Chapter 294: The Dark Red Bracelet

About half a day after the Princess arrived at the stronghold, a large number of reinforcements, just as she had said, arrived one after another.

The appearance of the reinforcements boosted the morale within the stronghold, and cheers rang out incessantly.

The leader of this group of reinforcements was Gong Shenjun, who brought his party outside the stronghold, his gaze immediately drawn to the stone sculpture seal of the three-tailed giant beast.

They were all somewhat suspicious.

"Wasn't it said that this place was ambushed by a Great Disaster-class Otherkind? How did it turn into a refined beast?"

"This seal is quite complex. Did the Princess do this?"

"Impressive."

"It seems we made a wasted trip; the Princess has already resolved the crisis here all by herself."

The group of Fourth Star Hall seniors praised it repeatedly; although they could not fathom the mysteries of this sealing array, that did not prevent them from sensing its profoundness.

Gong Shenjun was also somewhat distracted, then shook his head and said, "This shouldn't be Luan Yu's handiwork; the power remaining on it is not hers."

But his inner doubts grew; in this stronghold, besides the Princess, who else could have resolved this crisis?

And who was responsible for this seal?

Amidst these doubts, the rescue team poured into the stronghold amidst the many cheers.

Inside the stronghold, many students lined the path to welcome them, and behind the crowd, the Princess, Duze Honglian, and others also came up to meet them.

"Luan Yu, I didn't expect you to beat me to it," Gong Shenjun said with a gentle smile.

Yet deep in his eyes as he looked at the Princess was a hint of strangeness, because the speed at which the Princess arrived this time was too fast; originally, in terms of distance, the Princess was further away than his location.

But she ended up arriving faster than him, which meant that the Princess's rescue this time was practically an exhaustion of all her own strength.

Although rescue was a duty—for instance, he had also rushed over immediately after receiving the notification—you wouldn't go so far as to say it was that kind of extreme, energy-consuming dash.

After all, in his previous judgment, if Stronghold No. 13 had really been targeted by a Great Disaster-class Otherkind, the odds were that it would be more ominous than auspicious, and at their speed, even if they rushed over, it would just be a wasted trip.

Holding such a mindset, how could one arrive at the very first moment?

And the Princess seemed to have been a bit too anxious.

This made Gong Shenjun feel somewhat suspicious and strange; after all, he knew the Princess's personality well. She appeared approachable on the surface, but deep down she was not truly that gentle. As a member of the royal family, they had seen too much intrigue, so perhaps from a very young age, they would put on some masks.

The Princess had them, and so did he.

Precisely because he knew the Princess's personality, Gong Shenjun felt slightly suspicious regarding her extreme rescue mission this time.

"Is it because Jiang Qing'e is also in this stronghold? Is she putting on such a display to win her over?" Gong Shenjun's gaze flickered as he thought to himself.

After all, he also knew that the Princess had been trying to build a good relationship with Jiang Qing'e recently, as the latter indeed had the potential worth her investment.

A faint smile appeared on the Princess's beautiful, peerless face as she said, "After all, there was such a major crisis here; if I had arrived late, I don't know how many students would have suffered, so I could only rush over with all my strength, hoping to make it in time."

The surrounding students, upon hearing this, all showed expressions of being moved, and their eyes held a bit more gratitude as they looked at the Princess.

Although it seemed that Li Luo was the one who ultimately stepped in to resolve the three-tailed giant beast, the fact that the Princess was able to arrive at the fastest speed also showed her concern and goodwill toward the other students.

Gong Shenjun smiled slightly; how could he not know that this was the Princess winning over hearts? However, she was indeed the first to arrive as support, so even he could not say anything and could only say, "It seems the top credit for this rescue will fall to you."

Upon hearing this, the Princess's expression faltered slightly, then she revealed a bright smile and said, "Does the Imperial Brother think I could deal with a Great Refined Beast that has begun to touch the Marquis level?"

Gong Shenjun was startled: "A Great Refined Beast that has begun to touch the Marquis level?"

His eyes narrowed slightly; such a level of Great Refined Beast would be difficult for even him to handle if he encountered it, as he was currently only at the peak of the Heavenly Dipper General stage and had not yet begun to touch the Marquis level.

"Then... what about the sealed statue outside?"

