Chapter 1006: Treasure Trove

The Spiritual Resonance Palace was majestic and awe-inspiring. Although it was full of treasures and opportunities, danger lurked behind every corner. This was completely different from the gilded hall Li Luo had previously explored. The entire area here was filled with defensive wards. If one came into contact with one recklessly, it would trigger a counterattack powerful enough to turn any cultivator in the cave to dust.

The correct way to break through the defensive wards was to take things step by step and exploit any flaws found within them. Coupled with their advantage in numbers, the cultivators could then crack them open.

No matter how strong a ward was, they were ultimately autonomous and there were loopholes to be found.

Li Luo and the rest passed through the outer region of the Spiritual Resonance Palace. They eventually found themselves surrounded by dilapidated buildings. The runes that made up the wards had already vanished and the interior of the buildings was empty and barren. It was as though a swarm of locusts had swept through. This was likely the work of those who had entered the cave in times past.

As the number of times the Spiritual Resonance Cave opened up increased, more and more elites pillaged the Spiritual Resonance Palace, gradually moving into its depths.

"Now that we have entered the Spiritual Resonance Palace, our most important aim is here." Li Wuyuan had removed a simple map from his pocket sphere and pointed at a specific location. As many others had explored this location in the past, the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li had naturally accumulated knowledge of the area.

Li Luo swept his gaze across and noticed that the area which Li Wuyuan was pointing at was marked in a poignant, dark-red color.

"Based on what we know, this is the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden. There are numerous heavenly treasures that have been planted and raised there. If any of these objects were placed in the outside world, they would be priceless. There was once a lucky rogue cultivator who managed to make his way in. He managed to obtain a Crimson Sun Godflame Fruit, which, when eaten, allows one to create a secondary resonance of the fire element."

Despite being from a Heavenly Emperor power, hearing those words caused the group's eyes to blaze with endless desire. A treasure that could give birth to a secondary resonance was absolutely priceless. If it were auctioned at the Golden Dragon Bank, the price would be terrifying.

However, Li Luo was a little indifferent. A secondary resonance might be rare to others, but it wasn't that attractive to him. All of his resonances had both a primary and secondary resonance component to them. Even if he obtained the same fruit, he couldn't get another second secondary resonance.

Thus, treasures that pertained to secondary resonances were not as interesting to him. What he was keen on were treasures that could raise his resonance grade.

Who knew if he could encounter something in the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden that would evolve his resonances yet again. Although he had already benefited greatly from the Spiritual Resonance Cave, Li Luo's wild heart could not be satisfied so easily.

“The Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden will naturally be protected by massive and powerful wards. I believe even Dukes would be unable to force their way through them. However, our forebears, through repeated experiments, have managed to determine certain rules to it. There are seven treasure troves in the vicinity of the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden. They might seem to be scattered randomly, but they are actually the secret to the garden's wards. If the treasure troves are all destroyed, it can cause flaws to appear in the main set of wards, which gives us an opportunity to enter. This information is something that only top tier powers possess. Thus, it can be said that everyone's interests will be aligned to ensure that the troves are all destroyed. Additionally, the treasure troves can be thought of as delicious steamed buns. They can possibly contain large amounts of spirit liquids and purifying lights, pills, and other things. Thus, the quicker we act, the more we can get out of them." Li Wuyuan shared all the information he knew in a single stream of words. At the same time, his gaze turned towards Li Lingjing. The fact that she had reached the nine-pearl tier meant that she was now the strongest individual amongst the entire group.

Li Wuyuan flashed a warm smile towards her as he politely asked, "Lady Lingjing, do you have any opinions?"

Li Lingjing's potential was something others had to pay attention to. If she were to enter the Dragon's Fang Guardians, she would cause its power to soar massively. Li Wuyuan wanted to see if he could find ways to lure her into the Dragon's Blood Guardians instead. From what he knew, she didn't have a particularly close relationship to the Dragon's Fang Lineage. ?Additionally, she had a chilly disposition and might not have formed strong relationships with anyone. If the Dragon's Blood Lineage was willing to acquiesce certain benefits in her favor, there was potentially a chance that she might be convinced. Alternatively, they could pick someone from the main lineage to marry into her Western Region's Li Family and provide an opportunity to elevate her entire family. This was also a tantalizing thought.

Despite seeing how Li Wuyuan had suddenly changed his tone when dealing with her, Li Lingjing remained relatively nonchalant. She did not intend to reply, only turning her gaze towards Li Luo, signifying that his will was her will.

Li Luo shot Li Wuyuan a curious glance. He could distinctly sense that the fellow had suddenly warmed up towards Li Lingjing significantly. He casually replied, "Brother Wuyuan, you speak a lot of sense. Let's go with your plan."

