Chapter 0865: The Objective of the True Devils
Like a rainbow that crossed the sky, Li Luo escaped in a trail of light with the Green Nether Banner thanks to the Heavenly Dragon Resonance Enlightenment.
He was charging full speed ahead and did not dare to slow down.
Gratitude was what he felt for Zhao Jingyu at this time. If he weren’t around, Li Luo probably would have had to pay a heavy price in order to escape from those two True Devils.
As for the unfortunate Zhao Jingyu, who was still trapped in the dark curtain, Li Luo could only grieve for a second for his treasured friend in his heart. As thanks for his proactive assistance, he would happily leave the five dragon fangs as ceremonial burial items for him to bring to the grave... He was a top talent from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao after all. One couldn't just bury him too shabbily.
"However, the True Devils were acting a little strange."
In the blink of an eye, Li Luo had forgotten about Zhao Jingyu as he thought about the encounter with a frown. The path he had chosen was clearly at the outer region of their territories. Under ordinary circumstances, he should not have attracted their attention unless they were coincidentally at the perimeters.
What was more... just encountering one was bad luck enough. But for both of them to appear at the same time? A preposterous proposition.
Moreover, they happened to appear in front of and behind him to block both his paths.
If all of this was merely a coincidence, his bad luck was truly out of this world.
At this moment, Li Luo's eyes changed a little. He recalled what Li Lingjing had told him back in Western City...
The Soul Eater True Devil.
It was the most mysterious True Devil in this Dark Domain. Furthermore, it was attracted to individuals with extraordinary talent. According to Li Lingjing, the more talented the individual was, the more attracted the True Devil would be towards them.
In that case, Li Luo with his triple resonances must have been as attractive as a ninth-grade resonance talent at least.
Could he have been targeted by the Soul Eater True Devil?
Did it plan to devour his sheer talent as well?
At the same time, he recalled the spying sensation he felt from the Other Tide earlier. This train of thought seemed very likely to be the truth.
"What a pain in the ass."
Li Luo's face turned serious as he looked up at the gloomy sky in the Dark Domain. The air of corruption was everywhere, sinister whispers echoing all around. It was targeted at the depths of people's hearts and made it very easy for one to lose control of their emotions.
Fortunately, the eight thousand members of the Green Nether Banner were moving as one entity. If they were traveling alone, their mental state would definitely be affected after a while, and they’d gradually fall prey to the corruption.
Besides, Li Luo was unable to sense the presence of the Soul Eater True Devil. He did not even know how it could spy on his movements.
Moreover, the Soul Eater True Devil could be an unbelievably frightening foe if even the Big Belly True Devil and Dual Face True Devil chose to act on its instructions.
Those two True Devils were already as strong as first-grade Dukes. If his theory was correct, the Soul Eater True Devil was even stronger.
Li Luo let out a sigh in his heart. The mission to retrieve the Sacred Infant Fruit would be far harder than he had imagined.
However, this involved Ox Biaobiao's recovery, so there was no way he would give up. He could not drag this on any longer either. Back in the Xia Kingdom, Ox Biaobiao was considered a top fighter despite his grave injuries. Now that he was back at the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent, his spirit might not be able to take the mental blow of being weaker than those who were once weaker than him.
Therefore, it was essential to help Ox Biaobiao recover as soon as possible.
As Li Luo thought about these things, his eyes firmed up. He moved towards the meeting point at full speed.
And as for Brother Zhao Jingyu, who was still trapped... If the opportunity arose in the future, Li Luo would offer him three sticks of incense as thanks whenever he passed by the area...
……
Meanwhile, in the dark curtain that covered the whole sky.
Zhao Jingyu's face was extremely gloomy. He had not thought that his plan to trick Li Luo would backfire. It truly was a case of going out for wool and coming back shorn.
In the end, he was left to face two True Devil Others.
