Chapter 1323: The Regretful Zhao Qianjun

The radiance erupting from the Sky Dragon Sun-Chasing Bow in Li Luo's hands was rapidly dimming, and faint hairline cracks were once again appearing on the bow's body, which made him feel a twinge of heartache—this Three-Purple-Eyed treasure was beginning to fall behind the pace of his advancement.

But that was normal; Purple-Eyed treasures were meant for use below the Marquis Realm, and now he was casually unleashing the power of a Marquis-level powerhouse, which was indeed far too much pressure for the Sky Dragon Sun-Chasing Bow to bear.

Li Luo's gaze fell upon Zhao Jiyun's corpse plummeting toward the ground; his usually gentle eyes now carried a chilling, razor-sharp intent. The other had come bearing killing intent, so naturally he could not afford to be soft-hearted.

His gaze shifted, landing on the Grand Commander of the Golden Peng Guard and the Second Commander of the Divine Tiger Guard, Zhao Zhu.

At this moment, Li Luo, gripping the massive bow, his figure like a hulking, ferocious dragon-person, radiated an overwhelming aura of slaughter and sharpness that pierced the heavens—a bearing that would inspire deep wariness even in some three or four-grade Marquis-level powerhouses.

So Zhao Zhu and the other were even more terrified, and they both understood that even Zhao Jiyun had perished at Li Luo's hands; charging in now would only be throwing their lives away for nothing.

This day's encirclement and killing of the Dragon Fang Guard had utterly failed.

Thus the two dared not advance any further, and both sheepishly reined in their phase force and retreated in panic.

Zhao Zhu at least still remembered his own Divine Tiger Envoy, so he took the opportunity to snatch away Zhao Jiyun's corpse.

Li Luo saw the two retreating, but did not pursue; that previous arrow had likewise caused the qi and blood within him to boil violently, the ferocious energy from the Six-Tailed Heavenly Wolf shaking wildly within his body. Fortunately, that energy was quite wary of his current flesh and blood, which was saturated with the aura of the Heavenly Dragon, so it remained relatively obedient and did not take the opportunity to erode him.

Li Luo slightly calmed the fluctuations of his phase force, then cast his gaze toward Jiang Qing's side, just as the latter happened to look over as well.

"Sister Qing'e actually slew that Zhao Baishun!"

Li Luo swept his gaze across the battlefield, and not even a shred of Zhao Baishun's corpse remained; he immediately understood that this brother's fate was even more miserable than Zhao Jiyun's, and could not help being somewhat shocked—the Big White Goose's combat power was simply too terrifying.

A first-grade slaying a fourth-grade, directly obliterating the opponent without leaving even bones behind.

That was even more ruthless than what he had done.

A peerless heavenly pride, truly bearing an invincible bearing.

This made Li Luo all the more eager for his upcoming breakthrough.

And Jiang Qing, meeting Li Luo's gaze, had a faint smile appear on her originally icy, awe-inspiring, breathtakingly beautiful face, then gave him a thumbs-up, as if praising Li Luo's battle achievements this time.

Li Luo cupped his hands with a smile, and then the two of them simultaneously turned their gazes toward the only battlefield in this place still erupting with astonishing energy fluctuations.

It was precisely the clash between Li Foluo and Zhao Qianjun.

These were the two highest-grade combatants present, both Upper Fourth-Grade Marquis-level.

However, in this clash, Li Foluo now held an absolute advantage, while Zhao Qianjun, by contrast, had been on the back foot almost the entire time, repeatedly facing deadly peril under Li Foluo's onslaught.

And such an outcome was naturally due to the presence of Li Hongyou.

She had stepped in to bestow a buff upon Li Foluo, which immediately caused Li Foluo's phase force intensity to surge sharply upward, directly pulling him clear ahead of Zhao Qianjun.

So Li Foluo was now fighting with exhilarating abandon, the sheer thrill of it making him want to howl at the sky, and because he was too immersed in this battle, he had not even sensed the situation in the other combat zones at all.

It was not until Li Luo and Jiang Qing approached the battlefield together that he was jolted awake by the energy fluctuations from the two of them.

Li Foluo and Zhao Qianjun's offensives paused simultaneously, and their gazes turned toward the two.

"Commander, do you need help? That Zhao Baishun and Zhao Jiyun have already been slain by us." Li Luo called out in a clear voice.

"What?!"

At these words, both Li Foluo and Zhao Qianjun were horrified.

"Impossible!"

Zhao Qianjun's heart was swept by towering waves; those two combat zones should clearly have been where they held the advantage—after all, whether Zhao Baishun or Zhao Jiyun, their phase force grades far surpassed Jiang Qing and Li Luo, and with others assisting besides, how could there possibly be any reason for them to lose?

Zhao Qianjun's gaze swept frantically across this area, but his heart suddenly sank, because he sensed no phase force fluctuations from Zhao Baishun or Zhao Jiyun, nor could he spot either of their figures.

This immediately made Zhao Qianjun's entire body go cold.

"Commander, Zhao Jiyun and Zhao Zhuoyan have both been killed by Li Luo!" At this moment, a panicked voice came from the side; Zhao Qianjun hurriedly looked over and saw Zhao Zhu dragging a cold corpse—none other than Zhao Jiyun.

A violent wave of dizziness struck Zhao Qianjun's head, nearly causing him to faint on the spot. Zhao Jiyun and Zhao Zhuoyan both being killed was a grievous, bone-deep wound for their Divine Tiger Guard.

He had never imagined that, despite their clear absolute advantage this time, they would end up in such a predicament.

And all of this was because he had misjudged Li Luo's and Jiang Qing's combat power.

One Da Tian Xiang Jing, one First-Grade Marquis—how could they have caused their Divine Tiger Guard to suffer such crippling losses!

