Chapter 942: The Cultivated Stronghold

The five veins of the Dragon Heavenly Lineage moved together as one group, a party of several dozen making quite an imposing sight, and naturally this inevitably drew some curious gazes.

Some loose cultivators secretly trailed behind them. At this moment Li Li Wuyuan displayed his ruthless methods, slaying the closest tail in a thunderous strike, which finally intimidated those loose cultivators into not daring to follow any longer.

After that the main force never stopped again, one after another dragon wings unfurling, raising the sound of wind breaking across the sky as they swept swiftly through the air.

Li Luo followed the group at all times, but his gaze kept surveying this stretch of heaven and earth. For some reason, he always felt a faint sense of affinity toward this Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven, as if this space was rather friendly toward him...

"Is it because of the 'Minor Formless Divine Forge Art'?" Li Luo wondered to himself. This "Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven" might have been passed down from that ancient sect, the "Formless Saint Sect." In those ancient times, this place might have been where the sect's young disciples trained, and since Li Luo himself cultivated the "Minor Formless Divine Forge Art," in a certain sense he shared no small a connection with it.

Perhaps this space was treating him as a disciple of the Formless Saint Sect?

While Li Luo was deep in thought, Li Li Fuling drew close at this moment, her phase force wrapping her voice as it reached Li Luo's ear: "Li Li Wuyuan is sharing this Golden Dew stronghold with us this time, so the stronghold must be of considerable scale."

Li Luo nodded. A massive Golden Dew stronghold meant not only that more 'Lingxiang Golden Dew' had condensed, but also that the 'Guardian Spirits' born there would be even stronger. Moreover, it wasn't only the Dragon Blood Vein that knew about this place—other major powers might well possess the same intelligence.

Li Li Wuyuan sharing this intelligence so generously was very likely because he felt that the Dragon Blood Vein alone had no absolute certainty of taking it down, which was why he'd pulled in the other four veins as hired muscle.

And the fact that even Li Li Wuyuan was being this cautious showed that the stronghold truly could not be underestimated.

"Be careful when the time comes. This Li Li Wuyuan has taken a dislike to our Dragon Fang Vein, and may very well target us. Although they wouldn't dare to lead us into a fatal trap, even if they merely cause some damage to our strength, that would still affect our progress in the Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven," Li Luo reminded.

Li Li Fuling gave a slight nod, indicating she understood.

This time on the road, they did not pause for even a moment along the way. After about an hour, Li Luo and the others finally sensed Li Li Wuyuan's speed beginning to slow.

Li Luo felt something, looked down, and saw a continuous mountain range appear in his field of vision, that mountain resembling a crouching giant turtle, stretching on for an unknown length.

And within this mountain, there truly was an extremely pure emanation of heaven and earth's energy.

Li Luo looked down at this mountain from above, and faintly sensed the presence of artificial energy within it, as if it were the trace of a strange formation.

Clearly, the reason this mountain was able to gather heaven and earth's energy and become a rich producing ground for 'Lingxiang Golden Dew' was that someone had left a strange formation here, and after years of accumulated energy activation, it had only now reached its present scale.

This wasn't all that strange—when the various major powers sent people into the Lingxiang Grotto-Heaven for training, they would also assign them certain missions, and this kind of mission was to build strongholds. After such a stronghold existed for several years, with the next opening of the grotto-heaven, it would gradually mature.

At that point, teams could be dispatched in to harvest it.

However, this kind of operation also carried a great chance of failure. After all, once the strange formation was planted, the personnel would leave for several years and could not maintain it at all times, so if any mishap occurred with the formation during that period, it could fail and all previous efforts would be wasted.

But judging by the intensity of the energy in this mountain below, it had clearly succeeded.

The spirits of the entire group lifted. Li Li Wuyuan's face also showed excitement, and he then waved his hand to signal everyone to descend.

One figure after another dropped from the sky, landing deep within the mountain.

Li Li Wuyuan took out a special instrument, seemingly to probe the energy intensity at various points. After quite a while, he finally smiled broadly and put it away.

"Everyone, we are very fortunate. The cultivation of this stronghold has been very successful, and I imagine the harvest will exceed expectations," Li Li Wuyuan said with a smile.

Everyone's face was filled with joy—after all, being able to obtain such a large harvest so quickly was undoubtedly a blessing fallen from the heavens.

"Brother Li Wuyuan really came prepared; the Dragon Blood Vein's preparations are indeed more thorough." Li Guan of the Dragon Scale Vein laughed and offered a compliment, since after all, one who eats another's food cannot complain.

