Chapter 1560: Stygian Rain Core Platform

"Li Zhiqiu, do you remember that look you gave us all those years ago?"

When Li Zhiqiu heard those words coming from Li Luo's mouth, his heart skipped a beat and his chest tightened. Jiang Qing'e's eyes, which resembled molten gold, seemed to have turned chilly. He was doomed! The two clearly remembered the grudge. Li Zhiqiu's back was filled with cold sweat. Being under the gazes of these two felt as though two world-ending beasts were staring at him. Terror flooded his heart.

Li Zhiqiu's entire body stiffened as he hoarsely croaked, "You... what do you plan to do?"

"Naturally..." Li Luo's smile was like a freezing blizzard, devoid of any warmth.

When Jiang Qing'e had ignited her Heart of Light, Li Luo was taken the lowest depths of despair. To make matters worse, this bastard Li Zhiqiu had not only refrained from helping them, he had also used the pressure of a Duke to attempt to coerce him to give up the Heavenly Emperor's Writ. At the same time, he had used his gaze to suppress Jiang Qing'e, speeding up the rate at which her Heart of Light burned. If Li Luo had any means to resist at that point of time, he would have jumped at him in a desperate last stand.

Although Jiang Qing'e ended up resolving the problem with the sacrificial ignition of her Heart of Light eventually, Li Luo's enmity had not disappeared.

"An eye for an eye," Li Luo declared mercilessly. Jiang Qing'e had also taken a step forward, and her six gloriously shining Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfrieds rushed into the air, emitting vast amounts of holy light that purified the remaining bits of corruption in the forest. At the same time, a terrifying pressure as vast as the sea was directed towards Li Zhiqiu.

The sacred mark between Jiang Qing'e's eyebrows split apart, revealing the ancient and divine Apex Resonance Crystal Core. Its presence was like a god opening its eye, indifferently judging the ants beneath. When Li Foluo, Li Zhihuo, and the rest saw this, looks of shock flashed through their eyes.

"An Apex Resonance Crystal Core?"

"Upper ninth-grade Light resonance?"

Although the terrifying pressure emanating from her was not directed towards them, everyone could feel horror and awe arising within their hearts. It was a natural reaction towards a superior existence.

If even the bystanders were finding it hard to resist the pressure, then obviously Li Zhiqiu, who was the focus of said pressure, was in a completely different world. He felt as though he had been locked into position, and a pressure as heavy as a mountain was gradually crushing him.

Li Zhiqiu hurriedly rallied his seven Duke Bergfrieds, which rose into the air above him. However, they were forced back by the tyrannical, suppressive force instantly.

Thud!

He was forced to kneel by the sheer pressure bearing down upon him. His bones, blood, and flesh were letting out groaning and squelching sounds, and a bloody foam gradually bubbled out of his mouth. His eyes were filled with emotions of fright and shock.

Jiang Qing'e's energy undulations were absolutely horrifying. He felt like even the upper ninth-grade Li Jiluo and Li Qingpeng were weaker than her! Li Zhiqiu frantically summoned all of the resonant power within his body, attempting to resist the impending millstone of death.

But at that instant, the situation he had most dreaded happened. Li Luo had taken a step forward, causing his six towering Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfrieds to manifest in the sky. His Ten-Pillar Golden Duke Bergfrieds did not look as pure as Jiang Qing'e's light-element Duke Bergfrieds. Instead, they were a riotous blend of different energies, giving them unique colorations. The distinct resonant powers would sometimes merge and then disperse yet again, giving off an esoteric appearance.

Li Luo's eyes turned violet-gold and the domineering aura of a Heavenly Dragon descended from the heavens, causing the void to tremble before him.

Whoosh!

When the Heavenly Dragon's aura spread out, everyone could sense a tremor of fear from the depths of their bloodline. The Heavenly Dragon was the emperor of the Dragon Race and thus held an innate suppressive effect on all other lesser dragons.

Li Zhiqiu's body almost collapsed at that instant. He was stubbornly smashed into the ground, his flesh and blood beginning to mix into a sanguine paste. Just a look from the two had put him on the brink of turning into a bloody pile of mush. That said, he was left with a scrap of consciousness despite being soaked in his own blood. He had experienced what it felt like to die, and terror was written all over his face. He knew that the duo could kill a seventh-grade Duke with the snap of a finger.

"Big Brother!" Li Zhihuo's expression was pale. He wanted to lend a hand to rescue him, but the duo's icy glares caused him to freeze in his tracks.

