Chapter 1032: Li Li Lingjing's Choice

When the Spirit Eye Underworld King spoke these words, killing intent, gloomy to the extreme, instantly burst forth in Li Li Lingjing's eyes. Her slender five fingers gripped the Green Bamboo Green Snake Staff tightly, producing a faint creaking sound.

Her fingers were clenched until they turned white.

The threat from the Spirit Eye Underworld King was truly vicious to the extreme.

However, facing Li Li Lingjing's grim gaze, the Spirit Eye Underworld King did not care, because the greater her reaction, the more effective his threat proved.

The black robe on his body swayed slowly, and the blood pupil on it was also staring at Li Li Lingjing. That blood pupil seemed to possess a vitality of its own, and actually revealed many human-like emotions.

"Li Li Lingjing, this time is also your chance. Face the ambition in your heart directly. You want to grow stronger more than anyone."

"If you truly have no interest in this perfect path, why would you keep the Number Two Heterodox? Wouldn't it be better to destroy it completely?"

"You were in the Dragon Fang Vein, and Li Jingjue resolved the Heterodox contamination for you. You appeared to cooperate, but in reality, you hid a wisp of contamination in the deepest part of your heart."

Li Li Lingjing's gaze turned cold: "You're talking nonsense!"

The Spirit Eye Underworld King smiled faintly: "Whether it's nonsense or not, you know best yourself."

"So, in the end, what is your choice?"

"This old man's time is running short. The commotion here is too great and has already drawn the attention of the various forces stationed outside. If we delay any longer, perhaps even the King-level experts from those Li Tianwang Veins will be mobilized."

Looking at the smile on the Spirit Eye Underworld King's aged face, Li Li Lingjing understood that this was the final ultimatum given by the other party.

Li Li Lingjing was silent for a moment, then she slowly turned her head and looked toward Li Luo. At this moment, the latter was frozen in place, his figure like a mosquito in amber, unable to move at all. At the same time, his senses had been stripped away—he could not see, could not hear, and could not touch.

"Can you let him hear my words?" Li Li Lingjing said in a slightly hoarse voice.

The Spirit Eye Underworld King flicked a withered finger, and Li Luo heard the wind outside, though he still could not speak.

But though his hearing recovered, Li Luo instinctively sensed a sense of unease.

Then, he heard Li Li Lingjing's low voice come through.

"Li Luo, I probably can't go back to the Dragon Fang Vein with you."

Li Luo's heart churned like overturning rivers and seas. He angrily tried to speak, but could not utter a single sound, nor could he even twist his body.

"You don't need to feel angry for me. Although this choice carries some coercion, from my heart, I may not have much resistance to it."

"The Dragon Fang Vein is good... but it's not suitable for me."

"Since you led me out of Xiling City, I have been constantly thinking about my future path. In the Dragon Fang Vein, I once tried to forget the experiences of those years, tried to blend in, and finally entered the Dragon Fang Guard to cultivate."

"But in the end, I still found that I seemed to not really like it."

"Those years of degradation have already forged my heartlessness and indifference. A me like this staying in the Dragon Fang Guard would be of no benefit to anyone."

"So, let me leave."

"Li Luo, besides Aunt, just tell the others that Li Li Lingjing has already died in the Spirit Phase Grotto-Heaven. I think perhaps not too many people will pay attention to me."

"Thank you for the Green Snake Staff you gave me. I will keep it well."

"Li Luo... take care."

Listening to the words that softly reached his ears one by one, Li Luo's mood also became incomparably heavy. He knew that Li Li Lingjing's departure could no longer be changed.

He wanted to bid her a proper farewell, but was unable to do so.

At this moment, Li Luo once again felt his own powerlessness. His strength was, after all, still too weak.

After Li Li Lingjing's voice fell, she gazed at Li Luo's handsome face and smiled slightly. Her feelings for the latter were quite special—it was not the emotion between a man and a woman. After all, with her current state of mind, romantic love between men and women was truly somewhat distant to her.

As she had previously thought,

Li Luo was the wisp of light she had seen at her most desperate moment, so she regarded him as a waymark and a sustenance.

With this wisp of sustenance, she was able to hold onto herself amidst the countless degradations and erosions.

And if one day she found that Li Luo was dead, perhaps she would forget her own name and completely merge with that darkness.

At that time, there would naturally be no Li Li Lingjing in the world.

"So Li Luo, you must live well." Li Li Lingjing softly murmured to herself in her heart.

Then she no longer hesitated. Her jade hand tightly gripped the cold Green Bamboo Green Snake Staff, then turned and walked toward the Spirit Eye Underworld King.

The Spirit Eye Underworld King smiled faintly: "Congratulations on choosing an unprecedented path. Perhaps in the future, you will thank the you who made today's choice."

