Chapter 0993: Three Thrones
When faced with the all-consuming killing intent coming from Zhao Yan, Li Lingjing's gorgeous face did not show any reaction. She raised her aquamarine staff, and a massive Abyssal Serpent manifested behind her, swallowing up worldly natural energy.
"You're no King. You want me to die? Why would I follow your orders?" Li Lingjing coolly replied. Her tone was almost emotionless, but the words contained a mocking note to them.
She ascended into the air and rushed directly at Zhao Yan, slamming her poison-imbued staff right at his head.
Zhao Yan bellowed as his golden sword energy came into being. In the short span of a couple of seconds, he had engaged in several hundred exchanges with Li Lingjing.
The more they fought, the more shocked Zhao Yan became. Li Lingjing's offensive was unimaginably ferocious. Every single strike of her staff was as heavy as a mountain, and the poisonous light that surrounded the staff was no farce either. It was incredibly tyrannical, and if he was not careful and allowed it to come into contact with his body, it would invade his inner organs and blood.
"It's that damned staff!" Zhao Yan glanced at the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff in Li Lingjing's hand before he noticed the three violet eye marks that were flickering on its body.
"It's a triple violet-eye treasured artifact!" Greed clouded Zhao Yan's gaze. When the two of them fought earlier, she had not obtained this wondrous treasure. It looked like her luck had been excellent to find it in the Spiritual Resonance Cave.
"I'm afraid Li Lingjing is stronger than Li Wuyuan." Zhao Yan's gaze turned gloomy. Now wasn't the time to engage in a decisive battle with her, and his side had yet to obtain a golden lotus throne. If he was bogged down by the opponent here, even relying on the rest of the people from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao would not guarantee their success.
"Forget it. The golden lotus thrones are more important. I'm already at the eight-pearl tier, and if I borrow the aid of the Golden Dew Platform, I might be able to enter the nine-pearl tier. If I fail, there won't be any other chances left and I can break into the Lesser Heavenly Resonance Tier instead. Although my foundation may be a little weaker, there's not much choice," Zhao Yan thought to himself. Based on the rules of the Spiritual Resonance Cave, if one were to make a breakthrough on the Golden Dew Platform, the suppression of being at a higher cultivation level would be lessened, and this would allow him to demonstrate the power of the Lesser Heavenly Resonance Tier at the very least. At that point in time, he could find an opportunity to deal with both Li Luo and Li Lingjing. With this in mind, he quickly retreated and no longer entangled himself with Li Lingjing.
Li Lingjing did not give chase. The situation was chaotic and everyone else was like a tiger eyeing weakened prey. If she was held down by Zhao Yan, someone could take the opportunity to harm Li Luo, and that would be problematic as well.
Zhao Yan appeared beside Zhao Shenjiang, who was still holding on to his now detached arm, his expression forlorn.
"Elder Brother." Zhao Jingyu came over as well. He stared at Zhao Jingyu's chopped off limb and his expression turned ugly. At the same time, there was a hint of surprise as this result was out of his expectations.
In his eyes, Zhao Shenjiang was the strongest in his generation. He had a lower ninth-grade strength resonance and was also a two-pearl. He seemed to be superior to Li Luo in every way, but the result was unimaginable. Li Luo had taken Zhao Shenjiang's arm instead.
“Li Luo, that damned bastard. Is he some sort of limb-severing fiend?”
"The Duke Art Li Luo used has an extremely high grade. It's at the very least at the Soul Ascension-grade. You only lost this time because you were careless. Don't worry about it," Zhao Yan consoled.
"The good thing is that the severed arm was not destroyed. I have some spirit medicines here that can help you reattach it. You won't be affected as much as a result."
Zhao Shenjiang gloomily accepted the medication from Zhao Yan. Clearly, his heart was full of dissatisfaction and fury. Losing to Li Luo had turned him into a stepping stone. In the future, word would spread that the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li had triumphed over the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao in this generation. He had lost the first battle.
"Forget about it. Ignore their provocations and don't bother with them. Let us focus on obtaining more thrones," Zhao Yan continued as he rushed into the area surrounding the Golden Dew Platform yet again. Battles continually raged like wildfire as people struggled to obtain their fated opportunities.
As the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao retreated to focus on their next battle, Li Lingjing leisurely returned to Li Luo's side.
"Not bad. You actually managed to beat Zhao Shenjiang." Li Lingjing beamed happily.
Li Luo's face was a little pale. The previous battle had consumed quite a lot of his stamina and resonant power, so he took the Blackwood Feather Fan out and gave it a swish, creating two white lights that quickly restored his reserves.
"Cousin Lingjing, you are even more merciless than me. You killed the chicken to scare the monkey! It looks like the rogue cultivators will probably be too afraid to provoke me any longer." Li Luo hefted a thumbs up at her.
Li Lingjing's methods were brutal, and a prodigy from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao had been beaten to death viciously. Everyone who caught sight of it felt a chill down their spine.
