Chapter 0855: Four Banners Assembled
Li Luo accepted Li Rouyun's request without any hesitation. He was very interested in meeting his cousin when he went over to the western region.
For the remainder of the day, he took a good rest before he headed over to the Green Nether drill grounds.
When he arrived, many of the banner members greeted him respectfully. Their eyes were full of admiration.
In the short span of a few months, the Green Nether Banner had completely transformed under Li Luo's leadership. Their remarkable achievements had made the Green Nether Banner famous amongst the Twenty Banners.
They were now eligible to be considered one of the top banners. Such accomplishments were totally different compared to half a year ago.
All of this was thanks to Li Luo.
Of course, the foundation of the Green Nether Banner was pretty decent. Strictly speaking, none of the Twenty Banners could be considered shabby. Additionally, the eight thousand banner members were all elites selected from the Dragon's Fang Domain. They were all considered geniuses where they came from.
Nonetheless, an excellent leader was required for the pack of wolves to demonstrate their exceptional strength. This was exactly what the Green Nether Banner had been lacking all this while.
And that role was filled by Li Luo.
As such, his reputation in the Green Nether Banner could be said to have reached the peak.
While he walked into the Green Nether drill grounds, he looked for Zhao Yanzhi, Li Shi, Mu Bi, and the rest.
"Leader, has your breakthrough... succeeded?"
Li Shi's face changed a little when he first saw Li Luo. Although he was currently a Gold Fiend, he could sense an indescribable pressure coming from Li Luo when they met.
Even though Li Luo had already displayed shocking strength to compete with someone at the Glass Fiend Tier back when he was just at the Greater Fiend Palace Tier, it was ultimately due to the many tricks and means he had utilized to attain victory. Now, Li Luo was truly exuding an oppressive resonant power pressure.
It was clear that his resonant power had exceeded that of Li Shi.
"Mhm. I have reached the Gold Fiend Tier with the help of the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreaths," Li Luo said with a smile.
Strictly speaking, he was actually half a grade higher than a Gold Fiend currently. After all, he was halfway into the Glass Fiend Tier. However, there was no need for him to go into the details with them.
Zhao Yanzhi, Mu Bi, and the rest present were shocked when they heard about this. Li Luo had managed to catch up with them in the short span of a few months. Such talent was truly stunning.
"It seems like we had great foresight and caught onto the right thigh," Zhao Yanzhi said with a charming smile.
Zhou Shanhe from the first division smiled and replied to Zhao Yanzhi with a voice full of envy, "There's no doubt about Sister Zhao's foresight. Honestly, no one expected the Green Nether Banner to improve so much when the Banner Leader first arrived."
His envy was not fake at all. After all, everyone in the Green Nether Banner knew that Zhao Yanzhi, Li Shi, and Mu Bi were Li Luo’s confidants. They were the ones who had been following Li Luo since his days at the fifth division.
Now that Li Luo was on the rise, the Green Nether Banner would surely be brought to greater heights under his leadership. In fact, his reputation and standing in the Dragon's Fang Lineage would definitely be exceptional in the future.
With such a strong backing, Zhao Yanzhi and the rest naturally had a bright future in the Dragon's Fang Domain too.
As for Zhou Shanhe, he knew that he was not comparable to Zhao Yanzhi and friends even though he had pledged his loyalty to Li Luo too.
Li Luo simply smiled. With a wave of his hand, he told them, "I've summoned you guys today to discuss the next mission."
"The one regarding the Dark Domain in the western region?" Mu Bi asked in a loud voice. The news of the mission had spread throughout the four banners over the past few days. All of them were already aware of it.
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Yanzhi replied, "The Dark Domain in the western region is rather unique. It is located outside the western region, so strictly speaking, it's not fully under the jurisdiction of the Dragon's Fang Lineage. In addition, the location is at the border between the Dragon's Fang Domain and the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao. We have been at odds with each other all this time, so there's no real overseer. As a result, many unsavory characters have gathered around the area, and its depths are murky."
Hearing this, Li Luo nodded and responded, "Which is why I hope that you all can investigate the situation there as soon as possible, including the Others in the Dark Domain.
"In addition, the Dark Domain itself is exceptionally dangerous. On top of the Others, there's also the threat from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao. If we're not alert, we'll definitely pay a heavy price for it. Please remind the other banner members to treat this seriously and be vigilant at all times. I do not wish to see more than half of our banner members injured after our expedition." Li Luo finished off with a serious look on his face.
Although he had not been to any of the Dark Domains in the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent, he knew that the Others he would soon encounter would be no weaker than the ones he had seen in the Umbra Cave. Moreover, Others were really strange. If they were careless just once, there would be no medicine for their regret.
The Green Nether Banner was a huge force he was responsible for now, and he did not want to see his army weakened. Furthermore, that would bear badly on his reputation as well.
When Li Shi and Zhou Shanhe heard his instructions, they agreed respectfully.
