Chapter 0829: Shadow Dragon

As soon as Li Luo stepped into the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreath Pool, the noises coming from his surroundings disappeared. He was enveloped in thick, white mist, and the space around him gradually warped.

He stood upright as he attempted to peer through the mist enveloping his surroundings. This place was unfathomable. He had no idea where he was, as he simply could not see through the thick mist.

At present, he was at the top of the dragonbreath pool. He would need to enter the deepest part of the pool in order to obtain a Coiling Dragon Pillar.

From what he had gathered earlier, he already knew that it wouldn't be easy to reach the deepest part of the pool. Apart from the competition from the other Banner Leaders, there were also extremely fearsome threats inside the pool itself.

For example... the Shadow Dragons.

Li Luo turned his head to the right, where he noticed a violent stirring in the mist. In the next moment, a silhouette hundreds of feet tall slowly emerged.

It was a Shadow Dragon. Although it seemed a bit illusory, there was no doubt about the terrifying energy pulses emanating from its body. It possessed strength akin to that of a quasi-Duke Stage cultivator.

Shadow Dragons were the manifestation of the dragonbreath pool's energy. Serving as the gatekeepers, they prevented people from approaching the deepest parts of the pool.

Mysterious light patterns glowed on the lively Shadow Dragon's body as it let out a deep, draconic roar. In the next moment, it opened its maw and an energy blast flew directly towards Li Luo.

The energy blast pierced through the void, and the mist gave way to its flight. The deafening roar shook even the sky and earth.

If Li Luo had to face this attack with just his power alone, he would very likely be wiped out in an instant.

Luckily, that was not the case—he had a Duke's strength.

Li Luo raised his palms expressionlessly, and a torrent of energy surged. In the blink of an eye, an enormous, six-sided water shield materialized in front of him with ripples flowing on its surface.

When the energy blast collided head-on with the hexagonal water shield, the shield mitigated the blast with ease.

Following this, an ancient, straight knife appeared in Li Luo's hand, and he slashed it down with a deafening roar. A dazzling knife wheel about a thousand meters tall materialized out of thin air in front of him.

As the knife wheel flashed by, the thick mist was sliced apart by the sharp blades. In the next instant, the knife wheel cut through the Shadow Dragon's body and decimated it into countless spots of light.

The Shadow Dragon that was as strong as a quasi-Duke was easily defeated by Li Luo.

However, this was nothing celebratory for him. He understood that the strength and numbers of the Shadow Dragons would continue to grow as he advanced deeper into the pool.

Most importantly, there would also be competition in the form of the other Banner Leaders.

Li Luo pondered deeply for a moment. His most urgent task now was to enter the deepest part of the pool as soon as possible. It was said that as time passed, there would be an isolation area formed close to the district with the Coiling Dragon Pillars. This isolation area was created from the condensation of the mist and consisted of extremely terrifying energy. It would be impossible to penetrate it once it materialized.

As such, he would not be able to get close to the Coiling Dragon Pillars once the isolation area formed.

This was akin to the first round of elimination from the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreath Pool.

If anyone wanted the Coiling Dragon Pillar, they would need to enter the deepest part before the isolation area formed.

At this point, Li Luo made a quick estimate of the time and dared not procrastinate any further. He clapped his palms together, and a torrent of energy rushed out. It tore apart the thick mist below and opened up a long walkway where he flew down.

Right now, he hoped that he would not meet Qin Yi before the isolation area. If she decided to stall him without going for the Coiling Dragon Pillar, it was unlikely that he would be able to shake her off. In that case, he would lose this precious opportunity.

As he rapidly flew down the passage, he encountered a few Shadow Dragon attacks again. However, they were not much of a threat to him as he was prepared.

But the Shadow Dragons became stronger the closer he got to the deepest part of the dragonbreath pool. He had to spend quite a bit of effort to defeat the last Shadow Dragon that he came across, as its power was close to that of a lower first-grade Duke.

At the same time, he could also sense the clashes of energy nearby as he traveled deeper into the pool. It was the other Banner Leaders fighting against Shadow Dragons. Nonetheless, he paid no attention to them as he headed towards the depths of the dragonbreath pool.

The journey continued for ten minutes or so before Li Luo suddenly froze in his tracks. His eyes shrunk slightly.

Under the thick mist, he could sense a weak wave of energy passing through his body.

The wave was silent and subtle, flowing by like warm, moist water. It spread out like ripples blooming on the surface of a lake.

Li Luo frowned upon it. “This wave must be Qin Yi's doing!”

He assumed that she was using a special method to sense her surroundings. If he was right, the person she was looking for was certainly him.

Li Luo's eyes flickered slightly, but he wasn't surprised by this. One of the main reasons Qin Lian had arranged for Qin Yi to enter the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreath Pool was probably to deal with him.