Her peal of laughter rang out as she fiddled with the staff in her hand. It seemed almost impossible to reconcile the image of this beauty as a ravenous killer.
Li Luo smiled and exchanged a few more words before he sent the golden lotus throne towards Li Jingtao's defensive perimeter.
"Third Brother, do you want me to give you a hand?" Li Jingtao asked worriedly. He had watched the entire fight.
Li Luo smiled. "No matter. The most important task now is to protect these seats. If we were to divide our forces, it would be hard to prevent people from coveting our goods." He inspected the group who had formed a defensive line with numerous treasured artifacts floating in the air, creating even more layers of defense. Even an eight-pearl would not be able to cut through the defenses in a short period of time.
Li Luo then escorted the golden lotus throne to the middle of the protective encirclement. At this point in time, Li Fuling and Li Guan had also returned, each with a jade praying mat beneath them.
"Cousin Li Luo, you've performed beautifully. Zhao Shenjiang is this generation's most outstanding individual in the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao. Your victory has brought about great fame to our bloodline." Li Fuling's gaze held a hint of elation. She previously harbored doubts over Li Luo's position as the Dragon's Head as he was only at the Fiend Finisher Tier. However, the battle just now had cleanly set all her concerns to rest.
Zhao Shenjiang had demonstrated shocking power. Even Li Qingfeng might very well have been at a disadvantage against him. But Li Luo had chopped his arm off, which proved his superiority.
Li Luo waved his hand. "I still have to rely on you to seize more of these higher grade seats, Cousin Fuling. I'm only lending a hand."
Although he had beaten Zhao Shenjiang, there were still countless stronger cultivators around. This was especially so when it came to those who were protecting the seats they had obtained. There were numerous five, six, and even seven-pearl individuals here. Even with the Myriad Resonances Dragon Fang Sword Formation, Li Luo couldn't pose a threat to enemies of that level.
Unless he mobilized the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf's power, of course. "If we want to seize more golden lotus thrones, we would have to rely on Li Lingjing." Li Fuling's gaze was complicated as she glanced at her. Her performance had stunned the crowd.
Li Lingjing pointed at the sole golden lotus throne within the protective encirclement. "This is for Cousin Li Luo."
"Alright, alright, we know. No one will fight him for it," Li Fuling replied.
This golden lotus throne was obtained by Li Lingjing, and Li Luo had staved off Zhao Shenjiang in an epic fight to protect it. Thus, no one would disagree if she wanted Li Luo to have it.
Li Lingjing did not speak further with Li Luo. She merely turned around and flew off quickly like a beam of light. It seemed that she was planning to obtain yet another golden lotus throne.
Li Fuling and Li Guan hurried behind her.
Li Luo, on the other hand, sat cross-legged and began to restore his resonant power. After a while, he left with Lu Qingmei and headed towards the location of the jade praying mats to seize more for their side. Chaotic battles continued to rage around the Golden Dew Platform.
For the sake of obtaining a seat, everyone's eyes had turned red with avarice and bloodlust. The blood of cultivators stained the mountain as many perished.
However, the place where the most intense battles took place was naturally the area with the golden lotus thrones. Every single throne was contested until someone died.
Li Lingjing was the most eye-catching individual as she was once again riding a golden lotus throne. The Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff created a torrent of poisonous light that forced anyone who coveted the throne beneath her to retreat in panic and misery. Anyone who was caught would have their flesh and blood melted away, leaving behind only ivory bone.
When she struck, it was relentless and ruthless. Whoever dared approach would have to bear the brunt of a blow meant to reap their lives.
In the process, even the Heavenly Origin Ancient College's Zong Sha had accidentally come too close and was struck in the face by a ray of poisonous light, giving him a gigantic shock.
Zong Sha was speechless at this development. When they had journeyed together with Li Luo, she was all smiles and they seemed to have gotten along just fine. However, it was only now that he understood that this lady was just faking it—her merciless personality was who she truly was.
Zong Sha then glanced at the unlucky fellow who had just been smitten to death by a strike of her staff, his blood and brains strewn over the sky. He couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva as he muttered to himself, "Forget it, she's crazy. No way I'm going to provoke her."
Li Lingjing's methods were too ferocious, and even hardened rogue cultivators who lived by the sword dared not approach her, all clearly frightened by her murderous aura.
Zong Sha similarly pulled apart the distance between him and the cold, killing goddess who might not even spare her relatives. He finally understood that getting close to her would solely depend on the toughness of his skull.
As time went on, the battle on the Golden Dew Platform gradually came to an end as the stench of blood covered the skies. The ground was covered with corpses and flowing with fresh blood.
Those who had survived to the end were shrouded with killing intent.
At this point, all of the thrones, praying mats, and mats had found an owner.
Li Luo gingerly released the bowstring in his hand. His fingers were still dripping with blood and lightly trembling. The intense battle had forced him to kill countless enemies.
When he turned his head, he took stock of the seats that had been protected by his fellow teammates. The most eye-catching sights were three golden lotus thrones.