Chapter 1514: The Thirty-Fourth Floor

"Two Unparalleled Heavenly Talents, truly dazzling to the extreme."

Shen Shen Jinxiao gazed at the ten-pillar golden platforms that surged skyward from above Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge's heads, an expression of admiration inevitably surfacing on his face. Back when he had coveted Jiang Jiang Qinge's Light Heart, he had never imagined that those two youngsters would, several years later, have grown to this stage.

If he had not, under the guidance of the Return-to-One Society, left Great Xia and remained stuck in that shallow pool, then when these two returned to Great Xia, it likely would have been the day of his, Shen Shen Jinxiao's, death.

Facing the vengeance of one Unparalleled Fourth Rank and one Unparalleled Third Rank, without borrowing the power and support of the Return-to-One Society, Shen Shen Jinxiao knew what his ending would be.

Fortunately, however, he chose a different path.

A path no inferior to those of these Unparalleled Heavenly Talents.

"I also want to catch up with you two old acquaintances, but right now, the timing isn't right."

Shen Shen Jinxiao wore a faint smile. He raised his head, looking toward the dark firmament, only to see the void there suddenly twist violently, gradually forming a massive spatial rift.

Deep within the rift, it was utterly dark and gloomy, with some ancient buildings faintly visible.

That was... the thirty-fourth floor of the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda.

Shen Shen Jinxiao had originally intended to slay that Fifth Mingxuan, take his Light Heart and devour it to strengthen his own power, but with Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge suddenly charging in, for the moment he was unable to have his wish.

Then let us first complete the mission arranged by my lord.

That is what matters most.

Boom!

At this moment, a low rumble of thunder came from behind, and a figure appeared beside Shen Shen Jinxiao.

He held a trident wreathed in thunderbolts—it was Zhou Jun.

Zhou Jun looked at Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge, then glanced back at Fifth Mingxuan, who had been rescued and whose chaotic phase force fluctuations were gradually recovering, and frowned: "You didn't finish off Fifth Mingxuan?"

This Fifth Mingxuan is a formidable foe. Earlier he was purely caught off guard by a sneak attack and severely wounded, which is why he fled in such a sorry state. If he recovers, he will surely be a great trouble.

"No matter."

Shen Shen Jinxiao smiled and said, "Pay no heed to them. Let us head to the thirty-fourth floor first; my lord's mission is what matters."

Hearing the words "my lord," Zhou Jun's expression also turned reverent, and he nodded.

Then the two paid no more attention to the others, turned directly, and transformed into two streaks of light that shot swiftly toward the spatial rift that had appeared in the firmament.

Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge did not immediately pursue. Instead, their gazes cautiously watched the spatial rift; they did not know where it led, and naturally did not dare to rush in blindly.

At this moment, from the surrounding skies, some streaks of light broke through the air and arrived—those were the top-tier experts still present on the thirty-third floor who had not yet been eliminated.

Among them, Li Luo saw Sheng Que'er, Ning Meng, and the others.

Sheng Que'er's group also spotted Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge, so they hurried over to join up.

"Jiang Qinge, are you all right? Was that person from earlier one of the powerful experts the Return-to-One Society smuggled into the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda? Why is Zhou Jun following him as well?" Sheng Que'er asked in shock and suspicion.

"This man is called Shen Shen Jinxiao. He was once an instructor at the Sacred Mystic Star Academy. The previous Calamity of the Other in Great Xia also erupted because of him, leading to the Sacred Mystic Star Academy suffering grievous losses and nearly being destroyed. I never expected him to have come here as well. And Zhou Jun... he should also be a piece the Return-to-One Society planted within the Academy Alliance, just activated at the right moment," Li Luo said.

"Hateful Return-to-One Society, how dare they covet the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda!" Sheng Que'er's face darkened, worry barely concealed in her eyes. After all, anyone could see that the current state of the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda was not good. Dean Wang Xuanjin and the others must have temporarily lost control of the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda; otherwise, they would not have allowed themselves to be trapped here.

