Chapter 1275: Lending a Helping Hand

Li Luo and Xia Yu each led a thousand-man guard, tearing across the sky at extreme speed, the tremendous energy causing rumbling across the heavens.

While streaking forward at top speed, Li Luo turned his head to look far behind him. From that direction, it seemed, came extremely violent energy fluctuations—clearly Jiang Jiang Qinge had already made her move to intercept the powerful enemies.

"Li Luo, don't worry. With Commander Jiang Longya's strength, even if she can't win, retreating unscathed is absolutely no problem." Seeing the worry in Li Luo's eyes, Xia Yu spoke up to comfort him.

Li Luo nodded lightly. He felt a trace of self-reproach in his heart. Ever since the House Luolan Mansion, Jiang Jiang Qinge had truly blocked too much for him. Back in Daxia, he had been constantly striving to catch up, all for the day he could stand before her and tell her: this time, the calamity, he would be the one to withstand it.

Only, although his strength had risen with extreme rapidity over these years, Jiang Jiang Qinge's monstrous talent still made Li Luo feel tremendous pressure.

This fiancée of mine is just too heaven-defying. It's so hard for me.

Li Luo clenched his five fingers tightly. Precisely because of this, he was so eager to evolve the Heavenly Dragon Physique, because his goal was to break through to the Marquis Realm within this Boundary River Domain, and moreover... he would forge a Ten-Pillar Golden Platform!

And the difficulty of the "Ten-Pillar Golden Platform" went without saying. To achieve this, the Heavenly Dragon Physique might well be the Top Priority.

While Li Luo's thoughts churned through a hundred possibilities, the main force did not dare to pause for even a moment, because they could all sense that although Jiang Jiang Qinge had intercepted most of the powerful enemies, there were still some energy fluctuations pursuing them from behind.

Without Jiang Jiang Qinge, the road ahead could only be walked by themselves.

And the interception came faster than they had imagined.

Clearly, having lost Jiang Jiang Qinge's deterrent effect, those covetous observers in the shadows could no longer hold themselves back.

Boom!

Energy roared across heaven and earth. On the great earth ahead, a towering giant tree erupted from the ground, its branches whipping about like giant pythons across the sky, slamming toward the two thousand-man guards.

"Careful!" Xia Yu barked coldly. Above her head, two towering Marquis Platforms manifested, and with the augmentation of a thousand-man guard formation, her power instantly climbed to the level of an Upper Third Rank Marquis.

A cyan longsword appeared in her hand. The blade carved out a fierce wind-gale, directly severing the sky-full of python-like branches, and then the blade tore through the void, a thousand-zhang sword-light shooting viciously toward the towering giant tree.

At the top of the giant tree, a human figure appeared. Three Marquis Platforms manifested above his head, and he hastily circulated tremendous phaseforce, transforming it into a massive Green Wood Shield.

Boom!

The sword-light directly shattered the Green Wood Shield, and at the same time shredded the towering giant tree into powder. That human figure let out a muffled grunt and vanished in a flash of green light.

But just as Xia Yu's side came under attack, Li Luo's side also faced its first assault.

Three powerful experts who had stepped into Second Rank Marquis appeared from the front, then Marquis divine smoke billowed forth, transforming into an overwhelming assault that came pouring down with the force of an avalanche.

"Li Luo, hand over the King Pearl!" they cried out greedily.

In their view, Li Luo was only at the Da Tian Xiang Jing level of strength. Even with a thousand-man guard in hand, it would be hard for him to fully wield its power. The three of them joining forces in a surprise attack would be enough to suppress Li Luo.

Li Luo stared at the overwhelming assault enlarging in his pupils, his face turning cold. He took a single step forward, and the power of the thousand-man guard behind him surged directly into him.

The Dragon-Elephant Blade in his hand slashed down violently. The void trembled, and tremendous blade-light poured forth, condensing into a massive blade-wheel. The blade-wheel whistled out and collided with the overwhelming energy assault.

"Dragon-Elephant Divine Might!"

