Chapter 1274: Rising Tide
Boom! The sound of rushing water smashing against the rocks could be heard coming from the depths of the Golden Stone Valley. The surroundings trembled violently and worldly natural energy surged into the skies.
Numerous people began to appear on both sides of the valley. Their eyes were full of greed and avarice as they stared down into the depths. The Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearls were a very valuable item in the World's End River Region. Most importantly, this hunting ground didn't belong to any of the major powers officially, so everyone had a chance to compete for it.
Li Jinpan, Ox Biaobiao, and Li Rouyun appeared with the Guardian Army on one of the mountain peaks that flanked the valley. They led the group at the front, with the younger ones like Jiang Qing'e, Li Luo, Xia Yu, and Li Hongyou behind. Five thousand fully equipped Guardians stood behind them, ready to act on command. It was a truly grand sight.
Li Luo looked deep into the valley. Numerous golden lights were spotted, which then transformed into roaring waves of water. The stream flowed quickly with a faint golden luster, as if gold had been melted and infused into it.
More golden water flooded out until more than half of the valley was filled up. One could no longer see the ground.
Along the two sides of the valley were countless golden boulders, all lined up. As a result of being soaked in the golden water for a long period of time, they had gotten stronger and more durable. Now they could even withstand the attacks of a Duke. It was one of the magical sights found in this region.
It was then when Li Luo sensed some movement coming from the inside of the boulders. It was as if something was trying to make its way out.
As time passed by, the movements became more obvious. Suddenly, a loud cry of surprise could be heard.
A Golden Clam that was a few feet long slowly emerged from the inside of a golden boulder. When it came out, its shell opened up a little and it began to greedily suck in the golden water.
The Golden Clam appeared to be completely fused with the golden boulder itself. If one wasn't paying close attention, it would have easily gone undetected.
As the clam took in more of the golden water, its shell began to open up wider. Golden Clam flesh could be spotted inside it, and if one looked carefully, they could spot a mysterious light shining from its core.
Li Luo's heart skipped a beat upon this sight, and his eyes lit up immediately. This was a Golden Stone Spirit Clam, the reason why he had come to Golden Stone Valley. In the center of its flesh, that dazzling spiritual light had to be the so-called Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearl!
Many others on both sides of the valley had been waiting for this moment impatiently. In the blink of an eye, enormous amounts of resonant power surged up and several figures dashed down into the valley.
Splash! Splash!
The sounds of splashing water resounded in the valley repeatedly. Countless individuals dove into Golden Stone Valley like a school of fish, all attempting to obtain treasures from the Golden Stone Spirit Clams.
Li Rouyun turned and told Jiang Qing'e, Li Luo, and Xia Yu, "You should set out too. Go in teams of two hundred and keep a distance from each other, just like how we discussed earlier. Ensure that you'll be able to reinforce each other if an enemy strikes."
"The three of us will stand guard over here. We will isolate this area, and if any strong True Devils appear, we will rush to your aid immediately," Li Jinpan added.
Jiang Qing'e, Li Luo, and Xia Yu nodded.
The three of them took the lead and leapt forward. The five thousand Guardians dove down right after them.
Splash!
Li Luo felt a strong pressure emanating from all directions as soon as he entered the water. The golden water was infused with worldly natural energy and was thus unusually weighty.
If anyone below Heavenly Resonance Tier were in this position, they would find that they were unable to swim in it, as if they had fallen into quicksand.
Fortunately, this pressure did not last for long. Li Luo soon felt an energy that was similar to that of a first-grade Duke flowing into his body. Then the pressure coming from the water dissipated.
Li Luo glanced over. The two hundred members behind him had gotten into formation, and that was the source of this energy.
It was their combined strength.
"Two hundred members are enough for me to rival a first-grade Duke." Li Luo sighed in his heart. The strongest member out of these two hundred was only at the Heavenly Resonance Tier, yet they were able to summon up the power of a first-grade Duke through a secret art. This was clearly an enhanced version of the state of Harmony which he wielded in the Twenty Banners.
Based on his estimate, it would require at least two thousand members from the Green Nether Banner to achieve the same effect. With this boost in strength, Li Luo could now move freely in the water.
His eyes swept across the surrounding area. There were four other groups of two hundred around him, so a total of a thousand Guardians under his lead. If there was an emergency, he could activate their power and achieve enough strength to rival a third-grade Duke.
The wonderful bolstering effects were simply amazing.
Li Luo sighed again in his heart as he thought about all this. However, he did not procrastinate any further. He flew forward and moved towards the closest boulders. It was time to hunt for Golden Stone Spirit Clams.
As the water continued to flood the area, the Golden Stone Spirit Clams began to make their appearances. It didn't take long before Li Luo found his first clam. It slowly opened its shell and began to suck in golden water.
Li Luo grabbed his Dragon Elephant Blade and slashed outwards at this instant. A beam of blade energy flew across and accurately sliced into the clam flesh. A mote of light flew out of the core of the clam flesh, and he swiftly grabbed it.
Li Luo opened up his palm and looked into it curiously. A golden pearl that was around the size of an infant's fist was in his hand. The pearl glowed brilliantly, giving off a beautiful light that extended several dozen feet.
"Forty feet of brilliant light, this is a middle-grade pearl."
Over the past few days, Li Luo had learned about the different grades of the Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearls. This was based on the amount of brilliant light they emitted. Ten to thirty feet was considered low-grade, thirty feet to one hundred feet was considered middle-grade, and anything above that was considered high-grade.
Li Luo was a little disappointed with his first harvest, but he kept the middle-grade Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearl. At the same time, the Golden Stone Spirit Clam he had just attacked was startled. It dove straight back into the golden boulder and there was no sign of it ever again.
He did not care about this and continued his search.
The valley was extremely lively as people swam about from point to point. Some of the rogue cultivators had even gotten into fights for the pearls. Fighting had halted in the vicinity earlier because the tide hadn't arrived. Now that things had started, they did not need to worry about causing disturbances with their energy waves anymore.
When more Spirit Clams appeared, some unlucky people found themselves opening up clams with hidden Others. These Others were of varying strength, and every time one appeared, it would cause quite a bit of commotion.
Casualties began to rise as the golden water continued to flood into the valley. However, no one retreated because of this. This was just another common sight in this particular region.
Before they noticed, two hours had passed.
Li Luo had gotten a total of five Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearls during this time. His hard work had finally paid off and he managed to find one high-grade pearl with one hundred and fifty feet of brilliant light.
However, this did not mean that the high-grade pearl belonged to him yet. If he wanted it for himself, he would have to buy it in the end using his contributions during this mission.
Strictly speaking, Li Luo hadn't earned it with his strength alone. It was thanks to the combined strength of all the Dragon's Fang Guardians.
Li Luo put the high-grade pearl away carefully. Just as he was about to set off again, he sensed an extremely strong energy wave nearby. He looked over and was shocked.
"Senior Hongyou?"
Li Hongyou was leading two hundred Guardians not too far away. In front of her were three True Devil Others that resembled humans. However, there was no hair on their bodies and their brains could be clearly seen on the tops of their heads.
From a distance, they were like three humans with a giant spiritual pearl on each of their heads.
Their brains wriggled in an unsettling fashion and their facial features twisted strangely as they approached.
They had surrounded Li Hongyou.
Li Luo was taken aback by this. He had not seen a single True Devil yet, so how had three appeared in front of Li Hongyou all of a sudden? However, his hands did not slow down because he was surprised. He dashed forward like a fish swimming across the water.
"Senior Hongyou, I'll help you out!"
Along with his voice, a flash of sharp blade energy zipped across the water, directly heading towards the True Devil Others.