Chapter 0904: Beginning of the Grand Battle

As time ticked by, the day of the Battle of the Dragon's Head arrived.

On a vast field on Dragon Fang's Mountain.

Li Jingzhe stood in the center, and the elders from the four halls, as well as a few elders of the Dragon's Fang Lineage, gathered around him.

The members of the four banners had also gathered in front of them, with faces full of anticipation and excitement.

To them, the Battle of the Dragon's Head was a competition to see who would become the leader of their generation.

The winner would be declared the leader of the Twenty Banners. He would also be the strongest member of their generation in the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li.

After all, every single member of the Twenty Banners was an elite cultivator specially selected from the Heavenly Dragon's Five Lineages. Although they were not the absolute best, they definitely represented the strength of this generation of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li.

The single individual who could stand out among these hundreds of thousands of elites and climb to the very top was definitely worthy of being considered the strongest member of their generation.

This person would undoubtedly become the leader of the generation. Not only would they get the glory of the title, they would also receive the attention of the elders from various lineages. The elders would provide them with immense cultivation resources and help them go even further. They would grow into one of the main pillars of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li.

"Are you ready?" Li Jingzhe asked as he looked at the front row of the crowd. Li Luo, Deng Fengxian, Li Fengyi, and Li Jingtao were standing in front of all the banner members. They were the four who were going to participate in the Battle of the Dragon's Head.

When they heard Li Jingzhe's voice, they nodded immediately.

Seeing this, Li Jingzhe continued, "The Battle of the Dragon's Head will be held in a secret realm. I'll open up the portal and lead you all into it later. The elders of the halls will follow us in, while the other banner members will be able to view the battle from a projection outside."

As soon as he finished speaking, rays of light shot out of the pupils of the stone dragon sculptures in the center of the square. The rays interweaved into a light curtain in midair, but the curtain remained shrouded in clouds and mist for now, obscuring any vision of the place.

Next, Li Jingzhe threw out a golden dragon seal. A ray of golden light shot out of its mouth, then the void behind him started to warp into a vortex.

"If you're ready, let's set off."

With that, Li Jingzhe did not say anything more. He took a glance at the four of them before he turned around and walked into the vortex. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared without a trace.

Li Luo and the other three took a look at each other before rushing up and following him closely.

The four banners cheered loudly behind them.

The lively cries in their ears disappeared soon after they entered. For a moment, they started to feel dizzy.

This sensation lasted for a short while before the four of them could feel their feet stepping onto a cold, hard, stone floor. Taking a quick scan of their surroundings, they noticed that they had arrived in a place full of mist and clouds.

In the next moment, the mist and clouds dissipated rapidly.

They could see further ahead now. In the distance, there was a jade green stage full of figures. Taking a closer look, they could tell that they were the Banner Leaders from the other lineages.

In the same moment, they also noticed the arrival of Li Luo and the rest.

However, a vortex appeared in the void again before they could speak, and four imposing figures entered the area.

Leading them was a tall and upright man with a dominant air surrounding him. It was none other than Li Qingfeng from the Dragon's Blood Lineage. Beside him was the charming beauty Li Hongli.

"Haha, everyone has arrived early it seems." Everyone's attention shifted towards Li Qingfeng as soon as he entered. With a smile on his face, he put his hands together and greeted the other Banner Leaders.

In the same moment, chatter exploded amongst the crowd. Everyone knew that Li Qingfeng was a strong contender for winning the Battle of the Dragon's Head.

As Li Luo stared at him, he could also feel a terrifying pressure emanating from him. His heart fluttered a little. It was very likely that Li Qingfeng had entered the Heavenly Pearl Tier.

This was not really surprising. He was already at the Fiend Finisher Tier when Li Luo arrived in the Dragon's Fang Lineage half a year ago. With nine hundred feet of Fiend Dipper Energy and his exceptional talent, it was only expected that he would break into the Heavenly Pearl Tier successfully.

"It seems like you have advanced into the Heavenly Pearl Tier, Banner Leader Li Qingfeng," Li Senyan, the Banner Leader of Thunder Horn Banner, commented with a big smile. He had sensed the changes emanating from Li Qingfeng too.

As soon as the other Banner Leaders heard this, their faces changed as well. Many were looking at him with envy and admiration.

Humbly, Li Qingfeng smiled and replied, "Yes, I finally managed to do so after months of hard work. I hope the rest of you won't find it comical."

