Lighting Lanterns in the Mountains and Seas

The event happened suddenly; no one expected Li Hongji to display such formidable strength, even forcing Yan Zhili back, and yet there were those brave enough to enter Li Hongji's territory.

By the time Shi Chun found out, Su Jikuan's team was already on the move, galloping without pause, and had left land behind, surging into the sea, ahead of Shi Chun's group.

It was only then that the Heavenly Court Command Center realized that someone was knowingly heading into the tiger's den.

Of course, bringing such a large force might also be intended to search for Feng Yin's whereabouts, as everyone wanted to take his life while he was seriously injured.

However, the Heavenly Court Command Center knew quite a bit about Su Jikuan, realizing that he was very likely to do something out of line, and had to remind Shi Chun and his group to prepare for the worst.

Therefore, there were plans for cooperative defense, as confirmed from Shi Chun's side, they had already secured over a hundred tokens, which even the strongest teams had to fight hard to capture, so they could not be easily ceded to others.

Commander Manxi's thoughts instinctively turned to the strongest person on their side.

Previously, seeing other top cards moving, he had urgently deployed Dongguo Shou for reinforcement, but Li Hongji resolved the situation, so Dongguo Shou was ordered to stop reinforcement and attend to his own tasks.

Now, Manxi instinctively asked, "Where is Dongguo Shou?"

The subordinate responsible for communication replied, "After being ordered to stop sea reinforcement, he inquired about the detailed battle situation at sea and then remained stationary, allowing his troops to pause and rest."

Manxi wanted to speak but reconsidered Li Hongji's strength, coupled with Shi Chun's party already getting a warning, feeling it unnecessary to overreact, swallowed back his words.

Not to mention the Heavenly Court or other teams, even the Beiju Command Center only realized something was wrong after Su Jikuan's team had set to sea, reacting slower than the prudent Heavenly Court Team.

Yet, Su Jikuan's force was initially headed toward Li Hongji.

The issue stemmed from Situ Zhen's disappearance; after the Beiju Command Center lost the chance to use Situ Zhen to locate Shi Chun, Lan She remained worried about the Thunder Sound Sect, as Yan Zhili and Feng Yin had both gone that way, so ultimately, Su Jikuan was dispatched as a precaution.

However, while they were still en route, a sudden change at sea had already decided the outcome: Li Hongji, with a single move, took down over twenty thousand troops—such terrifying power. Lan She couldn't let Su Jikuan's team take risks, informed them of the battle situation, and warned them to be especially cautious of Li Hongji in the future.

Yet Su Jikuan argued it was best to meet up with the Thunder Sound Sect members as a precaution.

With this good intention, for the safety of his peers, Lan She did not stop him, especially since Chongxing and the others were clearly injured, and those who survived were mostly of Centurion level, each having tokens. Meeting them would undoubtedly be more secure.

Other teams believed Su Jikuan went for this purpose.

However, the issue arose at this moment; after Su Jikuan met with the defeated Chongxing's group, there was no indication of turning back. He inquired with the Command Center, confirmed Li Hongji's group was still in the same spot, and then continued advancing at sea.

Commander Lan She thus realized something might be off, knowing Su Jikuan's penchant, couldn't hold back, directly took the Magic Artifact for communication, and personally sent a stern question: "This is Lan She; Su Jikuan, what are you doing?"

Flying through the air, Su Jikuan pulled out a token, glanced at it, and countered, "I wonder if the Commander has estimated the number of tokens in Li Hongji's possession?"

Lan She was not buying it, sternly warned, "Li Hongji's self-created technique named 'Borrowed Realm'; previously not understanding its meaning, only now realizing the profound intent of 'borrowing.' He can harness the mighty waves at sea, colliding with him there is extremely unwise. Many have learned from past mistakes; do not act rashly, quickly lead your team back."

Su Jikuan replied, "The Commander's words are quite reasonable, but to me, his tricks are but petty acts. If I were not confident in breaking them, would I easily take risks? Rest assured, Commander, others dread daring to face him; no one competes with me. With Li Hongji complacent in place, those tokens are within easy reach. Would it not be a sin to ignore heaven's gifts?"

Seeing he was so confident, Lan She hesitated, considering, after all, it was over a hundred tokens, which would take a long battle to seize.

Recognizing Su Jikuan's well-deserved reputation and his extraordinary stature with the Divine Sect, Lan She reconfirmed, "Are you confident?"

Su Jikuan firmly responded, "If I boast groundlessly, then I will present my head to the Commander afterward."

Given the situation, Lan She could only agree, "Very well, you may handle this matter as you see fit."

Su Jikuan responded, "I will not disappoint the Commander's high hopes."

The leading fighters of each team were closely watched by all sides, and Su Jikuan's unusual actions naturally drew the attention of others.

Especially Nanshan Team's Commander Ming Chaofeng, who, confirming that Li Hongji had unleashed his might and defeated all parties, immediately ordered the top fighter from Little Xuan Sect, Luo Que, to halt his approach.

Mainly out of fear of alarming the snake.

It couldn't be helped; if we exclude the birthplace of the Saint King from West Bull King Court, the number one sect in the Cultivation World is Little Xuan Sect.

Why should the normal ranking exclude the birthplace of that Saint King? It's because that Saint King himself stated that his clansmen do not participate in these rankings.

