Chapter 286: Racing Against the Clock

"That was close!"

Li Luo was sprinting madly across the river's surface. At this moment, his entire forehead was drenched in cold sweat, and his heart was pounding like war drums, the throbbing so intense it made his head spin.

Too thrilling.

Just now, he had brazenly charged right past, directly under the nose of a Heavenly General tier exotic beast.

In that instant, Li Luo truly felt the breath of death. After all, if that three-tailed giant beast had been just a little more ruthless—if it had slapped him down without a care—then given Li Luo's strength, the odds were overwhelmingly against his survival.

But the sealing force in Li Luo's palm had made the three-tailed giant beast wary.

Without getting to the bottom of that sealing force, the three-tailed giant beast still chose to remain cautious.

That was what gave Li Luo his chance.

Li Luo lowered his head, looking at the ancient seal in his palm. The seal did possess some power, but to say it could directly suppress and kill the three-tailed giant beast would be far too naive a thought.

From the information the dean had left behind, this seal could only take effect after the three-tailed giant beast was injured. If the beast was in perfect condition, the seal was useless against it.

However, the three-tailed giant beast clearly did not know this piece of information.

The beast clearly knew the dean's level, and thus held an extremely deep fear of him. Earlier, Li Luo had leveraged that fear to make the beast harbor reservations.

It was nothing more than a fox borrowing the tiger's might.

Li Luo glanced behind him. The three-tailed giant beast's figure had already vanished, but he wasn't worried. Although the beast possessed some spiritual intelligence, its nature remained savage and greedy. The seal in his hand could indeed give it pause, but he figured it wouldn't take long for the three-tailed giant beast to see through the trick—for instance, if the seal could truly suppress and kill it, Li Luo wouldn't have needed to flee in such a sorry state.

Once it figured it out, it would definitely come chasing after him.

And that, precisely, would buy him a great deal of time.

Li Luo pressed lightly against his rapidly beating heart, gradually calming his emotions. When he had decided to execute this plan, he had already anticipated the danger involved, so he had made all kinds of preparations.

To break out of a desperate situation, where was any absolute safety? It was nothing but staking one's life.

Li Luo was thinking these thoughts, but his sprinting speed did not slow in the slightest. He carved a white water line across the river's surface, heading swiftly toward the distance.

After a while, Li Luo detected movement behind him. A sweep of his gaze revealed a massive figure streaking along the riverbank, kicking up billowing clouds of dust.

That three-tailed giant beast had indeed come chasing after him.

Even from a great distance, Li Luo could still sense the fury, the savagery, and a trace of suppressed wariness swirling in the beast's pupils.

Phew.

Li Luo's body tensed up once more, yet he also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it followed, that was fine. What he feared was that he had truly scared it off earlier, causing it to flee outright, which would have completely ruined his plan.

Thus, what followed was one human and one beast, once again beginning a chase and a flight.

Only this time, the three-tailed giant beast was no longer as unrestrained as at the very beginning. It trailed Li Luo at a measured distance—not too close, not too far—its gaze lingering more on Li Luo's palm, clearly conducting covert observation.

And as time passed, Li Luo never once revealed the palm bearing the seal. Gradually, the three-tailed giant beast grew impatient and began closing in on Li Luo.

Just as the three-tailed giant beast prepared to once again attempt a fierce assault to pounce and kill Li Luo, Li Luo unexpectedly stopped in his tracks.

"You beast, I'll fight you to the death—let's die together!"

His face flushed red as he let out a roar. Like a cornered beast, he actually turned and charged toward the three-tailed giant beast, the ancient seal in his palm blooming with light once more.

The stance of one determined to perish together.

Li Luo's sudden reversal and headlong charge once again startled the three-tailed giant beast. Its crimson eyes flickered, and then its massive figure retreated swiftly.

Although it didn't know whether Li Luo truly intended to fight to the death, it wasn't going to take such a risk.

Only, in doing so, it lost yet another chance to close in and slap Li Luo to death.

And as the three-tailed giant beast retreated, Li Luo immediately dropped his life-risking posture, then turned tail and ran again.

He glanced behind him. This time, the three-tailed giant beast hadn't fled out of sight—it had only pulled back a certain distance. Clearly, with Li Luo's repeated fox-borrowing-tiger's-might tactics, the threat posed by the seal was gradually weakening.

After all, the three-tailed giant beast was no fool either. Through Li Luo's repeated bluffs, it too was beginning to glimpse the true nature of the seal.

That kind of power seemed insufficient to suppress and kill it.

However, out of caution, it still did not strike directly at Li Luo. It needed to wait for a good opportunity, to avoid Li Luo fighting to the death and causing it some harm.

Nevertheless, its hesitation and waiting actually aligned with Li Luo's thoughts. As long as this situation held, he could reach the stronghold smoothly.

Li Luo looked up, gazing in the direction the river was rushing toward. That was where the stronghold lay.

Hopefully, the stronghold could hold out until he got back.

"Something's not right."

Duze Duze Honglian looked up at the purification light barrier covering the entire stronghold. Under the erosion of the black rainstorm, its light was steadily dimming, and as time went on, the rate of dimming was growing faster and faster.

They had originally thought the purification light barrier could hold out for three days, but now it seemed even three days was uncertain.

Inside the stronghold, many students stared at the scene with pale faces, undisguised panic in their eyes.

"The Smiling Face Demon has increased the power of its erosion," Jiang Jiang Qinge said slowly. Her complexion was still somewhat pale as well, clearly indicating her previous injuries had not fully healed.

Her gaze swept toward the rear of the stronghold.

"Still waiting for him?"

Duze Duze Honglian curled her lip and said, "Only you would believe that kind of fantastical idea of his. Does he really think a Heavenly General tier exotic beast is a pet dog at home that he can just take for a stroll?"

"And even if he could lure out a Heavenly General tier exotic beast, how could he possibly escape with his strength?"

She didn't continue the rest of her thought, because putting it all together, Duze Duze Honglian felt the more likely possibility was that Li Luo had simply run off on his own.

The so-called plan was just an excuse.

Jiang Jiang Qinge said calmly, "Actually, I rather hope he really did run off on his own, but unfortunately, Li Luo isn't that kind of person."

Duze Duze Honglian could only respond with a cold laugh.

Then she didn't bother arguing further with Jiang Jiang Qinge on this point, and instead said, "At this rate, the purification light barrier might be broken ahead of time. When that happens, we'll have no choice but to give it everything we've got."

"You can still fight, right?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge didn't answer, only lightly gripping the hilt of her heavy sword with her jade-like hand.

If it truly came to that point, it would basically be a hopeless situation. The entire stronghold would likely be slaughtered to the last by the Smiling Face Demon, so they had no choice but to fight with their lives on the line, to see if they could buy a little more time.

And facing this kind of situation, Jiang Jiang Qinge truly hoped Li Luo wouldn't come back. Perhaps that way, he might still be able to save his life.

However, she, who understood Li Luo's temperament well, knew in her heart that regardless of whether his plan succeeded or not, he would inevitably return.

Time slowly slipped away within the stronghold where the atmosphere had frozen and grown oppressive.

Until a certain moment.

The panicked atmosphere within the stronghold suddenly reached its peak.

Drip.

A drop of black, viscous liquid fell down, landing on the stone wall before Jiang Jiang Qinge. The stone wall was instantly corroded, and from within that liquid, it was as if countless bugs were swarming out, beginning to spread.

The Purification Light Barrier had finally shattered.