Chapter 1146: Holy Thorns

In the cavern ablaze with treasure-light, Li Luo was also pressing steadily deeper.

The others were excitedly scrambling to find heavenly materials and earthly treasures that caught their fancy, and Li Luo likewise had no desire to risk his life only to return empty-handed—especially now that his left arm had become this monstrous thing—so he badly needed some rich haul to comfort himself.

This cavern likewise gathered vast amounts of heaven and earth energy, which in turn gave rise to a powerful energy pressure; the deeper he went, the more ferocious that pressure became.

On Li Luo's side it was very quiet; the others were now giving him a wide berth, after all, dragging around a "ghost arm" was genuinely terrifying.

Li Luo, however, couldn't care less about it—no one coming to compete was all the better.

So he went on his way downward, and whenever he spotted some decent, mature spiritual herbs along the route, he took them without the slightest hesitation.

Once he returned to the Dragon Fang Lineage, he could send some to his big brother and second sister; they too were in sore need of these cultivation resources.

In the span of a single incense stick's burning, Li Luo's search had swiftly passed, and the many gains were truly pleasing—these spiritual herbs added up to an extremely considerable value.

Li Luo's figure landed at an abyssal fissure in the ground; the energy pressure here was already extremely ferocious, and even he was beginning to feel a powerful pressure.

Going any deeper, he feared, would no longer be suitable.

So Li Luo did not press on deeper; instead, he cast his gaze toward the pitch-black rock wall on the right. When he had first arrived here, he had noticed that the "eyeball" in the crack on his left "ghost arm" was twitching violently.

That kind of "twitching" was clearly caused by some sense of discomfort.

"Deep within this rock wall, there's something hidden that the evil aura inside the 'ghost arm' dislikes?" Li Luo's gaze shifted slightly, and then his right hand gripped the Dragon Elephant Blade and hacked down at the rock wall.

Blade-light flowed, scraping the rock wall away layer by layer.

Li Luo was very careful with his cuts; deep within the rock wall there should be some kind of "heavenly material and earthly treasure," and if he hacked too hard and damaged it, the loss would be enormous.

As the rock wall was scraped away layer by layer, Li Luo finally began to gradually see what lay deep within.

It looked like peculiar vine-like plants resembling white serpents.

Looking closer, one would realize they appeared to be thorns—these thorns were a lustrous white all over, as if forged from sacred gemstones, covered in sharp spikes, quietly coiled there. When the rock was peeled away, extremely majestic and pure light energy immediately radiated out from the thorns.

"This is... Holy Thorns?!"

Li Luo stared at those thorns, his heart gave a start, and then a look of great joy spread across his face.

These so-called "Holy Thorns" were an extremely rare light-type spiritual material; with their aid, one could refine all manner of powerful treasures imbued with light energy.

This thing liked to hide deep within underground rock and was extremely hard to detect, yet Li Luo's "ghost arm" happened to be brimming with evil aura, so it reacted extremely obviously to light energy, and that, conversely, allowed him to pick up on the clue.

"I'm only a light auxiliary phase; this thing would be a bit of a waste on me, but it would be perfect as a meeting gift for Sister Qing'e." Li Luo muttered happily to himself.

He had even thought out how to refine it—perhaps it could be crafted into a "Holy Thorn Crown," which would surely suit Jiang Jiang Qinge wonderfully.

Li Luo hurriedly used the Dragon Elephant Blade to dig out these "Holy Thorns" hidden deep within the rock, but the thorns, as if possessed of life, even tried to burrow back into the rock to escape.

Yet Li Luo gave them no chance; he caught every last one of them.

Counting carefully, there were exactly six.

Li Luo was grinning from ear to ear.

But just as Li Luo was delighting in his haul, a sudden whoosh of breaking wind came from not far away, and a graceful figure could be seen rushing over toward him at top speed.

Li Luo took a look—it was Yin Yue Zhiyu.

He immediately understood that Yin Yue Zhiyu had sensed the powerful surge of light energy here, which was why she had hurried over.

"Holy Thorns!" The moment Yin Yue Zhiyu landed and saw the Holy Thorns in Li Luo's hand, her eyes immediately reddened a little.

As a possessor of the light phase, she understood even more clearly just how great an attraction a special spiritual material like "Holy Thorns" held.

Seeing the look in her eyes, Li Luo quickly stowed those "Holy Thorns" into his spatial orb.

Yin Yue Zhiyu faltered for a beat, then said to Li Luo, "Name your price—sell those 'Holy Thorns' to me. Your light phase is only an auxiliary one; these things aren't of much use to you."

Li Luo hastily shook his head. "No can do. Even though I can't use them, I'm giving them to Jiang Jiang Qinge."

