Chapter 1246: The Day of Advancement

With Li Li Jingzhe's faint words, this Five Guards' Advancement Ceremony officially began.

According to procedure, each guard reported its newly promoted higher echelons, and members of the same rank within each guard could freely challenge opponents for a martial discussion segment.

But today, everyone knew who the main characters were.

So the people of the Dragon Scale, Dragon Bone, and Dragon Horn Guards all shrugged and very consciously chose to forgo their own martial discussions, sparing everyone's time and avoiding a chorus of boos.

Moreover, they too were looking forward to the outcome of today's super-sized wager involving eighty thousand Dragon Essences.

Between these two sides with such an enormous apparent gap in rank, would it be a crushing sweep or a back-and-forth contest? It was indeed quite intriguing.

Amid the countless roars, two figures shot out from the Dragon Blood Guard and landed on the enormous battle stage, where light patterns flickered faintly across the ground and the void alike.

Of the two figures, one was a powerfully built man; grayish-yellow phase power flowed from within him, faintly seeming to transform into an endless expanse of brown earth in the void, giving a sense of weighty steadiness.

Beside him stood Li Qingbai, whom Li Luo had previously encountered in the treasure vault.

"Dragon Blood Guard Right Dragon Blood Envoy, Li Yuanshan."

"Dragon Blood Guard Fourth Commander, Li Qingbai."

Their voices rang out simultaneously, echoing across the entire arena: "We ask our colleagues of the Dragon Fang Guard for guidance."

On the Dragon Fang Guard's side, everyone's gaze converged on Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge; these looks were full of encouragement, though some worry was of course inevitable.

After all, with one side fielding an Upper Third Rank Marquis and the other an Upper First Rank Marquis, they truly led by far too much in phase power rank.

If Jiang Jiang Qinge and Li Luo were not both extraordinarily remarkable, no one would have held even the slightest expectation for this kind of showdown.

"Third Brother, little sister-in-law, go for it!" Li Li Fengyi shouted.

"Go for it! If you really can't win, just retreat, as long as you don't get hurt," Li Li Jingtao advised.

Li Li Fengyi glared and said, "How could it be that simple? If we retreat, what about Sister Hongyou?"

Li Li Jingtao said with a chuckle, "Isn't the old man here now? Even if we lose, we can still ask him to step in and uphold justice. After all, Sister Hongyou is now one of our Dragon Fang Branch's people. If she hasn't done anything wrong, by all reason and propriety, they can't kick her out."

"Besides, the wager only says Sister Hongyou has to be kicked out of the Dragon Fang Guard, it doesn't set a time limit. So if it really comes to it, couldn't we drag it out for a year or two before kicking her?"

The people beside them stared at the simple-faced Li Li Jingtao in silent speechlessness.

So it turns out the honest types are the best at playing tricks.

Li Luo gave a thumbs-up and laughed, "Big Brother has ideas. This way, we're almost already in an invincible position!"

Li Foluo said helplessly, "This is the most fallback approach. After all, the wager has already spread. If we exploit a loophole and break the rules, it'll provoke conflict between the two guards and bring even greater clashes."

"So this is the option of last resort."

He looked at Jiang Jiang Qinge and said, "Only by winning the wager fair and square will the Dragon Blood Guard not dare bring up Li Hongyou's matter again in the future, and you can collect the eighty thousand Dragon Essences with a clear conscience."

"Of course... this is indeed very difficult. Honestly, even I don't know how you'll win."

Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded slightly. Her deep golden eyes shimmered under the heavenly light, and her exquisitely beautiful face drew many admiring gazes from afar, but she paid them no mind, merely saying softly, "Back in Daxia, I was only at Tian Zhu Jing, and Li Luo was even at the Earth Sha General Stage. The powerful enemies we faced then were already vastly superior."

"No one back then thought we could ultimately win either, but..."

"We still won."

A smile also rose at the corner of Li Luo's mouth. He knew Jiang Jiang Qinge was referring to that "Mansion Sacrifice" that determined the survival of Luolang Mansion.

Many people had probably thought Luolang Mansion would collapse and split apart in that Mansion Sacrifice, but the final result caught everyone off guard.

Jiang Jiang Qinge and Li Luo not only preserved Luolang Mansion but also slew that coveter, Manager Pei Hao.

The hardships they faced back then—how could they compare to the present situation?

Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze turned to Li Luo, and a trace of gentleness and nostalgia surfaced deep in her eyes. She recalled those days in Daxia. Though in terms of splendor and vastness, whether it was the Holy Light Ancient Academy or Outer Shenzhou, both far surpassed Daxia, yet deep in Jiang Jiang Qinge's heart, only that place called Luolang Mansion held her most profound memories.

"Li Luo, let's go." Jiang Jiang Qinge smiled lightly.

Li Luo nodded, and then the two figures shot out under the watch of countless gazes and landed on the battle stage.

"Dragon Fang Guard Right Dragon Fang Envoy, Jiang Jiang Qinge."

"Dragon Fang Guard Fourth Commander, Li Luo."

"We ask our Dragon Blood Guard colleagues for guidance."

With their entrance, a great uproar immediately arose in this area. Besides the Five Guards, this viewing also included many various forces and experts from within Sky Dragon City.

They were entirely unaware of Jiang Jiang Qinge and Li Luo's identities and battle records.

