Chapter 1280: Black Water Guard, Sky-Swallowing Guard

Two vast, awe-inspiring streams of light came striding through the air from different directions, appearing precisely at the two horizons of Black Soul Ridge, their majestic, terrifying waves of energy rampaging outward, blotting out the sky.

That kind of momentum was far stronger than Zhao Zhuoyan's.

Clearly, the Black Water Guard and the Sky-Swallowing Guard that had rushed here this time surpassed everyone present in both scale and strength.

The unaffiliated cultivators, seeing this, all revealed looks of regret in their eyes; they understood that once these other two great Li Tianwang Guards arrived, they had lost their qualification to compete for the King Bead.

Li Luo's gaze darkened slightly as he watched this scene. In his perception, both the Black Water Guard and the Sky-Swallowing Guard numbered no fewer than five thousand-strong guards each; with such a lineup, there was no way their side could possibly contend.

What's more, his earlier great battle with Zhao Zhuoyan, while not quite to the point of being utterly spent, had still consumed the greater part of his energy. To now face two Li Tianwang Guards whose scale and strength far surpassed his own was almost impossible.

"Commander Li Luo, you were able to use the strength of Da Tian Xiang Jing to lead two thousand-strong guards and defeat Zhao Zhuoyan, a Marquis of the Lower Second Grade. This record alone is enough to make your name resound across the Boundary River Domain."

"It's just that fame and fortune can't all fall on your head alone."

At the very front of the Black Water Guard, Chu Qing, whose frame was burly and whose bearing was extraordinary, smiled faintly and said, "If you are willing to hand over the King Bead, I can guarantee your safe return to Tianlong Ridge."

Beside Chu Qing, Qin Yi also gazed at Li Luo's figure with complicated, beautiful eyes. Back in the Spirit Phase Cave Heaven, her phase force level had still been stronger than his, yet now, after a single year apart, he had already surpassed her.

Moreover, those illustrious feats of his were truly startling.

Even now, he had used the strength of Da Tian Xiang Jing to shoulder the augmenting power of two thousand-strong guards and ultimately defeated the Grand Commander of the Divine Tiger Guard, Zhao Zhuoyan.

Such means and ability drew sighs of admiration even from her, who had always been cool and proud at heart.

Looking across their entire generation, Li Luo could probably already be counted as the foremost person of Outer Shenzhou.

It was just a pity that the two sides stood in different camps, and with the grudges of a generation added on top, some clash today was destined.

One had to know that when Qin Qin Lian received the intelligence that Li Luo had seized the King Bead and was preparing to break through ten thousand li back to Tianlong Ridge, she had been overjoyed, and had immediately summoned Chu Qing and Qin Yi, while also dispatching the other idle Black Water Guards, rushing at full speed to intercept.

Some time ago, Qin Qin Lian had been gravely wounded by Li Li Jingzhe, losing all face and suffering greatly; that grievance had been bottled up in her heart all this time, and now that such a fine opportunity and pretext had appeared, naturally she would not let it go.

So before setting out, she had told Chu Qing that if he intercepted Li Luo, he must take the King Bead from his hands!

Surely it wouldn't come to Li Li Jingzhe stepping in to interfere over a contest between juniors, would it? If he truly did, Qin Qin Lian would actually welcome it, because that would mean Li Li Jingzhe was breaking the rules, and even within Li Li Tianwang's own branch there would be murmurs of dissent—after all, did they really think other powers had no elders willing to shield their young?

Li Li Tianwang's branch was not the strongest under heaven; even here on Outer Shenzhou, there were other Li Tianwang branches keeping them in check, so Li Li Jingzhe alone, a Three-Pillar Void King, had not yet reached the point of acting without scruple.

And while Qin Yi's thoughts were churning, Li Luo gazed at the two vast, awe-inspiring forces blocking his path ahead, and he sighed softly in his heart. Black Soul Ridge was right before his eyes, yet to cross it had become so terribly difficult.

Along this road of slaughter, he had truly given his all.

So he fell silent for several breaths, then stretched out his palm, and a dazzling golden bead materialized in its center, erupting with a hundred-zhang column of brilliant light.

It was precisely that King Bead.

The moment this bead appeared, it drew countless greedy gazes.

"It seems this King Bead can't be held onto today, but there's only one of it. With both your Black Water Guard and Sky-Swallowing Guard coming, who should I give it to?" Li Luo asked.

The moment these words left his mouth, the atmosphere instantly stalled.

Chu Qing's eyes narrowed slightly. Li Luo's method of sowing discord was far too crude—anyone could see his aim: nothing more than tossing out a King Bead to make them fight the Sky-Swallowing Guard over it.

But it was precisely such a plain, blunt method that made it troublesome.

Because this was the truth: there was only one King Bead, yet now the Sky-Swallowing Guard of Zhu Li Tianwang's branch had also arrived—would they simply sit by and watch him take it?

