Chapter 1283: Offering a Helping Hand

Li Luo and Xia Yu each led a thousand Guardians across the sky at maximum speed.

While they were on the move, Li Luo turned his head back and looked into the distance. He sensed an extremely strong energy undulation behind him. It seemed like Jiang Qing'e had met some challenging opponents indeed.

"Don't worry, Li Luo. With Dragon Fang Envoy Jiang's strength, she'll surely be able to get away safely even if she can't defeat her opponents," Xia Yu said in an attempt to comfort him when she saw the look of worry in Li Luo's eyes.

Li Luo nodded slightly, but he felt guilty deep down in his heart. Since long ago, back in House Luolan, Jiang Qing'e had always been shielding him from all these storms. Meanwhile, he had continued to chase after her, hoping that one day he would be able to be the one standing in front of her and telling her he would protect her from danger.

Despite his strength growing at an astonishing speed over the last few years, Jiang Qing'e's had continued to outpace him with her equally monstrous talent. Even he felt left behind!

His fiancee was simply unbelievable. Things were never simple.

Li Luo clenched his fists tightly. It was precisely because of this that he wanted to evolve his dragon resonance to further strengthen himself. Additionally, his goal during his time at the World's End River Region was to break into the Duke Stage. Not just that... he was going to forge a Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried as well! Crafting a Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried was so difficult, it was impossible to describe. Perhaps the Heavenly Dragon resonance was the final key he required.

As Li Luo was pondering over these matters, the Dragon’s Fang Guardians did not slow down. Although Jiang Qing'e had stopped most of their pursuers for them, they could sense a group of energy undulations quickly catching up.

Jiang Qing'e was no longer with them, so they would have to depend on themselves now.

In fact, the obstacle had appeared in front of them sooner than they had expected.

Those who had been quietly watching in the shadows were now impatient, seeing that the strong deterrent, Jiang Qing'e, wasn't around anymore.

Worldly natural energy surged violently, and a gigantic tree sprouted out from the ground in front of Li Luo's group. The branches danced along with the wind as they swiftly swept towards the Guardians like a giant python.

"Be careful!" Xia Yu warned the rest. Two towering Duke Bergfrieds materialized above her head, and the Guardians boosted her further. Her strength was now that of an upper third-grade Duke.

An azure longsword appeared in her hands, and she slashed downwards decisively. The python-like branches were sliced apart and a beam of sword energy flashed across the air. The powerful sword strike spanning thousands of feet headed straight for the trunk of the giant tree.

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the highest point of the tree. Three towering Duke Bergfrieds materialized in the air and immense resonant power surged up, transforming into a massive, wooden, leafy shield.

Bang!

The sword energy easily sliced through the shield like a hot knife through butter before striking the tree trunk directly. The person groaned in pain and retreated in a flash.

While Xia Yu was handling this surprise attack, Li Luo had been ambushed as well.

Three second-grade Dukes had appeared in front of him. Divine Mist poured out across the sky and a rain of attacks flew towards Li Luo directly.

"Li Luo, hand over the Sovereign Pearl!" they cried out greedily. In their eyes, Li Luo was just a Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier junior. Even with a thousand Guardians assisting him, it would be challenging for him to unite their strength, and the three of them would be more than enough to suppress Li Luo.

Their attacks gradually grew larger in Li Luo's eyes, and his face turned cold and he took a step forward. The power from the thousand Guardians poured into him.

He firmly gripped his Dragon Elephant Blade and hacked downwards. The void trembled as a blade wheel of immense resonant power condensed in the air. It spun rapidly and clashed with the incoming attacks directly.

"Dragon and Elephant's Divine Might!"

The blade wheel whistled as it shot through the air. The incoming attacks from the three second-grade Dukes shattered into pieces when the blade wheel crashed into them. The three of them were stunned by this unimaginable scene, then the blade wheel bashed their Duke Bergfrieds directly.

Bang!

A deep scar was left on each of the Duke Bergfrieds.

The three of them spat out fresh blood. Gravely injured, they retreated immediately.

"Not good. This brat is a tough one!" they cried out regretfully. Initially, they had thought that Li Luo wouldn't be able to effectively harness the strength of the Guardians fully since he was only at the Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier. Clearly, their guess was invalidated.

Their injuries had surprised the others watching in the shadows. So, it seemed that Li Luo could fully merge himself with the Guardians.

He had forced three second-grade Dukes to retreat with merely a single strike!

Although Li Luo had demonstrated his prowess, he was in no mood to battle. Instead, he quickly escaped with Xia Yu.

Unfortunately, this was just the beginning.

In the next few hours, attacks kept inundating them. Some of them were even from third-grade Dukes. Fortunately, not many were at the Fourth Duke Stage and above. This might’ve been due to Li Jinpan, Ox Biaobiao, Li Rouyun, and Jiang Qing'e's intervention, or it could also be the assistance rendered in the background from the allies of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. After all, a Heavenly Emperor was bound to have quite a few friends.

Just like this, the battles kept coming and shockwaves shuddered across the vast sky.

It seemed that their return home would be truly eventful.

No matter how things concluded, this story was bound to spread across the World's End River Region.

Bang!

Sword energy descended from the sky like a raging downpour and a wild gust of wind blew across the battlefield. With a formidable swipe, Xia Yu pushed a third-grade Duke back. Her hand that was wielding the longsword began to tremble a little. She had fought many battles along the way without much rest, and exhaustion was clearly building up.

"Scram!" Her icy gaze was focused on the third-grade Duke with murderous intent.

