Chapter 1116: An Unexpected Reward

In a dark stockade.

The thick corruption was quickly dissipating and the world space began to change. Gradually, it returned to its original form.

One team studied the surrounding area casually.

A tall and slender figure walked out of the depths of the stockade. She was radiating light resonant energy in every direction, and as the resonant power spilled across her back, it seemed to form a pair of wings that gave her the appearance of a divine angel.

It was none other than Jiang Qing'e.

"Leader!"

The team in the stockade looked towards the slender figure with eyes of admiration.

A robustly built young man said with a smile, "Leader, you're too strong. We barely even saw the faces of the three Greater Evil Spirits before you killed them all."

Although he was smiling, his eyes were undeniably wavering. What he had seen was really shocking. No one had expected three Greater Evil Spirits, all with strength comparable to a cultivator at the Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier, to be finished off in such a short span of time by Jiang Qing'e. Perhaps not even Ning Meng, who was top ranked, could achieve such efficiency.

The young man was Li Yuanfeng, a student from the Lower Hall of the Hallowed Coruscation Ancient College's Heavenly Star Hall. He was currently a True Seal-grade Lesser Heavenly Resonance Tier cultivator, second only to Jiang Qing'e in the team.

His face was full of respect when he looked at Jiang Qing'e. At the same time, there was a tinge of admiration hidden in his eyes. This was normal. After all, Jiang Qing'e was very popular in the Hallowed Coruscation Ancient College. Wielding both talent and looks, she was irresistible to both guys and girls.

However, Li Yuanfeng was a smart one. He knew that Jiang Qing'e was solely focused on cultivating. If he revealed his admiration for her, Jiang Qing'e would likely remove him from the team to reduce any unnecessary troubles. As such, he had kept his feelings secret. He maintained a distance with Jiang Qing'e in their daily interactions, just like what was expected from team members.

"Of course! We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to tag along with the leader," a beautiful girl said with a grin. She also looked at Jiang Qing'e with eyes full of admiration.

She was Yao Xin, a Four Star Hall student, at the Illusory Seal-grade of the Lesser Heavenly Resonance Tier. She was a die-hard fan of Jiang Qing'e, one that was almost fanatical and crazy.

There was not much reaction on Jiang Qing'e's face as she listened to their praise. She had managed to finish off three Greater Evil Spirit because she had a dual ninth-grade light resonance. She had sensed the Greater Evil Spirits lying in ambush and then activated the Holy Silver Flame Core to strike first, gaining the upper hand in the battle.

This Holy Silver Flame Core was a Soul Ascension-grade Duke Art. Its full name was the Holy Silver Flame Core Art. It used a holy flame to refine the cores, which would explode with devastating power when used on enemies. Jiang Qing'e had only managed to cultivate two Flame Cores, and one had been used to injure the three Greater Evil Spirits gravely.

"Leader, we're at the top of the scoreboard now," Yao Xin said with a smile.

Jiang Qing'e focused her mind and activated the Ancient Spirit Leaf on the back of her hand. She looked at the scoreboard, but she did not stop at her name. Instead, she continued to scroll through the screen as if she was searching for something.

After a few moments, she bit her lips lightly. It seemed like she did not find what she was looking for.

"Leader must be searching for news of Li Luo," Yao Xin whispered to Li Yuanfeng.

Li Yuanfeng smiled and replied, "That's the Leader's fiance. Of course she's interested."

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

His heart was filled with mixed feelings. As the team members of Jiang Qing'e, they knew well about her feelings towards Li Luo. It was a kind of yearning that came straight from her heart.

At times, they were baffled by the fact that someone like her would feel this way towards someone. Considering Jiang Qing'e's personality, was it really possible for a man to hold such importance in her heart?

How in the world had Li Luo done it? Was it just because he was from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li? That was clearly not the case. After all, Wei Chonglou was also from a Heavenly Emperor power, yet Jiang Qing'e could not even be bothered to take a look at him. As they were whispering to each other, Jiang Qing'e closed the scoreboard. She had tried to search for news of Li Luo, but so far, the scoreboard was only filled with the leaders of the various teams. It was unlikely for Li Luo's name to appear any time soon.

