Chapter 347: The Shift in Roles

The mountain wind howled, carrying with it the fierce sounds of slaughter and the smell of blood.

Streaks of phase force erupted through the forest like brilliant fireworks, except these fireworks were a touch too bloody.

Li Luo, however, sat calmly on a boulder, watching the chaotic battle. There was not a shred of pity in his eyes. Since these people had come here intending to hunt them down from the start, they should naturally be prepared to pay the price.

Hunter and prey can switch places at any moment.

Qin Qin Zhulu walked over and said, "Should we take advantage of the chaos and run?"

Lü Qing'er also turned her gaze toward him.

Li Luo smiled and shook his head. "No need. If we show any sign of fleeing now, we'll immediately become the target of everyone here."

"Actually, from the moment the Golden Dragon Qi was exposed, our situation became very dangerous. It's a bit embarrassing to say, but we have to admit that with our strength alone, we can't hold onto the Golden Dragon Qi. In this Golden Dragon Arena, it's very hard for those at the Birth Mark Stage to be the main players."

He felt somewhat helpless. If the Golden Dragon Qi hadn't been exposed, they could have quietly made a fortune. But unluckily, not long after entering, they were followed by Ji Sun, who discovered the Golden Dragon Qi.

Even unluckier, that bastard actually passed the information to another team from their Snow Wolf Nation. And as if that wasn't bad enough, that useless team failed to keep the intel secure, and instead someone else got there first, causing the news to spread.

"Even if we slip away in the chaos now, we'll still face encirclement from many teams later, so there's no point in doing something this meaningless."

Li Luo stared at the fierce battle in the forest, pondered briefly, and said, "Since we can't keep the Golden Dragon Qi to ourselves, finding a few scapegoats is the best outcome."

Lü Qing'er nodded. This was the most rational choice. If they still dreamed of hogging it all at this point, they might really have to exit the stage early.

Clearly, from the very beginning, Li Luo might have already had this scheme in mind.

However, there were considerable difficulties involved. The most important point was that their team composition was too poor. The strength of three Birth Mark Stage cultivators posed little threat in the eyes of those teams that had Transformation Phase Stage powerhouses. The first thing those people would think of upon meeting them wouldn't be negotiation, but capturing them outright.

And once they fell into the opponent's hands, their initiative would be greatly weakened.

But Li Luo had previously blocked Zhao Zhao Jieyang's attack, displaying considerable strength, which deterred some people and caused the situation to devolve into the current chaos.

Qin Qin Zhulu sat down beside him, looked at Li Luo, and said, "Your strength has actually risen to this level without anyone noticing."

The fact that Li Luo had single-handedly blocked Zhao Zhao Jieyang's attack was something he found hard to do. Based on Qin Qin Zhulu's self-assessment, even now, facing a Birth Mark Stage opponent at the fifth mark, he wouldn't feel much fear. But against opponents above the fifth mark who had reached the Transformation Phase Stage, he was basically no match.

And this Zhao Zhao Jieyang was at the second transformation of the Transformation Phase Stage.

Li Luo's leap across stages had clearly surpassed him.

And one had to remember that half a year ago, when he first entered the Saintly Celestial Star Academy, his strength had far exceeded Li Luo's... At that time, Li Luo hadn't yet revealed his edge, but as time went on, the advantage of his dual phases finally began to gradually show.

Li Luo smiled. Although Qin Qin Zhulu possessed an upper eighth-grade Devouring Golden Tiger phase, he now carried a seventh-grade Water Light phase and a fifth-grade Wood Earth phase. Combined, purely in terms of phase force abundance, he was no weaker than the other man.

Now he could almost say that as long as he didn't run into a ninth-grade phase, he feared no one at the same level.

As for defeating opponents above his level, he mainly relied on the astonishing explosive power of his dual phases. But this kind of power had its drawback—poor endurance. If he couldn't seize the moment to finish off his enemy in one strike, he would instead fall into a disadvantage due to excessive phase force consumption.

For example, earlier, if that Zhao Zhao Jieyang had continued fighting, Li Luo, having lost four phase force bubbles, would likely have fallen into a tremendous disadvantage.