So they all stared at Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge in astonishment. In their perception, among these two, the strongest seemed to be that exquisitely beautiful girl, but judging by the phase power fluctuations she emitted, she was probably far inferior to Li Yuanshan of the Dragon Blood Guard.

As for Li Luo, it was even more alarming—his phase power fluctuations hadn't even stepped into the Marquis Realm!

Is this Da Tian Xiang Jing?

A Da Tian Xiang Jing commander?

Has the Dragon Fang Guard really fallen this far? That even someone at Da Tian Xiang Jing can be promoted to commander?

Many experts whispered among themselves, feeling extremely puzzled.

At the same time, they didn't quite understand why this martial discussion with such a huge rank gap had become today's hot topic, and why the other guards would clear the way for them.

In the Dragon Blood Guard area, Li Zhihuo watched Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge take the stage together and said coolly, "They actually agreed to a two-person battle."

"It should have been Jiang Jiang Qinge's choice. She wants to use this method to share the pressure on Li Luo," said Yuan Tianzhao, the Dragon Blood Guard Left Dragon Blood Envoy.

"Hmph, what deep affection. They can't even take care of themselves, yet still want to protect others? Does she think Li Yuanshan's Upper Third Rank Marquis strength is that easy to deal with?" Li Hongque said coldly.

"But this is also good news—it means the other side isn't that confident of winning this wager."

Li Zhihuo nodded. He cast a somewhat reverent glance at Li Li Jingzhe, who was seated high up watching the battle, and said, "This is probably our only chance. The Dragon Fang Branch Head will be stationed in Sky Dragon City from now on, and our Dragon Blood Branch's voice here will be severely weakened."

Hearing him mention Li Li Jingzhe, Yuan Tianzhao and Li Hongque both fell silent, their eyes full of reverence, because they had already learned of what happened two days ago—Li Li Jingzhe had single-handedly stormed into Abyss City, severely wounded Qin Qin Lian, and even forced out Qin Jiujie, that Double-Crowned King.

It didn't end after forcing him out; he even revealed the strength of a "False Triple-Crowned King" and wounded Qin Jiujie as well.

Such a feat was simply shocking.

And Li Zhihuo and the others also understood that with Li Li Jingzhe revealing the strength of a "False Triple-Crowned King," the Dragon Fang Branch's voice within Li Li Tianwang's lineage would rise sharply in the future. Even the Dragon Blood Branch Head Li Li Tianji was beginning to show signs of being suppressed by him.

It was hard to imagine that in the coming years, if Li Li Tianji couldn't complete the breakthrough he'd been cultivating for many years, the Dragon Blood Branch might even lose the Li Li Tianwang lineage's mountain-controlling authority.

When that time came, Li Li Tianwang's lineage's highest authority would shift to the Dragon Fang Branch.

With Li Li Jingzhe stationed here, if he so much as showed a sliver of bias, they would be unable to move Li Hongyou in the slightest.

Therefore, this legitimate wager would be their only chance.

Clang!

At this moment, a melodious bell chime resonated throughout the four sides of the battle platform.

Li Yuanshan's heavy footsteps moved first; his immense and surging Xiang power shot skyward, and three towering Marquis-Sealing Platforms, as massive as mountains, materialized directly in the void, breathing in the energy of heaven and earth.

The three Marquis-Sealing Platforms: one had eight pillars, and two had seven pillars.

The three Marquis-Sealing Platforms exhaled a gray-yellow light, and within that light, a massive gray-yellow dragon seemed to appear.

Gray-white light flowed around the body of the gray-yellow dragon, making it appear even more solid.

Void Ninth-Rank Earth Long Xiang!

Upper Eighth-Rank Rock Xiang!

Above Li Qingbai's head, a beam of cyan light tens of thousands of zhang high erupted; within the cyan light, a verdant Marquis-Sealing Platform materialized, bearing seven giant pillars that pierced the sky, ancient and mottled.

At the top of the Marquis-Sealing Platform, a colossal tree tens of thousands of zhang tall seemed to stand, its trunk covered in sharp scales as if countless sharp swords were fitted together; its branches swept about like ten thousand swords whistling, cleaving the firmament.

On the trunk of the massive tree covered in sword scales, a green dragon slowly coiled; the verdant energy it released caused the sword-scale tree to emit a vigorous vitality.

Upper Eighth-Rank Wood Long Xiang!

Upper Eighth-Rank Sword-Scale Tree Xiang!

Many powerful figures within Tianlong City sighed slightly; the Dragon Blood Guard was indeed the strongest of the Five Guards, and the strength revealed by these two individuals was considered to have considerable depth even among peers of the same realm.

After all, those capable of forging a seven-pillar Marquis-Sealing Platform were already considered elites of their realm.

Hum!

Just as they were sighing, the next instant, brilliant and dazzling Light Xiang power swept across the sky and earth; within the ocean of light, a sacred Marquis-Sealing Platform, resembling glazed glass, stood quietly.

Many gazes in the arena focused on it, eyes narrowing slightly, and then they saw the sacred glazed pillar standing atop that nearly perfect Marquis-Sealing Platform.

A few breaths later, the pupils of all the Marquis-Sealing experts suddenly contracted.

For they saw that on that sacred glazed Marquis-Sealing Platform, ten Golden Pillars stood prominently!

That was... the legendary Ten-Pillar Golden Platform!

Boiling voices erupted from the arena like a flood in an instant.

At this moment, they finally understood why this duel appeared so unequal.

It turned out that the extraordinarily stunning girl was...

The Peerless Prodigy!