Chapter 0942: Leader

When Li Luo arrived at the third cabin, he realized that numerous individuals had gathered. All of the squads from the five lineages had arrived, showing that Li Wuyuan's prestige and influence was quite considerable.

When the group of three arrived, numerous gazes shot over. Li Luo was not new to the Dragon's Fang Lineage, and he was also the newest Dragon's Head as well as the highest ranked Banner Leader in the Fiendish Devil Cave. These titles represented that he was the undisputed number one in his generation.

Although the ones attending the Spiritual Resonance Cave were from the previous generation of the Twenty Banners and Li Wuyuan was the Dragon's Head back then, Li Luo's position could not be ignored either.

"Over here!" Li Fengyi's voice rang out. When Li Luo looked over, he saw the people from the Dragon's Fang Lineage gathered over at her location. Beside her was Li Jingtao, Li Fuling, and the rest.

As he made his way over, he passed by the Dragon's Scale Lineage's squad. Noticing Lu Qingmei, gave her a friendly greeting.

Lu Qingmei acknowledged him with a nod, though her gaze towards Li Luo turned a little fiery. This was not because she had any special feelings for him, but rather a naked admission that now he was an even better opponent than before.

By Lu Qingmei's side was a tall and well-built youth who similarly stared at Li Luo. He then flashed a smile towards Lu Qingmei. "Junior Sister Qingmei, is he this generation's Dragon's Head? He's only at the Fiend Finisher Tier and yet can sit firmly on his seat. This is something that has never happened in the history of the Twenty Banners."

The youth's name was Li Guan. He was the previous generation's Holy Scale Banner Leader and was currently comparable in strength to Li Fuling, being at the seven-pearl tier. Lu Qingmei calmly replied, "Li Luo possesses triple resonances, so even though he's only at the Fiend Finisher Tier, his resonant power is extremely robust, comparable to someone with an eighth-grade resonance at the one-pearl tier. Additionally, he has cultivated a Destiny-grade Duke Art and is easily able to fight against a two-pearl. I have a feeling that when he steps into the Heavenly Pearl Tier, not even a four or five-pearl will be his match."

Li Guan's eyebrows jumped. Lu Qingmei's evaluation of him was exceptional, but it was unfortunate that the gathering Li Wuyuan had organized today was directly targeted at Li Luo. The Dragon's Blood Lineage's four banners had tyrannically monopolized the position of Dragon's Head for countless generations, and Li Luo, having broken the stalemate, would incite retaliation.

At the very least, they would look to suppress his sharp edge and halt his momentum.

The Heavenly Dragon's Five Lineages belonged to the same family, but internal competition was brutal. Under the gazes of everyone present, Li Luo made his way towards Li Fengyi. The moment he paused, the sound of laughter rang out. "Is this the newest Dragon's Head?"

Li Luo traced the source of the laughter to the Dragon's Blood Lineage. There was a youth wearing a dark-red battlesuit, and his gaze was peerlessly sharp, giving off an aggressive intent as he was stared at.

Naturally, it was Li Wuyuan.

Li Luo returned the smile. "Greetings, Senior Li Wuyuan."

Based on seniority, he should have been addressed as “Senior Cousin,” but since they were not familiar with each other, Li Luo couldn't be bothered to even try.

"Junior Brother Li Luo, you are late. Is this how the Dragon's Fang Lineage does things? Always acting so casually? Your personality will cause you to suffer when you enter the Dragon's Fang Guardians." Li Wuyuan smiled cheerily as he rebuked like a senior guiding a junior.

Beside him, Li Hongli's arms were crossed as she gleefully watched Li Wuyuan targeting Li Luo. Li Luo had swept away all his opponents, and it was rare to see anyone suppress him.

Never losing in a battle of words, Li Luo helplessly retorted, "Do you have an abundance of free time, Senior Brother Wuyuan? Why waste everyone's time by gathering all of the squads to speak of meaningless frivolities?''

This caused Li Wuyuan's eyes to shrink. He shot a razor-sharp gaze at Li Luo for a few breaths before he indifferently smiled. "Junior Brother Li Luo, aren't you acting out of line? The Twenty Banners can be considered to be beneath the Five Guardian Armies."

Li Luo paused for a moment before removing the Green Nether Hall Master's plaque from his pocket sphere and displaying a warm smile. "I'm sorry, I'm the representative for the Green Nether Hall Master. Although it is only temporary, if you want to talk about our respective positions, then you should not be referring to me as ‘Junior Brother.’ The correct title should be ‘Hall Master,’ specifically for you."

This caused the atmosphere to freeze up, and everyone stared at the Green Nether Main Hall Master plaque with strange looks. The position of Main Hall Master possessed significant influence and might. Much less Li Wuyuan, even the Grand Commanders of the Five Guardian Armies had to treat Li Luo with respect.

However... Li Luo only had Fiend Finisher Tier strength. Why would Lineage Chief Li Jingzhe give the Green Nether Hall Master plaque to him? Additionally, he had even temporarily given him the role?

Was this some sort of children’s game?

Still, Li Jingzhe was the Dragon's Fang Lineage's Lineage Chief, and not even the Dragon's Blood Lineage's Li Tianji could question his decisions.

Thus, when faced with the plaque in Li Luo’s hand, everyone could only gulp as they watched the scene unfold.

"I wanted to interact with you on equal terms, but then you went ahead and pulled rank. How can I feel comfortable when I’m placed in such a position?" Li Luo sighed unhappily. Li Wuyuan's expression had turned stiff. He had no idea that Li Luo held such an important position. Did the Dragon's Fang Lineage simply do as they pleased? Lineage Chief Li Jingzhe spoiled Li Luo a little too much!

With a face full of smiles, Li Luo then waved the plaque in his face.