After giving a few more instructions, Li Luo left for the lakeside pavilion at the west side of the drill grounds. He was expecting a few more guests today.
Around two hours later, three figures emerged.
"Little Brother, are you done with your breakthrough?" A rather shocked but familiar voice came from the back. It was none other than Li Fengyi.
On her side were Li Jingtao and Deng Fengxian, the Banner Leader of the Gold Light Banner.
The four Banner Leaders of the Dragon's Fang Lineage had gathered here today under the invitation from Li Luo.
Firstly, Li Luo smiled a little at Li Fengyi. Nodding, he answered, "I've managed to reach the Gold Fiend Tier thanks to the help of the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreaths."
Li Fengyi coughed a little as she said, "A breakthrough that skipped tiers? You've built up a strong and solid foundation."
At the same time, Li Jingtao nodded and praised, "Third Brother, you are exceptionally gifted. If you had grown up in the Dragon's Fang Lineage, there would surely be no one on par with you in our generation."
Deng Fengxian, who was usually very charismatic, also took another look at Li Luo. However, he was not too surprised at his breakthrough. After all, he already knew that the result would be extraordinary from the moment Li Luo had gotten seven strands of Mystical Yellow Dragonbreath.
At this moment, Li Luo looked over to Deng Fengxian and said with a smile, "I assumed you wouldn't come, Banner Leader Deng."
Deng Fengxian calmly replied, "The expedition to the Dark Domain in the western region is a mission for all four banners. Since that is the topic of this meeting, there's no reason for me not to turn up, Banner Leader Li Luo."
In response, Li Luo nodded and said, "Speaking of which, I've not thanked you for your help in the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreath Pool a few days ago."
Back then, Deng Fengxian had reached out a helping hand. Although he was interrupted in the end, his actions had made Li Luo look at him differently.
After all, the reputation of the Green Nether Banner would soar once Li Luo obtained the Golden Dragon Pillar. That would be detrimental to the Gold Light Banner's standing in the Dragon's Fang Lineage. However, Deng Fengxian had not stood aside and ignored Li Luo’s struggle just because of this. Instead, he had taken the Dragon's Fang Lineage’s reputation into consideration. This really highlighted his extraordinary charisma and open-mindedness.
Of course, this act had made Li Luo view him more favorably too.
Deng Fengxian calmly responded, "There's no need to thank me. The Gold Light Banner is also a part of the Dragon's Fang Lineage, and I would not do anything that is detrimental to our lineage."
"Who knew that someone like you, Deng Fengxian, could say something so humane?" Li Fengyi chimed in from the side.
Deng Fengxian stared at Li Fengyi for a moment before he replied, "It's not like I am inhumane. You just have too many misgivings about me, so you never listened."
"Why should I listen to you?" Li Fengyi responded arrogantly with a cold snort.
The corners of Deng Fengxian's eyes twitched slightly. In the end, he was at a loss for words and simply sat down at the stone table. He had known Li Fengyi for several years, and he knew how fierce this young lady's temper could be. "Deng Fengxian, let me tell you this. Li Luo will be our leader when the four banners set off for the mission. The Gold Light Banner is no longer the only one among the four banners now." Li Fengyi continued to taunt him with no intention of letting him off.
In response, Deng Fengxian lowered his eyes a little and said, "Our four banners will remain independent. We can simply cooperate with each other to complete the mission."
Hearing this, Li Fengyi glared at him fiercely and said, "Do you think the Gold Light Banner can win against our three banners? Do you think the three of us aren’t willing to beat you up right now?"
Before Li Luo's return, the Gold Light Banner had always been the leader among the four banners. They were far ahead of the other three banners. As a result, Li Fengyi had challenged Deng Fengxian multiple times as she was unhappy to be led by an outsider. However, she was always defeated due to the difference in strength.
Thus, Li Fengyi saw an opportunity now that the Green Nether Banner led by Li Luo was up and coming. Coupled with the hidden skill that Li Jingtao had just revealed, she was determined to use this chance to get back at him.
On the other hand, Li Jingtao sat quietly at the side with a good-natured smile and a totally harmless face. He dared not interrupt Li Fengyi when she was on a rampage either.
Only Li Luo comforted her with a smile, saying, "Second Sister, calm down. The Dark Domain is extremely dangerous, and the four banners will need to work earnestly together to minimize our casualties as much as possible. It does not matter whether I'm the leader or not. If anything happens, the four of us can discuss things before making a decision. In that case, the four of us can share the blame together if something really goes wrong.”
When he finished speaking, Li Fengyi couldn't help but reveal a smile on her beautiful face. She rolled her eyes at Li Luo before she gave Deng Fengxian a cold snort and stopped her attacks.
At the same moment, Li Luo could sense that the emotionless Deng Fengxian had secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing this, Li Luo nearly couldn't stop himself from bursting out in laughter.
It seemed Li Fengyi was actually the true bully in the four banners of the Dragon's Fang Lineage.