Chapter 941: A Turn of Events

The moment Li Luo stepped into that energy portal, he immediately felt the world spin; the surrounding space seemed to twist violently, while the scene before his eyes kept shifting.

In that instant, Li Luo seemed to be suspended in the void; his gaze cast downward, and a vast expanse of space appeared in his field of vision, with mountains stretching endlessly within it, like a continent.

Within this space, countless mysterious auras rose, and those auras caused the three Xiang Palaces in Li Luo's body to emit a faint humming sound, as if yearning.

"This is the Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven?"

Li Luo pondered. Judging from the reaction of his Xiang Palaces, this Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven truly held an immense attraction for the elevation of one's Xiang affinity.

Just as Li Luo was briefly surveying this grotto-heaven, his expression suddenly shifted, and his gaze shot toward the depths of the grotto-heaven, because in that very instant, the three Xiang affinities within his body suddenly began operating uncontrollably, with streams of Xiang power surging through him.

Even the "Minor Formless Divine Forge Art," which had shown no movement for a long time, began to operate on its own.

This sudden turn of events greatly alarmed Li Luo. With a shift of his mind, he hurriedly forced the surging Xiang power under control, lest it run wild and instead cause damage to himself.

Fortunately, however, this anomaly lasted only a few breaths before quietly vanishing, and the Xiang power of the three affinities slowly returned to their respective Xiang Palaces.

But Li Luo was still somewhat shaken; he cast a startled, suspicious gaze toward the depths of the grotto-heaven. The anomaly within his body just now must have been caused by this Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven.

What could be the reason?

Li Luo wondered to himself. Could it be because his Acquired Xiang had been cultivated through the Minor Formless Divine Forge Art? After all, the Minor Formless Divine Forge Art originated from the "Formless Saint Sect," and this Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven might also be the work of the "Formless Saint Sect." So if there were some connection between the two, that would be normal.

Just as he was thinking these thoughts, the twisting of the surrounding space began to intensify, and then he felt his figure seemingly plummeting rapidly. After several breaths, the scene around him changed.

He was now standing on a high platform, and this platform was packed with people; the boiling, clamorous noise poured into his ears like demonic chanting, causing his brow to furrow.

"Cousin Li Luo, over here."

At that moment, a familiar voice came from ahead. Li Luo looked up and saw Li Li Lingjing waving at him, and around her there was also a large circle of people from the Five Veins of the Heavenly Dragon.

"Third Brother, why did you land so much later? I thought you'd been randomly teleported to another platform." Li Li Jingtao asked in confusion.

Li Luo smiled and shook his head, but he understood in his heart that it must have been that anomaly just now that caused him to land a little later.

"Everyone..."

At this moment, Li Li Wuyuan from the Dragon Blood Guard withdrew his faint gaze from Li Luo and looked at the crowd, saying: "Since everyone is here, let's discuss our next course of action."

From the Dragon Scale Vein side, a youth named Li Guan said: "According to past precedent, don't we each act separately? After all, there's not much Lingxiang Golden Dew; if our five veins act together, the distribution will inevitably be uneven."

The other veins also nodded slightly; each vein splitting up to act was the most efficient.

Li Li Wuyuan smiled and said: "Under normal circumstances, that would indeed be best, but... what if we have in our hands a stronghold that abundantly produces Lingxiang Golden Dew?"

At these words, Li Guan, Li Li Fuling, and the others all showed expressions of surprise as they looked at Li Li Wuyuan: "A stronghold that abundantly produces Lingxiang Golden Dew?"

Li Li Wuyuan said with a faint smile: "Conservatively estimated, one could obtain nearly a hundred drops of Lingxiang Golden Dew there."

The crowd was immediately moved. Nearly a hundred drops of Lingxiang Golden Dew — that would be enough to activate the permissions of several Golden Dew Platforms. If one had to search slowly outside, it would probably take quite some effort.

Even Li Luo couldn't help but take an extra look at this Li Li Wuyuan. This fellow really did have some goods in hand.

"This kind of stronghold has an especially dense concentration of heaven and earth's energy, which easily attracts other covetous eyes. Moreover, perhaps because of the special rules of the Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven, places that produce large amounts of Lingxiang Golden Dew may give birth to a kind of guardian spirit. We generally call it a 'Xiang Yao Spirit.' Such a being has no spiritual intelligence; it's a pure energy body, but its strength is extremely formidable and not easy to deal with."

"So, to be on the safe side, I'm sharing this intelligence with you. Of course, I won't let everyone work for nothing; when the time comes, I'll also assign you some harvesting zones. This haul will definitely be higher than what you'd get searching on your own."

