Chapter 0959: Li Luo's Growing Influence
Chapter 0959: Li Luo's Growing Influence
Somewhere far away from the valley.
Li Luo and the rest stopped, and he glanced towards the valley they had retreated from. Frightening surges of resonant power undulations were emanating from that location, causing the ground to tremble and shudder. Gigantic cracks were forming in every direction like giant pythons tunneling beneath the surface, leveling the forest.
Zhao Yan and the rest had taken out all the stops to rescue Zhao Shenjiang and Zhao Fengxu.
"Do we want to take this opportunity to ambush them?" The one who asked was Lu Ze, who was the previous generation's Gold Light Banner Leader. He could feel the tremors quaking through the ground, and a sinister gleam could be seen in his eyes.
Li Luo shook his head. "If we truly drive them into a corner, we will also pay a heavy price. We were only able to force Zhao Yan back a step because the time was right. If the Spiritual Resonance Cave was about to end, he would not have opted to rescue his teammates. Dealing a crippling blow to the Dragon's Blood Lineage would have been a far better choice."
Li Fuling and the rest nodded in agreement. They had been lucky to come out unscathed, and if they did try to harass Zhao Yan, he might really put his life on the line. If that happened, they would suffer as well.
"It looks like we have to thank you, Third Brother. Otherwise, all five lineages would have fallen into a trap. The combined efforts of the Guardian Spirits, the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao, and the Devil Fire Hall would have left us scrambling for our lives with significant injuries." Li Jingtao sighed.
This was something no one could deny. Even Li Fuling, who was the group's leader in name, let go of her formalness, speaking to Li Luo pleasantly for once. "Cousin Li Luo has not only saved the Dragon's Fang Lineage, but the other four as well."
Li Luo didn't really care about the other four lineages, because he was ultimately just looking out for himself.
"More importantly, how much Spirit Resonance Golden Dew did we gather?" Li Luo asked the question everyone was most interested in knowing.
Li Fengyi piped up. "We received fifty-two droplets of Spirit Resonance Golden Dew. There was more than that, but some landed in the valley and we didn't dare to collect it."
The rest flashed excited smiles. This had far exceeded their expectations, as they had only expected perhaps twenty droplets in the beginning. Li Luo nodded. Fifty-two wasn't considered little, but it was far from what they needed. There were over ten individuals from the Dragon's Fang Lineage, and if they wanted at least half of them to be able to ascend the Golden Dew Platform, they would need over two hundred droplets.
However, he was not in a rush. The Spiritual Resonance Cave had just opened, so there was plenty of time to obtain more.
"Give the signal to inform the rest of the four lineages to gather here. Enemies are still around, so scattering will leave us susceptible to being chased down," Li Luo informed Li Fuling.
After defusing the previous situation, Li Luo's standing within the squad had soared, and even Li Fuling started to take his opinions more seriously. Thus, she immediately released the signal with her blood essence to inform the rest to gather.
The manifestation of a dragon soared into the skies with life-like vigor, a sight which could be seen hundreds of miles around.
Ten minutes later, sonic booms could be heard as ten over figures with dragon wings descended before Li Luo.
Li Luo swept his gaze over them, and his eyes eventually landed on Lu Qingmei. It seemed that the first group to arrive was the Dragon's Scale Lineage.
"Fuling, what happened on your end?" the leader of the Dragon's Scale Lineage's squad, Li Guan, asked the very moment he arrived as though he could not hold in his curiosity any longer.
The rest from the Dragon's Scale Lineage were all similarly shocked.
"Is Lady Lingjing the reason for this?" Li Guan turned towards her. She was the most mysterious individual, and her true strength was unknown. If it was because of her, things would make sense.
Li Lingjing gave a shallow smile. "Although I wish to claim credit for this, it largely has nothing to do with me. The one who contributed the most is my handsome cousin Li Luo."
These words caused everyone's looks to shift towards Li Luo in complete disbelief. He was the one who had forced the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao and the Devil Fire Hall to retreat? How could that be possible?
Li Fuling then proceeded to briefly explain the situation.
This caused the people from the Dragon's Scale Lineage to fall into momentary silence as they processed the surprise within them.
"There's no need to be too surprised over this. I was simply lucky. The first group sent by the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao was coincidentally surrounded by Guardian Spirits, then Zhao Yan rushed over to help. In the end, he realized that the Guardian Spirits were too strong, and he was concerned we might launch a pincer attack on them. Therefore, he opted to retreat." Li Luo grinned.
Li Luo's words were simple and they glossed over the details. However, the Dragon's Scale Lineage were not fools and did not fully believe him either. What did he mean by coincidentally encircled by the Guardian Spirits? And then the Guardian Spirits happened to turn out to be too strong? Someone must have manipulated things behind this series of lucky encounters.
Lu Qingmei’s gaze then turned towards the valley, where the energy undulations seemed to have died down. They then saw several figures ascend into the skies.
The one in the lead was Zhao Yan, but astonishment arose within Li Guan and the rest's hearts. There were countless individuals behind Zhao Yan who were riddled with eye-catching injuries. Some even had broken limbs, and they looked extremely pitiful.
