Chapter 356: Initial Contact

Over the next few days, Li Luo, Lv Qing'er, and Qin Qin Zhulu continued advancing toward the direction of the Many Treasures Pool, and this time their pace was actually a bit faster than before when a whole group had been escorting them. The reason was simple: once the news spread that the Golden Dragon Qi had been destroyed, no other team was interested in continuing to ambush them.

Moreover, after losing the Treasure Bowl effect of the Golden Dragon Qi, Lv Qing'er could indeed no longer pick up treasures as she walked, and naturally, there were no longer any heavily wounded spirit beasts suddenly falling from the sky to serve as free-spending attendants.

So the journey over these past few days had become considerably smoother and more peaceful.

However, although the journey was smooth, Li Luo and the other two did not relax because of it; instead, their daily cultivation became even more urgent, as they were all preparing for the great battle ahead where they would ambush Lin Suo.

Although it was unlikely they could make up the enormous gap between them during this period, every bit of strength they could raise was one bit more—at the very least, when the time came they could entangle the opponent a little longer, and perhaps that would draw forth a miracle.

The setting sun slanted down, its dark-red afterglow spilling across the mountains.

On a highland, Li Luo sat cross-legged at the edge of a cliff. He glanced at the forest not far away, where beast roars were echoing, the trees swaying, toppled and pushed aside from time to time, while two streams of Xiangli erupted over there.

That was Qin Qin Zhulu and Lv Qing'er joining forces to hunt spirit beasts, earning Dao Gold while also tempering themselves and raising their strength.

In fact, over these past few days, Li Luo had also seen the efforts of Qin Qin Zhulu and Lv Qing'er with his own eyes. Although Li Luo had previously told Qin and Lv that the two of them should trust him, these two did not want to truly become burdens and then hand all the pressure over to Li Luo.

Although Li Luo had previously accomplished the miracle of resolving the great Calamity anomaly, that was ultimately an unorthodox stroke. Moreover, something can be called a miracle precisely because of its difficulty to replicate. Although they did not know exactly what methods Li Luo had, since they were teammates, they naturally needed to do their utmost to help share some of the burden for Li Luo.

Qin Qin Zhulu was proud and high-spirited, and would never tolerate himself becoming a burden; as for Lv Qing'er, it was probably simply that she felt for him, not wanting Li Luo to bear such enormous pressure just to help her reclaim the Golden Dragon Qi.

After watching for a while, Li Luo withdrew his gaze and smiled. These two teammates were both very trustworthy. But as he had said before, the gap between them and Lin Suo was far too great; to fight an enemy above their level, even with their advantage in numbers, was still an enormous disadvantage.

Fighting normally would be far too difficult, so... let's cheat instead.

Li Luo's gaze flicked to the dark-red bracelet on his wrist; the flowing crimson light gave off an oppressive feeling.

"Tian Ji Zhou..."

Li Luo murmured to himself. In fact, ever since obtaining this strange art from Dean Pang, he had been studying and cultivating it constantly. However, this strange art was extremely complex and profound; even with his talent in Xiang arts, it was only after a long period of exploration that he gradually managed to enter its door.

But he had still never managed to draw out the power of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf.

Because according to what this "Tian Ji Zhou" stated, to draw out the power of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf, one first needed to use Yi Mi Fa to condense a "Tian Ji Zhou Yin," and the condensation of this curse seal had stumped Li Luo for a long time. Even after repeated attempts, he had never been able to complete it.

Clearly, the strange art Dean Pang had bestowed was of extremely high difficulty.

But no matter how high the difficulty, he could not give up, for this was currently the strongest trump card in Li Luo's hands.

Thinking this, Li Luo gathered his other thoughts. He extended his arm; a flash of blade light, and a bloodstain appeared, immediately causing fresh blood to flow from the wound.

This fresh blood flowed out but did not drip or scatter; instead, under Li Luo's willful control, it moved slowly across his arm as if possessed of life. Threads of blood continuously branched out, meeting and merging with one another, gradually and faintly forming the embryonic outline of an extremely complex crimson curse seal.

Sweat kept rolling down from Li Luo's forehead.

Condensing this kind of curse seal did not consume much Xiangli, but it placed an enormous burden on his will and mind; in just this short while, it had already made him feel considerable weariness.

And the curse seal was still not yet complete.

In fact, due to the weakening of his will, the Ban Cheng Pin curse seal had even begun to tremble, and the gathered blood showed signs of scattering.

Li Luo was not surprised by this, after all he had been stopped at this point many times before. But this time, he did not intend to give up here. He knew he needed to try to push his limits; otherwise, he did not know how long it would take to take this step.

And right now, he clearly did not have so much time to waste.