Beside him, the many Dragon Scale Vein members, including Lu Lu Qingmei, also cast a look of gratitude toward Li Li Wuyuan.

Clearly, Li Li Wuyuan had also gained some prestige from this move.

Li Li Wuyuan waved his hand and smiled: "We're all one family. As long as you follow our Dragon Blood Vein, we certainly won't let you suffer any losses."

Hearing this, everyone laughed and echoed their agreement.

Li Luo likewise wore an admiring expression, his face full of smiles. This Li Li Wuyuan was clearly trying to win people's hearts, but Li Luo didn't care one way or another—as long as he could truly obtain 'Lingxiang Golden Dew,' even if Li Li Wuyuan claimed he'd be elected Dragon Blood Vein Head next year, Li Luo would be the first to give him a thumbs-up and even cheer him on.

Li Li Fuling also nodded, and on behalf of the Dragon Fang Vein said: "This place does indeed seem quite good, but won't other forces discover it as well?"

Li Li Wuyuan smiled lightly: "This was set up by our Dragon Blood Vein. If other forces covet it, then we'll just beat them back. Are we, the Li Li Tianwang lineage, afraid of anyone?"

Hearing this, Li Li Fuling said no more.

Li Li Hongli, however, pursed her lips and muttered: "Following along to pick up bargains and still talking so much—does the Dragon Fang Vein not know what's good for them?"

The hot-tempered Li Li Fengyi, hearing this, immediately cursed back: "If you could eat it all yourselves, why did you call us? Isn't it just that you want us to share the disaster? Stop acting like saints!"

Li Li Hongli glared furiously, about to speak, but was stopped by Li Li Wuyuan.

"Enough of this nonsense—time is pressing. Let's next divide up our respective areas. All 'Lingxiang Golden Dew' obtained within your area belongs to each party, of course on the premise that each of you deals with the 'Guardian Spirits' yourselves." Li Li Wuyuan's expression was calm as phase force rose in his palm, evolving into a rough map—precisely the regional map of this mountain.

With a flick of his fingertip, he traced the energy traces and directly covered a circle in the center: "This area is for our Dragon Blood Vein. The energy here is indeed the thickest, and the harvest will be the greatest, but since this stronghold was cultivated by our Dragon Blood Vein, we take the most—you have no objections, do you?"

The people of the other four veins had nothing to say, after all Li Li Wuyuan's words were indeed reasonable.

Then Li Li Wuyuan divided out four more areas, his gaze turning toward the Dragon Fang Vein's side: "Which one will you choose?"

Li Li Fuling was somewhat surprised that Li Li Wuyuan would let them choose second, and without hesitation was about to choose the western area, because the energy intensity there was second only to the central area.

However, just as she was about to choose, Li Luo suddenly stopped her. He glanced at the mountain forest and smiled: "We'll choose the eastern area."

Li Li Fuling looked at him in astonishment, because the eastern area had the weakest energy intensity—how much 'Lingxiang Golden Dew' could one harvest staying there?

What kind of arbitrary decision was Li Luo making?

However, Li Li Fuling ultimately did not voice her doubts, after all in front of others they still had to maintain harmony within the Dragon Fang Vein, so she could only shoot Li Luo a sharp glare while saying aloud: "Then we'll choose the eastern area."

The other three veins were also surprised by their choice, but since the Dragon Fang Vein wasn't taking this advantage, it was just as well for them.

So the other three veins also quickly made their choices.

Seeing the distribution was complete, Li Li Wuyuan's expression showed no ripples as he said: "In that case, the five veins will head to their respective areas. I will next activate the strange formation and begin urging the heaven and earth's energy here to condense. In about two hours, we should be able to make our move."

Hearing this, each vein nodded, then called their teams and hurried off in different directions.

After the other veins departed, Li Li Hongli glanced in the direction the Dragon Fang Vein had left and frowned: "Brother Li Wuyuan, the Dragon Fang Vein actually didn't choose that side."

Li Li Wuyuan smiled and said: "That Li Luo is really quite cautious—he knows they won't be given any sweet deal for free."

Li Li Qingfeng reminded him: "Brother Li Wuyuan, don't go too far. If something really happens to them, I'm afraid no one will be able to protect us either."

Li Li Wuyuan smiled: "Don't worry, I know my limits."

"I won't harm them either, otherwise we'd be punished too. However... letting them suffer a little loss, taking some edge off their spirit—surely no one can say anything about that?"