Chapter 245: The Squad's Independent Mission

On the slope, Li Luo and the other two stared at each other in disbelief; this sudden spike in difficulty had clearly exceeded their expectations.

Qiu Bai and Tian Tian were also somewhat surprised by Jiang Jiang Qinge's decision. A Grade-One Purification Tower was indeed nothing difficult for them, but Li Luo's group was different—they were still freshmen of the One-Star House, and this was their first time entering the Dark Cave and encountering Other Beings.

They remembered that when they were in the Two-Star House, their first encounter with Other Beings in the Dark Cave had thrown them into a panicked scramble for quite a while; if not for a higher-Star House team leading the way, something truly bad might have happened.

And even they had been in such a sorry state back in the Two-Star House, let alone a One-Star House squad like Li Luo's.

Previously, Jiang Jiang Qinge had looked after Li Luo quite a bit along the way, yet now she was suddenly arranging for Li Luo's squad to handle a Grade-One Purification Tower on their own—the gap between the two was, to say the least, enormous.

"What? Is there a problem?"

Facing Li Luo's stunned gaze, Jiang Jiang Qinge's exquisitely beautiful jade-like face showed no ripples; her golden eyes quietly fixed on Li Luo: "Although you are indeed just freshmen of the One-Star House right now, does that mean you don't have the courage to face some Erosion-grade Other Beings?"

"There is indeed considerable danger involved, but... did we enter the Dark Cave to seek comfort?"

"Li Luo, I can arrange for you not to lift a single finger in the Dark Cave; I'll give you full protection the whole way. But... would you be willing to accept that?"

Meeting Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze, the astonishment in Li Luo's eyes gradually faded, and he smiled: "Sister Jiang Qinge, I understand."

Jiang Jiang Qinge wasn't unable to protect him, but she clearly didn't want to do so, because that kind of all-encompassing protection would only breed laziness and erode courage, and she certainly didn't want Li Luo to become like that.

No wonder she had been doing her best to pass on so much experience about Other Beings along the way—she had long since decided to let Li Luo's squad handle the first Grade-One Purification Tower on their own.

This was a test for Li Luo.

To see just how much real substance this top freshman squad actually had.

Li Luo said no more, merely turning his head to look at the withered forest shrouded in black mist ahead. Although he could faintly sense the danger within, his gaze gradually grew eager and ready for action.

"Scared?" he asked Bai Bai Mengmeng and Student Xin Fu.

Bai Bai Mengmeng blinked her big, sparkling eyes and said: "Anyway, I'm just a tiny little support. Captain, you guys go for it!"

Student Xin Fu lifted his head slightly; the face beneath his hood was somewhat pale, but his eyes held an unusual sharpness.

"My blade fears no Other Beings," he said in a hoarse voice.

Li Luo raised a hand and said: "It's just one Grade-One Purification Tower—no need to drop your voice that dramatically. With that tone, people would think we're heading into a Forbidden Zone to take on that big Spirit Beast."

Student Xin Fu: "..."

Li Luo's gaze turned to Jiang Jiang Qinge: "This Grade-One Purification Tower—leave it to our Justice Squad."

Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded lightly: "We'll be watching from here. Whenever you activate this Purification Tower, we'll move on to the second target."

"If you can't activate it, then we'll just be stuck here the whole time."

Li Luo gave a helpless smile—she was putting pressure on him. When the big white goose got serious, she really was exceptionally strict.

Still, he didn't say anything more, just nodded, no longer hesitating. He turned and strode quickly toward the withered forest at the foot of the slope.

Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng quickly followed.

Watching the three of them head toward the withered forest, Tian Tian's beautiful eyes turned to Jiang Jiang Qinge: "You really plan to let their squad handle this Grade-One Purification Tower on their own?"

"Li Luo and Student Xin Fu are only at the first Pattern of the Birth-Pattern Stage, and Bai Bai Mengmeng is even worse—she hasn't even reached the Birth-Pattern Stage. Around this Purification Tower, there are probably no fewer than five White-Erosion Other Beings, all at the Birth-Pattern Stage level—stronger than any one of the three of them. Add to that the Other Beings' inherently bizarre methods, and they're going to be very hard to deal with."

