Chapter 356: Initial Contact

Over the next few days, Li Luo, Lu Qinger, and Qin Zhulu continued to advance toward the direction of the Treasure Pool. This time, their travel speed was actually faster than when they were protected by a group, and the reason was simple: as news of the Golden Dragon Qi being destroyed spread, no other teams were interested in continuing to ambush them.

Furthermore, having lost the Treasure Basin effect of the Golden Dragon Qi, Lu Qinger was indeed unable to continue picking up treasures as they walked, and naturally, there were no more heavily injured spirit beasts falling from the sky to act as givers of wealth.

Thus, the journey over these past few days became much smoother and quieter.

However, although the journey was smooth, the three of them did not relax because of it; instead, their daily training became even more urgent. They were all preparing for the upcoming great battle to ambush Lin Suo.

Although it was unlikely they could bridge the massive gap between the two sides in this short time, every bit of strength they could improve counted. At the very least, they would be able to hold the opponent off for a while longer, and perhaps that might lead to a miracle.

The setting sun slanted down, and the dark red afterglow spilled over the mountains.

On a high ground, Li Luo sat cross-legged at the edge of a cliff. He glanced at the mountain forest not far away, where the roars of beasts were resounding. The woods were rustling, being pushed over and collapsing from time to time, and at the same time, two streams of resonant power were erupting over there.

That was Qin Zhulu and Lu Qinger working together to hunt spirit beasts. While earning Dao Gold, it also served to hone themselves and improve their strength.

In fact, over these past few days, he had seen the efforts of Qin Zhulu and Lu Qinger. Although Li Luo had previously told them to trust him, neither of them wanted to truly become a burden and leave all the pressure to Li Luo.

Although Li Luo had previously performed the miracle of resolving the Great Disaster-class Other, that was ultimately a risky, unconventional move. Furthermore, a miracle could be called a miracle precisely because it was difficult to replicate. Although they did not know what methods Li Luo had, since they were teammates, they naturally needed to do their best to help Li Luo share some of the burden.

Qin Zhulu was proud and would never tolerate becoming a burden, while for Lu Qinger, it might simply be out of concern, not wanting Li Luo to bear so much 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 very trustworthy, but as the saying went, the gap between them and Lin Suo was too large. Wanting to fight across ranks, even if they had the advantage in numbers, was still a huge disadvantage.

Fighting normally was too difficult, so... it was better to cheat.

Li Luo glanced at the dark red bracelet on his wrist; the flowing scarlet light gave one a feeling of oppression.

"Heavenly Sacrifice Curse..."

Li Luo whispered to himself. In fact, ever since he obtained this strange art from Dean Pang, he had been studying and practicing it. However, this strange art was extremely complex and profound; even with his talent in resonant arts, it was only after exploring it for a long time that he had gradually begun to grasp the basics.

But he had still failed to extract the power of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf.

Because according to this "Heavenly Sacrifice Curse," to extract the power of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf, one first needed to use a secret method to condense the "Heavenly Sacrifice Curse Seal." The condensation of this seal had stumped Li Luo for a long time, and even after constant attempts, he had still failed to complete it.

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

However, no matter how high the difficulty, he could not give up; after all, this was the strongest trump card in Li Luo's hands right now.

Thinking this, Li Luo set aside other thoughts. He stretched out his arm, a blade of light flashed, a bloodstain appeared, and blood immediately began to flow from the wound.

As this blood flowed out, it did not scatter; instead, under the control of Li Luo's intent, it flowed slowly on his arm as if it possessed life. Threads of blood continuously branched out, intersecting and merging with each other, and gradually, they faintly formed the prototype of an extremely complex scarlet curse seal.

Sweat continuously rolled down from Li Luo's forehead.

Condensing this kind of seal did not consume much resonant power, but it was a huge burden on his intent and mind. In this short while, it had already made him feel quite exhausted.

Moreover, the curse seal was still incomplete.

Because of the weakness of his intent, the semi-finished curse seal even began to tremble, and the gathered blood showed signs of scattering.

Li Luo was not surprised by this, as he had stopped here many times before. However, this time, he did not intend to give up. He knew he needed to try to push his limits; otherwise, he didn't know when he would be able to take this step.

And right now, he clearly didn't have that much time to waste.