Zhao Qianjun was furious, yet at the same time a thick regret welled up within him. Had he known this Dragon Fang Guard squad would be so hard to chew, he should never have harbored treacherous thoughts to provoke them. Look at the situation now—not only had he failed to snatch the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure, he had instead lost so many men. How was he to account for this?

And while Zhao Qianjun seethed with fury and regret, Li Foluo was overjoyed, though alongside the joy there was also some awkwardness. On his side, with Li Hongyou's buff, although he held the upper hand throughout, he had still been unable to utterly crush Zhao Qianjun. Yet the result was that Li Luo and Jiang Qing, whose situation had initially appeared somewhat disadvantaged, were the first to achieve astonishing battle results.

This left Li Foluo's heart both delighted and wistful.

These are my subordinates? They seem a little too fierce.

A good thing is certainly a good thing, it's just that they steal a bit too much of the spotlight.

Li Foluo's eyes flickered with fierce light as he stared at Zhao Qianjun, taunting: "Zhao Qianjun, 'trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice'—that's exactly you right now!"

Zhao Qianjun's face shifted unpredictably; his earlier arrogance had now completely vanished, because he understood that the situation had been thoroughly reversed. If Jiang Qing and Li Luo also joined the encirclement against him, then he would surely be defeated.

"Retreat!"

Zhao Qianjun was also a decisive character; since the situation had already spiraled out of control, dragging it out any longer might mean they would all truly be devoured.

So he gritted his teeth, let out a fierce shout toward Zhao Zhu and the others, then stirred up vast phase force to sweep everyone up, and without the slightest hesitation turned tail and fled.

"Trying to leave?!"

Li Foluo, seeing this, let out a cold snort. Fight when you want, leave when you want—do you really take us for soft clay you can mold?

So the four Marquis Platforms above his head erupted with thunderous roars, his phase force shaking heaven and earth, as he prepared to pursue.

However, just as he was about to move, he saw Zhao Qianjun swing his hand back in a fling, and streams of flowing light shot forth.

Li Foluo had assumed the fellow had thrown out some kind of lethal weapon, and was about to raise his hand to shatter them, when Li Luo hurriedly called out: "Commander, hold your hand!"

Li Foluo was slightly startled, and the phase force he had gathered slightly reined in; at the same time, after a brief sensing, he exclaimed in surprise: "Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure?!"

The numerous streams of flowing light Zhao Qianjun had flung out were, unmistakably, Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures!

And what was most astonishing was that one of the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures released a powerful exotic fragrance, and the energy fluctuation it gave off was unmistakably that of a high-grade Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure!

"Abandoning treasure to save his life—this fellow is truly decisive." Li Luo praised. The direction Zhao Qianjun had thrown the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures was unmistakably toward where the squads of various forces were lurking; clearly, he intended to use these Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures to create chaos, delay their pursuit, and seize a chance to escape.

After all, as long as they insisted on pursuing, these Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures would be intercepted by the squads of other forces.

"What do you say? Pursue and kill, or seize the treasure?" Li Foluo sought the opinions of Li Luo and Jiang Qing.

"What does Commander Wei think?" Li Luo retorted.

"Seize the treasure! Zhao Qianjun still has strength left to counterattack. If we truly push him to the wall, I'm afraid he'll fight to the death and take one of our men down with him." Li Fuluo murmured thoughtfully, then said.

No matter how you put it, Zhao Qianjun was a top fourth-rank marquis-level powerhouse, his strength and methods a notch above Zhao Baisun's. Even a cornered rabbit bites, let alone a top fourth-rank marquis driven to desperation.

"Don't pursue a desperate enemy." Jiang Jiang Qinge also said softly.

Li Luo nodded slightly, his gaze following the sorry figures of Zhao Qianjun and the others as they fled. So be it — this time they had dealt heavy blows to the Divine Tiger Guard and the Golden Peng Guard, a feat of arms enough to shock and turn the heads of the other four guards of the Heavenly Dragon Five Guards.

Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they shot forth, charging toward the scattered Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures.

Of course, the most important target was naturally that one upper-grade Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure. The moment it appeared, it drew the covetous stirrings of several gazes spying from the shadows, and a number of marquis-level powerhouses of no mean strength all revealed greedy gleams in their eyes.

But Li Luo beat them to it, intercepting the item.

"Li Fuluo, you already obtained two upper-grade Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures in the previous Ghostly Domain, and now you want to snatch more — isn't that a bit greedy?" A marquis-level powerhouse who had reached the lower fourth rank shouted in a deep voice.

Li Fuluo heard this and snorted coldly: "You skulking rats — these Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures were won through our bloody fight, so naturally they belong to us. If you're not convinced, then come out and fight!"

"Hmph, everyone — they've just been through a great battle and must be greatly drained. Why don't we join forces and take those upper-grade Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures from their hands?" A sinister voice rang out.

As this voice spread, quite a few marquis-level powerhouses did have their greed stirred.

Li Fuluo saw this, and a fierce, savage look immediately surged into his eyes. He took a single step forward, and four marquis platforms erupted with vast, surging phase force, the pressure rolling out like a tide.

Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge also revealed cold looks in their eyes, secretly urging their phase force.

For a moment, the atmosphere that had just eased somewhat grew taut once more.

But this tension did not last long. From the distant horizon, beams of light suddenly tore through the sky, then appeared in this stretch of midair. And as these figures appeared, a gentle woman's voice rang out along with them.

"Li Fuluo, was it you who sent the distress signal?"

Li Fuluo, Li Luo, and Jiang Jiang Qinge looked over, and their expressions eased slightly. The arrivals were none other than the team led by the Dragon Scale Guard's commander, Li Tingyue.