Chapter 546: Completed Mission

At the peak of Thunder Roar Mountain, the great battle had long since settled into calm.

Jiang Jiang Qinge, the Princess, Qin Yin Yue, Zhao Zhao Beili, and others gathered together to rest while waiting for Li Luo and Lu Ming to emerge.

Everyone's spirits were high, mainly because each person now held a silver fruit in their hand—the Thunder Roar Fruit.

This was after the previous great battle ended, when the Thunder Roar Tree suddenly used its branches to coil up several Thunder Roar Fruits and then gifted them to them.

The Thunder Roar Tree was releasing goodwill, perhaps apologizing for its previous actions.

Everyone naturally accepted this gladly, after all, the Thunder Roar Fruit was one of their goals in coming to Thunder Roar Mountain.

However, after the incident with the evil seed hidden inside the Thunder Roar Fruits earlier, they remained cautious, so no one dared to easily swallow and refine them; instead, they all turned their gaze toward Jiang Jiang Qinge.

"Junior Sister Jiang, since you possess the Ninth-Rank Light Image, your perception of evil qi is the most acute..." Qin Yin Yue smiled at Jiang Jiang Qinge and said politely.

Jiang Jiang Qinge understood his meaning; she held the Thunder Roar Fruit in her hand, sensed it, and shook her head, saying, "These Thunder Roar Fruits are fine."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief, their smiles grew even brighter, and they fondled the Thunder Roar Fruits in their hands with great delight.

Jiang Jiang Qinge paid them no mind; her clear, pure golden eyes kept turning toward the Thunder Roar Tree, her slender willow brows slightly furrowed. Li Luo still hadn't emerged; what exactly had happened?

"Jiang Qinge, do not worry. Judging by the Thunder Roar Tree's reaction, Li Luo and the others should be fine. The fact they haven't emerged yet likely means they have gained some benefit." The Princess looked at Jiang Jiang Qinge with her phoenix eyes, knowing what the other was worried about, and immediately offered comfort.

"After all, even we managed to get a Thunder Roar Fruit, and Li Luo is the great hero who broke the deadlock; I imagine the Thunder Roar Tree would not treat him poorly."

Hearing these words, the others' eyes shifted; in fact, until now, they still could not figure out what Li Luo and Lu Ming had done to save the corrupted Thunder Roar Tree.

In response to the Princess's comfort, Jiang Jiang Qinge slightly nodded her head, and just as she was about to speak, she suddenly looked at the Thunder Roar Tree. She saw silver light blooming there, and then two light figures appeared as if walking out from within the Thunder Roar Tree, directly entering her line of sight.

It was Li Luo and Lu Ming.

Their appearance immediately became the focus of everyone's attention; almost everyone stood up and quickly surrounded them.

"Lu Ming, are you two alright?" Zhao Zhao Beili from the Heavenly Fire Holy Academy looked at Lu Ming and asked with concern.

Facing the senior's concern, Lu Ming merely shook his head with a calm expression.

"Li Luo... your strength seems to have increased somewhat?" The Princess scrutinized Li Luo with her phoenix eyes, keenly noticing that the fluctuations of his Image Power around him were somewhat unstable and, compared to before, had become even more formidable.

Obviously, he had made a breakthrough.

Upon hearing this, Li Luo smiled and nodded, saying, "I was lucky; my strength has increased a bit, reaching the fourth transformation of the Image Transformation Stage."

At these words, a look of surprise appeared in everyone's eyes. Previously, during the Holy Cup Battle, only Jing Jing Taixu from the One-Star Courtyard had reached the fourth transformation of the Image Transformation Stage, and Li Luo's fourth transformation at that time had been achieved only with external aid.

But now, Li Luo's Image Power level had caught up.

This time, Jing Jing Taixu would likely be truly left behind by him.

It seemed Li Luo had found an opportunity within Thunder Roar Mountain.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze swept over Li Luo, and after seeing no serious injuries, she finally asked, "What did you encounter down there?"

The others also looked over curiously.

Li Luo and Lu Ming exchanged a glance, did not hide anything, and detailed the events they had previously encountered.

"What? The Black-Armored Man? The Black-Armored Man from Zhenjiang City is also in Thunder Roar Mountain?"

"You killed him?! That was a master of the Evil Palace Realm!"

Upon hearing news of the Black-Armored Man, even the Princess's phoenix eyes widened, and she couldn't help but cry out in shock.

The others also changed color, looking at Li Luo with suspicious and shocked gazes. Especially Ao Bai from the Northern Sea Holy Academy; he himself was at the level of the Void General Realm, his strength not even matching a true Evil Palace Realm expert, yet now Li Luo, an Image Master of the Image Transformation Stage, had killed an Evil Palace Realm expert. How could this not be shocking?

"This actually has little to do with me. The Thunder Roar Tree gave me a Thunder Arrow; I relied on that to kill the Black-Armored Man," Li Luo explained.

