Chapter 966: The Demon Fog Spreads

When Li Luo saw the look in Li Li Lingjing's eyes brimming with negative emotions, his heart instantly turned cold. In that instant, it was as if he once again saw the "Eroding Spirit True Demon" that had worn Li Li Lingjing's face when they had met back in the Western Tomb Dark Domain.

And while Li Luo's heart was filled with horror, the Li Li Lingjing before him suddenly reversed her grip and seized Li Luo's palm, her slender fingernails digging straight into the back of his hand. At that moment, his fleshly body, strengthened by the Celestial Dragon Battle Physique, seemed to lose all effect.

Moreover, in Li Luo's perception, Li Li Lingjing's slender hand was like ten-thousand-year-old glacial ice, so cold it made one's heart tremble.

A stinging pain came from the back of his hand. Li Luo said in a low voice, "Cousin Li Lingjing, what's wrong with you?! Snap out of it, quick!"

Yet Li Li Lingjing gave no answer. The hand gripping Li Luo instead tightened further. On Bai Xi's pale hand, veins pulsed. That seemingly delicate little hand made Li Luo's bones creak and groan under the pressure.

From deep within her eyes, negative emotions surged out like a tide.

On her eyeballs, eerie black lines seemed to be crawling.

"It's the mark of the Eroding Spirit True Demon!" Li Luo's heart jolted at the sight. It seemed the Eroding Spirit True Demon that had originally been purged from Li Li Lingjing was showing signs of resurfacing after that inexplicable great battle earlier.

However, to suppress that kind of thing, even an ordinary Marquis-level expert couldn't do it. Only the power of a King could be relied upon.

Thinking of this, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Li Luo. He clenched his palm, and the Golden Jade Elephant Blade appeared in his hand. Then he sank his mind into it, activating the King Mark deep within.

Boom!

In that instant, it seemed as if an indescribably vast aura leaked out. At the touch of this aura, Li Li Lingjing's delicate body shuddered violently. The hand gripping Li Luo finally released as if struck by electricity, and at the same time, the negative emotions surging like a tide in her eyes rapidly receded.

After a few breaths, a lively glint once again appeared in her eyes.

"Li Luo..."

She gazed at Li Luo before her, a bitter smile surfacing at the corner of her lips. Yet her body suddenly went limp and collapsed. Li Luo saw this and quickly caught her, then wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up.

Li Li Lingjing clutched Li Luo's clothes, curling her body slightly inward. Her pallid pretty face now looked somewhat helpless.

"Cousin Li Lingjing, what happened?" Li Luo asked worriedly.

Li Li Lingjing's cheek pressed weakly against Li Luo's chest. She sighed and said with some gloom, "Just now I... encountered another 'Eroding Spirit True Demon.'"

Li Luo's eyes widened in horror, and he couldn't help exclaiming, "Another 'Eroding Spirit True Demon'?! How did this thing sneak into the Spirit Phase Cave Heaven?!"

Outside the Spirit Phase Cave Heaven, there were top experts from various forces standing guard. These aberrations shouldn't have been able to sneak in!

Li Li Lingjing was silent for a moment, then said, "They aren't simply aberrations... they should be a special product fused with aberrations. So if they don't actively reveal themselves, even Marquis-level experts probably wouldn't be able to detect them."

"That 'Eroding Spirit True Demon' from earlier should have come specifically for me. I crossed hands with it, and it was extremely difficult to deal with."

Li Luo's face turned solemn. If even Li Li Lingjing said it was extremely difficult to deal with, one could imagine how dangerous the clash between them had been. No wonder the energy fluctuations that erupted were so terrifying.

"However, it didn't get what it wanted in the end. I repelled it." Li Li Lingjing's soft, weak voice uttered rather fierce words.

"Cousin Li Lingjing is impressive. If it were that Qin Ying who encountered this thing, the outcome would probably be even worse," Li Luo said, with a tone of comfort.

Li Li Lingjing gave a bitter smile. "Although I repelled it, I was also eroded by its aura, which is why I lost control like that earlier..."

Her eyelids drooped slightly, her voice soft: "This shows that the contamination from before was never completely driven out. I've let down your kind intentions."

Li Luo sighed. "Cousin Li Lingjing needn't be so polite. All I ask is that you be safe."

A lazy, gentle smile curved the corner of Li Li Lingjing's lips. "Cousin Li Luo is a good person."

Having been handed a "good person" card, Li Luo asked with concern, "How is your condition now?"

