Chapter 1216: ,224: The Dragon Blood Vein's Marquis Arts

When Li Luo stepped into the "Marquis Arts Pagoda," the view before his eyes suddenly brightened, and he saw that within the spacious pagoda, countless rays of treasure-light fell into his gaze, dazzling and colorful.

Li Luo squinted slightly to adjust, then saw the scene before him clearly.

He saw numerous towering jade platforms stacked in sequence, with many compartments on each platform, and within every compartment a jade slip lay quietly, radiating treasure-light in all directions.

The pagoda was spacious, and its collection was unimaginably rich. At this moment, there were some figures buried among them, clearly also members of the Five Guards who had come to find and exchange for marquis arts they had set their hearts on.

Li Luo's eyes were full of curiosity as he surveyed his surroundings bit by bit. This was his first time seeing such a massive collection—most of it was probably marquis arts. Such a foundation was truly terrifying.

As Li Luo strolled among them, his gaze swept past and he saw that those jade platforms were all marked off into zones according to the five veins, and the phase arts provided by each vein were placed in their respective sections, making them easy to find.

Li Luo's gaze swept across the five zones, and a contemplative look flashed in his eyes.

The marquis arts of the five veins each had their own strengths and weaknesses. The marquis arts of the Dragon Fang Vein and Dragon Horn Vein had always been renowned for their fierce offensive power, while the Dragon Bone Vein and Dragon Scale Vein focused on the physical body and defense. The marquis arts of the Dragon Blood Vein were a bit more special, because many of them had requirements regarding the purity of the practitioner's own bloodline.

If the bloodline purity was insufficient, cultivating these marquis arts would yield half the result with twice the effort, and their might would also be somewhat diminished.

But once the bloodline was pure enough, the marquis arts one cultivated would be all the more powerful.

"Heavenly Dragon bloodline, huh..."

Li Luo rubbed his chin. He recalled that when competing with Li Li Qingfeng for the Dragon Head earlier, the latter had cast a so-called "Dragon Blood Balance Art." That art could weigh the purity and density of the bloodlines within both parties' bodies, and the final result was naturally Li Li Qingfeng's crushing defeat.

So from that moment, Li Luo knew that the Heavenly Dragon bloodline contained within his own body seemed to be purer than that of orthodox Dragon Blood Vein members like Li Li Qingfeng.

"The Dragon Blood Vein's marquis arts seem to suit me quite well." Li Luo couldn't help but smile. Actually, he had considered this before, but since he was a member of the Dragon Fang Vein, he naturally couldn't obtain the Dragon Blood Vein's marquis arts. He hadn't expected that now that he had entered the Heavenly Dragon Five Guards, he could choose them openly and without concealment.

So Li Luo no longer hesitated and headed straight for the zone where the Dragon Blood Vein's marquis arts were placed.

At the outer zone where the Dragon Blood Vein's jade platforms stood, Li Luo casually took out some jade slips and gave them a cursory glance. The marquis arts at the very outermost were almost uniformly Spirit Communion grade, and most of them were low-grade Spirit Communion grade.

Li Luo didn't have much interest in them, treating it merely as broadening his experience. After browsing for a while, he did find a marquis art he was familiar with.

Dragon Blood Art, high-grade Spirit Communion grade. It could condense one's own blood into a blood pill to amplify one's phase force. Exchange price: eight thousand dragon essences.

Li Luo remembered that Li Li Qingfeng had cultivated this marquis art. Back when they fought for the Dragon Head, the latter had used this blood pill in place of a Heavenly Pearl, greatly amplifying his own strength.

As far as he knew, this "Dragon Blood Art" was quite famous within the Dragon Blood Vein, and many people chose to cultivate it because it was genuinely practical.

Li Luo felt the same way, so he held this jade slip and hesitated for a while, but ultimately he still put it back.

Because the grade of this Dragon Blood Art was still a bit too low. For marquis arts that amplified phase force, the higher the grade, the better the effect. So if he really wanted to cultivate one, Li Luo still planned to choose a higher grade—at the very least, Spirit Manifestation grade, right?

He would still be staying in the Dragon Fang Guard for some time, so there was no need to be too hasty. Once he earned more dragon essences later, he would come back and choose properly.

So Li Luo continued heading toward the deeper zone of the Dragon Blood Vein's marquis arts.

Browsing along the way, one after another the wondrous marquis arts unique to the Dragon Blood Vein dazzled Li Luo's eyes.

Dragon Blood Myriad Transformations Art, low-grade Spirit Manifestation grade. It uses one's own blood to conjure numerous techniques, ever-changing and impossible to fathom. Exchange price: twenty-three thousand dragon essences.

Dragon Blood Transformation, high-grade Spirit Manifestation grade. It stimulates one's own Heavenly Dragon bloodline, transforming into a half-dragon body. Exchange requirement: forty thousand dragon essences.