"Giving them to Jiang Jiang Qinge?!"

The moment Yin Yue Zhiyu heard that, she clenched her pearly teeth—that detestable woman really had to compete with her over everything.

But she also understood Li Luo's relationship with Jiang Jiang Qinge and knew that forcing the issue wouldn't work, so she stepped forward two paces, reined in her wilful air, and said gently, "Junior Li Luo, I don't want all of them—how about you sell me four? I'll definitely offer a price that satisfies you."

Seeing the usually headstrong young lady now looking so gentle and charming, Li Luo secretly amused himself, but still shook his head firmly: "Are we the sort of people short on money?"

Yin Yue Zhiyu's beautiful eyes glared, and her true nature was about to burst out, but Li Luo took out one "Holy Thorn" and held it out to her, saying, "However, considering how you helped me purge the evil aura earlier, I can give you one."

Yin Yue Zhiyu had, after all, helped him before; although the effect hadn't been too obvious, Li Luo still kept that kindness in his heart.

The temper Yin Yue Zhiyu had been about to erupt instantly subsided. She stared at the one "Holy Thorn" being offered, a little dumbfounded—clearly she hadn't expected Li Luo to just give her such a precious spiritual material for free.

She agonized for a moment, wanting to maintain her pride and refuse, but in the end she couldn't resist the temptation of the "Holy Thorn," so she took it and said stiffly, "Th-then, thank you."

Li Luo smiled and said, "You helped me before; it's just returning the favor."

Yin Yue Zhiyu said, "Then how about two more? One isn't enough."

Li Luo gave her a look of contempt: "In your dreams. I still need these 'Holy Thorns' to weave a light crown for Sister Qing'e."

Hearing that, Yin Yue Zhiyu was instantly filled with sourness—not because she envied the bond between Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge, but because the moment she imagined Jiang Jiang Qinge wearing such a gorgeous light crown on her head, she found it blinding.

"Do you think a light crown would suit Qing'e's looks and bearing?" Li Luo asked with a grin, a touch of malice in it, because he knew Yin Yue Zhiyu and Jiang Jiang Qinge had a history of friction.

Yin Yue Zhiyu's face was expressionless—with Jiang Jiang Qinge's exquisitely flawless cheeks, if she really wore a crown forged from these "Holy Thorns," she would truly look like a goddess of light.

Just thinking about it was irritating.

Yin Yue Zhiyu drew a deep breath, suppressed her emotions, and at the same time tucked away the one "Holy Thorn" Li Luo had given her, sighing, "You really are lucky to have found this thing. I passed by here earlier too, but I didn't sense its presence."

Her words were full of regret—if she had discovered it earlier, there would have been nothing for Jiang Jiang Qinge.

Li Luo glanced at his own "ghost arm" and said, "Because of this thing, I actually picked up a bargain."

Only then did Yin Yue Zhiyu realize, somewhat speechless—"Holy Thorns" were condensed from extremely pure light energy, so naturally they were extremely averse to "evil aura." That was why, when Li Luo passed by here, his "ghost arm" had stirred, and Li Luo had keenly sensed something was off here and dug out the treasure.

But as the two were talking, their expressions suddenly shifted.

Because they sensed that a violent fluctuation had appeared in the world at this moment.

Even space itself had begun to distort.

The two exchanged a glance, their eyes both sharpening, and hurriedly channeled their phase power to break out of the abyss and shoot skyward.

At the same time, others who had sensed the change in the world also streamed out of the abyss one after another.

Then all of them raised their heads, gazing at the distant horizon high above, where they saw what seemed to be an endless cluster of palaces slowly squeezing its way out of the void.

The palace complex was towering to the extreme, like the sun and moon hanging in the sky. The moment it appeared, an unimaginable wave of malevolent intent surged forth, flooding the entire "Little Chen Heaven."

In Li Luo and the others' perception, it was like an indescribable, ferocious evil beast, coiled in the void, devouring all things.

Faintly, Li Luo and the others seemed to see, on the ghastly-white plaque outside that massive palace complex, three eerie characters slowly writhing.

"Zhong Sheng Palace."

And the moment Li Luo and the others saw that "Zhong Sheng Palace," they immediately noticed the surrounding space twisting violently, and the "Zhong Sheng Palace" began to grow ever larger in their eyes.

But in the next instant, they were horrified.

Because it was not the "Zhong Sheng Palace" that was growing larger—rather, they themselves seemed to be piercing through space at an unimaginable speed, forcibly drawn closer to the "Zhong Sheng Palace."

In just a brief moment.

The "Zhong Sheng Palace" was already right before their eyes.