"Such serious wounds? How many Guardian Spirits did they face off against?" The Dragon's Scale Lineage's people were scratching their heads. They finally had an idea about how mighty the supposedly "stronger" Guardian Spirits were.
Zhao Yan gloomily glared in their direction with immense amounts of killing intent. Unsurprisingly, most of it was focused upon Li Luo, and it could be seen that he detested him.
However, Zhao Yan noticed that another lineage had arrived, and his expression darkened even further. He had wanted to see if there was an opportunity to deal with Li Luo right away, but the quick arrival of his allies caused him to rethink. The rest of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao had already left the forest anyway.
"Go!" Zhao Yan spat out a single word as he fiercely turned, his resonant power surging into the air.
Zhao Jingyu's eyes were red as he sinisterly eyed Li Luo like a wolf, almost desperate to find a way to deal with him to vent the bitterness in his heart. He had unwillingly offered Li Luo five dragon fangs on a silver platter during their first encounter. After their second meeting, the Underworld Thunder Runic Arrow he had barely bought a day ago was now sitting in Li Luo's pocket as well.
Even his respected father was not as generous as he was! "Let's go. Now that it's with him, we will find a way to pry it from his dead corpse in future." Zhao Shenjiang did not look at Li Luo, merely reminding Zhao Jingyu with a single sentence before leaving and following Zhao Yan. His actions seemed nonchalant, but those who were well-acquainted with Zhao Shenjiang knew that he hated Li Luo to the core as well.
Thus, Zhao Jingyu took a deep breath and calmed himself before quickly tailing behind the leaving team.
Not long after the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao's team had left, the remaining three lineages appeared from the depths of the forest, gathering where Li Luo had previously signaled from.
"Where is Zhao Yan?" Li Wuyuan uttered with the desire to kill.
Li Luo pointed in the direction they had gone towards. "They've left already. It's too late to chase them."
The corner of Li Wuyuan's lips twitched as he looked towards Li Lingjing. As he was about to speak, she sighed lightly. "Don't ask any. It had nothing to do with me. The reason why you were able to escape your predicament was mainly due to Li Luo."
Li Fengyi then explained what had happened, repeating the sequence of events before intentionally looking at Li Hongli. "If not for Li Luo, the Dragon's Blood Lineage might have been injured, perhaps even finished."
This caused Li Hongli's expression to turn white. She wanted to retort, but she realized that it was truly possible that the story she had just been told was true. Additionally, she wasn't particularly outstanding when it came to her personal strength, so if something had happened, she might not have been able to protect herself adequately.
Thus, she swallowed down the words in her mouth and quietly stood by.
The rest similarly fell silent. No one could deny Li Luo's contribution—they wouldn't have been able to turn the tides without his brazen actions. Otherwise, they might have been forced to pay a significant price to escape.
In the end, the people of the Dragon's Horn Lineage and the Dragon's Bone Lineage turned towards Li Luo and respectfully cupped their hands. On the Dragon's Blood Lineage’s side, Li Wuyuan sucked in a deep breath before saying, "Dragon's Head Li Luo, you are extraordinary. The Dragon's Blood Lineage is truly thankful to you for salvaging such a hopeless situation."
Li Fuling coldly snorted at this point. "The Dragon's Fang Lineage would never take advantage nor plot against our own." Anger could be sensed in her statement. This was clearly directed at the Dragon's Blood Lineage and how they had used their ward to transfer some of the Guardian Spirits to other districts, secretly borrowing the aid of the other lineages to reduce the pressure on their end.
When faced with Li Fuling's words, Li Wuyuan's expression turned a little overcast, but he could only shamelessly reply, "This is something I'm not aware of. Perhaps it was the ward malfunctioning. No one informed us about this when we were told of this area."
Li Wuyuan would never dare to admit the truth before the other lineages. Additionally, the number of Guardian Spirits that were transferred to the other lineages was not as overt as that of the Dragon's Fang Lineage.
The other three lineages similarly glanced at Li Wuyuan briefly but did not say anything. They had similarly sensed that the ward could transfer Guardian Spirits from one district to another, but as the numbers sent their way was not as significant, they would not speak out against the Dragon's Blood Lineage so openly.
The only thing was that a hint of distrust had been seeded within their hearts, unknowingly lowering the prestige and image Li Wuyuan had built up. If he ever wished to rally the other three lineages for assistance, it would not be as easy to do so as before.
Still, Li Wuyuan had no other choice. If things had gone smoothly, the other lineages would have tolerated his actions since they had benefited off him. But things had ended up this way...
Thus, Li Wuyuan could only bite the bullet, ignoring the slightly judgmental gazes of the other three lineages.
Li Luo gave a slight smile, but he did not comment any further. "Now that everyone has gathered, we can leave. This way, we can prevent the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao and the Devil Fire Hall from regrouping and causing trouble for us."
The other lineages agreed. With a tiger like the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao eyeing them, they would temporarily choose to band together.
"Let's go." Li Luo unfurled his energy wings and left the forest.
Behind him, the other squads from the other lineages immediately followed suit. The only difference was that the people from the Dragon's Blood Lineage felt a little uncomfortable as they were used to being in the lead.
Li Wuyuan's expression changed upon this sight. However, he could only sigh and follow the group as well.