And at this moment, at the very front of the Sky-Swallowing Guard, a great mountain of a fat man with rippling rolls of flesh stepped forward, hefting a thousand-jin heavy hammer, his entire body surging with tremendous waves of energy.

"Hahaha, Commander Li Luo, my clansman Zhu Zhu Dayu has told me about you, said he even owed you a favor back in the Spirit Phase Cave Heaven. But that's a private matter between you two, and I, Zhu Dahai, have no way to let you leave here. Still, since you know Zhu Zhu Dayu, better to let a friend profit than a stranger—give me the King Bead, and I'll find a chance to compensate you later." The great fat man called Zhu Dahai laughed like thunder, his voice rolling across the heavens.

Li Luo couldn't help but laugh at the words—this fatty certainly knew how to work an angle.

However, the moment Zhu Dahai spoke those words, he had clearly stated that the King Bead was his target as well, which meant he would never allow it to fall into Chu Qing's hands.

And so the contradiction came sharply into focus.

Chu Qing's brow furrowed slightly. The gold and silver rings on his forearms slid slowly down his arms and settled into his palms. He looked toward Zhu Dahai and said, "Brother Zhu, Li Luo's move is just an attempt to muddy the waters and buy time. If you want to fight over the King Bead, I have no objection, but I think it would be more prudent to first take the King Bead from him, and then divide it between us."

"Since you're willing to show some regard for past favors, then let me play the villain. I'll take the King Bead, and each of our two sides will station one person to hold it. Afterward, the two sides can compete for it. How about that?"

Zhu Dahai was somewhat surprised at the words—this Chu Qing was truly a remarkable figure, acting with real boldness.

His own earlier willingness to speak up and take Li Luo's bait had actually been because of Zhu Zhu Dayu, harboring a sliver of goodwill. If Chu Qing had taken offense and the two guards had clashed, the situation would have grown even more chaotic, and the final outcome would have become uncertain.

But who could have expected that Chu Qing would not only not be angered, but would instead take on the villain's role himself, wanting to first seize the King Bead from Li Luo, and then have the two sides compete for it afterward.

Faced with such a proposal, Zhu Dahai found it hard to refuse—otherwise he wouldn't be able to face the rank and file, and it would be awkward explaining things to his superiors when he got back.

"Brother Chu has boldness—then we'll do as you say." Zhu Dahai's eyes flickered as he laughed.

Chu Qing nodded. His gaze fixed sharply on Li Luo as he took a step forward, and behind him, the five Black Water thousand-strong guards immediately formed a grand formation, terrifying waves of energy shaking the heavens as they channeled their power into him.

A column of spirit light shot skyward from above Chu Qing's head, transforming into two Marquis Platforms. Those Marquis Platforms were towering beyond measure, each one bearing nine pillars, from which rose the densest, most concentrated smoke of Marquis divine radiance.

Lv Shuanglu stared at those two Marquis Platforms and praised softly, "Two nine-pillar Marquis Platforms—Chu Qing's foundation is truly extraordinary."

Although it lacked the shock of a ten-pillar golden platform, being able to forge two nine-pillar Marquis Platforms already marked him as a top-tier prodigy, indicating profound personal potential. In the future, should fate allow, he might even forge a ten-pillar golden platform.

Moreover, judging by the scale of those Marquis Platforms, Chu Qing was probably already at the late stage of an Upper Second Grade Marquis. Compared to him, the Zhao Zhuoyan Li Luo had defeated earlier showed a glaring gap.

"Commander Li Luo, will you hand me this King Bead, or shall I take it myself?" Chu Qing's calm voice rang out.

Li Luo's eyes narrowed slightly, and his grip tightened around the Dragon Elephant Blade.

Seeing this, Chu Qing said no more. He stretched out his palm, and the world's energy surged violently. A hundred-zhang giant hand of energy descended directly toward Li Luo's position.

Li Luo gazed at that descending giant hand of energy, his eyes calm, but behind him, a sudden surge of tremendous sword qi began to flow, and faintly, it seemed as if an ancient sword formation was taking shape.

However, just as Li Luo was preparing to fight with everything he had, the descending giant hand of energy suddenly halted.

It was as if some invisible force had seized and held it in place.

This sudden turn of events also caused Chu Qing's expression to shift slightly. He whipped his head around to look at the far side of Black Soul Ridge, where violent rumblings of energy were erupting from the heavens.

Boom!

The void seemed to shatter at that moment, as if the fangs of a colossal dragon had torn through space, transforming into a continuous stream of flowing light that abruptly appeared above Black Soul Ridge.

At the same time, a faint voice rang out across the land.

"You dare reach out—try it."

Hearing that familiar voice, Li Luo instantly felt as if a great weight had been lifted, and a smile of pleasant surprise surfaced on his face.

Because that voice belonged to Commander Wei Zun Li Foluo.

After he had stalled for so long, the reinforcements from Sky Dragon Ridge had finally arrived.