Chapter 0345: Intercepted

After his tirade, Li Luo heaved a sigh. This was completely unexpected. Normally speaking, wouldn't someone want to keep the secret of the Golden Dragon Qi to themselves? This was a secret they should have taken to the grave! How did that Polar Wolf Kingdom team turn this knowledge into common information for all!?

Could such churlish people even exist in this world?

The thoughts of the foolish were unfathomable.

"What do we do now? There are a few too many groups..." Lu Qing'er asked with a frown on her face.

"If we have no choice, then we fight!" Qin Zhulu's battle spirit blazed with vigor as he made that suggestion.

Of course, Li Luo did not accept this barbaric solution for their predicament. They weren't even that strong in the grand scheme of things, and now they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. Going ahead with Qin Zhulu's plan was absurd.

"Let's run and hide. The situation has become too complicated, and we should avoid the brunt of things if possible..." Li Luo finally decided.

Lu Qing'er had no comments, but Qin Zhulu seemed a little dissatisfied. However, in a situation where it was two votes versus one, he had to acquiesce to their choice.

"Brother Zhao, the situation seems a little off. It looks as though there are other groups heading in the same direction as us."

Just as Li Luo's merry band of friends had discovered more visitors, Zhao Ziyang's team had the same revelation when scouting ahead.

Zhao Ziyang frowned upon hearing this, quickly ascending atop higher ground to take a glance for himself. The sight made his expression glum. "It looks like the little rat from the Polar Wolf Kingdom has been stirring the pot."

"How despicable, actually spreading news of this all around."

However, this was quite reasonable upon second thought. After being completely maimed by their vicious group, they had no other choice but to make life difficult for them as a form of revenge!

It was just that this act of breaking the pot so that no one could monopolize it was truly unbearable.

The number of groups gathering here were not small, some possessing combat strength no weaker than his. If all of them caught up, obtaining the Golden Dragon Qi would be several magnitudes more arduous.

"Continue advancing, we have to take advantage of our head start. If we can enter the mountain range first and capture that wench with the Golden Dragon Qi, then we can take the chance to escape."

"We have to proceed with due haste. Otherwise, the rest of them will catch up."

"Jing Zhi, release the Bloodwing Mosquitoes. They will assist us in locating the group hiding within the mountain range faster."

Upon hearing Zhao Ziyang's command, one of his teammates nodded his head and took out a square jar. Biting his fingertip, he first let blood drip into it before smashing it onto the ground.

Bzzzzz!

Immediately after, a black cloud composed of countless red-winged mosquitoes rose from the debris. They surged in the direction of the mountain range and vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

"Go!"

Zhao Ziyang waved his hand, indicating that the hunt had begun. He shot off like a speeding bullet, legs shrouded with raging, red resonant power. Each time he took a step, he would leave behind a charred patch.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The trio quickly made their way into the mountain forest.

Not long after they entered, other groups made their way to the edge of the mountain forest as well. Upon realizing that time was of the essence, each and every team utilized their own special capabilities to commence the chase.

Inadvertently, the entire mountain forest became abuzz with activity.

...

Somewhere within the mountain forest.

Li Luo and his little team were currently rushing away.

This brief period of time allowed them to sense the endless eruptions of resonant power coming from the numerous teams rushing in.

Clearly, quite a few of them were scuffling with each other.

"Li Luo, with our current speed, it's very likely that someone will catch up with us shortly. Based on what Ji Sun told us, he has also engraved our likeness onto the scroll! The moment we encounter someone, they will definitely be able to recognize us," Lu Qing'er said.

Li Luo nodded in agreement. Time was tight.

"Let's head east to that patch of high ground," Li Luo suddenly suggested as his eyes glinted. It seemed that this was a man with a plan.

"That open patch? Won't we be more easily found?" Qin Zhulu frowned.

"We want to be ostentatious and stick out! The more teams focused on us, the more space we will create for ourselves."

Qin Zhulu didn't seem to understand what Li Luo meant, but Lu Qing'er understood the gist of it.

If they were caught by a single elite group, their situation would undoubtedly be extremely precarious. More groups focusing on them would raise the possibility that they would fight each other and possibly provide a diversion.

Simply speaking, this plan did not seem rational at first glance, but it would make sense once one pondered more deeply.

This was probably Li Luo's plan, or so Lu Qing'er assumed.

She trusted him wholeheartedly—he would definitely figure out a solution.