The Phoenix Clan claimed they do not engage in such rankings, and everyone left it at that, yet no one dared to casually strip them of their number one crown, nor invite their members to the Battle of Great Pardon.

Furthermore, Little Xuan Sect usually admits to being second with modesty.

If that clan truly refrains from ranking, then the leading sect in the Cultivation World is Little Xuan Sect, second is the Carefree Sect where Dongguo Shou resides, third is the Divine Sect with Su Jikuan, and fourth is the Su Yuan Sect with Mu Lanqing.

The Little Xuan Sect, ranked first, was mobilized, and Ming Chaofeng feared it might alarm other parties, especially worrying about alerting the Heavenly Court Team.

Due to his hidden motives, once he learned that the one taking action was Li Hongjiu, he sent someone to contact Li Hongjiu, hoping to order him to seize those tokens.

No matter what, Li Hongjiu is after all a disciple of Yanbao Sect, how can he disregard the sect's righteousness?

Such private scheming must not let the Heavenly Court Team detect it, for surely they would contact Shi Chun to counteract, and thus, he halted Luo Que to avoid alerting the enemy.

Upon perceiving Su Jikuan's movements, a sense of worry naturally arose, mixed with regret, lamenting his late realization that the one striking at sea was Li Hongjiu, causing the dispatched person to also set off late, falling far behind Su Jikuan.

With Beiju's main asset deployed, he instinctively thought of his own ace, subconsciously asking, "Where is Luo Que positioned?"

His subordinate responded, "After the halt order, she remained stationary, without any movement."

Ming Chaofeng nodded satisfactorily, suddenly feeling something was off, and further questioned, "From the halt until now, she hasn't done anything?"

The subordinate said, "She just inquired about Li Hongjiu's actions in detail, nothing else."

Looking at the distances shown on the Mountain River Map, Ming Chaofeng ultimately decided to abandon using Luo Que, as time was insufficient. If Su Jikuan really went recklessly, even if Luo Que reacted now, she wouldn't make it in time.

Moreover, he had strong confidence in his own junior disciple's strength, even hoping Su Jikuan would fall into his junior's hands like Feng Yin did, yielding more tokens.

Soon after, his junior Pu Gong suddenly exclaimed, "Dongguo Shou from the Heavenly Court seems to have been stationary for quite a while too."

Ming Chaofeng, feeling something was wrong, suddenly had an inappropriate thought flash across his mind, and loudly asked, "What's the status of Yan Zhili from East Victory?"

The adequately attentive individual didn't require verification, directly replied, "He also has stopped moving."

Pu Gong puzzledly said, "Among the four top players, only Su Jikuan is moving, while the others coincidentally stopped, how strange..."

Ming Chaofeng already pointed at his subordinates and commanded, "Quickly contact the other centurions under Luo Que, and inquire about Luo Que's position."

The subordinate hurriedly complied.

Soon, the subordinate responsible for contact suddenly reported, "Commander, Luo Que has quietly left the team, only a few are aware, she left tokens and other items, telling everyone to rest in place, said she's going out for a stroll."

Pu Gong's heart involuntarily skipped a beat, suddenly realizing something, vaguely guessing Luo Que's whereabouts.

Ming Chaofeng's expression instantly darkened, gritting his teeth, "What is she up to? Who can get in touch with her, have her report back immediately."

Thus, the relevant personnel got busy again, but the results weren't good, Luo Que went missing, even her sect fellow couldn't get a reply upon contact.

This situation caused Pu Gong's heart to pound rapidly, asking in a low voice, "Senior brother, could she have gone to take action against Li?"

Ming Chaofeng sinisterly said, "She wouldn't dare! To act against her own, does she think I wouldn't dare to execute her later?"

Though he spoke such words, he still turned back and ordered, "Do not stop, keep trying to contact her."

By the roaring seaside where waves crashed endlessly, the remaining forces of East Victory, having hurriedly retreated from the sea, were sitting cross-legged to heal.

Only Yan Zhili stood atop a high rock, gazing afar at the dusky sea and sky line, with a slightly stern expression, robes fluttering free without the battle armor restraint.

To say that leaving unwillingly wasn't incorrect.

Li Hongjiu's strike not only injured his body, but to him, also wounded the face of Su Yuan Sect.

Many witnessed it, being publicly beaten into retreat.

But he also had no choice, the opponent's attack was exceedingly powerful, notably, he didn't even see his opponent's whereabouts, had he seen where the opponent was, he might not have lost, and possibly could have still turned to fight.

The crux was not even having acted before he was declared defeated, how could he be willing?

He was waiting, waiting for Li Hongjiu to come ashore.

This encounter wouldn't concern token seizure, he intended to battle Li Hongjiu once more, not only to distinguish victory and defeat, but to decide life and death.

This is the characteristic of Su Yuan Sect's cultivation technique, either doesn't act, or once acts, tends to result in life and death.

On the high platform of East Victory's command center, Wei Mo gloomily stared at the Heavenly Mirror, the image within showing Yan Zhili's desolate look standing by the seaside.

There wasn't a way, Wei Mo found himself, the commander, unable to direct Yan Zhili's retreat, the latter remained indifferent, so he had to see what this person was doing.