Li Wuyuan deeply sighed before he respectfully clasped his hands. "Greetings, Hall Master Li Luo."

However, his body remained as rigid as a lifeless corpse, while his eyes burned with seething fury.

All of the excitement that had bubbled up within Li Hongli and the rest had also vanished.

However, Li Luo did not push his luck; he slowly stashed away the plaque. "Forget it. Why don't we just speak our minds? Otherwise, others might think that I, the Hall Master, am bullying an inferior."

These words caused the rest to relax a little. Otherwise, they would have made up excuses to escape, to prevent a situation where they had to greet Li Luo based on his title.

Li Wuyuan snorted in his heart. “Why didn't he say that earlier? Before I had to greet him!”

His expression calmed down and he calmly replied, "I have gathered all the squads to discuss our strategy in the Spiritual Resonance Cave. The cave will be full of individuals from all sorts of powers, and even some rogue cultivators will be in the mix. Although we are from a Heavenly Emperor power, we cannot let our guard down, and we have to work together. There are also geniuses from other similar powers that are eyeing us covetously. Our numbers are not small, and I believe we need a leader to properly display our combined strengths and take command over the situation to prevent trouble from occurring."

He clearly stated his opinion right off the bat.

The group before him did not reject his intentions. There were quite a number of them, and they might not be able to coordinate well if they worked together. That would only spell disaster.

"Since we have to choose a leader, naturally the strongest amongst us will take charge. Thus, I feel that Cousin Li Wuyuan is the best fit," Li Hongli immediately proposed.

The people from the Dragon's Blood Lineage immediately voiced their support.

"Hmph. I feel that based on our ranks, Li Luo as the Green Nether Hall Master is best suited for the role," Li Fengyi retorted. How could she not tell that the Dragon's Blood Lineage was just planning to prop Li Wuyuan up into the role? If he was able to command all the squads and had unkind intentions, he might simply relegate the Dragon's Fang Lineage to the most dangerous roles, forcing them to fight to the death in order to preserve harmony within the group.

"The Spiritual Resonance Cave is full of talented individuals from the other powers. Would they hold any regard towards our Hall Master?" Li Hongli coolly enunciated.

Someone from the Dragon's Bone Lineage then expressed his support. "Strength is king in the Dragon's Bone Lineage."

Some individuals from the other lineages similarly nodded in agreement. The Spiritual Resonance Cave was full of strong foes, and only one's strength would reign supreme. Parties would only reach a consensus when the leader’s strength was respected.

Li Fengyi clenched her teeth, keen on retorting, but Li Fuling held her back. She then took a step forward and calmly said,. "Since strength is what matters, we'll have to fight and see who is truly the best."

Li Fuling understood Li Fengyi's worries, and since they were all from the Dragon's Fang Lineage, she would naturally support her.

Li Wuyuan's gaze fell upon Li Fuling, and a hint of a smile could be seen in the corner of his lips. "Li Fuling, we've exchanged blows many times, yet you've never won. What need is there to fight? If you really want to, I'll naturally give you the chance."

Li Wuyuan waved his sleeve, and a yellow light shot out. It transformed into a large, yellow cauldron decorated with the carvings of tens of thousands of large mountains. It radiated a sense of immense weight.

The appearance of the cauldron caused the expressions of the crowd to change.

"That is Li Wuyuan's Ten Thousand Mountains Heavy Cauldron. It might be a purple-eye treasured artifact, but its weight is exceptional. No one below the eight-pearl tier can deal with it, and it is unknown just how many people were simply crushed by it during exchanges in the Five Guardian Armies," someone from the Five Guardian Armies said.

"Li Fuling, if you can receive an attack from me, you will have the right to compete for the spot of leader." Li Wuyuan gave a wry smile. The cauldron was then shrouded with the force of enhanced gravity, causing the air to tremble as it directly pushed down towards Li Wuyuan.

When Li Fuling saw this, she hurriedly pushed Li Fengyi away, and her expression turned solemn. Gritting her teeth, resonant power poured out of her body without pause, and seven Heavenly Pearls appeared behind her, swallowing vast amounts of worldly natural energy.

She pushed outwards with a palm, then an energy palm manifested and directly clashed with the large cauldron.

Weng!

Berserk amounts of energy blasted out in every direction, forcing everyone nearby to stumble backwards.

However, their gazes remained affixed to the battle, closely watching the clash. They only saw the domineering cauldron resolutely pushing forward and the palm manifestation being pushed back, slowly fragmenting in the process.

Clearly, Li Fuling’s seven-pearl strength was unable to resist Li Wuyuan's cauldron's suppression.

No one was surprised by this outcome. Li Fuling had already been defeated countless times before this.

Li Wuyuan leisurely watched the sight as his lips curled up into a smile.

The people from the Dragon's Blood Lineage were also cheering and praising Li Wuyuan's indomitable might. This was the power of the previous generation's Dragon's Head!

Peng!

As the spectators continued to chatter, the heavy cauldron continued to press downwards. The palm manifestation, unable to resist any longer, shattered into motes of light.

The cauldron descended upon Li Fuling with unstoppable vigor, and her expression became unbearably ugly.

However, a slender, jade-like arm stretched out just as it was about to strike her, forming a fist.

It then crashed into the heavy cauldron.

Dong!

A crisp sound rang out, and energy swept across the entire area.

To everyone's surprise, the heavy cauldron that Li Fuling was unable to struggle against was sent flying by a single punch, left to crash into the floor with its full weight. The room was protected by countless energy runes that began to show signs of breaking.

The atmosphere in the massive ship fell silent.

The shocked glances then turned towards the one who had struck out. The culprit was a young lady whom they had no recollection of. She flashed a confident smile at their shell-shocked faces. "Wow… what a heavy cauldron. My hand does feel a little sore after hitting it..."