Chapter 1272: Lu Shuanglu
"The Golden Stone Valley is eight thousand miles long. However, the real goods lie in the area three thousand miles upstream. That is the area that produces high-grade Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearls, the ingredient needed for high-grade Foundational Spirit Treasures. Since we"ve already been here for five days, the tide will rise soon."
The Dragon"s Fang Guardians had set up their encampment in a corner of the Golden Stone Valley. In one of their tents, Li Rouyun was explaining the information she knew to the others. Li Luo and Jiang Qing"e were present as well.
"When the tide rises, the deep valley shows its true form. Water will flood over the rocks and lure the Golden Stone Spirit Clams out of hiding. Strictly speaking, the Golden Stone Spirit Clams aren"t really clams. They are magical objects transformed from the golden stone that exists here. They"re so resilient that even ordinary Dukes have trouble breaking them apart. As such, we"ll have to wait for them to open up their sh.e.l.ls after they"ve revealed themselves. This will be our best chance to obtain the pearls."
"It"s said that there is a king Golden Stone Spirit Clam. Known as the Golden Stone Spirit Clam King, the Sovereign Pearl from it is the perfect ingredient for refining top-grade Foundational Spirit Treasures. It is extremely valuable and also extremely rare. Usually, it"s very cautious and is hardly spotted. The number of people who have found one throughout the years can be easily counted with our fingers."
"Golden Stone Spirit Clam King? Sovereign Pearl?" Li Luo"s heart skipped a beat when he heard about this. The higher grade the Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearl, the more it would help when he used it to evolve his dragon resonance into a Heavenly Dragon resonance. In that case, wouldn"t his success rate be much higher if he could get ahold of the Sovereign Pearl?
Then he laughed at himself in a lighthearted way. Wasn"t he getting a little too greedy? The number of people who had found Sovereign Pearl could be counted with his fingers. What were the odds that he would come across it? Was he truly so blessed? If he could get himself a high-grade Golden Stone Spirit Clam Pearl, the mission would be considered a success.
"There"s one other important point. The water in the Golden Stone Valley is not ordinary water. It"s water from the World"s End River. Over the years, the World"s End River’s water spills over into the World"s End River Region whenever the Stygian Rain of Calamity approaches. However, it does not simply evaporate into thin air once the calamity is over. Instead, it flows away into depths of the earth and pools into special locations, such as the Golden Stone Valley here.
"Although the water is magical and full of energy, you should already know what it contains, right?" Li Rouyun asked with a light smile as she looked over at Li Luo, Jiang Qing"e and Xia Yu.
"Corruption?" Li Luo asked.
Back at the Falling Star Terrace, the World"s End River water that flowed down contained corruption. They had to purify it before they were able to obtain the greatly desired Star Pearls.
Li Rouyun nodded before she continued in a serious tone, "The water in the Golden Stone Valley also contains corruption. Naturally, the Golden Stone Spirit Clams have acc.u.mulated a lot of it as they have absorbed the water for years. As such, some of them have... become Others. When you collect the Golden Pearls, you will have to stay alert. Sometimes, you will not find Golden Pearls in the Golden Stone Spirit Clams, but Others instead... Every year, when the tide rises and people gather here for the harvest, many fall prey to the Clam Others. When you set out to collect the pearls later, stay in groups of two hundred Guardians at least. Jiang Qing"e will lead three thousand while Xia Yu and Li Luo each take a thousand. As soon as you spot an Other or any other strong opponent, finish them off quickly and mercilessly."
With two hundred Dragon"s Fang Guardians, they would be as strong as a lower first-grade Duke. This was the minimum strength required if one would like to harvest the pearls in the Golden Stone Valley.
Everyone nodded in agreement as they listened to Li Rouyun"s warning. Searching for pearls would not be a walk in the park. Not only were there rogue cultivators to watch out for, they would also have to guard against Others that were hidden within the clams.
"On that note, please be wary of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao. We forcefully took a spot in the Golden Stone Valley, and they"re surely unhappy about it. If we fight over anything, they will not hold back. The ones standing guard in the Golden Stone Valley are half of the Divine Tiger Guardians from the Ten Thousand Beast Guardians. They are led by Divine Tiger Envoy Zhao Jiyun. He"s an upper third-grade Duke. With all five thousand members under his command, he"ll be as strong as a fifth-grade Duke." Li Rouyun grinned as she looked over at Jiang Qing"e. "If he tries anything funny, I"ll leave him to you, Qing"e."
