The others agreed with him. Fighting off so many powerful foes across thousands of miles was indeed a heroic feat.
Jiang Qing'e's golden pupils glanced briefly behind her. She could tell that an impressive opponent, with resonant power comparable to hers, was catching up to them very quickly.
It was none other than the Divine Tiger Guardians from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao, along with their leader, the Divine Tiger Envoy Zhao Jiyun.
This fellow was a shrewd one. All this while he had opted to keep pace, lagging one step behind them and monitoring the situation from behind. Undoubtedly, he must have planned to make use of the other pursuers to wear them down.
However, judging by his rapidly increasing speed, he must have run out of patience.
Jiang Qing'e thought about it for a moment. She then turned towards Li Luo and told him, "Li Luo, I think it's about time we split up. I will take three thousand Guardians and stop the pursuers here. Xia Yu and you will each take a thousand Guardians and continue sprinting back to the Heavenly Dragon Peak. I will buy enough time for you."
Li Luo frowned when he heard this. "You want to stay behind to cut off our pursuers?"
Jiang Qing'e explained to him calmly, "The most important thing right now is to bring the Sovereign Pearls back. We cannot get caught up with them. Once we're entangled, those watching us from the sidelines will begin to make their move too. This is extremely disadvantageous for us. If we split up here, we can separate those who covet our treasures. This will give us a better chance of success. You don't have to worry about me. In fact, it's more dangerous for you if we separate. There will still be people chasing after you and I will not be around to protect you. You'll be on your own for the remaining leg of the journey back."
Li Luo shook his head after hearing her. "No way. I think it's better if we stay to fight together. If we lose, we'll just have to accept it."
Jiang Qing'e responded immediately, "Don't act impulsively, Li Luo. Our current situation is akin to being trapped in a spider web, and more and more webs are being spun up around us. We have to act decisively in order to break this trap. If we linger here and put up a struggle, we'll only give the others more time to prepare. In the end, we'll truly be completely trapped. At that time, we will have no choice but to hand over the Sovereign Pearls whether we like it or not."
Li Luo shrugged and answered nonchalantly, "We'll hand them over, then. In my eyes, they're worth nothing compared to you."
Jiang Qing'e's gaze turned warm and gentle as she stepped closer to Li Luo. She grabbed his hand and told him softly, "Just like how you can forsake the Sovereign Pearls for me, how can I have the heart to make you give them up so easily?"
Her red lips moved beside Li Luo's ears and she whispered with a hint of charm, "Bring the Sovereign Pearl back to Heavenly Dragon Peak, and I'll reward you."
Li Luo didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or cry at this. "Do you think you're trying to coax a kid?"
Nonetheless, he sighed and gave up arguing. He knew that Jiang Qing'e had already set her mind to the task.
At present, it was indeed the best choice for them.
Xia Yu also chimed in at this point. "Don't worry, Li Luo. With Dragon Fang Envoy Jiang's strength, she will at least be able to escape as long as we're not around. If we're around, she will be distracted trying to protect us."
Li Luo was silent for a few moments. "We'll leave another thousand Guardians with you."
Jiang Qing'e shook her head. "One more group of Thousand Guardians won’t make much of a difference. Rather, the moment you're captured, all our efforts will be for naught."
She looked into Li Luo's eyes and told him gently, "Li Luo, if the situation reaches a critical point, you can hand over a Sovereign Pearl and let the pursuers fight over it. You can make use of that chance to escape."
Li Luo pursed his lips. The second Sovereign Pearl was reserved for Jiang Qing'e; how would he hand it over so easily?
He felt a little down and depressed in his heart. At the end of the day, it was all because he was too weak. If he had already entered the Duke Stage, their situation would be vastly different. This was precisely the reason why he wanted a Sovereign Pearl—he wanted to use it to obtain a Heavenly Dragon resonance. He wanted to get stronger. The challenges that they would face in the upcoming expedition to the World's End River Treasure Domain would be much more precarious than their situation today.
Li Luo turned towards Li Hongyou and asked earnestly, "Senior Hongyou, please stay behind with Sister Qing'e."
Jiang Qing'e would be much stronger with Li Hongyou's support.
She wanted to open her mouth, but before she said anything, she saw the determined look in Li Luo's eyes. She knew that this was his bottom line. If she didn't agree to it, Li Luo wouldn't agree to leave on his own.
"Alright." She nodded with a light smile. "Don't worry, I will stay with Qing'e until the end."
"Thank you, Sister Qing'e. You just need to delay them for a while. Retreat quickly afterwards. Don't stay behind for too long," Li Luo reminded her.