The blade-wheel whistled through, directly shredding the three Second Rank Marquis experts' assault in an utterly devastating manner. At the same time, the blade-light pierced through and, under their horrified gazes, struck their towering Marquis Platforms.

Boom!

Immediately, deep blade-marks appeared on the Marquis Platforms.

Puchi!

The three were wounded, spurting out a mouthful of fresh blood, their figures shooting back in extreme disarray.

"Not good, this kid is tough!" they growled low, their voices full of regret. Originally they had thought that with only Da Tian Xiang Jing strength, Li Luo probably couldn't bring out the full power of the thousand-man guard. Clearly, they had thought too much.

Their being wounded here actually caused some of the gazes secretly watching to be slightly shocked. This Li Luo, could actually bring out the power of this thousand-man guard so perfectly?

In a single blade strike, he had forced back three Second Rank Marquis experts!

Having revealed his brilliance for the first time, Li Luo did not linger in battle, but quickly disengaged with Xia Yu and sped away.

But this battle was only the beginning.

Over the next several hours, they successively encountered attacks and interceptions. Among them were not a few Third Rank Marquis experts who struck, but those above Fourth Rank were rare. This was partly because of Li Li Jinpan, Niu Niu Biaobiao, Li Li Rouyun, and Jiang Jiang Qinge, and perhaps also because some forces or experts friendly to Li Li Tianwang's line had secretly stepped in to help resolve things—after all, they were the Li Tianwang Lineage, and friends wouldn't be few.

All the way, battle never ceased, energy roaring and echoing across the heavens.

This was clearly a somewhat arduous and sensational journey back.

But regardless of the final outcome, this battle would spread throughout the entire Boundary River Domain.

Boom!

Xia Yu drove sky-full sword-light, a great wind rising, and in an extremely fierce manner blasted back a Third Rank Marquis ahead. The palm gripping her longsword trembled slightly—the successive great battles along the way had caused her no small consumption.

"Scram!" Her gaze was icy cold, staring at that Third Rank Marquis with killing intent.

That Third Rank Marquis expert fell briefly silent, then actually retreated on his own accord, because he did not want to become Xia Yu's target for a desperate fight. After all, only by preserving his strength could he profit as the fisherman.

Seeing the opponent withdraw, Xia Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She looked toward the distant horizon, where a stretch of black mountain range standing upon the great earth appeared—that was Black Soul Ridge. Once past this place, they would be approaching the territory of Li Li Tianwang's line.

At that point, many of the pursuers would begin to feel apprehension.

Xia Yu turned around, intending to go help Li Luo's side.

Rumble!

However, the very instant she turned, scorching red light suddenly erupted in the void ahead. The space shattered open, and a giant tiger flowing with lava came roaring forth. Its tiger-roar shook the heavens, directly causing Xia Yu's qi and blood within to tremble, her consciousness blurring for several breaths.

Her heart instantly filled with shock: "The Tiger Demon Roar of the Divine Tiger Guard!"

The two Marquis Platforms above Xia Yu's head erupted with billowing divine smoke that swept down, attempting to defend.

But from within that giant tiger, a massive fist suddenly blasted forth, flowing with flames and lava, and in an extremely violent manner, lightning-like, it shattered the Marquis divine smoke, then slammed into Xia Yu's body.

Puchi!

She spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, her figure shooting violently backward. Behind her, the thousand-man guard augmenting her also erupted with a sense of chaotic energy.

"Zhao Zhuoyan!"

Xia Yu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes fixed deadly on the front. There, the void shattered open, and a burly figure radiating scorching aura walked out.

Behind him, it was as if a stretch of crimson clouds, within which the figures of the Divine Tiger Guard could be seen.

It was precisely the Grand Commander of the Divine Tiger Guard, Zhao Zhuoyan. His strength was several degrees greater than Xia Yu's, because he had already reached the peak level of a Lower Second Rank Marquis, with the possibility of breakthrough at any moment.

