Chapter 0773: Battle among the Banners

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

On the second day of the Fiendish Devil Cave's expedition, Li Luo successfully led the fifth division and cleared layer thirty without competition from the first division.

This took the fifth division nearly half a day. While their progress was definitely not fast, it was a stable and secure strategy that, most importantly, minimized the losses of the fifth division's members.

With such a method, Li Luo was evidently preparing for the third day's battle among the banners.

In addition, he had obtained around a hundred more abstruse fiend lights from the successful conquest of layer thirty. Such progress far exceeded that of his daily cultivation, and this was even before any of the high-grade Fiend Origin Pills. Li Luo was finally feeling the joy of reaping benefits from the Fiendish Devil Cave expedition.

It was no wonder the Twenty Banners were always so excited about it. With such wonderful and instant gratification, it was worth it no matter how hard or tiring it was.

Nevertheless, Li Luo did not proceed to layer thirty-one after conquering layer thirty. This was mainly due to the sharp increase in difficulty from layer thirty-one onwards, which would require the fifth division to go all in and push forward at all costs. This would not be ideal, considering that the third day was arriving. Their first priority should be conserving their strength for the upcoming battle.

After all, the original vanguard team of the Green Nether Banner, the first division, had their combat capability greatly depleted due to Zhong Ling’s rash actions. If they encountered a strong opponent in the upcoming battle, they would stand no chance of winning at all.

Besides, everyone was coveting the rewards from winning the battle among the banners.

No one, including Li Luo, was willing to give that up.

With such an expectation, everyone ushered in the most heated third day.

The lively crowd had gathered in front of the Fiendish Devil Cave.

Four Banners. Twenty Divisions. All gathered.

Everyone nervously looked at the wall on the side of the hall, where a light screen continued to blink. Next up, the arrangement for the third day's battle among the divisions would be revealed.

The battle among the divisions was the highlight of every Fiendish Devil Cave expedition.

Every banner and their divisions would compete against one another, which was another form of training.

Everyone would give it their all in order to preserve the honor of their division.

Of course, it was not just about the honor, but the rewards as well.

As Li Luo looked at the light screen, Zhao Yanzhi, who was standing beside her Sub Leader, had closed her slender hands and prayed, "Please don't assign us one of the top ten divisions! Not the top ten divisions, please! " Li Luo could not help but laugh, although he understood why she felt that way. The Green Nether Banner was ranked fourteenth at the start of the expedition, and they had risen to thirteenth after their hard work in conquering layer thirty.

Yet even the slowest among the top ten divisions had managed to reach layer thirty-four after these two days of hard work. Such a gap could not be ignored.

Based on Li Luo's estimation, they would stand a chance as long as they were not put up against the top five divisions.

After all, Li Luo had the Nine Revolutions Draconic Breath Fiend Arts and the three Nine Revolutions Arts with him. While he might be the weakest Sub Leader among all Twenty Banners in terms of raw strength, he would still stand a chance with those arts if he went all in.

As Li Luo was lost in thought, loud chatter broke out in the hall.

The arrangement for the third day's battle among the divisions had been revealed.

Glancing over the light screen, Li Luo scanned for the Green Nether Banner’s fifth division, and a line of words appeared beside it.

Green Nether Banner (fifth division) versus Dark Blood Banner (third division).

"So it's the Dark Blood Banner of the Dragon's Blood Lineage..." Li Luo was shocked. This was hardly considered a good matchup, as the Dark Blood Banner was currently ranked nine.

Although the third division of the Dark Blood Banner was not part of the vanguard delving team, their strength should not be underestimated.

While Li Luo was still digesting the news, the members of the fifth division had started cursing and complaining. This was indeed an unlucky matchup for them.

"It's over," Zhao Yanzhi lamented. She had prayed fervently that their opponent would not be someone within the top ten, but it came true in the end.

On the side, Li Shi and Mu Bi also shook their heads sadly.

"It's just the third division of the Dark Blood Banner. It's not their vanguard team," Li Luo comforted them with a smile.

"We are not the vanguard team of the Green Nether Banner either," Zhao Yanzhi retorted.

"So unlucky. A good opponent was assigned to the first division. I feel like we are getting targeted," she grumbled unhappily.

Hearing this, Li Luo turned back to the screen and scanned for the first division's matchup. Their opponent was the first division of the Hurricane Horn Banner, from the Dragon's Horn Lineage.

The Hurricane Horn Banner was ranked 17, slightly below the Green Nether Banner.

