was that all three of these Resonance Palaces were completely empty!
So, if a single empty resonance meant no future, then pray tell, do three empty resonances mean you have a future, or no future at all?
Li Luo let out a sigh, his expression somewhat melancholic.