Qiu Bai also nodded: "Even if you want to test them, Captain, shouldn't it be done step by step? Handing them an entire Grade-One Purification Tower all at once—the difficulty is a bit too high."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's golden eyes watched the three figures approaching the withered forest, lingering more on the one at the very front. Her red lips curved slightly, revealing a faint smile.

"Don't underestimate our young mansion master of Luo Lan Mansion."

Qiu Bai gazed at the smile on Jiang Jiang Qinge's devastatingly beautiful face and flushed for a moment, while Tian Tian bit her red lip, clutched her chest, and said: "Captain, that smile of yours is way too lethal—I'm in love, I'm in love."

"That Duze Red Lotus who's always going against you—could it be that she's also drawn in by your charm, and that's why she acts that way to get your attention?"

Faced with this wildly imaginative notion of hers, Jiang Jiang Qinge could only roll her eyes helplessly, shake her head, and pay her no mind.

Under the watchful gazes from behind, the three of them arrived at the edge of the withered forest.

Inside the withered forest, all was desolate. Black mist drifted everywhere, making it impossible to see the interior clearly. Strange whispers kept emanating from within; if one's concentration slipped even slightly, negative emotions from deep within would be stirred up.

Within the black mist, it seemed as though there were gazes filled with malice, coldly watching the three of them.

Clang.

Li Luo drew his twin blades from his waist. He stared at the churning black mist inside the withered forest, his gaze gradually sharpening. Then, without another word, he lifted his foot without hesitation and stepped into the black mist.

Right behind him, Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng followed at once.

The instant they stepped into the black mist of the withered forest, Li Luo sensed a surge of chilling aura rushing toward them from ahead. But before he could act, a streak of ghostly light whistled out and pinned that chilling aura directly to a tree trunk.

Li Luo looked over and saw that what the ghostly light had pinned was actually a pale-white bird-type Other Being—except this Other Being had only two lonely wings, and those wings... were clearly formed from a cluster of pale-white fingers.

The ghostly light, like a nail, pinned it completely motionless—that was Student Xin Fu's Shadow Phase power.

"Captain, should we head straight for the Purification Tower?" Bai Bai Mengmeng asked nervously, glancing around in a low voice.

Li Luo paused briefly, then shook his head: "No. Once the Purification Tower begins to activate, it will agitate every Other Being in this withered forest. At that point, they'll all converge and swarm us."

"Given our strength, once the Other Beings gather into a group, we can't handle them right now."

"So..."

"We need to take the initiative, seek out these Other Beings, and clear out the stragglers first. Once their numerical advantage is weakened, that's when we activate the Purification Tower."

Both Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng were somewhat surprised—they hadn't expected Li Luo to not only refuse to hide from the Other Beings, but to actively seek them out instead.

Still, they also knew that Li Luo's approach was the most correct and rational one. It's just that, perhaps due to fear of Other Beings, many people would instinctively choose to evade rather than take the initiative.

"Alright." Both nodded, agreeing with Li Luo's decision.

Hearing this, Li Luo immediately set off in one direction of the withered forest. After walking forward like this for several minutes, his footsteps slowly came to a halt.

On his body, phase force surged; on the twin blades, water-light flowed.

His Face Turns Solemn as he stared ahead, where the black mist rippled and a creature roughly a zhang tall emerged from within.

That creature had extraordinarily long arms and legs, but no head. Connecting the arms and legs was a single enormous black eyeball.

That eyeball had an excessive amount of white, and its black pupil rolled about with an eerie quality, fixing its chilling gaze on the three of them.

The instant Li Luo's group saw that bizarre eye-monster, ghostly light swirled within its black pupil like a vortex, instantly freezing the minds of the three of them in place.

The dangers of the Dark Cave, without warning, had just taught these three freshmen a perilous lesson.