Chapter 1033: The Curtain Falls

When Li Luo stood in place, his emotions somewhat low and complicated, a gust of wind came from behind, and Qin Yi flew over and landed beside him.

She had clearly recovered by now, but her breathtakingly beautiful face still carried traces of shock. She looked ahead and asked, "Li Luo, where is that mysterious King-level powerhouse?"

Li Luo gathered his emotions and said, "Gone."

"Gone?" Qin Yi found it utterly baffling. That King-level powerhouse had infiltrated the Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven, done nothing, and just left like that?

What on earth had happened here earlier?

"Where is Young Lady?" Only then did Qin Yi notice that Li Li Lingjing was nowhere to be seen, and her heart jolted.

Li Luo did not answer her, however. Instead, he turned and walked toward the back.

Seeing his reaction, a horrifying thought surfaced in Qin Yi's mind—could Li Li Lingjing have been directly erased by that mysterious King-level powerhouse? With the methods of a King-level powerhouse, eliminating people of their Tian Zhu Jing caliber would be effortless.

Li Luo here might have survived only because he possessed a protective treasure from Li Li Tianwang's lineage?

With so little information, Qin Yi could only speculate as such.

Still, the departure of that mysterious King-level powerhouse was good news, because judging from the methods he had previously displayed, the former was likely no benevolent sort. If he had harbored even a hint of murderous intent, all of them would have died here.

Li Luo paid no heed to Qin Yi's thoughts. He went to the back, then stopped at an ice sculpture—inside it was the ice-sealed Lv Qing'er.

She curled up within the ice, eyes tightly shut, serene and lovely. Her snow-like complexion, set off by the ice, appeared even more crystalline and translucent, looking like an ice-sealed fairy.

Li Luo tried to shatter the ice sculpture, but it was in vain. The moment his phase force touched that frost, it was instantly frozen, and instead caused the ice layer to thicken by another layer.

Li Luo's expression darkened. This ice seal on Lv Qing'er was indeed difficult to break—at the very least, it was beyond what someone of his strength could undo. Moreover, if he forced it, he might end up harming the Lv Qing'er inside.

"Qing'er, don't worry. If the Golden Dragon Bao Hang can't handle it, I'll take you to the Dragon Fang Vein and ask my grandfather to act. He'll definitely be able to break this ice seal for you." Li Luo took a deep breath and said softly to the sleeping beauty within the ice.

Lv Qing'er had fallen into this state for his sake; he would absolutely not stand by and do nothing.

As Li Luo was examining Lv Qing'er's condition, some noisy commotion came from not far away. It turned out that Li Li Wuyuan, Qin Ying, and the others, who had previously been controlled by the Erosion Spirit True Demon, had awakened.

Because the Erosion Spirit True Demon had had no energy to spare for them during the great battle earlier, aside from briefly having their minds controlled, they had not actually suffered any serious injuries.

At this moment, the group got up with blank expressions. After staring blankly for several breaths, they seemed to suddenly recall something and immediately looked around in horror, their phase force erupting from their bodies.

But very quickly, thick astonishment surfaced on their faces.

Because the sea of blood that had filled the world had vanished at some unknown time, and the True Demon aberration that had posed them such a great threat was also nowhere to be found.

The world was clear and bright, as if everything they had experienced earlier had been an illusion.

However, the faintly lingering taint of corruption on their bodies told them plainly that the True Demon aberration had truly existed.

"What is that?!"

Suddenly, someone cried out in shock, their gaze frozen as they stared at an abyss that had appeared on the ancient plains—an abyss with no visible end, nearly cleaving the plain in two.

And they remembered that this place had clearly had no such abyss before!

In other words, this had appeared after they lost consciousness?

Was this man-made? If so, what kind of powerhouse had done this?

The group exchanged glances, each seeing thick bewilderment and blankness in the other's eyes.

"Li Luo, what happened here? Where is the True Demon aberration?" Li Li Wuyuan, spotting Li Luo not far away, noticed that the latter's expression was calm and that he did not share their shock and uncertainty, and immediately asked hurriedly.

Li Luo glanced at him, but couldn't be bothered to respond. Instead, he looked toward Li Li Fengyi and Li Li Jingtao and asked, "Big Brother, Second Sister, are you two alright?"

The two shook their heads blankly.

"Li Luo, where is Li Lingjing?" Li Li Fuling rubbed her forehead and, suddenly noticing that Li Li Lingjing was nowhere in the vicinity, asked in confusion.

At these words, Li Luo fell silent.

"Young Lady!"

At that moment, Jin-Zhong Jie suddenly paled with terror and rushed toward the ice sculpture not far away, her face ashen as she cried, "Young Lady, what's happened to you? Li Luo, why has she become like this?!"

The others also cast shocked gazes over. For a moment, the atmosphere in the field turned chaotic, because anyone could tell that during the time they had lost their minds, something tremendous must have happened here.

Seeing this messy scene, Li Luo couldn't help but let out a weary sigh. He truly had no mood to explain things to them at length.

"Everyone, please calm down."

At this moment, Qin Yi walked over slowly, her gentle voice soothing the group's emotions. She glanced at the low-spirited Li Luo, then briefly recounted what had happened earlier.

