Chapter 935: Cousin Li Lingjing's Performance

In the quiet cabin, as the bell cauldron crashed to the ground, the atmosphere fell into a hush.

Numerous gazes looked toward the young woman who had struck out. She had a fair and pretty face, her dark hair casually pinned up, a faint smile playing at the corner of her lips, and between her bright, dark eyes, light flowed and shifted, faintly exuding an indescribable, bewitching charm.

Apart from the people of the Dragon Fang Lineage, everyone else wore faces full of doubt and surprise, because they did not know Li Li Lingjing, so where had this person popped out from? To think she could send Li Li Wuyuan's heavy cauldron flying with a single punch? One had to know that below the eight-star Tian Zhu Jing, almost no one could shake Li Li Wuyuan's cauldron.

Clap clap!

Li Luo was the first to applaud at this moment, then gave Li Li Lingjing a thumbs-up, exclaiming, "Cousin Li Lingjing, that punch was truly dashing."

Li Li Lingjing smiled charmingly and modestly said, "You're too kind."

Li Li Fengyi, meanwhile, had her eyes shining. She grabbed Li Li Lingjing's arm and said excitedly, "Cousin Li Lingjing, how did you become so powerful?"

Ever since Li Li Lingjing had come to the Dragon Fang Mountain Range, Li Li Fengyi had rarely seen her, so in Li Li Fengyi's memory, Li Li Lingjing was still as she had been when she first left Xi Ling Jing, and the Li Li Lingjing of that time seemed far from being this strong.

Li Li Lingjing smiled and said, "It's not that powerful, really. It's just that the heavy cauldron was rather ordinary."

Li Li Fuling at the side also came back to her senses at this moment. She looked at Li Li Lingjing with a complicated expression and said slowly, "You've broken through to the eight-star Tian Zhu Jing?"

Although Li Li Wuyuan was annoying, his strength was beyond doubt. His eight-star Tian Zhu Jing strength earned him a place even within the Dragon Blood Guard, and since Li Li Lingjing could send the heavy cauldron flying with a single punch, her strength must have already surpassed the seven-star Tian Zhu Jing.

"Is that so? I'm not too sure myself."

Li Li Lingjing tilted her head slightly and gave Li Li Fuling a playful smile. "The current me is a little different from before."

Faced with her strange answer, Li Li Fuling took it as a tacit admission, and her expression grew even more complicated. She had not expected that after experiencing such a tremendous upheaval back then, Li Li Lingjing could still return to her peak.

That noble daughter and prodigy of Xi Ling City back then had not been beaten down by the hardships she had endured.

Although she had never entered the Twenty Banners, nor gone to the Dragon Fang Guard, the current her was still radiating brilliance.

"Who are you? There is no one like you in the Dragon Fang Guard." Just as Li Li Fuling's heart was tangled with complicated feelings, Li Li Wuyuan was also fixing Li Li Lingjing with a sharp gaze and asked in a low voice.

The strength Li Li Lingjing had revealed earlier made Li Li Wuyuan feel threatened.

Li Luo smiled and said, "This is our Dragon Fang Lineage's Cousin Li Li Lingjing. Speaking of which, she and Senior Brother Li Li Wuyuan are actually from the same cohort. Back then, if not for certain upheavals, she might well have contested Senior Brother Li Li Wuyuan for the position of Dragon Head within the Twenty Banners."

"Li Li Lingjing?" Li Li Wuyuan frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that the name sounded somewhat familiar.

At this moment, one of his companions stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear, presumably to remind him.

After a few breaths, Li Li Wuyuan's expression shifted slightly, and he said, "So it's that Li Li Lingjing from Xi Ling City back then. I've heard that name quite a few times."

When he had won the Dragon Head back then, there were always rumors that if that Li Li Lingjing from Xi Ling had been present, she would certainly have been qualified to contest the position of Dragon Head.

At that time, Li Li Wuyuan had scoffed at this, dismissing it as the excuses of losers. After all, what threat could a so-called prodigy of a side branch who hadn't even entered the Twenty Banners pose to him?

But who could have imagined that several years later, he would encounter this Li Li Lingjing here.

And judging from the force of her strike just now, she did possess the power of an eight-star Tian Zhu Jing.

What on earth had this woman been through? After disappearing without a trace for several years, she could still keep pace with people like them?

"That is truly an honor." Li Li Lingjing said with a light smile.

Then she glanced at the heavy cauldron that had been sent flying and said, "So, can the matter of the leader be discussed anew now?"

Li Li Wuyuan frowned tightly. With a wave of his hand, the heavy cauldron transformed into a streak of light and flew back, rapidly shrinking to the size of a palm, hovering above his hand.

His gaze flickered slightly as he stared at Li Li Lingjing, seemingly contemplating whether to thoroughly weigh her strength here.

"Since you are neither a member of the Twenty Banners nor of the Five Guards, what right and justification do you have to appear here?" At this moment, Li Li Hongli suddenly said with a cold laugh.