Li Senyan responded with a bitter smile, "Who would dare to laugh at you? With this breakthrough, there is no need for the Battle of the Dragon's Head anymore. The winner will surely be you, Banner Leader Li Qingfeng." It was a commonly known fact that the Dragon's Horn Lineage and the Dragon's Blood Lineage were close to each other. As the Banner Leader of Thunder Horn Banner, Li Senyan was naturally close to Li Qingfeng. His words were clearly meant to decrease the competition for Li Qingfeng here.

However, the other Banner Leaders could not refute him despite knowing his intentions. Even though they knew that Li Qingfeng's advancement to the Heavenly Pearl Tier was mainly aimed at securing the Dragon's Head position, they were clear that none of them could pose any threat to him other than Lu Qingmei.

"Not necessarily so." Li Hongli laughed coquettishly. With a sly smile, she continued, "There's still the fellow who obtained the Golden Dragon Pillar, right? Maybe he will surprise us yet again?" With such strong gunpowder hidden in her words, the attention of the Banner Leaders shifted towards Li Luo immediately.

Li Fengyi raised her eyebrows when she heard those words, and she replied with a sneer, "Thank you for your kind words. I hope you aren't celebrating too early, or you may have to take back your own words once again."

Hearing this, Li Hongli smiled faintly and said, "See, do you really think that? You must remember that you can't use Harmony in this competition. It's all up to the individual's strength. I'm afraid that someone will be beaten back home once he loses the assistance of external aid."

Just as Li Fengyi was about to retort, Li Luo stepped in and stopped her. He replied with a serious tone, "Forget it, let's not bicker with her. We are noble and respectable direct descendants. Unlike her, who's just seeking our attention. The more you bicker with her, the happier she'll be."

Li Fengyi was taken aback for a moment. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch a little. At the same time, the other Banner Leaders watched with strange expressions. Li Luo's words had been really vicious and unforgiving, despite the veneer of politeness. Li Hongli, on the other hand, was so fuming mad that her face turned green instantly. "What nonsense are you spewing? Why do I need to seek your attention?!" In response, Li Luo kept his mouth shut and ignored her completely. This made Li Hongli even more furious. Her face became greener, and steam seemed to be coming from her head.

At this point, Li Qingfeng stepped in. "There's no need to be so harsh with your words towards a girl. That's not very gentlemanly of you."

"Oh? Do you want some attention too?" Li Luo asked in surprise.

Li Qingfeng's expression changed immediately as well. He did not bother to say more.

Seeing this, the other Banner Leaders did not dare to talk to Li Luo.

A few moments later, space began to twist once again. A slender and tall figure stepped into the field, and a glazed rod full of cracks slammed into the ground with a crisp thud.

It was none other than Lu Qingmei.

She was wearing plain clothes on her delicate and exquisite body. Her short hair that barely covered her ears made her seem both sassy and capable whilst her long, slender, and straight legs were particularly eye-catching.

As soon as she entered the space, she could sense that the atmosphere was a bit off. This naturally piqued her curiosity, so she approached Li Luo, who was standing nearby.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"What happened here?" she asked.

Li Luo smiled and replied, "They aren't interested in speaking with me, it seems."

Lu Qingmei was confused by his reply, but she did not probe further. Instead, she observed Li Luo's body from head to toe and emphasized, "On the contrary, you seem to have attracted my interest."

Li Luo was shocked by her words. He looked at her with a complex expression. "Hey, you've ruined my plans. What's with this smooth flirting?"

She simply held up her glazed rod and slammed it into the ground once again. "I look forward to your performance. Although you will not have the aid of Harmony this time, I know that you've hidden a lot of aces up your sleeve. Please do not disappoint me."

Li Luo looked back at the martial arts fanatic helplessly. Her senses were clearly sharper than Li Hongli’s.

As two were speaking, violent waves started to appear in the misty space in front of the jade-green stage. Everyone's attention was instantly drawn towards it.

When the thick mist receded, everyone noticed an enormous, stone dragon appear in front of them, winding and hovering far into the distance.

The stone dragon was like a majestic mountain floating in the air. At the same time, there was an extremely terrifying aura of oppression around it that caused the surrounding space to tremble in its presence.

It seemed like the stone dragon was actually alive for a moment.

When everyone took a look at this object that was as tall as a mountain, they understood immediately. This was the first stage of the Battle of the Dragon's Head.

The Dragon's Ascent.