However, Zhong Ling and his team had suffered huge losses and would not fully recover even after a full day of rest. As such, it was hard to say who would emerge victorious even though their opponent was fairly weak.

Nonetheless, it was much better than having the Dark Blood Banner as an opponent. They had gotten lucky indeed.

The cries from the fifth division also attracted sympathetic looks from the Green Nether Banner's second, third, and fourth divisions. After all, the fifth division had gotten the toughest opponent amongst them.

Seeing this news, Zhong Ling's face remained unchanged, but there was a hint of joy in the depths of his eyes. As a matter of fact, he had been remorseful over his impulsive move previously, but he had accepted it, as regret alone would not change anything.

Thankfully, his matchup for the third day of battle among the divisions was not that difficult.

As long as he could defeat the first division of the Hurricane Horn Banner, the Fiendish Devil Cave expedition would be considered a success. On the other hand, there was a high probability that Li Luo's fifth division would be utterly defeated by the Dark Blood Banner. This would help keep their winning momentum in check.

Despite the multiple gazes, Li Luo remained calm and glanced across the hall to the other four banners.

The first division of the Gold Light Banner, led by Deng Fengxian, had a match against the first division of the Glass Bone Banner from the Dragon's Bone Lineage. Both teams were considered top tier, and it was bound to be a cataclysmic struggle.

On the other hand, the first division of the Crimson Cloud Banner, led by Li Fengyi, had a match against the first division of the Earth Scale Banner from the Dragon's Scale Lineage. The Crimson Cloud Banner was the stronger of the two, so barring any unexpected turn of events, they were the expected winner of the fight.

The first division of the Violet Spirit Banner, led by Li Jingtao, had encountered the fifth division of the Rock Bone Banner from the Dragon's Bone Lineage. As the weakest amongst the Twenty Banners, the Rock Bone Banner stood no chance against the Violet Spirit Banner at all.

As Li Luo continued scanning the list, he felt the worried gazes of Li Fengyi and Li Jingtao looking back at him.

Without a doubt, they were worried about their matchup.

Smiling back, Li Luo assured them that there was no need to worry.

Li Luo turned towards Zhao Yanzhi and asked, "Yanzhi, do you have any information about the third division of the Dark Blood Banner?"

Just as Zhao Yanzhi was about to respond, Li Shi, who was on the side, took over the conversation. "The Sub Leader of the Dark Blood Banner's third division is named Li Tong, and he came from a side branch of the clan like me. However, he has had much better conditions than me. Previously, he was a Gold Fiend attempting to reach the Glass Fiend Tier, but he failed. His level is definitely above Zhong Ling's, and he is currently working on consolidating Fiend Dipper Energy in order to break straight into the Fiend Finisher Tier.

"This guy possesses an eighth-grade Groundflood Dragon resonance and has mastered the Six Revolutions Draconic Breath Fiend Art. Although Li Tong is only considered average amongst the renowned Dragon's Blood Lineage, his strength should not be underestimated.

"Although the third division of the Dark Blood Banner is not as powerful as the first division, it is still better than the other three divisions. In terms of overall strength, they are much stronger than our division."

Li Luo nodded slightly at his detailed explanation. There were three levels to the Fiend Body Tier: Silver Fiend, Gold Fiend, and Glass Fiend. These were the stages of training up one's physical body. However, most could only reach the Gold Fiend Tier before they gave up and turned to refining their Fiend Dipper Energy in order to break into the Fiend Finisher Tier.

Only the gifted ones could reach the Glass Fiend Tier before attempting to break into the Fiend Finisher Tier. This would give them a better foundation and ultimately make them even mightier than those who reached the Fiend Finisher Tier prematurely.

"No worries, guys. Our opponent may be strong, but there is no need to feel down before the fight.

"If you think about it from another perspective, this is a chance for us to boost our reputation once we defeat such an opponent. Nothing to lose, and everything to gain"

Li Luo cheered them on to boost the fifth division's morale.

Seeing their Sub Leader full of fighting spirit, the fifth division looked at each other and finally cheered up a little. After all, their division was different from before. Now they had a Sub Leader who had mastered the Nine Revolutions Draconic Breath Fiend Art, so anything could happen.

Like Li Luo had mentioned, there was nothing to lose. They were already expected to suffer a defeat against such a strong opponent. However, if they somehow won, they would be immensely rewarded for their victory.

Nothing to lose, and everything to gain

This was a good deal after all.

As the morale of the banner members slowly renewed, only Zhao Yanzhi rolled her eyes at Li Luo.

“Psh. Only a fool would believe those words!”