Chapter 351: Withdrawal

Under the cover of night.

Li Luo gazed into the distance. Even from a fair way off, he could still see the bursts of phase force light rising from the dense forest over there — the sheer number of them was somewhat beyond his expectations.

"That Senior Zhu Zhu Xuan is full of tricks, too."

Li Luo sighed. Although from the very start he had vaguely sensed that Zhu Zhu Xuan hadn't come alone, only now, with the scene unfolding before his eyes, could he confirm that Zhu Zhu Xuan had indeed prepared long in advance.

The man had probably never intended to share the benefits of the Golden Dragon Qi with Zhao Zhao Jieyang and the others.

Judging from the squads Zhu Zhu Xuan had allied with, he had made it perfectly clear he meant to seize the chance to replace Zhao Zhao Jieyang's lot, then take control of Lv Qing'er, who carried the Golden Dragon Qi.

Tsk tsk, this fellow's ambitions aren't small either.

Ambition, and the nerve to match it.

If it weren't for him secretly stirring things up on this side, goading Zhao Zhao Jieyang and his people into losing patience and striking first, then once Zhu Zhu Xuan had everything ready, it would likely have been time to launch the cleanup directly.

When that happened, Zhao Zhao Jieyang and his lot would be driven off, and Zhu Zhu Xuan would have ample reason to "protect" Lv Qing'er — he'd probably even find an excuse to kick Li Luo out as well.

After all, that Zhu Zhu Xuan had taken a dislike to him for quite some time now.

"I wonder if Zhao Zhao Jieyang and the others can hold against Zhu Zhu Xuan's preparations..."

Li Luo thought it over. If Zhao Zhao Jieyang's side capsized, then he'd have to start looking around here for the next hired blade — oh, no, the next alliance partner.

Still, given the current chaos, he could slip away first.

Li Luo's gaze flickered slightly. Then he suddenly noticed that the area around the bonfire had gone utterly silent, and the shadowy figures that had been keeping watch nearby had likewise gone still.

Li Luo's nose twitched; he caught a faint whiff of something strange.

The moment that scent reached his nostrils, Li Luo's expression changed drastically.

Knockout poison!

A violent wave of dizziness crashed through his mind. But in that very instant, Li Luo immediately circulated the wood phase force within his body. Emerald-green phase force flowed swiftly through his meridians, and thanks to the wood phase force's detoxifying effect, within a few breaths the dizziness in Li Luo's head rapidly cleared.

But his expression, meanwhile, gradually grew Solemn.

His eyes fixed sharply on the surrounding darkness. After a moment, he locked onto a certain direction and said slowly, "Come out."

Silence hung in the dark for several breaths, then came the soft sound of footsteps, and a figure slowly emerged from within.

The bonfire's glow spread outward, and that figure came into Li Luo's line of sight.

And when he saw clearly who it was, his pupils contracted almost imperceptibly — because that figure was none other than Lin Suo, whose presence in Zhu Zhu Xuan's squad had always been unremarkable.

Yet it was precisely this person who always gave Li Luo a vague, lingering sense of danger.

"You actually weren't knocked out by Luo Yunyan's mist?" Lin Suo stood in the bonfire's light, looking at Li Luo with some surprise, and asked with a smile.

"Did Zhu Zhu Xuan send you?"

Li Luo frowned slightly as he stared at the man. So he really had underestimated that fellow Zhu Zhu Xuan — he'd figured Li Luo would use the current opportunity to slip away quietly, and so he'd arranged Lin Suo to block him?

Lin Suo smiled without answering.

Li Luo watched Lin Suo with wary eyes. He had always kept his guard up around this man. Moreover, he had previously suspected that the other party was an assassin planted by some force targeting House Luolan Mansion, whose purpose was to kill him here in this special place called the Golden Dragon Arena.

Although Yu Yu Hongxi had said this Lin Suo was a man of the Golden Dragon Treasure House, Li Luo had not fully let down his guard against him.

And in a situation like the present one, if Lin Suo really had come for him, he probably wouldn't pass up this chance...

Although Lin Suo's surface strength was only the First Transformation of the Transformation Phase, Li Luo vaguely sensed that the man was likely not as simple as he appeared.