"My phase force consumption is quite significant. I may need some time to recover." Li Li Lingjing pressed her red lips together. "Cousin Li Luo, put me down. It's best not to let others see me in this weakened state. Otherwise, when we run into people like Qin Ying later, I won't be able to intimidate them."

The Golden Hall was currently in utter chaos, with forces from all sides and arrogant, vicious rogue cultivators all fighting over treasures. If Li Li Lingjing showed weakness and they encountered Qin Ying or Qin Yi, those people might very well seize the opportunity to make a move against them.

And if Li Li Lingjing's condition was poor at that point, relying on Li Luo alone, they probably wouldn't be able to withstand the many covetous eyes.

"Cousin Li Lingjing needn't worry. I have my own methods." Seeing that Li Li Lingjing, in her own weakened state, was still worrying about his side, Li Luo was somewhat touched and said with a smile.

However, he could also see that this posture made Li Li Lingjing somewhat uncomfortable, so he loosened his hold and set her down.

Li Li Lingjing's feet touched the ground, her body still a bit limp. Her slender little hand rested on Li Luo's arm, and a faint blush rose on her pallid cheeks. Then she took out a broken fragment of a sword flowing with ominous aura from her spatial sphere and tossed it aside.

Li Luo glanced at it. It was a Purple-Eyed Treasure that Li Li Lingjing had used before, but it looked like it had been destroyed in the earlier battle.

After Li Li Lingjing recovered a bit of strength, she suddenly raised her gaze, looking toward the ruined corridor outside. There, a plump figure kept casting furtive, scrutinizing glances their way.

And when he saw Li Li Lingjing looking his way, he immediately trembled all over and shrank behind a pillar.

"He's Zhu Zhu Dayu of the Li Li Tianwang lineage. We cooperated earlier," Li Luo explained upon seeing this.

Li Li Lingjing nodded slightly. Just as she was about to speak, her expression suddenly changed. She raised her head and looked toward the far reaches of the Golden Hall, where eerie black smoke could be seen slowly spreading out and rapidly expanding in all directions.

That black smoke was extremely eerie, as if it possessed a life force of its own. At the same time, countless inexplicable whispers emanated from within. Even watching it from afar made one's heart feel oppressed, giving rise to many negative emotions.

"It's that Eroding Spirit True Demon. Its physical body was broken by me, and now it's completely uninhibited, beginning to release its evil thoughts to contaminate. It seems it won't stop until it captures me." Li Li Lingjing said slowly.

Li Luo's brows knit tightly. The Golden Hall was already in utter chaos, and now there was an Eroding Spirit True Demon on top of it. This was truly troublesome.

"Let's head to the depths of the Golden Hall first. The teams from other forces will also be heading there. Now that this Eroding Spirit True Demon is contaminating indiscriminately, the other forces' teams won't escape either. So when the time comes, we can borrow their strength to fight it together," Li Luo said in a low voice.

The only option now was to drag the other teams into this as well. Otherwise, relying on just the two of them, it would be very difficult to contend with that Eroding Spirit True Demon.

Li Li Lingjing nodded lightly.

Then Li Luo stepped forward and said solemnly to Zhu Zhu Dayu, "A very powerful aberration has snuck into this Golden Hall. Those eerie rogue cultivators from before should also be its handiwork. My cousin here was fighting it earlier and nearly got contaminated."

Zhu Zhu Dayu said in disbelief, "How could there be aberrations inside the Spirit Phase Cave Heaven?"

"That's the fact."

Li Luo pointed at the eerie fog spreading in the distance.

Zhu Zhu Dayu was speechless. As someone from the Li Li Tianwang lineage, he was naturally no stranger to aberrations, and that unique eerie feeling was indeed unmistakably that of an aberration.

"Then I need to hurry and find my clan sister too," Zhu Zhu Dayu said, a bit flustered.

In such a dangerous situation, staying with one's own people was safer.

"Let's go together. Your clan sister should also be heading toward the depths of the Golden Hall," Li Luo suggested.

Zhu Zhu Dayu hesitated slightly, then didn't refuse. After all, in this chaotic situation, joining forces was indeed safer than acting alone.

Then the three immediately set off, quickening their pace toward the core area of the Golden Hall.

The three departed into the distance. In the outer regions of the Golden Hall, the eerie black fog slowly writhed as if it possessed a life force of its own, beginning to spread toward the depths.

Wherever the black fog spread, eerie whispers arose.

Some rogue cultivators who failed to escape in time, the moment they fell into it, their eyes rapidly turned pitch black. Within their pupils, shadows of worms seemed to be writhing.

Afterwards, these corrupted beings followed the direction of the black fog and began to erode and spread toward the core area of the Golden Hall.