Chapter 244: Dark Spirit Pool

"Dark Spirit Pool?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Bai was slightly startled, but his tense expression immediately softened. He said, "I almost forgot, there is indeed a Dark Spirit Pool existing outside this forbidden zone."

"However, the purity of this Dark Spirit Pool is only level two, suitable only for those below the General stage..."

Having said this, he stopped. Clearly, Jiang Qing'e's purpose in going there was not for them, but for Li Luo.

She wanted Li Luo to experience the Dark Spirit Pool to improve himself.

Thinking of this, Qiu Bai's gaze met Tian Tian's, and both saw a complex emotion in the other's eyes. They had realized that all the routes for this mission in the Dark Cave were tailor-made for Li Luo.

Jiang Qing'e's meticulous care for Li Luo was enough to make even them feel a twinge of jealousy. Others said the engagement between Jiang Qing'e and Li Luo was just a formality, but in their eyes, what Jiang Qing'e did for Li Luo went far beyond the scope of a fiancée.

And Jiang Qing'e might have given up on competing for first place in this purification mission from the very beginning; after all, with all these delays, their purification efficiency would likely not surpass that of Duze Honglian's side.

However, they had no objections to this. After all, in their Black Swan Team, Jiang Qing'e was the absolute main force. The two of them had owed Jiang Qing'e too many favors in the past, so even if the harvest from this purification mission wasn't maximized, they could accept it—consider it giving Jiang Qing'e some face.

"What is this Dark Spirit Pool?" Li Luo, standing to the side, asked.

"The Dark Cave is a connection point between two worlds. Its essence is actually not much different from the 'King-General Battlefield,' just much weaker in intensity."

"The laws of heaven and earth inside the Dark Cave are different from the outside. Although the Black Tide erupts from time to time, causing the energy of heaven and earth within the cave to become violent and chaotic, the world is strange; where there is poison, there is always a special antidote. Because of this, some special places are born within the Dark Cave."

"This Dark Spirit Pool is one of them."

"There is no actual pool water in the Dark Spirit Pool; instead, it condenses exceptionally dense energy of heaven and earth. These energies likely fled and hid in this ground pool every time the Black Tide arrived to resist its erosion, eventually forming the current Dark Spirit Pool."

"This is considered a unique, good place in the Dark Cave. If you can enter it to meditate and breathe, it will have a significant tempering effect on your body. Especially the first time you enter the Dark Spirit Pool, if your endurance is strong enough, you might even be able to raise your own resonant power by a level."

At this point, Jiang Qing'e smiled at Li Luo and said, "When I first entered the Dark Spirit Pool to meditate, I achieved a small breakthrough."

Tian Tian, standing nearby, helplessly added, "Captain, as far as we know, there are no more than five people in the history of the Astral Sage College who have achieved a breakthrough the first time they meditated in the Dark Spirit Pool."

"Of course, it cannot be denied that the Dark Spirit Pool is indeed a place that students entering the Dark Cave must visit."

Li Luo looked at them and said, "Going to the Dark Spirit Pool now will delay our purification efficiency, right? Why don't we go there after we finish the mission? It won't be too late."

He actually felt vaguely that Jiang Qing'e's purification mission this time was purely for his sake, and that Qiu Bai and Tian Tian had completely become two tools.

And the Black Swan Team was, after all, the number one team in the Three-Star Hall. Jiang Qing'e working for him was one thing, as their relationship was deep, but making Qiu Bai and Tian Tian pay as well was truly a bit embarrassing.

However, this time, Qiu Bai laughed: "Every time the Dark Spirit Pool opens, the energy is limited. If we go late, it might be exhausted by other students."

He waved his hand and said, "Junior Li Luo, don't overthink it. We owed the Captain too many favors in the past; this time, consider it repaying those favors."

Hearing this, Li Luo had no choice but to say no more. Jiang Qing'e's two teammates were indeed quite good.

Bai Mengmeng and Xin Fu remained silent on the side, but they could also hear that everything here was decided by Senior Jiang, and they only needed to follow the Captain closely, hug Senior Jiang's thigh, and then reap various benefits...