Li Wuyuan beamed and nodded, but a trace of irritation could be seen in his gaze. The relationship between Li Luo and Li Lingjing seemed a little too deep, but based on what he knew, they had barely known each other for half a year. If the Dragon's Blood Guardians wanted to poach Li Lingjing, Li Luo was their biggest obstacle.

The group left quickly and reached a dense thicket a while later. The outline of an ancient stone palace with a simple shape could be seen in the depths of the forest as runes glowed on its surface.

Li Luo and the rest landed atop a tree outside the vicinity of the stone palace and closely observed it.

They could see that the palace's gates were shut tightly and there were mottled marks on it, evidence that a lot of time had passed since its construction. However, the clear glow of the runes meant that the wards remained active. There were two tidy rows of stone elephants outside the gate, attracting the gazes of the group.

"Those are guardian golems," Li Lingjing said as she glanced at the runes on the elephants.

Li Wuyuan did not find this surprising. He took a step forward, and his Heavenly Resonance Tier resonant power swept forth like a hurricane as he directly rushed forward. "Let's get rid of them first."

When he neared the stone palace, the stone elephant golems' eyes lit up and they came to life. Packed with immense amounts of energy, they directly attacked Li Wuyuan.

At this point Li Fuling, Li Guan, Li Luo, and the rest all took action, brawling with the stone elephant golems.

A chaotic battle ensued. Although it was an intense fight, it did not last long.

The golems had already weakened with the passing of time and did not have much energy remaining. With the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li cooperating and combining their efforts, the final golem was shattered to pieces with a smash of Li Lingjing's staff just half an incense stick's worth of time later.

It was then that the wards on the ancient palace's stone gates began to show signs of flickering and then gradually dimmed. Eventually, the once tightly shut doors opened up.

The group revealed cheerful looks at this sight.

Despite the treasure trove opening up, the group did not rush in like a hive of bees. Li Wuyuan recommended that they be separated into two squads. One to explore the palace and the other to secure the perimeter. Doing so would deter the rogue cultivators who were like hungry locusts and prevent them from getting involved.

This made a lot of sense, so Li Luo expressed his agreement.

Thus, the group drew lots to decide their taskings. In the end, Li Lingjing was chosen to lead the group into the treasure trove, whereas Li Wuyuan would lead another group to guard them.

It was unfortunate, but Li Luo, Li Fengyi, and Li Jingtao had similarly drawn lots to become the guards and had to temporarily separate themselves from Li Lingjing.

With that, they got to work. Li Lingjing left Li Luo with a few words before leading the group into the ancient palace.

Li Wuyuan, on the other hand, led the group to the vicinity of the treasure trove and began to deter any rogue cultivators who were beginning to make their way over.

Li Luo sat outside the treasure trove on the ground full of stone shards. Li Jingtao and Li Fengyi similarly accompanied him, and they began to banter.

Time gradually passed.

A few rogue cultivators had indeed spotted the treasure trove and approached it with interest. However, the moment they saw the cold gazes of the people from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li, they had no choice but to retreat.

As a result, their task was relatively relaxed.

But suddenly, a beam of light shot over. It was a woman whose body radiated immense amounts of resonant power. Even Li Wuyuan felt threatened by this newcomer, so he waved his hand, summoning the group to him.

Under the group's curious looks, the beam of light landed at a location neither too far nor too close to the treasure trove's entrance.

They realized that it was a tall and slender lady. Her expression was icy, and they could tell that she was no weaker than Li Wuyuan.

"Greetings, friend. We from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li have already taken ownership of this site. If you would like to hunt for treasures, please go elsewhere," Li Wuyuan gloomily announced.

The tall lady glanced at Li Wuyuan. "I'm not here to steal treasures. I'm looking for someone. Li Luo specifically!"

Li Wuyuan felt a little surprised, but before he could reply, Li Luo had stood up and made his way towards the familiar lady. It was then when he recognized her as the individual who had given him the Nine Orifices Dipper Smelting Pill.

Li Luo took a few steps forward as he asked suspiciously, "Hello! May I ask why you are looking for me?"

The tall lady was naturally Elder Sister Jin, who sized him up immediately. She could not understand how he was related to the young mistress and neither did she know if he was willing to risk danger to rescue her. However, there was not much choice now, so she said, "My family's young mistress said that an old friend is in trouble. She seeks your assistance."

Li Luo felt a little confused. "An old friend?"

When Elder Sister Jin saw his expression, she added another sentence. "An old friend from the Xia Kingdom."

It was then that Li Luo felt like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. The other party was from the Golden Dragon Bank, and now that he thought about it, they wouldn't have sent him such a precious pill for no reason. Then he recalled the coincidental moment when the two had locked eyes briefly on the white square.

There was an indescribable sense of familiarity in those eyes.

It all made sense now.

That lady... was actually Lu Qing'er!