Zhao Jingyu stared at the male and female faces that floated unsteadily in the darkness. There was a gentle smile on their pale faces as their eyes looked at him blankly.
And the Big Belly True Devil was also staring at him intently.
Turning round, Zhao Jingyu took a look at the Tiger Division, and the members' faces were filled with anxiety. This was as expected. After all, they were basically being stared down by two Dukes right now. If not for the state of Harmony, they would all be dead meat regardless of how many members there were.
"Don't worry. I secretly sent out a signal earlier. As long as we can buy some time here, the other three divisions will be coming to our aid," Zhao Jingyu said with a deep voice to calm their nerves.
At the same time, Zhao Jingyu formed hand seals with both his hands and summoned up the full strength of his Harmony.
"Tiger Fiend True Form!"
Energy surged up, and the shadow of a giant, crimson tiger materialized. It enveloped Zhao Jingyu and the Tiger Division before a ferocious aura swept through the air like a storm.
Facing this fierce display of strength, even the casually floating Dual Face True Devil retreated a little.
When the waves rippled through the darkness, the Big Belly True Devil emerged with dark eyes staring at the crimson tiger projection. It was like the Other was contemplating whether to break through it forcefully or not.
However, it shook its head after a while. The darkness in the surroundings started to fade away, and the last strand of it was eventually swallowed back into its huge mouth.
Afterwards, the huge mouth fell back down from the sky and went back onto the Big Belly True Devil's belly.
The Dual Face True Devil also restored its human form at this point. They did not make any noise and were not bothered by Zhao Jingyu's confused face at all. Just like this, they each left and disappeared back into their respective territories. Zhao Jingyu and the Tiger Division were left dumbfounded by this scene.
"They left just like that?” Zhao Jingyu asked in disbelief. He did not dare to release his technique immediately. After waiting for a while and confirming that both True Devils had disappeared from the vicinity, he released the Crimson Tiger Manifestation.
"Did they sense that the other three divisions were on their way? Did they decide to leave since they couldn't beat us in such a short amount of time?" Zhao Jingyu's guessed as his gaze flickered.
However, this train of thought seemed a bit too far-fetched. It did not matter how long they could drag the battle out. If the two True Devils had worked together, he and his division would have had to pay a really heavy price.
Besides, True Devil Others were not such friendly or logical beings.
In that case, the other guess would be... The two True Devil Others were never interested in targeting him.
And if that assumption was true... could it have been that they were after Li Luo?
Zhao Jingyu frowned and wondered. Why was Li Luo being targeted by them? That country bumpkin had just returned from the outer divine continent. Although he had some achievements recently, he was not really considered the best of the best in this generation of the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent. At least Zhao Jingyu felt that he had a pretty high chance of being Li Luo in a fight.
As such, he was not confident of this guess either.
Perhaps that guy was really just unlucky.
"Whatever. Regardless of the reason, it's good that they backed down without a fight." Zhao Jingyu was not in the mood to contemplate over this. He looked with heavy eyes into the direction that Li Luo had headed off in. After this incident, their enmity had grown even deeper. There was no hurry though. Since Li Luo was going for the Sacred Infant Fruit, there would be a chance for them to meet again.
As such, he led the Tiger Division away and left at full speed in another direction. After this encounter with two True Devils, he did not dare to hang around any longer or charge around recklessly.
It was best for him to meet up with the other three divisions first.
……
In the depths of the Dark Domain, monstrous amounts of corruption flowed along the streams on a mountain, heading towards a black lake located deep inside.
The atmosphere around the lake was eerie and strange, and there were no ripples on the surface—it was like a pool of stagnant water.
All of a sudden, a vortex appeared in the center of the lake, and a face emerged from it.
It was a truly beautiful face with clear skin and shiny, fair cheeks.
If Li Luo were around, he would have noticed... This was the face he had seen back in Western City. It was the face of Li Lingjing. The person in the lake turned her head slightly as she looked into the distance with smiling eyes, her red lips slightly curving up.