After hearing her out, the atmosphere fell into a long silence, and gaze after gaze fixed on Li Luo in disbelief.

"Li Luo, you—you actually slew that True Demon aberration?" Jiang Jiang Wanyu of the Tianyuan Ancient Academy widened her beautiful eyes, her usually aloof demeanor completely shattered at this moment. After all, what Qin Yi had said was truly beyond belief.

Li Luo was only at the strength of a three-star Tian Zhu Jing. Although he had previously slain Tian Miao and displayed combat power no weaker than Xiao Tian Xiang Jing, compared to that True Demon aberration, that was still far too weak.

That was a True Demon aberration with Marquis-level strength!

Li Li Wuyuan, Li Li Hongli, and the others also found it inconceivable. Even though it was Qin Yi saying it, they still felt it was absurd.

No matter how strong Li Luo's methods were, how could he possibly slay a True Demon?

A trace of complexity also surfaced on Qin Yi's breathtakingly beautiful face. She said softly, "After slaying that True Demon aberration, another mysterious King-level powerhouse appeared. I imagine that one was the true mastermind behind it all."

The entire field fell silent. Everyone wore an expression that said, "Are you kidding me?"

A King-level powerhouse?!

Their Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven was merely a trial for the younger generation, with strength capped at Xiao Tian Xiang Jing. How high-level could it possibly get? And now Qin Yi was telling them that not only had a True Demon appeared here earlier, but a genuine King-level powerhouse had shown up as well!

A King-level!

Even among their various Li Tianwang Veins, that was the caliber of a pillar of support—a stomp of their foot would make the entire Outer Shenzhou tremble. Yet now, a powerhouse of that level had actually infiltrated their trial?

It felt like a giant dragon had crashed into a hunting training competition among a pack of wolf cubs.

"Although it sounds somewhat unbelievable, it is indeed true. The abyss you see was caused when Li Luo struck at that King-level powerhouse. Of course, this likely wasn't Li Luo's own power—I suppose it might be some life-preserving item bestowed upon him by the Vein Head of the Dragon Fang Vein."

The group felt their heads buzzing again, their expressions already gone numb.

This abyss cleaving the plain was actually caused by Li Luo?! He had actually swung his blade at a King-level powerhouse?

We're all human, so why are you this brave?

At this moment, the group actually stopped doubting, because what Qin Yi said was simply too outlandish. Even if one wanted to lie, there was no need to fabricate such a ridiculous story.

"Th-then, what happened to that King-level powerhouse in the end? Don't tell me he was slain by Li Luo." The speaker was Senior Zong Sha of the Tianyuan Ancient Academy, who wore a frightened expression. If Qin Yi actually dared to nod, he felt his entire worldview would collapse on the spot.

Fortunately, Qin Yi only gave a slight bitter smile, shook her head, and said, "Of course not. In the end, that king-level expert made a move and sealed all our senses. By the time I came to again, the king-level expert had already vanished."

"And along with him, Li Li Lingjing also disappeared."

"I suspect she may have... been killed."

At this point, Qin Yi's expression also dimmed slightly. For a king-level expert, erasing them was simply too easy, and although Li Li Lingjing was a Nine Star Tian Zhu Jing, in the eyes of a king-level expert she was still nothing more than an ant.

"What?!"

The moment these words fell, the crowd was instantly shocked.

"Cousin Li Lingjing was killed?!" Li Li Fengyi and Li Li Jingtao cried out in disbelief.

The one who reacted most strongly was Li Li Fuling. Her face went deathly pale as she shook her head again and again: "Impossible, impossible!"

Yet when they caught sight of Li Luo, who had been silent all along and in low spirits, they found themselves somewhat inclined to believe it.

Li Li Wuyuan, Li Li Hongli, and the others also changed color. They had no particularly deep relationship with Li Li Lingjing, but she was, after all, a member of Li Li Tianwang's line. To have her erased so inexplicably inevitably stirred in them a feeling of the rabbit mourning the death of the fox.

As for people like Qin Ying, beneath their shock there was a certain secret delight. After all, Li Li Lingjing's talent was outstanding, and now that she had cultivated to Nine Star Tian Zhu Jing, her future breakthrough into Tian Xiang Jing would surely have been meteoric. Her death and the dissipation of her Dao meant one fewer future competitor for them.

Just as everyone was immersed in the tremendous shock brought by Qin Yi, at the edge of the horizon, countless flocks of birds suddenly came flying. Energy runes flowed across those birds' bodies, and when they appeared, they also brought with them a grand voice.

"The Spiritual Phase Grotto-Heaven trial ends here. All faction teams, withdraw immediately!"

"Withdraw immediately!"

The flocks of birds looked down upon the earth. The energy runes flowing across their bodies emanated extremely powerful fluctuations, as if searching for enemies. Clearly, the various faction experts of the Spiritual Phase Grotto-Heaven had ultimately learned of the upheaval within and were now employing special measures to come investigate.

But appearing now, they could evidently only sweep the site.

After the flocks of birds conducted their investigation and found no enemies, they suddenly dove down, forming vortexes of energy in front of everyone.

Gazing at these energy vortexes, everyone breathed out a long sigh of relief.

This trial of the Spiritual Phase Grotto-Heaven had finally come to an end.