Chapter 953: Li Luo's Prestige Rises

At a distance from the valley, Li Luo and the others came to a stop. They gazed toward the valley, where astonishing energy fluctuations were erupting. As the earth shook and mountains swayed, cracks spread out like giant pythons, leveling patches of forest to the ground.

Clearly, Zhao Yan and the others were also pulling out all the stops to rescue Zhao Fengxu, Zhao Shenjiang, and the rest.

"Should we take this opportunity to launch a sneak attack?" The speaker was Lu Ze, the previous Grand Flag Leader of the Golden Light Flag. He felt the fluctuations from the valley, a sinister glint flickering in his eyes.

Li Luo shook his head upon hearing this and said, "If we truly force Zhao Yan and his group into a corner, we will also pay a price. The reason we were able to make Zhao Yan take a step back this time is mainly due to the timing. If the Spirit Resonance Cave were about to end, I suspect he might not have come to the rescue; on the contrary, swallowing the Dragon Bloodline would have been a great achievement."

Li Fuling and the others nodded. They could already consider themselves lucky this time; if they were to push Zhao Yan further, he might truly disregard everything to fight them to the death, which would be counterproductive.

"This time, we really owe it to our third brother. Otherwise, all five Dragon lineages would have fallen into a disadvantageous position. Facing the pincer attack from the 'Guardian Spirit,' the King Zhao lineage, and the Flame Demon Hall, even if we managed to escape in the end, we would have suffered significant casualties," Li Jingtao sighed.

No one could deny this. Even Li Fuling, the nominal leader of the Dragon Tooth lineage team, set aside her usual reserve and said to Li Luo with a pleasant expression, "Cousin Li Luo not only saved our Dragon Tooth lineage team this time, but the other four lineages also owe you this debt of gratitude."

Whether the other four lineages accepted this debt or not, Li Luo did not care much; after all, he had acted out of self-preservation.

"How many 'Spirit Resonance Golden Dews' did we collect this time?" Li Luo asked about the matter he cared about most.

Li Fengyi immediately said, "We collected a total of fifty-two drops of 'Spirit Resonance Golden Dew.' There could have been more, but some fell inside the valley, and we didn't dare go in to retrieve them."

The others could not help but show joy upon hearing this. Clearly, this harvest far exceeded their expectations; they had originally thought that twenty drops of 'Spirit Resonance Golden Dew' would be the best possible result.

Li Luo also nodded slightly. Fifty-two drops were indeed not a small amount, but for them, it was still far from enough. After all, with over a dozen people from their Dragon Tooth lineage on this trip, even if only half of them had the chance to ascend the 'Golden Dew Terrace,' they would still need over two hundred drops of 'Spirit Resonance Golden Dew.'

However, there was no rush, as the Spirit Resonance Cave had only just begun, and there would be enough time to collect more later.

"Send a signal to notify the other four lineages to rendezvous with us. Since the King Zhao lineage team is still in this area, it is easy for us to be picked off one by one if we are scattered," Li Luo said, looking at Li Fuling again.

After the previous turn of events, Li Luo's influence within the team had undoubtedly risen sharply. Even Li Fuling began to take his suggestions seriously, so she immediately took out the signal, activated it with her essence blood, and launched it.

A dragon shadow appeared in the sky, winding and swimming, clearly visible for a hundred miles.

About ten minutes after the signal was sent, the sound of wind being broken echoed from afar. Over a dozen figures flapping energy dragon wings arrived, landing in front of Li Luo and the others.

Li Luo scanned them and saw Lu Qingmei among them; clearly, the Dragon Scale lineage had arrived first.

"Fuling, what exactly happened on your end?" Li Guan, the leader of the Dragon Scale lineage, asked as soon as he landed, clearly having been impatient to know.

The others from the Dragon Scale lineage were also filled with astonishment.

"Is it because of this Miss Lijing?" Li Guan looked toward Li Lijing. Among the Dragon Tooth lineage, the latter was the most unfathomable. If it were because of her, it would seem to make sense.

Li Lijing smiled lightly upon hearing this: "Although I would like to take more credit, this matter really has nothing to do with me. The greatest credit, of course, goes to our handsome little cousin, Li Luo."

Once these words were spoken, Li Guan and the others immediately cast incredulous looks at Li Luo. The defeat of the King Zhao lineage and the Flame Demon Hall this time was because of Li Luo? How could this be possible!

Li Fuling then spoke, briefly recounting the events.

The people from the Dragon Scale lineage fell silent, their eyes filled with shock.

"Everyone, no need to be surprised. It was just good luck. The first wave of the King Zhao lineage's team happened to be besieged by the 'Guardian Spirit,' and then Zhao Yan came to rescue them, only to find the 'Guardian Spirit' too strong. Worried that we would cause trouble on the side, he had no choice but to compromise and retreat," Li Luo laughed.

He spoke lightly, yet the people from the Dragon Scale lineage did not believe it at all. Being "happened to be besieged" by a "Guardian Spirit," and the "Guardian Spirit" being "too strong"... there was bound to be something complicated behind every one of these accidents.

Lu Qingmei's bright eyes gazed toward the distant valley, where the energy fluctuations were gradually subsiding. The next moment, they all saw figures soaring into the air.

Leading them was Zhao Yan. However, what shocked Li Guan, Lu Qingmei, and the others was that some of the King Zhao lineage members behind Zhao Yan had extremely conspicuous injuries; some even had severed limbs, looking utterly miserable.

