Chapter 1428: The Changes in Lv Qing'er

"Lu Qinger?"

Li Luo gazed at the breathtakingly beautiful figure approaching with light lotus steps, his eyes going absent for several breaths. Since their parting at the Spiritual Resonance Grotto, more than two years had passed; he hadn't expected they would finally meet again.

He looked at that slender, graceful figure—still that incomparably lovely face, hair like a cascading waterfall falling to her waist, swaying in the wind.

Lv Qing'er's skin was true ice-muscle and jade-bone, supple and glowing. Beneath her short skirt, her straight, rounded long legs were like jade lotus roots, and the white silk stockings covering them only accentuated their astonishing length and luster.

After more than two years apart, the once-green girlishness had completely faded, and the young girl had grown into an even more aloof and stunning beauty.

The current Lv Qing'er was wreathed in a faint cold aura. As that chill circulated, it caused the air to continuously condense into frost, and wherever her lotus steps fell, a layer of frost formed on the ground.

From afar, she looked like a snow fairy stepping into the mortal world.

As she strolled over, many admiring gazes followed her. The girl before them was not only exceedingly beautiful, but the key was that unique, frost-like bearing, which made people unable to resist wanting to gaze at her.

Finally, she came to a stop before Li Luo.

Li Luo's pupils reflected the snow-and-ice girl, and then a brilliant, delighted expression surfaced on his handsome face: "Lu Qinger, it's been a long time."

Lv Qing'er's Binghu-like eyes gazed at Li Luo. She gave a slight nod and said softly, "Yes, it's been a long time, Li Luo."

Her voice was still as familiar as ever, but within it flowed a strange frosty chill—a chill that seemed capable of freezing even the most fervent emotions.

Li Luo was slightly taken aback. He felt that the current Lv Qing'er seemed to have changed somewhat compared to before. The most obvious sign was that the most charming smile on her cheeks and in her eyes seemed to have faded considerably.

There was more of a frosty quality.

Less of the liveliness she once had.

"Lu Qinger, you seem a little different?" Li Luo hesitated, then asked.

A faint ripple stirred in Lv Qing'er's beautiful eyes. She was silent for several breaths, and then a snow-lotus-like smile suddenly bloomed on her lovely face, radiant and dazzling.

"How is it? Scared you, didn't I?" she said with a beaming smile.

Only then did Li Luo breathe a sigh of relief, and said with mild annoyance, "I almost thought you'd become a different person."

Then he sensed the cold aura wreathing Lv Qing'er's body. This ice-aspect force was incomparably stronger than before; it seemed her ice aspect had already evolved to an extremely high level.

Lv Qing'er gave a faint, light laugh.

"What realm are you at now?" Li Luo asked curiously.

"Can't compare to you. I'm only at the first-grade Marquis Realm," Lv Qing'er said, her red lips parting slightly.

"However..."

She paused, then said, "I'm also a Ten-Pillar Golden Terrace."

Li Luo gave a thumbs-up, though he wasn't really surprised. Lv Qing'er came from Golden Dragon Mountain, and Golden Dragon Mountain's foundation was a notch above their Li Li Tianwang lineage. Moreover, when Lv Qing'er had been sealed in ice before, her grandfather had said that by sealing herself with the power of the Holy Seed, she would deepen her affinity with the "Frost Holy Seed" within a deep-layered state. With the aid of such a divine object, it was only natural that Lv Qing'er would forge a Ten-Pillar Golden Terrace.

After all, even the current Li Luo had only obtained a single "Little Dragon Holy Seed."

"Instructor Cao Sheng, Instructor Xi Chan, Instructor Mi'er." At this moment, Lv Qing'er's gaze shifted to Cao Sheng, Xi Chan, and Mi'er, and she greeted them.

"Haha, at last I get to see you, Lu Qinger. So many years and you've only grown prettier. Your mother even asked me to look after you on this trip," Cao Sheng laughed heartily.

Mi'er glanced at him and said, "That was just a polite remark from President Yu. You can't even tell that apart?"

Cao Sheng's laughter abruptly cut off.

Li Luo smacked his lips. Instructor Mi'er, you're really ruthless—one sentence and you've shut the hearty Instructor Cao Sheng right up.

Lv Qing'er smiled faintly, then her gaze shifted to Li Hongyou, who had been silent behind Li Luo the whole time, and asked, "May I ask who this elder sister is?"

"I'm Li Hongyou, also from the Dragon Fang Branch. I joined the team from the Sacred Mystic Star Academy together with him this time." Li Hongyou's eyes flickered, a hint of interest surfacing in their depths, because she vaguely sensed that the snow-and-ice-like girl before her seemed to share no shallow bond with Li Luo.

Lv Qing'er smiled and said, "Hello, I'm Lv Qing'er. Thank you, Sister Hongyou, for your help to our Sacred Mystic Star Academy."