A ruthless look flashed in Li Luo's eyes, and then he gritted his teeth, using his intent to control the scattered blood. Threads of blood continuously spread and outlined each other, gradually condensing the remaining part of the curse seal.

Hum!

When the final stroke of the curse seal fell, Li Luo could clearly feel the scarlet curse seal on his wrist tremble violently, and a peculiar fluctuation erupted from within it.

Hiss!

Immediately after, he saw a bloodline extend from the scarlet curse seal, and the location it extended to was exactly the dark red bracelet on his wrist!

In a brief moment, with Li Luo's eyes widened in a death stare, the bloodline connected to the dark red bracelet.

In that instant, Li Luo's spirit seemed to fall into a trance.

The scenery around him changed at this moment; the cliff disappeared, darkness spread beneath his feet, and the sound of chains struggling violently seemed to reach his ears. Li Luo looked up and saw a giant beast roaring and struggling in the darkness ahead.

Three giant tails danced behind it, like giant pythons.

It was the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf!

At this moment, the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf seemed to have noticed Li Luo as well. Suddenly, its scarlet, brutal beast eyes projected toward him. It struggled violently and lunged directly at Li Luo to kill him.

The giant claws tore through the void and descended, but when they were still a yard away from Li Luo, they froze directly; it was bound by the surrounding chains and unable to move.

Yet even so, Li Luo was terrified into a cold sweat.

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

The Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf watched this scene and suddenly stopped struggling. In those scarlet, ferocious beast eyes, a hint of mockery seemed to emerge.

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

But Li Luo felt that something was wrong, because at this moment, a violent emotion suddenly poured out from his heart like a tide. His pupils rapidly turned blood-red, and an urge to kill and destroy erupted in his heart.

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

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

"What a ferocious beast!"

Li Luo was terrified in his heart. He had underestimated the intensity of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf's will contamination. He was too weak right now; even with the "Heavenly Sacrifice Curse" to extract the power of the Three-Tailed Heavenly Wolf, this kind of will contamination caught him off guard.

In the emergency, Li Luo made a prompt decision and slapped his palm onto the "Heavenly Sacrifice Curse Seal" on his wrist. The curse seal shattered instantly, and at the same time, the energy and ferocious will that had been surging like a tide were cut off in an instant.

Pfft.

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

Li Luo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at the bloodstain on his arm and sighed, "As expected of a great spirit beast about to reach the Marquis Realm; just a little bit of will infection nearly made me lose control."

While he was sighing, the sound of wind breaking suddenly rose from not far away. The figures of Lu Qinger and Qin Zhulu were rushing over; clearly, they had noticed the violent energy fluctuations that had suddenly erupted here.

"Li Luo, are you okay?" A moment later, the two arrived, both looking at the devastated area with shocked expressions.

Li Luo smiled and shook his head, though some scarlet color still remained in his eyes.

Lu Qinger walked over quickly. She stared into Li Luo's eyes and frowned, "Your emotions are not right. Did something go wrong with your training?"

Immediately, she suddenly took off the ice-silk glove on her right hand, revealing her slender and perfect hand that looked like white jade. She hesitated for a moment, her face slightly flushed, and grasped Li Luo's palm. Immediately, cold resonant power radiated from where their hands were clasped.

Then Li Luo felt a stream of extreme cold energy surge into his body. That extreme cold seemed to carry a peculiar quality. As the cold energy dissipated, Li Luo was surprised to find that the lingering emotions of killing and destruction in his heart were actually gradually fading away. His mind became as clear as ice and snow, and the residual malice and wrath were also eliminated along with it.

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

Lu Qinger smiled and said, "This is the 'Ice Heart Profound Qi,' which can purify the mind and allow one to remain calm at all times, unaffected by external things. Previously, when I was going to enter the Dark Cave, the pollution there was too severe, so I practiced this resonant art for emergencies. You must have been too urgent in your training earlier, which led to the backlash of your resonant power."

Li Luo was stunned for a moment, then his eyes filled with tears, and he gripped Lu Qinger's small hand tightly.

"Qinger, you really are a little treasure," he said excitedly.

Lu Qinger's small face turned bright red instantly, while Qin Zhulu, who had just arrived, cursed "damn it" and turned to leave.