However, Li Luo did not want to clash with Qin Yi right now.

He knew very well what a difficult opponent she would be. In fact, she was probably even stronger than Li Qingfeng.

If he was stopped by her right now, the opportunity to get stronger in the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreath Pool would surely be wasted.

Just as Li Luo was thinking of a way to handle the situation on hand, he suddenly felt an aggressive blast of energy coming not far from his right.

This was a very familiar resonant power.

Li Luo thought about it for a moment before he sped up and dashed in that direction immediately.

As the mist gave way, Li Luo could finally see what was at the fore.

There was an enormous, towering Shadow Dragon that was thousands of feet tall. Its body had started to solidify, and it tore apart the void with a swing of its dragon claw. The immense energy pulse it had released was equal to power of a lower first-grade Duke.

A vigorous figure holding a glazed, long rod was fighting against it. This was none other than the Banner Leader of the Holy Scale Banner, Lu Qingmei.

When Li Luo arrived on the scene, Lu Qingmei was flaunting her prowess against the Shadow Dragon as dominant energy surged forth from her runed, glazed rod. She broke apart the dragon's claw attack and struck right at the Shadow Dragon with her rod.

The shadow dragon was defeated. Lu Qingmei turned her oval face over to look at Li Luo.

Clap, clap.

Li Luo clapped with a big smile and walked over to her. "I was wondering who was out here. So it was actually you, Banner Leader Lu Qingmei. Impressive! You were unfazed despite facing off against a Shadow Dragon of the lower first-grade."

"Banner Leader Li Luo," Lu Qingmei said as she brushed back her hair. With the glazed rod in her hands, she stood there in her long, tight-fitting dress that made her lengthy, slender legs exceptionally eye-catching.

Under normal circumstances, everyone except the Banner Leaders from the same lineage would keep a distance from each other, as they were all competitors. However, Lu Qingmei did not say anything. She took a look at Li Luo's handsome face and let him be. Although she was never one to care much about looks, it was undeniable that a handsome guy made one lower their guard.

"Banner Leader Lu Qingmei, I have come here specially to find you regarding an urgent matter," Li Luo said seriously.

"What is it?" Lu Qingmei asked.

Li Luo slowly explained, "Before I came over, I sensed an energy wave coming from Qin Yi. I suspect that she's hunting us, the Banner Leaders from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. Her aim is simple: to ensure that we will not succeed in gaining anything in the Mystical Yellow Dragonbreath Pool. In that case, the guests will feel that the younger generation from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Qing is far superior to our generation in the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li."

Lu Qingmei looked at Li Luo suspiciously as she replied, "I don't think Qin Yi is that overbearing."

Li Luo replied with a deep voice, "She's not. But her mother is."

Lu Qingmei did not deny this. Hall Master Qin Lian was indeed overbearing, and it would not be surprising for her to do something like this to strike at the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. As her daughter, Qin Yi would surely obey her mother's orders.

However, if Qin Yi was so unscrupulous, wouldn't she make an enemy out of everyone?

Just as Lu Qingmei was contemplating the possibilities, a wave of energy suddenly shot through the mist from the back. In the next moment, a strand of waterlight pierced the void at an unimaginable speed and went directly for Li Luo filled with murderous intent.

The attack was so sudden that Li Luo did not know how to react in time. Just as the strand of waterlight was about to strike him, a rod filled with immense resonant power swept by and collided with the strand of waterlight.

Bang!

The violent storm of energy exploded in the collision. All the mist within thousands of feet was blown away instantly.

Lu Qingmei frowned a little as she looked towards where the waterlight had come from. When the mist gave way, a beautiful figure appeared in the distance.

The only one with that kind of charm and temperament was Qin Yi.

After seeing how Lu Qingmei had interrupted and blocked the attack for Li Luo, her enchanting eyes looked slightly surprised. When had Lu Qingmei gotten so close to Li Luo?

She smiled slightly as she said, "Banner Leader Lu, I have an issue with Banner Leader Li Luo. Can you please step aside?"

Lu Qingmei gave Li Luo a glance as she recalled what he had said earlier. “Is Qin Yi really hunting the Banner Leaders from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li?”

If that was the case, she could not just let Qin Yi deal with Li Luo. If there were too many Banner Leaders from their side hunted, it would be a disgrace. After all, it was a special day today.

As such, she tightly gripped her glazed rod with her slender, jade hands as her short hair lightly danced along with the wind. She took a step forward with her long, slender legs and said with her flat voice as the mist gave way, "Miss Qin Yi, the Coiling Dragon Pillars are not in sight yet. This is not the time for battle. However, if you're looking for some practice, I'll be glad to be your opponent."

When Li Luo heard this, he was touched beyond belief and gave a big thumbs up to Lu Qingmei in his heart. "Nice one, Little Lu! The road ahead has opened up!"