Chapter 885: Duel of Twin Swords

Boom!

A mass of crimson flame descended from the sky, directly engulfing a figure below; immediately, agonized screams echoed throughout this space enclosed by fire.

"Thunder Body!"

"Tri-colored Halo!"

Li Luo, trapped within the flames, twisted his face in agony; he roared, and thunderous light surged through his body as he directly activated the Thunder Body to strengthen his flesh.

Moreover, tri-colored halos appeared on his body's surface, swirling around him; as the glow circulated, it seemed to form a layer of powerful protective power.

Yet this heavy defense did not prove very effective.

As the crimson fire burned onward, the tri-colored halos maintained themselves for only a moment before showing signs of melting; then Li Luo, terrified, saw scorching marks appear on his own skin, the intense burning pain transmitting directly into the deepest recesses of his heart.

Furthermore, besides the burning, the flames seemed to contain sharp, domineering sword qi; this sword qi invaded his body through the scorched wounds, scouring his flesh and blood, the stinging sensation making one unable to help but weep in agony.

Only now did Li Luo truly experience just how intense the pain Li Li Lingjing had endured was.

That old man was truly too ruthless; without a second word, he had thrown him in here.

Li Luo felt like crying but had no tears; yet he knew saying anything now was useless, so he could only activate his own Xiangli while employing various methods to reinforce his flesh, allowing himself to endure this inhuman torment of fire scorching the body and sword qi scouring the form a bit longer.

One after another, streams of crimson fire constantly fell from the sky, booming down upon Li Luo.

After initially gritting his teeth and enduring for a while, he finally decided not to hold back; one after another, wails of agony continuously issued forth, serving to relieve the pain.

After such a good while, the crimson fire finally subsided somewhat, allowing Li Luo to catch his breath.

And just at this moment, he heard a somewhat helpless, familiar voice come from not far away: "Li Luo cousin, could you move a bit farther from my side? Your ghostly wailing and wolf howls are greatly distracting me."

Li Luo, lying on the ground, was stunned; then, with difficulty, he climbed to his feet and walked toward a spot not far ahead, where he saw a depression, and within that depression, a graceful figure sat cross-legged—none other than Li Li Lingjing.

Li Li Lingjing's pretty face was somewhat pale at this moment; her snow-white skin bore many burn marks, which were gradually healing under the flow of Xiangli.

She raised her head, gazing at Li Luo standing up there on the high ground, a hint of smile revealing itself in her eyes as she said: "Li Luo cousin, have you also been contaminated by the aberrant ones? That's why you were thrown in here."

Li Luo smiled faintly: "I voluntarily requested to enter to temper myself."

Li Li Lingjing's beautiful eyes widened roundly; somewhat admiringly, she said: "Li Luo cousin truly possesses a resilient will; even I find this place difficult to endure and only wish to get out sooner, yet you actually came in voluntarily."

However, as she spoke these words, a hint of amusement lingered deep within her eyes; whether she truly believed Li Luo or not remained unclear.

Li Luo waved his hand, saying: "The mere 'Dragon Fire Sword Qi' is somewhat weaker than I expected; it serves perfectly to temper myself."

Boom!

Just as his words fell, a dragon's roar seemed to sound from the high sky above; then a mass of crimson red, like a meteor, plummeted downward, directly smashing into Li Luo's body.

With the sudden fall of the flames, Li Luo prepared to endure the immense pain surging forth, but immediately afterward he felt a chill all around; looking down, his face instantly turned black.

For this fire had not burned his body; instead, it had directly incinerated the clothes outside him until they were completely gone, leaving only a pair of short pants for coverage.

At this moment, he stood nearly naked on this high ground; this scene was quite eye-searing.

"Old man, don't cause trouble!" Li Luo hurriedly pulled a long robe from his space orb and draped it over himself, shouting angrily toward the sky.

Then, awkwardly, he said to Li Li Lingjing below, who seemed stunned for a second: "Cousin Li Lingjing, this has nothing to do with me."

Li Li Lingjing's expression quickly returned to normal; her face was calm, yet she showed no hint of shyness; instead, she commented lightly: "Li Luo cousin, your figure is quite nice."

Hearing this very female-thug-like comment, Li Luo could endure no longer and immediately fled in panic.

After Li Luo fled, Li Li Lingjing's tense, delicate body finally relaxed slightly; she touched her somewhat hot earlobes and murmured to herself: "The figure is indeed quite nice."

For the time that followed, Li Luo dared not provoke Li Li Lingjing again; keeping some distance between them, they each endured the scorching of the crimson fire.

The pain encountered during this period was naturally extremely intense; many times Li Luo felt he had reached his limit, even his consciousness beginning to grow dim, yet in the end he still gritted his teeth and endured, choosing not to give up.

After all, not far away, he could faintly hear Li Li Lingjing's stifled groans filled with pain; since Li Li Lingjing could endure it, there was no reason for him to be inferior to her.

As time passed, Li Luo felt his flesh seemed to have entered a state of numbness; his entire body's flesh and blood were as if stripped of sensation.

However, in this state, Li Luo felt a trace of peculiar energy flowing within his body.

Upon slightly perceiving it, he knew what those peculiar energies were: they were actually traces of scorching sword intent... the remnants of Dragon Fire Sword Qi.

As Li Luo perceived this Dragon Fire Sword Qi within his body, a flash of inspiration suddenly arose in his heart.

In the next moment, he directly activated the cultivation method of the "Myriad Phases Dragon Tooth Sword Array"; instantly, the boundless river of sword intent stars manifested in his mind's eye.

This time, as soon as the river of sword intent stars appeared, as if stirred by some influence, the star-river sword intent, which previously required Li Luo to painstakingly gather before it would appear, now actively emanated from within the star river.

Li Luo was overjoyed; was this because the extremely high-grade "Dragon Fire Sword Qi" had invaded his body, thereby stimulating the star-river sword intent?

That was quite possible; after all, both were equivalent to the king of beasts in the mountains and forests; now that one party had entered the other's territory, naturally it would provoke a counterattack.

Yet with this outcome, Li Luo would indeed reap many benefits.

As those threads of star-river sword intent appeared, Li Luo shifted his mind, swiftly gathering them together until they gradually condensed into a single, complete star-river sword intent.

In merely half a morning, a star-river sword intent that in the past would have required Li Luo several days to visualize and gather was now completely formed.

Li Luo's heart surged with excitement; disregarding everything else, he focused his mind and began furiously gathering star-river sword intent.

And time, amidst Li Luo's joy, rapidly passed.

Until at a certain moment, Li Luo felt intense pain transmitted from his flesh; only then did he suddenly awaken from the gathering of star-river sword intent; he understood this meant his flesh had reached its limit; if he remained any longer, his body would completely collapse.

Thus Li Luo could only sigh regretfully; as he opened his eyes, the space before him underwent changes; when he came to his senses again, he found himself once more within the lakeside courtyard.

This first "Fire Enclosure Tempering" had, by accident, been endured by him.