Chapter 1014: Treasured Garden Opens
Faced with Li Wuyuan's resignation, Li Luo smiled lightly and turned towards Li Lingjing. "Cousin Lingjing, how was the harvest from the treasure trove?"
Although he felt dissatisfied with Li Wuyuan, they still had to divide the spoils appropriately. Otherwise, the other three lineages would feel that the Dragon's Fang Lineage was hogging everything for themselves, and that would inevitably affect the group's sense of harmony and cooperation.
Upon hearing his words, Li Lingjing retrieved copious amounts of jade boxes from her pocket sphere, which she then opened.
"The treasure trove contained mostly spirit liquids and purifying lights, and the amount is not small. They have been preserved relatively well. In terms of the amounts, three hundred bottles of fifth and sixth-grade, ninety bottles of seventh-grade, and thirteen bottles of eighth-grade. Everyone who entered agreed with these numbers as well."
Li Luo nodded lightly. Just a single treasure trove had allowed them to obtain several hundred bottles of spirit liquids and purifying lights. Most importantly were the thirteen bottles of the eighth-grade liquids and lights. In terms of skygold, they were worth hundreds of millions.
This was not an insignificant amount of wealth, so it was no wonder Li Wuyuan was concerned about it.
Li Luo couldn't be bothered with wasting time with the Dragon's Blood Lineage and used the crudest method to divide the loot. The entire portion of spirit liquids and purifying lights was divided into five parts. The Dragon's Fang Lineage had a slightly large allocation as Li Lingjing and Li Fuling had put in the most amount of effort, and it was within their rights to do so.
After he was done, Li Luo no longer bothered with the complaints from the Dragon's Blood Lineage. He was inclined to simply break the team up into two and go their separate ways if they were unhappy.
When he turned back towards his group, he gave a smile towards Li Lingjing and Li Fuling before introducing Lu Qing'er and Elder Sister Jin and their group to them.
"Li Luo, you're quite capable. You disappeared for just a short amount of time and you managed to seize a princess from Golden Dragon Mountain?" Li Fuling took the opportunity to inspect Lu Qing'er from head to toe. The young lady had snow-white skin and an enchanting beauty that elicited envy within her as she joked with a smile.
Li Lingjing was still gripping the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff as her gaze lingered upon Lu Qing'er briefly. No emotions could be seen on her face.
When Elder Sister Jin saw this, she took half a step in Lu Qing'er's direction. At the same time, her body tensed up subconsciously. She could feel a dangerous sort of aura emanating from Li Lingjing.
However, Lu Qing'er remained calm. She gave her a shallow smile as they locked gazes briefly.
Li Lingjing nodded lightly which was as good as a greeting from her before she turned to leave.
Elder Sister Jin felt a little dissatisfied at Li Lingjing's indifferent reaction, but before she could speak her mind, Lu Qing'er shook her head. As a result, the words she had in mind remained unsaid.
Lu Qing'er continued to watch Li Lingjing's graceful back as she left. Based on her own female instincts, she could feel that this cousin of Li Luo's had a very different relationship with him compared to Li Fuling.
At the very least, Li Fuling's feelings towards Li Luo were more ordinary and simple.
Lu Qing'er's gaze flickered as she reminded herself in her heart, "This Cousin Lingjing is a very dangerous person." She could feel a threatening aura coming from her.
Additionally, even though Li Lingjing had looked at her with a faint smile, Lu Qing'er felt that it was a smile devoid of any warmth. In fact, it seemed even colder than her own ice resonance.
That said, she had to admit that even though Li Lingjing seemed to be shrouded in a threatening aura that caused one to not underestimate her, she had also felt a similar aura from Jiang Qing'e as well. However, this was because Jiang Qing'e was far too outstanding and excellent, which had inadvertently caused those around her to feel immense pressure. This was where the two diverged.
Li Lingjing was like a quietly hibernating but resplendent poisonous snake. "Why does Li Luo constantly attract such menacing ladies to his side?" Lu Qing'er sighed helplessly in her heart. Cousin Lingjing was the type to not waste words, and she didn't know how the first meeting between her and Senior Jiang would turn out. Would a mighty confrontation break out between the two?
It wasn't that she was hoping for anything to happen between them, it was just a feeling that the two would likely be in conflict with each other based on their personalities.
This caused Lu Qing'er's lips to curl up in a smile upon the thought of this.
"What are you thinking about?" Li Luo's voice suddenly rang out.
Lu Qing'er collected her thoughts and nonchalantly batted him an eye with a smile. "I'm just thinking of an interesting event in the future."
Li Luo was a little confused at what she was referring to, but just as he was about to ask more, his expression suddenly changed. He raised his head and glanced into the distance, where majestic pillars of light were shooting into the sky.
These pillars of light refracted an image from the void. It looked like an ancient forest that emanated a desolate air. If one looked more closely, they could even see rays of light from treasures that surfaced from time to time.
This development left the group silent with bated breaths.
"That is the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden!" Li Wuyuan exclaimed with great joy. "It looks like the other treasure troves have been destroyed and the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden's defensive wards have been activated."