"If my guess is not wrong, that spatial rift should lead to the thirty-fourth floor of the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda." At this moment, Fifth Mingxuan also stepped forward, staring at the massive spatial rift, and said slowly, "It seems the target of the Return-to-One Society's infiltration into the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda lies within."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo's gaze shifted at once. The thirty-fourth floor of the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda—that was also precisely where the "Great Non-Phase Divine Forging Art" resided.

It was likewise the destination of his ultimate purpose in coming to the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda this time.

"Everyone, we cannot let the Return-to-One Society's scheme succeed. To defend the Heavenly Mirror Pagoda, we must intercept that Shen Shen Jinxiao and Zhou Jun," Fifth Mingxuan said in a deep voice.

These words immediately drew agreement from many instructors. They were all members of the Academy Alliance and held an extremely strong faith in it. Although there had been competition among them before, now, to protect the Academy Alliance, they naturally cast aside past grievances at once.

Li Luo was actually glad to see this. After all, he and Shen Shen Jinxiao were in a life-and-death feud. Although he and Jiang Jiang Qinge were now far different from before, he had also detected some eerie and dangerous fluctuations from Shen Shen Jinxiao earlier, so if he could borrow the strength of the crowd, that was also a good choice.

"Then let us act together," Li Luo said.

Fifth Mingxuan's gaze turned to Li Hongyou, and he said politely, "Instructor Hongyou, could you give me another one of those golden talismans from before?"

Li Hongyou hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I need to keep the Vermillion-Fruit Spirit Transformation Talisman to bestow upon Li Luo. I cannot give it to you."

From Li Luo's attitude toward Shen Shen Jinxiao earlier, it was clear this was his mortal enemy. The opponent was bizarre, so she needed to conserve her strength, making as many preparations as possible for Li Luo.

Fifth Mingxuan was stunned, never having expected to be refused. After all, in the Divine Sun Ancient Academy in the past, no woman had ever refused his requests, so for a moment, the smile on his face looked very awkward.

"I'll give you a 'Red-Heart Golden Talisman' then. It can also speed up the recovery of your injuries and slightly enhance your phase force." Seeing Fifth Mingxuan's awkward smile, Li Hongyou could only sigh, casually sketched out a crimson-red talisman, and then tossed it to Fifth Mingxuan.

Fifth Mingxuan hurriedly caught it, wrapped it with phase force, and temporarily pressed it into his palm, feeling the warm fluctuations flowing out from the crimson-red talisman.

"Thank you, Instructor Hongyou," he said gratefully.

"It's nothing."

Li Hongyou waved her hand, then walked behind Li Luo.

Fifth Mingxuan gazed at her slender and graceful figure, thinking that such an ability, if she could join the Academy Alliance, would truly be able to assist many people. Although Li Hongyou was currently only a Second Rank Marquis, when it came to actual usefulness, perhaps even a Fifth Rank or even Sixth Rank Marquis-tier powerhouse could not compare to her.

But from the looks of it, she seemed to only follow Li Luo.

This made Fifth Mingxuan's feelings very complicated. This Li Luo, his luck was just too good.

"Let's go."

Then he gathered his thoughts, said a word, and the next moment, everyone shot forth their figures, all plunging into that spatial rift.

Li Luo, Jiang Jiang Qinge, and their group also followed in.

Passing through the spatial rift, Li Luo felt the view before his eyes seemingly grow much dimmer. Amidst a sensation of the world spinning, it was as if space was shifting, and after a brief moment, this feeling vanished.

Immediately after, Li Luo saw a continent appear in the dark void ahead.

The continent was extremely broken, as if it had once been shattered by some terrifying power. As they drew closer, they also saw that on this broken continent, there were clusters upon clusters of ancient sect buildings stretching continuously. From these remaining ruins, one could imagine how prosperous this place once was.

Li Luo's gaze swept rapidly across, then suddenly hardened.

He looked toward the central region of this broken continent, at the convergence point of countless mountains and rivers.

There stood an ancient altar, towering into the clouds, quietly erected.

And when he saw this ancient altar, deep within his body, that "Ten Thousand Phases Wheel" began to slowly rotate, emitting a low, yearning rumble.

Li Luo's eyes instantly grew scorching hot, and his heart thumped wildly.

He knew...

The "Great Non-Form Divine Forging Art" he had yearned for all these years was right here.