Chapter 1448: Victory in the First Round

Hum!

Between the Celestial Dragon's claws that Li Luo had transformed into, the Celestial Dragon Sun-Chasing Bow expanded to a hundred zhang in size. At this moment, the bowstring was hooked by the clawtip and easily drawn all the way back to a perfect full draw.

Even the bow's frame let out a creaking groan at this instant.

An invisible wave of force spread outward, causing the very void to let out a wailing sound—enough to show just what terrifying power was now condensed upon the bowstring.

Fortunately, after this Celestial Dragon Sun-Chasing Bow had fused with the "Little Dragon Saint Seed," its own grade had already been elevated to the tier of a Superior Marquis Treasure. Otherwise, with one pull from the dragon claws, the entire bow would have simply shattered apart.

Li Luo's dragon pupils looked toward the petite figure of Shui Baoping on the Crossing-Struggle Platform far away. He had no intention of clashing head-on with her; instead, he chose to rely on a long-range attack to crush her.

Of course, this required a meat shield to take the brunt up front—and Guo Guo Jiufeng happened to be perfectly suited for the job.

A hint of a smile rose in Li Luo's dragon pupils, and then with a single thought, an extremely surging, astonishing surge of emerald-green energy erupted from the Celestial Dragon Sun-Chasing Bow. This energy brimmed with vigorous vitality, and the moment it appeared, it transformed in the sky into a towering, verdant ancient tree as massive as a mountain.

The verdant ancient tree swayed its branches and leaves, blotting out the sky.

The next instant, an astonishing scene unfolded—countless streams of green light gathered upon the verdant ancient tree, finally condensing into a green dragon that coiled up along the trunk.

The green dragon was also vigorous and majestic, but because of Li Luo's purple-gold Celestial Dragon's presence, it looked far less imposing.

And this green dragon was precisely what Li Luo had catalyzed by activating the lower-grade Marquis-tier technique contained within the "Little Dragon Saint Seed"—the Dragon-Raising Art.

Because this art came built-in with the "Little Dragon Saint Seed," it saved Li Luo the effort of bitter cultivation; he only needed to draw upon the "Little Dragon Saint Seed" to unleash it.

Li Luo felt the energy waves flowing across the surface of that green dragon's body and gave a slight nod. This green dragon raised by the "Dragon-Raising Art" was quite wondrous—it could be used to ward off enemies and provide defense. But for now, Li Luo had another use for it.

Following Li Luo's thought, the thousand-zhang green dragon immediately began contracting its body. In just a few breaths, it shrank to roughly several dozen zhang, and then its dragon body wound downward, landing right onto the fully drawn bowstring of the Celestial Dragon Sun-Chasing Bow.

Seen from afar, it looked just like a green dragon arrow.

Exactly—this was Li Luo's plan: to use a "dragon" as an arrow, and with the aid of the Celestial Dragon Sun-Chasing Bow, unleash an extremely terrifying long-range killing strike.

The might of this arrow was even more ferocious than the blade strike that had defeated Yan Feng earlier.

Li Luo slowly tightened the bowstring, locking his aim from afar onto Shui Baoping's petite figure.

And when that arrow-tip locked onto her, Shui Baoping's figure also stiffened slightly, her expression shifting a touch—clearly sensing a dangerous aura from Li Luo's arrow.

"I can't let him fire like this!"

Shui Baoping's figure spun, transforming into a streak of light that pierced through the air and fled far away. The six Marquis Platforms above her head erupted with ten thousand streams of light, blanketing the void where Li Luo stood far away in an overwhelming tide.

Boom!

But just at this moment, crimson flames rose between heaven and earth, a gale kicked up, transforming into a storm of fire that blocked every last one of those streams of light.

Guo Guo Jiufeng's figure appeared before Shui Baoping.

"Vice Dean Shui Baoping, let me keep you company," Guo Guo Jiufeng said.

Shui Baoping's face went icy cold, and she sneered: "I'm afraid I'll play you to death!"

Guo Guo Jiufeng said no more nonsense. Her hands abruptly formed a seal, and on the six Marquis Platforms above her head, one crimson Fu Yin after another began to glow brightly. The next instant, these Fu Yin all detached at once, swallowing down the crimson storm of fire behind her.

In the end, a sky-covering giant hand of crimson fire materialized out of thin air.

Upon that giant crimson hand, nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine green wind-light pearls spewed gang wind, churning up crimson flames—possessing the momentum to destroy heaven and earth.

Marquis Divine Talisman: Wind Flame Hand!

The moment the crimson wind hand materialized, it slammed down viciously toward Shui Baoping, and the temperature across all of heaven and earth suddenly soared.

Seeing the terrifying attack Guo Guo Jiufeng had unleashed, Shui Baoping's expression grew even icier. Above her head, the six Marquis Platforms likewise erupted with overwhelmingly powerful phase force, and countless ancient runes dropped down from them.

Marquis Divine Talisman: Dark Kun!

As Shui Baoping pushed her full power, a ten-thousand-zhang colossal black Kun materialized. The giant Kun opened its maw and began swallowing the energies of heaven and earth whole, while simultaneously surging up to meet that enormous crimson wind hand.

Boom!

When the two collided, the energy storm they raised ravaged for tens of thousands of miles.

But under this kind of clash, Shui Baoping clearly held the upper hand. The black giant Kun crushed forward, while the crimson wind hand was continuously forced back—cracks even began to appear across its surface.

Guo Guo Jiufeng's face flushed red, her whole body radiating intense heat—clearly exerting every ounce of her strength to resist.

Rumble!

