Chapter 1004: Heavenly Lotus Cold Qi

While Li Luo and Lv Qing'er were speaking of those old acquaintances from Daxia, they had also reached the top of the icy high platform, where a snow-white ice lotus bloomed in quiet stillness; every petal was inscribed with ancient and mysterious patterns, as if formed by heaven itself.

The petals still rose and fell gently, breathing as if possessed of life, wave after wave of bone-piercing cold qi radiating outward, causing even the void to show signs of freezing.

"What terrifying cold qi," Li Luo said, his gaze sharpening as he stared at the wondrous ice lotus.

"This is the Ice God Lotus, an extremely rare ice-attribute marvel. Moreover, it has already grown here for ten thousand years and long since given birth to an ice spirit. For one who bears an ice aspect, it possesses incredible miraculous effects. I came to the Spiritual Aspect Cave Heaven this time precisely to obtain this thing," Lv Qing'er said without concealment, telling him the truth plainly.

"It truly is a top-tier marvel," Li Luo nodded. Judging from the wondrous charm radiating from this "Ice God Lotus" before his eyes, this thing was likely the highest-grade marvel he had ever seen; in terms of grade and rarity, it was in no way inferior to the "Nine Mark Sacred Heart Lotus" he had obtained only after enduring countless hardships.

If this thing were auctioned at the Golden Dragon Treasury, it would surely fetch an astronomical price, one that would even draw bids from the various Li Tianwang-level powers.

"It seems the intelligence capability of the Golden Dragon Treasury is truly extraordinary. While others are still fighting over trivial things, you are able to find such a top-grade marvel," Li Luo praised.

The treasures they had previously obtained, even the "Jade Bamboo Green Snake Staff," would pale in comparison to this "Ice God Lotus."

By Li Luo's estimate, the value of this thing was likely comparable to a Si Si Tianming-grade Marquis Art.

"You're quite generous. Knowing full well such a marvel was here, you still brought me up," Li Luo said with a smile. Lv Qing'er truly trusted him; normally, for such a wondrous treasure, one would first send people away before coming to take it. How could it be like this, instead bringing him along and explaining its value in detail?

"If I cannot even trust you, who else in this world could I trust?" Lv Qing'er said softly.

Li Luo nodded and sighed, "Qing'er, you're still the same as ever — you can see my hidden good points at a single glance."

Lv Qing'er shot him a look, but the slight upward curl of her lips betrayed the joy within.

"Besides its own miraculous properties, the cold qi radiating from this 'Ice God Lotus' is no ordinary thing either. This cold qi is called 'Heavenly Lotus Cold Qi,' and it counts as one of the highest-grade among the many ice-cold attribute marvels. At the same time, it has the power to shield the heart and spirit, repelling all external evils."

Lv Qing'er's jade finger pointed at the terrifying cold qi that occasionally radiated from the "Ice God Lotus," and she smiled charmingly, "How about this — the 'Ice God Lotus' goes to me, and I give you this 'Heavenly Lotus Cold Qi,' alright?"

Li Luo waved his hand and said, "There's no need. I don't have an ice aspect affinity, so taking this cold qi wouldn't be of much use. Between you and me, there's no need for such politeness."

"No!"

Yet Lv Qing'er stubbornly shook her head.

At the same time she had already taken action, producing a box seemingly cast from cold iron, sealed with light-pattern runes upon it. She tossed out the box and activated the seal technique, and immediately strands of "Heavenly Lotus Cold Qi" from the "Ice God Lotus" rose up one by one, flowing into the box.

As more and more "Heavenly Lotus Cold Qi" gathered, a lotus-shaped ice crystal about the size of a thumb appeared within the box, and terrifying cold qi instantly burst forth, causing the air to freeze continuously.

Lv Qing'er swiftly closed the box, activating the sealing runes upon it. Only after the cold qi was contained did she hand it to Li Luo.

"You must accept it!" she said earnestly.

Seeing her so serious, Li Luo was somewhat helpless. He gazed at the cold iron box, but then his heart stirred. Although this thing was useless to him now, in the future if he could open a new aspect palace, and if he still needed to refine an Acquired Aspect, this high-grade ice-aspect marvel would be an excellent raw material.

An ice aspect was not entirely out of consideration.

Thinking this, Li Luo nodded and reached out to take the cold iron box. The moment it touched his hand, a bone-piercing cold qi invaded his body through his palm, causing Li Luo to shiver.

He then hurriedly stored the item into his "Space Sphere."

Seeing Li Luo accept it, Lv Qing'er finally nodded in satisfaction. At the same time, her red lips parted slightly, and a snow-white ice pearl emerged from her small mouth.

The ice pearl flew out, hovering above the "Ice God Lotus," then slowly descended, as if transforming into a circular cover that directly enveloped the "Ice God Lotus" within.

Then the ice pearl continuously shrank, finally becoming about the size of a thumb.

