Li Jinpan rolled up his sleeves and shouted back, "Oh? Do you want me to call more people over? Don't speak as if the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li can’t request backup. How many reinforcements are you calling over? I'll get the same number to a.s.sist us immediately! Don't forget, our Respected Elder is also at Heavenly Dragon Peak right now. Do you want to call the Divine Tiger King over too? Our Respected Elder is a Quasi-Triple Crown King now; I'm sure he'll be glad to catch up with some old friends!"
This left Zhao Jiao completely speechless. The news that Li Jingzhe was a Quasi-Triple Crown King and had gone alone to Abyssal City had already been made known to every major power. He had even injured Qin Jiujie during the incident. The Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao knew this better than everyone else.
The news caused a very big commotion in the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao, much larger than what outsiders were aware of. It was said that Divine Tiger King Zhao Zong was spending less time traveling the world as a result.
After all, the Divine Tiger King was just a Single Crowned King. If he went up against Li Jingzhe alone, he would be completely suppressed. Zhao Jiao's face turned extremely dark and uneasy. In his heart, he knew very well that the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li had the advantage here. If things really escalated and Li Jingzhe came knocking, the Divine Tiger King would be left in an awkward position.
If he fought, he would not be Li Jingzhe's match. If he didn't fight, it would bring shame to the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao.
When push came to shove and the Divine Tiger King became infuriated, he could even lash out at Zhao Jiao instead.
If it was going to be a losing fight, why would he call him over? Couldn't he put himself in the shoes of his leader? Fool!
While Zhao Jiao felt frustrated over this, Alliance Master Guanhu chimed in to persuade him. "Brother Zhao, now is not the time to fight. The Golden Stone Spirit Clams will be scared away and our harvest will be affected. We have waited patiently for an entire year; please don’t ruin it for everyone."
Zhao Jiao snorted coldly in his heart. Guan Hu was really an old and sly fox. He clearly hoped that the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li would intervene in this situation. That way, the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao wouldn't be able to swallow up the Golden Stone Valley so easily.
However, the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li was now on the rise. It was truly unwise to challenge them at the moment.
His topmost priority was also the harvest of the Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearls.
With that in mind, the resonant power around him gradually subsided. The seven Duke Bergfrieds above his head turned back into beams of light and flew back into him.
He landed from the sky, back atop the mountain where the others from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao had gathered.
The Divine Tiger Envoy Zhao Jiyun took another look at Jiang Qing'e. Then he grinned and ordered his men to retreat.
The tense confrontation had finally been resolved with the intervention of Guanhu.
Guanhu heaved out a sigh of relief in his heart as he watched the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao retreat. He turned over to Li Jinpan and cupped his hands together respectfully. "Hall Master Jinpan, the tide in the Golden Stone Valley should rise within half a month's time. As this is your first time visiting, I'll arrange for the relevant information to be sent over to you later."
Li Jinpan accepted his kind intentions with a smile. Although he had an impulsive nature, he could see that this old man was trying to get the two Heavenly Emperor powers to engage in conflict with each other. It didn't really matter though. If he could establish a foothold in the Golden Stone Valley, he could end up helping the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li gain yet another hunting ground in the future.
Seeing this, Guanhu turned around and departed.
Li Jinpan turned back in satisfaction. He walked over to Ox Biaobiao and Li Rouyun and said with a smile, "Those people from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao really deserve a beating. If we try to talk to them nicely, they'll only take advantage of us. We have to show them that we're stronger and force them to back off."
"It's too bad we didn't get to fight," Ox Biaobiao replied in agreement. He held onto the vicious-looking butchering knife by his waist, and his wrinkled face appeared really fierce.
Li Rouyun shrugged helplessly at the side. Clearly, these two guys were not made of the stuff that would allow one to negotiate peacefully. They would resort to violence upon any hint of disagreement and fight to the death even if they couldn't win.
Nonetheless, everything had worked out. It seemed like an unyielding personality was most suitable here. She finally understood why the Lineage Chief had sent over the impulsive Li Jinpan rather than the amiable Li Qingpeng.
Regardless, they had finally gotten themselves a spot in the Golden Stone Valley.
Next, they would wait for the tide to rise and join the harvest.
"The Golden Stone Valley is eight thousand miles long. However, the real goods lie in the area three thousand miles upstream. That is the area that produces high-grade Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearls, the ingredient needed for high-grade Foundational Spirit Treasures. Since we've already been here for five days, the tide will rise soon."
The Dragon's Fang Guardians had set up their encampment in a corner of the Golden Stone Valley. In one of their tents, Li Rouyun was explaining the information she knew to the others. Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e were present as well.
"When the tide rises, the deep valley shows its true form. Water will flood over the rocks and lure the Golden Stone Spirit Clams out of hiding. Strictly speaking, the Golden Stone Spirit Clams aren't really clams. They are magical objects transformed from the golden stone that exists here. They're so resilient that even ordinary Dukes have trouble breaking them apart. As such, we'll have to wait for them to open up their sh.e.l.ls after they've revealed themselves. This will be our best chance to obtain the pearls."
"It's said that there is a king Golden Stone Spirit Clam. Known as the Golden Stone Spirit Clam King, the Sovereign Pearl from it is the perfect ingredient for refining top-grade Foundational Spirit Treasures. It is extremely valuable and also extremely rare. Usually, it's very cautious and is hardly spotted. The number of people who have found one throughout the years can be easily counted with our fingers."
"Golden Stone Spirit Clam King? Sovereign Pearl?" Li Luo's heart skipped a beat when he heard about this. The higher grade the Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearl, the more it would help when he used it to evolve his dragon resonance into a Heavenly Dragon resonance. In that case, wouldn't his success rate be much higher if he could get ahold of the Sovereign Pearl?