Chapter 124: Confrontation

Deep within the mountain forest.

Li Luo sat on a green stone by the stream. His clothes were torn and disheveled, clearly showing he had just been through a fierce battle.

And indeed that was the case. Over the previous stretch of time, he had been intercepted by more than a dozen people one after another, but in the end, he had used various methods to fend them all off.

Battles of such intensity had also caused Li Luo's phase force to be severely depleted. If he hadn't already opened his dual phase palaces, with two phase force seeds absorbing and refining the world's phase force at full power, and if his water phase power wasn't inherently suited for sustained, drawn-out combat, he probably really wouldn't have been able to hold up against this kind of wheel warfare.

Hoo—

Li Luo gently closed his eyes, running his Energy Guidance Art, seizing every moment to recover his depleted phase force.

After enjoying this brief moment of calm, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked toward the shade of the trees behind him. There, a figure slowly walked out.

"Li Luo, how does it feel to skitter around like a rat?" That figure had blue hair and an effeminate face — who else could it be but Duze Duze Beixuan?

Li Luo looked at Duze Duze Beixuan and said with a grave expression, "Duze Duze Beixuan, if you're chasing me to make me your brother-in-law, I'd suggest you not bring it up. Jiang Jiang Qinge won't agree to it."

A vein pulsed on Duze Duze Beixuan's forehead as he stared at Li Luo with a vicious gaze. "Li Luo, at a time like this, what's the point of running your mouth?"

"I'm dying to see if your mouth will still be this tough when I'm stomping on your head."

Li Luo said in anguish, "Stop pushing me. I just want to keep a low profile and cultivate at the academy."

Duze Duze Beixuan watched Li Luo's act coldly and said, "Trying to stall for time to recover some phase force? Li Luo, even if you did recover, so what? Do you really think you can be my opponent?"

This wasn't Duze Duze Beixuan looking down on Li Luo — it was simply the confidence he had in himself.

He possessed a Lower Eight-Grade Lankun Phase, and his own phase force level had long since reached the Dao Le Shang Zhong Flower Seed Realm. And Li Luo? At best, he was at the Lower Heavy White Seed Realm. The gap between them, no matter how you looked at it, was not on the same level.

"Then would you be willing to wait a bit longer? If you can wait another half hour for me, I'll respect you as a real man!"

"What do you think?" Duze Duze Beixuan let out a cold laugh. On his body, powerful phase force began to slowly surge upward, and faintly, it seemed as if a massive kun phase was taking shape — its aura was quite impressive.

Seeing this, Li Luo sighed with a hint of regret. It seemed this young master of the Duze Manor wasn't as foolish as he had hoped.

But then again, it didn't matter.

Li Luo stood up from the green stone, staring at Duze Duze Beixuan. A Lower Eight-Grade phase, the Dao Le Shang Zhong Flower Seed Realm — by every measure, the other party was indeed crushing him.

However, some things couldn't be seen on the surface.

For instance, who could have known that he had two phase palaces and two phase force seeds within his body?

So if it were just a simple contest of phase force reserves, Li Luo's phase force probably wouldn't be inferior to that of an ordinary Flower Seed Realm cultivator.

The gap between them wasn't as large as it appeared.

This time, he had essentially been set up by Shen Shen Jinxiao. There were five Purple-Glight Mentors in this Mentor Selection Tournament, but just as Shen Shen Jinxiao had said, the other four Purple-Glight Mentors might not necessarily sweep his face for the sake of a single Li Luo. After all, they were all marquis-ranked powerhouses, and they all had some wariness toward one another.

He, Li Luo, was ultimately not Jiang Jiang Qinge.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's potential was enough to make these Purple-Glight Mentors tear each other's faces off fighting over her. But him, Li Luo? For now, he didn't have that qualification.

But Li Luo understood that in this Mentor Selection Tournament, he had to win the favor of a Purple-Glight Mentor. This concerned not only his future cultivation, but also his very safety.

The reasons behind this, Jiang Jiang Qinge had already made very clear to him before.

So, what should he do?

Actually, it was very simple — just reveal his potential.

When his potential grew strong enough to make these Purple-Glight Mentors tear each other's faces off for him, he believed Shen Shen Jinxiao's reputation would be paper-thin.

How to display his potential?

The Duze Duze Beixuan right before his eyes was the best target.

"Since I can't keep a low profile, then I can only..."

Li Luo gripped the handles of the twin blades at his waist. A light breeze blew past, his silver-gray hair fluttering, and an extremely handsome smile appeared on his face.