However, the "Ice God Lotus" on the icy platform vanished along with it. Looking inside the ice pearl, an exquisitely delicate miniature ice lotus had appeared.

Such an elaborate method of collection left Li Luo somewhat tongue-tied.

Seeing the collection succeed, Lv Qing'er's eyes showed delight. Her rosy small mouth opened, and she swallowed the ice pearl back into her belly.

With the ice pearl entering her body, faint ice-like patterns seemed to appear and disappear on Lv Qing'er's snow-white, ice-like skin. At this moment, her temperament appeared even more aloof and cold. When she stood silent and still, she truly resembled a snow fairy — pure as ice, transcendent and otherworldly, inspiring awe that forbade approach or desecration.

"Qing'er, you've really changed a lot," Li Luo said with a sigh, gazing at Lv Qing'er.

In this reunion, Lv Qing'er had a change that was hard to describe, and judging from the purity of the ice-aspect power radiating from her body, it far surpassed what it had been back then.

And Li Luo remembered that Lv Qing'er's ice aspect had originally been Lower Eight-grade, yet now her ice-aspect power seemed far superior to that.

Moreover, Li Luo faintly sensed that Lv Qing'er seemed to be hiding an extremely terrifying cold qi energy within her body — a force that even he felt some wariness toward.

Clearly, during this past year, Lv Qing'er herself had also encountered a tremendous opportunity.

Lv Qing'er laughed lightly, "But I can't compare to you. In less than a year, you're now a Three Star Tian Zhu Jing. If placed in the Saintly Mystic Star Academy, that would be a Three Star Tian Zhu of the Two Star Court. Such an achievement would probably scare those Four Star Court students silly."

"The Inner Shenzhou is full of heaven-defying talents; it can't be compared to the Saintly Mystic Star Academy. Moreover, the enemies we'll face in the future won't just be of the same generation. This Three Star Tian Zhu Jing isn't really enough to amount to much," Li Luo shook his head.

"Yes, yes, who doesn't know that you, Li Luo, have ambitions as high as the heavens," Lv Qing'er said with a nod.

"By the way..."

Her gaze suddenly turned to Li Luo, and she asked softly, "How is Senior Sister Jiang's injury now?"

Li Luo said, "She went to the Saint Light Ancient Academy. Her injuries are now stabilized, and there's no major problem. However, we're separated by too great a distance, so I don't know her exact situation."

Lv Qing'er comforted him, "With Senior Sister Jiang's talent, she will shine brilliantly no matter where she is. She will surely be valued by the Saint Light Ancient Academy, and they won't let anything happen to her."

Li Luo smiled and nodded.

"Now that you've successfully obtained what you wanted, what do you plan to do next? Leave the Spiritual Aspect Cave Heaven directly?" Li Luo asked.

Lv Qing'er hesitated for a moment, then said, "You've helped me so much — how could I just leave now? Of course I have to accompany you through this last stretch. If you run into trouble on your side, we can still provide help."

Actually, according to plan, once she obtained the "Ice God Lotus," she had to leave as soon as possible and return to Golden Dragon Mountain, to avoid any unexpected changes along the way. But after a year apart, seeing Li Luo again, she truly didn't want to leave so quickly.

Hearing this, Li Luo didn't refuse, but readily agreed: "Then that's truly more than I could ask for. Your side's team isn't weak either. With your help, we'll be able to take things easier in that 'Spiritual Aspect Treasure Garden' later."

Within this Spiritual Aspect Cave Heaven, the Qin Li Tianwang faction and Zhao Li Tianwang faction were enemies rather than friends to him, and within their own Li Li Tianwang faction there were also many internal conflicts. At this time, if Lv Qing'er could bring people to help him hold the line, that would naturally be for the best, so he didn't stand on ceremony with her.

Then the two of them swept down from the icy high platform and communicated with both groups.

When Sister Jin heard that Lv Qing'er still wanted to travel with Li Luo for a stretch, she was also somewhat helpless and wanted to say something, but after seeing Lv Qing'er's gaze, she could only swallow the words back into her mouth.

Then the two groups that had gathered together swiftly left this icy cave dwelling, heading straight for the location of the previous treasure vault.

When Li Luo and the others once again arrived outside the treasure vault they had previously left, they were unsurprised to see the Li Li Tianwang faction's team waiting here.

But the atmosphere in the area seemed somewhat off.

The two groups were split into two sides — one led by Li Li Lingjing, the people of the Dragon Fang Branch, and the other led by Li Li Wuyuan, with people from the Dragon Blood Branch, Dragon Horn Branch, and Dragon Bone Branch.

The atmosphere appeared tense and on the brink of conflict.

Judging from the mess all over the ground, it seemed a battle had once broken out.

The arrival of Li Luo and the others broke this atmosphere, and the gazes from both sides were cast over.