"Even so... it is still remarkable." Qin Yin Yue sighed, his gaze toward Li Luo somewhat complex. Such a feat, while external aid was the main factor, would be too self-deceptive to say Li Luo had no share of the credit at all.

They all knew clearly just how huge the gap was between the Image Transformation Stage and the Evil Palace Realm.

The Princess's beautiful eyes shifted, looking at Li Luo with a gaze of wonder, then took Jiang Jiang Qinge's arm and smiled, "Jiang Qinge, this young dragon of your Luo An Manor is becoming increasingly brilliant; I think it won't be long before he truly catches up to you."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's red lips curved slightly, and a smile that left Qin Yin Yue, Zhao Zhao Beili, and others beside her utterly stunned appeared on her exquisite, beautiful face. Along this journey, this was the first time they had seen Jiang Jiang Qinge show such an expression.

Anyone could see that Jiang Jiang Qinge was in very good spirits at this moment.

Was this mindset hoping her husband would become a dragon?

Li Luo coughed lightly and smiled, saying, "Sister Jiang Qinge, Your Highness, can you guess the identity of that Black-Armored Man?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge and the Princess both paused, then their eyes flickered; after pondering for a short time, they tentatively asked, "Could it be Huang Lou, whom we met in the town earlier?"

Li Luo was startled: "You could guess that too?"

The Princess smiled lightly, her phoenix eyes shifting, and her elegant, charming face appeared somewhat coquettish: "Since you speak in such a tone, the Black-Armored Man must be someone quite unexpected to us. And since arriving in the Red Sand Commandery, there has actually been only one person of the Earth Evil General rank that we have seen."

Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded slightly, saying, "It is indeed somewhat surprising that Huang Lou was the Black-Armored Man."

"Earlier, seeing him desperately protect the people in the town, why would he then aid the wicked? He should know that the Black Wind Empire's current situation is due to the forces behind him being the root cause."

Li Luo sighed and shook his head; this was also what he wanted to know.

However, Huang Lou was already dead, so there was nothing more to investigate.

"By the way, do you want a Thunder Roar Fruit? Earlier, the Thunder Roar Tree gave us some. Your contribution was the greatest, so you are actually the most qualified to enjoy this item." Jiang Jiang Qinge did not pay much attention to Huang Lou's death and instead handed the Thunder Roar Fruit in her hand to Li Luo.

Seeing this, the Princess beside her immediately couldn't help but say, "Hey, Jiang Qinge, it's fine to treat this guy well, but don't spoil him too much; this Thunder Roar Fruit is useful for you too!"

Qin Yin Yue, Zhao Zhao Beili, and others wore complex expressions; did the affection between Jiang Jiang Qinge and Li Luo reach such a degree?

Facing everyone's strange gazes, Li Luo smiled helplessly, pushed the Thunder Roar Fruit back, and said softly, "Sister Jiang Qinge, the benefits I gained down there are far superior to a single Thunder Roar Fruit; you keep this one for yourself."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jiang Qinge said no more and put the Thunder Roar Fruit away.

"By the way, there is also this mission."

Li Luo remembered something, suddenly turned around, and reached out to pat the trunk of the Thunder Roar Tree.

Then everyone saw thunder light bloom on the Thunder Roar Tree; branches extended from somewhere, and layers of leaves wrapped around, seemingly forming three large cocoons. As the Thunder Roar Tree retracted the leaves, three unconscious figures fell into Li Luo and the others' sight.

"They are the squad that went missing earlier. They swallowed those corrupted Thunder Roar Fruits, so they are all currently in a corrupted state," Li Luo said.

"They are the squad that went missing before; they consumed those contaminated Thunderfruits, so now they are all in a state of corruption," Li Luo said.

"As for the corruption issue, the academy's higher-ups should find a way to solve it; this has nothing to do with us." The Princess stepped forward, took the Spirit Mirrors from the three people, and then directly crushed them. Immediately, the Spirit Mirrors turned into light pillars that wrapped around the three people. In an instant, as the light pillars dissipated, the three figures also vanished without a trace.

"As for the contamination problem, the higher-ups of the academy should find a way to deal with it; it has nothing to do with us." The Eldest Princess stepped forward, pulled the Spirit Mirrors from the three of them, then crushed them in one grip. Instantly the mirrors transformed into pillars of light that enveloped the three. In the blink of an eye, as the pillars of light faded, the three figures vanished without a trace.

And just as those three were sent away, Li Luo and the others simultaneously drew out their Spirit Mirrors, cast a glance, and then all broke into smiles.

Mission points have been credited.

Li Luo, as if relieved of a heavy burden, patted the Spirit Mirror, his face filled with ease; the mission at Thunder Roar Mountain was finally completed perfectly.

As for the gains this time, he could only say he was very satisfied.