Jiang Qing"e nodded. A light flashed by her golden pupils as she grabbed onto her sword with her slender hands. She then asked softly, "Will there be any problem if we kill them?"
Li Rouyun smiled helplessly when she heard the question. She had the looks of an angel, yet she emanated a thirst for blood.
"If they die, so be it. Our grudges with the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao run deep. One more corpse will mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. Besides, one of their most talented elites already tried to kill Li Luo back in the Spiritual Resonance Cave. In the end, Li Luo executed him. Their fury has already reached a boiling point anyway," Li Jinpan said in a clear and loud voice.
"Brother Jinpan is right. Do not hold back if you get into a fight with them, Qing"e. Kill them if you need to," Ox Biaobiao added in agreement. It seemed like he was greatly amenable to Li Jinpan"s methods.
Jiang Qing"e tightly gripped the sword in her hand. An icy l.u.s.ter glazed over her golden pupils as she slowly nodded her head. Li Rouyun threw a glance towards Ox Biaobiao. These two fools were adding fuel to the fire. They were already in the proximity of the area which the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao had built their presence on. If anything went wrong, only more trouble would arise. She shook her head in her heart. Then her tone changed a little as she continued, "Under Zhao Jiyun, there"s also the Divine Tiger Guardians’ First Grand Commander Zhao Zhuoyan and Second Grand Commander Zhao Zhu. They are a lower second-grade Duke and an upper first-grade Duke respectively."
Grand Commander Xia Yu nodded. "I know Zhao Zhuoyan. He"s not weak, but if he wants a piece of us, I am not afraid."
Xia Yu was fearless and full of fighting spirit, raring to go for a round if the opportunity arose.
As he listened, Li Luo rubbed his chin as he was lost in thought. If the two sides clashed, he would have to watch out for Second Grand Commander Zhao Zhu. An upper first-grade Duke would be similar to Li Qingbai, but the fight would be different from what he experienced at the Ceremony of Ascent.
If both sides were allowed to use the strength of their squads, Li Luo would have the advantage. This would close up the gap in resonant power between his cultivation level and his opponent"s.
"The situation in the Golden Stone Valley is very complex. Apart from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao, there are many rogue cultivators. The Golden Stone Alliance is just the largest group. People from the Golden Dragon Bank are here too. Fortunately, they"re not competing for the Golden Pearls. They are financially very strong, so they usually just wait for people to harvest them and then purchase them."
"Golden Dragon Bank..." Li Luo"s eyes flickered when he heard this.
"The Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao, the Golden Stone Alliance, and the rogue cultivators are all bloodthirsty individuals. They are definitely not kind souls, so please remain vigilant. This is all the information that the Golden Stone Alliance shared with us. You should prepare yourselves well, the tide should be rising in the coming few days."
With that, the meeting came to a conclusion. Li Rouyun had shared all of the knowledge they had obtained over the past few days with the rest.
Li Luo and Jiang Qing"e left the tent together. As if they could read each other"s minds, they both ended up at the edge of the cliff instead of returning to their respective tents. They looked into the distance, at the deep valley that sputtered with golden glitter. From this distance, it looked like a giant, golden dragon that was lying motionless on the ground.
They exchanged a few words before Jiang Qing"e sat down in the lotus position and continued with her daily cultivation.
Meanwhile, Li Luo laughed playfully by her side. He lightly patted her long dress, as if he was trying to sweep the dust off, although there wasn"t any. As his hands brushed across, he could feel how well-built her leg muscles were. Jiang Qing"e did not hold back and told Li Luo off. "I need to continue with my cultivation."
It was an intentional rebuke to chase him away.
Li Luo acted as if he didn"t understand and replied pa.s.sionately, "I will protect you here!"
Jiang Qing"e looked at him helplessly. She was just planning to ignore him when her eyes turned cold. She suddenly looked towards the right. A little distance away, a beautiful lady with snow-white skin and a yellow dress appeared.
The girl smirked and looked over at the two of them.
"Who are you?" Li Luo had become more vigilant when he sensed the girl approaching.
"This camp belongs to the Dragon"s Fang Guardians. It"s best for you to keep your distance and avoid any trouble."
Hearing his words, the girl couldn"t help but chuckle.
"What a heartless fellow. My sister Qing"e helped you so much and even sealed herself away in ice for quite some time. Yet here you are, playing with the heart of yet another girl. It seems like the saying is true—few men are truly faithful."