Chapter 0934: Reprimanding Words
"Underworld River"s Black Dragon Banner!"
Riding along the waves of the Underworld River, the majestic and lively dragon flew into the air with its dazzling scales. Enormous energy waves swept across the battlefield, right into the face of the Fiendish Devil Leader that was as strong as a third-grade Duke.
Bang!
A berserk storm of energy erupted, and the ground beneath splintered in all directions.
It was an extremely devastating force that could even shatter the skies and the earth.
Dragging its feet across the ground, the Fiendish Devil Leader was sent flying back, one of its arms crushed from the impact. Thick, black smoke could be seen oozing out from its injury.
However, the Fiendish Devil Leader was exceptionally durable. Despite receiving a full blow from Li Luo"s Greater Completion Underworld River"s Black Dragon Banner, it was still standing strong.
Roar!
The Fiendish Devil Leader screamed angrily, then a terrifying, fiendish aura surged into the sky, causing the clouds to tremble under its pressure.
"Nine Revolutions Art, Heavenly Dragon Resonance Enlightenment!"
Li Luo kept his guard up and continued his offense without a break. Huge amounts of energy surged up and morphed into the shape of a humongous heavenly dragon. The Heavenly Dragon spanned endlessly, filling up the vast sky and enveloping the area with its dragonfear, counteracting the fiendish aura released from the Fiendish Devil Leader.
Like a mountain unable to move from its spot, the Fiendish Devil Leader felt its feet sink deep into the ground under the domineering Heavenly Dragon Resonance Enlightenment.
Its speed, strength, and even fiendish energy were all subdued.
"Nine Revolutions Art, Heavenly Dragon Lightning Breath!"
Without further hesitation, Li Luo used the Heavenly Dragon Lightning Breath. The manifestation of the Heavenly Dragon opened its maw, and a raging, lightning dragonbreath arced out. At the next moment, it landed straight on the Fiendish Devil Leader like a meteor strike. His Heavenly Dragon Lightning Breath was boosted by the Heavenly Dragon Resonance Enlightenment. In other words, its killing potential had been enhanced.
Li Luo had used the Fiendish Devil Cave to familiarize himself with the Nine Revolutions Art. Over the course of the past few weeks, he had discovered another characteristic of the Heavenly Dragon Resonance Enlightenment—it had the ability to strengthen the power of his other Nine Revolutions Art.
With this, he could really see why the Heavenly Dragon Resonance Enlightenment was one of the rarest amongst the eighteen Nine Revolutions Arts. Flying through the sky, the raging, lightning dragonbreath blasted directly towards the Fiendish Devil Leader. However, the fiend did not sit there and await its end. It opened its mouth, and immense fiendish energy flowed out, condensing into a huge, black sword. With a slash of this sword, a blade light made of fiendish energy that was tens of thousands of feet long soared into the air.
The blade strike clashed with the dragonbreath directly. Upon contact, a terrifying energy wave swept across the battlefield. The clouds above were smashed into pieces and bottomless chasms opened up across the battleground.
This terrifying energy storm went on for a few moments before it gradually died down.
Li Luo floated in the air as he looked solemnly at the aftermath. At this point, he had already exhausted half of the energy available from Harmony. However, the Fiendish Devil Leader was not defeated. It still had some life left, demonstrating its tenaciousness. This was truly harder than he had thought.
It would be a bitter fight to the end.
"Everyone, do you still have the strength to continue?" Li Luo asked in a deep voice.
The faces of his eight thousand banner members were already starting to turn pale. Nonetheless, they responded to him with their actions. In the blink of an eye, their expressions turned determined and they channeled all their strength into the Draconic Breath Fiend Art. Without holding back, they poured in all their might into Harmony for Li Luo.
Li Luo could sense a huge burst energy surging within him once again. This was the last straw for the Green Nether Banner.
Between them and the Fiendish Devil Leader, a final showdown was due to see who would emerge victorious.
Li Luo"s eyes turned sharp as he summoned up the overwhelming energy into a plantain fan surrounded with lightning.
He grabbed it tightly and swung it with all his might.
At the next moment, the wind howled, thunder echoed, and lightning filled the sky. This would be his final attack.
……
In the square in front of the Fiendish Devil Cave, the other three banners from the Dragon"s Fang Lineage were watching closely without batting an eyelid. Their gazes were fixed on the screen on the stone wall.
At the same time, Li Fengyi and Li Fuling had arrived in the stone pavilion in the square.
Noticing their arrival, the banner members looked over curiously, and some whispers could be heard. They could tell from the uniform that Li Fuling was from the Dragon"s Fang Guardians.
The Heavenly Dragon"s Five Guardian Armies. That was the highest point the young members of the Heavenly Dragon"s Five Lineages could reach. It was where the best of the best among the Twenty Banners gathered. This was the dream and goal that all of them were ultimately working towards.