Li Luo focused intently on the scene before him. The treasured garden was gigantic, and it was undoubtedly created with the culmination of much effort and resources of the Sacred Void Resonance Sect.
As the projected image from the void continued to shift, Li Luo suddenly noticed an ancient tree that towered into the sky within the depths of the treasured garden. It seemed to contain the vicissitudes of life, having existed for an unknown number of years. When he looked at it a little more closely, there seemed to be several fruits hanging from it.
The fruits were vibrantly colored and its interior pulsed with the different elements, representing all of the different resonances.
The sight of that mystical fruit caused the three resonant palaces within his body to come to life, the resonant power within them churning explosively.
An indescribable sort of thirst and desire for it surfaced within his heart.
Li Luo instinctively knew what he was looking at.
"An Origin Enlightenment Fruit!" Before he could speak, someone else within the crowd had shouted out the exact words he had in mind.
Li Wuyuan, Li Fuling, and the rest were bursting with excitement and their motivation surged. This Origin Enlightenment Fruit was the object they desired the most.
By refining this natural treasure, they could gain enlightenment of their Resonance Origin. This was something that only Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier experts would come into contact with. If one wanted to break into the Duke Stage and form their Duke Bergfrieds, they required an accumulation of Resonance Origin.
This was the foundation of a Duke.
If they could obtain this treasure, the likelihood of entering the Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier and subsequently the Duke Stage would be greatly amplified.
The projection gradually dissipated, and Li Luo was left staring into space. At the moment the towering tree faded, he noticed a thatched cottage nearby with a blurry, white figure within. It was so fleeting he couldn't be sure if it was an illusion.
It was a white ape, and it was wielding a stone pestle, grinding herbs into a medicinal paste. Before he could fully comprehend what he had seen, the projection vanished.
What followed were the sounds of sonic booms and numerous figures dashing madly from all directions towards the location of the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden.
"Let's go as well," Li Luo said as he glanced at the group.
No one had any objections. Everyone couldn't wait to do so.
Thus, the large group swiftly made their way towards the location of the projection.
Tens of minutes later, they slowly reduced their speed.
Before them were thick clouds and mist that obscured the skies and area before them.
Beneath the clouds and intermingled with mist stood titanic trees that were as large as giants, standing solitarily and forming a barrier before them.
This was the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden's defensive ward.
Originally, the barrier had been without flaws, but with the treasure troves’ destruction, certain areas had become extremely thin and showed signs of deterioration.
Every individual that arrived quickly utilized their own methods to breach the thinnest parts of the cloud wall to enter the garden.
However, when Li Luo's group arrived, he could sense a chilly gaze observing their every move from not too far away.
When he turned his head, his eyes shrank.
A large wave of people was moving towards them, with Zhao Yan and Zhao Shenjiang at the front. They were almost obsessively staring at him. Right beside them were the people from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Qing.
Qin Yi and Qin Ying were also present within the group.
Clearly, the two bloodlines had joined forces as expected.
Zhao Yan glared at Li Luo's group with murderous intent before he noticed the unfamiliar Lu Qing'er and Elder Sister Jin.
"Are those Li Luo's reinforcements?" Zhao Yan asked Qin Ying.
Before Qin Ying could reply, Qin Yi sighed deeply. "These are the people of the Golden Dragon Bank. However, why is it that I don't see Mu Yao? He was supposed to be the leader of the group."
"Could he have gotten lost or perhaps met with an accident?" Qin Ying suggested.
Qin Yi shook her head, indicating that she did not know. Her crystal-clear eyes lingered upon Lu Qing'er briefly. The latter seemed to have noticed her and returned the stare. To Qin Yi, that gaze contained a sort of coldness that was comparable to a land that had been covered in ice and snow for tens of thousands of years.
"Hmph. It doesn't matter. If the two of us join hands, we can definitely send the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li packing without any rewards." Zhao Yan snorted coldly. "Let's go. We should enter the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden. What is most important is to obtain the Origin Enlightenment Fruits." The two sides came to a consensus and immediately rushed into the thinnest part of the cloud barrier.
"Damn it. They actually joined forces." Li Wuyuan continued to glare at the group with an ugly expression as he clenched his teeth.
"This is what we had expected from the beginning." Li Luo remained unfazed. Zhao Yan's group had experienced repeated setbacks on the Golden Dew Platform, and they knew that Li Lingjing had reached the nine-pearl tier, so they had to cooperate with the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Qing to have any chance of dealing with them.
"We have the friends from the Golden Dragon Bank supporting us, so our lineup may not be inferior to theirs," Li Luo said.
With that, he led the group to rush into the garden through the thinnest part of the cloud wall.
As the groups gradually filed into the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden, the surroundings fell silent.
A while later, a single figure leisurely walked over.
It was a handsome young man dressed in white monk robes. He had a gentle expression and a genial smile that seemed utterly refreshing in this cruel world. However, his shiny, bald head was covered in blood-red lines that squirmed as though there were living creatures under his skin. The dissonance was unsettling.
As he examined the cloud wall that blanketed the Spiritual Resonance Treasured Garden, he smiled and nodded.
"Contrary to what one might expect... this is indeed a gigantic coffin."
With that, he took a step forward and vanished into the depths as well.