Dragon Blood Gourd, low-grade Spirit Manifestation grade. It condenses a dragon-shaped gourd from dragon blood, which can absorb the opponent's phase force attacks and dissolve them with dragon blood. Exchange requirement: sixteen thousand dragon essences.

All sorts of wondrous and extraordinary marquis arts with impressive might made Li Luo's heart pound, his eyes shining brightly, and for a moment he didn't know which one to choose.

"Oh?"

And at a certain moment, Li Luo saw another marquis art he was familiar with.

"Dragon Blood Balance Art, low-grade Spirit Manifestation grade. It can take the opponent's essence blood, construct a Dragon Blood Balance, and weigh the purity and density of both parties' dragon blood. The loser will be weakened and suppressed. Exchange requirement: twenty-five thousand dragon essences."

Li Luo toyed with the jade slip, savoring the information flowing from within. This marquis art was notorious among the other four veins, because it was the Dragon Blood Vein's most famous "internal-fighting art."

It was utterly useless against outsiders, but when fighting those of the same vein, it could achieve unexpected effects.

And this art was originally created by an ancestor of the Dragon Blood Vein to suppress the other four veins.

Li Luo was actually quite interested in this art, because Li Li Qingfeng had already helped him weigh it once before. Judging by the purity of dragon blood, there shouldn't be many in the Dragon Blood Guard who could surpass him.

If he mastered this art and used it in turn to suppress members of the Dragon Blood Vein, their expressions would surely be quite a sight.

However, after much deliberation, Li Luo ultimately didn't consider this art. First, he didn't have enough dragon essences. Second, while this art could be said to be strong, it could also be said to be somewhat weak. For one, it could only target people within Li Li Tianwang's own vein. Moreover, when casting it, one needed to take the opponent's essence blood as a medium. Li Li Qingfeng had succeeded back then mainly because Li Luo's side had been caught off guard. If Li Luo had guarded his essence blood, Li Li Qingfeng wouldn't have had any medium to cast it.

Furthermore, Li Luo felt that investing cultivation effort into an internal-fighting art with such a narrow target range would truly be a waste.

His time was precious, and it was really not possible for him to specially cultivate a marquis art just for internal fighting.

So Li Luo decisively gave it up. However, this "Dragon Blood Balance Art" did give Li Luo some inspiration—he wanted to find a similar marquis art, but with a wider range of targets.

And with Li Luo's diligent searching, he really did find a marquis art in a corner that had clearly been browsed through very few times.

Dragon Blood Nightmare Art, low-grade Spirit Manifestation grade. It takes the opponent's hair, essence blood, or other personal belongings, then fuses them with one's own Heavenly Dragon essence blood to create a Dragon Blood Puppet. Using this as a medium, it casts a nightmare art that can weaken the opponent's connection with the energy of heaven and earth, thereby diminishing their phase force. This art especially emphasizes bloodline purity—the purer the Heavenly Dragon bloodline, the stronger the weakening effect.

This art also had a drawback: casting the nightmare art made one prone to backlash. If one's own Heavenly Dragon essence blood wasn't pure enough, or if the opponent was too powerful, then not only would one fail to weaken the opponent, but one would instead invite backlash and inflict severe damage upon oneself.

Exchange requirement: nineteen thousand dragon essences.

Li Luo held this jade slip, his eyes full of delight. This marquis art was truly not bad—it was just within his exchange range, and this weakening effect suited someone like him who often fought opponents above his level.

When clashing with someone in the future, he could secretly take their essence blood or a strand of hair, give them a hidden nightmare art, and weaken their strength. This would undoubtedly create more opportunities for victory.

However, this art seemed prone to backlash, which was probably the main reason why few people chose it. But for Li Luo, this didn't seem to be much of a problem. After all, as mentioned before, Li Li Qingfeng had already used his own crushing defeat to help weigh the purity of Li Luo's Heavenly Dragon bloodline.

So Li Luo cultivating this art should still be considered safe and sound.

Li Luo held the jade slip. Although he had already made his choice, his gaze still turned toward the deepest zone, and then he stepped forward, walking toward the very innermost area, because he wanted to see the Destiny-grade marquis arts on the Dragon Blood Vein's side.

As Li Luo went deeper, the compartments around him clearly grew sparser. After a moment, three jade platforms appeared before him, and on the platforms floated three blood-red jade slips, faintly emanating an inexplicable pressure.

And when Li Luo arrived here, he could sense what seemed to be a subtle yet powerful wave sweeping over him—presumably from the powerful guardians within the Heavenly Dragon Treasury.

After all, Destiny-grade marquis arts were treasures in their own right, and anyone who came here would be watched to some extent, in secret, to prevent any tampering.

Li Luo paid no heed to those peering gazes, but strode forward boldly, reached out, and brushed past the three jade slips. Immediately, a flood of information poured into his heart.

Then Li Luo's throat couldn't help but bob once.

His gaze instantly blazed with fervor.