"In the end, our strength is still a bit lacking, otherwise we wouldn't have to rely on outside help like this." Li Luo sighed. The teams participating in this Golden Dragon Arena were generally at the Transformation Phase Stage. For people like them at the Birth Mark Stage, they were truly constrained everywhere here.

"If even you start putting yourself down, how are the rest of us supposed to live?" Lü Qing'er couldn't help but say.

"These teams are practically the cream of the crop among the second-star halls in their respective Saint Academies. Yet you can still handle yourself with ease while being hunted by them. Even two more Qin Zhulus couldn't pull that off."

Qin Qin Zhulu glanced at Lü Qing'er, wondering why he had to be used as the unit of measurement.

Lü Qing'er said with great conviction, "Because even if you brought two more of you, you'd just charge in headfirst. But in a situation like this, no matter how thick your skull is, you'd just end up bashing it bloody."

Qin Qin Zhulu's face stiffened slightly. That was indeed his character. He wouldn't bother with these fancy schemes. If he were truly surrounded, he'd most likely just fight to the death cleanly.

"So next we just wait for them to sort out a result?" He changed the subject.

Li Luo nodded. "The remaining four teams will be our allies going forward. We should all love and care for each other."

Qin Qin Zhulu couldn't help but want to retort. Love and care, my ass. If they had the chance, what they'd most want to do was take Li Luo down. After all, in a sense, they'd been completely manipulated and schemed against by Li Luo this time.

But regardless, watching these guys suddenly put on such a show right in front of them was oddly satisfying.

So, under the almost spectating gazes of Li Luo, Lü Qing'er, and Qin Qin Zhulu, the chaos in the mountain forest lasted for a full hour, leaving the entire forest in a shambles.

In the end, the numerous teams fled in disarray.

Four teams emerged from the forest and finally arrived before Li Luo's trio. Two of those teams were the ones led by Zhao Zhao Jieyang and Gu Ying.

And at this moment, all four teams were radiating killing intent. Many of them bore injuries, with fresh blood seeping out. Clearly, to drive off the other teams, they had paid no small price.

This was only possible because all the teams were a scattered mess. Otherwise, if those teams had joined forces against them, they probably really wouldn't have been able to cope.

So now, the gazes the four teams directed at Li Luo were all somewhat unfriendly, with a hidden murderous glint.

Yet Li Luo acted as if he hadn't noticed their hostile looks. Instead, he stood up with a face full of smiles and began to applaud. "Congratulations to you all. After layers of screening and elimination, you've become the final four teams."

Gu Ying stared at Li Luo, gritted her teeth, and said, "Seeing Yu Lang, right? I've remembered you. If we meet at the year-end 'Holy Grail Battle,' I'll make you pay for this scheming today."

The other three teams also snorted coldly. Clearly, Gu Ying's words had struck a chord with them.

Li Luo replied without changing expression, "I, Yu, act as I please and need explain myself to no one. If we meet in the future, don't hold back on my account."

Then he smiled and extended his hand toward the leaders of the four teams. "But at least within this Golden Dragon Arena, I've decided you lot are my friends. Rest assured, the gains from the Golden Dragon Qi will be distributed fairly among us."

Hearing these words, although Zhao Zhao Jieyang, Gu Ying, and the others didn't acknowledge Li Luo's outstretched hand, their expressions softened a little. If it weren't for coveting the benefits brought by the Golden Dragon Qi, they would have long since directly acted to eliminate Li Luo's trio from the arena.

"From now on, we're allies. We can travel together, but the commotion here today was too big. So in the days ahead, there will likely be many teams trying to ambush us. When that happens, we'll have to rely on you, brothers." Li Luo didn't mind their cold attitude and spoke with full enthusiasm and vigor.

"From this moment on, the Golden Dragon Qi will be protected by us!"

Hearing this, the expressions of Zhao Zhao Jieyang, Gu Ying, and the other four teams couldn't help but become quite colorful. They couldn't help feeling a bit dazed at this moment.

Something felt seriously off about this.

Weren't we the ones who came to rob them in the first place?

How did it end up that after all the robbing, we somehow became their hired thugs?!!