And in the few breaths while Li Luo's thoughts churned, Lin Suo showed no sign of wanting to talk further. Phase force surged forth from his body — a phase force that took on a blood-red hue, faintly carrying the stench of fresh blood.

Li Luo felt that blood-red phase force, and the surprise in his eyes deepened.

This is... Blood Phase?

How rare indeed.

He saw Lin Suo's figure flash, transforming straight into a streak of blood light that shot violently toward Li Luo.

"What speed!"

Li Luo's heart jolted. Then twin blades materialized in his hands, and the two phase palaces within his body began operating without the slightest hesitation. Two streams of phase force flowed out, coating the blades.

The blade-light slashed forth with cold ferocity, glinting with a chilling sheen beneath the night.

Yet when the blade-light swept through that blood-red shadow, it passed clean through it — and the blood-red shadow reappeared ghost-like behind Li Luo.

He seemed to have no interest in engaging Li Luo; instead, he rushed toward a tent.

It was Lv Qing'er's tent!

As he streaked forward, Lin Suo suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood-light phase force. The force struck the tent and rapidly dissolved it, revealing Lv Qing'er's slumbering, graceful figure within.

Lin Suo charged straight for Lv Qing'er.

That move of his made Li Luo frown. This fellow — wasn't he planted by some other force to deal with him? Why pass up such a chance?

But no matter what the man's true purpose was, if he wanted to touch Lv Qing'er, that was something Li Luo would not permit.

Lin Suo's figure appeared eerily beside Lv Qing'er. He had only just stretched out his hand to grab her when he sensed an extremely fierce burst of phase force erupt behind him.

The force was so strong that even a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

Then he spun his palm and struck out behind him. Blood-red phase force churned, and a blood-red palm-shadow, thick with the stench of blood, slammed head-on into Li Luo's twin blades cleaving down from above.

Clang!

In that instant, a metallic ring rang out. Then Li Luo felt his expression shift as a tremendous force surged toward him from the front; the dual-phase force gathered on his twin blades was forcibly snuffed out on the spot.

That level of strength far surpassed the First Transformation of the Transformation Phase!

It was even on par with Zhu Zhu Xuan and Zhao Zhao Jieyang!

This Lin Suo really had been hiding a great deal of his strength!

Li Luo's figure was sent staggering back. His eyes fixed coldly on Lin Suo as he said slowly, "You've gone to great lengths to hide so much strength — just which force sent you? You don't look like you're here for me."

Lin Suo gazed at Li Luo with an indifferent look. "Here for you?"

He smiled, a hint of mockery in his laughter.

"Young Master of House Luolan Mansion, your self-importance is a bit overblown. I don't have the slightest interest in you, so if you know what's good for you, get out of the way now."

Li Luo narrowed his eyes slightly — this was truly a bit unexpected. He had always assumed that Lin Suo had snuck in here to deal with him, but now it seemed he had guessed wrong.

"Since you're not here for me... then your target, could it be Qing'er?"

"Aren't you from the Golden Dragon Treasure House's Tiancang Prefecture branch of the Great Xia? You dare to make a move on Qing'er — aren't you afraid that Yu Zhang will come settle accounts with you?"

"What exactly is your purpose?"

Listening to Li Luo's words, Lin Suo's gaze remained indifferent. He did not answer, but instead extended his palm, and a thumb-sized, extraordinarily exquisite black jade gourd appeared in his hand.

He flicked a finger, and the black jade gourd shot out, then hovered between the brows of the sleeping Lv Qing'er.

On the black jade gourd, black energy seemed to surge. The mouth of the gourd faced Lv Qing'er's brow, and a peculiar suction force suddenly erupted at this moment.

Immediately after, Li Luo saw, somewhat shocked, that wisps of golden-yellow aura rose from Lv Qing'er's brow at this moment, being drawn into the black jade gourd.

That golden-yellow aura was extremely mysterious and profound, and when it appeared, Li Luo still guessed at the first instant what it was.

That should be... Golden Dragon Qi?!

This Lin Suo, could actually extract the Golden Dragon Qi from within Lv Qing'er's body?!!