Chapter 553: Forcing Back Lan Lan's Squad

The earth-shaking great battle seemed to have been pressed into pause at this very instant; the mysterious enormous figure behind Lan Lan also stopped its movements along with the shift of his will. Though it had not dispersed, the offensive it had been brewing had no choice but to halt as well.

Because Jing Jing Taixu had fallen into Li Luo's hands.

If Jing Jing Taixu were eliminated, according to the rules, a portion of their squad's current points would be deducted, and given their current point total, that deducted portion would absolutely be more than the third-tier city before them.

So if one were to judge purely by points, even if they seized this third-tier city next, the lost points would be difficult to make up for.

At this moment, even Lan Lan's temperament could not help but feel irritated. How could the rules of this Holy Grail War be so annoying?

Hoo.

But no matter how irritated he felt inside, the always-composed Lan Lan still took a deep breath, calmed the emotions in his heart, and cast a somewhat cold gaze toward Li Luo, who had ruined his plans.

He truly had not expected Jing Jing Taixu's side to lose so quickly.

If it were Lu Lu Jinci who had been captured by Jiang Jiang Qinge, he wouldn't have been so astonished, but Jing Jing Taixu's side... how exactly did this Li Luo do it? The gap in their strength clearly wasn't this large before.

"Li Luo, well done!"

And at this moment, the Eldest Princess's gorgeous face actually showed a thick surge of pleasant surprise. She too had not expected that the first to win would actually be Li Luo's side.

She had originally thought they would have to pay a huge price to forcibly resist Lan Lan's "Bright King Three Bows," but Li Luo had suddenly given her such a great surprise.

This victory came so timely. With Jing Jing Taixu in hand, it was enough to make Lan Lan wary and start considering the gains and losses of points.

"Lan Lan, in this competition between our two squads, it seems my side has the upper hand." The Eldest Princess stared at Lan Lan, a flower-like radiant smile blooming on her breathtakingly beautiful face.

"Given the current situation, you should be clear as well. We are only competing for points; the true great enemy is still the Aberrations." Her words carried a tone of urging retreat. After all, Lan Lan was fierce, and she was unwilling to truly tear off all pretense and fight him to the death.

Lan Lan said calmly, "However, Classmate Gong's squad is after all my greatest competitor. If I could eliminate Classmate Gong here, perhaps it wouldn't be bad news."

The mysterious shadow behind him did not disperse because of this, but remained hidden and unreleased. Clearly, he was truly considering this question.

Facing Lan Lan's words, the Eldest Princess let out a cold snort. Her pretty face also turned icy. Her jade hand tightened on her scepter as she said coldly, "Then bow down and let me see what the final result will be. I don't deny the power of your killing move, but if I can't make you pay some heavy price as well, then what's the point of me even participating in this Mixed-Level Tournament!"

The two exchanged sharp words, neither showing any intention of backing down.

Lan Lan's eyes narrowed slightly, his fingertips tapping lightly in the air.

Its

The pressure emanating from the mysterious shadow behind him began to grow increasingly terrifying.

Boom!

Just as the atmosphere grew more and more tense, a sudden loud sound rang out not far away. A wretched figure, wrapped in a terrifying force, was sent flying backward, plowing a trench over a hundred zhang long into the ground.

Tearing the originally spacious official road before them into two segments.

Lan Lan took one look and his eyes twitched. He saw a human figure lying in that mud pile, not moving at all like a lump of rotten meat. If it wasn't Lu Lu Jinci, then who else could it be?

Swoosh!

At this moment, a Demon-Suppressing Nail burning with bright flames descended from the sky and stabbed directly into one of Lu Lu Jinci's arms, immediately burning him so badly that he let out a miserable scream. He raised his head, revealing his wretched face: "Senior Lan, if you're going to bow, then bow quickly; if not, then hurry up and leave!"

Jiang Jiang Qinge's graceful figure appeared beside him. The heavy sword in her hand pointed over and pressed down on his head, and immediately Lu Lu Jinci closed his gap-toothed mouth, his face full of despair.

He had truly been beaten into fear by Jiang Jiang Qinge.

In one Holy Grail War, he had been beaten savagely twice. Moreover, this Jiang Jiang Qinge seemed to particularly dislike him; every time she struck, she went hard. This Demon-Suppressing Nail had tremendous power—even Aberrations couldn't withstand it, let alone him.

Lan Lan looked at this scene and could only sigh helplessly.

Both teammates had been captured by the other side. If they were both eliminated, then most of his side's points would be deducted. That would truly be a crippling blow, and there would be no chance at all of contending for first place.

