Chapter 340: Siege

When Li Luo's voice fell, Lv Qing'er and Qin Qin Zhulu both froze, looking toward the falcon-eyed man opposite with surprise and suspicion in their eyes.

Yet the latter merely narrowed his eyes slightly, then said coolly, "What do you mean?"

Li Luo smiled and said, "Just a feeling, that's all."

The falcon-eyed man sneered, "Why should I tell you?"

"This friend is so uncooperative... looks like he hasn't suffered enough yet." Li Luo said regretfully.

The falcon-eyed man also pulled a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth: "What an arrogant brat. So what if your strength matches your companion's? Two third-mark, one first-mark, that's all."

Although Guo Xiang and Xu Ling being taken down so quickly was somewhat beyond his expectations, that was all it was—he knew very well how much water those two carried.

And he himself possessed the strength of the third stage of the Diviner Phase. Even though Li Luo and Qin Qin Zhulu were outstanding among their peers, there was still a gap between them and him that could not be ignored.

So upon seeing Li Luo act so arrogant before him, he couldn't help but feel a surge of derision.

He truly couldn't understand—clearly a flock of rookies, why did they look as if victory was already in their grasp? Was it ignorance, or arrogance beyond all bounds?

Roar!

At this moment, Qin Qin Zhulu could no longer contain his surging battle intent. Every ounce of phase power within him erupted, golden tiger-stripes flickering with an unsteady gleam across his body's surface. Shou Chi Zhong in hand, he shot forth like lightning, his spear tip wrapped in tremendous force as it swept toward the falcon-eyed man.

Seeing this, the falcon-eyed man gave a cold snort and said, "I was merely playing with you earlier—did you really think you could match me?"

He retreated half a step. The willow-leaf saber in his hand hummed and trembled, as if rings of cyan wind were spinning around the blade. Then it suddenly shot forth, and with one slash, the ground was directly torn open with a deep saber mark.

Clang!

Saber tip met spear light in a brutal collision, phase power surging wildly, the ice and snow on the nearby ground melted away by the shockwave of phase power.

Clink-clank, clink-clank!

And at the very instant of collision, the rings of wind on the falcon-eyed man's saber suddenly crashed into each other, and visible sound waves swept out like a gale. Though clearly sound waves, they carried an extremely sharp aura, sweeping across Qin Qin Zhulu's body as swift as lightning.

Deep gashes of blood immediately appeared across Qin Qin Zhulu's body. He let out a pained roar, his figure retreating hastily in some disarray.

The falcon-eyed man pressed his advantage, stepping forward, his figure like a gale, charging straight at Qin Qin Zhulu.

But a figure flashed out even faster from behind Qin Qin Zhulu, meeting him head-on—it was Li Luo.

"Hmph, let me see what tricks you've got!"

Seeing this, the falcon-eyed man sneered. The willow-leaf saber with its spinning wind rings surged forth with an even fiercer assault, transforming into trails of saber light as it slashed down furiously at Li Luo.

On Li Luo's twin sabers, water-light flowed at high speed, and saber light likewise surged forth, clashing head-on with the opponent's saber light in that instant.

Clang-clang!

And at the moment of contact, the falcon-eyed man's expression couldn't help but shift, because he discovered that Li Luo's phase power was equally fierce and pure, no whit inferior to Qin Qin Zhulu's Gold-Devouring Demonic Tiger phase.

"This guy is also an eighth-grade water phase?!"

The falcon-eyed man felt somewhat stunned. How could this team be so strange? Clearly their phase power levels weren't high, yet they all possessed such high-grade phases. If those two fellows' strength were fifth-mark instead of third-mark, he felt that today he probably couldn't beat a single one of them.

Emotions flickering in his heart, the falcon-eyed man's hands didn't slow in the slightest. With a sweep of his palm, the rings of wind suddenly spun violently, and extremely fierce sound waves swept directly toward Li Luo.

However, this attack that had previously given Qin Qin Zhulu trouble did not work again, because across Li Luo's body surface, emerald-green phase power suddenly surged forth, transforming into a layer of wooden armor that just happened to deflect these wind blades.

