Chapter 1269: Confrontation

The sudden appearance of the seventh-grade Duke from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao attracted the attention of everyone else in the Golden Stone Valley. Many rogue cultivators started laughing in secret. It would be a joy to watch two Heavenly Emperor forces clash.

At the same time, a cold smile appeared on Li Jinpan's face as he looked at the distant figure in the sky. "I was wondering who it was. It turns out it was you, Zhao Jiao."

He took a step forward, and his own resonant power exploded out like a tsunami. At the same time, seven Duke Bergfrieds materialized behind him.

Li Luo and the others could feel the pressure coming from Zhao Jiao vanishing.

"Zhao Jiao, the Golden Stone Valley is not under the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao's jurisdiction. What right do you have to stop us?" Li Jinpan laughed out coldly.

The muscular man with a trident looked back at Li Jinpan sharply. "The Golden Stone Valley is situated closest to the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao's region. We've always sent our people here for the harvest. This is an unspoken rule amongst the various powers!"

"Rule? Is this Golden Stone Valley part of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao's hunting grounds? If not, what rule are you talking about?" Li Jinpan retorted, not even attempting to sound polite.

"This has always been a hunting ground without an owner. Anyone who has the ability can get a share of the pie. Zhao Jiao, are you treating this as a piece of meat that is exclusive to the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao? Is no outsider allowed to have a bite? If things go on like this, the Golden Stone Valley will truly be swallowed up by the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao. If that happens, others may not even be able to get a bite of the leftovers, isn't that right? We came here just to get a piece of the pie, but the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao is planning to take even the pot away. That's simply too overbearing."

The faces of many rogue cultivators changed when they heard this. Li Jinpan had truly verbalized the pain they were feeling. The Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao had been acting more and more tyrannically in the Golden Stone Valley in recent years in order to expand their share of the pie every year.

However, there wasn't much that the rogue cultivators could do in the face of a major power like the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao. Even if they grouped up, they could only force them to show a little more restraint so as to prevent tarnishing their own reputation.

This was the sadness of the weak.

The Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao was constantly attempting to expand their influence in the Golden Stone Valley, employing all sorts of means to prevent the rogue cultivators from grouping up as a whole. Their ambition was clear as day.

"Li Jinpan! It seems like the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li is hellbent on interfering with the Golden Stone Valley! In that case, let me see if you've got what it takes!"

Anger burned up in Zhao Jiao's eyes, fueled by his murderous intent. He took a step forward, and an enormous amount of light-blue resonant power surged up, indicating he possessed a water resonance.

Bang!

An ocean gushed out in the blink of an eye. The silhouette of a black shark with a giant horn could be seen in the water. Countless runes were circling around its horn, turning into terrifying thunder energy. It charged across the vast sky and flew towards Li Jinpan directly. It seemed Zhao Jiao had a Thunder Horned Shark resonance and a water resonance!

Li Jinpan's eyes turned cold as soon as he saw Zhao Jiao striking out. "Step back, everyone," He said as he took a glance at Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e.

He took a step forward, and the seven Duke Bergfrieds above him roared into life. Clouds of Divine Mist rose into the air, illuminated by a golden hue. At the same time, a clear draconic roar resounded in the surroundings.

An enormous dragon emerged from the Divine Mist. The dragon appeared a little unusual, with numerous bones that extended out of its back like swords. Each sword was incredibly sharp and seemed capable of cutting through anything.

Whenever the dragon manifestation moved, the blades on its back sliced the void apart effortlessly.

This was his Sword Dragon resonance. At the same time, an eerie, black light flew out and surrounded the sword-like bones. Each stream of black light was capable of honing the bones, allowing them to reach an incredible level of sharpness.

This was the Mythical Metal resonance, a derivation of the metal resonance.

The Sword Dragon roared ferociously. Its dragonbreath was filled with both sword and metal energy as it blasted across the sky like a formidable, sharp blade. It collided directly with the bolt of thunder Zhao Jiao had launched.

Boom!

Wild energy waves swept across the battlefield and a tempest kicked up around them.

This was a fight between two seventh-grade Dukes at full strength, each with the power to shake both heaven and earth.

Ox Biaobiao and Li Rouyun momentarily glanced at each other. Then they also took a step forward and released their Duke Bergfrieds, which sucked in worldly natural energy ravenously.

However, they did not help Li Jinpan out. Their attentive gazes were directed towards a mountaintop in the distance. A large group of people had gathered over there. At the front were three who possessed extremely strong resonant power.

They were the other Dukes from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao. One of them was a seventh-grade Duke while the other two were sixth-grade. The three Dukes from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao laughed out coldly when they saw the Duke Bergfrieds of Ox Biaobiao and Li Rouyun. They flew up into the air, and their Duke Bergfrieds materialized in response.

At the same time, the thousands of people on the mountaintop also stepped up. Thousands of strands of energy fused together into a majestic pool of resonant power that then surged up into the air. In the blink of an eye, this energy transformed into a ferocious, giant tiger.

The people at the front flew up into the air. Their leader was a handsome young man with long hair. He had one hand behind his back as he glanced over at the Dragon's Fang Guardians. He said with a smile, "I am Zhao Jiyun, a Divine Tiger Envoy of the Divine Tiger Guardians. I heard that the Dragon's Fang Guardians has a newly appointed Dragon Fang Envoy that has a Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried. I wonder if this is true?"

As soon as he finished speaking, resonant power similarly gathered up in response amongst the Dragon's Fang Guardians. All of it was focused on Jiang Qing'e as she leapt into the air with the heavy sword in hand.

She had no interest in exchanging pointless words; she simply pointed her heavy sword towards him. The sword glowed brightly as energy condensed around it.

A perfect Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried appeared above her head, lighting up everything within hundreds of miles. This attracted countless shocked gazes from those watching.

Both sides had just met each other, yet they were already baring their fangs in this confrontation.

The atmosphere had reached its boiling point instantly.

As the two Heavenly Emperor powers prepared to fight each other, there were some curious gazes watching from yet another mountaintop in the distance.

They were all wearing robes emblazoned with the Golden Dragon Bank's insignia, indicating their affiliation.

"A Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried... What formidable talent. But I wonder, how many of those can she forge? Many people throughout history have exhausted all of their potential for simply a single Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried. In the end, they slowly fell from grace," a girl in the middle of the group said with a light chuckle. Her hair was light blue, she had a slender figure, and her long skirt outlined her attractive curves. Her skin was white like snow, giving one a faint sense of coolness.

Her facial features were delicate and her overall looks were breathtaking.

On her side, a man suddenly said to her, "Second Mistress, Li Luo is the one with grayish-white hair, standing behind the one with the Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried."

This man was familiar—it was Mu Yao, the one who had been utterly thrashed by Li Luo back in the Spiritual Resonance Cave.

His background was exceptional, with his grandfather being one of the Grand Elders of the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent’s Golden Dragon Bank.

The girl's eyes lit up when she heard this. She looked over at Li Luo, and an inexplicable smile appeared at the corners of her lips. "Oh? So that’s Li Luo, the guy that my sister misses so much?"