Chapter 1124: Gifting a Fan

All seven Evil Apes were slain, and the malevolent Qi that had been rampaging through the street was swept clean.

A hint of surprise surfaced in Li Hongyou's eyes; she hadn't expected Li Luo's slaughter of these Evil Apes to be so efficient.

"The light-attribute power contained within those light arrows is vast and pure, no less than that of someone bearing a high-grade light aspect. But isn't his light aspect merely a secondary aspect?"

Li Luo himself clearly possessed the strength of less than Seven-Star Tian Zhu Jing, yet he had consecutively slain seven Evil Apes—such a feat was simply terrifying.

Li Luo's figure leaped down, landing beside Li Hongyou. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt his body stagger, and she quickly reached out a slender hand to steady him.

"Eh?" Only then did Li Luo snap out of his earlier exhilaration. He examined himself with some surprise and discovered the reason for his weakened state seemed to be a sudden loss of some blood within his body.

"This is... the blood was devoured by the golden wheel?"

Li Luo was slightly astonished. Earlier, when drawing the bow, he had been so exhilarated that he hadn't noticed a portion of his blood silently vanishing. Tracing it back, he found its destination was that mysterious golden wheel.

"So this golden wheel's conversion of aspect power also consumes one's own essence blood." Li Luo was somewhat surprised. Previously, he had only activated the golden wheel's conversion once, so he hadn't felt it much. But this time, with consecutive bow draws condensing light arrows, the consumption of essence blood became apparent.

"The secret technique you used earlier seems to consume your own essence blood." Li Hongyou, who was holding Li Luo's wrist, suddenly spoke.

Although her own aspect wasn't adept at offense, it allowed her to more keenly perceive the Qi and blood condition of a human body.

Li Luo smiled and nodded.

"The loss of essence blood is no major issue."

Li Hongyou retrieved a jade dish from the "spatial orb" worn on her wrist, then bit her fingertip, and immediately a crystalline drop of blood fell.

Ding.

That drop of blood landed in the jade dish, unexpectedly emitting a crisp clinking sound, then like a round, exquisite blood-red pearl, it rolled playfully within the dish, simultaneously emitting a faint fragrance.

"Take this; it can replenish the lost essence blood." Li Hongyou handed the jade dish to Li Luo.

Li Luo looked utterly amazed and said, "Senior Sister Hongyou, you're a treasure trove all over!"

Li Hongyou's essence blood could actually replenish the lost essence blood of others—this was undoubtedly a miraculous remedy.

"Can't be helped; this is the special aspect of our kind. Not good at direct combat, weak in offense, we can only walk some unconventional paths." Li Hongyou said playfully.

"Consuming someone's essence blood... feels a bit sinister." Li Luo pinched up that pearl-like drop of essence blood and said, frowning.

"Don't be so squeamish!" Li Hongyou shot him a look. If Li Luo weren't her sole ticket into the Dragon Fang Guard, she wouldn't be willing to condense an "Essence Blood Pearl" no matter what.

Li Luo smiled and tossed it into his mouth. Immediately he felt a warm current circulating within his body, and his previously weakened heels from the essence blood loss once again became full of strength.

"Truly remarkable." Li Luo clicked his tongue in wonder. Although from a combat standpoint Li Hongyou might not have appeared overly formidable, her full-body supportive effects were the greatest safety guarantee for her teammates.

No wonder even Wu Changkong and Feng Lingyuan coveted Li Hongyou.

"Senior Sister Hongyou, did you get any merit points?" Li Luo asked.

"Four Grade-B merits." Li Hongyou said. When Li Luo had slain the seven Evil Apes earlier, she had sensed the vibration of the "Ancient Spirit Leaf."

"I took seven Grade-B merits; seems I grabbed the lion's share." Li Luo felt a bit guilty. Don't be fooled by how cleanly he had killed them earlier—that was only because the seven Evil Apes had no power to defend themselves under Li Hongyou's suppression. Otherwise, with his Six-Half-Star Tian Zhu Jing aspect power level, even with the aid of light aspect power, he might not have been able to take one down per arrow.

Li Hongyou, however, shook her head indifferently and said, "It doesn't matter. A full meal versus meals every day—I can still tell which is more important."

She uttered such playful words with a cold, glamorous expression, momentarily stunning even Li Luo. He immediately gave a thumbs-up and said, "Senior Sister is generous and open."

Then he thought for a moment, suddenly pulled out a cyan feather fan, handed it to Li Hongyou, and smiled: "Although I don't have a Three-Purple-Eye treasure yet, this Single-Purple-Eye treasure is actually very suitable for you, Senior Sister Hongyou."

This item was precisely the "Mystic Wood Feather Fan" he had obtained in the Spirit Aspect Cave Heaven. It could fan out life-and-death mystic light: the death light dissolved blood and bone, while the white light could bless a person, accelerating the recovery of aspect power.

This item was an extremely good match for Li Hongyou. The death light could grant her some offensive power, while the life light would strengthen her supportive effects.

He explained the effects in detail. Li Hongyou was quite tempted upon hearing this, but still shook her head and said, "A Single-Purple-Eye treasure is also quite expensive. I can't accept a reward without merit."