"Xia Yu, coming this far is about enough. If we really let you pass Black Soul Ridge, that would be hard for us to answer for." That Zhao Zhuoyan, his eyes crimson, let out a sinister laugh toward Xia Yu and said.

"You guys really know how to endure. I think we should stop calling you the Divine Tiger Guard and start calling you the Divine Turtle Guard instead!"

Xia Yu mocked, "These Zhao Zhuoyan and the others have been following us the whole way, holding back from attacking. It's obvious they want to wear down our strength, then wait for the right moment to strike us down in one blow."

Just like right now.

Zhao Zhuoyan's gaze swept over Xia Yu's curvaceous figure with naked aggression, and he said with a smile, "Xia Yu, stop struggling. My Hundred Flame Poison is no easy thing to endure. You're already weaker than me to begin with—what are you going to block me with now?"

Xia Yu felt the searing sting spreading through her body, and her face grew colder and colder: "Try it and see!"

At this moment, Li Luo also rushed over. He looked at Xia Yu, whose face alternated between flushed red and deathly pale, and his heart sank slightly. It seemed her injuries were no light matter.

"Li Luo, hand over the King Pearl. This is as far as you go—you won't make it through Black Soul Ridge." A laugh rang out, and beside Zhao Zhuoyan, another burly man revealed himself.

That was the Second Commander of the Divine Tiger Guard, Zhao Zhu—a top-grade Marquis's strength.

Zhao Zhuoyan stared at Li Luo with a smile and said, "Look."

He pointed behind them. There, several figures hovered in the air, casting greedy gazes from afar—those were the many loose-cultivation powerhouses who had been tailing them for a long time.

With Zhao Zhuoyan and Zhao Zhu, the two great commanders, blocking them in front, and loose cultivators cutting off the rear, this final stretch of road was clearly incomparably difficult to break through.

Li Luo's gaze gradually grew sharp and cold.

And just then, a woman's light laughter suddenly came from a nearby mountain peak.

"Li Luo, this last stretch of road doesn't seem easy to walk, does it?"

Li Luo looked over and saw a graceful female figure appear there—none other than the Lü Shuanglu he had met before.

This made him frown slightly. Was she also here to snatch the King Pearl?

Seeing Li Luo's frown, Lü Shuanglu stretched lazily and said with a smile, "I have no interest in your King Pearl. However, if you beg me, I can help you drive those loose cultivators back. How about it?"

Li Luo deliberated: "Begging you isn't necessary, I suppose. Worst case, I'll find someone to fight to the death with. Even if I die, afterward I can have my grandfather go find them for revenge—a life for a life."

At these words, the loose-cultivation powerhouses exchanged uncertain glances, and their surging momentum seemed to pause for a moment.

Lü Shuanglu was also stunned for a beat, then couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Your threat is rather shameless, don't you think?"

Li Luo shrugged. At a time like this, who cared about shameless or not—as long as it worked.

"Fine, then."

Lü Shuanglu chuckled lightly and said, "For my little sister's sake, I'll give you a hand today. This favor, I'll go collect from my little sister later."

Saying so, she lightly clapped her hands.

Immediately, powerful energy fluctuations appeared throughout these mountains, precisely locking onto those restless loose cultivators.

"But I can only keep these loose cultivators from making trouble. As for the people of Li Li Tianwang's line, I can't scare them off, so you'll still have to rely on yourself." Lü Shuanglu said with a smile.

Li Luo was stunned. He hadn't expected that Lü Shuanglu would not only not snatch the King Pearl, but actually lend him a hand.

In the end, he didn't say much, only cupping his hands toward Lü Shuanglu in thanks.

"Don't thank me just yet. Wait until you can break through these two gatekeepers first." Lü Shuanglu clasped her hands behind her back, watching Li Luo with great interest.

She rather wanted to see—with Xia Yu gravely wounded—how Li Luo, this Da Tian Xiang Jing cultivator, would actually break past top-grade lower-second Marquis Zhao Zhuoyan and top-grade Marquis Zhao Zhu.