A faint smile surfaced on Li Hongyou's coldly beautiful face, and she nodded in acknowledgment.

"Lu Qinger, is this the person you've been waiting for?" Just as they were catching up, a woman's voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Li Luo looked in that direction and saw several figures approaching. The one in the lead was a middle-aged woman whose sharp gaze gave off an air of authority.

And at this moment, that woman was staring at Li Luo with a piercing, scrutinizing look.

These people had been around Lv Qing'er earlier, clearly in a guard-like posture.

Lv Qing'er also turned to look at the newcomers, gave a slight nod, and said, "Aunt Zhu, my teammates have all arrived. From now on, I'll be participating in the Heavenly Mirror Martial Meet under the name of the Sacred Mystic Star Academy, together with them."

The woman called Aunt Zhu glanced at Li Luo and the others, and said with some helplessness, "Lu Qinger, their lineup is far too weak. If you go with them, your safety can't be guaranteed. Are you really not going to reconsider? The family head has prepared several backup options for you—all it takes is a nod from you."

Cao Sheng felt a bit displeased upon hearing this, but he couldn't say anything, because from this woman Lv Qing'er called Aunt Zhu, he sensed a pressure no weaker than that of the Mysterious Spirit Ancient Academy's Lu Dian.

Clearly, this Aunt Zhu also possessed the strength of a seventh-grade Marquis Realm.

Added to that, the people beside her—their lineup was indeed far stronger than their side.

Lv Qing'er, however, calmly shook her head.

Aunt Zhu sighed and said, "Lu Qinger, do you know how important this Heavenly Mirror Martial Meet is for you? Lv Ruyan has already arrived. This might be the last—and most important—confrontation between you two."

Aunt Zhu looked at Li Luo and said, "His Unrivaled Second-Grade is indeed dazzling, but the Heavenly Mirror Martial Meet is no longer a contest among peers. He lacks the seasoning."

At the same time, she couldn't help but complain, "You're at least from the Li Li Tianwang lineage. Didn't they arrange any high-grade Marquis Realm experts to accompany you to the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda?"

Li Luo felt a bit awkward upon hearing this and explained, "Outer Shenzhou has recently been plagued by strange calamities. I'm afraid the forces over there have no energy to spare for the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda."

Currently, many of the elite forces of the Li Li Tianwang lineage had been deployed to the northwestern border to resist the spread of the strange calamities. As the Grand Commander, him slipping out at this time was already somewhat inconsiderate; if he were to also take some of the mid-level forces with him, that would truly give people something to talk about.

Lv Qing'er interrupted the middle-aged woman at this point: "Aunt Zhu, I know what I'm doing."

She paused, then said softly, "I don't care about those dangers. Right now, I just want to do some things of my own."

Aunt Zhu was stunned. She seemed to recall something, and her forceful, sharp gaze gradually softened. Then she looked at Li Luo with a complicated expression and said, "Then I'll be troubling you, young friend Li Luo, to look after Lu Qinger."

Li Luo hurriedly nodded in agreement.

After that, Aunt Zhu no longer lingered, and turned to leave with her people.

Li Luo watched their departing figures, scratched his head, and said to Lv Qing'er, "If this Heavenly Mirror Martial Meet is really that important to you, you don't actually have to join the Sacred Mystic Star Academy's team. Having me here is enough."

Lv Qing'er answered a question that wasn't asked: "What is your purpose in coming to the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda?"

And without waiting for Li Luo's reply, she said softly, "You've helped me so many times before. This time, I want to help you."

"One last time." The final words were already barely audible.

Li Luo said helplessly, "What relationship do we have that needs such pleasantries? Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. That Lü Ruyan—is she the eldest sister of your Lü branch?"

"Did Sister Shuanglu tell you?" Lü Qing'er asked.

"She mentioned it in passing." Li Luo nodded.

Lü Qing'er suddenly asked again, "Li Luo, I heard that Senior Sister Jiang is also at the Sky Mirror Pagoda? Did she go to the Dragon Fang branch with you earlier?"

Li Luo nodded once more.

Lü Qing'er fell silent for several breaths. Deep within those pale-blue eyes like Binghu, frost seemed to be surfacing; as that frost flowed, many emotions were gradually being affected by it.

The cold aura radiating from her body inexplicably intensified considerably.

Then she lightly nodded, as if muttering to herself, "That's good."

"Three mentors, let's head to Sky Mirror City first. The Sky Mirror Pagoda is about to officially open, and we need to prepare as well."

Lü Qing'er said this to Xi Chan and the other two, then took the lead toward the grand and massive Sky Mirror City.

Li Luo, meanwhile, gazed at Lü Qing'er's slender, graceful figure, a trace of worry surfacing in his eyes. Her state seemed a little strange.