But Li Luo grabbed her hand and forcefully stuffed the item into it, saying solemnly, "No one can refuse a gift from me."

In that instant, Li Luo felt his domineering aura radiating in all directions.

Li Hongyou was also rendered helpless between laughter and tears by his deliberate clowning. Gazing at the cyan feather fan in her hand, a touch of warmth welled up in her heart. Having relied on each other with her mother for many years, she had seen plenty of the warmth and coldness of human nature. Yet with Li Luo, she could feel some genuine sincerity.

Although from a realistic standpoint, this inevitably involved the reason of her special aspect, at the very least, Li Luo's sincerity was abundant.

Li Hongyou didn't care whether Li Luo valued her as a person or because she possessed a special aspect. Having gone through much, she wasn't so squeamish.

"Then... thank you in advance." Li Hongyou gripped the cyan feather fan and said softly.

"We're family, no need for such politeness." Li Luo said with a beaming smile. A mere Single-Purple-Eye treasure, though it had some value, was nothing compared to Li Hongyou.

Afterward, the two rested briefly, then set off again, heading toward the nearest Soul-Summoning Altar.

The journey was naturally not peaceful either. Evil Apes and various other anomalous creatures kept surging forth, attempting to block their progress. But with no Greater Evil Apes appearing, the two's coordination could be described as an overwhelming force.

Li Hongyou, relying on her Da Tian Xiang Jing strength, forcefully controlled the field, while Li Luo hid behind, converting light aspect power and using it to slay enemies.

Although the conversion of aspect power caused a deficit in essence blood, Li Hongyou happened to be able to use her own blood to condense "Essence Blood Pearls" to replenish him, making their compatibility even more flawless.

In just half a day, the two shuttled through the complex, massive city, and countless Evil Apes became souls claimed by Li Luo's arrows.

City interior alleyway.

The bowstring hummed and vibrated; a light arrow pierced through, pinning the last Evil Ape suppressed by Li Hongyou firmly to the ground. The purifying force ravaged, rapidly dissolving the Evil Ape.

Only then did Li Luo sheathe his bow and stand, exhaling a breath with a slightly pale complexion.

Li Hongyou handed over an "Essence Blood Pearl." He skillfully took it, swallowed it, and then checked the merit leaderboard.

Currently, his battle merits had reached Two Grade-A and Eight Grade-B.

Although it wasn't overly outstanding, he had officially squeezed into the top fifty of the merit leaderboard. At this time, the board was uniformly populated by students from the Upper Academy of the two great academies' Celestial Star Court. Someone like Li Luo at Tian Zhu Jing was truly the only one.

"From the map, it seems the Soul-Summoning Altar is just ahead." Li Hongyou's gaze looked into the distance. At the end of the alleyway, dense white fog billowed, and thick malevolent Qi continuously spread outward.

All the way here, the number of anomalous creatures encountered kept increasing.

However, along this entire route, they hadn't encountered any other teams. Clearly, the vast majority had been blocked by the "Ten Thousand Curses Array," and even some students from the Upper Academy of the Celestial Star Court had unfortunately fallen victim, turning into human-skin lanterns drifting in a daze in mid-air.

Those who survived could be considered the minority.

And from this, one could further see how high the difficulty of this mission was.

"But why haven't we encountered a single Greater Evil Ape?" Li Luo asked, somewhat puzzled. Along the way, they had encountered many Evil Apes, but the Greater Evil Apes they had met at the very beginning had vanished without a trace.

Li Hongyou shook her head. Just as she was about to speak, her gaze suddenly sharpened, looking toward the cold white fog billowing at the end of the alleyway.

"There's aspect power fluctuation." Li Hongyou said.

Li Luo was startled: "Another team has reached this Soul-Summoning Altar before us?"

"Move!"

He exchanged a glance with Li Hongyou, and both immediately erupted with resonant force, their figures shooting out like lightning, plunging straight into the chilling white fog that blanketed the area.

Within the white fog, the space was open and empty, and at the center stood an altar. Upon it fluttered a tattered white Soul-Summoning Banner, faintly shooting out countless rays of light that merged into the void.

But neither Li Luo nor Li Hongyou paid it any attention at this moment, because their gazes were both drawn to the fierce battle in the area before the altar.

There, they saw several familiar figures.

Wang Kuang, Yin Yue Zhiyu, and two students from the Upper Court of the Celestial Star Hall of the Tianyuan Ancient Academy — none were strangers. Li Luo recalled one was called Meng Zhou and the other Zheng Song Yunfeng. Previously, Jiang Jiang Wanyu had even brought him to try seeking cooperation with them, only to be refused.

Besides them, there was also a student who should be from the Upper Court of the Celestial Star Hall of the Shengguang Ancient Academy.

The lineup was quite lavish, but at this moment they were at a disadvantage.

Because... the ones besieging them were ten Great Evil Ghous radiating an overwhelming miasma of malevolent thoughts!

Li Luo sucked in a cold breath inwardly, finally understanding why he hadn't run into any Great Evil Ghous all the way here — they had all gathered here.