Chapter 953: Refining

Li Luo and Li Li Lingjing, the duo, continued their frantic search to gather sixty drops of "Spiritual Image Golden Dew."

However, a small interlude occurred during this process: Li Luo, in the course of an experiment, wanted to test what would happen if he threw "Spiritual Image Golden Dew" into the Little Formless Fire for tempering.

The final result was quite surprising, for he discovered that under the hammering of the Little Formless Fire, the "Spiritual Image Golden Dew" indeed exhibited a refining effect; thus, as Li Luo added drop by drop of the "Spiritual Image Golden Dew," he ultimately obtained a golden crystal no larger than an infant's thumb.

And when this golden crystal fell into Li Luo's hand, before he could study it carefully, it instantly melted, transforming into a stream of pure energy that surged into Li Luo's body.

The arrival of this peculiar energy caused the three Image Palaces within Li Luo's body to trem violently, and the three Image Natures dwelling within the Image Palaces were nearly uncontrollable, rushing out of the Image Palaces to devour this stream of energy.

Clearly, this golden crystal refined from the "Spiritual Image Golden Dew" was extremely effective for the evolution of Image Natures.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Luo poured this entire stream of energy into the "Dragon Thunder Image," for among the three Image Natures, this "Dragon Thunder Image" was the lowest, currently only at the Lower Seventh Rank; Li Luo's goal upon coming to the Spiritual Image Grotto-Heaven was to elevate it to the Eighth Rank level.

After this stream of energy was absorbed by the "Dragon Thunder Image," the Image Power within the third Image Palace seemed to become slightly more pure at this very moment, and dragon roars and thunder explosions rang out simultaneously.

That improvement effect was simply no less than refining and absorbing a stream of Eighth-Rank "Spiritual Water Wondrous Light."

This left Li Luo somewhat shocked; he knew that a single branch of Eighth-Rank "Spiritual Water Wondrous Light" cost several million, and even though he could now draw some stipend as the deputy leader of the Green Abyss Courtyard, he sometimes felt a sting when using it; yet now, simply by refining these "Spiritual Image Golden Dew," could one achieve such an effect?

"This Spiritual Image Grotto-Heaven is truly a top-tier Mi Jing; I really wonder how the Formless Saint Sect managed to create it?" Li Luo thought in shock; of course, he also understood that ordinary "Spiritual Image Golden Dew" did not have such strong effects; the main reason was the refining by the "Little Formless Fire."

It seemed that this so-called "Little Formless Divine Tempering Art" was not ordinary even within the Formless Saint Sect.

Li Luo's thoughts turned, and suddenly he thought of something; he hurriedly looked at the jade bottle containing the "Spiritual Image Golden Dew," then found with a stiffened face that it was completely empty inside.

It turned out that just now, without him realizing it, he had refined all the "Spiritual Image Golden Dew" he had obtained with such difficulty before.

"All that work for nothing for a few days!" Li Luo sighed speechlessly; it seemed that the task of searching for "Spiritual Image Golden Dew" in the future would require even more effort.

And while Li Luo was sighing, some Image Power fluctuations suddenly emerged from the forest ahead, accompanied by cries of pain.

"Cousin Li Lingjing?"

Li Luo was slightly startled; Li Li Lingjing had just gone to explore that area earlier; had something happened?

However, before he could go over to investigate, he saw several ragged figures thrown out from the woods, after which Li Li Lingjing walked out slowly, holding a green bamboo staff.

"Cousin Li Luo, they seem to have some quite important intelligence," Li Li Lingjing said with a slight smile toward Li Luo.

Li Luo walked over in confusion; he glanced at the several men covered in blood; these people clearly belonged to the ruthless type of rogue cultivators; immediately, he understood: perhaps these people had seen Li Li Lingjing alone just now and attempted to rob her, only to find they had run into an iron plate.

"Grandma, we were wrong; just let us go like a fart!" These rogue cultivators were straightforward, kneeling directly and begging Li Li Lingjing for mercy.

Having spent years licking blood off their blades, they were very familiar with this tactic of kneeling to beg for survival.

Li Li Lingjing stood gracefully before them, one hand on her small waist, the green bamboo staff resting on her right shoulder, and said with a smile: "No need for more nonsense; you just said, what intelligence is worth saving your little lives?"

She swung the green bamboo staff, landing it on a rogue cultivator's head, and said: "You only have one chance; if I find the intelligence is not quite right, then don't blame me."

