Chapter 1111: Duanmu

When Li Luo and the others descended from that lone peak, they immediately sensed many wary gazes shooting toward them, but when those gazes recognized the familiar faces of Feng Lingyuan, Li Hongyou, and the others, the wariness instantly turned to pleasant surprise.

Li Luo's gaze swept across and he discovered that seven or eight squads had already gathered on this lone peak, a sizable number of people.

However, some of those squads were incomplete, presumably having encountered the same kind of misfortune as them.

These were all squads from the Tianyuan Ancient Academy. When they saw Feng Lingyuan appear, delight surfaced on their faces, and they surged forward to greet her.

"Sister Feng!"

"Running into Sister Feng here is quite the luck for us. With Sister Feng here, the upcoming mission should be considerably easier."

"And Sister Hongyou, you two actually teamed up?"

"Well, this mission is bizarre and unpredictable, so we still need the strong joining forces to count as a safeguard."

"That's good though, we also have Brother Duanmu here. He's the Third Seat, so with this lineup, any dragon's pool or tiger's den should be worth a try, right?"

"......"

These people chattered on, their faces still bearing traces of lingering dread, because those earlier terrifying incidents had truly cast quite a psychological shadow over them.

No one had expected that the anomalies here would first deliver them a stunning blow.

So under this kind of fright, although they had already reached a destination ahead of time, they lingered outside the Black Marsh, not daring to charge in lightly.

Listening to the noisy crowd, Feng Lingyuan's gaze instead shot toward the back of the group, where a slender, delicate figure with shoulder-length hair and peach-blossom-like eyes stood, hands tucked into pockets, her bearing exceedingly cold.

This youth of bewitching, feminine beauty was precisely Duanmu, the Third Seat of the Upper House of the Tianxing Court.

"Duanmu, how is the situation on your side?" Feng Lingyuan asked directly.

Duanmu also led his people forward at this moment, and the other squads parted to let the two big shots meet. The androgynously beautiful youth glanced at Feng Lingyuan and said, "My side is fine, we only ran into two Greater Evil Ghouls. Although they caught us off guard, we ultimately slew one and drove the other back."

His voice also leaned toward the neutral, hoarse with a hint of soft, mellow charm. Anyone seeing him for the first time could easily mistake him for a woman.

"This mission is very dangerous, and the intelligence was somewhat off," Feng Lingyuan said.

"I could tell. Those Greater Evil Ghouls were clearly sent out on purpose to catch us off guard, and they took this chance to abduct quite a few of our people, almost all of them captured alive. There must be a reason for it." A hint of Solemn also surfaced between Duanmu's brows.

"I've been observing this 'Black Marsh Water City' here for a while now, but I don't dare to set foot inside lightly."

"Good thing you've come too, Feng Lingyuan."

Duanmu's gaze shifted again to Li Hongyou, and he said with some surprise, "But what surprises me is that Li Hongyou actually came along with you."

Li Hongyou corrected him coolly, "I'm following Li Luo, not Feng Lingyuan."

Duanmu was taken aback, and a flash of astonishment rose in those androgynous peach-blossom eyes. Why was Li Hongyou speaking as if she took Li Luo as her leader? She was, after all, the Tenth Seat of the Upper House. Although Li Luo had previously displayed extraordinary strength, he was ultimately only at Tian Zhu Jing, and even if his combat power was formidable, it would at most equal a True Seal tier. Yet Li Hongyou not only possessed a rare support Aspect, she herself was also at Da Tian Xiang Jing.

Throughout the entire Upper House, even Wu Changkong and Feng Lingyuan couldn't win Li Hongyou over, so why was she now showing a submissive attitude toward Li Luo?

Feng Lingyuan also said at this moment, "She's telling the truth. After all, I couldn't invite her."

Duanmu's doubts deepened, and then his gaze turned to Li Luo, who had been silent all this time. The latter simply smiled gently and offered a brief explanation, "I have an old acquaintance with Senior Sister Hongyou."

Duanmu didn't press further, but instead, with a rare smile, said, "Junior Li Luo is truly impressive. Although Hongyou is only the Tenth Seat of the Upper House, when it comes to difficulty of inviting, I'm afraid Wu Changkong and Feng Lingyuan combined can't compare. For this mission, we're riding on your face."

Li Luo hurriedly offered a couple of modest words, but in this brief contact, he felt that this Third Seat of the Tianxing Court of the Tianyuan Ancient Academy seemed fairly approachable. Although the androgynous air was extremely strong, the impression he gave was at least much better than Wu Changkong.

Then both sides held another round of discussion, and just then, Feng Lingyuan, Duanmu, and Li Hongyou all turned their heads toward the distant horizon, where a large wave of Xiangli fluctuation was coming from.

"Another squad is arriving, and quite a few of them!" Everyone was startled.

Under everyone's gaze, after a moment, numerous streaks of light pierced the sky from afar and hovered in the air above this lone peak.

"Huh, some unfamiliar faces, not squads from our Academy?" Looking at that sizable group of figures, the Tianyuan Ancient Academy squads present were all somewhat taken aback.

Li Luo's heart, however, suddenly stirred. Not squads from the Tianyuan Ancient Academy? Then could it be the Holy Light Ancient Academy?!

Thinking of this, Li Luo's gaze instantly grew fervent, and he hurriedly looked toward those dozens of figures, hoping to spot that unforgettable silhouette.

But just as he was searching for a familiar figure, from mid-air, a woman's laughter brimming with arrogance descended first.

"You squads from the Tianyuan Ancient Academy? You look rather bedraggled, don't you."

At these words, anger surfaced on the faces of all the Tianyuan Ancient Academy people present.

"Friends from the Holy Light Ancient Academy, if you've arrived, then come down and talk," Feng Lingyuan said, her brow slightly furrowed.

One figure after another restrained their Xiangli and descended from mid-air.

And as those dozens of figures landed, Li Luo and the others immediately cast their gazes over. Among these Holy Light Ancient Academy squads, the most eye-catching were the three figures at the front.

One woman and two men.

The young woman was exceedingly beautiful, with a curvaceous figure and stunningly long legs, and embedded at her smooth brow was a rhombus-shaped crystal radiating a sacred aura, from which an extremely dangerous fluctuation emanated.

She was precisely Yin Yue Zhiyu, the Third Seat of the Upper House of the Tianxing Court of the Holy Light Ancient Academy.

The other two men were also of extraordinary bearing. One was a short-haired youth, whose looks were ordinary, but whose brows revealed a resolute air.

The Second Seat of the Holy Light Ancient Academy, Wang Kong.

However, although his seat was one rank higher than Yin Yue Zhiyu's, he was clearly more low-key, standing to the side, looking more like an attendant.

Compared to him, the other youth was far more dazzling; even the beautiful, arrogant Yin Yue Zhiyu beside him couldn't outshine his bearing and elegance.

He had a tall, upright build, a dashing appearance, fiery red hair, and a scalding-hot aura flowing all over his body, with a faintly discernible domineering air.

His gaze swept over the crowd with a smile, then he gave a slight nod and introduced himself.

"Friends from the Tianyuan Ancient Academy, very pleased to meet you. My name is Wei Chonglou, the Fourth Seat of the Upper House of the Tianxing Court of the Holy Light Ancient Academy."