Li Li Lingjing thought for a moment and said, "My justification... is that I am Cousin Li Luo's personal bodyguard."

She said with a light laugh, "This is the assignment given to me by the Lineage Head. If you have any questions, go and question the Lineage Head."

Li Li Hongli faltered, letting out a stifled snort. Asking her to go question Li Li Jingzhe—even she herself wouldn't dare, let alone her father.

At this moment, Li Guan from the Dragon Scale Lineage, who had come from the Dragon Scale Guard, spoke up to mediate: "Actually, there's no need to fight it out so fiercely. After all, the so-called leader is only a nominal position. Since both Li Li Wuyuan and Li Li Lingjing possess strength that commands respect, the two of them jointly serving as leaders, consolidating forces, and seeking opportunities together—why not?"

He was clearly advising both sides to step back a little each, no need to make the fight too ugly.

The people of the other lineages also chimed in one after another, expressing their agreement.

Li Li Wuyuan's eyes shifted for a while, then his expression eased. He said with a faint smile, "For this journey into the Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven, having assistance like Junior Sister Li Li Lingjing is indeed a good thing."

"Very well, I am willing to step back. Let you and me jointly serve as the leaders, seeking opportunities for our respective lineages."

At this point, Li Li Wuyuan could only swallow his displeasure, for Li Li Lingjing's strength had still given rise to a measure of wariness in him.

However, with things as they were, any thought of using the identity and nominal authority of the leader to suppress Li Luo had come to nothing.

Li Li Lingjing said with a light laugh, "I have an aloof personality and am not cut out to be any sort of leader. But Cousin Li Luo is handsome, has a good personality, and speaks nicely—he's actually very suited to be this leader."

Everyone else wore speechless expressions. Do the three points you mentioned have even the slightest connection to the qualities required of a leader?

"Having the Dragon Heads of two cohorts serve as leaders is indeed rather convincing." Li Guan thought for a moment and said with a smile.

Li Luo sighed and said, "Since Cousin Li Lingjing has pointed out my three finest qualities, I can only graciously accept the role."

Everyone looked at him. That skin of his was indeed top-notch, but that thick-skinnedness of his was truly something else.

Li Li Wuyuan, meanwhile, was expressionless. Too lazy to say more, he simply flicked his sleeve and turned to leave. He, a dignified eight-star Tian Zhu Jing practitioner, was separated from Li Luo by who knew how many levels—how could the latter also jointly serve as leader with him? This was simply an insult to him, Li Li Wuyuan.

With Li Li Wuyuan's departure, the people of the Dragon Blood Lineage also followed suit one after another. Judging by the look of things, the so-called selection of a leader had fallen through.

However, this had only been Li Li Wuyuan's suggestion to begin with, so the people of the other lineages, seeing how things stood, simply shrugged. After casting glances—somewhere between intentional and unintentional—toward Li Li Lingjing for a while, they gradually dispersed.

Li Luo smiled and said, "The moment Cousin Li Lingjing stepped in, she immediately thwarted the Dragon Blood Lineage's ambitions. Truly worthy of being our Dragon Fang Lineage's strongest trump card for this journey into the Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven."

Li Li Lingjing said with a beaming smile, "I'm just a hired thug who comes when called. If Cousin Li Luo needs anything, please don't hesitate to give the order."

"I wouldn't dare. I'm afraid you'd go berserk and hit me too." Li Luo hurriedly said.

Li Li Lingjing couldn't help covering her mouth with a light laugh, feeling that talking with Li Luo really did lighten and brighten her mood inexplicably.

But as she laughed, her delicate brows suddenly furrowed slightly. Her gaze swept toward a certain direction—in that instant just now, she seemed to have felt a strange chill rise in her heart.

In a dark, sealed chamber, a mysterious altar loomed faintly into view.

From the darkness, a figure wrapped entirely in shadow stepped out slowly, arriving at the altar. From within the shadow, an indifferent gaze shot forth, fixing upon several bronze lamps atop the altar. The flames within burned like beans, and as they flickered, they exuded an aura of cold and gloom.

"The Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven is about to open."

"Quite a number of young prodigies have come—truly a grand feast."

From within the shadow, a burst of laughter rang out, brimming with greed and longing: "What a wonderful opportunity. So many outstanding elite prodigies—if used to feed these aberrant specimens, it should accelerate their maturation, no?"

"After years of preparation, it's time to make a move." The shadow figure murmured to itself.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, the mysterious shadow figure let out a startled sound of doubt, then its gaze turned to a bronze lamp on the altar that had long been extinguished, and just now, it seemed to have detected that within the long-silent bronze lamp, a faint ripple had appeared.

"This aberrant one..."

"Now that's somewhat interesting."

At the face wreathed in black mist, the mysterious shadow figure's gaze grew increasingly deep and eerie.