Hearing Li Li Lingjing's smiling tone, those several rogue cultivators shivered, because when they had previously attacked and tried to kill her, they had already witnessed how ruthless and merciless this woman, who looked weak and beautiful, could be; three of their brothers had just had their skulls smashed directly by this green bamboo staff, with blood and brains splattering everywhere.

So they dared not fabricate anything; after hesitating for a while, they said: "We previously heard that in a deep mountain in the southwest direction, someone discovered a Golden Great Hall; when they penetrated inside, they found a lot of 'Spiritual Image Golden Dew,' and it seems there were no 'Guardian Spirits.'"

"No 'Guardian Spirits'?" Li Luo was somewhat surprised and asked skeptically: "Then wouldn't it be open for anyone to take? What use would going there now be?"

"How could it be easily taken?" That rogue cultivator hurriedly shook his head and said: "Although there were no Guardian Spirits there, it is said that people guard it; many were beheaded before they even approached the Golden Great Hall."

"People guarding it?!" Both Li Luo and Li Li Lingjing were startled.

"What people? Besides us explorers, are there still people in this Spiritual Image Grotto-Heaven?" Li Luo demanded.

That rogue cultivator hesitated and said: "Whether they are truly people, we do not know; anyway, from the news we heard, those things do not seem like 'Guardian Spirits'; they seem somewhat different from living people, yet they can also wield Image Arts."

"Nowadays, many people have been attracted by this news; if one can get a handful from that 'Golden Great Hall,' one can surely easily unlock the second layer of permissions for the 'Image Contract' and ascend the Golden Terrace."

"Although this intelligence is not classified, it is absolutely true; we dare not deceive!"

Li Luo's eyes showed a thoughtful expression; over these two or three days, their diligent search had yielded a not-so-abundant amount of "Spiritual Image Golden Dew"; obviously, specific areas were needed for this item to be produced in large quantities, and this so-called "Golden Great Hall" might be such a place.

Unlike the forest cultivation point established by the Dragon Bloodline, which was artificially created, this "Golden Great Hall" did not seem to be artificial; at the very least, it was not done by people of the current era.

"This intelligence is not bad; we can go take a look," Li Luo said to Li Li Lingjing; now that he had finished messing with the "Spiritual Image Golden Dew," if there were truly many "Spiritual Image Golden Dew" at the Golden Great Hall, not only could the deficit be made up, but some could also be obtained for refining.

Upon hearing this, Li Li Lingjing retracted the green bamboo staff and said: "You are still quite honest; let's go; from now on, be a bit more sensible; licking blood off blades always brings accidents."

The several rogue cultivators nodded hurriedly, then turned and ran; it was clear they were terrified out of their wits by Li Li Lingjing.

"What did you do to them? Scared them like this?" Li Luo laughed, his gaze glancing toward the woods not far away.

Seeing this, Li Li Lingjing did not answer; instead, she smiled and pulled Li Luo's sleeve, dragging him toward another direction.

"Let's go; let's check out that 'Golden Great Hall'; it should be quite lively there now," she said, seeming somewhat expectant.

That forest was filled with bloodiness; her mood was not very good today anyway; those rogue cultivators insisted on coming up with filthy words, so her strikes were a bit heavier.

Those people were not good things either; if she were just an ordinary woman, the outcome if she fell into their hands would probably be worse than death; therefore, Li Li Lingjing had no burden at all when she started killing.

Li Luo nodded with a smile, letting her pull him; actually, he was no saint either; those rogue cultivators approached with ill intent, and any consequences were self-inflicted; it was just that Li Li Lingjing's methods now seemed somewhat cruel, and Li Luo worried this was still an influence from that "Eroding Spirit True Demon."

The two soared into the air and rushed rapidly toward the distance, breaking through the void.

And long after the two left, in this forest permeated with the scent of blood, a shadow appeared at some unknown time; he stepped on the sticky blood covering the ground, his pair of slowly wriggling pupils looking emotionlessly at the broken limbs and severed arms in the woods.

His pitch-black pupils slowly wriggled, then transformed into two strange worms that drilled out from the eye membranes, as if sniffing the lingering scent in the air.

After a moment, a chilling smile appeared on his expressionless face.

"Number Three."

"I am Number Two."

"I will eat you."

In the blood-permeated forest, a stiff and eerie hoarse laughter slowly rang out.