"Such heavy injuries? What scale of 'Guardian Spirit' did they encounter?" The brows of the Dragon Scale lineage members twitched. At this moment, they seemed to understand what Li Luo meant by the 'Guardian Spirit' being too strong.

Zhao Yan's cold, murderous gaze also projected from afar. Naturally, this gaze fell almost entirely on Li Luo; it was clear that he hated Li Luo to the extreme.

"So the Dragon Scale lineage has arrived."

However, Zhao Yan immediately saw the Dragon Scale lineage group, and his expression turned even gloomier. Originally, he had wanted to see if there was an opportunity to settle scores with Li Luo first, but the arrival of the Dragon Scale lineage completely extinguished that thought, as the King Zhao lineage members had already retreated from the forest.

"Go!"

Zhao Yan spat out a word through his teeth, then turned around with a ferocious expression, driving his resonant power to break through the air away from the forest.

Zhao Jingyu's eyes were bloodshot, staring fiercely at Li Luo like a vicious wolf, looking as if he wanted to fight him to the death. After all, he was truly bitter; not only did he give Li Luo five dragon teeth last time, but this time it was even worse—the 'Ghost Thunder Talisman Arrows' he had just bought hadn't even lasted a day before they went straight into Li Luo's pocket.

He had never been this generous even when showing filial piety to his own father!

"Let's go. The items are there. If there's a chance later, I'll help you get them back from his corpse," Zhao Shenjiang said to Zhao Jingyu without looking at Li Luo, then followed Zhao Yan.

However, Zhao Jingyu, who knew Zhao Shenjiang well, knew that the latter also hated Li Luo to the extreme this time.

So he took a deep breath, calmed his mood, and followed the King Zhao lineage team as they retreated rapidly.

Not long after the King Zhao lineage members had all retreated, the teams from the Dragon Blood, Dragon Bone, and Dragon Horn lineages also swept in from various parts of the forest, finally rendezvousing where Li Luo and the others were.

"Where are Zhao Yan and the others?" Li Wuyuan asked, full of murderous intent.

Li Luo pointed in a direction and said, "They left already. If you go after them now, you might still catch up."

Li Wuyuan's mouth twitched, then he looked at Li Lijing. Just as he was about to speak, the latter sighed and said, "Don't ask anymore. It has nothing to do with me. The greatest credit for your escape this time belongs to Li Luo."

Li Fengyi took over the conversation with a slightly smug look, repeating the story again. Then she deliberately looked at Li Hongli and said, "If it weren't for Li Luo, your Dragon Blood lineage would definitely have suffered casualties this time. Who knows, you might have been finished."

Li Hongli's face turned pale. She wanted to retort, but realized that such a situation was indeed possible. After all, in the Dragon Blood lineage team, her strength was only mid-tier, so if a major disaster had truly occurred, she might not have been able to protect herself.

So in the end, she could only swallow her words and stand silently in place.

The others also fell into silence. No one could deny Li Luo's contribution this time. If it weren't for him turning the tide, even if they had managed to retreat in the end, they would certainly have paid a heavy price.

Finally, the people from the Dragon Bone and Dragon Horn lineages all cupped their hands to thank Li Luo. On the Dragon Blood lineage side, Li Wuyuan also took a deep breath and said, "Leader Li Luo is truly extraordinary to be able to salvage such a disadvantageous situation. Our Dragon Blood lineage also thanks you."

Li Fuling snorted, "Our Dragon Tooth lineage would never do something like using and scheming against our companions."

Her words contained some anger, clearly referring to the Dragon Blood lineage's previous move of using a strange array to shift the 'Guardian Spirit' to other areas, secretly using the power of other lineages to share their pressure.

Facing Li Fuling's words, Li Wuyuan's expression fluctuated. He could only bite the bullet and say, "We didn't know about this matter either. I suppose it must have been the strange array. No one told us about this when we arrived."

In front of the other lineages, Li Wuyuan dared not admit it, as the situation on the other lineages' side was not as obvious as it was for the Dragon Tooth lineage.

The people from the Dragon Scale, Dragon Bone, and Dragon Horn lineages also glanced at Li Wuyuan without speaking. In fact, they had vaguely sensed the shifting of the 'Guardian Spirit,' but because the number shifted to their side was not too excessive, they did not want to attack the Dragon Blood lineage over it.

However, even so, the other three lineages could not help but have some lingering resentment. This would invisibly affect Li Wuyuan's prestige; it might not be as easy for him to mobilize the power of the other three lineages in the future.

But Li Wuyuan had no choice. If everything had gone smoothly, the other lineages would have had to endure it even if they knew about these tricks, as they had benefited from them. But no one expected it to end up like this...

Therefore, Li Wuyuan could only bite the bullet and ignore the gazes of the other three lineages.

Li Luo smiled faintly and did not dwell on this, instead saying, "Since everyone is gathered, let's set off together to avoid the King Zhao lineage and the Flame Demon Hall teams regrouping and trying to make things difficult for us again."

The other lineages agreed, as they still could not afford to be too separated while the King Zhao lineage was eyeing them covetously.

"Let's go."

As the words fell, Li Luo was the first to flap his energy dragon wings and head out of the forest.

Behind him, the teams from the various lineages immediately followed. Only the people from the Dragon Blood lineage were slightly unaccustomed to this, as they were used to the other lineages following them.

Li Wuyuan's expression shifted, but in the end, he could only let out a sigh and lead his group to follow.