If they were to pay such a price just for fifty thousand points from a third-tier city, it really wasn't worth it. So continuing to launch an all-out attack against the Eldest Princess at this point was already very unprofitable.

Thus, Lan Lan made a very calm decision. The mysterious shadow behind him gradually dissipated at this moment, and along with it, the terrifying pressure that had filled the world receded as well.

"Classmate Gong, you've won. You have two good teammates," he said helplessly.

"You flatter me." The Eldest Princess smiled slightly and said, "However, the points right now don't prove anything. The true deciding point is still in that Red Stone City. When the time comes, we may even have some cooperation."

There was a high probability that a Great Calamity-grade Aberration existed within Red Stone City. That was equivalent to a Tian Xiang Jing existence. If one had to fight alone, probably no squad present could take it down by their own strength. Moreover, from the intelligence previously obtained at Thunder Roar Mountain, that mysterious "Red Armor General" was also a hidden danger, so they had to maintain some vigilance against it.

"Perhaps."

Lan Lan shook his head, his gaze turning to Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge: "You two, could you release my two teammates first?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge sheathed her sword and stood, flicking a finger at the same time. The Demon-Suppressing Nail on Lu Lu Jinci's arm dissipated along with it. The latter, trembling all over, climbed to his feet and said with a mournful face: "Sister Jiang, I surrender to you. Next time, could you not use this nail on me?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge glanced at him and said flatly, "You and I are enemies to begin with.

Why should I hold back?"

Lu Lu Jinci said with a bitter smile, "Sister Jiang, there's no need for that. Actually, you don't have to take it out on me. All those rotten things before were done by the Academy and that brat Jing Jing Taixu. If you have anger, next time find a chance to beat Jing Jing Taixu half to death."

Jiang Jiang Qinge shook her head and said, "He doesn't even warrant me making a move."

After saying that, she paid no more attention to Lu Lu Jinci and turned to leave.

On the other side, Li Luo also cheerfully sheathed his Mysterious Elephant Blade. He looked at Jing Jing Taixu before him, whose expression was still somewhat dazed. Clearly, the latter still hadn't recovered from that lightning-fast exchange just now—of course, perhaps he was also unwilling to wake up.

After all, in Jing Jing Taixu's heart, Li Luo's previous victory over him still had some element of luck. But now, he had been defeated by Li Luo in a single slash. How could such a huge contrast be accepted by the always-proud Jing Jing Taixu?

"You don't need to take it too seriously. That slash just now wasn't even my peak strength. Actually, the gap between us is even larger than you think," Li Luo "comforted" him.

Facing Li Luo's heart-wounding words, Jing Jing Taixu's eyelid twitched, and he finally came back to his senses. He gritted his teeth and said, "This time it was just that I didn't expect you to be able to improve so much in such a short period. Next time, I won't give you this kind of chance."

"Then keep at it." Li Luo said cheerfully, then ignored the stubborn Jing Jing Taixu and turned back to the Eldest Princess's side.

This once-formidable enemy in his eyes had now been completely surpassed by him.

Seeing this, Jing Jing Taixu felt even more frustrated in his heart. He could only let out an angry snort and sulkily walk back behind Lan Lan, who was reining in his phase force.

Lan Lan did not blame his two defeated teammates. Instead, after sighing, he cupped his hands toward the Eldest Princess and, without any dawdling, turned and left directly. Clearly, he had given up on contesting for this third-tier city.

The Eldest Princess watched Lan Lan's departure and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This great enemy had finally been forced back.

However, after forcing back Lan Lan, the Eldest Princess did not directly enter this third-tier city. Instead, her phoenix-like eyes looked toward the mountains and forests outside the city. She could sense those prying gazes from the shadows.

Previously, she had been entangled by Lan Lan and couldn't intimidate these fellows. Now that her hands were free, she naturally wanted to see what exactly they were trying to do.

If they also wanted to fight for this third-tier city, then they'd have to come out and battle it out.

But with even Lan Lan's squad choosing to retreat, these prying squads clearly didn't have the confidence to contest with the Eldest Princess's squad. So, facing the Eldest Princess's gaze, the squads in the mountains and forests scattered one after another.

Gong Gong Shenjun also did not choose to show himself, but led his team and turned to leave. There were still some other unpurged cities in this area. Although their tier wasn't as high as the one before them, they were better than nothing.

After purifying these remaining cities, they would have cleared the path to Red Stone City.

All victory and defeat would be decided there.