Chapter 907: Final Encounter with Li Li Qingfeng

"The Dragon Scale Vein's Dragon Scale Armor Technique?"

Li Luo stabilized his stance, feeling the stinging pain in his palms from the terrifying force, his gaze fixed on Lu Lu Qingmei, whose slender form was clad in dragon-scale battle armor, as he murmured softly.

This "Dragon Scale Armor Technique" is a unique Marquis Art of the Dragon Scale Vein; if perfected, it forms a dragon-scale battle armor that envelops the body, greatly enhancing strength, phase force, speed, and defense.

Earlier, he had been able to contend with Lu Lu Qingmei using his dual-phase force and demonic energy, but as soon as she activated this technique, the pressure instantly intensified.

"Li Luo, if you don't unleash your Marquis Art now, this 'Dragon Scale' will surely be mine," Lu Lu Qingmei said, standing proudly with her crystal staff, glancing upward at the stone platform where a golden dragon scale, roughly the size of a palm, floated.

Li Luo smiled at this, and indeed, Lu Lu Qingmei was right—she had already revealed her trump card; if he didn't want to be overwhelmed next, he too needed to unveil his own.

Li Luo formed a seal with his fingertips, his phase force rapidly depleting.

As his blade-light swept through, the air before him seemed to split open into a dark, pitch-black fissure, from which came the rapid sound of rushing water.

Roar!

The next instant, a chilling Nether River surged from the fissure, its depths swirling with massive shadows; as a dragon's roar echoed, a black dragon burst forth from the water.

Marquis Art: Black Dragon Nether Water Flag.

"Go."

At Li Luo's whisper, the Nether River encircled the black dragon, then, shrouded in chilling cold, it shattered the void and charged straight toward Lu Lu Qingmei.

The temperature across the entire sky plummeted abruptly.

With Li Luo's recent breakthrough into the Extreme Demonic Phase, the power of the Black Dragon Nether Water Flag had grown far stronger than before.

Seeing the familiar black dragon reappear, Lu Lu Qingmei's eyes gleamed with eagerness; during their first clash, she had been awed by the power of this Marquis Art—now, with the boost of Li Luo's Phase Force Third Stage, its strength neared that of a Yan Shen-level Marquis Art.

Lu Lu Qingmei gripped her crystal staff tightly, her brilliant Tian Zhu behind her frantically absorbing heavenly energy; the extreme strain caused the Tian Zhu to emit a low hum.

Yet the phase force radiating from her body had reached its peak.

She stepped forward, her dragon-scale armor blazing with brilliant light, then raised her crystal staff and brought it down hard upon the roaring Nether-water black dragon.

At that moment, countless fine dragon scales surfaced along the crystal staff, covering it entirely, flowing with mysterious light.

This strike was majestic, pushing Lu Lu Qingmei's power to its zenith.

Boom!

The black dragon and the brilliant staff-shadow collided violently; a thunderous sound echoed as waves of energy storms erupted, drawing countless stunned gazes.

Their clash was brutally fierce, leaving no room for restraint.

The two powerful energies eroded and annihilated each other.

Just as they stalled, Li Luo flicked his finger—suddenly, the black dragon opened its jaws and spat out a condensed, compressed jet of deep demonic energy, like a black dragon's breath.

The sudden change caused Lu Lu Qingmei's eyebrows to lift slightly, yet she remained calm; with a thought, the dragon-scaled crystal staff gathered mysterious light, forming a golden deer—its body seemingly clad in dragon scales, leaping forth with a light, nimble form yet radiating immense energy.

With a single horn strike, it shattered the deep demonic energy.

"Forty-zhang demonic energy won't hurt me," Lu Lu Qingmei's voice rang out.

Li Luo, hearing this, seemed to smile.

As his smile spread, Lu Lu Qingmei's expression suddenly changed—she sensed, deep within the shattered demonic energy, an utterly piercing aura emerging.

It was a thread of sword intent!

Within it flowed the radiance of a starry river.

This piercing sharpness instantly reminded Lu Lu Qingmei of the faint, elusive aura Li Luo had wielded when he severed the nine fused dragon flames during his Dragon Ascension.

So—the black dragon's demonic energy breath was not the true strike; the real killing move was the sword intent hidden deep within that energy!

The threads of sword intent swirled and cascaded downward; upon contact, the golden deer's shadow was instantly worn away, then the sword intent pierced through, striking the crystal staff.

Instantly, the dragon scales surging from the staff shattered one by one, dissolving into specks of light.

