Chapter 626: Curdled-Gold Lotus

When Li Luo stepped through the light gate, dazzling radiance erupted before his eyes. He reflexively squinted, and by the time he had adjusted, the scene before him had undergone an earth-shattering change.

What met his eyes appeared to be a lofty peak wreathed in clouds and mist, and at this moment, he was standing at its summit.

"Come here." While Li Luo was still in a daze, Instructor Xi Shan's voice reached his ears.

Li Luo hurriedly looked over and saw Instructor Xi Shan's slender jade finger tap lightly. The clouds and mist shrouding the peak churned, and then another scene came into view.

It was a lake, its waters crystal clear, emanating a faint, subtle fragrance.

What drew Li Luo's attention most was the center of the lake, where a golden lotus about a zhang wide stood quietly. The lotus had three golden petals, each extraordinarily wondrous, as if countless threads of gold were flowing across them. A thin wisp of mist rose from within, and the moment Li Luo glanced at it, an inexplicable sense of clarity welled up in his heart.

"This is the 'Curdled-Gold Lotus,' a wondrous item for cultivation and comprehension. Its petals grow one every ten years. It has been thirty years since it was last used. Cultivating within it will greatly enhance your comprehension and ability to deduce. At the same time, the golden lotus has the effect of guarding the heart and focusing the spirit, protecting you from being eroded by the artistic conception when comprehending a Marquis-rank Art." Instructor Xi Shan's voice came through.

"One petal every ten years..." Li Luo clicked his tongue inwardly. It seemed this thing really was a treasure—no wonder he had to pay such an enormous price to enjoy it.

And from the looks of it, once he was done enjoying it, this "Curdled-Gold Lotus" would once again enter a long period of accumulation.

"The greatest difference between a Marquis-rank Art and a Dragon General Art is that to master a Marquis-rank Art, you must comprehend the artistic conception contained within the technique. Only by achieving a certain resonance with that artistic conception can the technique be transformed into a brand, preserved within your heart."

"In the Holy Grail Battle, you should have seen the 'Bright King Scripture' performed by Lan Lan of the Holy Bright King Academy, yes? This technique was created by the academy's dean. To master it, one must sit before that powerhouse whose strength has reached the King-tier and constantly endure the King-realm might radiating from him. Although this pressure is deliberately suppressed, even someone at the Tian Zhu Jing realm would experience tremendous fear beneath it. I heard the Holy Bright King Academy selects students with resilient hearts every year to attempt cultivating this technique, but in the past century, only this Lan Lan has succeeded. You can imagine how difficult it is to cultivate." Instructor Xi Shan said slowly.

Li Luo nodded. The might of a King-tier... truthfully, he had never truly felt it. Although he had seen Dean Pang, that was not his true body. Yet even so, when Li Luo faced him back then, he had felt an inexplicable terror, as if standing before a primordial behemoth.

It was a suppression nearly on the level of life itself.

"As for this 'Black Dragon Dark Water Banner,' you may begin attempting it shortly. However, I must warn you: Marquis-rank Arts are inherently too advanced for students at your level. So remember—do not rush for quick results. During the cultivation process, you must constantly maintain clarity within your heart. The artistic conception contained within a Marquis-rank Art, given your current strength, can easily leave a shadow in your mind with the slightest misstep, causing some lingering aftereffects that are difficult to erase." Instructor Xi Shan cautioned solemnly.

Li Luo nodded seriously. It sounded like cultivating a Marquis-rank Art came with considerable risk, clearly entirely different from the Dragon General Arts he had cultivated before.

However, these two types of phase arts inherently possessed enormous differences.

Li Luo did not hesitate much. After slightly adjusting his mindset, his figure leaped forth and landed directly upon the "Curdled-Gold Lotus" at the center of the lake, then sat cross-legged.

The instant he made contact, Li Luo immediately felt a stream of cool, gentle energy surge into his body, instantly causing his heart to become inexplicably calm. His mind was like a deep, still pool, undisturbed, as countless stray thoughts scattered away at this moment.

Li Luo took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and at the same time tightened his grip on the dark-red Black Dragon Banner.

Instructor Xi Shan watched Li Luo enter his state of comprehension and did not leave. Instead, she found a patch of grass by the lakeside, sat down cross-legged, took a tea table from her spatial orb, brewed some fragrant tea, and planned to keep an eye on Li Luo here for a while.

After all, cultivating a Marquis-rank Art at Li Luo's level carried considerable risk. Although the "Curdled-Gold Lotus" provided protection, one still had to be cautious.

Instructor Xi Shan had received such an outstanding student for the first time, so she still had to put in extra effort to protect him. Otherwise, if something truly went wrong while cultivating the Marquis-rank Art, there would be nowhere to cry.

When Li Luo closed his eyes and simultaneously channeled his phase power into the Black Dragon Banner in his hand, he seemed to hear a dragon's roar coming from a distant time and space, echoing within his heart.

His mind seemed to sink toward some unknown place.

Li Luo "looked" around.

Then his heart gave a violent jolt.

Because at this moment, he seemed to be deep within a stretch of black seawater, and he was continuously sinking downward. The seawater here was pitch-black as ink, Nian Chou Hou Zhong, giving one an extremely oppressive and bone-chilling sensation.

All of this was terrifyingly real.

The dark seawater brought endless, boundless pressure.

Li Luo's mind lost all control. He could only watch helplessly as he kept sinking toward that pitch-black seabed. The darkness there was black to the extreme, and no one knew what lurked within it.

Faced with this unknown darkness, even though Li Luo had long been mentally prepared, a sliver of fear inevitably rose within him. This sinking within the darkness continued for an unknown length of time, when suddenly, Li Luo sensed some movement within the endless darkness below. His mind focused its gaze, and he saw in absolute horror that within the darkness, a pair of enormous, dark-red pupils slowly opened.

Those pupils were so vast, dark red as gemstones, crystalline and translucent, indifferent and emotionless.

Li Luo seemed to see, within those pupils, his own reflection—his expression filled with terror.

The dark seawater churned violently. The next moment, Li Luo finally saw the full form of the colossal creature. It was a black giant dragon, seemingly merged with the black waters, quietly coiled here, gazing at him with indifference.

A terrifying pressure swept in at this moment, blanketing the heavens and earth, surging directly toward this fragment of Li Luo's mind.

Crack.

In that instant, Li Luo seemed to hear the sound of his own mind shattering. But it was precisely at this moment that a stream of cool, gentle energy surged into his mind. Borrowing the momentary clarity brought by this breath, Li Luo decisively severed this thread of his consciousness.

On the golden lotus at the center of the lake.

Li Luo suddenly opened his eyes. At this moment, his face was deathly pale, his eyes still holding traces of terror, cold sweat drenched his head, and he gasped for breath unceasingly.

He lowered his head to look at the Black Dragon Banner gripped in his palm, his expression one of lingering dread.

So this is a Marquis-rank Art?

It actually contained such a terrifying artistic conception. Had it been someone with an unsteady mind in that previous instant, they would likely have been drowned by fear in their sea of consciousness, leaving behind a shadow of terror deep within their heart.

No wonder even the academy's Seven Star Pillars had never mastered a Marquis-rank Art. A phase art of this caliber was indeed far too terrifying.

"Now do you understand the terror of a Marquis-rank Art? Still want to try?" Instructor Xi Shan's unhurried voice came from the lakeside, her autumn-water eyes fixed upon Li Luo.

Li Luo gave a bitter smile, offered no reply, and merely quietly adjusted his mindset. Once his heart had completely settled, his hand once again tightened its grip on the Black Dragon Banner, and his eyes slowly closed, carrying a trace of resolve.