"Blind their damn dog eyes."

While Li Luo and Duze Duze Beixuan were facing off, this scene was also projected onto the light screen at Xinshengdian, drawing the attention of various parties in the stands.

"This Li Luo has been targeted by Duze Duze Beixuan of the Duze Manor."

"Looks like it's about to end. Duze Duze Beixuan possesses a Lower Eight-Grade Lankun Phase, and his phase force level has reached the Dao Le Shang Zhong Flower Seed Realm. Li Luo is nowhere near comparable."

"Still, the fact that Li Luo has held on this long is already somewhat surprising."

"But it's no use. Losing to Duze Duze Beixuan means that in this Mentor Selection Tournament, he'll at best be able to choose a Gold-Glight Mentor. That will put him behind from the very start, and it'll be hard to catch up in his future cultivation at the Sacred Mystic Star Academy."

"Mm, the gap will only grow wider from then on."

"As expected, the House Luolan Manor can only be propped up by Jiang Jiang Qinge alone."

"..."

While the various parties were talking, on one section of the stands, Duze Duze Honglian stood with her arms crossed, her gaze coldly fixed on the scene in the light screen.

"You little bastard, you had to run your mouth. This time let's see how my little brother takes care of you."

Recalling the dirty water Li Luo had splashed on her earlier, Duze Duze Honglian's teeth itched with anger. After all, once such things got out, even if sensible people knew it was a rumor, there would still be people who used it to wag their tongues — and she was utterly helpless against it.

Duze Duze Honglian's gaze shifted to another section of the stands, where Jiang Jiang Qinge was also staring at the light screen.

She snorted coldly. Jiang Jiang Qinge, just watch right here with your own eyes as your little fiancé gets trampled underfoot by Duze Beixuan.

"That Duze Duze Honglian keeps looking over here — what an ugly look on her face." As Duze Duze Honglian glanced over from time to time, Yan Yan Lingqing also whispered to Jiang Jiang Qinge.

Jiang Jiang Qinge said calmly, "After all, she's lost to my hands too many times. She can't see much chance of turning things around against me, so naturally she can only try to find some satisfaction from Li Luo's side."

Yan Yan Lingqing nodded, then frowned slightly and said, "That Duze Duze Beixuan won't be easy to deal with. His strength far exceeds Li Luo's."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's golden eyes gazed intently at the light screen. "I believe in Li Luo."

"Besides, during the previous Tianshu Prefecture Grand Examination, who among you could have predicted that he would defeat Shi Kong and take first place?"

Yan Yan Lingqing was left speechless. "You're being way too blindly confident. Duze Duze Beixuan's level is way higher than that Shi Kong's. A Lower Eight-Grade Phase is no joke."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's red lips curved slightly upward, and in her heart she thought, "Li Luo's dual phases are no joke either."

At the highest point of the stands.

"Sister, can that Li Luo win?" The young Emperor stared fixedly at the light screen, then quietly asked the Eldest Princess beside him.

As for that Duze Duze Beixuan, he naturally found him somewhat disagreeable. After all, the impression the other party had left on him at the Golden Dragon Treasure Hall previously had been very poor. And although Li Luo had also tricked him, compared to Duze Duze Beixuan, he was still much better. After all, this fellow had given him the Source Water, which had eased his pain, so he still hoped Li Luo could win this.

The Eldest Princess's dignified, noble phoenix eyes were also fixed on the two figures confronting each other within the light screen. She deliberated briefly and said, "Judging by surface strength, Li Luo has no chance of winning."

"Huh?" The young Emperor, hearing this, looked somewhat disappointed.

"However, victory and defeat cannot always be decided by surface strength alone." The Eldest Princess smiled, a hint of interest gleaming in her phoenix eyes.

She had previously read Li Luo's file and knew that he had risen to sudden fame in Tian-Shu Prefecture, defeating the Governor's son, Shi Kong.

So in her feeling, this Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge had entirely different temperaments. If Jiang Jiang Qinge was a blade at its sharpest, like a blazing great sun sweeping across all directions, then this Li Luo was more like a deep pool without a ripple — looking utterly unremarkable on the surface, but with hidden depths within.

Of course, this was merely a woman's intuition on her part.

As for whether her intuition could be confirmed, she would have to see Li Luo's performance in this match with her own eyes.

Hopefully, it wouldn't disappoint her too much.

After all, he was, at the very least, the son of those two, and the one betrothed to Jiang Jiang Qinge.

(One chapter today.)