Right at this moment, Li Luo frowned and fired out a single bullet of resonant power, which resembled a droplet of water. This water droplet pierced through a leaf, boring a neat hole and adhering to a tree.

Pausing, he sauntered over, and one could see that within the resonant power droplet was a mosquito with blood -red wings.

"Well now, it looks like we've been discovered."

Li Luo continued to stare at the Bloodwing Mosquito with a furrowed brow. Experts were as common as clouds in the Golden Dragon Dao Fields. They even possessed such mysterious means to locate and pursue someone.

"We need to hurry up." Signaling the others to move, he turned tail and left with redoubled haste, the other two tailing right behind. Their destination: the highground to the east.

Roughly an incense stick's worth of time after, a river tens of meters wide appeared right in front of them. This was the last obstacle between the team and their high ground.

Resonant power surged forth from the trio as they forded the river.

Unfortunately, their luck had finally run out. Berserk and scorching resonant power exploded from right behind them, and a youth clad in scarlet resonant power that resembled flowing lava shot right after them. "I’ve been waiting here for a while!"

Not interested in speaking further, he struck out, releasing a fist phantom akin to magma erupting from a volcano, both in terms of heat and explosiveness, ripping through the air. The blow was even backed by a tyrannical aura, enveloping all three of them, almost rooting them in place.

The sudden ambush had also taken the trio by surprise.

Just analyzing this simple magma fist phantom allowed them to understand the gravity of the situation. This youth possessed strength that far surpassed Ji Sun!

“Roar!”

Qin Zhulu snarled as golden tiger stripes materialized and his demonic qi exploded outwards. He lanced forward with the heavy spear in hand, domineering and undeterred, summoning his full might to clash against that fist phantom.

BOOM!

Upon collision, the astonishing force behind the fist phantom knocked him flying all the way across the river, causing him to land heavily on the ground. Qin Zhulu's wild and raging resonant power had been completely extinguished. His spear was dyed a crimson red, emanating such high heat that the areas where he gripped the spear started sizzling with white smoke.

Yet it was not enough—the magma fist phantom continued flying unabated towards the remaining two.

Ever the gentleman, Li Luo's gaze flickered as he delivered a palm strike at Lu Qing'er's waist, knocking her flying towards the relative safety of the opposite bank.

As the magma fist phantom approached, one could feel the blistering heat exuding from the attack, burning the skin.

Remaining calm, Li Luo took a deep breath, summoning his waterlight resonant power and quickly forming a radiant water mirror.

"Mysterious Mirror Art!"

The magma fist phantom's reflection could be seen on the radiant surface of the mirror, and immediately after, an identical fist phantom flew out from within the mirror!

BOOM!

Frantic, blazing waves of resonant power exploded outwards upon impact, causing waves of heat to radiate outwards.

The mirror shattered at this point, and the original attack had shrunken significantly, but it continued to viciously fly at him.

Although Li Luo remained calm, his gaze seemed to have become untold times gloomier. This preliminary exchange had let him understand how vast the gulf was between him and the assailant. This fellow was more than twice as strong as Ji Sun.

It was very likely that he was a Second Changing of the Evolving Resonance Tier.

There were countless tiers of difference between the two.

As it stood, a frontal clash with both Li Luo and Qin Zhulu cooperating had been crushed in the most direct way.

Despite all this, Li Luo remained unfazed and unfrightened. The opponent might be mighty, but he wasn't so easily defeated by a single probing attack.

Retreating slightly and jumping backwards to create some distance, he unsheathed his shortswords.

With the Water Edge completely coating both his weapons, they turned into blades of resplendent light, almost akin to swimming fish, as his resonant power channeled through them. Just in the nick of time, he slashed downwards, the shortswords gradually severing through the lava resonance power which made up the fist phantom.

His sword technique seemed to be filled with mysticality, giving all who saw it a sense of relief.

At this point, he neatly landed on the opposite side of the river like his teammates. Both of his shortswords were dyed crimson-red, steam endlessly emitting from them.

The bright side? That probing magma fist phantom had finally been neutralized.

The unfortunate price was that cracks had started to emerge on his shortswords as a result of the high temperature and stress they had faced.

Clap, clap, clap.

Sounds of applause resounded across from the forest on the opposite end. Three silhouettes slowly made their way out of the shadows, and the one in the lead was naturally Zhao Ziyang.

In fact, he was staring at Li Luo with immense interest.

"Wow, that was pretty impressive. A Third Pattern was able to receive my fist?"