Thus, the offensive collapsed completely.

The black dragon seized the opportunity to roar, surging forward; its chilling Nether water froze Lu Lu Qingmei's phase force, then, wrapped in those threads of star-river sword intent, slammed into her dragon-scale-armored body.

Boom!

Lu Lu Qingmei was flung backward, her feet scraping a hundred-zhang-deep furrow across the ground; she drove her crystal staff deep into the earth to barely stabilize herself.

Even so, the slowly shattering dragon-scale armor on her body caused a stunned expression to appear on her face.

But this emotion lasted only a few breaths; then she turned her bright, beautiful eyes toward Li Luo and said cheerfully, "You won."

Her gaze at Li Luo was peculiar—his displayed combat power truly surprised her; his Extreme Demonic Phase strength had defeated her, a One-Star Tian Zhu Jing cultivator—such ability was extraordinary.

Outside the arena, other Great Flag Chiefs watched this scene; when they saw Lu Lu Qingmei defeated, all could not hide their shock.

Although Li Luo had indeed dazzled during the Dragon Ascension, that was not true combat; now, in the Scale Seizure, Li Luo had directly defeated Lu Lu Qingmei, ranked second—what did this prove?

It proved his combat strength was already on par with the top Great Flag Chiefs of the Five Dragon Veins.

At this moment, everyone understood: in this year's Dragon Chief contest, Li Luo might truly challenge Li Li Qingfeng at the peak.

Li Luo bowed to Lu Lu Qingmei; she said nothing more, turning decisively and leaping off the platform to prepare for her next battle.

Meanwhile, the golden dragon scale in midair slowly descended, absorbed by Li Luo.

Thus, Li Luo achieved five straight victories, now possessing five dragon scales.

And throughout the arena, the only other five-win streak belonged to Li Li Qingfeng.

Thinking of this, he turned his gaze to one of the stone platforms, where the battle had just ended—both combatants were familiar.

Li Li Qingfeng and Deng Deng Fengxian.

Clearly, Deng Deng Fengxian had drawn an unfavorable draw; the outcome was no surprise—Li Li Qingfeng's One-Star Tian Zhu Jing was slightly stronger than Lu Lu Qingmei's, and Deng Deng Fengxian couldn't withstand him long; his golden armor was brutally shattered, forcing him to surrender.

Sensing Li Luo's gaze, Li Li Qingfeng turned his head toward him; his expression was calm, yet his eyes held a sharp edge.

That gaze carried unmistakable provocation.

After all, by now, everyone likely realized the Dragon Chief of this year would be decided between Li Li Qingfeng and Li Luo.

As for Li Li Jingtao…

Li Luo, with a smile in his eyes, looked toward another fighting platform.

There stood Li Li Jingtao, and across from him... was the furious Li Li Hongli.

At this moment, Li Li Jingtao stood motionless in the center, his potent Xiangli surging outward, forming a shield woven from interlocking dragon fangs that revolved around his body, blocking every one of Li Li Hongli's full-force attacks.

And the Dragon Fang Shield remained utterly unscathed.

Li Li Jingtao grinned, hiding behind the Dragon Fang Shield, hands tucked in his sleeves, his slightly chubby face radiating calm amiability.

Li Li Hongli pushed her assault to its limit, exhausting much of her Xiangli, yet only left herself exhausted, her fair face pale, gasping for breath.

She stared at the grinning Li Li Jingtao, so furious her head felt ready to explode, yet she could only helplessly withdraw her Xiangli—she realized that even with all her strength, she could never shatter Li Li Jingtao's turtle shell.

And Li Li Jingtao had no desire to attack at all; he remained within his turtle shell, waiting until the moment arrived—when above the stone platform, the golden dragon scale split in two, each half becoming a streak of light that descended toward the two combatants.

Draw. Each receives half the dragon scale.

Thus, Li Li Jingtao has five draws.

Though in terms of dragon scale count, Li Li Jingtao might not seem particularly outstanding, his string of draws—no one else, not even the high-ranking elders watching from above, could find words to describe it.

The subsequent battles were unremarkable, with no standout moments.

Eventually, as Li Luo and Li Li Qingfeng each continued their winning streaks, they both ran out of opponents, and the draw finally came down to them.

Eighth match.

Li Luo versus Li Li Qingfeng.

When the two appeared upon the combat platform, every other Great Flag Captain immediately halted their battles; within and without the Stone Dragon Realm, countless eyes converged upon this single platform.

For this match would truly determine the Twenty Great Flag Captains of this year.