However, the requirements to enter the Five Guardian Armies were extremely strict. One had to be at least a Heavenly Dipper General to be eligible. As such, there was only a handful who could enter despite the tens of thousands of youths in the Twenty Banners.
When they noticed Li Fuling"s arrival, Li Jingtao and Deng Fengxian stood up and greeted her politely. According to the rules of the Twenty Banners, they should treat her as their senior respectfully.
Seeing this, Li Fuling simply smiled and turned her gaze towards the screen. Her eyes seemed to come alive when she noticed that the Green Nether Banner was tied in first place, together with the Gold Blood Banner.
As the previous leader for the four banners of the Dragon"s Fang Lineage, she was very familiar with how things worked in the Fiendish Devil Cave. Similarly, she understood how challenging it truly was to reach the top spot.
At the very least, this was something she had not achieved during her time.
"Banner Leader Li Luo seems pretty capable," Li Fuling said.
"However, he"s still far from Li Taixuan’s level. At the very least, there was no one who tied for first place when he was the Banner Leader of the Green Nether Banner back," she followed up swiftly.
Hearing this, Li Fengyi defended Li Luo and replied, "Cousin Fuling, this is not an apt comparison at all. Li Luo has not been with Green Nether Banner for even a year, yet he"s already changed so many things. He has been living in the outer divine continent until recently, which delayed his cultivation. If he had spent his childhood in the Dragon"s Fang Lineage like Third Uncle, he"d definitely be an even greater force to be reckoned with!"
"That may be true. Sadly... these are just hypothetical scenarios. There are too many such things in the world," Li Fuling responded with a light smile.
"When Li Luo clears layer sixty-three, the Green Nether Banner will be the only one at the top," Li Fengyi retorted.
"Let"s wait and see, then," Li Fuling said as she took a seat on the side.
Watching the two girls bicker, Li Jingtao simply smiled without saying anything. He also focused upon the screen with a lackadaisical gaze as he awaited the results patiently.
Deng Fengxian was also standing at the edge of the stone pavilion, watching carefully, when he noticed a figure walking towards him.
"Senior Lu Ze." Deng Fengxian recognized the person immediately and nodded in his direction.
This individual was the previous generation"s Banner Leader of the Gold Light Banner.
"Wasn"t the Gold Light Banner led by you, Junior Fengxian, the top amongst the four banners of the Dragon"s Fang Lineage? How did you get overtaken by someone who cut in halfway?" Lu Ze asked with a light smile.
"Previously, the Main Hall Master was full of praise for you. He said that your generation"s Gold Light Banner was much stronger than my generation"s. However, it seems like your performance is failing to meet his expectations."
Facing his sharp words, Deng Fengxian kept his calm face as he replied, "You think too highly of me, Senior Lu Ze. If even Li Qingfeng is unable to stop Li Luo, how would I be able to do so?"
Lu Ze laughed and said, "However, you did not do anything to stop Li Luo and the Green Nether Banner from advancing even when you were in the lead previously. You could have done it. Although it may not have changed anything in the end, it would at least have slowed him down and bought some time. By not doing anything... you"ve allowed Li Luo to rise up and enter the Green Nether Hall. For example, the new Hall Master of the Green Nether Hall was chosen as an exception because the Lineage Chief was very pleased with Li Luo"s spectacular performance, right? If there"s a change in the situation around the Green Nether Hall, it"ll inevitably affect us in the Gold Light Hall. After all, you must remember that some of our rights in the Gold Light Hall were taken from the Green Nether Hall."
Hearing these words, Deng Fengxian pondered carefully. He then stared at him and asked, "Whose words are these?"
With Lu Ze"s present status, he was in no position to comment on the affairs regarding the Gold Light Hall. If he dared to say this, then Deng Fengxian could not help but wonder... were they words from the heart or was he acting as a mouthpiece for the elders of the Gold Light Hall?
“Perhaps they came from Zhao Xuanming, the Hall Master, himself?
“Does that mean that he is unhappy about things and is starting to reprimand me?”
However, Lu Ze simply gave a slight smile and said, "Junior Fengxian, neither of us are part of the direct bloodline. We should do things that"ll increase the reputation of Gold Light Hall and therefore benefit ourselves. As such, please do not follow Li Luo and his orders blindly at the Spiritual Resonance Cave. Don"t be used by him... In fact, if you have the chance, do something sneaky to obstruct him so his journey won"t be as smooth. Of course, don"t do it too blatantly. After all, he"s still the most beloved grandchild of the Respected Elder."
Deng Fengxian listened but did not comment further.
Lu Ze gave him a light pat on his shoulder before he ended off in a low voice. "Remember this: you are where you are today only because of the Gold Light Hall."
Finishing what he had to say, he turned around and left the stone pavilion.
For the next few moments, Deng Fengxian simply stood on his original spot in silence. He looked up at the screen with eyes filled with uncertainty.