The others were also somewhat surprised; if it wasn't the Princess who acted, then who resolved the crisis in the stronghold this time?

"Actually, I also made a wasted trip. I presume that even if I hadn't come, this stronghold wouldn't have had any major issues," the Princess said candidly, having no desire to steal the credit; that would be too low-class.

"What exactly happened? Besides you, who else here could offer any resistance to a Great Refined Beast of this level?" Gong Shenjun frowned and asked.

Jiang Qing'e? But even if she had potential, she was currently only at the Earthly Fiend General stage. If she had stepped into the Heavenly Dipper General stage, perhaps Gong Shenjun might have thought it a slight possibility.

"It was Li Luo who did it," the Princess's bright face was slightly complex.

As soon as these words were spoken, not only were the Fourth Star Hall students suddenly stunned, but even Gong Shenjun's mouth opened slightly, and he looked at the Princess with a hint of loss of composure.

A moment later, he gradually recovered and said, "You mean... Li Luo resolved this Great Refined Beast?"

The other Fourth Star Hall seniors couldn't help but want to scoff; how could this be possible? But they ultimately swallowed the sound back because they noticed the Princess's expression was very serious, with no intention of joking, and the surrounding students, upon hearing this, did not refute it at all, but instead nodded in agreement.

This made them look at each other in dismay, not understanding what exactly had happened. Wasn't Li Luo, a freshman from the First Star Hall, just here to gain experience on his first visit to the Dark Cave? How could he possibly resolve such a massive crisis that even the Princess and Gong Shenjun could not handle alone?

"It was indeed Li Luo who did it."

Beside the Princess, Duze Honglian also spoke up, her expression slightly complex. She hadn't expected that she would one day help clarify things for Li Luo, but this was truly the fact.

Afterwards, she briefly recounted Li Luo's plan and the process of finally using the Dean's Seal to seal that Great Refined Beast.

As Duze Honglian narrated, Gong Shenjun's expression could not help but become much more solemn, his eyes appearing somewhat deep.

The other Fourth Star Hall seniors also had expressions of shock and disbelief; at this moment, their view of Li Luo had clearly undergone a huge change.

A freshman, in such a desperate situation, could actually achieve this?

Such courage and temperament were truly not simple.

Gong Shenjun gradually regained his senses. He glanced ahead, though he didn't see Li Luo or Jiang Qing'e, and said, "Junior Brother Li Luo truly has a history of miraculous feats."

No one expected that he could think of such an incredible way to resolve the crisis. While there was certainly an element of luck involved, in this world, luck was only an auxiliary; that Li Luo could conceive of such a plan and have the courage to execute it was enough to demonstrate his extraordinary qualities.

Gong Shenjun's eyes flickered. In fact, regarding Li Luo, he had never looked down on him like others from the very beginning, because he did not believe that such outstanding people as Li Taixuan and Tantai Lan would produce a useless son.

It was just that, at this moment, he still felt that he had seemingly underestimated this previously unremarkable Young Master of the House of Luolan...

"This dark red bracelet appeared suddenly after you sealed that three-tailed giant beast?"

And when Gong Shenjun and the others arrived at the stronghold, in a stone tower room within, Jiang Qing'e and Li Luo were huddled together. At this moment, her slender palm naturally held Li Luo's hand, her golden eyes looking at the dark red bracelet on Li Luo's wrist with contemplation.

During the earlier rest, Li Luo had taken the initiative to tell Jiang Qing'e about the dark red bracelet; after all, the relationship between the two was too intimate, and he did not keep many secrets from her.

Li Luo looked at Jiang Qing'e's exquisite and beautiful face before him; her snow-like skin was so delicate that it gave one the urge to caress it. With their palms tightly clasped, it felt as if he were holding a piece of warm, smooth jade, which made Li Luo unable to resist hooking his finger against her palm.

"Stop it."

Jiang Qing'e swept a glance at him, and the charm in that look almost made Li Luo's soul fly away.

Jiang Qing'e let go of his hand and mused, "There is a power within this dark red bracelet that even my resonant power cannot probe. That power is too vast; I simply cannot touch it. It shouldn't have come from the three-tailed giant beast."

She thought for a moment, her golden eyes fixed on Li Luo, and spoke slowly.

"I'm afraid this is the Dean's handiwork..."

"This is something he left for you."