"However, let me say this upfront: this intelligence came from our Dragon Blood Vein, so when the time comes, all priority rights belong to us, and you must also follow orders." As Li Li Wuyuan said this, he swept a glance toward the Dragon Fang Vein side. After all, among the five veins, these two veins didn't get along, especially since this time another Li Luo had appeared, along with that Li Li Lingjing whose strength was no less than his.

Li Guan of the Dragon Scale Vein, Li Ju of the Dragon Bone Vein, and Li Wenshan of the Dragon Horn Vein — these three were considered the current decision-makers of their respective veins. Upon hearing this, they said nothing, since the intelligence had indeed come from the Dragon Blood Vein; it was only right that they receive preferential treatment.

On the Dragon Fang Vein side, Li Li Fuling hesitated, then looked at Li Li Lingjing. After all, in terms of strength, Li Li Lingjing was the strongest one on the Dragon Fang Vein side.

However, facing her gaze, Li Li Lingjing put on an innocent expression, extended a slender jade finger, and pointed at Li Luo: "Ask him."

She clearly looked like someone who didn't want to manage affairs and took Li Luo as her leader.

Li Li Fuling glared at her helplessly. Originally, by the rules, she should have been the leader on the Dragon Fang Vein side, but Li Li Lingjing's attitude of completely deferring to Li Luo left Li Li Fuling quite embarrassed.

But with no choice, Li Li Fuling could only look at Li Luo again.

Li Luo rubbed his chin and pondered slightly. The Lingxiang Golden Dew was tied to the opportunity on that Golden Dew Platform, so it was indeed the most important matter right now. Li Li Wuyuan's intelligence had to be said to carry real weight. If he could tag along and get his hands on some Lingxiang Golden Dew, that would be a pretty good thing.

Still, he couldn't fully trust it; he had to maintain some vigilance, lest he be set up by this kid Li Li Wuyuan.

After pondering for a moment, Li Luo finally raised his head and smiled: "Since Senior Brother Li Li Wuyuan is so generous, as the brotherly veins bound by blood, our Dragon Fang Vein will certainly give our full support."

Li Li Wuyuan's expression didn't change as he said: "Junior Brother Li Luo, this is the wise choice."

Then, without further idle talk, he said: "Since that's the case, let's set off immediately, so as not to be detected by other forces."

Having said that, his body shuddered, and a pair of energy dragon wings spread out from his back. With a single flap of the dragon wings, a gale kicked up and he shot skyward.

Seeing this, the people of the other veins also successively activated their "Heavenly Dragon Battle Body," summoned dragon wings, and took to the sky to follow.

Li Li Lingjing watched eagerly, then turned to Li Luo with a pitiful look and said: "I haven't cultivated the Heavenly Dragon Battle Body."

She had never entered the Twenty Banners, so naturally she had no channel to cultivate this "Heavenly Dragon Battle Body" that was exclusive to the Five Veins of the Heavenly Dragon.

Li Luo waved his hand grandly and said in a take-charge manner: "Once we're back from this, I'll find a way to get one for you."

"Then thank you very much, Cousin Li Luo." Li Li Lingjing said with a smiling face.

Then she also circulated her powerful Xiang power, intending to step into the air. She was now at the Tian Zhu Jing level of strength and could already fly through the air for a period of time.

However, just at this moment, she suddenly sensed an inexplicable chill, and immediately whipped her head around. Her gaze looked toward the crowd coming and going behind, and in that instant her eyes became extraordinarily cold and even terrifying.

The people passing by behind were all frightened by her gaze and hurriedly stepped back.

Li Li Lingjing looked for several breaths, but didn't see anyone suspicious, so she immediately knitted her delicate brows.

"Cousin Li Lingjing, what's wrong?" Li Luo noticed her reaction and hurriedly asked.

Li Li Lingjing was silent for a moment, then shook her head, put on a smile and said: "Nothing, let's go."

Then her slender figure swept up into the air.

Seeing this, Li Luo also activated his energy dragon wings and followed.

After they had gone far away, on the stone platform behind, a figure slowly raised his head. That figure had an ordinary face, with no expression at all on his countenance.

However, if one stared closely at his eyes from up close, one would be horrified to discover that the black pupils within his eyeballs seemed to be slowly wriggling.

It turned out that those weren't eyeballs at all, but a strange worm coiled into a ball.

The eerie black worm occasionally extended a section out of the eyeball, and within its tiny worm-pupils, a cold, eerie luster flowed.

The figure stared fixedly at the direction Li Li Lingjing had departed, as if a muttering sound rose up.

"Number Three... should we capture it?"

"Forget it... let's just deal with this food first."

He turned his head somewhat stiffly, watching those young figures flying off in all directions, and on his expressionless face, a touch of humanized greed and hunger surfaced.