Even Li Hongque and Li Hongli had fallen deathly silent.

The two then gradually retracted their resonant power, putting away their Duke Bergfrieds. Then Li Luo's grim voice boomed. "Li Zhiqiu, you should be thankful that Sister Qing'e didn't end up dying as a result of what you did after she ignited her Heart of Light. Otherwise, I would have ensured that you would live a life worse than death."

When Li Zhihuo and the rest heard his words, they heaved sighs of relief in their hearts. At the very least, Li Zhiqiu had kept his life.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

This also caused the weight on Li Zhiqiu's heart to ease. He knew that he had only been spared because he was a fellow member of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. Otherwise, the two reapers might have ended him already. To his utmost releief, Li Luo had indirectly said that he had set aside their enmity after doling out the punishment. With that in mind, Li Zhiqiu's tense state of mind loosened and he blacked out.

This ending had also caused the atmosphere to ease up. Li Zhihuo summoned the Dragon's Blood Guardians to pick up the almost pulverized Li Zhiqiu and take him away.

After resolving that thread of enmity, Li Luo then went straight back to the situation at hand and asked curiously, "Guardian General Li Foluo, how's the situation here?"

"Grand Guardian General, this Other Tide has been much more ferocious than the ones before. We've been battling in this district for half a month, yet it shows no signs of weakening. If we want to resolve this Other Tide, we have to destroy the Stygian Rain Core Platform," Li Foluo respectfully said.

"Stygian Rain Core Platform?" Li Luo asked curiously.

Li Foluo nodded and explained, "After two years of dealing with this Other Disaster, we discovered the Stygian Rain Core Platforms. They are the catalysts that allow the Others to summon the Stygian Rain. If we don't destroy them, the black rain will continue to fall and the Other Tides will not stop. The longer the Other Tide persists, the greater our casualties and the harder it will be for us to regroup and recover."

At this point, he raised his head and look at the sky, which was filled with gloomy, black clouds that never stopped releasing rain. This rain gave birth to more Others and would also inflict unbearable pain to any living creature it fell upon, triggering the negative emotions within them. Thus, fighting within the rain was always a gigantic burden as it ebbed away at one's resonant power and mind, torturing the soldiers.

Throughout the past two years, many experts with weaker wills had gone insane and were corrupted by the torrent of negative emotions.

"In the past, we focused our efforts on destroying the Stygian Rain Core Platforms so we could end the Other Tides. However, there are countless Others protecting the platforms, and the most tricky ones to deal with are the ninth-grade True Devils!"

The Other Disaster that had resulted from the destruction of the World's End River Region contained a Heavenly Emperor's Edict that prevented any Kings from entering. Thus, the Bloodlines of Heavenly Emperor Li and Qin were unable to send their Kings to quickly resolve the situation, making it so that ninth-grade Duke-equivalents reigned supreme.

"The first Other Tide erupted half a year after you left Godriver City, Grand Guardian General, and we suffered grievous losses due to our lack of experience. Most of it was caused by the ninth-grade True Devils. The Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Qin had it even worse than us. The first Other Tide destroyed thirty-eight of their cities, and the Stygian Rain has spread across tens of thousands of miles. The small and medium-sized powers in the area were destroyed by the hundreds. As a result, the number of lives lost are too many to count. At that point, we had very few ninth-grade Dukes and many of our troops were slaughtered. Luckily, Li Jiluo and Li Qingpeng made breakthroughs and entered the ninth-grade amidst the crisis. They joined hands to slaughter the ninth-grade True Devils and wrecked the Stygian Rain Core Platform, resolving the Other Tide. After that incident, the elders learned of the importance of having ninth-grade Dukes to resolve the issue and invited three elders to assist. Additionally, they also recruited four renowned ninth-grade Dukes from the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent with a large amount of skygold. Only then were we able to resist the subsequent Other Tides."

Li Foluo's explanation had left Li Luo a little surprised. The Dragon's Blood Lineage's Li Jiluo was the future Lineage Chief nurtured by Li Tianji, so him reaching the ninth-grade wasn't that unexpected. What Li Luo did not expect was for his peaceful and amiable Eldest Uncle Li Qingpeng to have reached the ninth-grade as well. This caused Li Luo to grumble in his heart.

The moment Li Jiluo broke through, his Eldest Uncle had done the same... Was he trying to make sure he wasn't left behind... or was it that he didn't want to stand out?