Chapter 1254: Ceremony of Ascent

Chapter 1254: Ceremony of Ascent

As Li Jingzhe's nonchalant words died down, the Ceremony of Ascent for the Five Guardian Armies officially commenced.

The first segment would be the announcement of promotions for the now-titled individuals. Following this, those in the same rank would be allowed to pick their opponents for the martial arts challenge.

However, everyone knew who the main characters for today were.

The guardians from the Dragon's Scale, Dragon's Bone, and Dragon's Horn Lineages all shrugged their shoulders and gave up their rights to challenge another for the martial arts competition. They did not want to waste time, much less get jeered at.

They were also dying to watch the fight today, to see who would emerge as the victor, especially with 80,000 dragon essence at stake.

This was a fight where the parties involved had a huge discrepancy in cultivation levels. Would it be a one-sided fight? Or would both sides be equally matched? Everyone looked forward in anticipation.

Under the bustling whispers from the crowd, two people separated from the Dragon's Blood Guardians and leaped onto the huge stage. Faint runes could be vaguely seen on the ground and the void surrounding it.

One of them was a strong and muscular male with grayish-yellow resonant power circling around his body. It gave the impression that an endless earthen field had materialized in the air, pressing down on everything and creating a sense of stability.

The person beside him was Li Qingbai, whom Li Luo had met back in the treasury.

"Right Dragon's Blood Envoy, Li Yuanshan."

"Dragon's Blood Guardians Fourth Grand Commander, Li Qingbai."

The two of them said in harmony, "I would like to ask for your guidance, Dragon's Fang Guardians."

As their voices rang in the air, the members of the Dragon's Fang Guardians all turned towards Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e. Their gazes were supportive, but a hint of worry could still be seen.

After all, their opponents were an upper third-grade and an upper first-grade Duke. Their resonant power and cultivation levels were clearly ahead of Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e’s.

If the two of them had not displayed exceptional talent time and again, no one would have even harbored any hope for them.

"Third Brother, Sister-in-law, all the best!" Li Fengyi cheered.

“Go for it! If you can't win, just retreat. It's alright as long as you're not hurt," Li Jingtao shouted.

Li Fengyi's eyes widened when she heard this. "It's not that simple. What will we do if Sister Hongyou is forced to leave?"

Li Jingtao smiled in response. "Isn't the Respected Elder here? If we actually lose, we can ask him to step forward and say a fair word for us. Currently, Sister Hongyou is part of the Dragon's Fang Lineage. If she didn't do anything wrong, we shouldn't force her to leave no matter what. Besides, the stakes are to force Sister Hongyou out of the Dragon's Fang Guardians. We didn't say when. So, we can let her go after waiting another one to two years, right?"

Those in the surroundings who heard his words stared at Li Jingtao's simple and honest face, tongue-tied.

Even an honest person knew how to bend the rules as well. Li Luo gave him a thumbs up and smiled. "Great idea, Elder Brother. If we do it that way, we cannot possibly lose!"

Li Fuluo added helplessly, "This is clearly the last resort. After all, news of the bet has spread across the city. If we take advantage of loopholes like this, it will only worsen the relationship between the two Guardian Armies and lead to greater conflicts in the future. As such, we'll only do this if there is really no other way."

He looked over at Jiang Qing'e and continued, "Regarding the matter with Li Hongyou, we can only shut the Dragon's Blood Guardians up for good if we beat them openly. You'll also obtain the dragon essences with peace of mind. Of course... This will undoubtedly be very challenging. To be honest, I can't even fathom how you'll be able to eke out a victory."

Jiang Qing'e nodded slightly. Her deep, golden eyes reflected the sunlight and her exquisite face attracted all the gazes from afar. However, she didn't pay much attention to them and just replied, "Back in the Xia Kingdom, I was only at the Heavenly Pearl Tier, whereas Li Luo was at the Earth Fiend tier. At that time, our opponents far surpassed us and no one thought that we would be able to win, but in the end... we stood victorious."

Li Luo grinned. He knew that Jiang Qing'e was referring to the Housemeet that concerned the life and death of House Luolan.

As such, they would not be able to deal with Li Hongyou as long as Li Jingzhe was present.

This opportunity was their very last chance to do so.

Dong!

A bell rang in the air, marking the start of the challenge. The crowd cheered excitedly.

Li Yuanshan took a heavy step forward. Enormous amounts of resonant power flooded out of him and his three Duke Bergfrieds took form, continuously devouring the worldly natural energy around it.

One of them had eight pillars whilst the other two had seven.

Each of the Duke Bergfrieds emitted a grayish-yellow radiance, and a giant dragon could be faintly seen in each of them.

The dragons’ bodies were surrounded by a grayish-white coating of light that gave them an air of stability.

Quasi ninth-grade Earth Dragon resonance!

Upper eighth-grade granite resonance!

Meanwhile, countless green lights shot out from above Li Qingbai's head too. A jade-green Duke Bergfried emerged from the lights, surrounded by seven pillars.

Above his Duke Bergfried was a giant tree that reached thousands of feet into the air. The tree was covered with sharp scales almost akin to numerous swords fused into a single entity. As the branches swung, it was as though thousands of swords were slicing through the air.

A giant, green dragon slowly coiled up around the trunk of the giant tree. The jade-green energy pulsing out of it seemed to contain unlimited amounts of vitality.

Upper eighth-grade Wood Dragon resonance!

Upper eighth-grade Swordscale Tree resonance!

Many elites of Heavenly Dragon City sighed at this sight. The Dragon's Blood Guardians were indeed the strongest amongst the Five Guardian Armies. The strength shown by these two was almost considered the peak amongst those at the same cultivation level.

A seven pillar Duke Bergfried was exceptional, and these individuals could be considered elites.

As they exclaimed in surprise, overflowing light resonant power shot up into the sky in response. The sea of light blanketed the entire sky, and a Duke Bergfried quietly floated in the middle with a sacred aura.

Everyone squinted curiously as they attempted to count the number of glazed pillars that stood tall around the perfect Duke Bergfried.

After a few moments, their already small eyes shrank even more.

They could see ten pillars supporting the Duke Bergfried!

A legendary Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried! The crowd burst into an uproar immediately.

At this moment, they finally understood why the other party had agreed despite the difference in strength.

The stunning beauty in front of them was actually...

An unrivaled genius!