"That day might also be your day of death," Li Li Lingjing said calmly, not concealing her killing intent toward him in her words.

The Spirit Eye Underworld King did not get angry, but instead his smile grew gentler. He laughed: "If that day truly comes, this old man might be very happy, because it would prove that this old man created a great path."

He shook his sleeve, and the blood-red pupil on his robe actually leapt out. Blood light flowed forth, seemingly forming a blood-red vortex, with no knowing where the vortex led.

"Let's go."

Li Li Lingjing gazed at the blood-red vortex formed by the pupil, was slightly silent, then stepped forward without hesitation. Just as she was about to step into the vortex, her footsteps finally paused for a moment.

She seemed to want to turn back, but the cold Green Snake Staff in her hand made her restrain this emotion. In the end, she did not turn back, but took a step forward and entered the vortex.

Her figure instantly vanished.

After Li Li Lingjing disappeared, the smile on the Spirit Eye Underworld King's aged face gradually faded, then his gaze turned toward Li Luo.

"It seems I never said that after making the right choice, I would let him go?" The Spirit Eye Underworld King touched the knife scar above his left eye, and a cold, sinister look surged in his eyes.

His other eye stared at Li Luo, with blood-red flames flowing out in his gaze.

However, just as the Spirit Eye Underworld King revealed his true killing intent toward Li Luo, a wisp of faint light rose slowly from within the spatial orb worn on the latter's wrist.

The faint light hovered above Li Luo's head, and within it was actually an ancient, simple token.

On the token was inscribed an ancient character "Li."

At this moment, a luster flowed on that "Li" character, and faintly, it seemed as if a strange aura was being released.

Under this aura, the Spirit Eye Underworld King's face instantly changed slightly, gradually becoming solemn.

He stared at the token and slowly said: "I didn't expect that such a mere Tian Zhu Jing junior could actually attract Li Li Tianwang's attention."

The blood-red flames flowing in the Spirit Eye Underworld King's eyes gradually dissipated. He knew that it was the killing intent he had revealed earlier that had triggered this token.

The aura within this token came from that Li Tianwang-level powerhouse.

Li Li Tianwang, Li Jun.

The appearance of the token was a warning to the Spirit Eye Underworld King — if he made any further move, it might draw the true attention of that Li Li Tianwang.

Although that Li Li Tianwang should currently be suppressing the "Heavenly Abyss" and facing off against some terrifying existences, if such beings truly made a move, it would be extremely troublesome for him here as well.

So the Spirit Eye Underworld King decisively abandoned his killing intent toward Li Luo.

"My apologies for the offense." The Spirit Eye Underworld King let out a laugh, gave a slight bow toward the token, then stepped back one pace after another. The blood-red vortex abruptly expanded and swallowed his figure within.

With the Spirit Eye Underworld King's disappearance, this stretch of heaven and earth grew quiet once again.

The token above Li Luo's head transformed once more into a streak of flowing light and fell into the spatial sphere.

And Li Luo, too, recovered from that state of sealed senses. He gazed at the emptiness before him; in the air, a faint fragrance seemed to linger still.

The lingering fragrance remains, but the beloved has gone. When they meet again, no one knows what year — nor whether, by then, things will have changed while people remain the same.

Even... whether they will be enemy or friend?

Li Luo's expression was complicated. He truly did not know how to face the situation before him. Li Li Lingjing had been taken by the Spirit Eye Underworld King — he clearly should have been anxious and furious, thinking of every possible way to rescue her. But... just as Li Li Lingjing had said earlier, this choice was not necessarily made entirely under the Spirit Eye Underworld King's coercion.

She might, in truth, no longer wish to remain in the Dragon Fang Lineage, because a normal life was no longer suited to her.

Li Luo stood in a daze. In the end, it was still because he was too weak.

If he had sufficient strength, Lv Qing'er would not have had to seal herself in ice to help him, and Li Li Lingjing would not have fallen into the Spirit Eye Underworld King's hands. Regardless of how much of it was Li Li Lingjing's own will, at the very least, if Li Luo were strong enough, he could give her a few more choices — at the very least, she would not be coerced by others.

"Spirit Eye Underworld King..." A flash of killing intent passed through Li Luo's eyes. Although the gap between their current levels was extremely vast, the grudge that should be remembered still had to be kept in his heart. Although he had just been in a state of sealed perception, he did not need to think to know that the "Spirit Eye Underworld King" must have used him as a bargaining chip to threaten Li Li Lingjing.

Li Luo lowered his head and gathered up all the fragments of the Golden Jade Elephant Saber. The Spirit Eye Underworld King was far too distant; for now, his most important goal was still to reach the Marquis Realm as quickly as possible.

Li Luo was silent for a long while, gazing at the emptiness ahead, and finally let out a soft sigh.

"Cousin Li Lingjing, take care."