Chapter 0978: Gift

Faced with Li Luo's sudden gift, Li Lingjing was at a loss for words. It was a triple violet-eye treasured artifact with unimaginable value. In the Western Region's Li family, no one of the younger generation had ever received something like this.

"No, no, it's too much. Why don't you take it? If you don't need it, you can even give it to Li Fengyi." Li Lingjing hurriedly rejected it.

"Your previous treasured artifact was destroyed by the Other, and you lack one now. You're my guardian, and your strength has been affected! If you become stronger, no one would dare to set their greedy gaze upon me." Li Luo grinned.

Li Lingjing was a little stumped for words. He had risked danger to obtain a treasured artifact for her based on just this?

"That was too dangerous," she softly said.

"If you truly wish to decline, then why not treat it as me lending it to you? I still need you to get me out of this place in one piece." Li Luo continued.

With his persuasive words, Li Lingjing fell silent for a while before reluctantly nodding. She gingerly grasped the icy Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff, and her resonant power surged up, flooding into the staff and causing the scales to light up brilliantly. Very faintly, it seemed to have manifested an aquamarine snake that coiled and swam around the staff's body.

She casually waved her hand, and an aquamarine light sprayed forth.

Whether it was intentional or not, it shot straight towards Qin Ying. When he saw this, he punched outwards with a fist wreathed with golden resonant power, colliding directly with the light. Mighty waves of energy blasted out in every direction, causing the void to shake.

Qin Ying trembled and his face turned dark. Aquamarine poison had corroded his fist, sticking to it like gangrene attached to the bone. He hurriedly circulated resonant power to counteract and eliminate it.

That simple clash allowed him to experience the might of the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff in the hands of Li Lingjing. He felt extremely infuriated and also fearful towards her.

She was already a tricky opponent, but now that she had a triple violet-eye treasured artifact in her arsenal, he might not be her match in a fight.

"Li Lingjing, what are you trying to do?" he angrily shouted.

"Just testing it out a little." Li Lingjing casually wrote him off.

Li Luo smirked as he grasped his Blackwood Feather Fan. With a single swish, white light full of life force landed upon both parties' bodies.

Li Lingjing's gaze flashed as she could feel the injuries sustained from the battle with the Soul Eater True Devil heal at a rapid rate.

This method far outstripped the resonance arts Li Luo had utilized previously.

"Cousin Lingjing, you can count on me to support and aid you with all my might from behind as you battle!" Li Luo smiled. Li Lingjing felt that the notion was a little amusing. It seemed like their roles were reversed. Normally speaking, the hot-blooded male, Li Luo, would be at the forefront fighting on the edge whilst she would be supporting him, no?

However, these were just minor details. Li Lingjing's pale, slender fingers tightly grasped the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff, and she could feel the boundless amount of energy that was contained within the treasured artifact.

No matter how dangerous things got, she would do everything to get Li Luo out safely. She wouldn't care even if everyone else had to die.

At this point, all the violet-eye treasured artifacts within the gilded hall had been fully subdued and the chaos subsided. Although some empty-handed individuals were unhappy, they had no means to snatch the artifacts away from others.

But while they were fighting for the treasures, the black mist outside the main hall had continued to spread relentlessly.

Even if one obtained a treasure, the biggest question was how they could escape.

Qin Yi took a few steps forward, her beautiful eyes inspecting the mist that had covered the hallway. A solemn look arose on her fair and crystal-clear cheeks.

"Everyone, we have to hurry and combine our strengths. This way, we can see if we are able to battle against the Other," Qin Yi continued.

Li Luo's gaze swept across the interior of the large hall, and based on a quick estimation, there were three with eight-pearls, multiple six-pearls, and even more five-pearls. However, the vast majority were only one and two-pearls.

In a certain sense, their combined strength was not to be scoffed at. If they were to combine their strengths, even a Heavenly Resonance Tier opponent would not be their match.

However, the Soul Eater True Devil was not some simple opponent.

Its true strength should be at the Duke Stage, and although it was greatly suppressed within the Spiritual Resonance Cave, it was likely powerful enough to obliterate even Heavenly Resonance Tier cultivators. What was most troublesome was the fact that it was not just a single Soul Eater True Devil. It could control numerous corrupted individuals, which would undoubtedly increase the pressure on everyone.

"I suggest that those at the five-pearl tier and above combine their strength and face off against the Other directly. The rest will handle the corrupted individuals. If we are defeated, we can use this hall as a barrier to stall for time," Qin Yi coldly suggested.

The rest nodded in agreement.

Li Lingjing then dragged Li Luo away and sent him a secret message that was protected by her resonant power. "If it comes to a point where we cannot resist the Soul Eater True Devil, you have to find an opportunity to escape. I will create a path for you."

She did not think very highly of the cooperative efforts as she had a clear understanding of the terror known as the Soul Eater True Devil. Even with the suppression of the Spiritual Resonance Cave, she did not think that they could triumph even with the aid of everyone here.