"By the way, is this forbidden zone because there is some extremely powerful Otherkind?" Li Luo changed the subject and asked curiously.

Jiang Qing'e shook her head and said, "There are no Otherkind within the forbidden zone."

Li Luo was a bit puzzled. No Otherkind in the forbidden zone? Then why is it still considered a forbidden zone?

"In the Dark Cave, there are not only Otherkind, but also Essence Beasts."

Jiang Qing'e explained, "These Essence Beasts likely accidentally crawled into the Dark Cave through some spatial rifts and were then unable to get out, so they could only survive here."

"Some Essence Beasts gradually became powerful, but they were also affected by the Black Tide, becoming increasingly ferocious and violent. Anything that enters their territory, whether human or Otherkind, will be devoured by them."

"And in this forbidden zone, there exists a Heaven-General stage Essence Beast. Its strength is comparable to an expert at the Heaven-Stellar General stage; there are even rumors that this Essence Beast is trying to break through to the Marquis stage."

Li Luo's heart trembled slightly. No wonder that place was called a forbidden zone; it turned out there was such a terrifying Essence Beast. With such a fierce creature guarding it, it was no wonder other Otherkind dared not appear there.

"The College had previously sent a Purple-Radiance Mentor to try and eliminate this hidden danger, but this beast is extremely good at hiding. If it wants to hide, even a Purple-Radiance Mentor would find it difficult to drag it out in that complex environment, so it could only be left unsettled."

"But fortunately, this Essence Beast almost never crosses out of that forbidden zone area, so as long as we don't go and provoke it, it won't pay attention to us."

Li Luo nodded. That Essence Beast in the forbidden zone should be the strongest existence in this area. They, as students, would have to be incredibly bold to dare to provoke it.

After clarifying the next route and goals, Jiang Qing'e did not linger and continued to lead the way.

The group set off again.

In the next half-day, Li Luo saw waves of various bizarre Otherkind, but these Otherkind were too low-level; apart from their horrifying appearances, their strength was quite ordinary.

But through Jiang Qing'e's explanation, Li Luo also learned one of the most bizarre characteristics of these Otherkind: these low-level Otherkind seemed very weak, but they still possessed the power of pollution. There had been no shortage of students who, after slaying too many of these low-level Otherkind, had their minds polluted and eventually became monsters that only knew how to kill crazily.

Therefore, when slaying these Otherkind, one must strictly guard their mind and not reveal any flaws.

However, because the Otherkind they encountered along the way didn't even count as Erosion-grade, Li Luo and the others didn't get a chance to make a move and could only listen to the many experiences imparted by Jiang Qing'e and the other two.

They traveled rapidly.

Finally, when they climbed a hillside, a black withered forest appeared ahead. Deep within the withered forest, a white tower could be vaguely seen.

And around the withered forest, the black mist was significantly denser than in other areas.

The strange whispering sounds emanating from within also suddenly became intense.

"Our first target is here."

Jiang Qing'e pointed her slender jade finger at the white tower deep in the withered forest.

Li Luo and the other two also looked over hurriedly, and their expressions became solemn. In this withered forest filled with black energy, they vaguely felt a dangerous aura.

Sure enough, the area around the purification tower was the most difficult.

"We go straight in?" Having not made a move the entire way, Li Luo was now eager to try and asked immediately.

Jiang Qing'e looked at him with a hint of a smile in her golden eyes, then leaned against a nearby tree trunk and said, "The difficulty of a level-one purification tower is not high."

"So, this purification tower is left to you, the Justice Team."

The three of them looked at her in astonishment.

This level-one purification tower, they had to handle it themselves?

Li Luo looked at Jiang Qing'e's jade-like face, which didn't seem to be joking, and swallowed hard.

Haven't you been protecting me like a baby all the way here? How did the difficulty suddenly spike?

Is this level-one purification tower really something their freshman team can solve?

Are they really not going to be wiped out?