"Leader, there's a new mission! It's a rescue mission. The intel provided has been wrong and it seems like the Others in the All-Being Ghostly Skin Dominion are stronger than expected," Yao Xin said with a serious tone as she hurried over.

"Three Greater Evil Spirits as soon as we entered. This is obviously a trap laid out for us," Jiang Qing'e responded calmly.

Apart from a few stronger teams, most of the teams had suffered heavy casualties.

However, the next rescue mission was actually a positive development for Jiang Qing'e. The various teams would gather at the places marked by the skulls. As such, there was a higher chance for her to meet Li Luo.

"Leader, where should we go first?" Li Yuanfeng asked with a grin.

Jiang Qing'e stared at the red skulls rotating on the map. Yao Xin and Li Yuanfeng looked at each other in confusion. It was rare to see the decisive Jiang Qing'e hesitate in the face of a relatively simple decision.

As a die-hard fan, Yao Xin gritted her teeth secretly. She felt unhappy! What had Li Luo done to deserve such an important place in her goddess' heart?

In the end, Jiang Qing'e made a decision and pointed to a region with a red skull. "Let's go here first."

......

The sky was dark and cold air filled the area. Gray shadows wafted like ghosts that had come alive, passing by the forest from time to time. Cries echoed in the air.

The whistling of the wind broke the silence. A small team of around ten people flew by the area and landed on a mountain. They were Feng Lingyuan, Li Luo, Deng Changbai and the rest of the team.

They had left the location of the previous Thousand Skin Devil Heart Pillar almost a day ago now. During this time, they had been running at full speed towards the location marked with a skull on the map.

The group came across quite a number of Others along the way, but they were all lower grade ones, so they were no hindrance at all.

"Tidy up the place and rest for a while." Although it was fine for people like Feng Lingyuan to push ahead the entire time, there were weaker members in the team, and she could sense that they were tired. Therefore, she instructed the team to take a break.

Zong Sha, Jiang Wanyu, and the rest spread out and cleared the Others in the immediate area.

Feng Lingyuan, Deng Changbai, and Li Luo got together and opened up the map on their Ancient Spirit Leaves.

Deng Changbai pointed to a location with a skull as he said, "Based on our traveling speed, we should be able to arrive in two days' time."

His expression was serious. "On our way here, we've only encountered small Other nests. There wasn't even a single Greater Evil Spirit."

Li Luo added, "This is clearly different from the Other nest we encountered right at the beginning."

"This further proves that our first encounter was a trap laid out by the All-Being Ghostly Skin Dominion. I am afraid all the stronger Others have gathered up in these spots," Feng Lingyuan said as she pointed at the red skulls on the map.

Li Luo and Deng Changbai looked at each other seriously.

If that was true, they would not be able to clear the area by themselves.

"There should be other teams rushing over too. We should work with them," Deng Changbai said.

Feng Lingyuan nodded in agreement. Just as she was about to open her mouth again, her face changed. She turned toward her right and noticed a wave of resonant power coming from that direction. At the next moment, some people appeared in the sky.

Those people had noticed Feng Lingyuan and her team too, and they landed next to them.

Everyone turned around and saw the leader of the group. It was an attractive girl with long, crimson hair.

Feng Lingyuan and Deng Changbai were startled to see this lady.

It was Li Hongyou, ranked ten in the Upper Hall of the Heavenly Origin Ancient College's Heavenly Star Hall.

She had the Crimson Heart Vermilion Fruit resonance, making her the ideal team member, someone everyone wished to work with.

"To think we'd meet you guys here, Hongyou." Unlike her usual, cold self, Feng Lingyuan spoke with a slight smile as she welcomed them.

Li Hongyou was not particularly polite towards Feng Lingyuan just because she was ranked second. She nodded coldly and then turned to look at Li Luo.

She was silent for a while before making her way over to him.

Li Luo was shocked when he saw this.

Everyone watched with puzzled looks. Li Hongyou walked in front of Li Luo and studied him for a while. She pursed her red lips slightly and asked, "Li Luo, do you want to work together?"