Li Luo frowned slightly as he looked straight into her eyes. "We will both find an opportunity to escape together."

Li Lingjing gave a slight smile but did not reply.

The Soul Eater True Devil had its eyes set on her, so if the two of them were together, it would be even harder to escape. Everyone in the main hall stood ready as they nervously glanced at the quickly advancing black mist. The entire sky seemed to have turned overcast at this moment.

Tens of minutes later.

The black mist had encircled the entire central district, and the main hall was gradually being surrounded.

Whispers could be here coming from the mist. A series of strange and twisted figures jumped out with eyes as dark as ink, emitting negative emotions just by being present.

After being corrupted, those cultivators’ bodies had been warped into unimaginable creatures, crawling on the ground with all four limbs like monsters.

Eventually, the mist halted a distance away from the main hall and then transformed into a gigantic visage of a man. It stared at the numerous figures within the hall before letting out a harsh, grating laugh full of hunger and greed.

When its laugh reached everyone's ears, it incited feelings of irritation, anger, and murderous intent within their hearts. Those with weaker mental states had their eyes turn red.

"Everyone, calm your hearts. Do not be riled up by it," Qin Yi reminded them. A drop of blue spiritual liquid was produced from her fingertip. It was catalyzed by her ninth-grade resonant power, and it quickly transformed into a mist that spread out amongst the crowd.

As the mist washed past them, they could feel a cool sensation arise within their hearts, and the Other's provoking thoughts were washed away.

"Let's see what this Other is all about!" Zhu Zhu coldly stated. She waved her hand, and a massive hammer appeared within her grasp before it heavily landed on the ground, creating an indent in the floor that was protected by a mysterious formation.

Then eight pearls appeared behind her and began to spin rapidly.

With her lead, Qin Ying similarly screeched as he led a group of five-pearl experts forward.

Li Lingjing glanced at Li Luo before tightly grasping the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff and ascending into the air.

Heavenly Pearls began to manifest behind each and every individual present, creating a startling sight. From afar, it was like a sea of stars, which was truly a magnificent sight to behold.

The gigantic face in the mist began to let out strange laughs. It then unhinged its massive mouth, and dusky liquid spewed out like a coursing river. This liquid had a fishy stench, and countless twisted corpses with hideous faces could be seen floating inside.

The black river was headed straight towards Li Lingjing, Qin Ying, and Zhu Zhu.

When the crowd saw this, they no longer dared to tarry and quickly activated all the strength they possessed.

All of their resonances were on full display. They summoned every bit of worldly natural energy they could and clashed with the fishy, black river.

Li Lingjing grasped the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff, and all of the resonant power within her body surged up. A titanic, black snake manifestation appeared behind her, giving off an archaic air.

Lower ninth-grade: Abyssal Serpent resonance.

After her resonance took form, the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff in her hands began to shudder and aquamarine energy coursed out of it, transforming into a colossal python.

The python seemed to hiss at Li Lingjing with much pleasure after it took form.

It seemed that Li Lingjing's own resonance was extremely compatible with the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff.

She then waved the staff, and the humongous python immediately opened its maw. A moment later, a ray of poison shot outwards. This poison ray was significantly larger than the ones seen before, being over a hundred feet wide. It sliced through the air and collided with the river in tandem with everyone's attacks.

Bang!

Energy scattered and the void shattered. The black river continued to erode the attacks thrown at it.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the black river came from a source that could never be exhausted, constantly raging with waves. The liquid suddenly split apart, and a gigantic, alabaster hand stretched out from the depths. If one were to look at it closely, they would see that it was formed from countless limbs. The middle of the palm had a huge mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, making it a horrifying sight.

Bang!

When the humongous hand appeared, it swatted directly towards the trio.

Whilst the stronger cultivators were fighting against the Soul Eater True Devil directly, many corrupted individuals flooded out from the mist.

They crawled and jumped along the ground like a swarm of ghosts and attempted to distract the main force.

Weng! Weng!

However, the first group of corrupted individuals were immediately blasted into a mush of mud and blood by a series of extremely violent arrows of light which pierced through the sky with alarming speed.

Li Luo was wielding his dragon-shaped greatbow as he walked out of the main hall. He calmly surveyed the area, which was now being overrun by corruption.

Quite a number of the corrupted began to screech as they quickly attempted to mob him from every direction, climbing across both the ground and walls relentlessly.

Bang!

Behind Li Luo, majestic resonant arts were activated and completely submerged the corrupted within like a tide.

He lifted his head as he observed the grand battle in the air with a frown.

The pressure coming from the corrupted was not significant. Achieving victory would all be dependent on Li Lingjing, Qin Ying, and Zhu Zhu's group's battle against the Soul Eater True Devil.

From what he could see, he could only hope that the Spiritual Resonance Cave had suppressed the Soul Eater True Devil enough to prevent it from utilizing any stronger moves. Otherwise, escaping would be extraordinarily difficult.