Jiang Qing'e nodded slightly. In the next moment, Xia Yu and Li Luo each led a group of a thousand Guardians and dashed off in the direction of Heavenly Dragon Peak.
The remaining three groups of a thousand Guardians got into formation and stood behind Jiang Qing'e.
She held firmly onto her heavy sword and turned around. Her golden gaze stared coldly to her front. After they had split up, there was a commotion coming from their pursuers. Shortly after, an immense beam of energy shot towards her, which, upon closer look, was a manifestation of a ferocious tiger overflowing with endless amounts of vigor.
Zhao Jiyun stood at the head of the tiger as the leader. He looked back at Jiang Qing'e and said, enunciating his words slowly, "Dragon Fang Envoy Jiang, surely you aren't thinking of stopping all of us alone, are you?"
Jiang Qing'e did not plan to waste her breath talking to him. Her Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried rose up into the air and brilliant bright light burst out. Then three light Spirit Avatars appeared behind her, and an endless amount of pure and concentrated light resonant power channeled into her body.
Zhao Jiyun's face gradually turned serious as he looked at her. Jiang Qing'e was just a first-grade Duke, but her resonant power was comparable to that of a third-grade Duke thanks to her triple ninth-grade light resonances and Ten-Pillar Duke Bergfried.
Although her power had weakened a little after Li Luo left with two groups of a thousand Guardians, she had merely fallen from the peak of the lower Fifth Duke Stage to an ordinary lower fifth-grade Duke. Zhao Jiyun's eyes flickered as he turned his head in another direction. He said with a smile, "Since you're all here, there is no need to hide. If we don't defeat Jiang Qing'e now, I don't think we'll be able to get past her." As soon as he finished speaking, three people flew towards them and landed a few hundred feet away from Zhao Jiyun.
Five towering Duke Bergfrieds appeared above each of their heads. Each sucked in copious amounts of worldly natural energy from the surroundings with a loud roar.
Clearly, all three of them were fifth-grade Dukes!
The faces of those watching from the shadows changed a little when they saw this trio. They recognized that the three fifth-grade Dukes were renowned rogue cultivators in the World's End River Region.
Each of them was no weaker than Jiang Qing'e with the aid of the Guardians. All three of them, coupled with Zhao Jiyun, had put Jiang Qing'e in a very disadvantageous situation.
"Zhao Zhuoyan, Zhao Zhu, each of you will take a thousand Guardians and chase after Li Luo. Do not let him get past Black Soul Peak," Zhao Jiyun ordered confidently. Jiang Qing'e might have had unrivaled talent, but she was ultimately a first-grade Duke. Even with the additional help, surely she wouldn't be able to fight against all four of them alone, right? Nonetheless, he understood that Jiang Qing'e was just trying to buy time over here. If they let Li Luo escape back to Heavenly Dragon Peak, it would be a huge disgrace for them.
"Yes, Sir!"
The two of them followed the order immediately. Zhao Zhuoyan was the First Grand Commander of the Divine Tiger Guardians and a lower second-grade Duke, one notch above Xia Yu. Zhao Zhu was the Second Grand Commander, an upper first-grade Duke. The two of them were stronger than Xia Yu and Li Luo and hence, Zhao Jiyun had great confidence in them. Zhao Zhuoyan and Zhao Zhu each took a thousand Guardians and made their way around Jiang Qing'e. Then they burst forward and flew across the sky.
Jiang Qing'e took a glance at them before looking back. She did not try to stop them. After all, there were Zhao Jiyun and three fifth-grade Dukes in front of her. If she had taken a single step, they would have taken the opportunity to attack her immediately.
Besides, the strength of the forces going past her was within her estimations.
They must have felt that such a force would be sufficient to bring down Li Luo. However, she had great confidence in her fiance. Everyone was too focused on her strength and had neglected him, the one who they should have looked more closely at.
Jiang Qing'e knew that although she had managed to tie down a group of strong opponents, Li Luo's side wouldn't have it easy either. However, she would have to trust in him.
The only thing she could do right now was make sure Zhao Jiyun and these fifth-grade Dukes remained here, regardless of the cost. Jiang Qing'e lowered her eyes and formed hand seals quickly.
A moment later, divine light shone out from the Sacred Crown of Thorns, taking on a blood-red hue.
In just a few moments, the Sacred Crown of Thorns became... the b.l.o.o.d.y Crown of Thorns!
At the same time, the energy waves coming from Jiang Qing'e had grown wildly stronger. The faces of Zhao Jiyun and the rest changed immediately.