And just as the two sides were locked in their standoff, a dragon's roar suddenly thundered through the world. The next instant, a dazzling, resplendent streak of green light tore across the heavens, sweeping in like a thunderbolt, carrying killing intent, and slammed viciously toward Shui Baoping.

But Shui Baoping had long been on guard. From her sleeve, a green banner flew out. As the green banner unfurled, it seemed to contain a vast green sea of waves; rolling curtains of water poured forth, forming a barrier of defense.

This was the Green Sea Banner—a lower-grade Marquis Treasure, possessing powerful defensive might.

Faced with a pincer attack at this moment, Shui Baoping could only temporarily use it to defend, buying enough time to grievously wound Guo Guo Jiufeng before dealing with Li Luo.

"This brat—once I finish off Guo Guo Jiufeng, just watch how I take care of you!" Shui Baoping gritted her teeth.

Boom!

And just as she was thinking this, the green dragon arrow had already torn through the sky and slammed viciously into the seemingly endless curtain of water. At the moment of impact, the void continuously collapsed and shattered.

Shui Baoping's expression couldn't help but change at this moment. The qi and blood within her body churned violently, and a flash of astonishment crossed her eyes—because the might of Li Luo's arrow was far more ferocious than she had anticipated.

Only now did she understand why Yan Feng had lost to Li Luo.

Fortunately, in the end, she had managed to block it.

Just as this thought had barely flashed through her mind, she saw the purple-gold giant dragon in the distant sky draw its bowstring once more. Another green dragon swam over, transformed into a green dragon arrow, and hung upon the string.

Shui Baoping's heart instantly turned cold.

Such a powerful, ferocious Marquis-tier technique—how could this brat condense it so swiftly?

Rumble!

And while she was still reeling in shock, Li Luo gave her not a single moment to catch her breath. Because this "Dragon-Raising Art" came from the Little Dragon Saint Seed, the drain on his own phase force was also much smaller, so unleashing it naturally came far more easily.

Of course, the drawback was that since it wasn't a technique he had cultivated himself, its realm was also limited.

Li Luo's dragon claws loosened, and green light once more pierced through the void accompanied by a dragon's roar. In the span of a single breath, it slammed into Shui Baoping's "Green Sea Banner" once again.

This time, the curtain of water could endure no longer and instantly exploded apart.

Violent ripples surged across the Green Sea Banner, and finally its light dimmed. Transforming into a streak of light, it shot back into Shui Baoping's sleeve.

The green dragon arrow, which had shattered the "Green Sea Banner" and thereby dimmed considerably, still carried its remaining force and slammed directly toward Shui Baoping's head.

At the critical moment, Shui Baoping thrust out a palm and seized the arrow shaft in one grip, but the terrifying force upon it instantly tore her palm open, flesh splitting and blood streaming.

The bared-fang-and-clawed Azure Dragon's edge halted half an inch from Shui Baoping's brow, then finally dissolved into specks of light and shattered apart.

Puchi.

The qi and blood within Shui Baoping's body churned violently, and she could not stop herself from spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

That single spray of blood instantly made the many squads of Cangming Outer Shenzhou turn pale with horror; after all, Shui Baoping was their stabilizing pillar, and no one had expected her to be wounded by Li Luo and Guo Guo Jiufeng working together.

"Ah!"

Shui Baoping's hair hung loose and wild — clearly driven to the peak of fury — and her figure shot explosively forth, trying to chase down and kill Li Luo.

But Li Luo refused to entangle with her; with a sweep of his dragon tail he instantly pulled away, and at the same time the Sky Dragon Chasing Sun Bow between his dragon claws once more condensed an Azure Dragon arrow that tore through the air toward her.

Shui Baoping was forced to halt and respond, and at the same moment Guo Guo Jiufeng seized the chance to launch his attack.

For a time, under the pincer assault of Li Luo and Guo Guo Jiufeng, Shui Baoping fell directly into a wretched, disadvantaged position.

In the end, when yet another Azure Dragon arrow pierced through the void and struck Shui Baoping's petite frame, the latter coughed blood and flew backward; at the same time a pillar of light descended from the heavens, enveloped her, and sent her straight out of this Crossing-Space.

This also signified that Shui Baoping had been eliminated.

When Shui Baoping's figure vanished from this space, the many squads on the Eastern Domain Outer Shenzhou side instantly erupted in excited cheers.

But on the Cangming Outer Shenzhou side, everyone's face went deathly pale.

In the sky, the purple-gold giant dragon that Li Luo had become began to fade, then transformed back into human form; his complexion was also somewhat pale, and the resonance force within his body was quite listless.

At the rank of Unparalleled Second Grade, he had unleashed fierce killing move after fierce killing move in succession — he had truly already reached his absolute limit.

Fortunately, however, with the elimination of Shui Baoping and Yan Feng, the advantage on their side was already enough to secure victory.

"Vice Dean Guo Guo Jiufeng, I'll leave the cleanup to you," Li Luo said.

Guo Guo Jiufeng stared at Li Luo with a look of astonishment, a strange light flickering in his eyes; in the end he cupped his fist toward the latter and said, "Instructor Li Luo, please rest first. Leave the rest to us."

There was an extra measure of politeness in his words; clearly, the combat power Li Luo had displayed in this great battle had even stirred a measure of awe in him, the so-called number-one Vice Dean of the Eastern Domain Outer Shenzhou.

And if Li Luo had not risen up so unexpectedly, it would probably have been he himself who was eliminated by Shui Baoping.

Li Luo watched Guo Guo Jiufeng turn and charge toward the other Crossing Platforms, and secretly let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

In this first round, their Eastern Domain Outer Shenzhou had, after all, won.

Although this still fell a little short of his goal, it was, after all, a good beginning.