The third-grade Duke pondered for a moment and decided to retreat. He did not want to become the target of Xia Yu's desperate struggle at the throes of defeat. After all, he could only reap benefits if he managed to conserve his strength to the very end.

Xia Yu heaved a sigh of relief in her heart when she saw her opponent backing off. She then looked into the distance, where a group of black mountains stood tall. This was none other than Black Soul Peak. It was a region that lay quite close to the territory of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li.

If they could get past this area, their pursuers would hesitate before taking further action.

Xia Yu turned around, intending to help Li Luo out.

Bang!

Suddenly, a burning explosion occurred in front of her. The void cracked open and a giant tiger coated in molten lava roared fiercely. Xia Yu's body trembled and she was momentarily disorientated.

Cold sweat dripped from her forehead. "This is the Devil Tiger Roar of the Divine Tiger Guardians!"

Without any further hesitation, Divine Mist poured out of the Duke Bergfrieds above her. It quickly condensed together, attempting to form a layer of protection.

However, a massive paw struck her violently. It was no simple strike, being imbued with flame and lava dripping off it. It was incredibly domineering. The Divine Mist she had formed shattered instantly and the attack landed on Xia Yu.

“Pfft!”

She spat out a mouth of blood and was sent flying. The Guardians that were supporting her were also struck, and their energy fell into disarray.

"Zhao Zhuoyan!"

Xia Yu wiped off the blood from her mouth as she glared viciously towards the front. A muscular man overflowing with burning energy walked out of a crack in the void.

Behind him was a crimson cloud where the Divine Tiger Guardians could be spotted.

He was Zhao Zhuoyan, the First Grand Commander of the Divine Tiger Guardians. He was much stronger than Xia Yu at the moment. He had reached the pinnacle of the lower Second Duke Stage and could attempt to break through any time now.

"Xia Yu, it's enough that you have made it here. If we let you pass through Black Soul Peak, it'll be hard for us to answer to our superiors," Zhao Zhuoyan mocked with a vicious laugh. His crimson eyes were closely observing her every move.

"You fellows have been truly patient. Why don't you rename yourselves? The Divine Turtle Guardians is a much more fitting title for you!" Xia Yu replied sarcastically.

Zhao Zhuoyan and his army chose to bide their time during the pursuit, not making a single attack along the way. Clearly, they wanted to let Xia Yu exhaust herself until it was the right time to strike.

And it seemed that this was the moment they had been waiting for.

Zhao Zhuoyan looked at Xia Yu's curvy figure lustfully. He responded with a grin, "Xia Yu, don't be stubborn. My Hundred Flame Poison is not something that people can endure. Considering that you're weaker than me, how can you possibly restrain me?"

Xia Yu's face turned pale as she felt the burning pain spreading across her body. "Shut up!"

At this point, Li Luo arrived. He took a look at Xia Yu and noticed her face alternating between red and pale. It seemed like she was critically injured.

"Li Luo, hand over the Sovereign Pearl. This is your limit. You'll never make it past Black Soul Peak." More laughter came from the side of Zhao Zhuoyan as another man made his appearance.

It was Zhao Zhu, the Second Grand Commander of the Divine Tiger Guardians. He was an upper first-grade Duke.

Zhao Zhuoyan gave a smirk and told Li Luo, "Take a look."

He pointed to Li Luo’s back, where many people stood in the air and stared at them greedily. These were the rogue cultivators that had been lurking in the shadows all this time.

In front of them was Zhao Zhuoyan and Zhao Zhu. Behind them were rogue cultivators. They were truly trapped with nowhere to run.

Li Luo's gaze turned sharp.

Suddenly, the chuckle of a girl could be heard coming from a mountaintop not too far away.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Li Luo, it looks like this last leg of the journey might be a little too tough."

Li Luo looked over and saw a slender girl. It was none other than Lu Shuanglu.

He frowned when he saw her. Was she here to fight for the Sovereign Pearl too?

Lu Shuanglu stretched her back lazily when she saw his reaction. She continued with a smile, "I am not interested in your Sovereign Pearl. However, if you're willing to beg me, I can help you get rid of these rogue cultivators. How about it?"

Li Luo pondered for a moment and answered, "There is no need for me to lower myself. In the worst case scenario, I will just drag someone down to hell with me. At the very least, my grandfather will know who to look for after my death. A life for a life."

As soon as these words came out, the rogue cultivators glanced at each other briefly. The arrogant air around them seemed to have vanished for a moment.

Lu Shuanglu was also taken aback by his reply. She couldn't help but laugh. "Your threat is a little shameless."

Li Luo shrugged. In such a situation, it didn't matter as long as it was effective.

"Forget it." Lu Shuanglu chuckled. "For the sake of my sister, I will help you out today. I will get the payment for this favor from my sister later."

Finished speaking, she clapped her hands lightly.

Suddenly, a strong undulation of energy appeared in the surroundings, locking the rogue cultivators down.

"Unfortunately, I can only do so much to help you hold these rogue cultivators back. I can't do anything to those from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao, so you will have to handle them by yourself," Lu Shuanglu continued with a grin.

Li Luo was taken aback by her response. It looked like Lu Shuanglu wasn't here to snatch his Sovereign Pearl away. Instead, she was here to help him out?

He didn't say anything more; he merely clasped his hands together and thanked Lu Shuanglu.

"Don't thank me yet. Wait until you get past those two commanders." Lu Shuanglu put her hands behind her back and watched Li Luo with interest. She wanted to see how Li Luo, as a Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier cultivator, was going to escape from Zhao Zhuoyan, a lower second-grade Duke in peak condition, and Zhao Zhu, an upper first-grade Duke.