A fierce glint flashed through Li Luo's eyes; then, gritting his teeth, he used his will to control those scattered threads of blood. Strand after strand of blood kept spreading and intertwining, and gradually, the remaining portion of the curse seal was condensed into existence.

Hum!

And when the final stroke of the curse seal fell, Li Luo could clearly feel the crimson curse seal on his wrist shudder violently, and a peculiar fluctuation erupted from within it.

Hiss!

Immediately after, he saw a line of blood extend out from that crimson curse seal, and the place it extended toward was precisely the dark-red bracelet on his wrist!

In an instant, the blood line connected with the dark-red bracelet before Li Luo's wide-staring eyes.

At that instant, Li Luo's spirit seemed to become dazed.

The scenery around him changed at this moment. The cliff vanished, darkness spread beneath his feet, and it seemed as if the sound of chains struggling violently reached his ears. Li Luo raised his head and saw, in the darkness ahead, a massive beast roaring and struggling.

Three enormous tails swept behind it, like giant pythons.

It was the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf!

And at this moment, the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf seemed to sense Li Luo as well. Immediately, its crimson, brutal beast pupils locked onto him. It struggled violently and pounced directly at Li Luo to kill him.

Its giant claws tore through the void as they descended, but when they were still about a zhang away from Li Luo, they froze in place—bound by the surrounding chains, unable to move.

Even so, Li Luo was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

At the same time, blood-red energy surged out from within the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf, finally rising rapidly along those coiling chains, and converging directly toward where Li Luo stood.

The Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf stared at this scene, and suddenly stopped struggling. Within those crimson, ferocious beast pupils, a hint of mockery seemed to surface.

The blood-red energy poured in, the darkness shattered, and the mountain wind once again rushed against his face.

But Li Luo sensed something was wrong, because at this moment a violent emotion suddenly poured out from his heart like a tide. His pupils rapidly turned crimson at this moment, and an impulse of killing and destruction erupted within him.

That was the power from the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf!

However, within that power, the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf's will was also contained.

"What a fierce beast!"

Li Luo was greatly horrified. He had still underestimated the intensity of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf's will contamination. He was far too weak right now; even though he had the "Tian Ji Zhou" to draw out the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf's power, this kind of will contamination had caught him somewhat off guard.

At this critical moment, Li Luo made a decisive call. He slammed his palm onto the "Tian Ji Zhou Yin" on his wrist, and the curse seal instantly shattered. At the same time, the tide-like surging energy and ferocious will were also instantly cut off.

Puchi.

This back-and-forth energy impact caused Li Luo to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood. At the same time, some of the scattered energy swept outward, directly shattering the nearby giant rocks into fragments.

Li Luo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at the patch of blood on his arm and sighed, "Truly worthy of a great spirit beast on the verge of touching the Marquis Realm. Just a little bit of will contamination nearly made me lose control."

As he was sighing, the sound of breaking wind suddenly rose from not far away. The figures of Lv Qing'er and Qin Qin Zhulu were rapidly approaching; clearly they had sensed the violent energy fluctuation that had suddenly erupted over here.

"Li Luo, are you alright?" A moment later, the two arrived, both looking shocked as they surveyed this ravaged area.

Li Luo smiled and shook his head, but a trace of crimson still lingered in his eyes.

Lv Qing'er quickly walked over. She stared into Li Luo's eyes and frowned, "Your emotions don't seem right. Did something go wrong with your cultivation?"

Then she suddenly removed the ice silkworm silk glove from her right hand, revealing a slender and perfect little hand as fair as Bai Yu. She hesitated for a moment, her face slightly flushed, and grasped Li Luo's palm. Immediately, icy Xiangli emanated from where their hands were clasped together.

Then Li Luo felt a surge of extreme coldness flow into his body. That extreme cold seemed to carry a peculiar property. As the cold spread, Li Luo was surprised to discover that the lingering emotions of killing and destruction in his heart were gradually fading. His mind became as clear and translucent as ice and snow, and the remaining viciousness was dispelled along with it.

"This is..." Li Luo said in surprise.

Lü Qing'er said with a smile: "This is 'Frostheart Mysterious Qi.' It can purify the mind, while keeping you calm at all times, untouched by outside influences. Before, when we were about to enter the Dark Caverns, the pollution there was too severe, so I cultivated this physiognomy art in case of need. You must have been cultivating too urgently earlier, which led to the backlash of physiognomy force."

Li Luo was stunned for a moment, then his eyes welled up with hot tears, and he gripped Lü Qing'er's small hand tightly.

"Qing'er, you really are a little treasure," he said excitedly.

Lü Qing'er's little face instantly flushed bright red. Qin Qin Zhulu, who had just arrived, cursed "fuck my life," turned around, and left.