"Wood phase power?!"

If earlier was astonishment, then this time the falcon-eyed man felt it was simply inconceivable. He stared in shock at the wood phase power on Li Luo's body surface—how could this guy possess two kinds of phase power?!!

Two kinds of phase power—wasn't that the hallmark of a Marquis-tier powerhouse?

For a moment, the falcon-eyed man felt his brain turning to mush.

Boom!

But the mush lasted only a few breaths before he was jolted awake by a gust of violent phase power roaring toward him. He saw Qin Qin Zhulu charging in with a roar, looking like a fierce god, his spear tip like a dragon, dark-red phase power faintly transforming into a galloping giant tiger.

Clang!

The falcon-eyed man hurriedly met the attack with his saber, the ring of metal clashing through the air. This time, somewhat caught off-guard, he was immediately forced back a step, his expression turning an alternating shade of green and white.

But before he could speak, he sensed a chill spreading from beneath his feet. Looking down, he saw icy cold air silently creeping toward him.

He turned his head and saw Lv Qing'er not far away, striking covertly.

Lv Qing'er was only at the first mark of the Birth Mark Stage. Knowing the gap between her and the falcon-eyed man was enormous, she didn't engage him head-on, but instead chose to transform her ice phase power into cold air to slow down the speed the falcon-eyed man excelled at.

The falcon-eyed man hurriedly used phase power to dispel the cold air, but the speed of dispelling wasn't as fast as he'd imagined. He immediately understood that Lv Qing'er's ice phase grade had probably also reached the eighth grade, because the spiritual essence contained within her opponent's phase power made it all the more troublesome.

"What the hell! Three eighth-grade phases?!"

The falcon-eyed man's face turned green. Did the Great Xia Golden Dragon Merchant Guild really have this many eighth-grade phases?

But in that brief moment he was trying to dispel the cold air's erosion, Li Luo and Qin Qin Zhulu had already attacked together. Such a ferocious assault left the falcon-eyed man no room for carelessness, and he no longer had the mind to think about Lv Qing'er's side. He hurriedly mobilized all the phase power within him and went up to meet them.

This time, the clash between the two sides was exceptionally fierce. Li Luo and Qin Qin Zhulu's joint assault finally stripped the falcon-eyed man's strength at the first transformation of the Manifestation Phase of any advantage. The two sides fought intensely, and for a time the battle reached a stalemate.

Within this stalemate, the falcon-eyed man's heart sank bit by bit, because the current situation had already begun to look extremely unfavorable for him.

The two before him, although their phase power intensity was weaker than his, both had real skill. Qin Qin Zhulu's Gold-Devouring Demonic Tiger phase was violent and fierce, amplifying his physical strength, and combined with his fearless personality, repeatedly caused him trouble. And that Li Luo was even stranger—his water phase power was extremely pure, and he actually also possessed wood phase power, making him simply a nightmare to deal with.

In the current battle, he could only rely on his phase power advantage to hold the stalemate.

But judging from the opponent's increasingly fierce counterattack, the situation had already slipped from his control.

On top of that, there was still a girl with an eighth-grade ice phase constantly interfering with him using cold air, neutralizing the speed advantage his wind phase brought.

His feet were going numb, and so was his mind.

The falcon-eyed man felt aggrieved. He had originally thought this rookie team was a gift from the heavens, but who would have thought these chicks still grew extremely sharp claws and fangs.

Enough—a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him. Better to run first!

With this thought flashing through his mind, the falcon-eyed man suddenly slashed down with his saber, phase power erupting, directly forcing Li Luo and Qin Qin Zhulu back, then sharply turned and shot off toward another direction.

Whoosh!

However, the instant his figure had just darted out, the branches of a large tree to one side suddenly twisted toward him like pythons, directly binding his feet. With his figure unbalanced, he tumbled headlong to the ground.

By the time he struggled back up, two short sabers and a spear tip were silently hovering at his neck.

The falcon-eyed man's body went rigid. He slowly turned his head, looking at Li Luo and Qin Qin Zhulu who had come to his side.

Li Luo squatted down and amiably patted his head.

"Friend, can we talk properly now?"